Switched and Torn

Switched

by Amanda Hocking

Wendy was only six when her own mother tried to kill her with a knife at her birthday party.  Since then, she's lived with her older brother, Matt, and her aunt, Maggie.  They are really all the family she's ever known, especially after her father died and her mother attempted filicide.

And while she's felt loved her entire life, she's never really fit in.  Because of her own temper issues and inability to focus, she's had to change schools repeatedly over the years, forcing her brother and aunt to move from place to place.

Seventeen and fully resolved to make sure she never forces her family into moving again, Wendy finally seems to be getting her act together.  She's doing better in school and has even met a cute guy: Finn.  Of course, he's always watching her, which is a little creepy, but it's also a little hot.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Finn has a secret and that secret is really about Wendy.  It seems that Wendy isn't really her mother's child.  She's a changeling.  A troll.  A Trylle, actually.  And her powers (yup, powers!) have started developing a little early, forcing her real mother to call her back early before members of an opposite and dangerous group get ahold of her.

Now all Wendy has to do is figure out who she really is and learn to embrace it. 

Torn

by Amanda Hocking

Just weeks after running away from home to fulfill her destiny to be queen of the Trylle, Wendy has run away again with her brother's brother to return home.  Unfortunately, the homecoming is short-lived and, before she can even settle in, she's kidnapped.

What she learns from her captor, her rescuers, her mother, and the man she wants to be her lover turns everything she knew on its head.

Can she be the Princess that the Trylle need and prevent the Vittra from ending the lives of more innocents?

Final thoughts:  These books were recommended to me on my Kindle by Amazon.  At first, I ignored the recommendations, but I'm glad I finally gave them a chance.  Amanda Hocking is a self-published author who has a real talent.  While there are some difficulties with flow and some of the relationships don't seem to be how they are described, the story is compelling.  I was hoping to review all three in one post, but, alas, the final book, Ascend, seems to be delayed until next week.  Good, solid read with a little supernatural and a lot of chemistry/friction/romance.

Rating for both books: 4/5