Tag: New Adult

Touch of Smoke by Karissa Laurel

Touch of Smoke by [Laurel, Karissa]

5 Stars

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing

Date of publication: February 8th, 2019

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, New Adult

Where you can find Touch of Smoke: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Three years ago, Rikki Albemarle watched her best friend die at the hands of a supernatural evil. Certain she was slated to be the next victim, Rikki fled her small Smoky Mountain hometown, vowing to never come back. Plagued by nightmares and knowing she’s the only one who believes Mina’s death was no accident, Rikki returns with hopes of finding answers and holding the killer accountable.

Rikki is convinced the key to unlocking the secret of Mina’s death lies with Owen Amir, the alluring young army vet who once claimed her heart. But the deeper Rikki digs into Owen’s past, the more she’s torn between the urgings of her heart and her memories of him on the night Mina died.

After falling further into the rabbit hole, Rikki lands at the feet of an ancient and powerful evil determined to finish what it started years before. To survive, she’ll have to make a decision: believe Owen is the monster she always feared he might be or trust him enough to stay and fight for a second chance at love.

My Review:

Touch of Smoke was a fantastic read. I don’t give 5-star reviews easily. A book has to capture my attention and keep it. I have to form a connection with both the male and female lead. Touch of Smoke hit all those and then some.

Touch of Smoke has a dual plotline. One takes place in the past and the other in the present. Usually, I don’t like that type of plotlines. In my experience, this type of plotlines generally gets me confused. Which in turns makes me lose interest in the book. In this case, though, the author was obvious when she was switching from the past to the present/the present to the past. She also did not give away what happened in the past. There were hints, but nothing prepared me for what happened. She also did a fantastic job of merging the two storylines mid-book. It was flawless.

The main plotline of Touch of Smoke centers around Erika (or Rikki), Owen and what happened that night her best friend, Mina, was killed. Rikki came back to town to face her demons, which meant that she had to face Owen and his role in what happened that night. When an ancient evil arrives in Evansville, Rikki needs to make a choice. Will she trust Owen and help him? Or will Rikki stand aside and let that evil destroy him? If she does help him, what will be the price that she pays?

I loved Rikki. She was a tough cookie. She was also the hardest working character that I have come across in a while. This woman worked two jobs while going to a community college. She was an EMT, and she worked in stable, cleaning stalls. I did think she was silly for pushing Owen away. I wanted to reach through the book and shake her. Her actions at the end of the book were amazing. And selfless.

I fell in love with Owen every time he showed up in the book. Who wouldn’t? He was an Army veteran who fell head over heels with Rikki. I loved that he didn’t push her into doing anything that she didn’t want to do. He let her set the bar for their relationship. He did have his secrets, though. I liked how the author revealed them.

The romance angle of Touch of Smoke was terrific. I loved seeing Owen and Rikki’s relationship evolve. It wasn’t Instalove (far from it). The author chose to have Owen and Rikki date and go from there. The scene where Rikki decides to throw caution to the wind was poignant. Mainly because of what happened a few days (at least I think it was a few days) later.

The fantasy angle of Touch of Smoke was terrific also. I liked how the author took the jinn myth and made it her own. I had no issue believing that jinns weren’t like Genie from Aladdin. Instead, they were out for themselves. The story that Owen tells about the boy, the ring and the jinn explains everything.

The end of Touch of Smoke broke my freaking hearts into little bits. Like I mentioned above, what Rikki did was selfless. I was ugly crying in the chapter after that. Of course, I liked how the author had Owen explain everything to Rikki in a story, including what he did after. But still. Ugly Crying. In the middle of the day. Enough said!!

I would give Touch of Smoke an Older Teen rating. There is sex (nothing graphic). There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread Touch of Smoke. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Friends with Benefits (Beta Brothers: Book 2) by Hazel Kelly

Friends with Benefits: A Steamy College Romance (Beta Brothers #2) by [Kelly, Hazel]

4 Stars

Publisher:

Date of publication: August 8th, 2018

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Series: Beta Brothers

My Best Friend’s Ex—Book 1

Friends with Benefits—Book 2

Where to find Friends with Benefits: Amazon

Synopsis:

Carter’s been crazy about Nina since the first time he saw her emerald eyes, but his fratastic reputation landed him in the friend zone before he even had a chance to say, “How you doin’?”

So when Nina suggests they become friends with benefits, he can’t believe his luck. 

After all, once he’s gotten in her pants, winning her heart should be easy… right?

**This is a full-length, standalone romance novel with no cliffhanger, no cheating, and a heart-swelling HEA. 

My review:

I am guilty of judging this book before I even read it. I thought this book was going to be all sex and minimal plot. The blurb and the cover didn’t add much to the opinion I formed. Then I read the book. I gotta tell y’all, I was surprised and pleased!! I love it when a book turns out to be the exact opposite of what I thought it was going to be.

I enjoy it when I read a romance where the main characters have some sort of friendship of sorts. Nina and Carter know each other through their best friends, who are dating. Their relationship was friendly for months before they hooked up. Their friendship made their transition into FB’s pretty easy.

Nina and Carter’s sexual relationship was hot. I did laugh when she was amazed by the size of Carter’s package. I would have had the same thoughts. I also liked that the sexual tension and attraction didn’t fade as I read the book. The author did a fantastic job of keeping it hot until the end of the book. 95% of the romances I read have the sex scene fizzle out after the first time.

I liked Nina and I agreed with Sadie after reading the first couple of chapters. She needed a FB. I understood why she didn’t want a relationship. If I had been treated that way by my exes, I would have the same feelings. I also understood why she had rules when she instigated to FB arrangement with Carter. She did kind of annoy me at points in the book. She got jealous way to easy. She was willing to believe that Carter was seeing other people besides her. She was too stubborn to see that Carter cared about her. Why else would he have brought her dinner (with cheesecake!!) on Valentines Day?

I loved Carter. He was perfect for Nina. I liked how he took things slow with her. He had feelings for before she approached him to be her FB. It was like Christmas and his birthday rolled into one when that happened. When they broke up, even though he instigated it, he was as hurt as she was. I loved seeing a guy who was in touch enough with his feelings to admit that.

The book ended on a positive note. I liked that everything was resolved. I liked that future plans were made. I can’t wait to see Nina and Carter in other books. I can’t wait to see how their relationship progressed.

I would give Friends with Benefits an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is some mild violence. There are triggers. They would be alcoholism. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Friends with Benefits. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Friends with Benefits.

All opinions stated in this review of Friends with Benefits are mine.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Storyteller’s Throne by Jocelyn Bates

The Storyteller's Throne

2 Stars

Publisher: Independent Book Publisher’s Association, Member’s Titles

Date of publication: April 24th, 2018

Genre: New Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Where you can find The Storyteller’s Throne: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Grace was born a storyteller with a beautifully brilliant mind. Trauma twisted her reality into a tale of darkness. Now, at eighteen, Grace has found herself on the shores of a shadow world created to heal a generation. A world whose purpose is to release our emotions from the bonds of youth.

But she is not alone. It’s a world inhabited by others, those working on their own hearts and one other like herself. An amazing and yet afflicted empath and musician by the name of Kai that Grace feels inexplicably drawn to.

Will she be able to handle the suppressed memories of her youth? Accept the vulnerability necessary to explore her own heart and that of another? Fulfill the true purpose it seems she is destined to serve?

Come along with Grace as she learns to uncover her past, harness her gift, open her heart to love and embrace her future.

My review:

I was intrigued when I read the blurb for The Storyteller’s Throne. A woman, scarred by traumatic events that happened in her life, finds herself in a world that can help her heal. It caught my interest. I wanted to know how this world would help her heal. I also wanted to know who Kai was and why Grace had such a connection to him. So I decided to read the book. For the most part, I liked the book. But it was the direction the book took towards the end that made me go “WTH” and give it the rating I did.

Grace’s story disturbed me. She was raped by someone when she was 6 years old. I didn’t like having to read about a 6-year-old being raped. I understood why the author chose to have Grace react the way she did to the rape. Her unresolved feelings led her down a road of self-harm. But once she got into the Shadow Lands, she was forced to face and accept what she went through. But, then her story took a turn that I didn’t expect. Her romance with Kai wasn’t expected as was her traveling into the future. I will get into that later in the review. I couldn’t connect with her.

I felt bad for Kai. His story was different from Grace’s but it was also similar. Kai didn’t speak. He could speak but chose not too. He chose to speak through his music. His entire life, he had been compared to his older brothers and fell short. Falling into addiction, Kai ends up in The Shadow Lands the same time as Grace. I would have loved it if the author kept his character on that path. Instead, he went down a path where he fell in love with Grace. It almost seemed like an obsessive love, to be honest. He was more relatable to than Grace but I still didn’t have a connection.

I would have been fine with the book if it hadn’t gone into an anti-medication rant. Then Grace went into the future. There the adults were medicating themselves and the kids to keep them easy to manage. But the minute that mental health medication was blamed for the kids being zombies, I went “Oh no. This book didn’t go there.” That affected my rating.

Also, I didn’t like that there was Instalove. Instalove is fine in some books but in this one, no. I couldn’t with this book. I also couldn’t deal with Grace and Kai having sex. While I understand that it was healing, it didn’t do it for me.

The end of The Storyteller’s Throne confused me. I am not going to get into it but there were several situations that made me go “What!!” and “How on earth did she not know that?” and “Well, chaos didn’t happen, so now what“. None of the storylines were wrapped up. Which either was an oversight or the author is planning a book 2. I was left unsatisfied with the ending.

I gave The Storyteller’s Throne a 2-star rating. I could not connect with any of the characters. I would have been OK with the book if it hadn’t turned into an anti-medication rant. And there was Instalove.

I would give The Storyteller’s Throne an Older Teen rating. There is sex. There is violence. There is mild language. There are triggers. There are child rape, self-harm, and drug use. Also, there is a strong anti-medication for mental illness in the last half of the book. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would not reread The Storyteller’s Throne. I also would not recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Independent Book Publisher’s Association, Member’s Titles, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Storyteller’s Throne.

All opinions stated in this review of The Storyteller’s Throne are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Have you read The Storyteller’s Throne?

Love it? 

Hate it?

Meh about it?

Let me know!!!

Snow (The Black Ice Trilogy: Book 1) by Mikayla Elliot

Snow (The Black Ice Trilogy, #1)

3.5 Stars

Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association, Member’s’ Titles

Date of publication: July 31st, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, New Adult

Where you can find Snow: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Series: Black Ice Trilogy

Snow – Book 1

Blizzard – Book 2

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Taken from all she has ever known and loved, Neva finds herself swept into a world of vampires where she learns she will determine their future. Yet she quickly discovers she is the target of a vampire, Zachariah, seeking to stop her from altering the vampire lineage. She must decide which path she will take while trying to protect the family she left behind and discovering a past she cannot escape.

My review:

When I started reading this book, I thought that it was going to be a vampire Snow White type of book. I don’t know why I thought that, but I did. If I paid more attention to the blurb, I would have seen that.  Oh well.

I don’t understand how Snow was labeled as a young adult novel. Neva, the main character, was married. If I were to guess at her age, I would put her in her early to mid-’20s. I thought that his book was better suited for the NA genre than YA. But that’s me. Someone else could have a different take on it. Which is a wonderful thing about writing reviews. No one’s opinions are wrong. Unless you didn’t read the book and give your opinion, then I don’t pay attention to those reviews.

I liked the plot of Snow. I thought that it was original. Neva is brought into the vampire world when her life was almost taken in an attack. She is thrust into the middle of a conspiracy that will leave everyone reeling. Can Neva bring Zachariah to his knees and save the vampire lineage? Or will she become a pawn in an ancient war?

I liked Neva but I found her whiny for most of the book. Yes, she had a terrible shock when she was turned. It would have been a huge shock for anyone. Even after Thedryk explained why she was turned and who she was, she still whined about it. She didn’t understand the danger she was in. For an adult, she didn’t act like one. I did like that she wised up during the last half of the book. Seeing what happened to her family shocked her into wising up.

I didn’t think that Zachariah wasn’t that bad of a guy for most of the book. Yes, he didn’t like Neva and yes, he was only with Eliza because he cared about the power. The author showed a 100% different side to him when he was interacting with his adopted daughter. He cared for them. I honestly don’t think that he is going to be as bad as he was made out to be. I do think it is awful what he did in the last half of the book. But it didn’t go with what the author showed. I wonder if there is more to his story and if it will be revealed in book 2.

I loved what the author did with the vampires in this book. While these vampires need human blood, they don’t need it that often. They can eat regular food but it doesn’t do anything for them. Not everyone can be turned into a vampire, though. The author explained that people can be turned into vampires have a special aura. The vampires can see it but can only turn if they have permission from the Council. If someone is turned who doesn’t have the special aura, they become something out of a nightmare. The author also had the vampires have a special gift. Some are stronger than others but everyone has it.

There is even a science fiction angle of Snow. There is a vampire that can open portals into different dimensions. It is explained more thoroughly in the book. I found it fascinating and wished that it has been added sooner in the book.

The end of Snow was action packed and moved very fast. What happened to Zachariah, he deserved it. But it was the end of the book that made me go what. First with the introduction of a famous fictional character. Then it was who was introduced in the very last pages of the book. It is that revelation that makes me excited to read the next book in the series.

What I liked about Snow:

A) How the vampires were portrayed

B) Neva’s storyline

C) The science fiction angle

What I disliked about Snow:

A) Neva. She was a whine bag for most of the book

B) Zachariah. I was on the fence with him for most of the book. But the ending events turned me

C) What happened to Neva’s family

I would give Snow an Older Teen rating. There is no sex or sexual situations. There is violence. There is no language.

I would reread Snow. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Independent Book Publisher’s Association, Member’s Titles, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Snow.

All opinions stated in this review of Snow are mine.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Begin Again (Again: Book 1) by Mona Kasten

Begin Again (Again, #1)

4 stars

Publisher: be-ebooks

Date of publication: November 14th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction, New Adult

Number of pages: 278

POV: 1st person

Series: Again

Begin Again – Book 1

Where you can find Begin Again: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

He makes the rules. She breaks them all.

A new start. It’s the only thing keeping Allie Harper going when she packs up her life and moves across the country to Woodshill, Oregon. She’s about to start college, desperate to leave the ghosts of her past behind her. Even if that means never talking to her parents again.

Now the hard part – finding an apartment before classes start. Just when it seems she’ll have to live out of her car, Allie visits one more place. It’s beautiful. With one exception: can she stand being roommates with campus bad boy Kaden White? Sure, Kaden is sexy with his tattoos and careless attitude, but he’s also an arrogant jerk. With nowhere else to go, Allie moves in.

The first thing Kaden does is make a set of rules. Either Allie obeys, or she’s out:

1. Don’t talk about your girl problems.
2. Keep your mouth shut if I bring someone home.
3. We will NEVER hook up.

Easy enough, thinks Allie. Who would want to get involved with a brute like Kaden? But the more she gets to know him, the more she sees beyond his gruff facade. He, too, is harboring some painful secrets. For Kaden and Allie, it gets harder and harder to ignore the sparks between them. And the lines between the rules start to blur-

Begin Again is a beautiful romance that shows us just how possible it is to start over. To find freedom in heartbreak and love in the most unlikely places.

Trigger Warning: rape, sexual abuse, talk of suicide

Continue reading “Begin Again (Again: Book 1) by Mona Kasten” →

Aaru (The Aaru Cycle: Book 1) by David Meredith

Aaru (The Aaru Cycle Book 1) by [Meredith, David]

Title: Aaru

Author: David Meredith

Publisher: Unknown

Date of publication: July 9th, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Science Fiction

Number of pages: 295

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Aaru Cycle

Aaru – Book 1

Where you can find Aaru: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

“…Death and the stillness of death are the only things certain and common to all in this future…” 
-Friedrich Nietzsche 

Rose is dying. Her body is wasted and skeletal. She is too sick and weak to move. Every day is agony and her only hope is that death will find her swiftly before the pain grows too great to bear. 

She is sixteen years old. 

Rose has made peace with her fate, but her younger sister, Koren, certainly has not. Though all hope appears lost Koren convinces Rose to make one final attempt at saving her life after a mysterious man in a white lab coat approaches their family about an unorthodox and experimental procedure. A copy of Rose’s radiant mind is uploaded to a massive supercomputer called Aaru – a virtual paradise where the great and the righteous might live forever in an arcadian world free from pain, illness, and death. Elysian Industries is set to begin offering the service to those who can afford it and hires Koren to be their spokesmodel. 

Within a matter of weeks, the sisters’ faces are nationally ubiquitous, but they soon discover that neither celebrity nor immortality is as utopian as they think. Not everyone is pleased with the idea of life everlasting for sale. 
What unfolds is a whirlwind of controversy, sabotage, obsession, and danger. Rose and Koren must struggle to find meaning in their chaotic new lives and at the same time hold true to each other as Aaru challenges all they ever knew about life, love, and death and everything they thought they really believed. 

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “Aaru (The Aaru Cycle: Book 1) by David Meredith” →

I Need You Tonight (Pushing Limits: Book 3) by Stina Lindenblatt

I Need You Tonight (Pushing Limits #3)

Title: I Need You Tonight

Author: Stina Lindenblatt

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 11th, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Number of pages: 302

Series: Pushing Limits

This One Moment – Book 1

My Song for You – Book 2 (review here)

I Need You Tonight – Book 3

Where you can find I Need You Tonight: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Old habits die-hard. But in this sexy, heartwarming romance, a musician who’s addicted to the temptations of the road falls for a good girl who makes him want to clean up his act.
 
Mason Dell’s band, Pushing Limits, is a sensation, and he’s having a blast on their biggest tour yet. Then he gets a call from his best friend, who’s in the Navy, asking him to find out why his sister isn’t answering her phone. The dude once saved Mason’s life from a suicide attempt related to a gambling problem—so the two-and-a-half hour drive from L.A. to her small town is nothing.
 
What he finds is a sweet, successful boutique owner who’s too busy to notice when her phone dies. Nicole McCormick has nothing better to do than work. She’s bored with all the men she’s been dating: stable, career-oriented guys who are nothing like her destructive father. Mason’s is a breath of fresh bad-boy air. Their sexual connection is explosive, and with her shop undergoing renovations, Nicole even joins Pushing Limits on the road. But when Mason falls off the wagon, that’s one path she swore she’d never go down again.
 
While Nicole picks up her broken heart and heads home, Mason misses her like crazy. Although he wants to forge a future with her, he just doesn’t know how to leave the past behind. But for love, it’s time to learn.

Possible triggers: Gambling

Continue reading “I Need You Tonight (Pushing Limits: Book 3) by Stina Lindenblatt” →

The Bucket List by Emma Ruben

The Bucket List

Title: The Bucket List

Author: Emily Ruben

Publisher: Inkitt

Date of publication: June 21st, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Young Adult

Number of pages: 404

POV: 1st person

Where you can find The Bucket List: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Leah thought that the turmoil in her life had come to an end. That is, until the boy-next-door who’s just moved in, turns out to be none other than her old childhood best friend, Damon. Rekindling their friendship, the two become inseparable and life seems perfect until Leah learns a tragic secret; Damon is terminally ill and has only one more year to live. 

Leah and Damon decide to embark on an adventure to have the time of their lives and cross out every to-do on their ‘Bucket List’. With the clock ticking and time precious, will they be able to complete every goal before time runs out?

Continue reading “The Bucket List by Emma Ruben” →

A Chosen War by Carly Eldridge

A Chosen War

Title: A Chosen War

Author: Carly Eldridge

Publisher: REUTS Publication

Date of publication: April 25th, 2017

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, New Adult, Romance

POV: 3rd person

Number of pages: Unknown

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Nineteen-year-old Maia has spent her life haunted by dreams of a man with uniquely brilliant blue eyes. She never expected she’d actually come face-to-face with him, or that he’d be the harbinger of a chaotic new life. But as shocking as meeting Blake is, it’s less unsettling than her sudden ability to adversely affect electronics and seemingly control—even heal—plants.

Before she can figure out what’s happening, Blake’s cryptic warning about the impending approach of something big manifests as a freak earthquake, destroying Maia’s home and killing her parents. Devastated, Maia has no choice but to turn to Blake, where she learns that the earthquake was not as natural as it seemed. The reigning Terra guardian, or Mother Earth, has gone rogue, wiping out her replacements in a series of orchestrated natural disasters around the world—and Maia is next.

Worse, she’s the only one who can stop the Terra guardian from destroying not just Earth, but the fabric of the universe itself. Now, thrust into a world of celestial beings charged with the protection of the universe, Maia must come to terms with her new powers and the idea that her destiny was shaped long ago. And she must do it all before she faces off with the woman who controls nature itself.

Intelligent and thought-provoking, A Chosen War takes the idea that everything is connected and wraps it in a globe-spanning adventure with just a tinge of romance.

My review:

For those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I have recently started reviewing New Adult books. The genre is growing on me. As with all genres’, you have the exceptional books, the good books, and the bad books. A Chosen War falls somewhere between exceptional and good.  Why does it fall between exceptional and good? Because I didn’t feel that connection with two of the main characters….which is important in books that I review. What also caused this book to fall exceptional and good was that the plot seemed to creep at points.

I think that A Chosen War did fit into the paranormal, fantasy, romance, and New Adult perfectly. I loved that there were guardians (or praeses) of the earth, animals, plants, air, water, and the moon with mythical guardians, called Talis, who guard the Council that watches over them. It was a perfect blend of mythology (angels, demons) and the author’s own imagination. The way that each praeses interacted with their environment was pretty cool. Blake was the praeses of the Sun, Leo was the animals, Reed was the plants, Lana was water, Poppy was Air and Selene was the moon. The ruler of them all was Gaia (Earth). Actually, the Sun ruled them all but Gaia co-ruled with him…if that makes sense. They were like the King and Queen of the praeses.

Maia, I actually didn’t like at first. She was socially awkward, riddled with anxiety and really didn’t want to be the new Gaia. She even kept pushing Blake away. Well until Russia and then she did a 180…which drove me nuts. I understand that her past made her not trust people. Also, I didn’t like that the author started mentioning her past with her abusive grandparents and then just dropped it. Again, something that makes me go nuts.

Blake was too patient, in my eyes. It must have killed him to not say anything and let her find everything out for herself. I am going to say this, I thought his written Australian accent was kinda annoying. The expression “Yeah-nah” drove me absolutely crazy when I saw it. Also, he decided to and go live with Heidi and look how that turned out (read the book)

I did find the romance between Maia and Blake to be very cute but almost too sweet. Actually the romances between Leo and Lana, Reed and Selene, Poppy and Mac were the same way. Saccharine sweet. I did like that they were able to communicate without talking. Which was very helpful when Blake was living with Heidi because she couldn’t read his thoughts.

Heidi was a bad, bad girl. She struck a deal with an unknown man (he wasn’t revealed until the end of the book). She was abusive towards Selene and decided to exterminate her replacements and succeeded until Maia. Put it this way, she was so bad that her powers were voluntarily leaving her and going to Maia….which is something that was unheard of.

The end of the book was a cliffhanger, which I didn’t like. I do want to read book 2 because I need to find out about certain things/events.

How many stars will I give A Chosen War: 3

Why: While I loved the storyline, I couldn’t connect with either Blake or Maia. I also felt that some of the dialogue was a little annoying (like Blake saying “Yeah-nah”….a lot) and that the story did lag between Blake going to live with Heidi and the end of the book. But, saying that, I did like the “treat the Earth right” theme that ran through it and I am interested in reading book 2 when it is published

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe

Age range: Late teen

Why: Language, violence, and some sexual situations

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

A Soul To Take (Soul Eaters Trilogy: Book 1) by Emily Taylor

A Soul to Take (Soul Stealers Trilogy, #1)

Title: A Soul To Take

Author: Emily Taylor

Publisher: REUTS Publications

Date of publication: April 4th, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Futuristic, Urban Fantasy

Number of pages: 481

POV: 1st person

Series: Soul Stealers Trilogy

A Soul To Take – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The world has changed: demons of legend now live among humans, integrated into society through Government programs, wishing for peace.

Elixia Albelin, however, isn’t sold. As an Agent-in-training, she knows firsthand the blood-thirst of demons and isn’t jumping to befriend the monsters plaguing her dreams.
But when a mission sours, Elixia’s sister is caught in the crossfire: taken. Abandoned by those meant to protect her family, Elixia is left with only one option if she wants to retrieve her sister—a taboo option that goes against everything she believes in.

She must sell her soul.

Now, bound to a beast and living on borrowed time, Elixia has to navigate the demonic world to find her sister within a cesspool of human traffickers and serial killers. Enemies control her fate, the simplest truths are questioned, and misperceptions must be shattered. Only one thing remains consistent—Elixia must find her sister before time runs out. Or become the very thing she fears most: a soulless monster.

Gritty, powerful, and exciting, A Soul to Take is a gripping début that explores prejudice, justice, and the consequences one family faces when those two collide.

My review:

I have been on the fence about New Adult books. I have read some that could have been classed as a true Young Adult and then others that made me wonder why it was classed as New Adult. Not that I didn’t like reading those books, I did, but I thought that they were miscategorized. Luckily, A Soul To Take definitely fits into this category.

I really liked Elixia. She just didn’t stop….even when she was told too. She was determined to find Shellie (Sarafina) after Shellie was abducted from their shared apartment by demons. During that same abduction, Elixia was basically killed but brought back and Marked by an unknown demon. Her being Marked had unexpected ramifications. She was put on leave at her job and had to cover the Mark up. She was also reckless and took unnecessary risks. But that is what made the book, in my eyes. She also had a bad temper and was basically persona non grata at any of the events that the noble’s had.

The whole demon aspect fascinated me. To me, the demons acted like vampires. They needed blood to survive, like vamps, but unlike vampires, they could go out in the sun. Actually, according to the book, they loved the sun and had a whole nation in the sunny part of the world (where Elixia lived was kinda like Seattle….always raining and gloomy). They had saved humankind during a war and all they asked was to be fully integrated into human society. Not that they weren’t bad, I mean they are demons after all, but some weren’t as bad as others….if that made sense. The evil demons, called The Network, ran human trafficking rings where children and adults were sold to the highest bidder. All for their blood. These same demons were the same ones who kidnapped Shellie and when Elixia found out, I could totally understand why she was frantic to get her back. See, those adults and children were only used for their blood. They were drained, or Kissed, and discarded. So totally understand Elixia’s fear.

Sebastian/Damien was such a tease during the book and I loved it. I loved how the author kinda strung you along with him. I mean, you know nothing about him except he was a very powerful demon and he worked for Elixia’s Maker. It took until about 40% into the book or so for the author to drop a couple of big bombshells about him (read the book if you want to find out what). I also couldn’t figure out if he had feelings for Elixia or not. I thought I had it figured out when he fed on her but he wiped her memory and the next chapter picked up after she blacked out. Drove me absolutely bonkers but again, I loved it.

The sub-storylines in the book (all of them) were all wrapped up by the end of the book except the one with Angelica and the humanoids. That should make things interesting in the second book because of what the humanoids contain (again read the book if you want to find out what). Angelica was also very interesting and kinda creepy. I am going to go out on a limb and say she will be in book 2, along with the humanoids.

The last part of the book, notice I didn’t say ending, had a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. A couple of them are huge and I am wondering about those (don’t want to spoil the book!!) and how they will play out in the trilogy.

How many stars will I give A Soul To Take: 4

Why: This was a great, action-packed book with an awesome take on demons. While some people might think that it’s too long, its 418 pages, I thought that it was the perfect length. The characters are intriguing (notice I didn’t say likable because some of them weren’t) and the storylines were compelling. Definitely looking forward to reading the next two books!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Older Teen

Why: Violence, some mild language, and one sexual situation

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**