Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

The town of Cryer's Cross is not very big. There are less than 250 people. Most of the families are farmers, and the high school consists of 1 room - where all 4 years sit and have one teacher. Think of it as "Little House on the Prairie" if you will.

At the end of Kendall's junior year, a girl, Tiffany Quinn, went missing. They searched for her over the summer, but was unable to find her.

When coming back to school to start her senior year, the news about Tiffany started to die down. Now the buzz was about the new kids: Marlena and Jacian Obregon.

Kendall still did her usual routine at school: put the trash can the right way, put the markers in rainbow order, open the windows and straighten the desks. She has OCD and needs to have things in an exact way, or she starts to get jittery.

After a few weeks at school, Kendall's best friend Nico starts to act odd. He spaces off, doesn't have a conversation, and wanders away.

Then a few days after that, Nico disappears just like Tiffany did...

There was a search party, but just like Tiffany, no one was able to figure out where he went.

When Kendall started hearing voices coming from the desk Nico sat at, she thought she was going crazy. A desk can't talk to her. Later on, though, Kendall forgot about the weirdness of the talking desk and decided to listen to what it was saying.

She could help Nico. But at what price?

My Thoughts/Reflections
I think Lisa McMann is starting to be my new favorite mystery/suspense YA author! She did a fantastic job with this story, weaving mystery and supernatural together to create a great story.

I read another novel by her, (I reviewed Dead to You here) which was a little different than this novel, but just as suspenseful.

I've never met anyone who has OCD (not that I know of, anyway) so while I couldn't relate to Kendall, I thought she had a handle on her disease. She didn't announce it to everyone. In fact, Nico was the only one who really knew about it, so when he disappeared, it made hiding her OCD habits hard for Kendall at first.

Jacian was by far my favorite character. He was the silent, stay-away, moody new guy who was mad about moving during senior year to a town-but-really-country/town-area from a big city. When he found out about Kendall having OCD, he didn't make fun of her, but let her be herself.

The mystery and supernatural aspect of this story could have been stronger. The reader didn't really get answers until the end of the book and it seemed almost rushed.

Lisa McMann did leave this book open for a sequel to come out, with the "ghost" factor after the last few pages. It will be interesting if she writes another one and where she would go with it.

I really enjoyed this story. I read reviews that said they didn't like Kendall and thought this story gave them goosebumps, but I found it a quick read that kept my attention until the very end.

For anyone looking to read a suspense/mystery story with a little paranormal, I would definitely recommend this novel. With the above cover, it could appeal to guy readers, even though it's a female narrator, so I would say any audience could enjoy this novel.

I also think reluctant readers would like this novel as it's unique and dark in some areas. It's very easy to read and, once you get into the story, very fast paced.

Cover Reveal - Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

The new cover for Tahereh Mafi's book Unravel Me has been released! This is the sequel to her novel Shatter Me, which I reviewed here.

And now, here's the cover:

I'm really excited to read this and can't wait until February 5, 2013 for it to come out! I know it's a long time, but I'll be at the store to get it!

If I Should Die Before I Wake: Anthology by Nadège Richards

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Jana Boskey: All her life, Evie's mother made sure that Evie and Callie never went outside after dark. Evie didn't believe the fairytale about the dark elf until he showed up for his "posession". Then Evie had to do anything to protect her little sister...

(Suspenseful story that kept the reader on the seat of their chair, and an ending that was unexpected.)

A Brush With Something Otherworldly by Jennivie Wirries: Jessie thought the item she took out of the time capsule at school was boring - an old Japanese hair comb. But when the comb showed magical abilities, Jessie realized she got a one of a kind object.

(It was alright - not my favorite and a little odd. Although it was unique and something I've never read about!)

The Winter Storms Have Come and Gone by Nadège Richards: Bethany says goodbye to Maxwell. Breakups happen all of the time, but not too many have a permanent ending like theirs...

(What many ex-girlfriends probably want to do, even if they never do so. Very short, but well written and it compels the reader to find out more!)

The Little Sister Who Cried Vampire by Brittany Hiester: Having to babysit her younger sister on Halloween was not part of Rosa's plans. So when Leah kept saying she saw a man in her window, Rosa chalked it up to Leah being annoying. Too bad she didn't believe Leah right away...

(Rosa complained too much for my liking, but that made her realistic as she's 14. A lot of punctuation errors, but the story was very action based, which I liked.)

3:00 AM 'Fun' by Ashley O'Donnell: After leaving her house and small town for 5 years, Abigail comes home when her mother passes away. The thought of staying for awhile crossed her mind, but that was before 3:00 AM came around...

(Was very shocked to read that a 16 year-old wrote this! Very well written and very disturbing. It will keep the reader asking questions after reading this story!)

The Tornadoes are Beautiful by Rhian Parry: Natural disasters are happening all over the world, destroying any sense of civilization. Xavier has been hearing voices all of his life, voices that tell him to do things. When it says to kill his sister, Xavier takes the ultimate risk to save her life.

(This has a mix of "Day After Tomorrow" but with a depressing atmosphere of no hope. There wasn't too much dialogue, which made the story slow for me, but it was a good story.)

I AM by Cody Jonathan Godown: A narrator who reflects on the past, looks at the future, and wishes for changes during the present. About a narrator who states, "I am cautious and curious".

(This is a one page verse story, written in the format of a poem. I'm horrible at reading poems and can't understand them, so I didn't enjoy this story as much as I should have. For readers who like verse, they might like it better than I did.)

They Speak To Me by Melissa Somoza: When she was nine, Rose was forced to leave her parents because The Society was trying to kill Rose. She's half clairvoyance and half necromancer, one of the darkest supernatural being in the world. At the age of 18, she's now on a mission to kill the members of The Society for revenge of her parents death. She is the ultimate assassin. The ultimate weapon.

(My second favorite story in this anthology! It reminded me of Kelley Armstrong's series "The Darkest Power" and I found myself loving Rose. She's sassy, tough, and smart. The ending was disappointing, but different and unexpected.)


A Faery Tale Nightmare by Christina Worrell: All her life, Ebony Frost felt unwanted and in the way. When he mother abandoned her, Ebony was sent to a foster home. Little did she know that was the best thing that could have happened to her. Now she has a new, caring foster mother and new foster brothers - 7 to be exact. And she's also found herself in a relationship! But when things get out of control with her new boyfriend and his cousin, she takes a step back and focuses on her new family. When she gets caught up in another romance, along with a battle for the most magic, Ebony needs to fight for what she wants, hoping that it's not too late.

(A spin-off tale of "Snow White" and a little twist with magic and werewolves, Christina Worrell did an amazing job! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't stop reading until I finished the story. I loved the conflict Ebony had with her feelings, and her struggle with the magic building inside of her. A great read, my favorite in this bunch, and I would definitely recommend it to any reader in love of fairy tales and happy endings!)

My Thoughts/Reflections
I received a PDF of this novel for free to review by Nadège Richards and the staff of "My Home Away from Home". To find out more about this group, you can visit their facebook page, My Home Away From Home, where I have liked to keep up with their updates, or their blogsite: MHAFH.

I have not read any works by the numerous authors of this anthology, so the content and writing styles were very new and refreshing to me.

I really enjoyed this anthology! There were a lot of unique styles in the Paranormal/Supernatural genre that were refreshing and different than what has been written lately, making the stories fast paced and usually leaving me wanting more.

There were some punctuation and grammatical errors in each story, which is common for a self-published novel. Since I've had editing experience, my fingers were twitching to edit and fix the mistakes. However, even with the common errors, the stories were very well written and engaging to the reader.

I put my immediate reaction for each story after a small summary of the stories, saying what I liked or disliked about the individual short stories.

The last two stories were, by far, my favorite. They were also the longest in this anthology, which could be a factor as to why I like them.

There is a variety of writing styles in here. One is verse/poem format, while others are very short stories or longer stories. There's also various narration point of views to keep any reader happy.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good, short story to read, where they can stop after each story if they have a busy, hectic life.

I would also suggest this to anyone who likes supernatural topics (though you don't have to be a hardcore supernatural reader to enjoy this story). I tried to tag the different story subjects (vampires, faeries, etc.) that is located in this anthology to make it accurate for interested readers.

Overall, a great read that will entertain many readers, whether you are a lover of supernatural or just if you want to try something new to read!

Right now this anthology is available as an eBook on Amazon for only $0.99! If you are interested in purchasing it, click here to buy your own copy!

And thank you for letting me review this collection of works! I wish all of the authors luck in their future stories/novels!

When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

Sara: Decent grades, two best friends, senior year in high school applying for her dream college. All that is missing now is a boyfriend to make her life complete.

The new boy, Dave, has everything she wants in a guy: looks, popularity, sincerity... Or so she thought.

But when Sara finds herself daydreaming more about a different guy than Dave, she needs to rethink about why she wants to be with Dave, or if she should be with Tobey instead...

Tobey: Ever since junior year, Tobey has been secretly crushing on Sara. However, he doesn't think he's good enough with his average grades, his band, and he's not going to college next year.

At the beginning of senior year, though, Tobey makes a goal for him to talk to Sara and see if they could have a real beginning together.

Even when Sara starts to see Dave, Tobey creates plans and scenarios between Sara and Tobey to see if they could have a shot, or if they just weren't meant to be together.

Want to know what happens with Tobey and Sara? Read When It Happens by Susane Colasanti to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a cute novel. Takes me back to senior year when applying for colleges and sticking to my own "clique" at school.

This is the first novel of Susane Colasanti's that I've read, and I loved how she did alternating narration between Tobey and Sara. The reader got a chance to see inside of both characters and their insecurities/thoughts throughout their senior year.

I was also really glad to see character development in this novel. Many authors do that during series, but Colasanti was able to develop both characters within this book and learn from one another.

Tobey learned how to be studious and Sara learned to live a little.

I think many high school readers would enjoy this novel. They would be able to relate to either Sara or Tobey and they could relate to the pressure of senior year and college applications.

The only thing that I wish was different was the cover. Because this is in alternating gender narrations, I think teen guys would like this novel, but the cover is definitely for a female audience.

I don't foresee too many guy readers picking this up, which is unfortunate because Tobey's story is really compelling, especially for aspiring musicians.

I might have to pick up another novel by Colasanti and see if she's the next "Sarah Dessen" or "Maureen Johnson"!

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti

Being known as the "Quiet Girl" or the girl who reads has been Ruby McQueen's life. It didn't happen normally - there were certain...embarrassing events that happened to make Ruby quiet and observant, rather than the popular, loud girl.

But at the beginning of summer, something changed. Ruby met Travis Becker, bad-boy, motorcycling, adrenaline junkie.

And Travis wanted to hangout with Ruby because she acted like a different person around Travis. She was adventurous, smart alecky, and rebellious. Travis was infatuated with her and put her in situations that Ruby was not used to.

However, when Travis puts Ruby in a situation where she is betraying a friend, Ruby stops to consider what she is doing.

She tells her mom what's been going on, and her mother takes her to the book club at the library she works at.

With the random group of old ladies and men reading a romantic suspense/love story, Ruby tries to find her way back to the real Ruby, not the Ruby that Travis brings out.

Add some adventure, stealing, get away car action and this novel will take you on the ride with Ruby that seems so extreme, you'll wonder if you made up the story by the time you've finished!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was an interesting novel. It wasn't what I was expecting. Quiet girl, librarian mother, bad-boy love interest.

But the bad-boy is really bad, not the "bad on the outside, but good on the inside" like other novels I've read.

Ruby is trying to find her place in life, and she thought a little adventure during the summer was what she needed. That was before she met Travis though.

One thing that I'm not good at as a reader is reading narrative. I love dialogue, and seeing huge paragraphs with no talking makes my eyes glaze over.

Which is what happened in this book. Ruby reflected a lot. And she went on tangents about random things before getting back to the topic at hand.

Needless to say, it took me awhile to get through this book that I thought I would fly through.

I'm not saying it was bad. Or that I didn't like the author. I actually loved Deb Caletti's novel, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye. I just had a hard time sticking with this book during long periods of time.

This would be a great book for teen girls who are lost in life or who have a crush on a boy they should not be liking. It also has some adventure, risk-taking events that will make the reader laugh and enjoy.

This isn't my first recommendation for other readers, but it is a nice story that will keep some readers entertained for a summer reading.

Cover Reveal: Soul Screamers Vol. 2 by Rachel Vincent

The new cover for the second volume of the Soul Screamer collection by Rachel Vincent is out! Here's what it looks like:

This volume contains two novels and a novella from the Soul Screamer series:

#3: MY SOUL TO KEEP
#3.5 REAPER 
#4 MY SOUL TO STEAL

It is also the first time that Reaper is in print, previously an ebook novella novel.

According to Goodreads, this is to come out November 13, 2012, so very soon! I can't wait to add it to my collection of the Soul Screamer novels :)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

After waking up in the hospital, Mara Dyer has no idea what has happened in the last few days. She finds out she's been in a coma for 3 days, and before that she was found trapped in the abandoned asylum building.

Mara also finds out that her best friend, Rachel, along with her boyfriend, Jude, and his sister, Claire, were with her in the building. And the old building had collapsed while all 4 of them were inside.

Mara was the only survivor.

No matter how hard Mara tries to remember, she can't recall any events leading up to that day. But after leaving the hospital, Mara begs her mother to move out of Rhode Island. She can't go anywhere without remembering Rachel.

So Mara and her two brothers, Daniel and Joseph, along with Mara's mom and dad move to Florida and enroll in a private school.

Things should get better, right? Except Mara keeps having hallucinations and nightmares. She sees Jude and Claire in her sleep, during the daytime. Only, it's just Mara's brain playing tricks on her.

What's the one thing that Mara didn't see coming her way throughout this whole mess? Noah Shaw, the playboy of her school. He's showing a lot of interest in Mara only she doesn't want any part of his "next conquest" agenda. Only he won't go away.

With Mara's father taking a case for a murder suspect, Mara has a feeling of deja vu and is reminded of Rachel and her friends' death.

But when horrible things start to happen around Mara, she has a terrible suspicion that things are not as they seemed and maybe has the answer to how Mara survived the collapsed building but Jude, Claire, and Rachel didn't.

And Mara does not like the answer that she has come up with. Not one bit... To find out what happened, read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Ohhh! I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect by just reading the back blurb, and some of the reviews on Goodreads weren't very appealing to other readers, but I was sucked into this story from the very beginning and couldn't put it down!

I could not imagine what Mara went through when she found out that her best friend was killed in the accident that Mara had been in - and Mara was the only one who survived. I think I would have left town as well, running away from the ghosts of her past and guilt.

Mara is a very tough girl. She assumed she was seeing things but kept a brave face on for her mom, since she was very sensitive to Mara and finally gave in to seeing a psychiatrist when things were getting too far out of control.

And Mara's resistance to Noah!! I don't know how that girl did it - I would have given in to him in a heartbeat, but she fought against the undeniable attraction to him to the end! And boy did he make it hard for her.

Even though this book kept giving me unexpected situations that I was somewhat confused about throughout the novel, I would definitely recommend this book to other readers!

There is mystery and suspense, romance to make your toes curl, and supernatural events that leave the reader wondering what happened, but still wanting more by the end of the novel.

This is the first novel in a series (not sure of how many books yet) and the second novel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, will be coming out in October 2012 - so just a little while to wait! I will definitely be reading this next book to finds out what happens to Mara!