The Gatekeeper's Challenge (Gatekeeper's Trilogy #2)

Ten agonizing months have gone by since Therese faced off against her parents’ murderer at Mount Olympus, and she suspects Thanatos’s absence is meant to send her a message: go on with your life. She tries to return Pete’s affections even though her heart aches for the god of death, but when Than shows up to take her hamster’s soul, she becomes infuriated when he says he’s “been busy.” In cahoots with her new friend, who's gotten in with the Demon Druggies at school, Therese takes a drug that simulates a near-death experience, planning to tell Than off so she can have closure and move on, but things go very, very wrong.

Eventually she learns Than has been busy searching for a way to make her a god, and he’s found it, but it requires her to complete a set of impossible challenges designed by Hades, who hopes to see her fail.

Review:

I liked this book way much more than the first. After the gods make an oath in River Styx not to make Therese a God because she is not worthy of Thanatos after she failed to kill the man who murdered her parents, she is left alone. She keeps having dreams of Than but she hasn´t really seen him in ten long months. 

I understand why Than is in love with her but not the other way around. Yes, he is H-O-T, she met him at the skirts of the underworld when she followed her parents after the accident, and kissed him because he was very lovely, but we never really know what does she sees in him besides being gorgeous, the God of death and kind to her. There were parts that made me laugh by the wit of them both. 

I was seriously glued to my kindle when reading the five challenges. She had to [ deliver a black box to Persephone without opening it, take an apple from Hera´s garden that is guarded by a a one-hundred headed snake and take it to Mount Olympus, walk through the labyrinth and pass the Minotaur, defeat the Hydra and finally go to the underworld and apologise to Vicky and go back to the living world WITHOUT LOOKING BACK...

She almost passed with honors each and one of the challenges and guess which one did she failed?! She was soooo Soooo easily tricked and that is something I didn´t like at all and in my opinion the Furies were extra information we didn´t have to read.. She was already calling for Vicky, they didn´t have to "force"/"scare" her to do it. Seriously?! I think the series could end with this one but I´ll give the benefit of the doubt and read the third installment why?! Because I want my HEA without Than suffering year by year  at the hands of the maenads.

How are you going to pull that off Mrs. Pohler?!

"May I pet him?" - I was glad not to see this very often in the story. There were parts I thought I saw a glimpse of a more mature Therese.

"Stormy" - Something about that name makes me feel bile in the throat. She is 16 and names a foal Stormy..(Maybe I prefer strong names)

Again I think Therese should have been older, there is strong content in this one.. [ Burning alive to become a God, teenagers getting drugged to die for few minutes and get near death experiences to see their loved ones (How to get drugged 101) and we all know Jen is being molested by her father.

Aside from the things I didn´t like, I read this book in a day, It´s good indeed. This woman knows her way through Greek Mythology. Maybe she is a Historian ... hmmm

The Gatekeeper´s Sons by Eva Pohler

Gatekeeper´s Triology #1

Fifteen-year-old Therese watches her parents die. While in a coma, she meets the twin sons of Hades—Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. She thinks she's manipulating a dream, not kissing the god of death and totally rocking his world. 

Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese's heart, but not all the gods are happy. Some give her gifts. Others try to kill her. 

The deal requires Therese to avenge the death of her parents. With the help of Than’s fierce and exotic sisters, the Furies, she finds herself in an arena face to face with the murderer, and only one will survive.

Review:

Tragedy happens in Therese´s life after she watches her parents die.. While she´s in a coma she dreams with a hot guy called Hypnos (She doesn´t know he´s the Greek God of sleep). She´s been known to be a lucid dreamer always taking control of her surroundings so she summons her parents and see that they are fine and "alive". Below her she watches as a raft with people in it. She flies to the edge of the Underworld where she sees that her parents are in the raft with a man. She calls after them and she almost faints. Thanatos holds her and still thinking she´s controlling one of her dreams she kisses Than. 

Having a God falling for you is not a wish of every girl...specially if he´s the God of Death. But this one is a Greek God Hot as Hell .!! called Thanatos.

A lot of twists and turns happen in this book that make you stay glued to your computer/Kindle as long as your eyelids allow you to stay awake LOL. After six pages and I was hooked and crying in my desk AT WORK.!! ;)

Thanatos wants to make her his queen of the Death so he makes a deal with his father Hares to make her a God. Hares accepts but with one condition. She has to avenge her parents by killing the man who orchestrated their deaths. Thanatos goes to the living world to try to win her heart.


I don´t want to give anything away about this book. You must read it to enjoy the fantasy world Eve has given us in this Triology. Even though I loved the plot, the love, the friendship, the twists and turns there was something I didn´t like about it that was the "sex" talk. I think this book should have been directed to a more mature audience giving Therese an older age and a less immature personality.

Therese personality is of a fifteen year old girl along with teenage problems. She was kind of childish and naive sometimes and I feel like her love for animals was exaggerated, like if we were being forced as readers to like the character for her compassion and all the love she had for the animals and living things in general and asking for permission to pet them. I thought that was slightly ridiculous. 

****BEWARE OF SPOILERS*****

Even though non of the characters had sex there is reference to rape/force. 

"Hera came by, too, and left a nightgown for you to wear. She said it will protect you from any God wishing to force his way on you tonight." or "I wonder if she´s a virgin. I can´t wait to pinch her pretty flesh."    


Usually when reading YA/Teen romances we know the main characters have certain friction and we know what their teen hormones want them to do but all that happens is some cuddling and a kiss.     
THAT´S IT.!! 

From my perspective Therese didn't grow much and she was conformed if she died or became the Queen of Death which makes no sense to me because she "loves" living things too. How someone who respects life would chose to avenge hes parents by taking the life of the one responsible of their deaths and not backing off? What made Therese think she could pull that off?


I repeat it again... I loved the story, the character but I felt that Therese should have been older with a less naive  or with  a different approach in her personality.

Can´t wait to see how this all ends in The Gatekeeper´s Challenge ( Gatekeeper´s Triology #2). I was torn apart when Thanatos had to let her go because the Gods wanted to keep her away from Death.... *Sigh* * weeping like a baby**

Opening the Ball by Nathaniel Simpson

(Academy #1)

Jonathan Chambers isn’t a vampire. He isn’t a wizard. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. His teenage life was relatively normal until a mysterious stranger recruited him to an even more mysterious paramilitary academy for gifted boys. 

After years of rigorous training, he and two others are selected for an elite program that will test their mettle and their friendship by sending them back in time to alter the present. On one of the bloodiest days of battle of the Civil War, they will learn a life-altering lesson – that not everything is always as it seems

Review:

When is Academy #2 getting published???? I hate when I have to wait like this.... :@

I am a huge fan of YA books....


This story begins with Jonathan and he is wounded. He tries to remove a bullet with the medical kit her received at the academy. Chapter changes and you think he is running towards the enemies but he really is at his school at 13 playing football. His foster dad dies and his mom tells him he must leave her home by Monday after burying her husband. When they arrive to the cemetery the driver chit chat with Jonathan. Jonathan tells him that he must leave home and go back to the system but its more likely he will run away. The driver tells him he has good luck because he works for a school called San Lorenzo Academy for gifted boy just like him. They are looking for new recruits with good physical condition to offer them a high quality education. The driver claims there is no catch so Jonathan leaves with him.

On his way to the Academy, Jonathan fells asleep without feeling tired. When he wakes up alone in a room he tries to remember how he got there. A man and a soldier get into the room and tell him he had to be drugged to avoid that he comes back to the Academy in case he fails.

So the journey begins...

Jonathan stands out from his peers and While in training Jonathan competes with another boy called Jones. Jones cheats and makes him trip to win over Jonathan and their group including them are punished. Four years have passed and they graduated from the program and they are friends now!!! Jonathan, Jones and Reilly are called by Bond who tells them they had been selected for a secret program in which they will be able to travel through time and change the past. They are sent to a farm to get proper training. 

Their first mission is to go back to the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War and kill a man. They have to become real Civil War soldiers learning the way they used to speak 150 years ago and their weapons so they don´t look like outsiders and complete the mission. During their training we witness that their division is in trouble, while Bond tells them they have to go kill a man without explaining exactly what he did, Jonathan is being dragged to a basement where someone else tells him that Bond is lying.

So they go back to the past and the three boys are worried for changing the past forever or erase themselves from their present.


When I finished this books I thought - Now I have to know the rest of the story.!!! When is the second installment getting published.

This book has military background and the main character is boy. You don´t necessarily have to be a man to read this book. I enjoy this type of stories because of all the suspense and action but that´s just me. Reading this book depends on the readers preferences.

Opening the ball was entirely different from what I use to read.. It´s not about angels or vampires or werewolves in love with humans. This book was well written by the author.

You can find this book in: 

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Opening-The-Ball-Academy-ebook/dp/B0094HZXUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365752839&sr=8-1&keywords=opening+the+ball

Smashwords - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/223827

Amid the Roar by Tempest C. Avery

(The Dreamer Triology #3)

Lily Bryg never thought she would end up magically locked away in Graindoth with Ronan. And actually kind of liking it. Now that she's bound to the castle for three days, he's let down some of his walls, giving her a look at a side of him she never knew existed. But how could she be starting to like the guy who not only ruined her life, but the lives of her friends as well? The fate of the entire realm rests with her, and in order to become the Dreamer of prophecy, Lily is going to have to start making choices she wouldn't have made only three months ago. Her fellow witches are trying to find a way to help her, while juggling their own love lives and the Rebellion at the same time. 

Add to the equation the fact she's still very much in love with both Devlin werewolves, and her traitorous best friend is living in the castle with her, and Lily's troubles just keep growing larger and larger. When in doubt Lily and her friends have always turned to magic for guidance, and now they're desperately struggling to form alliances with dragons and faeries before the final battle. She needs to figure out her heart, her soul mate, and decide once and for all how she plans on taking the throne. What kind of ruler she wants to be, and who she really wants to rule at her side. 


Demons and dark fey she can handle, but making a choice like this might just kill her.

Review:

Three men, two soul mates, one woman. Who´s bluffing for her love.

Lily has to stay in Graindoth for three days after Brid chooses The Dark King´s side. What Lily didn´t now was that Ronan could make those 72 hrs into 72 days :S . As day pass she gets to know the real Ronan at least the nice side of him. He´s not as evil as he looks and she gets to see that the way he manages his kingdom is for the good of the people. He makes justice but... not in a very conventional way. He tortures and mutilates the people that are caught doing some felony. Lily and the people of Bevain don´t want him to rule like that. While she´s in Graindoth she witnesses through "Keegan´s" memories how he (Keegan) killed Larkin and Lily is devastated and kills him. She is torn between the love of 2 wolves and the Dark king. She is so confused. I can´t believe how hard was for her to give up the mutts.!!! 

Who´s gonna win her heart and rule by her side forever?...

***SPOILER ALERT***

The book was great.! I laughed and cried in the right parts and enjoyed this story till the end. I was hooked. These series have a great plot but....I´m slightly disappointed of how this book ended. Everything that was written since the first book about Ronan and Lily was meant for them to be together and him to let his good side out and win her love. I think the writer got sidetracked by the wolves and the love they claimed to have for her. The three books where about Ronan stalking her in her dreams and her liking him since the beginning but denying her feelings. I think she was afraid of what would people think about her if she chose Ronan instead. She did have the option to choose him. Even her friends told her so. Flynn knew she was attracted to him. EVERYONE KNEW.

I think they would have been the perfect match. They were meant for each other and the darkness she let herself out when she was staying in Graindoth was by her choice not his. He only let her be. She could have been by his side and not let the dark overpower her. Seriously.!! He opened himself to her so much. He showed her not only the bad but the good and the reason he killed the former king of Bevain. He saved her from being drowned in the lake, saved her after she hit her head when Caer was casting a spell on her to see who her  soul mate was. Even when he didn´t want to give her pendant back (which I think he was a douche) but still he cared so much about her. He just wanted her by his side. To be together.

Conall and Larking were practiaclly in competition in who will she choose since the beginning. More Larking than Conall. Larking seemed like he wanted to force her at his will without being too obvious. They almost didn´t speak about their past with her even when she remembered some things and I think they were all lying to her in some way or another. Ronan was the only one who tell her the truth always. He admitted to love her, wanting her, and that he was going to take her whatever the cost.  Very cheeky Dark King i might say.

People gave Ronan too much credit of what he had done in the past. I´m not saying he didn´t do all those bad things 300 years ago, but people changed their version of what really happened always making him look as someone too evil and vicious. Kind of a sociopath but is understandable after knowing what happened to his parents.

They all want to defeat him because he has killed people. People he claims that are his enemies. No one ever said who he killed and why really. The Sidhe king, Lily and the other rulers are killing people too in the name of justice (Their justice) because they have enemies too. What does that make them. Dark Kings too? Murderers like Ronan? 

It was Brids right to decide to which side she wanted to go, but I really didn´t appreciate Bran being separated from her. 300 years ago he sided with Ronan and betrayed him for her. She was way to easy to manipulate and at the end she was exiled from Bevain and sent back to NYC. Bran turned his back to his one and only soul mate very easily just to be in Lily´s graces. That was stupid. Seriously no one gives their back to their soul mate.  Conall is way to noble for her. We needed a balance of good and bad no pure light. In the mortal world we don´t live like that. I´M PISSED.!!!

There are always two sides for every story.

He lied and schemed and plot against her and her people in order to get her. Always making sure she was not getting harmed as well as her friends in the way. He did everything in the name of love. She was literally playing hard to get. She should have chosen Ronan since the beginning. 

"ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR"

I think Ronan was so much in love with Lily that he would have given up most of his darkness and bring peace to the people of Bevain providing the perfect balance just by being with her.

I feel like there were missing A LOT of explations like for example:

1. They never said exactly how each of them died and why?  - They only make us think he was the one sending his people to kill them.

2 . In the first book:

"Good luck with the pain that I bring you Liliandra. That´s more luck then you gave for the pain you´ve brought me".  - I really thought there was so much more than "I have been hunting you for 300 years because I want you and that´s why i´m in pain".

or

The tapestries

The first was of a woman sitting by a stream, her hand brushing the surface of the water. At her back stood a man, hiding behind her the large trunk of a tree. He seemed as though he was watching her, a small smile touching his lips.

In the second one, the same woman was singing with a bue bird on perched on her hand. This time the man watched her while leaning up against a wooden building. The woman, however, didn´t seem to notice.

The last tapestry was a little different. This time the man wasn´t hiding. Instead, he was standing behind the woman, with his arms tightly wrapped around her waist. Her head was titled up, as if she were trying to look at him behind her but couldn´t turn all the way. In her hazel eyes tears were beginning to form.

Lily swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared at the woven threads that made up the forms of both her and Ronan. This was insane. Where eer she was she didn´t like it.

"Did any of this actually happened?" She asked before he could think better of it.

He shrugged his shoulders an then stepped over the first tapestry. He ran his hand over the material, stopping to stroke the depiction of her cheek.

"Yes. They were created out of memory. But I guess it´s obvious that you don´t remember"   - Again I really thought there was so much more of them together 300 years ago that she couldn´t remember and still she chose someone else. I never saw anything in the books that could make me fell in love with the wolves. Where the tapestries a lie so she could fall for him or what?

3. Sleibhin´s mom is the girl Ronan was hanging around before his parents were murdered? - It wasn´t explained why he was screwing Sleibhin´s mom if he was so in love with Lily

4. When she drowns in the lake he connects with her:

This was a safe place. There was no cause for fear here, she could not be harmed.

After all, it was hers. Sacred ground that couldn’t be marred with violence or turmoil.

“Ronan.” Her voice sounded as sweet as honey, her eyes glimmering with glee.

Dropping down beside her, he reached out a hand and gently brushed his fingers

against her soft cheek. Trailing it down, he touched her shoulder and down her arm,

spiking a shiver in her.

“You are so beautiful.”

Her smile widened. “I’ve been told much worse.”

“Lily, you scared me. Gods, did you scare me. I was so afraid… I thought I’d lost

you.” He rested his forehead against hers, and breathed in her scent. Already his nerves

were calm, his heart beating at an even pace. Fast, but still even.

“Lost me? Ronan, you can’t lose what you’ve never had.” Immediately she placed

a finger to his lips when he lifted his head. “No, don’t speak of it. Not here. Here, there is

just me, and just you. We aren’t the King of Bevain, or the Dreamer, not in this place.”

“Then neither are we enemies. Nor are we good or bad,” he added, his voice just

as quiet as hers.

She nodded. “No, we aren’t.”

Ronan stared down at her, into her hazel eyes and almost let the sigh pass his lips.

“Then let me love you,” he finally said. “Here, where neither of us is who we are,

let me love you, Lily. Please. Just this once, let me be the man you would want to touch

you. The man you can be proud of,” his eyes searched hers. “The man you could love.”

Now her smile did fade, and she glanced away as a sudden sadness came over her.

“Love is a tricky thing, Ronan. I won’t recall anything that happens here, between

us, not when I awake.”

“And when you don’t, I’ll have no proof that you gave into me, this once.

Liliandra, I’ve waited a million lifetimes for you. I’d wait a million more, if you’d only

let me touch you, just this once, without a fight, without a rejection. I want you to give

freely.”

He’d never dreamed of ending up in this position. Here she was right next to him

and she wasn’t pushing him away. In fact, there were no signs on her face of scorn or

derision. If he could hold onto this moment, make it last forever, he would. This was all

he wanted. All he needed. Everything and anything he’d done in the past three hundred

years had all been for this. With her, he could fathom being someone else. Being…better.

Before he could continue the thought, she wrapped a hand around the back of his

skull and pulled him down for a kiss.

His head spun, and his heart soared. She was kissing him. Not the other way

around. For once, her kisses were being given to him. It was a billion times better than

what he’d dreamed of. He opened his mouth to tell her as much, but she beat him to it.

“If things had been different, if you weren’t darkness, and I wasn’t light, then I

could see myself with you, Ronan. If things had been different…”

He felt her consciousness shift, struggled to hold onto the dream world she’d

created as her mind struggled to wake up.

No. Just a little longer. That’s it. A moment more to be like this. Like how we

should be…  - They had too bigger connection than the one she had with the wolves. Why would she use her "unconsciousness" as excuse to allow herself to be with him. Further in the book she does the same and meets with him in the woods.

Larkin: 

High Prince of Faolan, after his fathers dead he became the King of the Faolan. He doesn´t trust Lily is in good shape to fight with the Dark King. He doesn´t have faith in her and her capabilities. At the first fight he had with her he went looking for Whiltierna a she wolf I´m pretty sure he screwed in the past. Even though he didn´t do anything with her after Lily came back to Bevain but still. he lied....WTH.!!

"What does he mean by that, exactly?" The thought of another girl making the moves on her wolf-She stopped herself before she could go on. When had Larkin become hers? And what right did she have to be mad at him for acting the ways he was in front of his cousin if at the mere mention of another girl she flipped?

"Nothing" Larkin told her, turning so that he could face both her and Conall.

"Whilt is just a member of our pack. She´s got a crush on me, that´s all.

Before he knew what he intended, he was knocking loudly on Whiltierna´s door. The she wolf was frowning when she opened the door, her wheat color curls in disarray as if she´d just risen from bed. Her chocolate eyes widened when she realized it was him. "Larkin? What are you doing here?" He took a breath and frowned. What was he doing there? Whilt´s room was the closest to Lily´s that didn't belong to one of the Four, and he definitely wasn't going to talk to Brid or Caer about his jealousy. But this was a terrible idea. He wasn't going to talk to Brid or Caer about his jealousy. But this was a terrible idea. He wasn't that desperate, and he hadn't actually seen anything...

He also wanted to control her at his will and I didn´t like it. At the end of the book.. I wasn´t glad she chose Conall over Ronan but still was happy because she didn´t chose Larkin.

"Can we talk?" Larkin stepped even closer now and he finally turned to face him. She shook her head, fearing where this conversation was going. "Lark-"

"Im so happy for you," he surprised her by saying. "I wish nothing but the best for you and my cousin. I asked you to choose, Lily, and you did. i an´t fault you because your answer wasn´t the one I wanted to hear. But I meant what I said before he fight. I´m always going to love you. As the king of the Faolan, I´ll always stand byyou, even if it´s not as your king".

He wanted to conquer her. Like if she were his price and I didn´t like that a bit.

Connall:

High Prince of Faolan, cousin of Larkin. He loves Lily and although there´s no to much explanation of their past and current love, you kind of warm to him because he is very noble. He knows his cousin is clung to have her but still lets her be meanwhile she sorts her feelings for both of them. In the last book he is very understanding about her confusion of who she really loves. He tells her she can love whoever she wants and she shouldn´t care what other people think . He doesn´t feel threatend by his cousin for being the King of Faolan or by the Dark King and he treats her as his equal not him above her. He doesn´t want to fight her for control. He doesn´t want to control her. 

Ronan:

He loves Lily and Bran (his brother). Apparently he hasn´t been taking good care of Bevain and has to be defeated by his soulmate (Lily). He wants Lily to admit he is her only soulmate and that she loves him. In order to get her to admit that, he plots against the people she loves. Since I started reading the books I really thought he was besides being a sociopath, true meanness. Then I noticed he was just a guy in pain. In pain of his past and his present. The loss of his parents when he was young and now the girl he can´t have. When Lily was drowining in the lake my heart mealt for him. LITERALLY. I cried for a while at the end. I didn´t want his story to end up like that. He truly loved her and had a different way to approach and Lily liked that (My ass if she didn´t). Ronan´s feeling to towards Lily and viceversa were very elaborated. That´s why it was so difficult for me to let him go.

Both wolves let her go in the past and present and the only person loyal to her was Ronan. He wouldn´t let her go. NEVER and still he was not enough.

She stood in the library room he had made for her during her time in Graindoth. Outside the window the waves crashed against the ivory white and, and she thought of how she´s been here before, secretly watching his reflection in the glass. Ronan had been dead for forty-seven hours now, and she still couldn´t shake him from her mind. In truth, she didn´t think she´d ever be able to. He was, after all, her soulmate. He´d done horrible things throughout his life, but in the end he had loved her even with his last breath. - She´s never getting over him. He was his soulmate the only one for her. She just didn´t take him by her side because she was fighting for control with him. That´s why she chose the one that didn´t want to fight her and just be obedient/amenable with her.

I feel that the author underestimate the love/hate feeling we (the readers) were going to develop towards Ronan and she forced the story to end up with one of the wolves instead of him and that´s why she used the "two soulmates" and the Brid (The Traitor) bullshit. He deserved to be forgiven. I can´t say I disagree on how the story ended because it would be a lie.. I would have mourned Connall if he were dead but I think my heart aches and will keep aching for Ronan´s loss.

I´m rating this book for what the story was and not because I disagree with the ending plot. I give this author 5 stars and hope I see more of Lily, Brid, Caer, Bran and Ruarc in future books.

Wanderers of the Night by Tempest C. Avery

(The Dreamer Triology #2)

Seventeen year old witch, Lily Bryg, is about to realize there's more to the three realms then she thought. In the past month she's fallen for a werewolf, met a dragon, and found out her life was depicted in an age old prophecy. Now, she needs to figure out how to get into Sidhe, the realm of the fey, in order to rescue a kidnapped friend, all while trying to win a bet she made with an evil king hell bent on making her his queen. Lily doesn't know if she believes in soul mates, but she's torn between hoping he isn't hers and being eerily drawn to him. With the help of her three best friends, a raven, and a white wolf she needs to put her heart aside and focus on fulfilling the prophecy. Everything she knows about faeries tells her they can't be trusted, but when her own coven starts to break apart she's forced to rely on anyone she can get.

If Lily can't save her kidnapped friends and convince them not to fall under the sway of dark magic, she'll have to willingly go to the evil king Ronan. He's been trying to convince her they belong together for years, and she's starting to fear he might be right. Add in the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Lily's task isn't looking any easier. If that weren't bad enough, it turns out she's just got a penchant for werewolves. 

Can Lily over come the three realms, or will she succumb to the wanderers of the night before she ever gets the chance?

Review:

Summary: After defending Moht and receiving visits in her dreams from her stalker A.K.A Ronan, she has to go to Sidhe and rescue Lennan who was kidnapped by one of Ronan´s men.

Stars: + + + + +

After wiring for the contents of this book to sink in I´m ready to give my honest opinion of this book.

This one was more twisted than the first one. There were a couple of part where I just stared at my kindle and think: "Woooww.. I didnt see that one coming.

So apparently the dark king isn't as dark and wicked as he was pictured in the first book. Nothing is what it seems

The story begins right where the first book left. Larking leaves Lily after Ronan had attacked his kingdom and killed his father, he has to go back home to take his place as new king of (XXXXXX). Meanwhile Lily has to go to Sidhe to rescue Lennan (Ruarc´s niece) and she takes with her Caer, Conall, Ruarc and Arlana (she wolf). Brid and Bran stay behind to defend Moht while Lily goes rescue Lennan. While in the woods they get distracted by ( Crawlers… or Grumblings?). Lily gets lost and meets a cat that speaks only in rhyme and claims to be sent to help her get to Sidhe.  Connall and Arlana find Lily and the cat. Flynn appears in the woods and gives lily the clue for her to find the key to reach the door in Vern that will take them to Sidhe. They meet Cadfael in the mountains and gives them a rhyme to solve where the key is hidden.  They find their way and arrive to a place that keeps a lot of keys along with the "Keyper". He´s very sweet and lets them wander over the place so Lily can try and find the key. They are met by Grumblings and they fight them. Lily has a dream of Ronan and she thinks she's experiencing a kind of Stockholm Syndrome (Guess I'm suffering from the same). Ronan shows her a memory Brid has had about a guy named Una who's messing with her head telling her lies about her boyfriend (Bran, former guard of Ronan). When they get to Sidhe they discover Lennan wasn't held prisioner at all. In fact she was very well treated by the king who happened to be in love with her and she with him as well. She stays and Lily gives magic to the pendant she gave her 300 years ago so she can be the temporary queen of the Summer. They stay in the Iomlan court and Caer gets kidnapped by Cadfael and his brother who are two of the horsemen of the apocalypse. They take her to Ronan and they have to go save her. Brids head was scrambled by all the bullshit Una and his brother (the other 2 horsemen of the apocalypse ) said to her and she leaves moht to meet with the dark king and ask for answers on who killed her parents. She wants justice and wants to kill them. The horsemen told her that Ronan is not that evil and that people think he's just missing the other part of his should to be good. On their way to Ronans castle to save Caer and Brid, there is an accident at the lake.. Who saves who? …. Ronan and Lily share a short time together but its worth it. Nothing like Connall or Larkin… Whatever. They get to Ronans castle find Caer and try to save her and Brid too. Lily finds Brid torturing the men that killed her parents. When Lily arrives they fight and while Brid is distracted both men attack her. As consequence, Brid kills one of the men and Lily the other to prevent her best friend to get killed too. Brid seals the bet Lily had with Ronan of her choosing sides with him. And she has to stay three days in Ronan`s castle. 

My feelings toward The Devlin brothers and Ronan are …

I honestly hate the love triangle she has with the Devlin brothers.. She so totally into Connall/Ronan … Larkin is just temporary distraction.. She doesn't know what she wants.

Why she should stay/leave Larkin:

Stay:

1. He says he loves her.

Run to the hills:

1. Control Freak
2. Doesn't believe she can handle Ronan and his army.
3. Doesn't have faith that she´ll win.
4. Sick with jealousy for his cousin.
5. Sees Lily´s love as a competition towards his cousin.

Why she should stay/leave Connall:

Stay:

1. Sweet.
2. Calm
3. Patient
4. Controlled (Most of the time when he doesn't explodes from being mad at his love triangle situation)

Leave:

?????

Why she should stay/leave Ronan:

Stay:

1. Fun
2. Sarcastic
3. Evil
4. Charismatic
5. H-O-T
6. He wants the best for Bevain and its people with justice and some black magic... Not the same way Lily would have wanted it.

Leave:

1. He´ll do what it takes to have Lily. Even if it means killing all people from Bevain.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/583569795

The Colors of Grace by Linda Kage

Meet sixteen-year-old Grace Indigo:

When my mother remarried after thirteen years of being a widow, I had to move to a new town and enroll in a new school. Suddenly thrust into an entirely different kind of life, I just wanted to go home. I didn’t want to meet new people, didn’t want to leave my old friends, didn’t want to become a third wheel to my mom and her husband...and I really didn’t want to see Ryder Yates again. Ugh, I still don’t know why I turned down that too-good-to-be-true boy who flirted with me when we were attending separate schools.

But honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was worse.

Who knew becoming lost in a new life could help a girl find her true colors?

Review: 

Characters: Grace Indigo, Ryder Yates, Bridget, Kate Indigo, Dr. Barry Struder, Todd, Kiera and other attached characters 

Stars : +++++

Genre: YA, Romance, Drama


Grace is  at her high school taking pictures of a basketball game for the yearbook. While she is on her quest to take pictures she trips and drops her camera. This is where Ryder gets in the picture. He is a guy  from Southeast high school; the opposite team. He flirts with her but she refrains herself from flirting back and turns him down. She was moving somewhere near Southeast HS with her mom and new dad and she knew she was going to see him sooner or later but she refused to mingle with the enemy so soon.

Meet Ryder:

Hot.!! Isn´t he? ;)

The night before her first day of class at Southeast HS her step dad surprises her  with a gift to try and get the edge of going by herself to a new school. What was the gift?? A 14 carat gold chain. Since then her mother start acting jealous of her own daughter with terrible mood swings and hell breaks loose. Since her first day at school she begins to hang out with the cool kids and gets informed in Ryder´s relationship status. He is currently dating a cheerleader named Keira and she hates him for flirting with her when he was already taken. She meets Todd, Ryder´s best friend and he seems interested in her and invites her out. Ryder tries to talk her out of going and claims she doesn't belong with his group. He also tells her that Todd is only interested in her because he assumes Ryder is interested as well and that he will ask "certain things" of their relationship. She doesn't care and goes anyway. After Todd takes her home he kisses her but she pulls away. Everybody thinks she with Todd but she´s not. They only hang around as friends even when Todd tries to make advances with her.

I was really mad at this situation. I really thought Ryder was single and just simply gorgeous.... and interested in her. High School boys pfffff.!!!!! 

Her mom is practically a different person since she got married. She is constantly scolding Grace and her step dad (Dr. Barry Struder)  is always trying to put himself in the way to help Grace to which her mother hates because she´s supposed to educate Grace as she sees fit and he´s not her father.  Later is known she gets brained washed by her new husband and he´s not what he seems to be. 

When I first started this book I doubted I was going to like it at all. Since the beginning I had the impression that Grace was extremely immature. Yeah, she has a group of friends called the nerd herd but it´s no excuse. She´s 16 and behaves like 13. I think she treated Ryder in a childish way when they first met. I couldn't stand "Holy Hossana" one more time,then it stopped and came back by the end of the book. I just wanted to smack someone. It also kind of looked somewhat like Twilight with her constantly slipping and tripping like the Bella chick and him being the white knight... 

This story had twists and turns I didn't expect other than the obvious about the step dad it was written almost from the beginning what was going to happen. I disliked that after 16 years Grace´s mom didn't trust her. They used to be such great friends. She was her confident and at some point of the story they distanced themselves. Taking her to the gynecologist to check if she wasn´t pregnant? Seriously.?!!  Also why you take your daughter into a new marriage if you´re gonna be jealous of her. We know she gets brained washed but trusting someone you barely know than your own daughter? I was so F"$&767ng MAD?! I didn´t know how the writer was going to pull off the end of the story I seriously thought something really really bad was going to happen so her mom could realized the mistake she´d made. This is a great story. I must read. I would have liked it to be a little bit longer with a what happened next after ....... ;) I laughed, I cried and I was COMPLETELY HOOKED to this book until I finished. I think this book deserves a 5 start because of the originality of the subject. Not everyone can pull a story of such a delicate matter and still end it with honors ;)

Favorite quote:
"I think it´s about time you pull out those big green eyes of yours".

(To understand it you´ll have to read it. It just made me laugh :S I´m  a YA fan LOL)