The Gatekeeper's Sons

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.

Pic and description are from Goodreads.com

My Review

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

   I love nothing more than a great series that I can really sink my teeth in to and I think this series will end up being one of my favorites.   The Gatekeeper's Sons draws you in right from the start and has enough twists and turns to keep you enthralled all the way to the end.  Not to mention building a love story that is so powerful but at the same time remains innocent enough for a young adult book.

  The book starts out with the murder of Therese’s parents and Therese’s near death experience.  In this book the traditional Western view of heaven and hell have been replaced by the Greek myth of the afterlife.   In the Greek tradition souls of the deceased are escorted by Thanatos, or Death as he is sometimes called, to the underworld where they are transported for judgment and placement in to paradise or in to ‘hell’ where they are tormented forever.  When Therese’s parents are killed she is close enough to death herself that she is able to follow the souls of her parents to the underworld.  Therese believes she is dreaming the entire thing so when she meets Hip (Hypnos, god of dreams) and his brother Thanatos (Than for short) she has no problem being forward and she wraps Than in a huge hug and gives him a big kiss.  No big deal for the girl that is dreaming but to Than that kiss changes his world completely.  Than’s job as Death means that he rarely has any interaction with anyone other than dead souls and Charon, the man who ferries the souls down the river.  Suddenly Than feels drawn to Therese and know that he wants to always be near her.  He gets his father, Hades, to allow him to travel to the mortal world in order to win Therese’s love.

   I had so much fun reading about all of Than’s experiences of being mortal.  You can’t help but feel sorry for him because of his destiny.  What a horrible existence he must have had before Therese came in to his life.  Imagine an eternity of escorting the dead to the underworld and living there.  Than describes it almost like living in a cave, no suns, no stars, no wind, nothing that we humans take for granted.  You long for him to be with Therese so that he can finally have some joy in his life. 

  Therese is like the perfect girl that doesn’t know how great she is.  She is always more worried about others, loves animals and nature and is so giving and loving.  It is no wonder Than wants to be with her.  She is such a great person that she ends up garnering the favor of many on Mount Olympus and most of the gods and goddesses are rooting for her and Than to get together.  Between her the strange experiences Than brings in to her life and the drama of her parents murder her life becomes very interesting but Therese is able to see how strong she can be and continues to fight for her and Than to be together and for the safety of her family.

  There was only one thing that I did not completely love about the book and that is Than’s sisters, The Furies.  Anyone that knows anything about Greek mythology will know how scary The Furies are and this book does not disappoint when it comes to these characters.  The Furies are sent to earth to help find out who killed Therese’s parents.  They do not operate under any rules when hunting down criminals so their methods of gaining information can be a bit intense and disturbing.  They do get the job done quite easily with these methods so I do see why the author chose to write their encounters the way she does.  Just know that these scenes may be a little intense for younger teen readers.

   I have been given book two to read and review also so I am anxiously waiting to get in to the book.  It is killing me that I have other books lined up first but I am trying to be a good girl and read those first even though book two is calling to me.  Keep a watch out for that review as I am sure I will love book two just as much if not more.

Parent's Guide:  Very mild language during a few parts of the book.  Therese talks about being physically drawn to Than but nothing bad.  The Furies use some disturbing and scary tactics to elicit responses from the criminals they interrogate, which may be a bit much for sensitive or young readers.

Open House: Pool of Souls

Intrinsically woven into the fabric of human existence, Aphrodite, Titan Goddess of Love and Passion, dedicates herself to matching soul mates.
Rebecca Carol and Robert Corvin missed their original chance to bond when Ares, God of War, took control of Robert's career ten years ago. Their souls have naturally pulled them back together for a second chance at love, but...How far will the gods go to get their own way?
Will divine influence create another perfect match or will it tear them apart forever?

Pic and book description from Goodreads.com

My Review

     * This book was received in exchange for an honest review.

    I was a little leery to read this book as it contains explicit sex scenes, which I was not aware of when I agreed to review this book.  That being said I never go back on my word to an author so I just took a deep breath and started reading.  Not considering the sex scenes this story was actually a very sweet.    Overall the storyline was great.  Gods and goddesses twisting and turning the human experience to meet their wants and desires is tale as old as time itself.  Aphrodite is one of my favorite characters from Greek mythology.  How could you not love the goddess of love?  In this story Aphrodite is find herself pitted against Ares, the god of war, in her struggle to bring two souls, Robert and Rebecca, together as they are destined.  Robert just happens to be the owner of a company that is developing a new weapon for the government and Ares does not want love getting in the way of its development.  It is quite entertaining to see Aphrodite and Ares try to outmaneuver each other.

   The story goes back and forth between Aphrodite and Ares and the human world where Rachel and Robert are blissfully unaware of the meddling of the gods.  Needless to say the road to happiness is not smooth for Rachel and Robert.  He is dealing with business problems caused by moving his company all the way across the country.  Rachel also has her share of problems, like her crazy ex that likes to stalk her whenever a new guy comes in to her life.  The closer she and Robert become the crazier her ex becomes.

   Overall this is a good book when you exclude the sex scenes.  I do wish the author would have added a little more explanation as far as the Greek mythology is concerned.  I do not remember much more than the basics from school so it would have been nice to have a little more understanding of their story.   It is a short read but still has enough going on that you don’t feel deprived and you can't help but be drawn in to Robert and Rebecca’s story, all the while hoping that true love will conquer all.  I read an excerpt for the second book and it sounds just amazing as the first, but unfortunately I will be skipping it as it also contains explicit sex.  If you don’t mind that sort of thing in the books that you read then I would highly recommend it.

Parent's Guide:  This book is for 18+ only!  It contains explicit sex scenes and moderate language.

Foxblood: A Brush with the Moon

One incident is all it takes to change your life. For Sophie it happened the day the fox attacked her.
When Sophie moves to university, she is finally happy; reunited with her best friend and spending time doing the one thing she loves, art.
Life’s perfect. Or is it?
In Fosswell, nothing is as it seems. People are dying, secrets are big, and danger hides in every shadow. Sophie’s changing too; could it be anything to do with a recent fox bite? And why does she find a creepy, old house and the boy who lives there so compelling? All becomes clear when she falls under the spell of the seductive Sebastian and learns his family’s secret.


The book description and picture are from Goodreads.com

My Review

    Overall I absolutely loved this book and would have instantly rated it five stars if not for a few things that really disturbed me and unfortunately made it hard to completely enjoy.  With that being said I will try to highlight the pros and cons and let you decide for yourself.

   I am going to start with what I didn't like since it is a small list…actually it is only one thing and that is the sexuality.  There are two fairly brutal scenes where a man tries to rape the main character, Sophie.  I get that the author wanted to show that this man is brutal and takes what he wants, but I feel it definitely could be done in another way.  Aside from that there is a lot of sexuality between Sophie and her boyfriend Sebastian.  You probably think that I am old fashioned, and maybe I am, but I do not believe that sex should have any place in YA books.  This book is promoted as being for ages 14+ and I definitely think that these scenes are way to intense for readers that young.  That being said, this was my only problem with this book.  Other than this the book is amazingly wonderful!

   The story line is a new twist to the YA paranormal romance.  Sophie is a typical teen with a boring life.  She is getting ready to go away to college with her best friend Beth, and hoping that it will change her life.  Just before leaving she is bitten by a fox and this bite sets off a series of strange events.  Life just keeps getting stranger once Sophie arrives in her new town and starts college.  She meets some very strange characters and gets sucked in to a strange world that she never knew existed. 

   The characters in this book are all well written.  The bad guys are written in such a way that they are unnerving and seem to ooze evil.  They are cruel and ruthless and will stop at nothing to destroy Sophie and her friends.  Then there are the good guys.  Sebastian, Sophie’s amazing boyfriend,  and his family are quite an eclectic group of people and they all have great stories of their own.  My favorite character of all was Conner, Sebastian’s cousin.  I love to root for a good underdog character and he is an amazing one.  He has had a rough childhood and has always been in the shadow of Sebastian.  When he is first introduced he is socially awkward and very quiet.  He finds himself falling for Sophie and I can’t help but to want them to end up together, despite her relationship with Sebastian.  Sebastian is nice enough but Connor is so endearing I can’t help but root for him. 

  The ending is also a great cliff hanger.  Sebastian, Sophie and his family are hot on the trail of THE bad guy and just as it looks like they are going to get him he disappears in to a portal to his dimension.  Now they have to decide if they are capable of following him and fighting him on his home turf.  I can’t wait to see how it all ends!

    *I was given this book in exchange for an honest review

Parent's Guide:  Like I said above there is quite a bit of sexual situations in this book.  The attempted rape scenes are very intense and definitely not for young teens.  Sophie's relationship with Sebastian is also very sexual.

Eliza's Shadow

Eliza Gowan's past has come back to hunt her. Since her mother's mysterious disappearance, Eliza has enjoyed a quiet life under the care of her aunt in the sleepy town of Port Rune. But the moment magnetic Ren Alden appears in her high school classroom, Eliza is thrust into the exciting world of magic and the path of danger. Menaced by an otherworldly enemy, Eliza embarks on a quest to solve the mysteries of her past and end the hunt for good.


Book pic and description from Goodreads.com

My Review

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

   This book was kind of the typical YA supernatural romance.  Eliza is just enjoying another typical day at school when the new boy, Ren, at school affects her in a way that no boy has ever done before.  See what I mean- very typical.  Thank heavens this is where the typical YA theme ends!

   Right after Ren appears Eliza starts to experience weird dreams and begins remembering things about her childhood that she never remembered before.  In her dreams there is a very creepy woman that appears over and over and tells Eliza that they are waiting for her to join them.  Then Eliza remembers that when she was little, on the night her mother disappeared, she had her first dream about this woman.  She is so confused about the things she is remembering and luckily Ren is able to solve these riddles.

   Ren tells Eliza she is a witch and Eliza is flabbergasted.  Now she must learn to be a witch as well as solving the riddle of the strange nightmare woman and her mother’s disappearance.   I can say that neither of these are easy tasks and Eliza must come to believe in herself and her powers in order to overcome all of the obstacles that she faces.

   Eliza is such a great character.  Whether on purpose or not the author describes her as a tiny girl, which seems to imply weakness, but she is a strong character and never gives up on herself.  Even during her magic lessons, which in my opinion are a bit horrific, she is able to master her fear and see how to solve the problems presented and complete the lessons.  School holds nothing on her magic lessons!

  Ren is also a great character.  He is so sweet to Eliza and puts up with all her meltdowns and self-doubts that she has as a new witch.  He has been called as her mentor and traditionally relationships between mentors and mentees is forbidden.  This allows for a lot of tension in the story because of course they are both extremely attracted to each other.  I found myself continually wanting them to break the rules because they are meant to be together, especially by the end of the book and all they have gone through.

   The book offers up an unexpected twist right at the end as Ren and Eliza are asked by the witch community to go on a secret mission.  It is such a great ending and leaves you wanting to read book two.  I know I am anxiously  waiting to get me hands on it!

Parent's Guide:  There was a few minor swearwords but nothing too bad.

Best laid plans

   So last week I blogged about how I had a ton of reviews to put up....and I do.  The problem is that sometimes life likes to change our plans against our wills.  That is exactly what happened this week.  If there is actually someone out there that reads this blog I offer you my sincerest apologies!
   The first glitch in my plan came when my son's laptop crashed.  I had borrowed it to write my reviews on since I could just curl up on the couch and by comfy while I was typing.  As I was literally writing the last sentence of a review the blue screen of death appeared and the life of the poor computer was over.  Thankfully the laptop is less than a year old so it is still under warranty and will hopefully be fixed soon.
   After the debacle with the computer illness decided to set in to our house.  I ended up with a five day migraine and pretty much spent those days in bed.  I do get migraines sometimes, usually when I let myself get dehydrated, but not usually like this one.  Now we are dealing with strep and a stomach bug.  My poor 11 year old has had strep/sore throats so many times this year I have lost track and my 13 year old, who has no tonsils or adnoids has also had numerous sore throat issues this year.  Is anyone else having that same issue this year?  Luckily we seem to be on the upswing and hopefully soon we will all be healthy again!  I think this weekend I will be taking Lysol to the entire house in hopes that I can find and destroy all the bugs that may be just waiting to make us sick again.   
   The good news is that I have finished writing all the reviews and just need to get them up on the web.  I am hoping that I can get them all up today but it depends how well my tummy will cooperate.  I hope you enjoy reading my reviews once they are finally up!

Review: If You Die Before I Wake

My Rating: 3.5/5

Sabrina Ryan wants to be an ordinary teenager - family, high school, maybe get a boyfriend. Instead she has Devon.
Devon is the blood thirsty monster that terrorizes her dreams - a demonic little boy responsible for killing their parents. When she woke from the coma, she tried to tell everyone what he'd done. Instead no one believed her and she got a ticket to a mental hospital.
Now seventeen, this intelligent, artistic, borderline-paranoid-schizophrenic is moving in with her grandfather and she's determined to be normal, even if she doesn't know what it means. But ordinary things, like ordering at a restaurant and trying to fit in, prove more difficult than she expected.
With no family - no friends - no sense of reality - and no cure for Devon, she decides she's better off with no one, until she meets Riley. A captivating young bibliophile working for her grandfather, he knows more about her past than she'd like. Overwhelmed when things heat up quickly, they cool down fast when Sabrina learns he has a secret that threatens to tear them apart.
Artistic achievements, horrifying clowns and lucid dreaming propel IF YOU DIE BEFORE I WAKE on a fantastic ride of Technicolor evil and do-or-die determination. If Sabrina can figure it all out, she just might get the normal life she's always wanted.

Description and photo are from Goodreads.com.

My Review

       This book has a very interesting plot. Sabrina has spent the majority of her life locked in a psych ward where she was constantly told she was crazy. Now she is out and living in the real world with her grandfather, Carl. It is very interesting to read about her having to adjust to the way things work. Things we don’t even think about are things that she does not understand; in fact her first obstacle is trying to order food at a restaurant. In lock up the kids are not given any choices in life and having a menu with multiple choice makes her have an anxiety attack. Even something as simple as being able to go outside and choosing where she can go causes her a lot of anxiety.
   Sabrina has horrific dreams in which her older brother Devon is always demon-like and killing people. The most prominent of these dreams is the one in which she sees the plane crash which killed her whole family and it is caused by Devon killing the pilots. These dreams are why she has been locked up the majority of her life. After Sabrina goes to live with her grandfather she still has these dreams but instead of being the same few dreams she begins to dream of strangers and new acquaintances being killed. Throughout the story Devon is always so scary for Sabrina despite everyone saying he isn’t real. The problem is that the dreams Sabrina is having start coming true which makes it seem that Devon must be real.
   Then Riley comes in to her life and helps her to cope with her new world. Riley is a friend and employee of Sabrina’s grandfather and the two of them are drawn to each other immediately. He helps her to readjust to the world but he also has secrets of his own that tie him to Sabrina. Their relationship is very sweet and he is just the person Sabrina needs to help her heal.
   I really enjoyed much of the book. Sabrina is a great character and you can’t help but be drawn in to her story emotionally. She has so much to overcome once she is out in the real world and the things that cause her the most anxiety are things that most of us wouldn’t think twice about. The relationship between Sabrina and her grandfather, Carl, is very sweet. Here is this older man who has been single most of his life and he agrees to take in the granddaughter he has never met and who is ‘crazy’. He provides her with both a home and a family. It is very endearing to see him become a real grandfather to Sabrina. The thing I enjoyed the most about the book was Devon. Even at the end of the book you are left wondering if he is real or just a figment of Sabrina’s imagination. It leaves you wanting a sequel so that you can find out the real story of Devon.
   While I enjoyed this book and its unique story there were definitely some issues that I had with the book. The first and most prominent is the fact that the book could really use more editing. There were several instances where it seemed that the author was trying to rewrite a sentence but did not remove all of the words that needed to go. Even a simple reading of the new sentence should have been enough to spot the problems. The other issue I had with the book has to do with content. I am very conservative and believe that teen books should not have adult themes. This book contains a lot of extreme language and the relationship between Riley and Sabrina is very sexual. I understand that this does not bother most people but to me it takes away from the story. I believe if the author took some time to at least do another edit the book could be much better.
   *I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.


Parent guide: There is frequent course language throughout the book. Sabrina and Riley share a very intimate relationship. The sexuality is not explicit but is very prominent. Sabrina's dreams can be very disturbing and intense. These dreams are all about gruesome deaths at the hands of her demonic-like dead brother. They are definitely not for younger readers!

Playing Catch-up

  
  I wanted to give you all a warning that today there are going to be a lot of posts.  My husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary yesterday so this last weekend we took a trip to the Oregon Coast for a much needed break.  Now don't get me wrong...I love my kids dearly, but every parent knows that sometimes you really need to get away, and it was heavenly.
  For those of you that have never been to the Oregon Coast you are definitely missing out.  It is one of my favorite places in the whole world and I go every chance I can.  Spring is always a hard time to go to the coast because you never know what kind of weather you will get.  We lucked out this time and had the most gorgeous weather!  We were able to enjoy the beach without freezing or getting soaked. The picture above is from the balcony of our condo in Lincoln City, OR.  See how beautiful it was this weekend!  
   Since I am writing about my anniversary trip I have to say a little about my honey and our story.  We met at the beginning of our senior year in high school and fell in love quickly.  Unfortunately we made some mistakes and I ended up getting pregnant by January of that year.  I am sure some people are going to be hostile about this and they are entitled to their opinions.  I could go on and on about my horrible home life and searching for love the wrong way, but when it comes down to the truth we are responsible for our behavior and we stepped up and did the right thing.  We were married before high school ended and had our son that October.  Everyone told us we would never make it and even though there have been some hard times we have worked hard to keep our marriage strong and have proven everyone wrong.  I love him more today than when we got married.  I couldn't ask for a better husband or father for my children!
  Ok.  Enough of the mushy stuff.  The main reason for this post is to apologize to those of you that may read my blog and to the authors I am reading books for.  I have been reading like a crazy woman (I even snuck reading in to my weekend getaway) and finished several books.  The problem is that I did not have access to a computer to write my reviews so today I am starting all of the reviews I have finished.  There are several of them so it may even take a few days to get them finished.  I hope you enjoy the reviews and hopefully find some books you may want to read!  Thanks for stopping by!