Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Immortal Beloved, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“You can run from your past, but it will always catch up.”

Immortal Nastasya is 459 years old but looks and unfortunately has the maturity of seventeen. Trying to rectify her bad girl ways, she has gone to River’s Edge in Massachusetts. With the help of River and the other teachers, Nastasya and the others are learning to use their magick for good while living the farm life. A make out session in the barn with the drop-dead gorgeous Reyn quickly turns into the horrible realization that Reyn and his family terrorized her homeland of Iceland for the first one hundred years of her life. At the age of 470 with the looks of 20, Reyn was known as the Butcher of Winter at the time. He killed everyone in her family after her family killed most of his. To add insult to injury, Nell, who was pining for Reyn unbeknownst only to him, sees them kissing and goes off the deep end. River has to send her away for treatment.


New Years Eve is a time for reflection at River’s Edge and the residents gather for a magick circle. They reflect and release something they no longer need; Nastasya decides to release her darkness. She is beginning to realize that most of her choices in life have been self centered and she is trying to right her wrongs. Feeling a bit insecure, she lags behind and finds herself alone. She is frightened when she hears something and is startled when Reyn comes towards her. He has noticed that she doesn’t like to be alone in the dark. As they are walking back towards the farmhouse, their feelings for one another ignite and they are soon kissing. When they break apart, Nastasya is full of regrets and Reyn is hurt.

One week later, Nastasya feels her life is in total disarray. By casting out her darkness, she thinks she has released he dark magic to cause havoc on everyone around her. Not only does she feel she is hurting those at River’s Edge and the drug store but Nastasya beings seeing her past in a different light. A distraught and emotional, Nas break down to River and then runs out into the night. Crying in the snow in a seldom used field, she hopes that Reyn or someone will at least come looking for her. To her surprise, Incy is her rescuer. Soon he talks her into returning with him to Boston and the good times they had.

What are Incy’s true motives for having Nastasya be a part of his life? Did she make the right choice of going with him and leaving River’s Edge? What will River and the others think when she is discovered missing? And will Nastasya be able to put Reyn out of her mind?

The Immortal Beloved trilogy will conclude with Immortal Light.

Visit Cate Tiernan’s website.

Crossed by Ally Condie (Matched book two)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read Matched, Stop! I don’t want to ruin one of my favorite series for you!

Cassia Reyes and her family have been relocated from Oria to the Farmlands of Keya Province. Once there, her parents requested she be sent n a three month work detail because she showed signs of rebellion. In reality, she is beginning her search for Key Markham, the boy she fell in love with instead of her Matched mate and best friend, Xander Carrow. She is nearing the end of her work assignment and will soon be sent back to Central to work in one of the sorting centers for the Society. All of the camps she has been sent to work at are in the Tana Province and she is no closer to Ky and the Outer Provinces than when she started. When the weekly messages are passed out among the girls, Cassia receives on from her family but not from Xander. It is the first time he has missed but the Officer tells Cassia to follow her, she has a communication. Cassia wants to refuse but reluctantly follows. To her surprise, there is no communication. Xander has come for a visit.

Since they no longer live near one another, Xander arranged a face to face visit since all the other Matched couples from their month are having their first meetings. They go into town for to visit the local museum with an Official. Cassia attempts to secretly ask for information and is disappointed at first. Upon trading Ky’s compass, she receives a story that provides clues to the rebellion. Xander is hurt that Cassia chose Ky over him but will be leaving for experience in the Border Provinces before his final work position in Central. He lets Cassia know he will be seeing her again even though she is continuing her search for Ky.Ky Markham and the other aberrations are in the Outer Provinces acting as decoy villagers for the Society in their war against the Enemy. They are supposed to act as farmers and in six months they will receive their Citizen status once again. Ky knows that no one lasts six months, but he is originally from the Outer Provinces. Instead of farming, Ky and another boy named Vick are burying the bodies of their fellow aberrations that have fallen from the days fighting. Soon the Society flies Ky, Vick and the remaining boys to a new location. Ky immediately recognizes the area by its prominent landmark, the Carving, a network of interlocking canyons and mountains. Before Ky can tell Vick why he is suddenly happy, a new kid introduces himself as Eli. Ky is struck by how much he reminds him of Cassia’s younger brother, Bram. Ky and Vick make plans to escape their group and flee into the canyons. At the last minute, Ky decides to take Eli and Vick is upset. Ky feels he has to do or he wouldn’t be the person Cassia thought he was. The boys make their escape into the Carving.

Early the next morning, Cassia is awakened early when the Officers come for the aberrations. One of the girls, Indie, is attempting to run away and Cassia sees her chance to get to the Outer Provinces. She makes it aboard the airship just before the Officers catch Indie. Even though there is one extra girl, they decide it doesn’t matter where they are going. Turns out they are going to a village of boys to act as farmers. Cassia asks the boys if anyone knew Ky but no one answers. A boy in the back of the group locks eyes with her and eventually tells her that he and a boy named Vick left them all to die two nights earlier and headed towards the Carving, twenty-five to thirty miles from there. Cassia asks him to take her there and she will make a trade, some of the blue tablets Xander gave her. Indie goes with her and the three run all night and make it by daybreak. He tells them which way to go takes his payment and goes a different direction.

Cassia knows she is close to Ky and holds out hope that they will both survive and meet again. Will Cassia and Ky find each other in the Carving? Who will survive and who doesn’t? What are the blue tablets really for? Will Cassia be affected when she learns Xander packed her notes about him? Is the rebellion still strong in the Outer Provinces or has it died out? And what happens when Cassia’s world is turned upside down?

Cassia story will be concluded with the final book in the trilogy due out at the end of 2012.

Visit Ally Condie's website.

Supernaturally by Kiersten White (Paranormalcy book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Paranormalcy, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the series for you.

Evie finally has the normal life she always craved while she lived at the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA). She is attending high school where she even has a locker and spending time with her boyfriend Lend. Unfortunately, normal isn’t always what it is cracked up to be. Lend is busy attending classes at Georgetown and high school is nothing like Evie’s favorite TV series, Easton Heights. So when Raquel offers Evie the opportunity to work part-time at IPCA on her terms, she eventually agrees.

New to IPCA is Jack, a guy around Evie’s age who is capable of traveling the faerie paths without relying on a fey. His job is to take Evie the places she is needed but usually pops up at the most inappropriate places and times, like the girls’ locker room, especially since her gym teacher hates her. Evie quickly realizes that part-time work isn’t simple and each new mission becomes a catastrophe. Lend isn’t happy to find out about Evie’s reemployment but after several brushes with disaster, he helps comfort her.

Soon Evie begins to notice an increasing presence by previously unknown paranormals, especially faery sightings around the diner. Also several air and water elementals, including Lend’s mother Cresseda, have disappeared. When her former boyfriend Reth comes to visit, he drops hints about how the mortal world is not safe for Evie and offers top protect her back at the faery court. She refuses.

Determined to lead as normal a life as she can, Evie focuses on spending time with Lend and applying to Georgetown. But life is far from normal. Who and what is Jack and what are his true motives? What is happening to the elementals? Why is Evie suddenly noticing paranormals watching her? What did Reth mean by his warning to Evie? And does Evie get her dream to be accepted to Georgetown?

Evie’s story and the Paranormalcy trilogy will conclude with Endlessly on July 24, 2012.

Visit Kiersten White’s website.

Magic of the Moonlight by Ellen Schreiber (Full Moon book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Once in a Full Moon, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“Beware of a bite under the full moon. It will complicate your love life.” – Dr. Camille Meadows

Celeste now has more to worry about than her best friends Ivy and Abby finding out that she dumped uber-popular Nash Hamilton for the new boy who lives on the wrong side of town, Brandon Maddox. She is in love with the handsome and sensitive Brandon, but he carries a dark secret. In rescuing Celeste from a pack of wild wolves, Brandon was bitten under the full moon and is now the infamous Legend’s run werewolf. To make matters worse, Celeste’s jealous former boyfriend Nash knows Brandon’s secret.

Before Celeste and Brandon can admit their true feelings to her popular friends, they must find a cure for Brandon’s lycan disorder. With werewolf rumors swirling around school, Brandon AND Celeste reach out to his scientist father, Dr. Conner Maddox who comes from Europe in an attempt to find a cure. Not realizing Brandon is telling the truth, his father’s horrified to learn his son’s condition. He promises to find a cure but is worried for Celeste’s safety.

Ivy and Abby decide to take Celeste back for a reading with Dr. Meadows at Penny for Your thoughts to see who her true love is. Celeste is very reluctant. When Dr. Meadows tells her to “beware of a bite under the full moon, it will complicate your love life, she becomes haunted. When meeting Brandon at a local park during the full moon, she runs into Nash and trouble ensues when he is bitten by a wolf. Unbeknownst to Celeste, her troubles are just beginning. Will Nash become the next werewolf in Legend’s Run? Can Dr. Maddox find a successful cure for Brandon? Will Celeste fall under Nash’s spell now that he is being the boyfriend he never was when they dated? Can Ivy and Abby accept Brandon and Celeste’s relationship? And what happens when at the Moonlight Ball, not one but two werewolves arrive and vie for Celeste’s attention?

The author is currently working on the third book in this series.

Visit Ellen Schreiber’s website.

Surrender by Lee Nichols (Haunting Emma book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first two books in the series, Deception and Betrayal, Stop! I don't want to ruin the series for you.

In the aftermath of the deadly battle with Neos at the Knell headquarters in New York, Emma Vaile and Bennett Stern are the only two ghostkeepers with enough power to defeat Neos. But when two ghostkeepers fall in love, the weaker one slowly loses their powers. In an attempt to keep this from happening, Bennett has begun taking the ghostkeeper drug Asarum, even though it is slowly killing him. He feels it is his duty to banish Neos for his sister Olivia’s death, even if he sacrifices his relationship with Emma.

Soon Emma sees the ghost of her Aunt Rachel even though that should be impossible. Come to find out Rachel was also in love with Neos and sacrificed her life to further his cause. She tells Emma that the one thing they need to destroy Neos, his ashes, are somewhere at Thatcher Academy. Armed with this new information, Emma begins her search only to discover that some evil ghosts are starting to possess the students and teachers at Thatcher. If this keeps happening, even a powerful ghostkeeper like Emma will not be able to stop them.

Even though she loves Bennett with all her heart, she gives him an ultimatum; Asarum or her. Bennett leaves and Emma knows she must stop Neos once and for all before she loses Bennett forever. Will Emma be able to find Neos’ ashes and banish him for good? Can Bennett stop his addiction to Asarum? And can Neos be defeated without Emma or Bennett losing their powers?

Visit Lee Nichols’ website.

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

For the past five thousand years, the same one million souls have continuously been reborn. The night Ciana died, the temple flashed dark for the only time. Five years later, Li and her lover Menehem welcomed a daughter into the world. She was expected to be Ciana’s reincarnation but when the Soul Tellers pressed the newborn’s hand into the soul-scanner, no match was found. The soul had never been born before. Everyone wondered where did it come from and what had happened to Ciana’s soul?

On Ana’s eighteenth birthday, she left the only home she had ever known for a journey of self-discovery to find out who and what she was. Having been what was called the nosoul, Ana had a very unhappy upbringing. Her mother Li was cruel to her and blamed Ana for Menehem leaving them behind. She decides to go to the city of Heart to beg the Counsil for research time in the great library to see if she could uncover her existence. On the first night of her journey, she runs into trouble with a sylph and ends up in an icy lake. Just when she realizes she will drown, a mysterious stranger rescues her.

Freezing cold, Ana wakes up in a tent in the arms of the stranger. After a bit of a struggle, Ana realizes her rescuer is her age. Sam willingly accepts Ana even after she tells him she is the nosoul. Having never known acceptance, Ana is leery at first, but slowly opens up to Sam. He tells her that she is a newsoul and takes care of her when she is injured saving his life during a sylph attack. Several days are spent at his cabin caring for her burns. Then they leave together to go to Heart.

But not everything is smooth sailing in Heart. In order to gain admittance into the city, Sam agrees to be Ana’s guardian/teacher and many citizens stare and whisper about her. Soon Ana discovers who Sam truly is and her world is turned on its side. Who is Sam and why is it important to Ana? Can she find acceptance when everyone but her has known each other for thousands of years? What happened to Ciana’s soul when she died and why was Ana born with a new soul? Will Ana find acceptance in herself? Can she and Sam fight their mutual attraction? And what happens when Li comes to Heart?

Incarnate is the first book in a trilogy with book two to be published in winter 2013 and concluding in the winter of 2014 with book three.

Visit Jodi Meadows' website.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

Charlie tells about his freshman year in high school in a series of anonymously written to unknown "friend". Caught on the fringe of life, Charlie is a quiet observer as he deals with first love, family life and the death of his two closest companions with the help of two seniors, Patrick and Sam. Profane language is used as well as lots of references dealing with sex, homosexuality and substance abuse. really for more mature readers but will rank as one of my all-time favorite books.