Dreamwalker by Andrea Heltsley
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Noel Kennedy lost her boyfriend, her job and her dignity all in one week. Then something happened and she began to dream of this stranger she had never met. She couldn’t resist the man of her dreams, named Jared, especially when she met him in real life. Entranced, she slowly unravels a world she was meant to stay out of. Her life was not what she thought it was, not once sexy Boone steps into the mix and shakes things up. Can she escape a life of servitude or immortality for a chance at love?

I have conflicting emotions about this book. On one hand I love the interaction between the characters, on the other hand, the plot development I found a little lacking.

As you already know from the premise, there is a love triangle here. They are not usually something I gravitate towards, but I found myself rooting for both sides equally in this story. By the end of the book, it is easy to accurately predict which one Noel will choose, but I have to say; given the same choice myself, I don’t know which way I would swing. They are both too great to let either one go! (yum!)

For me, the triangle actually stole the show. I found myself dying to know what the next development would be, rather than caring about where the rest of the story was taking the characters. As it turns out, this is probably a good thing since I didn’t much care for the pace of the second half.

At first, the pace is slow but steady as Noel begins to unravel secrets about herself, what she is and what she can do, and her past. Her reactions are pretty realistic, and it was nice to see things from a more adult point of view, rather than the teenage/adolescent one that is more common. Noel is in her late 20’s and lives on her own in her own apartment. Another good thing about a more adult view is, well let’s just say the intimacy scenes are more adult as well ;) I was actually impressed with how these scenes were written. Not too racy, but not innocent either.

Moving on to the second half, my main problem here is the change in gears regarding pace. It’s so radically different from the first half you kind of wonder WTH just happened?! At one point, Noel goes from complete ignorance of what’s going on, to waking from a dream, and preceding to have all sorts of knowledge regarding events from the night before based off complete assumptions, and regards them as fact to explain a key plot element. Then later in the story line, in a matter of a couple paragraphs we travel around the world and even realms. It just got to be a little discombobulating. The only thing that felt like it was holding the whole thing together was the culmination of the triangle.

I think if the flow of the second half, and the plot revelations, moved more similarly to the first half, this would have gotten four stars. The characters are awesome and I can’t wait to see how things develop with the key protagonists in the next installment.

I thank the author for letting me have a copy for an honest review.



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Glitter Kiss by Adrianne Ambrose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


One kiss from Tinka's sparkling lips leads to some unexpected consequences for the callous boys of Portage High School. After a secret romance goes up in flames, she looks to a fortune teller for answers on finding true love, which leads to the summoning of some accidental--but hilarious-magic. But in the end, Tinka has to learn to take responsibility for her own decisions, with or without the aid of magic.

I really liked this story! I've never read any graphic novels besides manga before so I didn't know what to expect (not going to lie, I definitely felt like a dork since it took me so long to get used to reading from left to right, instead of right to left as in manga).

It is a cute short story that follows Tinka on her torturous path towards finding real love. She keeps falling for jerks and just doesn't know how to tell if I guy is being sincere with her or not. Enters an amateur fortune teller, to share with her that she will soon stumble upon a way to tell when a guy is really interested. This is where the fun really begins.

I certainly found myself laughing at the strange predicaments that the characters wound up getting themselves into. If this were a manga, it would fall into the category of ‘gender bender’. It forces you to see things from a different perspective. Despite its light-hearted tone, it really has some valuable lessons it’s trying to portray. I liken it to something akin to Aesop’s fables. It’s short and sweet, and in the end there is a moral to the story.

If you are looking for a quick and funny read (at a little over 150 pgs. I think I read it in just over an hour) then Glitter Kiss is a great stop for you. Look for it when it comes out in December 2012.

I received this copy as an ARC from the author for an honest review.


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Rua by Miranda Kavi
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

A girl with an unknown destiny.

A boy from a hidden world.

When Celeste starts at a new school in a small, Kansas town, she hears whispering voices, has vivid nightmares, and swarms of blackbirds follow her every move. She is oddly drawn to aloof Rylan, the other new student who has his own secrets.

The exact moment she turns seventeen, she wakes to a bedroom full of strange creatures, purple light emanating from her hands, and Rylan breaking in through her bedroom window.

He knows what she is . . .

This book was effortless for me to fall into. Kavi’s style of writing is easy to follow, steady paced, and I found myself falling in love with the setting. I enjoyed the introduction of Gaelic lore. I love the culture and it’s a beautiful language. I only wish I knew more of it myself.

Now I wouldn’t exactly say this book was extremely amazing, but it was definitely a light and pleasant read. The characters are easy to fall in love with, especially the two handsome guys, Rylan and Tink. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by two guys all the time? Worry not; there isn’t any love triangle here, Tink happens to be the awesome bestie, while Rylan is the mystery we still can’t figure out. Although we happen to find out what he is, I don’t believe we have truly figured out who he is. This is hopefully something we get to learn about further in the second installment.

The only thing I wasn’t fond of was the passage of time in the first half of the book, or rather lack thereof. It seemed the characters’ relationships advanced a little too fast for just one week. The relationships themselves felt fine, but I think if there could have been just a little more time that transpired in between some of the dialogue it may have helped them have more depth and feel more realistic in the beginning.

All in all, I think this is a job well done for Kavi’s debut. If you are looking for a quick and pleasant read, look no further; Rua is it. I look forward to the next installment and can’t wait to see the cover release (this one was gorgeous!).

I am thankful the author gave me a copy for an honest review.


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Luminescence by J.L. Weil
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



Gavin might be dark and dreamy, but he wasn’t the guy in my dreams. Lukas Devine looks like the boy next door, and it’s his sunny face that heats up my unusual dreams, and the closer I get to Gavin, the crazier they become. Then the unexpected happens, Gavin literally freezes an object mid-air saving my ass.

Turns out Gavin’s a witch, and he’s not the only one around…

I really enjoyed this book. It started out a little slow, but once it got going, I couldn’t put it down. The plot is well developed as well as the characters. The romance was slow and felt natural, not the ‘I can’t breathe without you, even though I just met you’ kind. I also liked that even though she dreams of Lukas, you really didn’t feel the angst of a love triangle. Some authors really play up this angle ‘til it becomes the bulk of their plot, where as Weil maintains it as a subtle possibility in the background. Brianna herself passes off her feelings toward Lukas as ‘only a dream so it can't be real, can it?’.

Of course every good book has an antagonist, and this story isn’t without. The closer Brianna gets to Gavin, the more strange things start to happen to her. She also can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her. After Gavin needs to save her life twice, she starts to wonder if this is going to be a new trend.

Unfortunately, I must address the ‘elephant in the room’ concerning this book. There are a lot of typos and grammatical errors. Normally I would try to stay away from such unedited formats, but in this case, I think it would be a huge mistake for you to walk away from Luminescence for this reason alone. Once you look past this, the story is really well worth it.

I don’t want to reveal too much, but Weil wonderfully teases you with all the possibilities of what’s to come with her cliff hanger ending. There are definitely enough mysteries left to keep you coming back for the second book. I know I will be looking forward to it.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.


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In Your Dreams by Amy Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Zip McKee lives in a small rural town in Illinois and is a junior who can’t wait to get out, when the Laniers move in next door. Now that handsome dark-haired Kieran is her neighbor, she doesn’t know what she wants. But Kieran has a secret, he sometimes dreams snippets of the future, and a dark past, one that Zip isn’t sure she’s ready to hear.

This story is not my usual cup of tea, and I’m still not sure that it is at all, but it was entertaining to say the least.

It was certainly a new and interesting concept. I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book where one of the main characters suffers from narcolepsy. We’ve all heard about it, and possibly even joked about it, but I had never really thought about the difficulties of having such a condition, or the possible stigmas. Throughout the story, we watch Zip and Kieran navigate the ups and downs of the resulting circumstances, and learn about his tragic past that made him this way.


I gave it 3 stars, but I think my expectations would have been different had I not found it in a paranormal book discussion group. By the very definition, paranormal is meant to be something that is unexplainable by scientific means. However the storyline proceeds to provide a perfectly valid and scientific explanation for why Kieran is the way he is. I think the gap between what was implied and what actually was was what I found a little disappointing.

Unfortunately I also found the ending a bit anti-climatic. Without giving any spoilers, I felt that things were just a little too conveniently wrapped up with just one conversation. With all the lose ends so quickly tied up, by the time I got to the last page I was surprised to see the implication of a possible second book, stating this was just the end of book one, when I had walked away feeling like it was a stand alone.

With nothing really paranormal happening, and no mysteries left to solve in this story, yet the promise of another, I think this book seemed more of a long prequel than an actual first installment, if that makes sense. I hate sounding so harsh, but I must be honest. I know this is her first book and I think the concept has potential if developed more. Who knows? There might be more para-normalcy in the next book. I am at least definitely interested in the premise of the second installment.

I was given this book as part of a Read 2 Review.


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