ARIVACA: Guardians of the Light by John Poulsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

** I was provided a NetGalley copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
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Jesse Ballard’s life is filled with misfortune. His parents are dead, he’s been convicted of a crime, and a dark secret torments his soul. But when he’s incarcerated on a ranch for troubled teens he discovers his troubles have just begun. A Supreme Power has literally hijacked his life, bringing him to the ranch to make him the guardian of a powerful relic that was hidden away 2600 years ago when Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.
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This book was a good read, and definitely something I could suggest to either of my kids or their friends. It was a little more founded in reality than my typical read - so a little more work for me to get through, but a cool PG story along the lines of Indiana Jones - religion blended with reality and paranormal overtones. The love/hate struggle between Jesse and Cedar makes for an interesting secondary theme in an otherwise fairly straightforward story of religious-artifact-needs-protecting.

I really liked Jesse. He's a very likeable character who seems to keep getting bad breaks, but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that those breaks have all been for a very good reason. I also thought the way this book ended was very well done as a lead-in to the next in the series.

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Night of the Living Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
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Lizzie Brown is all for letting the good times roll…until a dark voodoo church rises up in the bayou outside of New Orleans. Now the ritual fires are burning long into the night and the dead are having a hard time staying that way.
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Another fun ride in the life of Lizzie Brown! Lizzie & Dimitri are enough to have you reaching for ice water, and the Red Skulls... well, their down-home, sarcastic sense of humor will keep you in stitches even as you worry over Lizzie's next adventure. Lizzie always manages to get herself wrapped up in some seemingly disastrous situation, but thanks to her sarcastic wit; her grandmother's biker witch coven; her dog, Pirate; and the many, many friends she is able to cultivate she always finds a way out!

I LOVE this series, and can hardly contain my impatience while waiting for the next installment! If you haven't read this series yet - DO! The first book is currently FREE for Kindle! ;)

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Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**I was provided with an ARC by First To Read/Penguin Media Group in exchange for an honest review.**
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Synopsis:
There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she’s beautiful and dangerous.

Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred’s regular—and very wealthy—clients dies during a reading.

Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight…
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It was suggested that this series has the same magic as Sookie's series, but I failed to find it. Honestly, the story was hard to get into, and I found myself finding excuses to do things other than read it.

I never managed to finish because the method of delivery is an app which lost all contents when I upgraded my phone.

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Jason by Laurell K. Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but it is definitely a sidetrack to the series. There is no action, no "trouble" in town. This is more a release story - it allows Laurell to explain in more depth the workings of a polyamorous group.

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Numbers Game by Rebecca Rode
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**I received a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.**
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Synopsis: Treena is nervous for Rating Day. A single number will brand her forever—a valuable citizen, or a pathetic waste of space. Her top-Rated boyfriend is confident their scores will coincide so they can attend the academy together. But when the big day arrives, her true number shocks everyone.

To get her life and boyfriend back, she must go undercover and expose a military spy. Doesn’t sound too hard, except that someone wants her dead. And then there’s Vance, the mysterious soldier with a haunted past and beautiful brown eyes. Together, they discover a dark numbers conspiracy, one that shatters the nation’s future. Treena must join up with Vance if she is to survive the dangerous game of numbers—and the terrible war that rages within her heart.
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In a futuristic world where war has decimated the population, Treena (Amentrine) is coming of age and learning things about herself, her friends, her family, and her government she never thought possible. The tenor of this story is very similar to The Hunger Games series - the country as we know it has destroyed itself via war, a new regime arose that dictated a means to "peace" which is then enforced on the population, the top person of power has become corrupt in order to maintain their position, our heroine must stay alive long enough to right all the wrongs.

I really liked that the more Treena learned and matured the easier it was to empathize with her. To be honest it took me a while to get into the story because I really hated how shallow she was early in the story, and had a hard time forcing myself to continue reading. You also get to see Vance change and mature as the book switches frequently between his perspective and his.

I hated the ending. It's one of those I-should-have-seen-that-coming endings.

Overall this was an enjoyable - if somewhat predictable - storyline. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games or Divergent series including teens/pre-teens.

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Witches Be Burned by Stacey Kennedy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**I was given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
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Nexi Jones has lost her family, she’s been stripped of her guardian duties, and she’s still learning the ins and outs of white magic. At least she has Kyden, the smoldering hot elite guardian who’s been there for her every step of the way. But just as Nexi completes her training, tragedy strikes the Otherworld when a fellow guardian is murdered by a group of rogue vampires. Ready or not, she and Kyden trek into the Earthworld to hunt down a killer—and Nexi alone will be put to the ultimate test.
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This is my introduction to this series, and while it is the second book in the series I was easily able to understand nuances and relationships between characters.

I like that Nexi is a strong character and follows her own path. She stays strong with her own convictions (for the most part). She doesn't allow Kyden to dictate what she is or isn't able to do. Ultimately she is the only one who can decide how things will go.

Overall, this is a well-written story in a (new-to-me) supernatural world. I would recommend this to a friend if they were looking for new series to explore, but am not overly drawn to it myself.

View all my reviews RELEASES May 19, 2015