Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

GENRE: FANTASY

Ethan Wate has lived in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina all of his life. Same buildings, same people, same routine, just a different day. He can't wait to escape and discover the world outside the historic time capsule of his hometown. He just has to survive high school. Getting to school on time is challenging enough, but Ethan is also struggling with the recent death of his mother and his father's subsequent withdrawal from life. Then there are the strange dreams Ethan has been having of a beautiful girl which quickly deteriorate into nightmares where she slips through his fingers.

Lena Duchannes is the new girl at school. Not only does she live in a creepy plantation with her hermit  uncle and drive around in a hearse, but she's literally the girl of Ethan's dreams. Their connection is virtually instantaneous and devastating. Their families don't want them to be together, the entire school is treating Lena like an outcast, and even the residents of the town are on a bit of a witch hunt. They may not be far off the mark. Lena is not a normal girl, as Ethan quickly discovers. They say that love can conquer all, but there's no such thing as a sure thing.

If you're a fan of the Twilight series like I am, this book is for you. The books share a very similar story line, a human falling in love with a supernatural being in a small town with quirky characters. This writing team is very good at getting you to feel the emotions of this star-crossed couple. When they were angry, I was angry. When they were frustrated, I was frustrated. It's a rare achievement for a book since it does not have the visual cues that a movie has. I would have liked more detail on Lena's abilities and her family. It can get confusing at times since the authors created most of the supernatural elements from scratch which requires more explanation than a story about vampires. Sometimes I felt that explanation was lacking. At 563 pages, that's a minor complaint since the book already feels pretty complete. Give it a chance. You won't regret it.

BEST FEATURE: The town of Gatlin and its residents. They're hilarious. With their pronounced southern accents, Civil War re-enactments, and obsession with family trees, I would love to see a book that focused on them.

WORST FEATURE: The ending. Not a happy ending. Not an unhappy ending. I don't know if the authors are planning on a sequel, but I don't feel like I got closure with this one.

PARENTAL WARNING: violence and minor sexual content; appropriate for teens


MY RATING: 4 - a pleasant surprise. I'll be watching for new books by these authors.

Phantom Pleasures by Julie Leto

GENRE: PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Phantom Pleasures by Julie Leto introduces Alexa Chandler, the CEO of a luxury hotel chain who has found the ultimate project. Like most women, she has dreamed of being swept off her feet by a handsome man and whisked away to a romantic castle. Now she has inherited an island with a castle that she intends to turn into a luxury hotel. The castle, however, is already occupied... sort of. In the 1700's, Damon Forsyth was trapped in a portrait by dark magic and has been waiting centuries for someone to release him from his prison. Once Alexa gets Damon out of the painting, then the trouble really starts. The source of the magic that had been used to imprison Damon is being pursued by a secret sect who will stop at nothing to possess it.

I love romances and I love supernatural story lines so I was excited about reading this book when I read the summary. Things were looking promising until Alexa showed up. At that point, the dialogue took a nose dive into camp and never really recovered. Add several rauchy sex scenes and I felt like I'd stumbled into the literary version of a porno. I know what you're thinking. What's the difference between a porno and a romance novel? Good question. One uses what little plot there is to set up the next sex scene while the other uses a sex scene to advance the plot and show developing intimacy between the characters. The chemistry between the two main characters never really sparked either, they seemed too busy using each other to get to know each other. This book is actually the first in a series. Too bad I have no interest in reading the others.

BEST FEATURE: The idea. This story had so much potential... trapping several heroes in objects that have been lost. It's not a unique plot device, but I always find it interesting.

WORST FEATURE: The dialogue. It was too stilted... especially between the main characters. Reading it was like watching a movie with bad actors.

PARENTAL WARNING: numerous explicit sex scenes and some violence; best for adults only

MY RATING: 1.5 - a few good plot twists at the end kept this one afloat, but there is very little to recommend it.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

GENRE: FANTASY

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray is the conclusion of Gemma Doyle's story. Greed, politics and guilt-trips... no, it's not congress. It's what happens when you bind the magic of the realms to yourself and everyone wants a piece. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Gemma has the best of intentions. The magic had originally been controlled by the Order which was made up of witches like Gemma and her mother. Now Gemma plans to make an alliance with the other inhabitants of the realms and share the magic with them. But first, she wants to use her new power to help her friends secure their futures. The longer she delays, the more agitated her future allies get and things start to unravel. To add to the strain, some unexpected enemies have arrived on the scene.

As excited as I was to read the conclusion of this story, I was also sad when it was over. It has its highs and lows, but this fantasy series for girls is the best I've ever read. It touches on all the best themes: friendship, feminism, and the internal battle between the need to fit in and the desire to be special. Ah, the Victorian Age... how far we've come, but we still have a long way to go. This may be fiction, but there is no escaping reality. Not every character that you want to have a happy ending will get one. If that isn't an important life lesson, I don't know what is.

BEST FEATURE: Formula? What formula? A lot of literature follows an established pattern. Mystery novel? The bad guy gets caught. Romance? The star-crossed lovers get a happy ending. This author took the road less traveled and gave us an incredible story. Watch your back J.K. Rowling!

WORST FEATURE: The length. It's 819 pages long. Someone should take a hedge clipper to this thing. Cut 300 pages and the book would still be sublime and I wouldn't have thrown my back out picking it up to read.

PARENTAL WARNING: violence and minor sexual content; appropriate for teens

MY RATING: 4.5 for the book itself, 5 for the series over-all. The book was just too long.

Future book reviews

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

GENRE: FANTASY

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray is the follow-up to A Great And Terrible Beauty. Gemma Doyle and her friends, Felicity and Ann, are preparing to leave Spence Academy to spend the Christmas holiday in London with their families. This is a welcome relief for Gemma, who in the last few months, has discovered that her recently murdered mother had a secret identity, lost a good friend to suicide, and watched her father slide into addiction. Oh, and she also has the ability to open the door to the realms where magic is real and can be used to make wishes come true. It is also where the spirits of the dead gather before they cross over.

Gemma's hopes for a happy holiday quickly evaporate when she discovers that the magic is loose in the realms and is threatening to seep into her world. There is also the bittersweet discovery that her friend, Pippa, has not crossed over and is still in the realms. Although Pippa looks no different to her friends, they are worried that she will be corrupted by the dark spirits the longer she lingers in the realms. Gemma is the only one who can bind the magic. Several factions seek to manipulate her into binding the magic in their favor including her greatest enemy, Circe, and Kartik, the mysterious young man who brings out the teen angst in Gemma. To further complicate things, she has to accomplish this without her family discovering her secret.

As much as I loved the first book in this series, it pales in comparison to this one. The action and suspense is almost non-stop. Just when I thought I had things figured out... oops. There is also a very welcome wrinkle added in the form of one Simon Middleton who finds Gemma intriguing. He's both a gentleman and the bad boy all rolled into one. We wouldn't want to make things too easy on poor Kartik.

BEST FEATURE: The Who-Is-Circe Game. Sharp readers will catch a clue that will give you a second suspect to go with the obvious one which will keep you stumped over Circe's true identity until the climax of the book.

WORST FEATURE: The confusion over whether the girls enter the realms with their physical bodies or just with their minds. The implication in this book is that they physically enter the realms. There has been mention of them wearing the same clothing in the realms as they were wearing in the real world and they have brought at least one object out of the realms with them. However, the injuries they sustain do not carry over into the real world and when Pippa chose to stay in the realms, she died in real life and was buried. I could use some clarification on this.

PARENTAL WARNING: minor violence and sexual content; appropriate for teens


MY RATING: 5 - The faster pace pushed this one into the must-read category.

Shadow Music by Julie Garwood

GENRE: ROMANCE

In Shadow Music by Julie Garwood, our heroine, Gabrielle, is the daughter of a princess and an English baron. King John has arranged a marriage for Gabrielle with a laird from the Scottish highlands in order to create an alliance for peace. Unfortunately, two other barons have been vying for her hand as well. While trying to prevent Gabrielle's marriage to the laird and claim her for themselves, the barons succeed in destroying her reputation instead. Gabrielle is an outcast without king or country and is taken in by the MacHugh clan. Knowing the only way to salvage her reputation is to make her his wife, Laird Colm MacHugh offers to marry her. What starts out as a marriage of convenience quickly becomes something else.

Although the plot is interesting and the book is well written, I had difficulty getting invested in any of the characters. The heroine was too lifeless and the hero was too harsh. The usual comic elements that I have come to expect from Ms. Garwood were mostly missing this time and the supporting characters had little to no personality. I'm not sure where this one went off the rails, but it was not what I was expecting.

BEST FEATURE: Any time Brodick Buchanan shows up. Although his character is more toned down than in Ransom, he's still the life of this party.

WORST FEATURE: The lack of sexual tension. A must for all good romance novels, this book was seriously lacking in heat.

PARENTAL WARNING: mild violence and sexual content that isn't overly explicit.

MY RATING: 2 - It's never a good sign when you'd rather read about the supporting characters than the main couple.

Ransom by Julie Garwood

GENRE: ROMANCE

Ransom by Julie Garwood is a follow-up to The Secret and features several of the characters from that book. Two young sisters are separated by tragedy caused by a treasure and the secret it holds. The older sister, Christen, flees to Scotland and the younger sister, Gillian, is captured and kept in England as the ward of the man who killed her father. The treasure has mysteriously disappeared, but it was last seen in Christen's possession. Once Gillian reaches adulthood, her father's killer orders her to find her older sister and the treasure and bring them to him or he will kill her uncle. As she's leaving for Scotland, Gillian rescues a young boy named Alec who happens to be the son of Iain Maitland and the godson of Brodick Buchanan, both from The Secret. Gillian enlists Brodick's help in returning Alec to his parents and finding her sister. They also manage to fall in love with each other.

The above description doesn't really do the plot justice. There is alot going on here. It may be complicated, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a great story. This one was difficult to put down. I recommend reading The Secret first, however, so you have more of an emotional investment in the characters.

BEST FEATURE: Brodick. This man will get under your skin and stay there.

WORST FEATURE: Trying to squeeze two love stories into one romance novel. The romance of secondary characters Ramsey and Bridgid got short-changed. They really deserved their own book.

PARENTAL WARNING: mild violence and sexual content that isn't overly explicit.

MY RATING: 4 - I loved reading this one so much I might read it again.