"Bring Me Your Midnight" by Rachel Griffen

 Romeo and Juliet.... but with magic.... and a better ending. 

What if Romeo and Juliet were both witches but from rival covens? 

If that catches your interest, then you will enjoy "Bring Me Your Midnight".

Tana Fairchild has her whole life laid out before her. As the only daughter of the coven leader on their island, it is her job to help bring peace between the witches who live on their island and the humans who live on the mainland. She follows all the rules. She only practices "low magic" during the day at her parent's perfume shop, she never practices magic after dark, and she would never practice the "dark magic" that taught the mainlanders to fear witches in the first place. 

The job Tana's parents have given her is simple. Marry the human governor's son and bring peace and protection to her coven. 

Tana has never questioned the path her parents set her on when she was just a child, but all that changes when she meets a stranger on their beach. A stranger who practices "dark magic" and he will make Tana question everything she has ever known about magic, her coven, and herself.

This book had a bit of a slow start for me as the world building and magic system was established and the characters were introduced. However, I am glad I stuck with it because I flew through the second half of the book. The magic system with it's two different types of magic was very original and well thought out, and the sweet romance in the story set my heart aflutter. I was content with the ending but I do feel like there could be more to the story. Maybe from another character's point of view.

Overall, I gave this one 4 stars.

"Into the Sunken City" by Dinesh Thiru

 A great addition to the Dystopian genre!

In a world of constant rain and danger, only one thing is certain: the waters will continue to rise. 

Jin and her younger sister, Thara, are all that's left of their family. After their father died in an attempt to pull up lost treasure from the depths of the ever expanding ocean, Jin promised herself and her sister that they would never dive again. Instead, they will run the dilapidated inn their father left them and continue to scrimp and save so they can pay their taxes and avoid being conscripted by the navy. 

But surviving in this world of water isn't easy. So when a suspicious woman shows up at the inn offering gold in return for an indefinite stay, Jin knows the stranger is trouble and she should throw her out. But times are hard, and her younger sister is getting closer to conscription age with everyday that passes. Without the stanger's money, Jin may not be able to save herself or her sister from a life of forced service at sea.

However, this stranger wants more than just a warm bed and a meal. She is looking for a crew to help her retrieve the largest treasure ever to be discovered in the depths of what used to be Las Vegas, and she wants Jin and Thara to once again put on the diving suits their father left them and help her retrieve it in return for part of the treasure. 

Jin swore she would never go back in the water, but Thara is desperate to go in the hopes that the treasure will buy them a new life far from the coast and the inn. Jin is torn until one night the stranger's past catches up with her, and Thara, Jin, and her hot ex-boyfriend are drawn into the adventure of a lifetime. 

Sea beasts, pirates, deadly storms and much more. 

If you are looking for an exciting adventure story, then look no further! 

This book was fast paced with engaging characters, and engaging plot and intricate world building. Jin was a little hard to like at times, but with everything that had happened to her in her life, it is totally believable that she would be such a hardened character despite her young age. 

I give this book 4.5 stars!

"Dungeons & Drama" by Kristy Boyce

 Holy cuteness, that was adorable!!!

This book had me laughing out loud at the one liners between the main characters and then tearing up during the intense moments with the main character and her family. I was smiling throughout most of this book and getting weird looks when I would giggle out loud.

I honestly wasn't expecting much when I picked up this book. After reading two paranormal suspense novels followed by a thriller, I was just looking for a fluff novel to break up the intensity of the books I have been selecting lately. 

But I LOVED this book!

I loved the characters, their interactions, the friendships, the family discord and the resolutions, and I LOVED that the theater and gaming were such as integral part of this story.  There aren't many romances out there featuring an outside-of-the-box theater kid and a die hard Dungeons & Dragons gamer. 

THE PREMISE:

After borrowing her mother's car without permission (note: she doesn't have her driver's license) and driving across the state to see the Broadway Musical "Waitress" on tour, musical enthusiast Riley finds herself in deep trouble with her parents. As punishment, Riley is grounded for eight weeks, and to make matters worse, she is forced to take an after school job at her father's gaming store. Dreading spending countless afternoons with a father she hasn't been close to since the divorce, Riley can't help resent working in a store that she believes is part of the reason her parents split. Also, she knows next to nothing about gaming, so how the heck is she supposed to sell gaming products?

Riley would rather be spending her time trying to figure out a way to save their school's spring musical, which has just been cut due to budget reasons. To make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend, who dumped her for his co-star at the community theater, is constantly hanging around giving her pitying looks and showing off his new girlfriend.

However, Riley is not going to sit back and take it. She is going to find a way to save the musical and get back at her ex, but she is going to need the help of her father's supper annoying, if somewhat cute, classmate in order to accomplish her goal. Nathan is a die hard gamer and he has been working with Riley's father for years. After a misunderstanding upon their first meeting, Nathan quickly decides that the sooner Riley is gone, the better. 

But Riley offers him a deal he can't refuse. If Nathan agrees to be Riley's fake boyfriend for the next few weeks in order to wipe the condescending look off of her ex's face, then she will join his D & D group with the sole purpose of flirting with him in front of his crush, Sophia, in order to make her notice him. 

Let's just say that hilarity ensues and the second hand embarrassment is real in this book. And the slow turn from enemies, to friends, and then to Riley wanting more is just..."Chef's Kiss".

"That's Not My Name" by Megan Lally

 Wow!

This one had my heart racing!!! My anxiety went through the roof!

And I LOVED every minute of it!!!!

This might be my new favorite thriller!

If you liked any of the following books,

Then, you will LOVE "That's Not My Name".

A teen girl is found injured and bloody on the side of the road with no memory of who she is or what happened to her.  A police officer happens to stumble across her in the middle of the night and takes her back to the police station to try to figure out what happened. Not long after they arrive, a middle aged man shows up claiming the injured girl is his daughter, and he even has her birth certificate and pictures of her on his phone to prove it. After the police officer verifies the documents, "Mary" is released back into his care, hoping that her memories will return and she will remember this man. However, a series of odd incidents leads "Mary" to question if this man is who he says he is. And if he isn't her father, what does he want with her?

Drew, a teenage boy from a town about 2 hours away, is vilified by the entire town when his girlfriend, Lola, goes missing and he was the last person to see her alive. Most people in the town think Drew killed Lola, including the sheriff. Instead of actually looking for Lola, everyone just expects Drew to tell the police what he did to Lola so her family can have closure. But Drew isn't going to stop looking for Lola, no matter what it takes. With the help of his cousin, Max, and an unlikely ally, Drew finds a lead that proves Lola is still alive and he will do whatever it takes to bring her home. 

This short, fast paced thriller is told in alternating points of view between Drew and "Mary", which I loved but it also drove me nuts at times. I was so desperate to know what was going to happen next with the current character I was reading about that I didn't want to switch points of view.  

The suspense was intense and this is easily one of my favorite books that I have read in the past couple of months. Although it seems like the story is pretty straightforward, there were plenty of twists and turns in the plot that kept me constantly guessing and holding my breath.  I even had tears in my eyes by the end of the book. 

I can already tell I am going to have a Book Hangover after this one. 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

"Holly Horror" by Michelle Jabes Corpora

 Please don't judge this one by it's title...

Or the pink and purple cover with a skull wearing a bonnet.

If you are looking for a ghost story with Annabel vibes, then you need to read this series!

This series has a haunted house, ghosts, creepy dolls that sing creepy songs, and an evil presence that is just waiting to claim it's next victim. 

Sign. Me. Up.

Sixteen-year-old Evie Archer is trying to pull her life together after her parents' messy divorce.  Her father has flown off to Paris to pursue his art career while Evie, her socially ambitious mother, and her younger brother are forced to sell their apartment in New York and move to Ravenglass, Massachusetts. 

Evie's new home is no posh, sleek apartment. It is a giant, creepy, manor house that has set empty for years and is known as the Hobby House. However, most of the citizens of Ravenglass don't refer to the manor as the Hobby House.

It is the "Horror House". 

Forty years ago, a 15 year old girl named Holly Hobby went missing from the house and despite an extensive search by her family and the police, she was never found. Some people believe she ran away, and others believe that she never left that house.

They were right. 

As Evie tries to settle into her new home and her new life, she feels another presence within the house. A series of disturbing experiences drives Evie to start looking into the dark history of the Hobby House, and she discovers that Holly Hobby wasn't the first girl lost to the Hobby House.

And she may not be the last.

This book has everything you need if you want a great creepy ghost story. The scenes where the hauntings took place were very well written and created the perfect vibe for the story. 

I did get a little frustrated with some of Evie's choices throughout the book. I was literally rolling my eyes at some of her decisions, but I guess there is no story or character grow to be had if the main character always makes the right decisions. 

When I started this book, I had no idea it was part of a series. While the main plot of the story is resolved in this book, there is one major reveal at the end that will have you running to pick up the 2nd book.

"The Longest Night" continues Evie's story and takes us even further back into the history of the Hobby House. This was a great sequel that took some inspiration from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Once again, the main plot of the story wraps up in this one, but it is very obvious that there is going to be a third book in the series. 

This is definitely a solid choice for anyone looking for a new horror series. 

Enjoy!

"If I Have to Be Haunted" by Miranda Sun

 

5 Stars!!!

I stayed up way later than I should have to finish this one. 

I'll admit, the cover really sold me on this book. I was definitely in the mood for a fall book with spooky vibes.  Well, the setting is in the fall and there are ghosts in this book but it was not what I was expecting.

I was expecting a spooky rom-com with a cute enemies to lovers style of romance. I was only partly correct, but I  really enjoyed this book.

Cara Tang knows two things:

1. Zach Coleson, the towns perfect, handsome golden boy, is the most irritating and annoying person alive.

2. She can see and talk to ghosts ( Not that she wants to).

Cara is a ghost speaker, like her mother and grandmother before her.  Her grandmother was renowned for her ability and power, but Cara's mother has spent so many years ignoring her gift that she has lost her ability to see ghosts. Now, she wants Cara to follow in her footsteps and leave the family legacy of ghost speaking far behind. 

Cara has always been the dutiful daughter, following her mother's wishes despite her grandmother's ghost constantly encouraging her to embrace her gift. But she has never come close to breaking the promise she made to her mother until she stumbles across the body of the town's golden boy in the woods near her tree house.

Zach Coleson was dead, but he wasn't gone.

If Cara thought Zach was annoying in life, it is nothing compared to him now that he is a ghost.  As the only person who can see or hear Zach's ghost, he has no one else to turn to and he is determined to convince Cara to help him.  As Cara and Zach investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his unusual demise, they discover a loophole. As a ghost speaker, Cara has the ability to resurrect Zach from the dead, but they will have to embark on a dangerous quest through a parallel world to make that happen. 

As Zach and Cara face constant dangers on their quest, they begin to realize that despite knowing each other for their entire lives, they actually don't know each other at all. Revelations come to light and suddenly they are each seeing another side of the other that they never knew existed. 

And as the danger increases, Cara and Zach will have to answer the question:

Will saving Zach cost Cara her own life? And are they each willing to take that chance?

Overall,  I loved the scenes when Cara and Zach interacted. Even when they were fighting, there was so much tension on the page that I was completely absorbed. Then, during their softer interactions, I loved how they slowly opened up to each other and learned knew aspects of each other's lives. 

Also, this book definitely had more of a fantasy feel than I was expecting. In a weird way it reminded me of the movie "Willow" because of the epic quest, all of the obstacles they had to face, and the new characters that were introduced along the way. 

Finally, the ending of this book is clearly paving the wave for more books in this series, or at least more stories set within this world. I look forward to reading the next one!

"I am NOT a Serial Killer" by Dan Wells

 "I am NOT Serial Killer" has been on our library shelves for a few years now, and at the urging of my younger sister and a fellow librarian, I finally moved it to the top of my TBR list.

If you are looking for a dark murder mystery with supernatural vibes, then look no farther!

If you are a fan of the TV show "Dexter",

Or "Criminal Minds",

Or if you are a fan of Barry Lyga's "I Hunt Killers" trilogy,

Then, I strongly recommend "I Am NOT a Serial Killer".

The Book: 

John Wayne Cleaver is a 15 year old teenager.

He is obsessed with learning about serial killers. Reading about them, building profiles on them, writing reports about them, etc. 

He works in a morgue with his mother, his aunt, and his older sister.  He helps embalm the dead before burial.

Oh, and he is a clinically diagnosed sociopath.

John knows he is different than other people. Emotions, attachments and basic empathy are not something he possesses, and from his obsessive study of serial killers, he knows that he has all the major markers of a budding serial killer.

He is fascinated by the dead.

He likes to watch people and stalk them.

He has dark fantasies that would horrifying his family if they knew.

But John also knows that these behaviors are wrong. He knows it is wrong to stalk people, he knows it is wrong to fantasize about death even if he feels nothing. 

So John has rules for himself to prevent himself from going down this path. He is determined to NOT become a serial killer.

However, when a serial killer comes to town and starts murdering the residents of Clayton County, John finds himself tempted in a way he has never been before. 

As the bodies start to pile up, John decides that he is going to let his own monster out and end the serial killer before someone else dies. 

But what John discovers is darker and more horrifying than anything he could have imagined, and now that his own monster has been let out, there is no going back. 

Overall, this was a pretty dark story, which makes sense as the narrator is a sociopath, but the story itself was fast paced and highly engaging.  There were several pulse pounding moments that had goosebumps spring up on my arms and chills running down my back. This was NOT a boring mystery.

MILD SPOILER

I must admit that there were times that I felt more sympathy for the "bad guy" than I did for John. John is a hard character to root for as there is nothing more driving him than his own dark needs and a basic knowledge of right and wrong. The "Bad Guy" in this story had motivations that I could understand even if they made him a monster. 

Read the book and you will know what I am talking about. 

Overall, I would give this book 4.5 stars.

There are 2 other books in the series, but I will be taking a break from this series for now. I think I am going to go find a nice fluffy comedy to read next.