Recurve by Shannon Mayer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“My name is Larkspur, and I am an Elemental.”

My people use the power of the earth to sustain life and defy our enemies. I should be at my father's side as a royal princess. But as a half-breed, bastard child, that isn't going to happen.
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A great paranormal story with nature theme.

Knowing that I love Shannon's Rylee Adamson series, I took a chance and pre-ordered this book - which I seldom do. I am oh-so-glad I did! The plot and characters kept me involved throughout the story, and when Lark's true traitor is revealed I was surprised!

If you enjoy Faith Hunter, Patricia Briggs, or Jennifer Estep you won't want to skip this series!

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Date with a Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.**
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It's Lizzie & Dimitri's first anniversary, and they have a quiet dinner for two planned... the universe has other plans for them!

My only complaint? It's too short! lol Love Lizzie and crew, and more is always better!

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Unforgiven by Stephanie Erickson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.**
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Mackenzie Day is reeling from the death of her best friend, Maddie. She's lost her rock, her partner in crime, and her only family in one feel swoop. With that loss, Mac has lost track of herself, and the things she cares about, including her mind-reading abilities.
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"Aunt" Amanda is back and looking for revenge. Mac has to learn to put aside her anger and grief if she is to help the Unseen save thousands of lives. And, her actions have some unforeseen consequences.

Stephanie has managed to deliver another very readable story that could easily further a mini-series for television. Mac is very easy to sympathize/empathize with, and the writing continues to be detailed enough for visual imaginations. Can't wait to read the next installation!

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Hunters of Chaos by Crystal Velasquez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**I received an ARC of this book via Goodreads Giveaways.**
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Four girls at a southwestern boarding school discover they have amazing feline powers and must unite to stop an ancient evil in this riveting adventure.
Ana soon learns that she and three other girls - with Chinese, Navajo, and Egyptian heritages - harbor connections to priceless objects in the school's museum, and the museum's curator, Ms.Benitez, is adamant that the girls understand their ancestry.
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I entered this giveaway in the hopes that I would get a copy of this book for my daughter. It is precisely the type of book she loves - paranormal, girl heroine(s), action, and... CATS! As predicted she loved the book, and had it read in a matter of hours - in fact she started reading maybe 5 minutes after I handed it to her!

Unfortunately, being a 12-yr-old who has never been given a book report as an assignment in school, my daughter keeps insisting she doesn't know HOW to write one. She does tell me that she loved the book, and primarily for the reasons stated above. I am hoping to find time in my reading schedule to get to it in the next month or so.

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Unseen by Stephanie Erickson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
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Mackenzie Day constantly struggles to silence the voices in her head. The inner thoughts of those around her intrude upon every aspect of her life, threatening to turn it into chaos.

All her life, she thought she was alone as a mind reader—a freak. And, then...
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This was my first read by Stephanie, and I can't wait to get started on Unforgiven tonight! The story grabs the reader and pulls them in. The characters are well-developed and easy to sympathize with. The struggles Mac is facing are ones we all face - albeit with a supernatural twist. Decisions regarding our lives and what to do with them; decisions about whether or not to toss everything we've trained and studied for to the wind and take a radically different path; loss of loved (or not so loved) ones; and dating.

The writing is detailed enough that it would be easy to see this made into a mini-series or movie. And, I loved the fact that the story is relevant enough to keep me interested AND clean enough that I can allow both of my kids to read it. BOTH read the synopsis on the back of the book, and wanted to know if they could borrow it! :)

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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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