The Goddess Inheritance

The Goddess Inheritance 

by Aimee Carter 

Nine months after she was kidnapped by the queen of the gods, Kate Winters finally gives birth to the son that only a few even knew existed. 

Now she must find a way to get him back to his father, free herself in the process, and stop the most Titan to ever walk the Earth from getting free and destroying everything she loves and has sworn to protect.

Final thoughts:  Such a disappointment!  This one just doesn't live up to all the other books in the series.  I had high expectations walking into this one and just didn't get much from it.  Kate was whining and indecisive, seeming to have lost all her gumption from the first books.  The story shifts around far too quickly and moments are pushed through rather than savored.  The ending felt like a set-up for the next series Carter might be planning, rather than a true, meaningful end.  So very sad.

Rating: 3/5 (and only because the rest of the books helped this one)

House Rules

House Rules

by Chloe Neill

Even though she's been a vampire for less than a year, Merit has probably seen more, done more, and dealt with more problems than most other vamps combined.  

She's saved Chicago, and the vamps within its limits, multiple times, with the help of her boyfriend and House Master, Ethan, her partner in the secret vamp group, Jonah, and a number of other supernaturals and vampires everywhere.

Now, in the middle of the Cadogan House's most dangerous undertaking (separating from the Greenwich Presidium, the vampire governing agency), suddenly vampires are being murdered.

Once again, Merit has to track down a killer and save her House even as the House takes on its biggest challenge.

Final thoughts:  Yet another winner from Neill!  Now that Merit and Ethan seem to have finally gotten through most of their problems (but not all, as evidenced by a major issue in the book), the books can focus on other characters and mysteries.  I'm not sure how much more the story can stretch, though, and I really hope she doesn't push this too far and ruin what's been going so well so far.

Rating: 4/5

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

This week's question:

What upcoming 2013 book are you most looking forward to reading?

My answer: anything urban supernatural lit.  I'm currently in love with the Chloe Neill Chicagoland Vamps, Darynda Jones and her Charley Davidson books AND her newest YA series including Death, Doom, and Destruction.  When Patricia Briggs' new book Frost Burned comes out, I will be downloading it to my Kindle and devouring the contents.

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Thank goodness for NetGalley.com and all the ARCs I get to read from it!

The S-Word

The S-Word

by Chelsea Pitcher

Before her death, Lizzie had been invisible most of her life, until she got caught by her best friend in bed with her best friend's boyfriend.  Suddenly she became the most well-known face on campus and she had a new nickname: Slut.

After her death, she became Suicide Slut.

Now, someone is defacing her locker and passing around pages of her diary, sharing secrets no one knew before she jumped to her death at school.

Angie, her best friend and the person who should be angriest at Lizzie, is determined to find out the truth, even if that means destroying everyone around her in the process.

Final thoughts: What a mess!  This book is almost schizophrenic in its storytelling.  Angie seems to be having a psychological breakdown throughout the book and the final third is just a confusing mass of something indescribable.  There are pages that are almost completely dialogue with no description and it reads like a one-sided phone conversation.  A crucial piece of the puzzle goes undescribed for pages while the characters TALK about it, but take forever to say what it is they are talking about.  It's completely unbelievable and strange.  And the end is just weird.

Rating: 2/5

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

by Elizabeth Eulberg

For years, Lexi has been helping her mom take her little sister to almost weekly Saturday pageants, even though her sister is now only seven years old.

Though Lexi is moderately popular, thought well of by her peers, and has a couple of amazing friends, she's never really been "pretty" and hasn't even tried to be since her mother told her at a young age that she had a great personality.

She's also got a crush on the cutest guy in school whose girlfriend just happens to compete in the same pageants as her sister, so she's gotten to know him well.

When her best friend dares her to glam up for a week, she takes that dare and then things change overnight.  Now she's popular, admired, and even has a date!

Are the perks that come from being pretty worth the challenges that come with it all?  And can Lexi keep her "great personality" and avoid losing everything that matters to her?

Final thoughts:  The first quarter of the book was great.  The second quarter was ok.  The whole second half was just "meh".  The end just kind of trailed off as if a chapter or two got cut off.  I didn't like Lexi's evolution very much and her constant obsession with Logan just got annoying over time.  Mac and her mother were offensive in many ways and the ending of their part was just unfinished.  Overall, it was ok.

Rating: 3/5