Alienated

Alienated

by Melissa Landers

When aliens from L'eihr showed up two years ago, Cara Sweeney had no idea that she'd be hosting one of them at her house for a year as part of a student exchange program.

While her brother goes to the L'eihr home planet, Aelyx comes to stay with Cara and her family. There are two other L'eihr students on Earth, as well, and all three have a mission from their home to be ambassadors for peace.

Of course, all three have a mission of their own, which is not in the plans for everyone else.

So, while Cara works to make Aelyx comfortable and help him adjust to life on Earth, Aelyx works to destroy the alliance that his Elders have worked so hard to create. He believes that the plan to eventually bring humans and L'eihrs together is one that is doomed to fail; he's just going to make sure it fails faster.

What Aelyx and Cara could never have imagined was finding true friendship in each other, even when all the other people around them begin to betray them. And love? That was never supposed to happen.

Final thoughts: Nice start to a trilogy with some solid relationship building between the characters. This is very good at show instead of tell and definitely has some real moments. There were a few points that seemed a little forced, but the overall message is clear and even a little relevant when it comes to discussing tolerance and extremism. I'm not sure that I'll go looking for the next book, but I don't think I'll ignore it if I see it.

Rating: 4/5

Anomaly

Anomaly

by Tonya Kuper

On the day Josie turns the same age that her brother was when he died, her boyfriend dumps her. She's also suffering from extreme nausea and headaches, so it's just been great day all around.

When a guy shows up on an amazing motorcycle, just feet from where she's sitting, Josie imagines him to have the perfect hair, perfect eyes, and a special tattoo. She's shocked when he takes off his helmet and looks exactly as she imagined.

Reid's pretty shocked, too, since that's not how he looked when he got up that morning.

It doesn't take long for Reid to find Josie and explain to her that she's an Anomaly: a person who can manipulate the reality around her. He also explains that she's in great danger because of who and what she is, and that he's got a very limited amount of time to train her before she's found by those who would either have her join them or die.

Now she has to master her abilities to change the world, while also trying to keep herself from losing her heart to Reid.

Final thoughts: Such a great premise and such a poor book for it. The rules keep changing. You can't Retract something that hasn't been Pushed into existence in the first place, but they keep Retracting things from nature (like sand, though the author says Josie Pushes a hole, rather than Retract the sand). Reid worries constantly that Josie will hate him when she discovers his true identity, but her reaction is the opposite. No, wait! She'll hate him when she finds out what he did before her brother was killed, but she eventually understands. No! Wait!!! She'll hate him when she finds out what he really did! Oh! And there's a tiny plot about handing off some amazing serum to the Vice President, and that ends up being just a setup for some strange plot manipulation that just comes off badly. There's also an error in the plot where Josie mentions something about going to something that Reid was at years before and this was mentioned before Reid revealed his true identity, so how would she know that??

Meh.

Rating: 2/5 

Guardian

Guardian

by A.J. Messenger

Declan's life has never been easy. Repeated panic attacks have made her life pretty hellish. Having a huge panic attack on her eighteenth birthday is definitely how she wanted to start the first day of her adulthood.

In walks Alexander Ronin. Tall, gorgeous, and strangely into her, he is everything she's never known that she's always wanted. She's drawn to him, as is every other girl in school. When she's near him, the panic attacks seem to magically go away. She feels calm and centered, and very much attracted to Alexander.

Over time, Alexander reveals that he's not your average guy. He's not even your average human. And he's definitely not the eighteen years of age that he pretends to be.

He's there to protect Declan because she's in real danger. And though he needs to stay close to her, he also needs to stay far away, because his attraction to her is as dangerous to her as the danger he was sent to protect her from.

Final thoughts: Decent read, though there are some story holes and a few issues with characterization. For the relationship, there's a lot of tell instead of show, but the overall story is interesting.

Rating: 3/5

Something True

Something True

by Kieran Scott

It's time.

True only has one more couple to match up and she'll be free to return to Mount Olympus and become Eros again.

She'll also be able to have Orion back with her and his memory will be restored.

Of course, the last person to match is actually dating Orion right now, so she'll have to break them up first.

Additionally, Orion's last lover (and her brother) have been sent down to Earth and are now looking for both of them. 

They want Orion back and they want True dead.

So True must break up her boyfriend's relationship, get his soon-to-be-ex to fall in love with someone else, avoid a couple of ticked-off gods, and do it all before the sand runs out on the desktop timer.

Final thoughts: It's the final book in the trilogy and it's just as much cotton candy as the first two. The ending is a true deus ex machina and a little too easy, but it's still fun.

Rating: 3/5

The Fall

The Fall

by Bethany Griffin

All her life, Madeline Usher has lived within the manor that has been handed down through the family for generations. Every Usher who has lived there has been trapped there.

Once the House has you, it never lets you go.

And the House has Madeline.

Madeline is the House's favorite Usher. She's possibly the one that the House has loved more than any other. It has watched over her all her life and it has made sure she's never gotten far from it.

In the beginning, Madeline trusted the House and believed that it was watching out for her.

But now she knows better.

Now she knows how truly cursed she is and she must find a way to save herself and her brother before the House finds a way to trap them forever.

Final thoughts: This is a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" told from Madeline's point of view. The entire story is told in short chapters that initially alternate the timeline of Madeline's childhood and teen years. The book and the short story mashed together right near the end, which made for some confusion since I've never read the short story. It felt like the finale was rushed because the author assumed that the readers would know how it ended. The story itself is fascinating, though a little ponderous. It drags in places and wanders a little, but it's overall a decent read and worth the effort.

Rating: 3/5

Complete Nothing

Complete Nothing

by Kieran Scott

By some miracle, True Olympia (Eros) was actually successful at getting a couple to fall in love. Now she just needs to get two more couples to find true love before the sand in her hourglass runs out, then she can return to being Eros, return to Mount Olympus, and return to her own true love, Orion.

She knows that she can do this.

Then everything changes.

Orion shows up in front of her school. He's exactly the same in every way, except for the fact that he has absolutely no memory of the Greek gods or Eros herself. He doesn't remember her. He doesn't remember that he's in love with her. He doesn't even remember everything that she's given up to keep him alive.

So now True must not only figure out how to reunite a quarterback and his ex-girlfriend, she must figure out how to do that while watching the love of her life flirt with another girl.

On top of that, Apollo and Artemis have found out about Orion and are doing everything that they can to get to Earth, get Orion back, and get even with Eros for freeing him.

Life on Earth is definitely not as easy as True had once thought.

Final thoughts: A cotton candy sequel! Just as sweet and bad for you as the first one. Has plenty of cute moments and some tension. True's issues get a little petty and strange, but it all works out in the end. Nice book to free your brain from real thought.

Rating: 3/5

Only Everything

Only Everything

by Kieran Scott

Eros has always been a mischievous god. When she shot her arrows at the gorgeous Orion and the virgin goddess, Artemis, she had no idea what chaos would ensue. After Apollo tricked Artemis into killing Orion, Artemis hung his constellation in the sky to watch over everything.

Now, centuries later, Eros has accidentally freed Orion from his starry home and brought him back to life.

She's also fallen head over heels in love with him.

When she and Orion are discovered, Zeus decides that Eros must fight to prove that she truly loves Orion. In order to do that, she must go to Earth (New Jersey, to be precise) and form bonds of true love between three human couples WITHOUT her powers.

Exiled to Earth with her mother, Aphrodite, Eros must give herself an identity (True Olympia) and must find three couples to unite before the sand in her desktop hourglass runs out.

What's easy for a goddess is surprisingly difficult for a human who doesn't even know how to dress herself properly.

This will not be a walk in the park.

Final thoughts: Total cotton candy book. A few Greek myths are fiddled with, so pedants will probably get frustrated, but if you just sit back and enjoy the ride, you could really enjoy yourself.

Rating: 3/5