Backstage Pass by Elizabeth Nelson

     This is the first book in a six book series by Elizabeth Nelson. I've never read a book by Nelson before but I think I'll finish this series. I enjoy finding new authors and trying them out because everyone has to start out some where. Right? 

    I chose to read this because I needed something short to read while I'm in between books. I was in a love hate relationship with this book. Some aspects I enjoyed and others I did not. When I first started this I was glad it was short but once I started it I wanted it to be longer. I wish there was more detail, I think that's what it was lacking, for me. 

    So many things felt so rushed to me. It was like BAM she met the hottie then BAM she was kissing him. I don't know, I guess I'm just used to it taking longer before the guy shoves his tongue down the girls throat. At the same time I was rooting for them to get together from their first meeting. (I flip flop around.)
    
    Sasha annoyed me a lot. She would kiss the guy and then say the dreaded words "just friends." She did this to another poor guy at the beginning of the book. Kerri finally spoke up about that and made her come to her senses. 
    
    Sasha is anti-musician after dating a wanna be musician so she was not impressed by rocker, Jesse, at first. After she breaks her leg and is pretty helpless she relies on him a lot and he is always there to help. He is super nice to her and her best friend, Kerri, and bends over backwards to help them. In the end she breaks her number one rule and goes for the talented rockstar.

    All in all I enjoyed this book and will be finishing this series.

Helia's Shadow Part One by K.C. Neal

     Helia's Shadow part one is by an amazing author, K.C. Neal. She is seriously talented and very nice, I've had a few conversations with her on social media sites. 

     Let me start by saying how much I love this book! It captured my attention from the first chapter and within a few hours I was already halfway through it. It almost pained me to set the book down, that's how good it is. It is a young-adult, science fiction book. It's filled with advanced  technologies, aliens, rebels and alien/human hybrids. All that you need in a good science fiction read.

    Being a "part one" immediately told me there would be a cliff hanger ending, and man was there! I don't know how I'm supposed to just continue living while I wait for part two. 

    I like the strong, smart female lead. Helia isn't the "usual" female leads. She tinkered in technology, which isn't something I've read in a female lead before but I loved it. It proved she held a valuable role in the story. She wasn't just there to be a pretty face. There was a part when she refused to back down to a stern alien that just made me smile at her bravery.

     There was some romance to it but it wasn't overwhelming like it could have been. That was refreshing! So many books focus so much on the love interest almost losing everything else in the process. I was glad this book didn't do that.

    When Helia, along with her best friend and cousin, try to make the Talon leader of their city come clean about his lies it backfires, in a big way. Making Helia and Kalo run to survive. She joins Kalo and the other talon rebels in their plot to bring down the leader. As she fights to save the human race in the process. 

That test proved I'm human!

    You know that moment, where you're in between being super excited and absolutely terrified about something? That was me about twenty minutes ago. I had to take this english test and I was so nervous! 

    Why was I so nervous? 
1- I have not taken a test in almost five years.
2- If I passed then I would have to go through with the interviewing process. Which kicked up my anxiety. 
3- If I failed then it would be completely embarrassing for more than one reason.
                  1- I would fail a test that should be common sense to me.
                  2- I would fail a test that I want to make a living about one day.
                  3- The person that recommended this place to me would ask how the test went.
4- I would get a pretty decent job, if I passed. 

     Needless to say, this test meant a lot to me. In my mind my entire future was riding on the passing of this test. It was a timed test, which only worsened my nervousness. I don't do well with tests and especially not with timed tests. Even though it was something that should have come naturally to me. 

    The test started and I immediately recognized the question style, it was SAT style wording. You know, when a question is worded so confusingly that you reread it about fifty times. Until it doesn't even sound like words anymore, it just jumbles up together in a giant pile of word vomit. Yeah it was just like that. It may have only been a twenty minute test but when I finished it my brain felt heavy and like it was full of mud.

    I instantly felt ashamed! How can a writer not do well on a writing test? Then I realized -after a couple of hours of feeling stupid- this test did not define me as a writer. Yes, it was basic stuff that I should know but I'm not in high school anymore. I'm not constantly quizzed on this stuff anymore. So, of course, some of it slipped through the cracks of my mind throughout the years. The questions being worded that way doesn't help anyone!

    It doesn't gauge how much you know about the subject. It may see who can figure out word problems, which I wasn't good at in high school either, but it just makes you feel stupid. I felt like a failure.

    I'm not the best writer in the world (that's JK Rowling,) but I'm not the worst either. I make mistakes in my writings everyday and you know what? That doesn't mean I'm a bad writer, that means I'm human. 

The Secrets of Life and Death by Rebecca Alexander

    This is the first book by Rebecca Alexander I have ever read but it certainly won't be the last. I quickly fell in love with this fantasy tale. Like I said in a previous post, fantasy isn't my normal go-to genre but I'm really starting to get into it! Especially after reading this book. 

    As soon as I read this was about alchemy I jumped at the chance to read it. I love all things alchemy and magical. It's kind of broken up into two parts the first part: takes you to 1585, to follow Edward Kelley and his "master" Dr. John Dee while they scrounge to try to heal countess Elizabeth Báthory. The second part follows Jackdaw Hammond as she (yes, she) tries her best to save a young girl named Sadie. It also follows occult Professor Felix Guichard.

    One chapter would be in1585 and then the next would be in 2013. At first I liked the switch between past and present but after awhile I started to lose interest in Edwards story and was solely invested in Jack and Felix. Maybe I'll reread it sometime so I can try to be better invested in the whole book instead of just most of it. 

     Jack is a time borrow (or revenant) , it means she was destined to die but with a number of spells, potions and magic symbols (sigils) tattooed on her body, she is alive. It begins with Jack saving Sadie. Who, thanks to Jack, is now also a revenant. A revenant's blood can heal terminal illnesses, so they are very valuable. The only problem is if a new revenant leaves the safety of the magic circle (a circle filled with protective symbols) they will die in whatever way they were meant to die. (Jack would have died from a broken neck. Sadie would have died by drowning in her own vomit.)

    When Carla, a girl Jack tried to save before Sadie, leaves the house, that is filled with the safety sigils, she is found dead from an overdose by the police. Felix is brought in to help identify all the odd symbols drawn all over her body, the symbols that was keeping her alive. It brought him to question Jack. 

    He ends up helping Jack to keep Sadie and herself alive. Getting himself in a mess of dangerous trouble also. When Sadie gets captured by the four hundred year old Elizabeth Báthory, Jack and Felix both realize how far they have to go to rescue her. Jack finds out that the old countess is just like her, a revenant. Unlike a normal revenant that only lives about twenty years after "dying" she is still alive. The countess tries to trick Jack into going with her but fails. In the end Sadie comes too close to death for comfort and Jack drinks Felix's blood for strength. Opening her up to becoming just like the evil countess. 

    I hated the ending of this book! As invested as I got into Jack and Felix's budding relationship it pretty much just fizzles out. I hate that! In my mind (my alternate ending) they realize how much they love each other and live happily ever after.

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Disclaimer:  I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

    I have never read any books by Robin McKinley before, to be honest I have never heard of her before either. I've had Sunshine for about five years now and I've tried to read it three times before this time. I could never get into it enough to even get halfway through before. I was determined to finish it this time, and it was very difficult.

    For a book that is full of magic and vampires I really thought I would get into this, but I couldn't. The only reason I did finish is because I skim read, I never skim read but I had to or I would have stopped reading it again.

    I think what annoys me the most about this is how she keeps saying she is in a relationship with Mel. They never talk, ever, you can't have a relationship where you don't talk to each other. They hardly ever kissed, if they did at all. Sunshine talked more to, Con, than to anyone else in the book.

    Sunshine (her name is really Raven but everyone calls her Rae or Sunshine.) leads a very dull life, in my opinion, she works at a diner as a baker, she is famous for her cinnamon buns. Then for some reason she gets the urge to go to her parents old lake house. The lake is a dangerous area after the "Voodoo wars" because of all the bad spots there and all the "others" that lived there. (Others are any supernatural being. Vampires are considered the worst of all.) She gets abducted by a group of vampires and forced to stay in a mansion, chained to the wall beside a starving vampire, Constantine. (Con for short.) She is supposed to be a meal for him but he refuses to kill her.

    She conveniently remembers after being chained up for two days that she is a magic handler. She uses her magic to not only free herself but Con also. What she doesn't know is the magic in her blood is powerful, powerful enough to help a vampire walk in the sunlight without bursting into flames.

    She eventually goes back to her normal, boring life. Not for long though because, Con, shows back up. He heals her and tells her that the Vampire that chained him up, Bo, was looking for both of them, to kill them. After he heals her, they are bonded together and it makes it easy for both of them to "call on" the other. They both have to go on a small journey into "nowheresvile" (a realm that vampires live) to find and kill Bo and his little army.

    I like how well she adapted to fighting for her life. She killed vampire after vampire with her bare hands, by shoving her hands into their chest and ripping out their hearts. That was awesome but I hated how freaked out she got after it was all over. I guess a normal person would but in a book you don't really want the heroin to lose her mind after she kills a bunch of vampires. (Just look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer for that.) The ending kind of sucked, so they kill the baddie and now what? She is just going to return to "dating" Mel and baking cinnamon buns. BORING!

What's your one thing?

    Have you ever had someone ask you this question: What is the one thing you can't live without? I was scrolling through my Instagram the other day and came across someone that asked this as their QOTD. (question of the day) 

    I read through some of the answers and they were the generic: cell phone, computer, internet, air, food etc. It made me think about what I generally could not live without. Of course air, food, and water are the tops but I wasn't going to answer with those because those are a given. I wanted to think about something that was not a necessity but felt like one to me. 

    I wasn't going to say my family because it said a thing and though I would be completely lost without my husband, and the rest of my family, don't want any hurt feelings here. (Even though I know my family probably never reads my blogs.) I didn't want to answer that way. I view my dog as apart of my family so I wasn't going to say her either. 

    I thought about the usual answers like: cell phone, wifi and laptop and as much as I love all of these things, could I go without them? If the zombie apocalypse happens and I pretty much have to throw out my cell I would live. Don't get me wrong, I love my phone with my constant attachment to the internet. It would be difficult but eventually the hole in my chest from my phone being gone would heal. 

     The thing that popped into my head after all the things listed above was something that means a ton to me. It's something that some people in the world doesn't have and some older people still don't have. The ability to read. 

    Without the ability to read, the internet wouldn't matter anyway. My cell phone would go back to just being for phone calls, my laptop would be for playing games and that retro paint game. Why would I need my tablet if I wasn't going to use it as an E-reader anymore.  

    It would be a sad world for me! I am surrounded by books in my office, my favorite places to go are Barnes and Noble and The Book Rack. I always have a book to read and usually carry one in my purse in case I get a chance to read a few pages at anytime. A big part of writing is reading. Especially if you're like me because then it's mostly rereading stuff you've already written.

    So if I suddenly have a stroke and lose my ability to read...I don't know what I would do. It would involve a lot of crying though! I mean I would hope I could reteach myself but if I lost it completely and could never get it back. If I could never get it back, if I could never enjoy such a huge part of my life anymore...just put me down! Or buy me lots of audiobooks and tissues.

Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    I have read many books by Jennifer Armentrout; She has quickly become my favorite author. This is a spin off, stand alone, from the Lux series. I read all of the Lux series so it was a no brainer that I would pick this one up too. 

    Unlike the Lux series this is an adult book, filled to the brim with more adult...situations. I enjoy reading YA (Young-adult) books but sometimes I just want a steamy romance, full of hot alien sex. I've never read an adult book by Armentrout but I was not disappointed!  

    Hunter is an Arum, an alien race that pretty much existed with the purpose of killing the Luxen, another alien race. Both alien races have taken up residence on Earth but most humans don't know about their existence. When a human finds out they are usually "silenced." Meaning they are killed. 

     Serena was your typical twenty-three year old woman living in Colorado. Her best friend, Mel, finds out something she shouldn't have about the boy toy she was sleeping with. When he turned into a man shaped lightbulb, Mel freaks out, like any normal person would. She does what every girl would do, she turns to her best friend and alcohol. Well the luxen wasn't pleased by her finding out his secrets and has her killed by another luxen, in front of Serena. 

    Serena spills her guts about what happened to Mel to the police, FBI, DOD (Department of defense) and pretty much anyone else that would listen. Hunter was called in by the DOD to keep her safe, something that he finds more challenging than he first thought. He has to protect her from luxen, other arum, the DOD and himself. He surprises himself with how far he will go to protect her.

    It's amazing seeing the change in Hunter from the jackass that we first meet to the sweet guy at the end. It seems to be a theme amongst alien books I've read. (I like alien books!) The aliens think they are Gods gift to women, and crazy hot. So I guess as long as you're crazy hot, you can also be an arrogant dick. But even when Hunter is a total d-bag you love him! Just as much as I fell for Hunter, I guess, I got a girl crush on Serena too. Her feisty attitude with his extreme bossiness was hilarious!  

    Now the only problem I have is I don't really know who the bad aliens are anymore! When reading the Lux series it was the arum but when reading this it was the luxen. So I don't know what to think anymore, I guess there are good and bad guys in both groups.  

    The only warning I have to people reading this is it has a lot of sex in it. So if you don't like that kind of thing then don't read this. But if you don't read this then you are truly missing out!