Waiting on Wednesday

I hate waiting...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

When Risa loses the second key to hell, she angers several powerful people, and she’s starting to feel the pressure from all sides. She gets a visit from her father, who gives her an ultimatum: Get back the key or he will kill her friends.

Risa also finds herself under the scrutiny of the vampire council, some of whom consider her a monster who should be destroyed. But they offer her a bloody bargain: Take on the lethal head of the council, Madeline Hunter, and others will support her.

As the search for the keys to hell heats up, Risa realizes that she has no choice. For the sake of the people she loves, she must find the keys — and get rid of Hunter — before the second gate is opened and brings the world closer to all hell breaking loose...

Definitely thinking this is my fave cover of the series so far! At least since they changed them up at book 3! This one just makes Risa look freaking awesome! Angelic, yet killer!!

TITLE: Darkness Splintered
AUTHOR: Keri Arthur
PUBLISHER: Signet
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2013

The successful urban fantasy series continues as Celia
Graves—part human, part vampire, part Siren—faces black
magic and heartbreak.

Celia Graves’s newest client is one of the last surviving members of a magical family that is trapped in a generations-old feud with other magic-workers. She’s supposed to die at the next full moon unless Celia can broker peace between the clans or break the curse before it can take effect.

For the first time in a long while, Celia’s personal life is looking up. Her vampire abilities seem to be under control, her Siren abilities have gotten more reliable, and even though her office was blown up, her services are more in demand than ever now that she's fought off terrorists and been part of the royal wedding of the year. Her friends all seem to be finding love and her grandmother has—finally—agreed to go to family therapy. The only trouble spot is Celia’s love life. Not long ago, she had two boyfriends.

Now she barely has one and she isn’t sure she wants him. But Bruno DeLuca is a powerful mage and Celia needs his help . . . especially after she's attacked and her client is kidnapped.

Love this series! Celia is such an awesome character! Half vampire, half Siren! How cool is that?! Plus she could already kick ass before all that! Such an amazing series!


TITLE: To Dance with the Devil
AUTHOR: Cat Adams
PUBLISHER: Tor Books
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2013

Review--Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

Merit has been a vampire for only a short while, but she’s already seen a lifetime’s worth of trouble. She and her Master, centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, have risked their lives time and again to save the city they love. But not all of Chicago is loving them back.

Anti-vampire riots are erupting all over town, striking vampires where it hurts the most. A splinter group armed with Molotov cocktails and deep-seated hate is intent on clearing the fanged from the Windy City come hell or high water.

Merit and her allies rush to figure out who’s behind the attacks, who will be targeted next, and whether there’s any way to stop the wanton destruction. The battle for Chicago is just beginning, and Merit is running out of time.

Chloe Neill has done it again!! Her Chicagoland Vampires series is definitely one of my favorites! Merit has come such a loooog way since her beginning days as a vampire and I love watching her grow more and more into her role as Sentinel! Biting Bad continues her story and things are definitely not getting any easier for her. Sometimes she misses the days of being human and all the seemingly simplistic problems she used to have.

Chicago is being overrun with vampire-haters groups. Worse yet, they are causing riots and setting fire to places related to vampires. Starting with their blood supply, The building that creates and bottles the blood vampires drink in lieu of the old-fashion way, was burned. It's nearly destroyed, yet still standing and doing its best to operate. Merit and Ethan are on the case, as well as a few other Cadogan vampires. But then Grey House is attacked and burned down as well, making their house unlivable for vampires. So Ethan offers up his house for temporary lodging. That itself creates a few minor issues as well.

The big issue is though, finding out who's behind all the riots. No vampire related building is safe. Including Cadogan house. But there is something to these attacks that are puzzling. Why not attack Cadogan house? With their defection from the GP, it seems logical to burn their house. Also the attacks are happening at night. Why? Why not burn the buildings down during the daytime while vampires are asleep and vulnerable? There are too many questions and not nearly enough answers.

McKetrick is still around as well, as he's Public Enemy Number One. At least in the vampire community. We get a little insight as to what motivates him, but it's nothing major. The guy's still a douche!

One thing I truly love about this series is watching Merit and Ethan's relationship grow. I'll admit, in the first few books, I wasn't a fan of Darth Sullivan! I thought he was prickly, minus the ly! But over the course of the series, I've grown quite fond of him. To think that I used to like Morgan for Merit, but that was really only in the first book and possibly the second. He himself is turning into a douche. He was absent in this book, even when Cadogan turned to his house for a little assistance in the lodging of Grey House, he gave some excuse as to why he couldn't help out.

Ethan is definitely a newly made vampire! Or else we're just seeing this new side to him now that he and Merit have cemented their relationship. He's not the somewhat egotistical vamp we met in the beginning. He's caring now. And positively hilarious with his snarky side! Merit's snark has definitely rubbed off on him, as you might have noticed from my teasers! He is quite swoon-worthy now! 

Mallory is getting a little more page time as well in this one, and I like seeing her come to grips with what she's done and trying to make amends. It is hard trying to start over from where she was at, but I love her courage and bravery for it. She's got to rebuild relationships and earn back trust, things that are hard to do, but she's trying. I like also that Merit seems more open now to trying to build back their friendship. It's a tough position to be in, when your best friend almost destroyed the city, and now she's back to normal. But the whole thing is that they are working on it and I like that. I miss the Mallory of old and I can't wait til she comes back!

Biting Bad was quite the thrilling read! Maybe not as epic as a few of the past novels have been, but still utterly fantastic!! What seems like a minor event at the time that occurs during the chaos of the plot, is going to the be the fodder for the next novel. The ending gives you this hint, quite literally in the last few pages, like 2-3! Merit and Ethan just can't ever seem to get out of hot water. It's going to be interesting to see where this series ends. New problems always continue to arise, you almost wonder if they will ever get their happy ending! I'm all for the waiting to that moment!

Merit is without a doubt one of my favorite heroines. She's got snark! You gotta love the heroine who can kick ass and yet still find the time to bask in the humor that surrounds her and acknowledge it. Hence the snark! She'll say what she's thinking on the matter and the results are usually laugh worthy!

I really cannot think of one thing that I disliked about this read. It was purely fantastical!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars

More Bad News...

So to add onto my already horrific week, my internet is down. Again.

All weekend long, my connection was spotty. Sometimes I could get on, other times not. Left it alone for a few hours and it came back! Well not this time.

Seems our phone line is down, and while we have DSL, I noticed it still goes into a phone jack. I am hoping that that is the case. Meaning, once I can get a hold of AT&T and hopefully have them come out and fix the box or whatever, the phone line will work and we can have telephones again as well as having internet!

So in the meantime I have to check emails on my cell which isn't always easy. Especially in regards to replying and visiting blogs via email subscription.

I might not be as activate in the coming days. I have posts set to go live on their set dates and whatnot and have a computer I can use sometimes, but not all the time, but it's connection availability and where I can visit is limited. So I will try to do my best to stay my usual blogging active self, but I have limits.

And as you might know, I am addicted to blogging. Like a freaking hardcore addict! Even regards to being on the internet as well checking out other things, so my withdrawal period isn't going to be pleasant either.

This is starting off to be one cruddy week.

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

Okay, it's rule breaking time!! I had four teasers lined up--all over 2 lines, so quadruple the rule breaking--and I've successfully...possibly...maybe...okay, I did narrow it down to two three (yes, I read more and found another!) teasers!

"'And I was changing for my benefit, not yours.' I gestured grandly toward the room. 'The stage is yours, my friend.'

'I don't know what you expect me to do.'

I sat down on the bed and mirrored his posture. 'I expect you to take it off, and I expect you to shake it. In that order.'" p 162


"'Sometimes you make me swoon.'

'If it's only sometimes, I'm not doing my job adequately.'" p 170


"'Maybe, if you're very good, I'll bring back dinner.'

Ethan smiled wickedly and pressed a hard kiss to my lops. 'I'm rarely good, Merit. But I'm often spectacular.' 

He winkled and shut the door, and disappeared back into the House." p 258

TITLE: Biting Bad
AUTHOR: Chloe Neill
PUBLISHER: NAL Penguin
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: August 6, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I Would Love To See As A Movie/TV Show (set in a perfect world...in which movies don't butcher the books we love.) 

*in no particular order

1. WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD SERIES

By Kelley Armstrong

It's happening in Canada, at least Bitten is. But not sure what that means for the US. While I'd LOVE to see the entire series transformed into a TV show or movie, I'd settled for the first book! Really hope it becomes available in US at some point in the very near future!

2. FEVER SERIES

By Karen Marie Moning

 Ohhhh, now this would be a killer series to watch! Lots of action, romance, suspense and all sorts of weird fae creatures!!

3. STUDY TRILOGY

by Maria V. Snyder

I have to put this one in here as well! Another awesome series! All the magic that's used would be awesome to see! Plus the action, romance and of course the comedy brought on by Janco!!

4. THE IRON FEY CHRONICLES

by Julie Kagawa

Oh how I loved this series! I guess focusing on Meghan's story. Ethan's is still too new just yet. This was an incredible series!

5. GEORGINA KINCAID SERIES

by Richelle Mead

This would make a great television series I think. One of the 1-hour ones! It was just another killer series that I totally enjoyed!

6. THE HOLLOWS SERIES

by Kim Harrison

We were so close to having a TV show, but alas, CW passed! This would make a great TV series I think! Hopefully another network will see the awesomeness in it!

7. CHARLEY DAVIDSON SERIES

by Darynda Jones

Ohhhh this sooooo needs to be a TV series I think! It's freaking hilarious, because Charley just rocks! Reyes is insanely HOT! And there's always a killer mystery, plus ghosts!! What more could you want?!

8. GHOST HUNTER MYSTERY SERIES

by Victoria Laurie

Speaking of good ghostly mysteries...this is another series that would make a good TV series! A nice creepy one too! When the ghosts showed up in some of these early books, it was scary since M.J. was on her own once Gilley ran screaming the other way!

9. JANE TRUE SERIES

by Nicole Peeler

Another series that would likely be good for TV! It was another one that always made me laugh because the characters were so awesome! Plus there was always some weird happenings going on!

10. NIGHT HUNTRESS SERIES

by Jeaniene Frost

Probably one of the only ones that I think a movie lineup would be better! Only because these books were soooo kickass and awesome, that I would rather see them in full length then breaking up 1 book for 1 season. Of course, they would HAVE to cast the characters right! Not sure who I would pick for Cat and Bones, possibly newbies because this series was just so freaking awesome that it would need the best actors and lookalikes available!

ARC Review--The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason

Two young women of similar age and standing have disappeared: one found dead and the other still missing. The only clue to connect them is a small Egyptian clockwork scarab. Only Miss Stoker and Miss Holmes are well-positioned enough—similar in age and stature as they are to the victims—to investigate. An unlikely pair, the fierce Evaline Stoker and logical Mina Holmes must follow in the footsteps of their infamous families—Miss Holmes has inherited her Uncle Sherlock’s keen investigative skills, while Miss Stoker has accepted her family calling as a hunter of the undead. The partners must find a way to work together, while navigating the advances of a strange yet handsome American, a clever Scotland Yard investigator, and a cunning thief, to solve the mystery of the clockwork scarabs.

Set in steam punk London, steeped in Egyptian mythology and literary references, with a surprising time travel twist and compelling romantic triangles, Colleen Gleason has crafted a fast-paced and romantic debut young adult novel.

I received this ARC while at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, I was in on way compensated for this review.


I was positively elated when I snagged a copy of Colleen Gleason's YA debut, The Clockwork Scarab. Not only is it just a new and YA read from Colleen, but it's set in the same world as her Gardella Vampire Chronicles, only 60 years or so later. Victoria is mentioned and is even Evaline Stoker's great-great aunt! But truly, this was an amazing read! Not only do we get Bram Stoker's younger sister, Evaline but we also get Sherlock Holmes' niece, Mina Holmes!

The idea to this story is just incredible! A delightful balance of paranormal and mystery and just to add in more fun, time traveling and Egyptian mythology--in some aspect. The case is heavily laded with Egyptian mythology and the goddess Sekhmet and how basically the crazy bad guy wants to bring her back to the world of the living and to do that he's been sacrificing young girls.

Evaline and Mina didn't know each other at first, but they are recruited by none other than Irene Adler to join a secret team funded by the Princess to look into "special" cases. Evaline the Venator and Mina the detective are an unlikely duo, both use to working on their own and taking the lead, they will have to learn to work together in order to solve this case.

I truly enjoyed the dual point of view between Evaline and Mina, both in first person which is always enjoyable to read! It was interesting to see how each girl thought of the other one and what else was going on for them outside the case, which naturally involved a bit of romance!

Evaline meets they mysterious Pix and the guy is definitely mysterious! I first thought he might be a vampire, although the word on the street is that vampires are practically non-existent, but yet Evaline is still a Venator with the strength, power and abilities that Victoria had years ago. Anyway, Pix and Evaline meet by chance one night and keep running into one another. It's clear that Pix has his own agenda but every now and then it seems to coincide with Mina's. It's definitely a growing romance of sorts but I was always happy to see Pix and hear his cockney accent on the pages.

Now Mina is a bit different. She's the smart girl, being Sherlock's niece, so she's pretty much the teenage girl version of good ol' Sherlock. Very smart and pays great attention to detail and deducing all that good stuff to solve mysteries. Although, she's never technically helped the police out like her uncle has. Her first love interest is Inspector Grayson. A young detective who is almost a match for her in the deduction department. He pays attention quite well, but not as up to par as Mina, maybe a level below her for Mina would never admit that he's better than her. There are definitely some sparks going on between the two, definitely heated, but not overly romantic just yet. It's definitely the one that could grow into something.

However, there is another. Who would've thought that Mina would be the one to be caught in a love triangle, but our time traveler, Dylan comes to this era by chance through the use of the Sekhmet statue. Mina finds this boy from the future to be fascinating and intriguing. There are more sparks between Mina and Dylan but nothing more. As Mina is trying to find a way to get Dylan back to his own time and home, but she will be sad to see him go. Mina is definitely going to have a tough choice to make somewhere down the line, I can only hope for her sake that it will get easier to make a decision as time goes by!

You don't have to have read the Gardella Vampire Chronicles--Colleen's adult series--to understand what's going on. It's simply set in the same world and the main character's name is mentioned. Since it's been years since I read that series, more than one name might even be mentioned but I wouldn't be able to say. Although there is a teeny, tiny spoiler to the last Gardella Vampire book in this one, but as it's been years since the last one released, I can see why Colleen decided to use this simple sentence anyway. But she does leave out the name and uses a simple noun to describe what was going on. I'm rambling about a simple spoiler sentence, so I will move on!

I truly, truly LOVED this book! It was so incredible and heart racing! Mysteries are always fun for me and I especially love reading mysteries with supernatural aspects! This one has it all! It's also a steampunk as well, with all the gadgetry that we've seen in previous books!

The ending was pretty epic too! Not quite a cliffhanger, but pretty darn close! It's going to be an incredible loooong wait til the next book comes out in Fall of 2014 and since I read this in May of 2013, it's going to be a painful wait. It definitely has the kind of Sherlock ending, I've only read snippets of actual Sherlock books, but think of the ending to the Robert Downing Jr. Sherlock Holmes and you would have that kind of ending here. A case solved, but not quite completed...


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


The Clockwork Scarab releases September 17, 2013

Depressive Rambling...

So I've been looking forward to this signing with Tara Hudson, Myra McEntire, Tessa Gratton, and Sonia Gensler for nearly a month!

When I saw in early August Tara posting the mini tour she and the others were partaking in, I was elated to see St. Louis on there.

But for the better part of a month from the posting day to when the signing was due, there was no location and finally in the days leading to the signing a location had been settled on! Making me look forward to the weekend all the more!

Then Sunday afternoon, I was checking my email before I got ready to go and be early, and I saw an email from Sonia writing for Tara. The signing had been cancelled. My heart stopped, the first signing to come to St. Louis all year, cancelled.

But then, she said that Tara--and I assumed the rest of the lovely authors--were going to meet with readers near the Gateway Arch! I was elated for all of a milli-second, until I read "at 1pm"--it was nearly 2pm when I was reading the email. I was near tears that I had missed the impromptu hangout!

So I was kind of mopey for the remainder of the day and yeah, still kind of am this morning. Just needed to vent a bit more. It's not so much that I am mad, I'm really more devastated. I just wish that, for one, I checked my email around 11am when the email was sent, and two, that this impromptu hangout could've happened closer to the same time the signing was scheduled, or at least an hour before it. That way, I could've made it. Downtown itself is about a thirty minute or so drive for me, so I wouldn't have made it even had I left an hour late. 

Oh well. I highly doubt I will be attending any signings this year since the year is almost over and not many more authors do book tours this late in the year. I can only hope that maybe in 2014 an author or two might grace my "desolated" city with their presence!

End of depressive rambling.

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

 

 

Last Week I Read:

 

 Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout (5 stars)

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (4.5 stars)

Timepiece by Myra McEntire (4.5 stars)

*Also read through my own book that I've decided to self-publish!

About to Start Reading:

Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

What I Plan to Read this Week:

Murder on the House by Juliet Blackwell

Other Posts of Interest:

A New Blog Fest--In Your Pants!

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Waiting on Wednesday

Random Thursday

Follow Friday

Yet Another Challenge!

Top 5 Sundays

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

This weekly meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!





A bit of a slow week, but that's not always a bad thing!


Here's what I bought:

Timepiece by Myra McEntire--already read and reviewed!

Candle Bay by Tamra Thorne

The Transfer by Veronica Roth--bring on Four!!! :D

What did you get?

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: Popular Books That Don't Attract Me!

*in no particular order


Please note, these are reads that don't attract me, they're just not my kind of read. But I in no way begrudge people who love and enjoy them!

PUSHING THE LIMITS

This is one series I see a lot of bloggers enjoying. But for me, it's just not my cup of tea. I don't really care for contemporaries anymore. 

LUNAR CHRONICLES

Another series that a lot of people seem to like! I read the first one, but I just didn't get into it as much as I had hoped I would.

THE HUNGER GAMES

A very popular series, even being made into movies. And yet, it was one that just didn't garner my attention or interest all that much.

THRONE OF GLASS

A series that seemed to get popular even before it released with its relation to Throne of Games. It just didn't really sound like my kind of read in some ways. Although I was curious in the beginning. But after reading a few reviews, I just could tell it wouldn't be one I would enjoy.

THE SELECTION

A round of YA picks since I couldn't think of adult books! I know there are some, but I just couldn't think of any! This is another series I see a lot of! I admit to loving the covers, but once I read what it was about, I just didn't find anything that really grabbed at my attention.

Yet Another Challenge!

So I saw this ebook challenge and after talking with one of the hosts learned that ebooks that were "mostly free" can count too, which is good since I got a whole ton of those on my kindle. Ones that ranged from .99-$4.99! So here's my post to say, I'm joining in!!

Here are the deets I borrowed from Because Reading is Better than Real Life:

Have you been a little over eager with your mouse when browsing Kindle Freebies? Or maybe those books on Netgalley were just too hard to resist? Are your free reads sitting in your E-reader, neglected, just waiting for when you have time to get to them? Well now is the time with the "Clean out your E-reader Challenge"

Join us November 1st - 30th with the Clean out your E-reader Challenge hosted by Fantasy is More Fun & Because Reading is better than real life and start cleaning out your free or nearly free E-reads! Not only will you get to those reads that have been sitting unread for too long, but TWO bloggers will have a chance to win a $10 Gift Card from Amazon or B&N in our Review Posts Giveaway AND everyone will drive more traffic to your blog

~~~~~~ The Rules ~~~~~~

• Go through your E-readers and select the FREE or NEARLY FREE (up to $5 will be accepted) books you'd like to read during the challenge. The book must have been free or Nearly free, (Kindle Deals, Netgalley, Etc.) Anyone caught not using a free book or a book that is pirated will be removed from challenge

• Sign up with the linky below letting us know that you plan to participate. Then, on November 1st create a post announcing your participating with a list of books you plan to read during the challenge. A starter post will be posted at 8am on November 1st with the review link. Link your participation blog post there. Links not live by the end of the day (11:59 PM PST) November 1st will be removed. Your book list doesn’t have to be set it stone it can change along the way, just be sure you’re still reading FREE or NEARLY FREE books. DO NOT POST YOUR BOOK LIST/START POST UNTIL NOVEMBER 1st. If you already post thats fine but it must re posted again on November 1st

• Start reading your books (starting November 1st) and reviewing them, either on your blog or Goodreads (blog will give you more traffic). Put the link to your review (to the review URL, not your Web Address) on the review linky available November 1st, listing your blog name and the name of the book you reviewed. When you write your review, be sure to include the challenge logo and linky at the end so that we can all check out the reviews

• To enter the giveaway: every day you post a review of a free or nearly free E-book, enter the link (to the review URL, not your Web Address) on the Rafflecopter available November 1st (1 link per blog, per day) to get an extra entry in the giveaway.

We'll also be having a Twitter Party (Date TBD) - while you’re reading your free or nearly free E-books or posting your reviews be sure to update us on Twitter with #COYER!

Please feel free follow us so we can keep an eye on your progress we will follow you back!

Follow Berls: Bloglovin, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Follow Michelle: Bloglovin, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads 

And don’t forget to check out as many of the reviews on the linky as you’d like! Stop by and say hi in their comments. And if someone follows you, be sure to follow back.
Winner will be announced December 3rd. Each person that participated will even get award ribbons at the end to put up on your blog announcing your accomplishment.

What will your goal be?

Lightly Clean - 1 to 5 E-books

 Spring Clean - 5 to 10 E-books

 Deep Clean - More than 10 E-books

We hope you'll join us and have a great time!!

Berls & Michelle

 

 

Click here to go to one of the host blogs for signing up! And don't forget to do your "plan post" on November 1st!

Review--Timepiece by Myra McEntire

A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...

Kaleb Ballard thought he knew who and what he was. He was the bad boy of the Hourglass recruits, partying too hard and living too large. He was never supposed to be able to see ripples - cracks in time that allow the past and present to coexist. The was Emerson's area, she of the small stature and big, saucy mouth. And of the tall, handsome, perfect boyfriend, Michael.

Then a mysterious man gives the Hourglass an ultimatum. They must find Jack Landers, the man who stole research on the time gene from them and in the process tried to kill Kaleb's father. If they don't, the results will be devastating for the people Kaleb cares about most.

Now the members of the Hourglass have no choice but to use their extraordinary powers to find Landers. But where do they even start? And even if they succeed, will it save them?

I was not expecting Myra McEntire's Timepiece to be a one day read, but the words and chapters just seemed to have flown by and lo and behold, another one day read done!

Timepiece picks up a few weeks or so after Hourglass. And I was quite surprised by being inside Kaleb's head this time too. Kaleb, the unchosen one in the love triangle that occurred. Kaleb's had it rough. His mom is in a coma, his dad had died and came back, and yet he's still trying to win his approval. Liam seems to favor Michael in most situations it seems. He tends to trust Michael and his abilities more than Kaleb, probably one of the reasons why Kaleb acts out the way he does.

In this story, Kaleb and the Hourglass gang are presented with quite the pickle. Find Jack or else their lives will be altered in a very bad way. Perhaps Michael wouldn't have survived the fire that Emerson rescues him from or maybe Emerson will be locked up in a hospital drooling on herself. It's basically the incentive the gang needs to do what they are told, but to a limit. They were already planning on trying to find Jack, but in their own way and time.

Some wonky stuff is happening with the time continuum, you know, all that complicated jazz that comes with time traveling? Jack is screwing around with things, and now rips are becoming more. Just more. They are lasting longer and are even harder to tell apart from reality.

We get new players to this time traveling game. People from Liam's past and Jack's too. Such as Teague, a woman with her own agenda--a lot of that going around. She is intent on finding the Infinityglass before Jack does. The Infinityglass allows one to take another's powers from them. So for the evil villains this is a most wanted item! And of course our heroes want it too, to keep it away from the villains, but how does one find said item.

In walks Lily, Emerson's best friend who happens to have a knack for finding things. Even items she hasn't even seen before. I love the dynamics between Lily and Kaleb. Kaleb is the bad boy and use to having girls fall all over him, but Lily is not that way. Lily is tough and doesn't take crap from bad boys. She calls Kaleb on his crap a lot and I loved that about her. She's spunky! I think that's a good adjective to describe her.

So naturally these two become our starcrossed lovers. But it was definitely a romance that took some building and time. Lots of time. It wasn't until the last quarter of the book or so that the romance started blooming between them. And I so liked that. They even refrained from blatantly using the three-letter-word. Of course, it is brought up, but with added words to lessen the OMG-you-just-met! effect! As with Emerson and Michael I was cringing when those words were said at the end. Because it was like, seriously?! Love?! This soon! At seventeen or something?! Err!! I have issues with so much teen love, yet that doesn't stop me from reading my Paranormal YA reads!

The pacing to this one was good, just like the last one. There was less learning going on this time since we got the general idea of the Hourglass group and what they stand for. I am most curious about Infinityglass now and cannot wait to pick up a copy!

Time traveling books have always been a secret favorite of mine. I like them, but don't like the really intense ones getting into all that physics stuff--me and science are not BFFs!--but the idea of going back in time just always sounded cool. For a visit, you know. Not to actually live in that particular time. I mean, if I thought the lack of paranormal reads was bad ten years ago, I shudder to think of going back even further for the rest of time!

Timepiece was definitely an intriguing and engaging read and I look forward to seeing where this series will go and how long the bad guys continue to be a problem for these teens.


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars