Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Reason to Breathe gave me a reason to start writing about what I am reading again. A co-worker told me about getting hooked on this series and recommended that I read it. I downloaded the sample on Friday afternoon and by Sunday I had finished the first book, purchased and downloaded the 2nd and 3rd books and got halfway through the 2nd book in the series. I wasn't sure that I wanted to read about an abusive situation that was depicted in this book, but the well-drawn characters sucked me in and had me wanting Emma to overcome her sad situation and find happiness with Evan. Emma is a junior in high school who is active in sports and journalism and is counting down the days until she can go to college and escape the horrible home life she is forced to endure. Evan is the new boy at school who inexplicably becomes interested in Emma. His interest finally breaks through Emma's shell and allows her to be braver than she ever thought she could be. The ending of the book is startling and upsetting, but I still liked it because I knew that with two more books to read things would have to get better.

Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In this continuation of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, the focus is on Tohrment as he tries to recover from the death of his shellan, Wellsie, and his unborn child. He is fighting and eating again, but has refused to feed from the Chosen except for the first time after Lassiter returns him to the brotherhood. He finds out from Lassiter, the fallen angel, that Wellsie and his child are in the "In-Between", neither the Fade or Hell and he, Tohr, is the one who holds the key to their release. We also learn more about Xcor, Throe, and the Band of Bastards, as well as some new characters. John Matthew and Xhex come to a crisis in their relationship early in this story as well. As usual, J.R. Ward keeps you glued to the page waiting to find out what happens.



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Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although I have been more into the paranormal romance genre lately, I decided to try this because of all of the hype I heard about it. I am so glad that I did! Anastasia Steele is about to graduate from Washington State University when she agrees to help out her friend, Kate, who has arranged an interview for the college newspaper with entrepreneur and WSU benefactor Christian Grey. Kate has come down with the flu and the interview would be difficult if not impossible to reschedule, so Ana agrees to go and do the interview using Kate's list of questions and a recorder. Christian Grey is scheduled to speak and help award diplomas at their graduation later in the week, but Ana really knows nothing about him until she literally falls at his feet, tripping over her own, on the way into his office for the interview. One thing leads to another and Christian arranges another meeting with Ana who is very attracted to him. She has never felt such a strong attraction to any man and he seems to be attracted to her as well. As the romance develops, Ana learns about Christian's "dark desires" and he thinks he will frighten her away when reveals them. This story is a very intense romance with some graphic scenes, but I found myself drawn into their romance and hoping for a successful outcome. You will have to read it yourself to find out if they succeed in finding a middle-ground. There are two further books in this trilogy about Ana and Christian and I am already half-way through the second and deeply hooked on their relationship.



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The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In this latest entry in the Lords of the Underworld, Gena Showalter brings Paris, who is paired with the demon Sex, center-stage. If you are familiar with the Lords of the Underworld, you already know that in order to maintain both his strength and his sanity, Paris must have sex almost daily, but he is only ever able to be with a partner one time, and then is never able to feel desire for that person again. In an earlier story, we see Paris meet with Sienna, who is acting as Bait for the Hunters, the Lords mortal enemies. Just when Paris finally realizes that Sienna is the one woman he continues to desire, even after "having" her, she is killed in an attempt on Paris' life. In this story, Paris is desperately seeking to find her, even though he knows that she is dead. One of the gods, Cronus, has managed to reanimate Sienna and pair her with the demon Wrath who was formerly paired with the Lord Aeron. This story is full of twists and turns, with an ending that I didn't see coming. Suffice it to say that Paris does indeed get his happy-ever-after, but you will have to read the book to find out how it comes about. We also see the birth of Ashlyn's and Maddox's twin babies in this story and learn more about William. This was a very satisfying read.



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Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this because a co-worker gave it to me, thinking I would enjoy it since I enjoyed reading about the "werewolves" in the Twilight series of books. I have only read one other book by Jodi Picoult, namely Nineteen Minutes. I find that her books tend to be a little too much "real life" for me. I am just a sucker for a happily ever after ending and this book doesn't really deliver that.
It took me some time to get into the story, partially due to Picoult's rather choppy writing style, jumping between characters narrating the story. When you start off with a very serious car accident, with one person requiring surgery and one person in what appears to be an irreversible coma, you don't really see how there can be a happy outcome. Cara is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a man who has made a career out of learning about wild wolves by living with them. Cara and her father have been in a serious accident and she has had to have shoulder surgery and he is in a coma. Her mother, Georgie, who is divorced from her father and remarried with a set of young twins, calls Cara's older brother, Edward, who left home to go live in Thailand when he was eighteen after an altercation with his father. Edward comes home to find that he must make a decision about whether to discontinue life-support on his father. The story is told alternately by Cara, her father Luke, Edward, her mother Georgie, her stepfather Joe, and a temporary guardian with the laughable name of Helen Bedd. There was some very interesting information about wolves, and I did find myself involved with the characters after a while, but as I said before, there was no real way to have a happy ending to this story. If you like Jodi Picoult, you will probably enjoy this story as well. If you are looking for light reading and a happy ending, you might want to give it a pass.



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Sleight by Jennifer Sommersby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book surprisingly gave me a similar feeling to when I first read Twilight. I was quite disappointed when I got to the end and found that I wanted to read the next book, which apparently hasn't been written yet.

Gemma Flannery is a "circus kid" who has just lost her mother. Her circus family decides that the circus will remain in Eaglefern until Gemma, Junie, and Ash complete their senior year in the local public high school. There, Gemma meets Henry Dmitri whose father runs just about everything in the area, including financing the circus. From there, we begin a rollercoaster ride involving shades (aka ghosts), magic, good vs. evil, and first love. It is not a peaceful ride, and the ending is something of a cliffhanger. I hope that this series will continue.



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Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I can't help but hope that Stephenie Meyer will eventually complete this book. Basically, it is the first several chapters of Twilight, only told from Edward's point of view instead of Bella's. It is interesting to read of all the different ways he thought of killing her in the first moments after catching her scent, and even more interesting to read of how his love for Bella develops. I am just afraid that by the time Mrs. Meyer feels ready to complete this novel, the interest in the series will have faded.

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Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Mariketa is a twenty-three year old witch competing in the Hie, a contest that immortals hold every two-hundred and fifty years. Bowen is a Lykae (werewolf) competing in the same contest. This book runs somewhat parallel to the previous book in this series No Rest for the Wicked. In that book, Kaderin, a Valkyrie, is competing in the same Hie with Sebastian Wroth, a vampire, as her main competition. Mariketa is a fierce competitor, but she has little control over her magic, plus she is disadvantaged by still being mortal going up against competitors who are all immortal and will heal from most mishaps. Bowen finds himself drawn to her, but he knows that she cannot possibly be his mate, since he lost his only mate nearly two hundred years ago. He strongly suspects that she has cast a spell on him to make him want her. He shuts her in a tomb with other immortals during the contest, fully expecting that she will be able to free herself. He is defeated in the final contest of the competition by Sebastian Wroth, and spends weeks trapped in fire caverns, growing ever weaker due to a spell that Mariketa cast on him as he closed her in the tomb, making him unable to heal from his wounds. If Mariketa is trapped in a tomb and Bowen is trapped in fire caverns, how will they ever work out their differences? Read this episode to find out. I did not feel as close to these characters as I have to others in the series.

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