Lies Beneath- Anne Greenwood Brown

Title: Lies Beneath
Author: Anne Greenwood Brown

Publisher: Delacourt Book for young readers
Pages/Format I read it in: Audio Book
Available: NOW

From the Back: Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him [[from goodreads]]

Review: Let me start this off by saying. I have never read a book that involved mermaids where the narrator was male. Now, maybe that's just because I don't read a lot of mermaid books to begin with. I was a little tentative about getting into a mermaid book, there are a lot of them out right now it seems, but I was still hesitant. And man am I glad that I started with Lies Beneath! Not only did I find it extremely enticing because of the perspective of a male protagonist, but he's also a merman or sorts. He has three seriously dangerous sisters, who give me chills. And, then there is Lily, a human that he falls for even though he's supposed to kill her father. Ok, so that part might be used in a lot of other books, but I didn't even mind it in this one. Plus, +5 for all the names! I love the names in this book especially Calder.
Another thing that I loved about this book was how the words flowed, how Calder's dialogue and internal thoughts were totally male. And, it made me laugh with some of its witty dialogue.

Reviewer: Ashe

Sizzling Sixteen- Janet Evanovich

Title:  Sizzling Sixteen
Author:  Janet Evanovich

Publisher: Random House
Pages/Format I read it in: Audio Book
Available: Now

From the Back: Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck. . . .

BAD LUCK:

Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.

GOOD LUCK:

Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.

BAD LUCK:

Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up Mooner’s vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in Ranger’s apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.

GOOD LUCK:

Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner’s Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle, they just might raise enough money to save the business, and Vinnie, from ruin.

BAD LUCK:

Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:

The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky---the only question is . . . with whom? [[from goodreads]]
Review: Vinny is in trouble again. That was the first thought I had while listening to the audio book and shaking my head and chuckling all the same. These books are dangerous to listen to while you're on public transit, let me tell you! I got quiet a few funny looks from my random bursts of laughter. And my fits of laughter only got worse once Mooner and the Hobits get involved (because you know he hosts a Hobit convention and lives in a RV and bakes from pretty...interesting brownies). And oh, you do know I love me some Ranger and Morelli and there is plenty so fret not! As always the dialogue is positively witty, the banter is hilarious and situations are down right head shake worthy. Stephanie always finds herself in trouble, Sizzling Sixteen, is no exception.

Reviewer: Ashe

Matched- Ally Condie

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: Audio book
Release Date: Available

From the back: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow

Review: I've been told before that some of my own plot ideas sound a lot like Matched, but I'd never read it. So, after having it written on my TBR list for almost as long as it's been out, I got my hands on the audio book (because you know my new love for them is huge right?) This was one of the ones that I found something to do just so I could listen to it, or laid in bed listening to it. It's a little bit slow at first, but as the story progresses it got increasingly more interesting, especially as Cassia got more willing to do things she wasn't supposed to be doing, things against the Society.
The relationships between Cassia, Xander, and Ky are excellently written, nothing is over night. They all have a history which is built on and explored and revealed piece by piece throughout the story. The idea that the Society is infallible is something that is common with all Dystopians, but it doesn't seem tired in Matched.
Over all I enjoyed it, it's a great listen :)




Reviewer: Ashe

Smokin Seventeen- Janet Evanovich

Title: Smokin Seventeen
Author: Janet Evanovich


Publisher: Random House
Pages: Audio Book
Release Date: Available


From the Back: Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list. Short on time to find the murderer, Stephanie is also under pressure from family and friends to choose between her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom wants her to dump them both for a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, suggests a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Joe’s old-world grandmother gives Stephanie “the eye,” which may mean that it’s time to get out of town.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke. [[from Random House.com]]

My Review:  This is an adult novel, not young adult.


My second audio book review. Steph is at it again, and three people are out to kill her this time. All I can do is shake my head, this book is full of hilarity as I am coming to believe is classic for the series. I find it hilarious every time her mother tries to set her up with guys that she think would bring her grandbabies. Stephanie and Lula working together always has me in fits of laughter. Morelli I think has gotten hotter, is that possible? I'm starting to shift from the Ranger train to the Morelli express. 


I realize I am reading these totally out of order, but I'm not finding any difficulty with reading them from the most recent to less recent of the books. The way all the characters are introduced it doesn't get old and lets new readers know about them. I feel like I can just jump in anywhere in this large series of books and be right at home there. Did I mention that I love the romance and the complicatedness of it in these books? Well, I do. Not much to complain about in these books, except they always seem to end too soon. They should just stretch on and on and on in one huge super book! Hey, that's not a bad idea...


Reviewer: Ashe

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Title: Explosive Eighteen
Author: Janet Evanovich

Publisher: Random House
Pages: Audio Book
Release Date: Available 


From The Back: Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.
 
Only one other person has seen the missing photo—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.
 
Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?
 
Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii.  And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated. [[from Amazon]]
My Review: This is an adult book, and definitely not young adult


 I've always known audio books were out there, but I never really thought I'd get into them. I couldn't see myself sitting there and just listening. Well, I borrowed my mom's ipod for a day, cleaned the basement, and my room, and walked around with the headphones in my ears giggling to myself at a large majority of Lula's lines, or swooning over Ranger and Morelli. Needless to say, I have been converted to audio book loving. I'm going this review first, simply because this was the first book in the Stephanie Plum series that I've read...er...listened too. Actually it's my first Janet Evanovich novel. 
So although I am eighteen and several holiday novels late onto the scene I loved it. I love all the dialogue, the humour, just the way the characters spoke and how things were described. The reader of the audio book was fantastic with the voices and I think that was one thing that enhanced my enjoyment of it. 
I was literally giggling as I listened. I don't read many adult books, or things that don't have fantasy elements to them, but Explosive Eighteen grabbed me and pulled me in until the very end and left me wanting more.

Reviewer: Ashe

Delirium- Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher:HarperTeen
Pages: Audio book
Release Date:Available

From The Back: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love

Review: I've been meaning to pick up this book for a while, the cover always catches my eye. Okay, it's not just the cover, the whole premise of the book caught my attention back when it came out, only for whatever reason I never picked it up, until I got the audio book from the library this week. The idea that love is a disease, just instantly made me to one of those head turning things that almost cause whiplash.

Well I can tell you that it does not disappoint. I love Lena's character, how she starts off so timid and seemingly afraid of everything in the world that isn't what she's been told by the scientists and family members, and how she grows throughout the entire novel. Turning from what she's lead to believe is true, and following what she feels. The ending was heartbreaking and triumphant, it was a mix of emotions and it was tied up so well that I felt satisfied. I definitely recommend this book as a novel or as an audio book, the audio book is great too.

Reviewer: Ashe

Ascend- Amanda Hocking

Title: Ascend
Author:  Amanda Hocking

Publisher:  St. Martin's
Pages: 326
Release Date: Available 


From The Back: Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself. If she doesn't surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe. But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind...even if it's the only way to save them?


The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn't the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she's about to make the ultimate choice...who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life--and now all their lives might be coming to an end.


Everything has been leading to this moment. The future of her entire world rests in ehr hands--if she's ready to fight for it.


My Review:  I picked up Ascend a few days after I finished Torn. I needed this book so badly, I was hooked. Ascend certainly does not disappoint. I loved it just as much as I loved Torn, more probably because of the ending. Though, the final battle seemed like it was over too quickly, to me. But I enjoyed it none the less. There were heart breaking scenes and scenes that really did make me cry. I didn't want the series to end, but if it had too, this book was the icing on the cake. 

Reviewer: Ashe