Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan
*****

The Kingdom of Xyian is left in the hands of Xylara's, half brother, who knows virtually nothing about running the kingdom, and is on the brink of losing it altogether. Lara has learned the art of healing. She helps those that need help including their prisoners that have been taken in during this war. she is kind, tries to learn their language, and help them to heal from there injuries. They are a little confused at her willingness to help them as well as her methods for healing. In the end they are greatful to her for saving their lives and limbs. The Warlord offer a cease-fire on conditions that he can have Xylara, as the Warprize. The king can't refuse such an offer, and sends his sister to the Warlord, as the Warprize. Lara thinks she is to be his slave, but is still willing to do this thing to keep the peace and save her people.
This was a delightful story of love, two peoples trying to come together and form a strong nation. This process however is not easy and there are many adventures along the way. I loved learning the customs of the Firelanders, they are set up similar to a tribal society. I loved the part in the story were they do Pattern Dancing and I had to laugh at the token bucket, sometimes. The characters in this story are so richly developed, and I loved them all. Marcus Keir's(warlord) friend and do it all guy, was great! he was funny, witty, clever, and an amazing friend to both Keir and Lara. I loved Xylara, she was smart,and strong, self sacrificing for the over all good of everyone, in love, and scared at times, but so courageous. Keir is one of my favorite male heroes so strong, full of chilvary, takes care of his people, in love, and oh so sensitive and gentle with Lara and her needs. *swoon* So many other amazing character in this story that I love, I will leave you to explore and get to know them yourselves. I loved everything about this story, it was really well written and the plot was interesting, the romance was perfect not to much, but not to little either. I look forward to enjoying the rest of this series.

few language issues
Clean romance does push it alittle
Adult read

Vanish by Sophie Jordan
*****

What a great sequel to Firelight. This story immediately picks up were Firelight left off. Jacinda had done what she felt necessary to save the boy she loved, Will. With that will come consequences, she has endangered the Pride,and possibly lost Will forever.
As Jacinda and her family arrive back home they are immediately meet with hostility,question, and judgement. Thanks to Cassian punishment is lighter, as long as Jacinda, stays in line, fallows the rules and gives up on Will, the human, the hunter. Can and will Jacinda do that?Jacinda's sister Tamra has suffered, and gained some in all this, however since being brought home she has been sent to live with Nadia. Jacinda's mom has a hard time back with the Pride as does Jacinda. She isn't exactly the favorite amongst the Pride any longer. In fact Cassian is the only one who is still friendly to her. She is actually greatful for him. She wonders at moments if there might could be more to the two of them. She knows she should forget about Will and be happy, so she tries. Events happen and Will appears, What will this mean for Jacinda, Cassian, Tamra and the Pride?
This was a wonderful written story and I couldn't put it down, read it in one day. I just had to find out what was going to happen to them all. This continuing story didn't disappoint. It was full of adventure,romance, and tension. I felt for Jacinda and what she was going through. She is so strong,courageous, a little selfish, hopeful and so in love. Will is amazing goes after what he wants, sacrifices, loves deeply , and is swoon worthy. Cassian is one of my favorites in this story, he is so amazing with Jacinda he protects her,full of chivalry, kind, sacrifices,courageous, and in love. Tamra, Tamra...lots happens with her in this story sometimes I was so frustrated with her. Many twists and turns in this wonderfully crafted story, that I totally enjoyed. I am already looking forward to the next book!

One or two language issues
Clean romance

ARC given to me by Netgalley

The Girl In The Steel Corset By Kady Cross
*****

This was my first Steam Punk read, and I have to say, I completely enjoyed it. I like how you have the Victorian setting in England during the 1800's but there are also some of the machines from today, howbeit somewhat in crude form. It was interest to see what new mechanical device would appear next. This story is about Finley who is a strong, independent, kind, and stubborn girl who has trust issues, and is going through changes she can not explain. Through certain events she is quite literally put in the path of the handsome and wealthy Griffin Duke of Greythorne. He noticed she has special abilities and tells her she is like him and his friends, and that she should stay with them. Which true enough Griffin does have an amazing group of friends, who are unique with special abilities. We have Sam, who is strong and willing to sacrifice his life for his friends. He at times is very annoying, stubborn, full of chivalry and naive. Emily is a cute little thing good friend, smart, kind, and willing to sacrifice for others. Jasper is witty, handsome, fast and a good friend. Griffin is the glue in a sense that holds them all together, he is smart, handsome,full of chivalry, kind and good to others. I really enjoyed his character a lot. Finley is fun to watch. She is now on the adventure of her life, trying to figure out what is going on with herself, wondering whom she can and can not trust and what to think of feelings toward certain men in her life. Oh I cannot forget Jack Dandy, he is an interesting character who Finely has some associations with, must say quite intriguing. The group of friends must figure out their loyalties to each other as they let Finley into their group, of which they know very little about. Griffin also has a case to solve concerning the Machinist, and it is quite personal.
This was a such a fun an intriguing read, writing was great and flowed smoothly. My favorite part of this book were the characters, and how well developed they each were. The relationships and dialog amongst them was great. Felt like I was right there with them. Story was intriguing with lots of twist and turns. There is a wonderful romance or two a brewing, which is what I love, could have a little more in this one, but I have great hopes that the next book will have even more. A definite must read!


Some language
Clean romance

Flawless by Lara Chapman
****

Sarah has a flaw or does she? This is a cute retailing of Shakespeare's Roxanne. A coming of age story, how we perceive ourselves as to how others really see us. There were wonderful quotes at the beginning of each chapter here is one of my favorites: "I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may-light,shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful." by John Constable.
Sarah and her best friend Kristen start the new school year the same as always, except for gorgeous Rockford is the new amazing guy in their high school. Rock is handsome, smart, attentive, and fun. Well Sarah and Kristen both have a crush on Rock. Sarah has rarely fallen for a guy, while her best friend Kristen goes through guys fairly quickly. Once Kristen has her eye's set on something it is full steam ahead, and since Sarah thinks they look good together and she loves her best friend she agrees to Kristen's scheming to catch Rock. This story was fun and light, but at the same time delves into the topics of appearances and liking ourselves the way we are and not giving into the social acceptable perfect looks. So what her nose is a little big, but does her nose have to define everything about her? Does it make her ugly? Who defines ugly? The writing flowed smoothly, the characters were interesting. I enjoyed the best friend relationship, how they were there for each other. Sarah is smart, funny and witty, and self sacrificing almost to a fault. Kristen is the fluffy, beautiful best friend. A quick fun, light story, with a point.


fair amount of swearing
clean romance
one brief underage beer party pretty mild

Summer Wishes by Kailin Gow
****

What a book of revelations. Jocelyn is awaiting her 18th birthday to get her life's plan. She is very distraught about the hole ordeal because she and Matthew are in love and chances are won't be in each others life plan. Matthew wants to leave Arcadia, just like Jocelyn's brother Jacob and girlfriend Melanie did. What would life be on the outside, are they ready to give up the familiar? Then a blue heart arrives and everything changes! Is Arcadia as perfect as it appears or are there secrets that are to inconceivable to even think about? Great little story had me cheering and cringing often. I love the character development, the flow of the writing, and how I feel transported to Arcadia. I can hardly wait for the next book, I have really enjoyed this series.

clean language
clean romance

Legacy by Cayla Kluver
*****

WOW! This book was amazing! I loved everything about it, the characters were well developed, the storyline was intriguing, the romance was great, descriptions of surroundings were wonderful. It was the perfect book for me. I love fairy tales and fantasy books and this just became my favorite. I am trying to think were to begin it was all so good,and I don't want to give anything away. Princess Alera of Hytanica Kingdom is coming of age to marry. Her father is ready to relinquish his title to whom ever Alera marries. However who ever Alera chooses to marry must be approved by her father, and their is thus far only one man that he feels can take his place, Steldor. Steldor is handsome and full of chivalry but.... he is also full of himself and rightly so. Steldor is amazing he is the best of the best. Best Knight, best in his class,he is charming, all the women adore him, and he drives Alera crazy with his arrogance. Then enters Narian a handsome and mysteries young man. He has arrived from a rival kingdom, many questions are raised about him, is he a threat, why is he their, what does he want? On top of all of this there are secrets of ancient origins that threaten to tear Hytanica apart and bring her to war. This book is a wonderful romantic, intriguing, adventures, mysterious gem of a book.

I loved Alera, she was the perfect 17 year old, she was strong, witty, knew what she wanted but wasn't sure how to get it. I liked this aspect of Alera, to often books of this kind the lead woman character is so strong and things just happen because they can. With Alera we see her coming of age and trying to over come some of her immaturity, and naivety. Her father is king and she shows him the respect he deserves, even when she doesn't want too. At times this frustrated me, but if I looked at it from a 17 year old living in her time period, it was very real her emotions and reactions. I really appreciated that Ms. Kluver kept Alera true to who she was. Alera wasn't wimpy she stood up to her father and others, but she was respectful of protocol,and her kingdom. Steldor is gorgeous and swoon worthy, and utterly irritating. Yet at the same time he does try to be good to Alera and win her over. so I do have respect for the guy. I developed a love hate relationship with Steldor. Narian is handsome to but not quite as much as Steldor. He is smart and witty full of chivalry and good to Alera. Another of my favorite characters was London, he is Alera's bodyguard and he is tuff, sensitive, and just amazing with Alera, he was one of my favorites. There are many other wonderful characters in this story that I will save for you to explore. As you can tell I really loved and enjoyed this book. If you haven't read it go get it! I can hardly wait for book two and three, please hurry and release them!!

Clean language
Clean romance

Lifeblood by Werner A. Lind
****

This was a delightful story, about vampires told from the more traditional folklore. The writing was wonderful and flowed so smoothly, and had such a wonderful descriptive nature to it. This is a story about a women named Ana who is forced into becoming a vampire. Her back-story is so sad and tragic, but yet hopeful. Ana has amazing kindness, strength, courage and love. I really came to care for her, and wanted life to be good for her, and some how be different for her. I felt sorry for her, she seems so human and so gracious and yet so stuck in her situation. Unlike most vampires she survives off animals and not humans.Joshua is the amazing man in this story, he is patient, kind, god fearing, hardworking, willing to sacrifice and in love with Ana. Theirs is a sweet love story. Joshua amazes me at one point in this story,it was so touching. This story has lots of mystery and suspense to it as it unfolds it's self. This story has deeper meaning as well, one for instance that I thought about was, what does it mean to be human or monster? I absolutely loved how it all played out to a wonderful, wonderful ending!


2 language issues
clean romance