Gone With the Groom: Janice Thompson

A copy of "Gone With the Groom" by Christian author Janice Thompson was sent to me the other day to review here. It's the first book review I've done here at "The Ink Spot" and hopefully it won't be the last.

Mother-of-the-bride Annie Peterson, is thrilled about her daughter's upcoming nuptuals. They love her fiance Scott, but when the groom doesn't show up for work, doesn't call and doesn't answer his cell, his bride to be, Brandi, gets a little nervous. What's a mother to do? Well, when she's an amateur sleuth, she gets cracking on the case of the missing groom.

At first, Brandi thinks Scott might be playing a practical joke, as it wouldn't be the first time, but when a day turns into two, and then a week goes by, Annie knows that something is terribly wrong. Maybe Scott just has a case of the cold feet, or his still angry with Brandi about the fight they have the night he disappeared. It could be that Scott discovered something at his job that the higher ups want to keep hushed- it could be something to do with the strange real estate deal that agent Brandi is involved in. With help from Scott's parents, God, friends and family Annie prays that she'll be able to save the wedding day- a St. Valetine's day event that the whole town seems to be involved in (or at least Annie's entire church community).

The story isn't quite as dire as it sounds, and is filled with many moments of humor. The story is told from a Christian perspective which may not appeal to everyone, but the story and characters are great. I definitely recommend this as a great read.

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Gathering Roses: Ellen Weisberg

"Gathering Roses" is a new novel by fellow New Englander Ellen Weisberg, and is the story of co-ed Lori who still carries the scars of adolescense and continually makes the bad decision concerning men- well one man in particular, Nick Warren. The two meet while Lori starts up at intern at a local radio station. He's completely not her type, but she finds herself drawn to him anyway.

Lori's self-esteem, or lack thereof, make her the perfect candidate for the success of Nick's advances. He's crass and clearly interested in only a physical relationship. Despite knowing that, she feels she can change him...read the rest of the review at Great Reads Grows Up.

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Seeing Redd- The Review

I was super psyched the other day to receive an advanced review copy of Frank Beddor's "Seeing Redd", the second book in "The Looking Glass Wars" series, and I'm happy to say it didn't disappoint.

For those not familiar with "The Looking Glass Wars" you can check out our review, but to sum up, "Wars" tells us the true story of "Alice in Wonderland" and how a young Alyss Heart, princess of Wonderland, came to Earth, was adopted by the Liddells and how her tragic story became the fodder for Lewis Carroll's famous, albeit untrue, book.

"Redd" begins with the returned Alyss adjusting to palace life, practicing her White Imagination, and desperately trying to find time alone with Dodge. There is concern that Redd might not be gone for good, but the Wonderlandians keep their collective fingers crossed that she won't return.

But, as we soon discover, Redd isn't gone, but trapped with The Cat in Alyss' Looking Glass Maze. And she's not Alyss' only problem. Arch, king of Boarderland has his own designs on Wonderland. Arch's misognystic views of the world make him feel like he's the best ruler for the job and has a terrible plan in place to destroy Wonderland. And, with Hatter Madigan out of the picture, Alyss wonders if she can pull it all together to save her world.

"Redd" starts off a little slow as Alyss adjusts to palace life, but the pace quickly picks up as Alyss works to uncover who is behind viscious attacks by the Glass Eyes and who has taken Homburg Molly, her newly appointed body guard. And, while not much of the book takes place on Earth, there are many quite memorable scenes (Lewis Carroll does make another appearance). I definitely recommend this follow up to "The Looking Glass Wars" as a great read.

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Witch Season: Jeff Mariotte

"Witch Season" is about 6 teens who get wrapped up in a centuries old battle between witches.

It begins one night when Kerry and her roommates return home from an evening out to discover a man, nearly unconscious and covered in blood, lying in there bushes. Kerry convinces her roommates to bring him inside and help him, even though they would rather call the police. But Kerry instinctively trusts him and his strange plea for no doctors or police, so they reluctantly let him inside. In the morning, he's remarkably better, albeit weak, and relates to them his gratitude and introduces himself as Daniel Blessing. Daniel leaves shortly and while Kerry is disappointed, it isn't long before she sees Daniel again, only this time she's nearly killed. It seems Daniel is witch who has been hunting another names Season, an evil woman who destroyed a town 300+ years ago, and he's been hunting her ever since (and even more since she killed his twin brother). Kerry and her friends don't believe Daniel at first, but when he demonstrates his magic, they have no choice. And after one of them is killed, they realize they have no choice but to help Daniel destroy her, or all of them could end up dead.

"Witch Season" is separated into four books, beginning with "Summer" and continuing with the other three seasons in order. I'll definitely recommend them as a great read, even though I haven't finished the last two- but I'm anxious to get them.
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The Marked: Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast

"The Marked", by mother-daugther author team Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast, is a unique vampire novel thats a great read. Zoey lives in a world where everyone knows vampires exist, and in fact, many of the world's greatest talents are vampires. But the change can strike any one at any time, and young Zoey doesn't know what to do when a tracker appears at her high-school and declares her Marked (a crescent symbol appears on her forehead). She knows her life as she knows it is over, she must leave her home and attend school at the House of Night, where all vampire fledlings go to learn what it means to be a vampire and to see if they'll survive the change, for not everyone Marked does. Death can strike anyone nearing the end of their fourth year after first being Marked.

With support and help from her grandmother, Zoey enters the House of Night and realizes there is much she doesn't know about this new world that she's apart of, but does know that the Goddess Nyx has taken an interest in her and has told her that she'll have great powers (for those unfamiliar with Nyx, she is the Greek goddess of Night, and generally associated with dark and evil, though in this book she stresses to Zoey that dark doesn't always mean evil, nor does light always bring good). While there, Zoey makes quick friends and quick enemies and realizes there may be something very sinister happening at the school, and that she's the one with the power to stop it.

"The Marked" is one of the first books written for teens in which teens talk like teens. Some of the characters swear- quite wholeheartedly- and there is an incident witnessed early in the book that unfortunately probably happens more and more often these days. I'd give the book a PG-13 rating because of the language and incident involved, though I'd feel better recommending it to ages 16 and up. It's a great read and I can't wait to read the next book,"Betrayed", due out this fall.

Books BookTeens Reading The Marked

Eclipse: The Review

"Eclipse" is another great installment in the series that began with "Twilight" and continued with "New Moon" by author Stephanie Meyer.

That being said. I'm also kind of disappointed. While this book finishes up part of the story line, presumably, it still leaves the biggest question out there (which I thought was going to be answered)- will Bella become a vamp or not? UGH. I hate waiting- and I completely empathize with Bella- the sexual tension between her and Edward is driving me crazy, I don't know how she's stood it this long. It's far worse than anything Buffy and Angel had to suffer through, including that whole losing his soul thing. I really hoped there would be a definitive answer in this book as to what she was going to do. I wanted to see the choice not just made in theory. Can I put a shout out to Mrs. Meyer to please get the next book done like, tomorrow? Ok- I suppose I can wait until after the weekend.

This book takes place within a period of just a few weeks leading up to Bella's graduation and her decision to become a vampire. Edward wants to get married first, but Bella wants nothing to do with it. And, to make matters worse, Jacob is MIA in the first part of the book and when they finally are able to meet up again, he tells Bella of his feelings for her. Bella denies any at first, but as the reader, it's easy to see that her feeling for him are more than friendship. It's the first book/series where both romantic interests are really good guys, despite their obvious physical abnormalities, and part of me wants Bella to end up with Jacob. She can have a normal life. And I found myself wondering, along with Bella, just how much of her would change when she becomes a vampire. Would she lose the very thing that makes her as special as she is? It seems to me that part of the attraction for Edward is Bella's humanity- so will his feelings change when she does? It's the biggest decision she'll ever have to make and there's no going back.

Or is there? The Volturi, who do have a very small part in this, make me wonder. It seems they know waaay too much about what's going on, and know more about Bella than even she does. Maybe there's a vamp antidote, thereby allowing Edward to become human and live the rest of his natural life with Bella. That would be the best of both worlds. Some how, I doubt that's going to happen.

So, now I'll have to sit and wait, impatiently, for the fourth book, tentatively titled "Breaking Dawn." But I'll also be keeping an eye out for her book "The Host" which sounds quite interesting as well.





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It's Almost Time!!

I'm almost as excited about the release of "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer as I was about Harry Potter. "Eclipse" the third book in the series about Bella and her vampire beau Edward, is due to hit the shelves on the 7th. If you haven't read "Twilight" or its sequel, you don't know what you're missing. Check out our reviews on those books, buy them quick and get ready for book three!

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