March 2014 TBR

TBR For March

(Links to GoodReads Page)

February 2014 Wrap-Up

So this month I was very shocked, but thankful, for the amount of review requests I had received. This of course through me off track from my original TBR list I posted at the beginning of this month. This was not a bad thing, it is also good to branch out to something that you weren't planning on reading. This month I read less book than I did in January. In January I read 17 books this month I read 13. Hopefully next month I can read 18 books which shockingly will get me over my 48 book yearly goal!

Books Read:

(Links to GoodReads Page)

Reviews Finished:

(Links to Reviews)

Total Pages Read:

3203

Arc Review: The Devil in the Corner by Patricia Elliott

Devil in the Corner 
by Patricia Elliott 
Edition: Ebook (400 Pages)
Expected publication: March 6th 2014 by Hachette Children's Books
Source: NetGalley
GoodReads Page

A gorgeously gothic historical tale from the author of THE PIMPERNELLES

Penniless, and escaping the horrors of life as a governess to brutal households, Maud seeks refuge with the cousin-by-marriage she never knew. But Juliana quashes Maud's emerging friendships with the staff and locals - especially John, the artist commissioned to restore the sinister Doom in the local church. John, however, is smitten with Maud and makes every effort to woo her.

Maud, isolated and thwarted at every turn, continues to take the laudanum which was her only solace in London. Soon she becomes dependent on the drug - so is this the cause of her fresh anxieties? Or is someone - or something - plotting her demise?

Is the devil in the corner of the Doom a reality, or a figment of her imagination?

 Review:

(Although I received this book for review my review is still 100% honest.)

This book drove me crazy, in a good way. It is set in Victorian times and is a romance, mystery. It is dark and suspenseful. At first you don't really know anything about the main character's past.
This was a great way to keep you turning those pages. The plot thickens in this book so much that I really didn't want it to end.

The main character is Maud Greenwood, I would say she is rather normal for her circumstances within this book. She lost both of her parents and is slowly running out of money. She has to take up jobs as a governess which during those times wasn't the best job for a lady. Soon enough she gets a letter from her cousin asking her to live with her in her mansion. I thought that Maud was reasonable with a lot of her feelings though out this book. She wasn't a drama queen or over reacted. But I can understand some of the out bursts she had within the book. I really liked reading from her perspective.

The next character to be introduced shortly after Maud is John Shawcross. John is a penniless painter working for Maud's cousin. He works in the tiny town at which Maud will soon call home. As soon as John sees Maud he can easily say he has really deep feelings for her. She is a mystery to him and that makes him want to get to know her more. His character was a good way to see Maud in a different light. I really enjoyed reading from his perspective because of all the sweet things he though of Maud.

So Maud and John's romance through out this book only helps push the book forward. They have to keep there love for each other hidden because he is poor and she will one day be rich. Their love story is really a sad one because it almost seems like they are not meant to be together. This made me cry a lot because I just wanted them to be together for once and not have to hide it.

This book was hard for me to put down because of the suspense within the book. I was not expecting how much of mystery this book would be. It had very dark parts that could even be lead to murder. This book was really great and it should be read if you think that this book is for you.





I gave this book 4 out of 5 bats.

About the Author:
Patricia Elliott was born in London and grew up in Europe and the Far East. She has worked in publishing in London and in a children's bookshop in New York. She now teaches a course in children's literature at an adult education college. She lives in London with her husband, two sons, and a yellow labrodor named Finagal.

Arc Review: Alpha Goddess by Amalie Howard

 Alpha Goddess 
by Amalie Howard
Edition: Ebook (384 Pages)
Expected publication: March 18th 2014 by Sky Pony Press

(first published March 4th 2014) 

Source: Netgalley

GoodReads Page

 In Serjana Caelum’s world, gods exist. So do goddesses. Sera knows this because she is one of them. A secret long concealed by her parents, Sera is Lakshmi reborn, the human avatar of an immortal Indian goddess rumored to control all the planes of existence. Marked by the sigils of both heaven and hell, Sera’s avatar is meant to bring balance to the mortal world, but all she creates is chaos. A chaos that Azrath, the Asura Lord of Death, hopes to use to unleash hell on earth.

Torn between reconciling her past and present, Sera must figure out how to stop Azrath before the Mortal Realm is destroyed. But trust doesn’t come easy in a world fissured by lies and betrayal. Her best friend Kyle is hiding his own dark secrets, and her mysterious new neighbor, Devendra, seems to know a lot more than he’s telling. Struggling between her opposing halves and her attraction to the boys tied to each of them, Sera must become the goddess she was meant to be, or risk failing, which means sacrificing the world she was born to protect.

 Review:

 (Although I received this book for review my review is still 100% honest.)

This book was a really fast read for me. I enjoyed it a lot and it had a pretty impressive adventure within it. The concept for this book was very interesting, its about gods and demons. Except that its all based on Hindu gods, goddess and demons. I found myself really enjoying this book from the very beginning.

The main character of this book is Serjana. Shes a sixteen year old high school student  with really only one friend. A lot of the girls make fun of her because she looks different, so I'd have to say she has a pretty miserable time with school in general. Soon though changes start to happen within Serjana and she starts having dreams of demons and goddesses. I found this character to be really enjoyable to read about.  She is very strong, brave and not to mention smart. She has a lot of witty moments within this book that was quite fun to read.

Her best friend is named Kyle. Kyle is almost a goth rocker type of teenager. He has a mohawk and tattoos on the sides of his head. He helps Serjana with a lot of her problems with school. Although he is hiding a lot from her. His secrets you find out pretty fast within the book and I have to say there were really good twists surrounding this character. Serjana and Kyle have romantic thing go on between them within the book. Of course its one of the awkward we've been friends forever but have been hiding our true feelings for each other.  Their relationship is very minimal within in the book and I didn't have a strong feeling for them being together.

Then there is Serjana's next door neighbor Dev. Dev and Serjana meet the summer before this book started but you can see the difference in their relationship from Serjana and Kyle's. Dev is very flirtatious with Serjana and you can tell he likes her from the very beginning. Dev of course is hiding secrets of his own as well. I loved the romance between this two characters so much. I would say I am on Team Dev for this one.

There are so many twists within this book it makes you want to keep reading it. I hard a hard time putting this one down and felt like I had to find out what would happen next. The only problem I had a hard time with was keeping track of all the characters within this book. There was a lot of them and a majority of them are very important to the story line. Other than that I loved this book. It has action, adventure, and romance. If your interested in the concept behind this book its would not be a waste of time.



I gave this book 4 out of 5 bats.

About the Author:

AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. Traveling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, marketing representative, teen speaker and global sales executive. In between writing novels and indulging her love of reading, Amalie is also a books review editor for TheLoopNY, and blogs at amaliehoward.com. She is represented by the Liza Royce Agency.

Her debut novel, BLOODSPELL, was selected as a Seventeen Magazine Summer Club Read. She is also the author of The AQUARATHI series from Harlequin TEEN (WATERFELL Nov 2013 and OCEANBORN Aug 2014), THE ALMOST GIRL from Strange Chemistry Jan 2014, and ALPHA GODDESS from Skyhorse/Sky Pony Press Mar 2014.

For tour and upcoming events, check out amaliehoward.com for more information.