Pre-order Hex Hall!
I know lately my reviews have been kinda negative. I thought I had lost my love for YA, everything I had read left a boring bad taste in my proverbial mouth. Hex Hall cured my woes. If it wasn’t so long until this book came out I would be singing its praises in the form of a 4 star review. A huge thank you to Alexa at Not Enough Bookshelves for sharing her early copy with me!
Seriously have I ever asked you to pre-order something? No! Why do I ask you now you ask yourself? (That’s a lot of asking) because if you do not have this book in your hands on the release day you are going to be so out of the loop when everyone and I mean everyone starts singing the praises of this book and you have no idea what they are going on about.
My best Teen Read of the year so far! I hope to do some fun stuff during the release week.
Review: Enchanted Inc Series by Shanna Swendson
I won all four of these books from a contest at I Heart Monster, a great book blog I frequently read for recommendations on what to read next. I started with the set immediately and in order and I was fascinated by the story line. I being a southerner myself instantly connected with the main character Katie Chandler, and the small town girl in the big intimidating city story line. I have hopes that Swendson’s publisher will pick up at least one more book for a nice finish to the story, there are a lot of unanswered question about other characters and the general plot. I struggled between giving these books 3 or 4 stars. In the end my decision was based on the fact I believe the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out. Through the books you receive the same information about the same people, when I feel there was chances to enhance the perception and personality. I also thought at times the books took a long time to get going and all the excitement was pushed into the final chapters. That being said I gobbled all four books down in a week and was hungry for more. The books are a simple read, very fun, and I loved the mix of craziness. My favorite character from the series was the A.D.D. bad guy. Idris while not a mastermind criminal was a pretty nasty fellow, however easily distractable by something shiny.
Book One: Enchanted Inc
From Publishers Weekly
In her first mainstream novel, romance writer Swendson puts a Harry Potter–inspired twist on the standard tale of a smalltown girl in the big city, with lively if saccharine sweet results. Fish-out-of-water Katie Chandler suffers in her thankless job as assistant to marketing manager “Evil Mimi,” worrying that maybe she just can’t hack it in New York City. Will her colleagues ever consider her anything but a hick? For a girl from Texas, the Big Apple is stranger than a foreign country, but she discovers that the weird things she notices are signs of real magic afoot. Her “small-town honesty and common sense” soon land her a new job at Magic, Spells, and Illusion Inc., which traffics in benevolent sorcery. “You… are of the rare breed who can neither do magic nor be influenced by magic. You see the world as it is,” an MSI executive explains. With her clear-sightedness—plus business acumen gained working for her family’s feed-and-seed store—Katie will play a pivotal role in MSI’s magical battle against a malevolent competitor. From sanitized descriptions of New York City life to hunky wizards and fairies on the subway, this book is pure and innocent fantasy, suitable for preteens or readers hungry for a cotton candy read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Two: Once Upon Stilettos
From Booklist
The winning follow-up to Enchanted, Inc. (2005) finds Katie Chandler, a young woman immune to magic, working at the epicenter of New York City’s magic community as Merlin’s personal assistant. When Owen Palmer, the sexy wizard Katie’s been secretly swooning over, reports that a spy has been in his office, Merlin puts Katie on the case to discover the identity of the traitor. It’s no small task, and Katie is distracted by the arrival of her parents, who have flown up from Texas to see how their daughter is faring in the big city. Katie is upset to learn that her mother is also immune to magic, and can see all the strange goings-on in the Big Apple. To make matters worse, Katie is shocked to find that she’s losing her own magical immunity, which she fears will jeopardize her position and hamper her ability to identify the spy. Swendson’s smart, snappy novel will delight fans that loved the first installment, and win over new readers, too.
Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Three: Damsel Under Stress:
From Booklist
The third entry in Swendson’s charming series, which began with Enchanted, Inc. (2005), finds Kate Chandler, whose immunity to magic makes her a valuable employee at the magic company where she works as Merlin’s assistant, finally about to go on a date with her crush, handsome but bashful wizard Owen Palmer. While Kate waits for Owen to join her at a coffee shop, she encounters Ethelinda, a sloppy fairy claiming to be her fairy godmother, who unfortunately proves to be more hindrance than help. Matters become further complicated when Kate learns that Ari, a fairy who betrayed the company by helping their biggest rival, the wizard Idris, has escaped custody. Swendson blends chick lit and magic effortlessly, making the reader equally invested in the magical skulduggery and Kate’s burgeoning romance with Owen, which includes a trip home to meet his icy foster parents. The novel culminates in an exciting ending guaranteed to leave readers thirsting for another chapter in this whimsical, clever series.
Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Four: Don’t Hex With Texas
From Booklist
As Swendson continues her exciting Enchanted Inc. series, magic-immune Katie Chandler is back in her hometown of Cobb, Texas. Katie has left New York City and her beloved job at Magic, Spells, and Illusions Inc. to protect Owen Palmer, the handsome wizard she is crazy about. Working with her hapless siblings at her parents’ store doesn’t exactly make up for the excitement she is missing out on in New York until strange goings-on start happening in Cobb, leading Katie to wonder if the magic has followed her home. When she discovers her old nemesis, Phelan Idris, has concocted a plan to train wizards over the Internet in the hopes of building an army, Katie contacts MSI. She is surprised when Owen himself shows up, and is relieved to find the chemistry between them is hot and heavy. But when the pair learns Idris is in town and planning a deadly endgame, they fear their enemy may prevail this time around. Another page-turning installment in one of the best romantic-fantasy series being written today.
Kristine Huntley
Review: Nightworld Series L.J. Smith Volume 1, 2, & 3
The Night World..Love has never been so dangerous.
The Night World isn’t a place. It’s all around us. The creatures of Night World are beautiful and deadly and irresistible to humans. Your Best Friend could be one-so could your crush.
The laws of Night World are very clear: humans must never learn that Night World exists. And members of Night World must never fall in love with a human. Violate the laws and the consequences are terrifying.
These are the stories about what happens when the rules get broken.
It’s probably a well known fact to people who read my blog that I am a huge L.J. Smith fan. I didn’t find her works until recently when I saw the Vampire Diaries in reprint from Harper Collins, but L.J. has fans and books spanning back across the past twenty years. The Vampire Diaries is even slated to be a television show starting this fall on the CW, so look out for that one. Also if you are a going to start reading L.J.’s work The Secret Circle books are also in reprint so it is easy to grab copies of those and The Vampire Diaries and the books we are going to be talking about today. The Night World saga.
After picking up a copy of one of the other series, I immediately became hooked to the author’s style of writing. Everything had detail and the situations and places were supernatural but seemed so real as if these events were a fantastic history not a fiction. The Night World is my favorite series from Smith. In the three volumes so far available there are three books each. So in essence nine books are out in three volumes from Simon and Simon Teen. The first volume introduces us to the Night World, what the different inhabitants are and also gears us up to learning what the soul mate principle is. As you read from the book excerpt before, Night People are supposed to stay away from humans, but yet an old power is awakening and humans are becoming the soul-mates of the most influential Night Persons. I recently interviewed L.J. and asked her some questions about the Night World series. Where the idea came from, and who her favorite Night World citizen is.
The second volume in the series, continues with the soul-mate principle. We learn a bit more about why this is happening and we learn of a group of witches called Circle Daybreak that allows humans and Nightworlders into their flock. They want to get along as one society and believe the soul-mate magic is waking up for a reason, something big is on the horizon and the whole world will be rocked.
In the most recent volume we learn that there are four wild powers that will decide the end of the earth. Will they join circle Daybreak and fight for good, or Hunter Redfern and bring about the end of the world? Well the end of humans that is. The stories in this volume are so fantastic and action packed I was shocked when each was done, thinking “that can’t be right, the book is over”. I cannot wait for the final installment so I can tear through and see what happens to the world in this apocalypse. Of course I hope Circle Daybreak finds all the wild powers before the darkness takes over.
I read a lot of teen supernatural books, more than I should probably. I realize a lot of them are fun, and give you a day off from having to think too hard. Relaxation at it’s best. It is however rare to find quality of writing, and quality of story, in these paranormal teen books (ahem Twilight for example), I would like to see the teens who are reading this genre to pick these books up and see what good quality storytelling can mean for how you feel when you lay the book back down. If you liked the Immortal Instrument Series, Twilight Saga, or even the Vampire Diaries, you will love Nightworld.
I think my favorite story of the nine so far is Ash Redfern finding his soul-mate. What is yours?
Author Review: Candace Havens
A while back I received an amazing box from Candace Havens, even with rocking bookmarks. This box really made my day as a reviewer, the books were pristine and signed with one of the most beautiful signatures I have ever seen. I am now aspiring to come up with my own fancy signature, even though I really have no need. Guess I could start writing checks for bills instead of paying them online.
It’s not very often as a reviewer that you get such an awesome present, and with that aside reading these books for me was a pure joy. It has the mystery of Charlaine Harris without all of the plot skipping and annoyances. Candace takes each of her characters and within the first few chapters she has fleshed out a person that you can see bumping into at the local Starbucks. Her list of side characters are also very personable and you really are able to like or relate to all of the persons in her stories. Her writing style is easy to follow and fun, and at least once in every single one of the books I laughed out loud. I am in awe of her persistence, and ability to keep up with the details of previous works from herself, even the small.
I first read The Demon King and I
Immediately enthused with Havens stories I jumped straight into Charmed & Dangerous 
The last and final book I had from Candace was a great surprise to me. Like a Charm
