Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol

You shouldn’t confuse the angels featured in this paranormal romance with your stereotypical greeting card angels. These are warriors, fighters, soldiers. Aka, they badass.

What’s it About?

My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me–my freshman year of college. I’d been hoping that once I’d arrived on Crestwood’s campus, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t. I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I’m grounded…sane. I look for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he’s near, I feel an attraction to him–a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him.

I know what you’re thinking…that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would be…if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood…or him. But get this, for some reason every time I turn around he’s there, barging into my life. What is the secret that he’s keeping from me? I’m hoping that it’s anything but what I suspect: that he’s not exactly normal…and neither am I. So, maybe Crestwood won’t be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I’ve been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.

First Impressions

College can be a difficult time for most people. Oftentimes far away from home, having to make new friends, learn new things. It can be tricky to navigate. Well, Evie has the added burden of discovering that she’s only half-human, and she’s slowly starting to acquire some strange abilities as her half-angel side comes to the forefront. I must say I really enjoyed learning about the particularities of this world of divine and fallen angels. Evie is an anomaly in this world in that by being half-human she still retains a soul even though she’s an angel. She also has the ability to heal quickly, gains supernatural speed, and eventually even gets a pair of wings. I know they say you shouldn’t compare difficulties in life, but yeah I’d say Evie has me beat when it comes to having a stressful life. Not only does she have to deal with moving to college and becoming an angel, but she’s also encountering the unfortunate stress that so many young women get to deal with in college: men.

Love Triangle

Come on now folks, you just know this wouldn’t be an official young adult college romance without a little love triangle. And this one has an additional complication added to the mix considering that of the two men fighting for Evie’s affections, one is human, and the other is an angel. Reed is our angel, and Evie finds that the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach every time he draws near is more than just puppy love. It’s some kind of paranormal link drawing the two of them together. He too experiences the same fluttering every time she’s around. Reed has lived on this Earth since life began, and this is the first time he’s every experienced feelings of love for someone else. Seems like their love would be pretty cut and dry, right?

Nooope! Because then there’s Russell. He’s a human, which compared to Reed might not sound as exciting. But lo and behold, not only is he adorable and attentive to Evie, he just so happens to be her soulmate. As in…her actual soulmate. Reed believes that both Evie and Russell have consistently fallen in love throughout multiple lifetimes. Funnily enough, Evie has more trouble believing that she and Russell have loved each other in past lives than believing in a world of angels. This love triangle was initially extremely interesting, as it’s really hard to be “team” anyone. Both men have such great qualities, and both do actually seem like the right choice. Evie especially struggles with this, as her human soul is constantly seeking out its soulmate in Russell, but at the same time her angel side wants to reject this concept of the soulmate in favor of the drawing force linking her to Reed. Such an interesting predicament.

Here’s the problem though. This struggle stretches on foreverrrrrrr. There’s a constant back and forth, back and forth, like a never ending tennis match that you just…can’t…leave. I’ll admit, I did like the concept in the beginning. There’s no clear front-runner in the race for Evie’s heart, and you find yourself simultaneously rooting for both Reed and Russell to succeed. But the fact that this becomes the major story line for like 3/4 of the book? Can’t we get back to the fallen angels and discovery of new abilities already? I mean, we start off with Evie preferring Russell when she’s not quite sure what Reed is. After the big reveal she embraces her own angel side which is reaching out to him. But then he pulls away to keep her safe, making her run back to Russell. But then Reed just can’t stay away. My goodness it got to the point where I just wanted them to set up an Evie time share. Have her alternate weekends with each guy or something. Hell, I’d even take a threesome at this point!

Tales of Convenience

I’m always wary of college romances for one very big reason. They always tend to brush aside the whole “being in college” thing. You know, going to class, taking tests, studying. But what this novel conveniently does is utilize Evie’s new abilities as a reason for why her course work isn’t a prominent feature in the story. As she develops as an angel her cognitive thinking improves, meaning she can brood away in class just vaguely listening to lectures in the background, yet be able to repeat things word for word later on. She says it even makes midterms fun. Well, that would have been a nice ability to have with my own college lectures, thank you very much!! This isn’t the only time we get a convenient explanation for something that’s out of the ordinary.

I just love how in most paranormal romances featuring an immortal like Reed, we always seem to hear an account of how they stop aging in their prime. How convenient. It also makes it considerably less creepy when picturing a dude who is multi-thousands of years old getting intimate with a 17-year-old. Another rather perplexing feature which was explained away pretty quickly was the fact that it didn’t take that much for Evie to guess that Reed was an angel. Basically she could tell he was mysteriously different, and then after seeing a block panel painting in art class about fallen angels driven out of heaven she quickly surmises that Reed must be a divine angel. Quite a big leap of a guess right there! However, it’s clever how they brush this aside by Reed attributing it to her impressive new intuitive abilities. Sure, why not?

A Climactic Conclusion

If I had to find a silver lining to the seemingly endless love triangle debate which carried on throughout this book, it would be that it certainly lets your guard down. The majority of the novel has a very teen, young adult, non-dramatic feel to it. And then BAM! In the final act we are presented with an unexpectedly dark and gruesome twist to the story. By the end you have a floor slippery with blood and chunks of flesh. Angels gnawing on a human hand with the skin of their victim getting stuck in their teeth. Never before have I felt the need to floss so much in my entire life. It was such a shocking twist that I honestly did not see coming, and it has definitely piqued my interest to see what might be in store for our characters in the next book.

Series: The Premonition, book 1.  I’m excited to see where the story will lead. Hopefully away from college life, and with more focus on the paranormal aspect than the love triangle side of things.

Should you read it? This first book is clearly laying the groundwork for the series. Gathering the characters together, introducing Evie’s struggle between Reed and Russell, etc. I really did enjoy learning about the particulars and unique dynamics involving angels. While at times Evie’s inner struggle between Russell and Reed was interesting, it didn’t take too long before it became tiresome and repetitive. If the second book continues with this back and forth of Reed vs Russell, it’s gonna get very old, very fast. I’m hoping we’ll see even more regarding Evie’s transition to becoming an angel, and all the possible repercussions that might entail. Maybe even some info about who her angel father is.

Smut Level: Just a few kisses. No hanky panky. Reed basically implies that if they had sex the probability of him hurting her was high because he had a certain strength as an angel she might not be ready for as a human. Aka, that’s one powerful penis.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $2.99 Kindle Price. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. 393 Pages.

Hyacinth by Abigail Owen

After reading and loving the first book in this series I went into this one with pretty high expectations, which I always tell myself I shouldn’t do. But alas! I broke my own rule.

What’s it About? 

Selene sacrificed everything when she took her brother’s place as ruler of the Vyusher—including her secret love for one-time adversary Griffin Aubrey. When nightmares that are just a little too real start, Selene fears she’s turned into a cold-blooded killer…the monster Griffin thinks she is. Griffin and Ellie Aubrey are finally safe for the first time in over a hundred years, and Griffin doesn’t want to easily forgive the woman he blames for killing his family. But when an unknown menace drives Selene to leave her people and seek their help, Griffin must decide. Can he move past his hatred of everything she is? Or will the bond that could bring them both the greatest joy now be the source of their deepest despair?

First Impressions

Griffin and Selene are mates, but he’s having difficulty trusting her after learning that Selene and her Vyusher wolf-pack family killed his own family. They obviously have a deep connection and longing for one another, but I felt like they spent so much of the book fighting this link that it was hard to really connect with them as a couple. They also spent a large portion of the book separated from each other. This lack of time spent in the same zip code made me want so much more from their relationship!

Build-up to Cliffhanger

I love that we get to see all of the characters from the first novel again, and if anything we get to know them even better than in book 1. It felt like there was a lot more build-up in this second novel, which made for a rather slow-moving start, but also made the eventual climax even more exciting. Sort of a blessing and a curse.

Although Hyacinth has an exciting conclusion, there are some important plot questions which are left unanswered. For example, their enemy wolf-pack keeps dropping off unconscious people for Selene and company to deal with. Not really sure what that was all about, but I’m sure we’ll learn more in the following books. This novel does end on a cliffhanger, and it’ll make you wanna go straight into the next book!

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Svatura, book 2. I can’t wait to read the next one, as it deals with one of the most complex characters of the bunch!

Should you read it? Definitely read book 1 first, but it’s an interesting paranormal series with some amazing characters.

Smut Level: There are just a few kisses between Selene and Griffin, but they are oh so passionate.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. The Wild Rose Press, Inc. 217 Pages.

Down the Wormhole by Ana Franco

The concept of this story was really interesting, and had the potential to be something I would really enjoy, but unfortunately it just fell apart for me in terms of execution.

What’s it About? 

Medusa is a nice girl, Aphrodite is empowering, Loki vanished on thin air, Isis doesn’t have a memory and Anubis is the only sane one. Join them all in an adventure that mixes the styles of ABC’s Once Upon A Time and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson. What this can possibly mean? Why, chaos, of course!

First Impressions

Let me start off by saying that in middle school, Greek and Egyptian mythology was my jam. I read anything pertaining to the subject that I could get my hands on. So I was actually pretty excited going into this one. But alas, it almost seemed like this was originally written in another language, and Google translated into English. This poor writing was not only distracting, but actually made it kind of difficult to understand what the heck was happening.

An Interesting Mixture

This book features a slew of different gods and goddesses from Egyptian, Norse, and Greek mythology. It was kind of strange to not just focus on one particular mythology, but there were some interesting characters thrown in there. I think my favorite character was Aphrodite, because she was so spunky, and told it like it was. Too bad she was frozen has a statue for the majority of the book.

Kitty is the main heroine of the story. She meets a bunch of teens at an orphanage she apparently stumbles upon, and quickly discovers that they are actually gods/goddesses with magical powers. She actually handles this news fairly well, all things considered. I mean, Medusa is her roommate for crying out loud. So much for staying up late and braiding each other’s hair, am i right?

Gimme More

The drama of the story involves the goddess Eris, who is after the bracelet of Anubis. She wants to control his army and bring about chaos to the world. Girl, if you really wanna cause some chaos just shut down Facebook for an hour. Trust me, it’ll work.

There were multiple aspects of the story which I found to be rather confusing. Firstly, Eris employs the help of Set to go about her dastardly plans, but I never really knew why. She manages to locate the other gods and cause enough trouble on her own. Not really sure why Set was needed at all. Secondly, I felt there was a lack of back story to how these gods ended up in this human world to begin with. Some were cursed, others didn’t have full use of their powers, but we never really find out how or why to the full extent that I wanted.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Wormhole, book 1.

Should you read it? If you can get past the lack of back story, and rather confusing translation into English, the characters are actually pretty enjoyable.

Smut Level: No real smut. There’s plenty of flirtation between Kitty and another god, and although they eventually do the deed it is completely glossed over.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. This book is free! Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 171 Pages.

Blue Violet by Abigail Owen

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Which is really freakin’ surprising since I normally don’t like paranormal novels all that much, but this one both caught and held my interest.

What’s it About? 

When fairy tales turn into nightmares…Ellie Aubrey has spent most of her unnaturally long life hiding her extraordinary abilities from the world. On the run from the shape shifting wolves who murdered her family, she risks discovery in order to secretly watch over another group of similarly gifted people, determined they won’t suffer the same fate.

Alex Jenner has come home to protect his family from an unknown danger lurking in the woods. Suspicious of the new girl in town, he challenges Ellie in ways that will spark one of two possible outcomes: they’ll spontaneously combust, or she’ll lose control of the one power she’s fought so hard to contain. In this fairy tale, the dragon the prince must slay is also the princess who holds his heart.

First Impressions

There were a few different reasons why I think I liked this book so much more than other paranormal romances which are out there. Firstly, although the majority of the characters in this book are Svatura, basically a kind of witch/shape shifter, they all have different powers. It’s not like your typical paranormal book that only has vampires who lust for blood and live forever. And sparkle in the sunshine.

Another interesting aspect of this book was that the characters were still discovering what powers they possessed, and were learning how to master them. They weren’t experts in the field, but rather still had room for improvement. Kind of refreshing. And lastly, they may be hundreds of years old, but they were all in high school, and they actually had homework!! Sure, they might go off and fly around for a few hours, but they still had a French test to study for. Nice to have a sense of reality in a paranormal novel.

The Story

Ellie and her brother, Griffin, have been on the run for years, and refuse to settle for too long in any one place for fear that the supernatural wolves which killed their entire clan will find them as well. But then Ellie has a dream which shows her another family of Svatura, and she seeks them out. Overall, quite a gripping story, but I wish there would have been a bit more of an explanation behind this dream which brought them all together.

Ellie chooses to hide the fact that she is also Svatura when she initially meets this family, and instead pretends to simply be the new girl in town. This poses a problem when sexy Alex, also a Svatura, comes into town and they have an immediate connection. He thinks she’s just a regular teenage human, and is concerned over the fact that he’s so attracted to someone a few hundred years younger than him. Turns out they are actually fated mates. Personally, I felt Ellie and her brother waited a ridiculously long time to reveal their true nature to the Svatura family, especially when they realized that a pack of wolves were hunting them, and still chose to keep that a secret from the family. A bit of a warning probably would have been nice. Overall though, a great read.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: The Svatura Series, book 1. I can’t wait to read book 2, which never happens with me and paranormal novels. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what will happen with Ellie’s brother Griffin and his fated mate, who happens to be a wolf!

Should you read it? Yes! There’s drama and some romance mixed in too. The whole book is a build-up towards a final battle with the wolf pack, and even though you kind of see where it’s going, it’s still an intense finish.

Smut Level: No sex or smut, but there’s plenty of flirting, and a decent amount of ear nibbling.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $4.99 Kindle Price. The Wild Rose Press, Inc. 204 Pages.

Diverted Heart by Beth Ann Stifflemire

This book proves two things: that long distant relationships are a lost cause, and living in a small town can make you do crazy things.

What’s it About? 

Texas summers are no doubt some of the hottest you’ll find. The heat encountered during this summer is not at all what Taylor bargained for. She’s at a crossroads between childhood and womanhood, rummaging through the emotions of first love versus passion. Two young men tangle a web of needs and desires in her heart. The summer before college begins, Taylor is thrust from her childhood home in Houston to an inherited family farm on the outskirts of Schulenburg, Texas. Eric, her first love, has gone states away to play college football. Low-spirited and merely trying to get through an expectantly boring summer, she is nearly run off the road by her new country neighbor, Maxwell. Ruggedly handsome, devilishly charming and everything Taylor seeks to avoid, Maxwell does something to her emotions she’s struggling desperately to interpret, as they spend the summer filled with each other. Boundaries are tested and the scales of lust tip despite hesitations. A final decision must be made. Did she ever truly love Eric? Is Maxwell simply a lustful thought, or is there more to uncover beneath the surface? One thing is for certain, this summer will change Taylor in every possible way: mind, body and soul.

First Impressions

After moving to a new house with her family during the summer before college, Taylor has an immediate attraction for her neighbor Max. She initially tries to stay away from him, but boredom, and the constant urging from her parents pushes Taylor and Max closer together. Pause.

What the hell kind of parents are these that they are basically encouraging their daughter to hang out with the hunky neighbor boy, and ignore the fact that she has a boyfriend? They have absolutely no reservations about the two spending more time together, and really seem to want them to hit it off. And not just in a friendly way, if you know what I mean. I feel like this encouragement would have been much more believable if they hadn’t liked Taylor’s boyfriend, Eric, but he seemed like an upstanding guy.

Attraction Equals Trouble

The majority of the book deals with Taylor struggling with her love for Eric, and these new unknown feelings for Max. I guess what really surprised me was how quickly Taylor equated her attraction to Max as reflective of a deeper issue in her relationship with Eric, especially since things were going so well between them at the start of the summer. But as soon as she meets Max, and admits to herself that he’s good to look at, she thinks that means she doesn’t really love her boyfriend. Oh honey, just because you’re in a relationship doesn’t mean that all other men suddenly become frogs.

I read an article once which talked about how a high percentage of people are already dating someone else when they meet “the one”. Therefore, I guess it shouldn’t be hard to believe that Taylor would have considered moving on to Max even though she was already dating Eric. I suppose what I found so strange though was that she started questioning her relationship with her boyfriend merely because of her physical attraction to Max. They hadn’t even spent a lot of time together to actually see if they connected on a deeper level before she started having doubts.

*I received a signed ARC of this book at BookExpo America*

Series: Nope

Should you read it? It’s actually a very interesting tale of growing up, and questioning how you’re supposed to know if someone is worth the risk. How do you know when it’s time to end a previous relationship? If it should end at all? And if it’s right moving on to someone new?

Smut Level: There are a few sex scenes, but nothing too detailed.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here– this book just came out today! $1.99 Kindle Price. Waldorf Publishing. 138 Pages.

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Wow! Just…wow! Just when you think you know where this book is going it throws you for a loop. One of the most brilliant tales of unrequited love I’ve read in a long time.

What’s it About? 

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school. Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember. Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

First Impressions

I’ll admit, when I first read the synopsis of this book I thought, “Well, we all know where this is going.” I assumed it would be predictable, just like every single high school romantic comedy book or movie out there. Hot mamma’s biscuits I couldn’t have been more wrong! It didn’t take long before I started questioning where in the heck this book was headed, and even though I won’t give any spoilers I can tell you that the ending definitely surprised me. That is a rare thing indeed.

Oh the Shenanigans

In an attempt to break up the monotony of senioritis, Dave and Julia vow to do everything they swore they’d never do in high school. Basically, they want to try every cliché in the book. What follows is a plethora of hilarious shenanigans, and you can’t help but be drawn in by their natural chemistry. In accordance with this vow to try new things, Dave attempts to finally suppress his feelings of love for Julia by spending time with another chica in the schoolyard, Gretchen. As he spends more and more time with Gretchen, Julia realizes she might have feelings of her own for her best friend Dave. Oh the drama!

My absolute favorite part of this book was the promposal that Dave sets up to have the most perfectly clichéd invite to prom ever. I’m talking giant teddy bear costumes and orchestras here. However, the extreme effort and time he puts into this project shows that Dave has developed true feelings for Gretchen. How will these new feelings play into his love for Julia? And what will he do when Julia finally admits that she loves him too?

Why so Brilliant? 

I’ll admit that at times the characters weren’t the most likable people ever, but there were several factors which played into the overall brilliance of this book. Firstly, the book starts from Dave’s point of view, but about 1/3 of the way through it switches to Julia’s perspective. Definitely an unexpected, but awesome transition so that we can actually hear both sides of the story. Then, just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, the last section of the book alternates back and forth between Dave and Julia. A ballsy move to be sure, but it worked, and provided a deeper understanding to Dave and Julia’s feelings.

Second moment of brilliance came towards the end, where Dave calls out Julia for being the biggest cliché of them all: the person who always judges the clichés. Sorry to tell you sweetie, but you’re not the only teenager to ever question the ridiculousness of high school cliques.

And now for the absolute most brilliant aspect of the entire book: everyone can relate to it. We all may have had very different high school experiences than the characters in this book, but we can all connect with this story because at one point in time we’ve all experienced that unrequited love/crush that Dave’s been suffering through for years. You know the kind. Where every look, laugh, or innocent touch makes us tingle with excitement. Where we pine for that other person, and wonder how we could ever get over that crush. Is this making you think back to high school?

*I received a signed copy of this book from the author at BookExpo America*

Series: No, but if the author will agree to write a sequel (the college years perhaps?) I promise with all of my being that I will always, ALWAYS, put hot sauce on. Read the book, and you’ll get what I’m saying.

Should you read it? Not gonna lie, at times Julia was kind of annoying in her attempts to be quirky and different from everyone else, but there was something about the dynamic between her and Dave that I just couldn’t look away from.

Smut Level: Nothing too graphic. It’s young adult after all.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $9.99 Kindle Price. Harlequin Teen. 320 Pages