The Pace by Shelena Shorts

SOURCE: AUTHOR


Weston Wilson is not immortal and he is of this world. But, aging is not part of his existence, and eighteen-year-old Sophie Slone is determined to find out why. In doing so, she could also uncover something about her own life expectancy that she may not want to know. Suddenly, immortality will mean everything and nothing all at the same time.
Intensely fascinating and rich with determination, The Pace brings together romance, mystery, and suspense in a compelling bond that is sure to have readers asking for more.

The Pace was a fantastic ride that never ends, and honestly I didn't want it to end. The book is never slow and I was always at the edge of my seat biting my nails waiting to see what was going to happen next.

Shelena Shorts knows how to create suspence, but not only that, I was also crying as I came to the end. I love it when a book makes me cry. It shows to me that it was full of emotions and this book was one of them. I felt my fingers trembling, but I loved the characters here. Sophie was such a careing person and all she wanted was to make things better and then there's Wes. A heart of pure gold and loves Sophie no matter what.

I really enjoyed all the research the book had, the letters from long ago and email exchanges between Sophie and Wes. It only made the characters more alive. The ending, I will warn you, is a cliffhanger and will leave you biting your nails off more for the second book THE BROKEN LAKE which is out now.

Overall, I loved this book and am dying to read the sequal!

♥♥♥♥♥

-Ana

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

SOURCE: PUBLISHER



His past. Her future. Can love bring them together in time?

Abby's senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He's mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she's ever met before. Abby can't deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteenth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

There is only one word I can say for this book. Wow! I was mezmerized right from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. I never wanted to put it down. Abby was such a nice person and all the pain she felt, I felt as well. All the time I kepy wondering why would people even hurt her so much. But once Dante came in, I found someone else to fall for. There's so much about him and he's so mysterious and that only made me want to know more about him. His past has so much and this book was a very unique story.

Mangum has created a new plot in which fans of Alyson Noel's IMMORTAL'S Series will love. It was fresh and new and simply captivating. As you delve into the novel, you will see how much in influences the cover.

The ending made me cry and want to read the second book immediatly. It sort of is a cliff hanger, but it has a lot of emotion in it that when Abby began to cry, so did I.

Overall, this book was absolutly perfect and it has taken me on a ride I want to continue and never leave.

♥♥♥♥♥

-Ana

Oh my gosh, you guys :\

Hey everyone! It's been a while, so here's a small update about my life at the moment.

I just signed onto my school account to see how my application processing was going, and was elated to see that my application to my top choice school has been sent in! I am very, VERY nervous, but I know I've done everything within my power, so I'm kissing the rest up to God (so to speak). Prayers are very much appreciated, I myself and hoping and praying for this with all my heart.

Senior year has been a wonderful time so far. I feel so blessed to be able to say that I am truly enjoying every moment. My work load is entirely manageable, some challenging classes (Pre-Calc ;__;), some enjoyable (AP English Lit!).

I have a bunch of new books in line to read and review, but please be patient with me. I have a lot of school work, as does Ana, so updates will be slightly more infrequent, but please know that we love this blog dearly and we fully intend to carry it for a good, long time! Thanks for sticking with us, and look out for more reviews in the future!

That's all for now,

Rissa.

Circle of Friends - Lori

SOURCE: AUTHOR


Dreaming of a Gold Medal, Lori had spent her entire life preparing to compete in the Olympics. Swimming was the only thing she knew and Lori poured endless hours into her training every day. She was focused, determined and had the attitude of a winner.
There was something missing, though. Lori was smart, beautiful and ever the optimist, but she was always alone. There was no one to share her victories with and to encourage her to greater heights. Then one fateful day she met a man who would change her life forever.

Through Jason, Lori discovers her inner strength and begins to overcome her fear and isolation. As his affections renew her hope, Lori’s joy and love ripples out to touch those around her. She realizes that one person’s passion and belief can make a difference.

Will it be enough to help her achieve her lifelong dream though? Or will the struggles and sacrifices be too much for love to survive?

This was such a great book about dreams. Lori had a dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer, and anyone who is into a sport a lot, knows that is a true big dream. Reading the novel, I found Lori a very sweet girl. I would totally be friends with her and so was everyone in the book. She believed in her dream so much that she continued towards it. Also, Wolfe has an amazing writing which pulls you in from the first page to the last and it stays with you.

I thought it was pretty cool how the book took the reader through her life when she got married to football star, Jason. Jason was also a very sweet person. Now, the ending I'm not going to say anything, but I'll say I loved it. If you have an Olympic dream, or any dream, this book's for you.

Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it.

♥♥♥♥

-Ana

Not What She Seems

SOURCE: AUTHOR


When billionaire Steven Ashton couldn’t stand his high society social life anymore, he left the stress of New York on a vacation for his soul. The need to meet real down to earth people lead him to a small Nebraska town he remembered visiting as a child. He didn’t want to lie about who he was, but he couldn’t exactly tell them the truth.

Emily could have easily fallen in love with Steven, under different circumstances, but her past was catching up with her and she needed a new life. If the authorities found out about her, she could lose the one thing that meant everything, her four year old son.

This book was absolutly amazing! I loved it so much. It had all the great elements in it. Everytime I would begin reading it, I would get so caught up in it, I would forget about everything else.

Victorine knows how to make great characters. They were flawed, but the dialogue between them was real and so were they to me. While reading this book, I felt as though I was watching one of those mystery crime shows on T.V.

The entire time, I was at the edge of my seat. I was so excited, but nervous of what was going to happen next. I was dying to flip the page and the ending was sweet. I loved it and it wrapped up the book in a perfect bow.

Overall, this book was a great read and I'm not going to give away much because reading will be a thrill ride you don't want to miss.

♥♥♥♥♥

-Ana

Interview with A.Robinson

Today we have an interview with the very talented A. Robinson, author of the upcoming novel VAMPIRE CRUSH!


1. If you could time travel any time period in the world, where and when would it be?

I’ve always been interested in the British Victorian era, even though I’m sure the clothes would kill me and I would faint in the street. Still, there was so much happening in the world then, and Britain had its fingers in a lot of it (even if they were oftentimes bad fingers. Bad fingers!) And the some of the social customs, like the locks of hair and the mourning rings, are fascinating, even if they are, in fact, creepy.

Ultimately, I think this is probably why I think Vampire Crush has a Victoria-era vampire stalking around the hallways of the high school, filling out quizzes in magazines and wondering if she should give the boy she likes a lock of her hair.

2. Publishing is a hard business, how was your publishing experience?

This is embarrassing for me to say, but compared to a lot of writers out there, my publishing experience was pie. I knew my agent before she was an agent, and so I got to skip the soul-deadening process of querying. I know! I expect a piano to fall on my any day now to make up for all the luckiness I used while getting Vampire Crush off the ground.

That said, waiting for editors to bite felt like an eternity, and the rejection letters always seemed to come right when I was Having A Moment. But ultimately, it got sold to a great publisher and editor, so again, not much to complain about.

3. Are you a full-time writer?

I actually work in the publishing industry on the editorial side, writing copy and rejection letters. (Again, a piano! Any day now!) But the books I work with are a lot different than Vampire Crush. Fewer vampires, for sure.

4. How did you come up with the idea for VAMPIRE CRUSH?

I’m a big fan of the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg movies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which take popular genres like zombies and buddy cop flicks and twist them into something that both pays homage to the genre and works as an example of the genre. . . . Basically, that is a complicated way of saying, I wanted to write a funny teen vampire romance. I started asking questions like, “What if the mysterious new guy who showed up at school one day was a jerk instead of your one true love?” and “How would you react if you found out that one of your best childhood friends (and okay, sort of crush) was now a vampire?” From that, the plot of Vampire Crush was born. We have Sophie McGee, an aspiring high-school journalist, who uncovers a dastardly plot led by her school’s hot new It Boy, while dealing with the return of a very changed James, the boy who used to steal her flip-flops and once surprise-kissed her in her family’s hammock.



5. Which character in VAMPIRE CRUSH do you most relate yourself with?

As predictable as it is, I have to go with Sophie on this one. She likes to make jokes to deal with difficult situations, which Sophie does in spades, especially when all these vampires start messing with her goal of being the next editor in chief.

6. What can we expect from you in the future in books?

I’ve been working on getting what I like to call “Random Ghost Project” off the ground. It’s either going to be about ghost hunters in early 20th-century New York or ghost ex-boyfriends in modern upstate New York.


Thanks for the great interview!

-Ana

Beathless by V.J. Chambers - Review by Rissa

Jason races into Azazel's life--sweaty, tortured, and hunted by covert forces. Even though her football-player boyfriend doesn't like it, Azazel is drawn to Jason. He's so complicated. He gets in fistfights, but always wins them--efficiently and thoroughly. He reads Plato and argues with their AP teacher. But he's also quiet and serious, haunted by a past he won't talk about. Azazel feels obsessed. She can't let anything get in the way of finding out Jason's secrets, not even her boyfriend, her friends, or her parents. Most importantly, no matter how dangerous Jason claims it is for her to be near him, she can't let him leave.

As menace begins to surface from even the most trusted and familiar places, Azazel finds herself flung into a whirlwind of sinister motives and clandestine proceedings. Though Azazel evades each escalating danger, her feelings for Jason may prove to be the greatest danger of all.


Originality

I can honestly say I have never before experienced a story line of that like Breathless by V.J. Chambers. The book starts off innocently, introducing the main character Azazel as being a relatively normal teenage girl who just wants a normal teenage life. However, fate does not seem to be on her side. All of what she once believed to be true is thrown to the wayside when a mysterious boy races into her life and turns it upside down. On top of that, Azazel will find out that her parents, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her entire town are plotting a surprise for her 18th birthday that will change the course of her life, forever.

Cover

The cover is mysterious, with a deathly red haziness as a screen over an image of a hand clutching a necklace with a hellish, fire-pointed star pendant. In the beginning of the story the reader will find themselves questioning it's relevance, but fear not, all shall be explained. Consider it forshadowing.

Characters

The main character, Azazel (10 points to whoever can get that pronunciation correct on the first try) is a normal high school girl with questionable morals (read: somewhat slutty). I cannot say I warmed to her personality, especially because she spends the first chapter trying, quite literally, to get into her boyfriend's pants. When he refuses (for reasons that seem honorable), she turns into an insecure, rejected little girl. But, I digress. Azazel does have her positive aspects. She goes along with her parents warmhearted welcoming of foster boys into their home, as family. She immediately takes pity upon the mysterious Jason, when she finds him fleeing from some unknown evil.

Now, on to Jason. It's pretty difficult to be opposed to an attractive guy who is super smart, and able to argue theology with people twice his age, especially while knowing that he is being hunted down and in danger. At first I felt very confused by him. He was a mystery, but in an understated way. As the story progresses the reader will be surprised at how he steps up and takes on the lead role.

I was impressed with the huge and shocking turnaround that many of the characters went through in the course of the book. I cannot go into the more specific details without giving away a large part of the plot, but Toby, Lilith, and Azazel's parents go through such huge character revelations that the reader will find themselves going back and rereading to figuring exactly what just happened.

Plot

To say that they plot was not what I expected it to be would be the understatement of the year. As I will later explain, I was unpleasantly shocked by some of the plot twists that surface. Azazel is your stereotypical teenage girl who thinks she has a normal life. Then, a chance meeting changes and twists that normal life until it is entirely unrecognizable. In a massive struggle of good vs. evil, and light vs. dark, Azazel will have to put all of her faith in the mysterious Jason and rely on him when every other person in her life seems to be an actor in a plot to ensnare her in their twisted plans.

Ending

I was actually surprised by the ending of the story, because while it does sum up the plot, it also serves to leave the door open, and answer just enough questions that those remaining make the reader curious to know what is waiting in the future for Azazel and Jason.

Final Note:

As you may know, I tend to include this Final Note when I have something else to say about a book that does not fit in under any of the other categories. When I opened this book, I had no idea what to expect. At most I figured that it would be a typical, "high school girl meets mysterious boy and together they fight off the forces of darkness" read. In some respects, it was. However, it took that theme and went much farther. I had no way of knowing that it would involve a Satanic cult, and horrific rituals that made me sick to my stomach. The main character and her best friend seemed to be nothing more than stereotypical teens, to whom I could not relate. Perhaps this may appeal to some, but it was not my cup of tea. I feel that the summary was incredibly misleading, and that is my warning to my young adult readers; this book is much more than it seems. Read with discretion.

Thus, I give the book a grade of

♥½

Bleed by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Since all of you have been amazing supporters here at the AnaRissa Chronicles, I was wondering if you could support me on my new blog called Musings of A Story Lover. I think I'll be starting to blog there starting on Friday and it would be amaing if all of you could follow me there as a follower, because the more followers I have there, the more my blog will be successful.

Also, if you follow me there, I'll be hosting a contest. All you have to do is become a follower and just email me your name at storyloverbooks@gmail.com and you will be entered to win.

The prize is a swag pack of FIRELIGHT by Sophie Jordan (and this book is good!! So many crazed reviews about it)

So please follow me at www.musingsofastorylover.blogspot.com and please enter the contest. All of your support means the world to me!! :D

*GIANT HUGS*

-Ana


____________________________________________________________________



SOURCE: PUBLISHER


Over the course of a single day, the lives of ten teenagers will intersect in powerful and unexpected ways.

Among them are Nicole, whose decision to betray her best friend will shock everyone, most of all herself; Kelly, who meets the convicted felon she’s been writing to for years; and Maria, whose definition of a true friend is someone who will cut her. Derik discovers his usual good looks and charm won’t help him get the girl he really wants, while Joy, a fifteen year old waitress, hoping for true intimacy, narrowly escapes a very dark fate.

Seamlessly woven together, this collection of interconnected short stories paints an authentic portrait of today’s teen experience that is at once funny, moving, and often very haunting.

This book was not what I expected at all. I thought it was going to be boring about the lives of ten teenagers, but it far more than boring. I read this one in one sitting (it was short). But even though some books may be short, it doesn't mean you're able to read them quickly. I know I'm not. But Stolarz has something about her writing that makes you want to continue and it never gets boring. She knows how to keep her readers continuing her books and that's what I've come to love about her writing and her as well.

Now I'm not going to say much about the book since it will only give it away, but it was very enjoyable and at times I didn't know if I should be trusting a particular character. Now the cover, I thought was very simple and not the best one I've seen, but the title has a big meaning in the book as ou will see from each of the teenagers.

Overall, I enjoyed this book since it was a good quick-read.

♥♥♥♥

-Ana

____________________________________________________________________

Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell

SOURCE: PUBLISHER


Nothing ever happened in Ondine, Louisiana, not even the summer Elijah Landry disappeared.

His mother knew he ascended to heaven, the police believed he ran away, and his girlfriend thought he was murdered.

Decades later, certain she saw his ghost in the town cemetery, fourteen-year-old Iris Rhame is determined to find out the truth behind "The Incident With the Landry Boy."

Enlisting the help of her best friend Collette, and forced to endure the company of Collette's latest crush, Ben, Iris spends a summer digging into the past and stirring old ghosts, in search of a boy she never knew.

What she doesn't realize is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.

Never had I read a ghost story like this one before. Actually, I never have read a ghost story. I always wanted to read one and this book did it for me. It was a mystery through out and I enjoyed following Iris into finding what happened to Elijah. I didn't even try to guess what was happening because everytime I did, something twisted everything and I was left guessing again.

Iris was a fun and well developed character. She was determined to find out the truth, but was also a great friend. She wasn't the type of character that was always getting herself into trouble or making stupid mistakes. She knew what to do, and did it right.

The ending. What a big suprise - a surpise I never thought would ever be in this book. I never even imagined it. That's all I'm going to be saying.

The cover was okay for me. Not my favorite, though. It seemed to old, but it does give you the creep factor and you know there is a ghost story in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am glad my first ghost story was this one because not only will I be looking out for more of Mitchell's work, but alos will be looking for more ghost stories.

♥♥♥♥

-Ana