Lily Pond Reads

• I really enjoyed the romance. I felt the sparks between them and so much more. The interaction between Lucas and Alana was comfortable and easy. After reading a bunch of heavy stuff, this was rather welcoming. There was sparks and of course just the right amount of chemistry.
• It takes place in a small town and if you been following me for a while you know I love my small town romances. They make me all warm and fuzzy on the inside with their small close knit community and recurring characters. Speaking of which, thought I have not read the first book, I did look to see who was in it and Adam and Marissa do appear in this book as well!
• The pace of the book was pretty good. The story flowed and I found myself really immersed in it. Sure there was some parts that were kind of slow in the end but they where brief and minor and did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the book.
• I liked the storyline, especially in the end. Alana was not meant to stay in Walker's Ford. She was there to propose a project in rebuilding the library and in the end managed to show the community how important the library was to the town and it's people. How many of them it has helped, and how central it was to the community.
• Lucas. A brooding chief of police with a retired police dog named Duke? Yes please. Thought Lucas did manage to get on my nerve at times, I was so glad that in the end he allowed to town and it's appeal to kind bring down his own walls and start to actually help people a little more on a personal level. I did not like how he treated Cody and Tanya at first, but everything clicked nicely in the end!
• I liked the supporting characters. There was trouble and people who come from broken homes and Alana had managed to get entangled with each and one of them and make an impact on their lives. Even Lucas had bought down his walls in the end. I really loved that he did not give up on his cousin Tanya and had drug addiction as much as Alana did not give up on a teenager by the name of Cody who also came from a broken home. 
• The writing. Calhoun did a wonderful job in luring me into the story that I found myself invested in the small town and connecting with her characters.

Lily Pond Reads

Lily Pond Reads

I jumped into the story head first. Thinking I knew exactly what was coming and I was rewarded with so much more. I loved Elisa and hated her at the same time. She poured her heart and soul at serving her Queen and eventually becoming Lady-in waiting to Rose. Her devotion to both the Queen and the Princess ran far deeper then her own feelings. She had put aside her own life, her own love in order to serve the Royal family and the result was beyond astronomical in the effect she has had on Rose in the end.

The ending took me by surprise, once again thinking that I knew exactly what was coming but Elizabeth Blackwell has managed to blow everything out of the water. Ending up with a conclusion that was not what I expected after all. I did like this different take on Sleeping Beauty ending.

I could keep on talking about this book, but there was just so much in it that I do not want to give away. If you love a good historical fiction, I would absolutely give this one a shot.

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Lily Pond Reads

Lily Pond Reads

In the future, the United States is ruled by a class of gentry that live in the life of lavish and 'riches'. Madeline is a 17 year old Landry who wants nothing more but to attend University and get the privilege to learn, unfortunately the only thing her father wants is for her to get married. Being the oldest and the only Landry daughter, Madeline cannot escape her due over ruling one of the most largest, most respected, and the most influential estates.

Until the night that her world is shaken up when a girl from her childhood is attacked and it's blamed on the Rootless - people with no roots and no laws that the Gentry have been enslaving for years to take out their nuclear charges from their electricity devices.

As Madeline finds herself in the battle between everything that she known's and what she discovers, she finds herself unable to stay away from David and ends up discovering more then what she was ready for.

Lily Pond Reads

First I wanted to say that I absolutely love the cover of this book, it is simply gorgeous. Second, I dove into this book not realizing at first that it was part of a series. Luckily for me and my mistake, thought the first two characters are featured in this book you do not need to read book 1 in order to realize what is going on.

Paul is a protector, he has always known he is a protector who is fated to serve another person called a Speaker. Speakers can hear the spirits that are unable or have not moved on from their death and their own faith is to help them resolve what's anchoring them to earth and help them move on.

It took a while longer but Paul finally get's his speaker Vivienne who at first wants nothing to do with him. Vivienne comes with a lot of baggage, and the girl is nothing he had seen before. Hot pink hair and black clothes put up a tougher front, but underneath is a scarred girl who simply wants revenge for her mother and aunts deaths.

With a malevolent spirit out there powerful enough to wreak havoc, it's going to take the two of them working together in order to defeat the man and put him to rest once and for all.

Loved this story, so much fun, entertaining and totally engrossing. I had a hard time putting Fragile Spirits down. I have been in the mood for ghosts stories lately and this had me attention from the start. I love the idea behind Fragile Spirits, and the world that Mary Lindsey has created. Original, fast paced that leaves you wanting even more.

I was so sad when I hit the end of the book, but I was happily surprised that unlike other young-adult books out there it did not end in a cliffhanger!

Lindsey does a wonderful job with characters, especially Paul and Vivienne, I loved how realistic the characters sounded and they weren't perfect. Not even Paul. The relationship starts of shaky, and the bickering between them pulled a smile more then once.  The build up to trust was slow and emotional for, but well worth it in the end. I had to remember several times that they are teenagers when Vivienne acted irrational, but it was fun to see her change through the book.

The budding romance between Paul and Vivienne was sweet but I am glad that it didn't cloud and take away from the story as I was more engrossed about the resolutions of their Speaker/Protector relationship and ghosts.

That being said, I also absolutely loved Race. I hope he get's his own book soon as well, I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us especially with Maddie. I couldn't stand Cinda, I thought she was the worse. I know she was just trying to help but she didn't listen and completely endangered the entire crew at the end of the book after they told her to stay behind when they went to take on the powerful spirit. Plus, I guess part of the animosity towards her comes from the fact that I really liked Maddie and Race.

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this beautiful story. It had everything I could ask for. Great storyline, wonderful characters, and quiet an emotional ride in between. It held my attention until the very end and didn't let go until it was sadly, over.

Thank you Penguins-Philomel for providing me with a physical ARC in exchange of an honest review.

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Lily Pond Reads

Lily Pond Reads

• It was a Christmas novella, so that by itself got it points. But no, I really liked Dina. She was loud and obnoxious, wiry, witty and spoke her mind. Complete opposite from Ben, the grouchy millionaire who just lost his brother and is alone for Christmas due to the fact that he no longer has a family left.
• I loved the way Ben just came in and stepped into the fatherly shoes, even if Dash the baby was his brother's doing. But due to the fact that Dash's dad can no longer be in the picture and Ben had always wanted a child, it was a very touching moment to me. I loved the way he interacted with Dash and everything he went through to provide them with the perfect first Christmas, even at the chance that it bought in bad memories.
• This book follows book one in the series, but I actually had no problems following the storyline. It was well done from start to finish. The fact that Sugar Jamison was able to do that, was really impressive to me on her behalf. The story flowed wonderful, the dialog made me laugh and even thought it had me wondering what happened between Dina and her family, it didn't leave me hanging. It was all nicely fit and explained at the end of the book.
• Sugar Jamison's writing is sassy, and there was plenty of romance in the book. There is sizzle and sparks between Ben and Dina, and you just cannot help but love them yourself. The only love scene in the end was much tamer then what I usually read so I didn't mind it.
• I like Christmas romances, and I loved the lengths Ben went to make Dina happy and give her the first Christmas for Dash that she would remember! It was sweet and swoon worthy watching Ben change from the type of character he was in the beginning of the book. It was also nice to know that Dina had changed too. I suspect if I read book 1 first, I probably wouldn't have liked her.

• The fact that it was short heh. I was just settling into the comfort of Dina and Ben and all the magical Christmas stuff and then it ended.

I got a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

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Lily Pond Reads

I got this book for free through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review!

• Redemption is the first book in a paranormal series Soul. So Obviously it comes with good and bad. I liked the characters in this one. I actually really liked Reya, for most of the book. Some parts left me, not so sure, but she was mostly likeable. I thought her job was kind of interesting. She is a redeemer in order to guide her own soul towards the right path of redemption, so in order to get there she has to help a lot of people. Thane was just mostly your typical bad boy. He had the right intentions, but he had his ways of going about it. A hard head that did things besides people asking him not to.
• The whole idea behind the book was different and I kind of liked it until it got a bit too complicated and then downright confusing. I liked that there was so much more to the world and the after life in this book. It bought in several different layers of life, enlightenment and where your souls can go and what they can reach. Especially how everything is bought on by Free Will and how people choose their life and purpose before they take on their earthly bodies.
• The relationship between Reya and Thane before they got too series. I thought they where great working partners.

• There was romance in the book, but I honestly wasn't feeling it. I didn't feel the attraction between Thane and Reya and since the romance happened in the end of the book where everything was starting to go wrong for me, I guess it might have played a big part of it. Honestly I thought they had a better working partnership-friendship then they did as lovers. It just wasn't there for me.
• Is it just me or do some of the paranormal book these days have the most irritating theme going for them...let's see.. Like when the hero gets asked to help save the world but then they don't tell him everything he needs to know, so he goes into it blindly and then get's pissed off cause they aren't telling him everything. I understand it's one thing when he learns something no one know, but seriously, Why are they always keeping secrets that are bound to come out anyway and just get the main character and the reader both angry!? Sorry, but oh gosh was I so upset in some parts of the book – especially when these secrets had no business being secrets!
• Thane was a legacy, which was briefly explained by what exactly that is, but I don't feel like I knew enough about it – nor did I feel like it played the role it should have in the book. Maybe later in the series his powers will become more prominent, but given the way the book ended... I don't see how.
• The ending battle was abrupt and made no sense to me. Especially since it ended with literally the snap of the fingers... uh... Maybe it just me but the entire second half of the book downright confused me.

Lily Pond Reads

I got this book for free through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review!

I was so excited about this book, especially when I got approved for reading and reviewing this. I came into it knowing it had amazing reviews, but I didn't know why. The story is about a girl named Kacey, who's life changed drastically four years ago. After her car was hit by a drunk driver, Kacey watched her parents, her best friend and her boyfriend die while she laid there unable to do anything about it holding her boyfriends lifeless hand and listening as her mother took her final breaths.

The ten tiny breath is something she lives by, something her mother told her to do if she felt like she was starting to lose control. Kacey was never sure why, as far as she sees it, it never worked for her.

With a bus ticket in hand, she escapes her uncle with her younger sister Livie and moves to a small apartment in Miami in hopes of starting over.

It was a beautiful emotional story about a girl that's quiet broken as she struggles to provide some kind of a life for her younger sister, without relapsing to the old days when she spend drinking and always staying in trouble in order to numb herself from the pain. With the help of one of her neighbors, Kacey gets a job as a bartender in a strip club in order to survive but her inner struggles continue. They say you go through five stages of grief, but Kacey seems to be stuck and unable to move on emotionally.

Until Trent comes along... Her mysterious neighbor next door that pays cash for everything that he owns. Trent wants to help Kacey move on and because of him she had never felt so alive. But Kacey had been dependent on sex before, and Trent is a living, breathing male that she has a hard time with the attraction between them.

This story was just an emotional wreck, digging deep into grief, telling a haunting tale of loss, love and friendship. Kacey's journey to recovery is an emotional one, that is also very heart breaking. I found myself spilling tears a couple of times. But the support that she had from her new friends was also very endearing. The author tore my heart, healed it, and then dropped the biggest bomb in the book that had my nerves and feelings frazzled.

Okay so I saw it coming, but I guess I just didn't prepare myself enough. That is what happens when you get so emotionally invested in the book. When everything came crashing down on Kacey, it was impossible not to feel the pain and devastation she had to endure. I love how much passion the author had put into the book, I felt every grief, it made me sad and angry but that was part of the books appeal to me.

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I got this book through Netgalley for Free in Exchange of an honest review.

 have to admit, I picked up this book on the whim from Netgalley because I could read it now and I was starving for a paranormal. I was actually pleasantly surprised with this one. I have not read anything by Lizzy Ford before, but I have heard great things about her. I walked away with a knowledge of a new authors, and a brand new series to follow!

The world is in trouble. A creature that is known as the Shadowman is on the lose and is looking for the three keys that would open up the portal between earth and hell and unleash the Archdemons of the apocalypse. Nathan's job for the past thousands of years is to clean up supernatural messes, unfortunately this one is the biggest challenge of his life. In order to defeat Shadowman he must kill it's host, who happens to be a beautiful and innocent woman who is completely unaware of the fact that Shadowman is actually real and not a figment of her stressed out life.

What I really liked about this book...

The characters. I really liked the characters. Amira, Nathan, Kaylee, and Troy. They really gave life to the book and it started to take on the shape of its own. I liked Nathan, and I liked the fact that he seemed so real. Before meeting Kaylee, he was basically a man whore. Living his life the way he wanted and doing his job, in the most effective way he seemed fit. In a way his actions are questioned by others, but they seemed to be doing the job and that makes him one of the best. His a man whore who wants no attachment and the struggle continues when he meets Kaylee and all the way through the book. Especially when he finds out how she is really connected to him. I was glad when that posed a challenge, because it defied his character.
Troy and Amira are my other two favorites. It's so cute to watch him protect a girl who is deft and has a lot hanging on her shoulders. Amira carries this stones that play a major part of the book and the Shadowman want's them.
The theme of the book was kind of different for me. I have to admit, I have never read a book about reincarnated angels. So that being said, it's probably not for you if you have a problem with that. Because the major characters are reincarnated angels, and the whole theme is a bit heaven versus hell basically, but on earth. I enjoyed it and found it much more refreshing over my last few paranormal reads.
I don't think there was ever a dull moment. The book moved at a good pace and the entire time kept me hooked and on the edge of the seat. I found myself wanting answers, and what Nathan was going to do about this whole situation. Especially since he had to kill Kaylee in order to get rid of Shadowman and it was for the greater good and his inner battle did not disappoint. I did have a hard time putting this one down, wanting to know how it all turned out in the end, so I devoured this book quickly.
There was obviously romance, which I enjoyed. Especially the connection some of these characters shared. It will be interesting how it all plays out in the end. I love the fire between Nathan and Kaylee but there is also a great big wall between them. Especially the fact that Nathan needs to kill her.
The writing. Lizzy Ford really knows how to tell the story and she started this series already on the high note. Sure there was somethings that left me frustrated and hanging with questions – but I think she did a wonderful job. She knows how to pull the reader in, and the only downside is that it's a new series and I have to wait for book 2!

Not so much...

Zyra ugh.. Not sure there is much to say here. I didn't really like her. Her character makes me mad. She has special attachments to Nathan and I won't go into what it is, or else it's a spoiler but she irks me. She is the leader of the group 3G, which is a group of rebel I guess after the greater good and they are also after Kaylee. Her role in this book is kept kind of quiet, but it seems like it's going to play a big one in the end.
The ending.. okay.. to be fair it's only because it left me wanting more. I wouldn't call it a cliffhanger, but the set up for book two is perfect. A lot of things are going to happen I think and my grabby hands itch to have it now!
The OTL... I won't say what it stands for because it also plays a big part in the book – kinda. It's sweet, I get it...but it's also a bit cheesy. Or it appeared to me anyway. But! It did add to the drama of Kaylee and Nathan so this doesn't bother me as much as it would otherwise I guess.


So in the nutshell, I really enjoyed this series. It does have a naughty rate R 18+ moment near the end of the book, so just beware. It doesn’t bother me, but the book is meant for people 18 and older. I cannot wait for the next book in the series to see what happens. I get so excited when I find a new favorite paranormal! Oh and while I wait, I guess I am going to dig into some other Lizzy Ford books I have picked up!