Mindy

Remembrandt by Robin King

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Dec 262014

Remembrandt

Author: Robin King

Publisher: Walnut Springs

Published: October 2014

ISBN13: 9781599929484

Paperback: 240 pages

FTC FYI: Received a PDF copy in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by Mindy

Goodreads Summary

Alexandra Stewart doesn’t just walk down memory lane, she lives on it. Her eidetic memory records her experiences and plays them back, DVD style. It’s great when she wants to ace a test, but not so great when she topples over a cute boy in the hallway and the humiliation plays back over and over and over . . . Brown University seems like the perfect place for the seventeen-year-old to forget her past. Hope for a normal life comes in the form of a handsome new running partner who makes her heart race and body perspire even before she laces up her shoes.

When her Russian professor gives her a puzzle that seems impossible to solve, Alex discovers that he has a secret – one that will catapult her into a world of cryptic codes and covert missions. As she tries to find a balance between the two different worlds vying for her attention, Alex wonders if she can have relationships with the ones she cares about while hiding a clandestine life, uncovering the truths of an underground enemy.

One thing is for certain, whatever happens will be forever etched into her memory. And some things are better left forgotten.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. Alex is an amazing girl. I was fascinated by her eidetic memory and all of its possibilities. This book has one adventure after another. I loved how Alex was a strong young woman, who could literally think her way out of anything. I thought the author did a great job of introducing Alex’s back story with her mom and brother. Her father teaches at Brown. I did love how she had a great support system in her roommate and her professors. All the characters are fantastic and entertaining. William especially. He’s a doll. Alex’s adventures are very page-turning and I can’t wait to see what is next for her.

4 out of 5 stars. I can’t summarize anymore without giving it all away. Hold on for a great adventure!

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon / Deseret Book

Sky Jumpers: The Forbidden Flats by Peggy Eddleman

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Dec 242014

Sky Jumpers: The Forbidden Flats

Author: Peggy Eddleman

Publisher: Random House

Published: September 23rd, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-307-98131-8

Hardcover: 262 pages

Middle grade fiction

FTC FYI: Borrowed a copy from the library, intend to purchase my own copy.

Goodreads Summary

Escape one danger. Jump into another. . . .

Twelve-year-old Hope has always felt a little different from everyone else who lives in White Rock. She tries hard, but she doesn’t always think before she acts. She takes big risks. Sometimes her risks pay off, but sometimes they fail. Sometimes she fails.

Hope knows that the most dangerous thing about living in White Rock is that it’s so close to the deadly Bomb’s Breath—the invisible, fifteen-foot-thick band of compressed air that’s hovered over the earth since the Green Bombs of World War III. The citizens of White Rock live in fear of the Bomb’s Breath. Only Hope has figured out a way to go through it—and lived to tell the tale.

But when a massive tremor rips across the earth, the Bomb’s Breath begins to lower over White Rock. It’s up to Hope and her friends Brock and Aaren to make the dangerous journey far from home across the bandit-ridden Forbidden Flats to the wilds of the Rocky Mountains to obtain the one thing that may be able to stop it—before the Bomb’s Breath sinks too far and destroys them all. This time, Hope can’t fail.

My Review

White Rock is in trouble once more, Hope and her town must find a way to save the them all.

Peggy Eddleman triumphs again with this enjoyable sequel. I found myself reading and reading, and suddenly I was half way through. Forbidden Flats reads fast, and just like the first one, has lots of action and heart. This time Hope finds herself on a journey to save her town once again. They are accompanied by a stranger, who seems familiar to Hope, but she can’t place it. Hope is my hero. This girl is amazing. I love her willingness to try anything and the way she jumps in and helps anyone at any time. I love books where the main lead character is a strong girl, and the Sky Jumpers series is definitely at the top of my list of favorites.

5 out of 5 stars! Need a last minute gift? The Sky Jumpers series is it.

Author Links

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Endless by Jaclyn Weist — Blog Tour

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Dec 032014

Endless

Author: Jaclyn Weist

Publisher: Trifecta Books

Published: November 25th, 2014

ASIN: B00Q61MYTW

ebook: 201 pages

YA Fantasy

FTC FYI: Received an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by Mindy

Summary

Sydney lives her nightmares every night. While other teenagers are dreaming of boys or traveling to exotic places, she must run a staircase with no beginning or no end, or a terrible debt will never be paid.

Just before her seventeenth birthday, the dreams change. She is no longer alone.

But her nightmares don’t end when she wakes up. Her stepmother and stepsisters threaten to ruin everything she holds dear. She must protect the secret that both she and her father have magic or they will use it to their advantage.

As Sydney learns to control her magic, what seemed impossible before—escaping her stepmother and those ever-present stairs—is now at her fingertips. When she learns the ultimate plan of her evil captor, Sydney must stop her at all costs, or she will forever be trapped inside her nightmares.

My Review

I really enjoyed this twisted-tale of Cinderella. While reading I had many questions as to why characters were acting a certain way, or why something was happening and Jaclyn did a great job of addressing those, and then some. Sydney had to endure quite a bit from her step-mother and step-sisters. And I loved her reasoning for putting up with all their abuse, she does it for her dad. There was a great twist to the story on the Fairy Godmother, which was so sweet and fun. One character in particular drove me crazy, but I was thrilled with the end result for all the characters. This is a fun fantasy book that is clean and page-turning.

4 out of 5 stars. Jaclyn released a bunch of books this year! Check her out on the links below.

Author Links

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Jaclyn is an Idaho farm girl who grew up loving to read. She developed a love for writing as a senior in high school, when her dad jokingly said she was the next Dr. Seuss (not even close but very sweet). She met her husband, Steve at BYU and they have six happy, crazy children that encourage her writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to have adventures in Australia, they settled back down in their home in Utah. Jaclyn now spends her days herding her kids to various activities and trying to remember what she was supposed to do next.

Excerpt

Dad handed over the ticket and turned to us. He noticed me staring and glanced back to where the valet had been standing. “That’s Luke. He’s the son of one of my partners.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Sarah said. “Do you think he’d go out with me?”

Dad laughed. “Maybe so. He’ll be coming to Sydney’s birthday party, along with a few other young men I think you would prefer over Luke. Dillon seems more your type.” He gestured toward another guy coming up to the restaurant with his family.

Sarah wrinkled her nose. “No, he’s more Kaylee’s type. Oh! Here’s Luke with the car.” She hurried forward so she would be standing in front when he opened the door.

I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Kaylee. She was too busy staring at Dillon to notice me. Sarah was right, I guess. I climbed in the other side of the car, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of Sarah throwing herself at Luke.

Dad climbed in right after. “You don’t want to meet him?”

I shook my head. “No. Not right now, at least. Dad, that feeling is here. Someone’s here that shouldn’t be, and I don’t know who. What if it’s Luke?”

“You felt it too, huh? There’s a bad feeling here, but it’s not him. His dad—” He stopped when Julie climbed in.

Eye on Orion by Laura D. Bastian

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Nov 282014

Eye on Orion

Author: Laura D. Bastian

Publisher: Astraea Press

Published: February 24th, 2014

ISBN: 9786213526

ebook: 240 pages

FTC FYI: Received an ebook copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by Mindy

Goodreads Summary

Falling in love with your gorgeous new neighbor isn’t a bad thing, but when he turns out to be the bodyguard of a princess from a planet nine billion light-years away, life gets complicated.

Seventeen-year-old stargazer Holly Adams never imagined she’d find herself trying to prevent the overthrow of an alien government. When Jai and his sister Amira move into the house down the street, Holly is immediately drawn to them. Jai acts suspicious of her from the start, making Holly more curious about their oddities. When Holly learns they are from a different planet, she does what she can to help protect Amira from Shander, a man who wants to marry her by force in order to take over the kingdom her father rules.

Mistaken identity, a botched kidnapping, and a first kiss that bonds Holly and Jai for life are hard enough, but when Shander believes Holly to be the princess, things get even more dangerous.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. Holly is such a great character. I instantly liked her and appreciated her knowledge and fascination with the stars and galaxy. Holly could also think fast and protect herself when needed. I think her love of the stars is one of the ways she is able to win over Jai so quickly. Holly is curious about her neighbors, but they are also curious about her too and when Jai’s “family” invites her and her parents over for dinner, that is where secrets start to be revealed. So many things happen, and I was turning pages fast to see what would occur. The author did a great job with her characters and I loved learning more about the stars. I especially liked Amira. She was a doll, and I loved the scene at the mall where she discovers all the wonders of a food court!

4 out of 5 stars. Laura also wrote a book for the Gates of Atlantis series, each book in the series is on sale this weekend for $0.99 each!

Author Links

Goodreads / Twitter / Website / Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Nov 262014

The Unhappening of Genesis Lee

Author: Shallee McArthur

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Published: November 18th, 2014

ISBN13: 9781629146478

Hardcover: 352 pages

FTC FYI: Received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewed by Mindy

Goodreads Summary

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.

Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.

The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.

Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.

My Review

This book is one wild ride. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was WAY off! Wow, I enjoyed being wrong. To my credit, I was right about one thing, but there were reasons for everything and where it went was awesome. I loved the idea of this book. Our memories are precious. What would it be like to have them stolen. There is a BIG twist in this book that was very cool, but sad. Shallee wrote some amazing characters. As much as I liked Gena, I really liked Kalan. He was a breath of fresh air for this fantastic book. I won’t be giving anything away by saying this, but when Genesis keeps forgetting Kalan, it is heart breaking. But, Kalan doesn’t give up. I won’t say why or how she keeps doing so (that was one of the twists), but I thought it added quite an excitement to this page-turning book.

4 out of 5 stars. This is Shallee’s first book and I look forward to what is next for her!

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Eve: In the Beginning by H. B. Moore

Posted by Mindy Book Reviews

Nov 242014

Eve: In the Beginning

Author: H. B. Moore

Publisher: Mirror Press

Published: November 22nd, 2014

ISBN13: 978194149395

ebook: 285 pages

FTC FYI: Received an ebook copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary

The first love story on earth… Haunting… Lyrical… Unforgettable…

In a world where everything is perfect, yet the same day after day, Eve must decide if she wants to live forever in the garden with Adam and never know what lies beyond the walls. When she makes a choice with terrible consequences, the pain of mortality is swift. As she and Adam explore their new world, and her body changes, Eve discovers the sweetness of first love with the man who has always been at her side.

My Review

I absolutely loved this book. Heather does an incredible job of telling this beautiful story of our first parents. I appreciated Heather’s notes in the beginning of the book, that she believes one day our questions will be answered about the Garden of Eden, and that this book is not to answer those questions, but to simply “bring to life an incredible man and woman who sacrificed immortality to start the human race”.

Heather’s Eve is a sweet, curious woman who is loved protectively by Adam in the garden. They work together to tend to the garden and the animals. Eve is fascinated by the tree of knowledge of good and evil, while Adam fears it. Lucifer is there and his presence causes changes and death in the Garden. Of course, we all know what happens after that. Eve partakes of the fruit, as does Adam, and they are cast out. But that is where their journey begins. Their struggles in the wilderness and how they learned to adapt were heart-felt and challenging. Lucifer comes to confuse and manipulate them. What I loved most was Adam and Eve’s strong love for each other. They knew they needed to multiply and replenish the earth, but knew it would bring Eve “great sorrow”. I enjoyed their individual journeys of self discovery and finding their new love outside the garden. Heather wrote these characters so well. I enjoyed how the story was told from both character’s point of view. I loved Eve, her sweet nature and innocence were enduring, but what I loved most about her was how she was strong too and came to Adam’s rescue at times. Adam is strong and shielding and the perfect protector, and Satan is just, well Satan.

5 out of 5 stars.

Author Links

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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