Review: 13 to Life (ARC) by Shannon Delany

Title: 13 to Life
Author: Shannon Delany
Paperback: 320 pages
Published: June 22, 2010
Reading Level: YA
My copy: Traveling ARC Tours
My rating: 4 out of 5 wicked hearts

Blurb from Goodreads.com: 

Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

** I am trying out a new review system...tell me what you guys think!**

My quick wicked thoughts... This books is a great start to series that wraps in werewolves, mafia, and rebellious teenagers with a cliffhanger ending.

Why  I was tempted to read this...   I love a good werewolf story and the title of the book intrigued me.

Cover thoughts...  The cover was pretty cool, I originally thought the "eye" was that of a wolf but on closer inspection it appears to be a human eye...with really big eyebrows (trim those dude!)

Romance Meter...  It was about a 4 on  a scale of 5.  Jessie has a crush on the popular guy in school who has just recently shown an interest in her since she started showing the new guy, Pietr, around.  Pietr is at first rude and aloof but it gradually turns to more with Jessie, with complications from Jessie's friends.

Characters and Plot...  I thought the main characters were pretty well developed, you know what Jessie is thinking and why and she is very likable ...and Pietr, well, he is just a mystery until almost the end of the book, which kept me flipping pages.  I thought the supporting friends characters could have been developed more, they were kinda glossed over in the first of the book and it wasn't until later when you found out more info on one of them that I could actually remember them apart.  From the blurb about the book you can obviously tell that it is about werewolves but you really do not get the details about that until the very end of the book, in my opinion, if they had left that out of the blurb, I would have enjoyed the guessing game of what exactly Pietr was. It wouldn't have been shocking or anything, but just a nice mystery.

The Ending...  Can you say cliffhanger and unanswered questions? ha ha.  Yeah...I am definitely tuning in for the second in the series because there is a lot of teaser information about character and events that I am dying to know about. No details on the second...but there better be one! UPDATE from Shannon! Per the copy edits on book 2 it is scheduled to be released Fall 2010 but she has also been given a date of January 2011.  Let's hope it is more like Fall 2010, ha ha!

Fun Author Fact...  Shannon wrote 13 to Life in 2008 and won the Grand Prize in the first ever cell phone novel contest, textnovel.com. How cool is that? She has expanded the original version with additional characters and sub plots to reveal the final novel as we see it today, I just think that's amazing!

Review: The Mermaid's Mirror (ARC) by L.K. Madigan

Title: The Mermaid's Mirror (ARC)
Author: L.K. Madigan
Hardcover: 320 pages
Reading Level: YA
Published: Oct. 4, 2010
My copy:  NetGalley.com
My rating: 3 out of 5 wicked hearts

Blurb (from Amazon.com):

Lena has lived her whole life near the beach – walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and watching the surfers rule the waves – the problem is, she’s spent her whole life just watching. As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Lena vows she will no longer watch from the sand: she will learn to surf. But her father – a former surfer himself – refuses to allow her to take lessons. After a near drowning in his past, he can’t bear to let Lena take up the risky sport.   Yet something lures Lena to the water … an ancient, powerful magic. One morning Lena catches sight of this magic: a beautiful woman – with a silvery tail. Nothing will keep Lena from seeking the mermaid, not even the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove. And soon … what she sees in the mermaid’s mirror will change her life …

My thoughts:

It has taken me a bit to form an opinion on this book.  I love a good happy ending so this book's ending, while happy in some aspects, left me disappointed and feeling cheated.  I found the story itself interesting but the parts that interested me the most were located in the last 1/3 of the book.  The first 2/3 gave you a lot of background info, some character building, and some wandering-filler type info but when the mermaid part came into play and her "true" love interest..it was toward the end of the book.  I need more of that!

Lena has always felt drawn to the ocean, not knowing why and when she finds herself sleepwalking to the beach and singing songs that she never remembers hearing, so she starts doing a little investigation into her Mother, that was killed, or so she thought, when she was just a baby.  She also wants to learn to surf like all her friends and boyfriend, but her Dad forbids it, never really explaining to her why.  She she defies him and starts surfing on her and ends up getting saved by a mermaid, then things start rolling.  

If I knew there would be a sequel to this book, I wouldn't feel so cheated by the ending, but my romantic heart was pretty bummed out.  The author's website does not clarify if this will be a series or not.  I wish there had been more time spent on the mermaid aspect and all that entailed, instead of it being crammed in the last 1/3 of the book.

Author Spotlight: Cynthia Roberts, author of Wind Warrior

Today I would like to welcome Cynthia Roberts to Wicked Walker!  Cynthia is the author of Wind Warrior, the first book in the Iroquois Series.  Here's a little info on Wind Warrior:

Leslie Michaels is a visionary, and only those close to her know of her special gift and the visions that come when her mind and body surrender to sleep.  Fate has a way of righting many wrongs, and for Leslie it is a destiny that changes her life dramatically. But not before she is forced to flee into the wilderness to escape a murderous trapper bent on claiming her for his very own.  Faith and a strong will to survive are her only companions, until she encounters Winnokin, the handsome Seneca war chief who first came to her in her dreams.  Not only does he prove to be her rescuer and protector, he teaches her that tragedy can breed happiness and the passion to live and love deeply once again.

Wind Warrior plunges readers into the intimate depths of a relationship that unfolds like a live drama before their eyes while painting an insightful and intriguing portrait of Native Indian life in the 1800s.  It is a story of longing, of a wanton need to survive all odds, and a love so strong it conquers human evil. Wind Warrior expresses with cunning words the simple, raw human emotions that hold readers spellbound and captivates their hearts.

Sounds great doesn't it?  I love when a book can give you a unique view on a time period and I haven't had the opportunity to read very many books about Native Americans.  When you add a paranormal twist you know it will keep you interested!

Cynthia, tell us a little bit about yourself...

Hello everyone.  Like all of you, I lived and breathed reading romances … it filled many long, lonely evenings when my husband worked nights in law enforcement and I was raising our children Jason and Alyssa (now 31 and 29).  It proved my constant companion later when my “Cinderella” marriage of twenty-five years came to an unexpected end.  There is a quote I heard once I can’t remember verbatim but goes somewhat like … “There is no greater loss than a love once known.”

I’m a true believer that when tragedy strikes and you’re standing at the edge of a fathomless abyss and all you see is darkness looking back at you, faith lies in knowing one of two things will happen.  You can either let fear consume you, roll up into a ball and waste away or, you can take a leap of faith and learn how to soar like an eagle.

I’ve always had a passion for writing from that very moment a Crayola was placed in my hand and throughout my career in marketing, public relations and sales writing creatively came easy.  When my marriage ended at the age of 45, life as I knew it was never the same.  It was a time of unrest, uncertainty, losing friends and family and financial ruin because I also found myself jobless which continued nearly two years. 

Wind Warrior became my salvation.  One evening I sat in front of the computer and decided to write instead of read and figured all I could do was fail.  It proved my therapy back then but not quite up to par to win the favor of publishers.  I received so many rejections I could have wallpapered a small room in my house and almost gave up on my dream.  That is, until I realized it just wasn’t my time.  I needed to live through and get beyond the pain in my own life before I could transform that experience into the kind of passion and emotion I wanted my readers to feel personally through my writing. 

I chose to write an historical Indian romance because the first fiction I ever read was a novel from Cassie Edward’s Savage series and instantly became hungry to read more.  I tracked down every one of those babies; let me tell you, until I read them all.  However, every one I read from that point on was based on a Plains tribe.  I wanted to focus on a tribe indigenous to my area and decided to write a series based on the tribes that make up the Iroquois League of Nations here on the east coast.  Their warriors were the fiercest ever known to strike terror in the hearts of early settlers from Pennsylvania to Canada.  They were referred to as "People of the Longhouse" because their families lived together in wooden structures upward of 40 feet long.  They were an extremely powerful nation that was sadly torn apart by the American Revolution.  I fell in love with the simplistic beauty of their culture and folklore.  We could learn so much from our Native American brothers and the reverent love and respect they have for everything that is natural and of this earth.  They knew how to live in balance with plants, animals and the natural elements ... never taking more than what was needed to sustain their people and way of life.  

Wind Warrior  will officially be released on June 15th and available now for purchase through Tate’s website.  It is my heartfelt hope readers will find it as enthralling to read as it was for me to research and bring to life.  Book #2 Captive Heart is finished and expected to be released the end of this year. 

Now that the writer in me has been unleashed … look out world!  If I can leave my beautiful five grandchildren any legacy, it will be the strength, conviction and passion put into every story I bring to life.  Please stay tuned for future projects which will include a series introducing contemporary shape shifters and two mainstream romance thrillers entitled Pawn For Malice and The Keeper’s Watch.

Wind Warrior
Tate Publishing
ISBN 978-1-61663-162-8
Link to purchase from Tate before June 15 http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61663-162-8
Available at Amazon and all other venues on June 15th
http://www.romanceauthorcynthiaroberts.com


Thank you Cynthia for being on my Author Spotlight and we look forward to hearing more about Wind Warrior!

Blog Award! Whoop!

Yippee! I got an award!! I love getting awards!

Thank you Bewitched Bookworms for the awesome award!

Here is how it works: If you are given this award you must first accept it by leaving a comment on the post you were nominated on. Then copy and paste the post and add it to your own blog. Make a list of the last 5 books you read and pass the award on to 5 other bloggers (no backsies!). Please also identify the blog from which you got the award and don't forget to tell them they have a blog award!

Here are the last 5 books I've read:

Dead in the Family

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The Mermaid's Mirror

Claire de Lune

Immortal

Ok and I give the award to 5 awesome and lovely and great blogs. ( Too bad we only have 5 , picking 5 was not easy!!!) 

 

25 Hour Books

Reading with Tequila

Daisy Chain Book Reviews

Edifying and Edgy

Parajunkee's View

Review: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

Title: Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Hardcover: 320 pages
Published: May 2010
Reading Level: Adult Paranormal
My copy: Borrowed from a friend
My rating: 3.5 of out 5 wicked hearts

Blurb (from Amazon.com):

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...

My thoughts:

I am going to start out by saying that I am sure Charlaine Harris has a 'master plan' that she is going off for the Sookie Series, but it is not evident to me.  This book honestly felt like a filler book.  There wasn't much intense drama or life changing revelations in this book.  I can kinda see what it is leading into for book #11 and I look forward to some resolution with her, Eric and the new Vampire King.   I was over half way thru the book before I could see a plot forming.

That being said, I love the Sookie series so much, all of the above did not prevent me from finishing this book pretty quickly.  We see a different side of Sookie, Eric, Claude and even Jason in this book.  I think the characters were expanded and enriched in this book which makes it vital in the series, but don't expect many loose ends to be tied up.  Yep...I am still on the hook for book #11.

New Look....New Rating System

So I was lucky enough to win a contest for a free blog makeover from Mrs Vanquish (aka Danny) at Bewitched Bookworms!  She did SUCH a fabulous job on remaking my banner and blog...and she made me an awesome new rating system!   Check it out and let me know what you think and then check out her design blog website at Twispired Blog Design.  She is SO easy to work with and SO talented, I highly recommend her!

Thanks again Danny for everything!!

My Darklyng novel news!

Not sure if you guys have heard of this yet or not, but I was talking to Lauren Mechling and she had some big news! You might recognize her as the author of the Dream Girl/Dream Life series and she co-wrote the 10th Grade Social Climber series. Well she has a cool new project going on that I am definitely going to have to check out. I loved Dream Girl (going to read Dream Life very soon!) so I am sure My Darklyng will not disappoint! 

This is what Lauren has to say about it:

I'm co-writing a serialized teen novel called My Darklyng that will be running all summer long on the web site Slate. It will publish on Fridays, starting Memorial Day weekend. my Darklyng is a thriller about a girl who's obsessed with a vampire series and who ends up becoming friends with the gorgeous model on the cover of every book in the series. You can follow the characters on Twitter for now, and soon there will be a Facebook page for the main character, so you can follow the creepy things that are happening in her life in real time. Here are the Twitter pages--they're really fun so far.

@eternalnat (main character)

@mydarklyng (the vampire author)

@thejameskay (the model).

Doesn't that sound like fun?!  Check it out, I will let you guys know more as I know it!