Kissed By a Cowpoke Angel

Expected Publication:  August 20th, 2013
My Totally Awkward Supernatural Crush
By: Laura Toffler-Corrie
Roaring Brook Press
ISBN-13:  9781596437333

Jenna Bloom is just an average middle school student until her family takes her to her least favorite restaurant for her birthday, where she meets Cowpoke Luke, her waiter and one true love. Oh, and he also happens to be an angel. Jenna can't believe that Luke could actually be interested in her, and yet he is! Unfortunately he's got a demonic foe named Adam who could potentially complicate matters, and when the two boys have a big showdown at the local community theater's performance of Fiddler on the Roof, Jenna is right in the middle of it all.

Review

 

     Jenna Bloom is having the worst fourteenth birthday ever.  Instead of having the beautiful, sophisticated dinner she wanted, Jenna is stuck at the steak-house (her least favorite restaurant) with her parents and brother for her birthday - as well as the annoying neighbor boy who won't leave her alone!  So when a hot guy named Luke turns out to be their server things are looking up.  But when Jenna's Mom gives her a truly ugly heirloom necklace as a present, Luke starts acting really weird around her.  Then his archrival Adam shows up and Jenna learns that there really are such things as angels and demons - and they both have different agendas involving Jenna's futures.  When the boys crash the local production of Fiddler on the Roof that Jenna is part of, hilarity and shenanigans ensue.  Throw in the holy terror that Jenna babysits, David, and you have the makings of a supernatural battle to the death.  But who will win, Adam or Luke?  Also, which boy has stolen Jenna's heart? 

     This book is obviously a parody of all the supernatural, young-adult romances and this is made clear from the very beginning.  Jenna is cute, but reads very young.  I did appreciate the non-wavering attitude towards romance on her part.  Even with this book being a parody, there is nothing more annoying than an unnecessary love triangle.  The whole thing with her necklace being the magical key to Adam (the demon) being able to stay on Earth permanently and wreak havoc was such a stock supernatural plot that it made me laugh.  My favorite character through was David, the bratty kid that Jenna babysits for so that she'll have money for clothes that weren't bought in bulk by her Mom.  He was always finding a way to make Jenna's life difficult, but they had a relationship more brother/sister-like than she did with her actual brother.  In particular the part involving him near the end, during the performance of Fiddler on the Roof had me dying laughing!  Obviously there wasn't much character development and the plot wasn't super in depth either.  I found myself wondering what the point was a few times, as the plot wandered aimlessly in circles for a good chunk of time in the middle of the book.  The conclusion was trite and overdone.  I found it slightly funny (for the fact that in ways it reminded me of the stupidity of Twilight) but saw it coming a mile away.  It was like reading a book form of Scary Movie, only a helluva lot more clean and tween friendly.  Overall, a cute read and if you can deal with obvious parody, and serious plot holes (that was probably intentional) you might enjoy this one for what it is: pure fluff!

 

VERDICT:  2.75/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It became available for purchase on August 20th, 2013.*

The Moonlight Made You a Monster

Published: January 29th, 2013
Othermoon (Otherkin # 2)
By: Nina Berry
Kensington Teen
ISBN-13: 9780758276933

Everyone has secrets. I had no idea mine would lead me into shadow. Dez has found the place where she belongs. With the otherkin. With Caleb. Or so she thought. As the barriers between our world and Othersphere fall, a wall rises between Dez and Caleb, leaving her fiercest enemy her only friend. 

And maybe something more. 

Now Dez must make a devastating choice: keep the love of her life, or save the otherkin from annihilation.

Review

     Dez is hoping life might head in the direction of normal - at least for a little while.  After rescuing Siku, a fellow shifter and friend, from the Tribunal with the rest of their friends she just wants a break.  But then a stranger breaks in  and steals her DNA, and her Mom is possessed by something from the Othersphere - something that just may be Dez's birth mother.  Forced to go on the run again, Dez returns to Morphael's school so that they can make a plan to stop the Tribunal from wiping out all the otherkin in one attack.  But can Dez and her friends stop a particle accelerator or is that too big for the teens?  And will Dez be able to do the right thing for the damaged Lazar and keep her relationship with Caleb from crumbling?  I went into this with very high hopes, having really loved the first book.  I was disappointed.  Dez has almost no character development, shows signs of idiotic martyr syndrome, and moons over Caleb who treats her like dirt for most of the book.  Not that she's perfect either, as she persists in lying to him about anything involving his enemy, half-brother Lazar.  I thought that the only one who really showed any development was Lazar, who became a truly interesting and layered character in this book.  November and Siku's relationship wasn't a surprise, and Arnaldo's family issues were just another situation for Dez to meddle in when she should have kept out of it.  I was surprised by London and Amaris' relationship and how close they became, but it was extremely sweet.  It almost made up for the emotionally unstable train-wreck that Dez and Caleb were building throughout the book as I watched in horror.  The plot itself felt like a less thought-out redux of the first book, with them trying to stop the bad guys against all odds.  And the revelations about Dez's birth mother and her true origins were kind of 'blah.'  Ximon became even more one-dimensional as a villain, with even more evil deeds being added to his greatest hits.  But I am still holding out hope for the next book and thinking that maybe Nina Berry just succumbed to the disease that seems to plague YA authors.....the dreaded sophomore syndrome!  Overall, not what I would have liked to read but better than a lot of second books in series that I've read in the past.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

* I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published January 29th, 2013.*

Mumbo Jumbo Is My Speak

Published: April 15th, 2011
The Mumbo Jumbo Circus (Mumbo Jumbo Circus #1)
By: Jane George
Red Willow Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781936539086

If you enjoy stories by Diana Wynne Jones & J.K. Rowling, you're in the right neighborhood. Look over there. Magic. Mystery. Mayhem. The MUMBO JUMBO CIRCUS...

When the enigmatic Ringmaster asks 15-year-old Evanja (Evan) Leane to run away and join the circus, she says yes. Anywhere’s got to be better than foster home Number Eight. Evan learns that this ragtag circus, a haven for throwaway teens, relies on more than spectacle and illusion. This circus is built on magic. Each of the teens possesses a donvrai, a true gift, that manifests only in the presence of the Ringmaster’s mysterious Ju-Ju. Unlike many of the other teens who must wait for their donvrai to emerge, Evan’s gift surfaces on her first night: she can read horses’ minds. This would be totally awesome except she has been deathly afraid of horses since foster home Number Three. But circus is a dying art. If Evan wants to save her beloved new-found home, she must concoct a brilliant horse act that will bring in the crowds. And she’d better get over herself and get on with it fast; there’s a traitor close to the Ringmaster who will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn’t succeed.

Review

 

     Evan is foster care child, bouncing around from home to home pretty much ever since she was born.  There have been good placements and bad ones, but this latest one (number eight) is pretty much the worst.  So when she is called a freak and then says the magic words, Evan is approached by Compere, the Ringmaster of the Mumbo Jumbo Circus, about becoming part of the traveling show.  That is when the adventure starts, because the circus possesses magic that Compere's Uncle, owner of a rival circus, will stop at nothing to possess.  Not to mention the Ju-Ju gives donvrai, true gifts, the power to express themselves.  Evan's gift is that she can speak to horses by reading their minds - problem is she's terrified of them.  But with a traitor among the ranks and a devastating loss of something key to the show, it might be up to Evan to save Mumbo Jumbo with her amazing act.  Along with help from the Pickled Punk (the Panhandle Prophet), the elephant boy, the Circus' teenage cook and some illusionist shifting polar bears Evan might be able to do something important and find something even more special along the way - a family to call her own, ragtag as they may be.  I have almost no experience with books set in circuses, magical or otherwise.  The closest I can come to that is The Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando.  I got a lot more than I expected.   

     Jane George has a gift with words and from the very beginning when Evan is being knocked around by her hillbilly foster parents, she painted a picture that was so real I could see it in my mind.  Once she meets up with the Mumbo Jumbo folk and gets caught up in their problems and joys, there really is no turning back.  There is a budding love triangle between Evan, Wally (the cook) and Johnny (the elephant boy) but it is very tame and it becomes quickly apparent who she actually has feelings for.  The everyday struggles of a dying circus, the camraderie between the performers and the magic of the show itself definitely cam across in technicolor for me as a reader.  Evan's wonder is easily shared and I became very invested in the fate of the circus and everyone involved in it.  The addition of the talking elephant Solly, and the jarred but sassy, prophetic Pickled Punk (another term for a human fetus preserved in formaldehyde and used for a sideshow attraction), the polar bear shifting Nanurark family and a host of other colorful characters only added to the richness of the story.  The plotline involving the evil uncle, Shock Jacques, could have been less stereotypical but it never fell too far into predictable villain tropes to be truly annoying.   The revelation of what the Ju-Ju actually was fit perfectly into the setting of the story and was hilarious.  Overall, a wonderful coming of age tale set in a magic circus that I would love to visit.  Definitely one of a kind! :)

 

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

 

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available online in ebook format, or maybe even at your local library.*

I'm A Fighter, Even Without You

Expected Publication: September 25th, 2012

Covet (The Clann # 2)

By: Melissa Darnell

Harlequin Teen

ISBN-13: 9780373210565

Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart.

Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake.

Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for.

A reckoning is coming… and not everyone will survive.

Review

   Savannah thought that once they got Tristan back from the Council everything would go back to normal.  But then she was forced to promise that she would stop seeing him and she found out that the Clann had kidnapped her Grandma because of Tristan's disappearance.  But by the time she, her Dad and Tristan make it home it's too late for Sav's Grandma - she's died.  Now the bloodlust-dampening spell that she used to cast on Savannah has also died with her, which means that she has to live with her Dad now and her Mom is going on the road in an RV purchased from selling their house.  To add to Savannah's misery and guilt, it turns out that the spell her Grandma was casting for her bloodlust requires a sacrifice and damaged her heart severly - it's possibly what killed her.  Now to prevent a war between vampires and the Clann, Savannah must keep away from Tristan and not let anyone know that she's secretly teaching herself magic (which is against the rules).  But will it be enough when murders of Clann members seemingly caused by vampires come to light?  And what does Anne's ex-boyfriend Ron have to do with the Clann?  This began right where the first book left off and for that I was grateful.  It helped me remember what had been going on when it ended.  I loved that Savannah was strong enough to keep her promise and truly understood the danger of her and Tristan being together.  It gave me a lot of respect for her as a character that she understood the consequences of her actions and took responsibility for them.  Tristan on the other hand, acted like a spoiled brat for half of the book.  While Savannah was trying to deal with her growing bloodlust, friendship problems with balancing both Anne and Ron's time, dealing with her Grandma's death and losing her Mom to the road, she also has to deal with Tristan making things even harder for her.  He is constantly shoving thoughts into her head once he realizes she can read his mind (memories of them, mental images of him with other girls, etc.) constantly begging her and trying to tempt her into getting back together with him.  Plus he's stringing along another girl through almost the entire book and supposedly doesn't realize he's doing it...YEAH RIGHT.  What a douche!  He can't take no for an answer and even asks Sav's Dad to make him into a vamp, knowing it might cause a war.  I loved the development of Savannah's kick-ass BFF Anne and her unfairly dumped boyfriend Ron, who has a supernatural secret of his own (with all the hints that are dropped, it wasn't a shock AT ALL).  They really became characters in their own right in this book more so than the first one, especially once Savannah tells Anne her secret.  The ending of this book was kind of obvious to who the murderer was, plus the whole subplot with Tristan's sister was unnecessary and I couldn't believe how dense her family was to the reality of the situation.  I enjoyed seeing Mr. Colbert's interactions with his maker and Sav dealing with her vampire development.  But the way the book ended, and what happened to Tristan really made me mad.  It's the reason I deducted an extra half star from my rating.  I now quite hate him and wish he meets a horrible end.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is September 25th, 2012.*