Guardian of the Dead: A (small) Review

Ellie Spencer is just an ordinary girl at a boarding school, hanging out with her best (and only) friend Kevin and pining after the mysterious Mark Nolan...until a power is awakened inside her and she realizes there's more to ancient myths than she thought. Now she has to save Kevin from a crazy woman trying to seduce him, find out what's going on with her, figure out just who Mark Nolan really is, and yeah...maybe save New Zealand from sure destruction.

GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD is steeped in Maori mythology, magic, power, romance, and action. I very much enjoyed this refreshing paranormal--you won't find any vampires or werewolves in here. Well...that you know of. Just a heroine who knows tae kwon do and can kick ass (and has an affinity for magical objects and maybe even making things magically), a few patupaiarehe (I had no idea what the heck that was before this book. I love learning something new!), an animavore, and a scattering of other magical beings. As with any debut, I had some very minor issues with it, but overall, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to seeing what Healey will come out with next!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Spellmans Strike Again

Waiting on Wednesday is all about which book we're pining for that hasn't been released. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.




The Spellmans Strike Again
Pub date: March 16, 2010



From Amazon:
In Edgar-finalist Lutz's entertaining fourth and final novel about the eccentric Spellman PI clan (after Revenge of the Spellmans), Isabel Izzy Spellman juggles the usual family drama—her mother tries to sabotage Izzy's relationship with her Irish bartender boyfriend and younger sister Rae throws herself into freeing a wrongly convicted man—while helping to drum up business in a dreary economy. While Rae works on her Free Schmidt campaign, Izzy investigates the whereabouts of a missing valet with a checkered past and sifts through garbage for a screenwriter client. Older brother David, the only Spellman not involved in the family business, grows closer to his defense attorney girlfriend. On the sly, Izzy is also tailing Rick Harkey, a rival San Francisco PI, and discovers that Harkey left behind a trail of suspicious arrests and conveniently misplaced evidence in his career as a cop. Narrator Izzy's biting wit—mixed with a refreshing dose of humility and sadness—easily carries the story.

I'm RIDICULOUSLY excited to read the latest Spellman book. Lisa Lutz knows how to write characters and with each Spellman book that I read, I get more and more hooked on not only the hijinks but the intricacies and neuroses of each person in the story. Love it. So happy to read!!

For Keeps

Josie Gardner sometimes feels like she's the one who has to take care of her mom, instead of the other way around. All because her mom got pregnant by Paul Tucci in high school (with Josie) and has panic attacks when she's faced with someone from her hometown, even 16 years after the fact. And when Josie's mom sees Paul Tucci's parents in the supermarket, it's all she can do to get out of there as fast as possible.
With Josie's grandparents back in town (and with no knowledge of another granddaughter), the high school hottie pining for Josie, her mom's new boyfriend, and her mom's ever-present panic attacks, Josie has a lot to figure out.
FOR KEEPS is a charming and well-written story. Full of twists and turns, Josie finds family, love, and the ability to relax and be the kid. Natasha Friend has filled this book with some down-to-earth characters and great relationships.

A Fresh Start

So I'm sitting here looking at other people's blogs and thinking...I need more than what my old blog can give me. Don't get me wrong, I think wordpress is great. I just have different needs now than when I first started blogging. So here I am. I'm trying the world of blogger. We'll see how this goes.