Review: The Gate Keeper's Sons by Eva Pohler

Image & Description from goodreads.com

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. 

My Thoughts:
I liked the idea of this story very much.  The characters for the most part were likable.  However, they lacked depth & complexity.  They were naive.  Not to mention, Than is supposed to be a God who's centuries old.  He should have been wiser & more mature.  Therese was extremely immature for her age.  The life changing events she experienced would have caused her to grow up or at least made her more cautious.  The little side stories about her friends, especially Jen & Vicki, were under developed.  Both experienced some serious things that were barely touched on.  It seems like those stories could have been expanded on instead of the fluff about the appearance of Mt. Olympus and other inconsequential nonsense.  The thing that I disliked the most was how easily things popped up to help Therese.  You need to be able to travel like the Gods?  Ok, here's a magical robe.  It was like watching the Magic Unicorn Rainbow show where everything the hero or heroin needs is there tied up in a neat little bow.  It became far too clear that this was the way the author was going about moving the story along instead of letting her characters work & struggle to build, well, CHARACTER.  
Now here's the saving grace of the story.  I liked the idea enough that I'll read the next book.  Because I do think that there is room for improvement & the story has real promise.

I bought this book & reviewed it without any compensation from the author or a publisher.
Recommended for ages 12& up. 
No sexual content.  Mild language & violence. 

Cover Reveal: The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachael Anderson

Coming soon from USA Today Bestselling Author Rachael Anderson

The Fall of Lord Drayson

Who is he really? A high and mighty Lord, or a lowly servant? When Colin Cavendish, the new earl of Drayson, informs Lucy Beresford that she and her mother have two months to vacate the house they've called home for the past two years, Lucy is fit to be tied.They have no money, no relations they can turn to for help, and nowhere to go. How dare the earl break the promise his father had made to the Beresfords without so much as a twinge of conscience? Mere hours later, Lucy discovers the earl unconscious and injured in the middle of the road. Grudgingly, she takes him into her home to tend to his wounds, but when he awakens with no recollection of who he is, Lucy seizes the opportunity to teach a much-needed lesson in humility. Pushing her own twinge of conscience aside, she informs the earl of Drayson that he is nothing more than a mere servant. Her servant, in fact. And thus begins the charming tale of a pompous lord and an impetuous young woman, caught together in a web so tangled that it begs the question: Will they ever get out?

Coming late-summer 2016

Author Rachael Anderson A USA Today bestselling author, Rachael Anderson is the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can't sing, doesn't dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

Website

Cover Reveal Giveaway $25 Amazon Gift Code or Paypal Cash Ends 2/17/16 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Wings of Arian by Devri Walls

Image & Description from goodreads.com

Kiora thought she had never heard a lie until she was sixteen. But she was wrong. Her entire existence was based on nothing but. She thought that evil did not exist. Lie. That magic was not real. Lie. And that the land of Meros was all there was. One more lie.

With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.
She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.

However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non -magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.

And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions. 

My Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book.  I bought it on a whim and having never heard anything about it I was skeptic.  It was a wonderful choice!
Kiora is a fantastic heroin who, while having a pure heart, is still human and susceptible to her emotions.  Emane is her perfect match.  He's brave, hot-headed and a prince. They balanced each other perfectly.  The story is well paced & unique.  There's lots of mystery so I stayed interested but I never felt like things were dragging along.  The supporting characters are well written & I found myself attached to some of them as much as I was Kiora & Emane.  The story reminds us that even the best intentions can cause pain & suffering.  My heart broke for Kiora as she had to endure watching her neighbors & even her own sister turn on her. However, I was cheering for Emane as he stood up to his father & showed that he could be a true leader. 
I can't wait to read & review the next book & see where the story takes us.  I recommend this book for anyone who loved Eragon and other books like it.

I bought & reviewed this book on my own with no compensation from any publisher or the author.

Recommended for readers 13 & up.  
  

Meet Eirik Baldurson...You're heart will succumb to his charms!

Image & description from the author.

Eirik Baldurson—son of Baldur, God of Light—failed living as a Mortal. He lost the girl of his dreams and nearly got his friends killed. Now, he's gone to the underworld to meet the mother he’s never known. Torn between his duty to her and the man he used to be, Eirik struggles to find himself, until a witch appears in his world. Feisty and stubborn, she is a reminder of everything good he left behind.


Celestia Devereaux proudly attends a charter high school for “gifted” teenagers who embrace magic. Witches. However, she keeps a terrible secret—a prediction that she would one day be responsible for massive destruction and death. Though Celestia uses her clairvoyant abilities to help people, she worries that it is just a matter of time before she goes over to the dark side.


Her world changes when she unexpectedly astral projects to a place she didn’t believe existed and meets a tortured man who needs her help. Will helping him cause her fears to come true, or will he sacrifice everything to save her? 

My Thoughts:

I've been reading Ednah's books since she first started.  I have fallen in love with her characters probably as much as she has.  When you're this invested in a series it's amazing to see the changes in some of the characters.  Eirik started out as a supporting character in Raine Coopers story Runes.  While I knew he always had a rich & complex story of his own I could NEVER have imagined it would be like this!  Eirik has evolved from the "All-American", boy next door into a force to be reckoned with.  While I'm a little sad to see his easy-going personality change; I am LOVING the new, in your face, take no crap, tough guy he's become.  The wonderful thing about Eirik's story is you also get some great insight on his parents & why they are what they are.  

Then we are introduced to Celestia Devereaux.  A powerful witch, who only wants to help Eirik even though he fights her every step of the way.  She shows Eirik there's more to his life than vengeance & battle.  Celestia (I love that name!) is brave & resourceful.  She's over come some traumatic experiences that seem to have made her empathetic to Eirik's parental issues.  I can't wait to see what more of her story we get to explore, as well as, their story together.  

Ednah Walters is an amazing author who's books include:

http://www.ednahwalters.com

The Runes Series:

Runes

Immortals

Grimnir (Cora's story)

Seeress

Souls (Cora's story)

Witches

Demons (Eirik's story)

The Guardian Legacy Series:

Awakened (Prequel to Betrayed)

Betrayed

Hunted

Forgotten

Review: The Marked Son by Shea Berkley

Image & Description from goodreads.com

Seventeen-year-old Dylan Kennedy always knew something was different about him, but until his mother abandoned him in the middle of Oregon with grandparents he's never met, he had no idea what. When Dylan sees a girl in white in the woods behind his grandparents' farm, he knows he's seen her before...in his dreams. He's felt her fear. Heard her insistence that only he can save her world from an evil lord who uses magic and fear to feed his greed for power. Unable to shake the unearthly pull to Kera, Dylan takes her hand. Either he's completely insane or he's about to have the adventure of his life, because where they're going is full of creatures he's only read about in horror stories. Worse, the human blood in his veins has Dylan marked for death...

My Thoughts:
I would give this book a 3.7 rating.  I liked it but it didn't really get good until about 60% into the book.  The pace of the book was uneven.  It was slow at first then at the end so many things happened so fast that I was left with several questions.   I did feel great sympathy for Dylan.  I can't imagine how it would be to grow up with such insecurity & instability.  I was glad when his grandparents showed him the love he deserved.  Despite his circumstances Dylan still wants better for himself.  He doesn't let his mother's mistakes define him.  I didn't really understand Dylan & Kera's connection.  I hope it's explained more in the other books.  I wanted to know more about why they dreamed about each other & why they seemed to be drawn to each other.  Kera was brave & did the right thing even when those around her so easily gave in to save themselves.   Dylan's grandparents confused me at the end.  I didn't understand why they couldn't remember Dylan's father but "Pop" did.  I do think this is a promising start to a good series.  I will read the next book to see if there are answers & if the story can blossom into the good series it the potential to be.

I received a copy of this book from NegGalley in exchange for my honest review.