TITLE: Daughter Of Isis
AUTHOR: Kelsey Ketch
SERIES: Descendants Of Isis Book 1
PUBLICATION DATE: October 26 2013
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
SOURCE: Free review copy in exchange for honest review
RATING: 3.5 STARS!!!



Goodreads Summary

“Her mouth parted slightly, waiting for Seth to breathe life into her own body, just like in the story. She wanted him to awaken her senses.”

Their worlds collide in California’s high desert.

The last thing Natara “Natti” Stone wants to do is to start anew at Setemple High School. She wished she had never left London. Yet the brutal murder of her maternal grandmother has made her life very complicated. The only clue related to her murder is an ancient, encrypted necklace Natti discovered after her grandmother’s death. And if trying to adjust to American life is not enough, Natti is being stalked by a mysterious, charming high school senior, Seth O’Keefe, who is annoyingly persistent in his attempts at seduction.

Seth O’Keefe is secretly a member of the Sons of Set, an order that worships the Egyptian god of chaos. Seth’s blessing from Set, his “charm,” never failed, except with one person: Natti Stone. Her ability to elude him infatuates and infuriates him, and he becomes obsessed with the chase. But the closer he gets to her, the more his emotions take a dangerous turn, and he risks breaking one of the most valued covenants of his order. The punishment for which is a fate worse than death.

The adventure this unlikely couple becomes engulfed in could cost them their lives and their souls.

MY REVIEW

Natara stone is the typical newbie, she deals with the stares and the mean girls but luckily for her, she has a few good friends. But something weird is going on at her high school, every single girl seems hooked on Seth O'keefe. She agreed, he looked like a god and oozed charm but to what extent could high school girls fawn over a guy? Natara can't comprehend their obsession with this guy, of course she admits that his touch does have an effect on her but she is not obsessed with him. 

Seth has never met any girl who can resist his power of charm so when Natara doesn't fall under his spell, driven by his mission to make her fall for him, he pursues her relentlessly. But every time he gets rejected he becomes more determined. And it isn't until later that he realizes that while he was trying so hard to make Nattie fall for him, he himself fell for her.

Nattie was a pretty awesome character, She was spunky and had real guts. She never did the whole "swoon" thingy when it came to Seth and actually put him in his place most of the time! I liked that she didn't take his crap!

The pacing was a little slow but not so much as to bore you. For all lovers of Egyptian Myths, this is definitely a book for you. It had a lot of culture in it but i just wished they focused more on the story at hand and the plot other than the teenage drama that accompanied it-it was giving off serious twilight vibes. I did enjoy the double POV and it was through Seth's POV that we got a clear insight on the sect he lived in and his duties.

Seth was a pretty difficult character to sympathize with. So basically he is a TOTAL WOMANIZER! He sleeps with all the girls and discards them like they're nothing. On top of that, he has this kind of competition with his father because the latter takes away everything that is his. However i did love the fact that he absolutely loved and protected his mother! Because let me tell you, the women in this book, except for Nattie, are seriously degraded. And i guess that's what the author wanted to portray; the cruelty of the sect towards women.

The ending was pretty rough, this is a nice start to a new series filled with adventure. I really hope we get a lot of more the Egyptian culture in the next book but overall, a nice read :P

Goodreads Summary
Elena Rosales has busted her ass to get into a good college. She’s the only one in her family ever to attend, and expectations are high. No pressure. But Elena’s got this one in the bag, because she’s as dependable as the molecules she studies, as reliable as the chemical reactions that comfort her in their predictability. Until they don’t.

Elena has always wondered why her mother abandoned her on her first birthday. It’s not until she turns eighteen and her chemistry experiments go berserk that she learns the truth: Her mother wasn’t human, and the Fae are willing to harm those Elena loves if she doesn’t use her power over the elements to cure them of a deadly disease.

Derek, Elena’s brooding neighbor, isn’t the friendliest guy, but he has access to an off-hours lab and is willing to help Elena create the antivirus. He has his own secrets to keep, and this business Elena is mixed up in could blow his cover. But when Elena and Derek get together, more than chemicals spark fire—and they soon discover just how complicated attraction can get when they find themselves on the other side of the portal, fighting for survival. Lives collide, and allegiance and love are tested, in Fates Divided.

-----

In the Halven Rising Series, love and ancient allegiances are threatened when the worlds of Fae and Halven collide. Each Halven Rising novel features a different couple and may be read as a standalone, but an overreaching story arc connects the books, so it’s fun to read them in order.

in Northern California, The United States 

 Hey guys! So to promote this week's sale i thought i would do a post on some of my 7 top traits in a YA heroine!

1) Okay so my all time favorite heroines are ones that seriously kick butt! Not necessarily physically, verbally does the trick!
2) They have to be funny even if they don't make jokes, there way of thinking or actions are usually what make me smile the most :)
3) I hate it when they try too hard to get your pity.
4) If they have a special affinity for YA books then they're already ranked cool in my book.
5) I don't really like the pristine image of a heroine-as in perfect. I think that all of us want them to be more down to earth, more humane so that we can relate to them and really connect with them.
6) I'm a big fat fan of bad boy-good girl romance but one thing that really irks me is when the heroine feels that she has to change the hero completely. 
7) They can't spend paragraphs talking about how they're getting ready with all the clothes and the make up...

Yep so that's it! Comment below and tell me what you most appreciate in a YA heroine :P And don't forget to check out the book on sale! Thanks to Entangled Teen for letting me help out with this event!

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.
This year, it is my turn.
My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and return the Westfall family to power.
But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.
Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Amy Engel Bio:

TITLE: The Carnelian Legacy
AUTHOR: Cheryl Koevoet
SERIES: The Carnelian Legacy Series Book 1
PUBLICATION DATE: January 28 2015
PUBLISHER: Abbott Press
SOURCE: Netgalley ARC
RATING: 3.5 STARS

Goodreads Summary

Marisa MacCallum always believed that the man of her dreams was out there somewhere. The problem is—he’s in another dimension.

After the death of her father, eighteen-year-old Marisa's life is on the verge of imploding. She seeks comfort on her daily ride through the woods of Gold Hill, but when a mysterious lightning storm strikes, she is hurled into the ancient, alternate dimension of Carnelia where she is discovered by the arrogant but attractive nobleman, Ambassador Darian Fiore. 

Stranded in a world teeming with monsters, maniacs and medieval knights, Marisa is forced to join Darian on a dangerous mission to negotiate peace with his cousin and archenemy, Savino da Rocha. Along the way, she starts to see Darian's softer side and finds herself falling in love. But once she learns that he is locked into an arranged marriage, her heart shatters.

When Savino falls for her charms and demands her hand in exchange for peace, Marisa is faced with an impossible choice: marry the enemy of the man she loves or betray them both and become the catalyst for a bloody war.

MY REVIEW

Marisa has just lost her father and can't seem to cope. After the funeral, she decides to go for a ride in the forest she was forbidden to go in. Rumours have always spread about people never coming back from there but all Marisa wanted was the calmness and solitude that the woods offered. However, she finds herself trapped in a storm and teleported in this new land called Carnelia. When she wakes, she is rescued by two men, Arrie and his cousin Darian. Arrie is jovial enough and sweet, he had also once been teleported to earth so he really gets what Marisa is going through. Darian on the other hand. is a soon to be king and has enemies everywhere.  He cannot afford to trust anyone because his slightest mistake will let his evil cousin, Savino, take the throne. Desperate to prove to Darian that she is not a spy, with no hope of going back home she is forced  to follow the two men to negotiate  a treaty. But when things don't go as planned, Marisa has to accept that Carnelia is her new home, one she couldn't possibly share with Darian at her side.

The Carnelian Legacy started out great for me! I instantly liked Marisa as a main character. She was strong and pretty funny at times. Arrie has got to be the sweetest character in the book! Don't worry there is no love triangle! He's more like her older brother. He knows what Marisa goes through and is always there to support her and help her through her harsh times. Darian-i got mixed feelings. At the beginning i liked the mysterious aura he maintained-always grumpy and liked to remain in solitude. As his armor cracks though we get a huge peek at the man inside who is totally sweet and mischievous! But somehow he didn't make the yummy factor for me...but he is definitely too cute with Marisa!

I think the idea of time travel and the explanations were pretty complicated but very easy to comprehend. This book really held a lot of intrigue for me. I really liked the writing style too, it was very story-like and maintained the more modern language and shifted to a more formal one at the appropriate times.

I do think that this book was pretty long though...it started great and really interesting but about halfway through things really slowed down. The author tried to kick it up with some action but it all seemed like useless details...then at the last part of the book, things picked up again and focused more on the love story, which for me I saw no happy ending coming from it. That's my other problem, the ending seemed waaaayy too convenient. I guess you could blame it on destiny and all but to what extent?

Overall, great plot and characters, I did enjoy the book despite some rocky moments :P I will definitely be following this author because her writing is just amazing!!