The Wishing Spell

I really wanted to like The Wishing Spell since friends have told me they enjoyed it. I think if I had not read The 10th Kingdom I would have enjoyed it more.

Twins Alex and Conner are missing their deceased father terribly. Lost in their grief each one copes in a different way. Conner seems to shut himself off from everything including school and Alex likes to get lost in her world of fairy-tales. All this is well and good until one day a book of fairy-tales from her grandma starts acting odd and Alex and Conner accidentally fall inside the book.

My biggest complaint with The Land of Stories is that things came far too easily for Alex and Conner. They never really got into any bad situation and things were pretty much just handed to them all the time. I wanted to see the twins grow in some way, make big mistakes and learn from them. Maybe later on in the series that will happen. I am not sure I want to take the time to read more of the series.

How to Bake a Murder

How to Bake a Murder was a book I found in the free Nook book section. Since I was in the mood for a cozy mystery and it had an adorable puppy on the cover I went for it. Sadly I was not overly thrilled with the story and found myself skimming parts.

Cookie owns her own bakery and decides to help her daughter out with her stubborn teenage daughter Clarissa. I wanted Cream, the adorable dog, to play a bigger role. He just seemed to show up to bark at the wrong or right moment depending on how you looked at things. The overall mystery was pretty generic and no real twists or turns I saw. While it fixed me hunger for a cozy mystery I have no intention of reading more of the series. 

The Islands at the End of the World

One morning when I was in a hurry to get to work I randomly pulled a book off my shelf and got The Islands at the End of the World. I have no idea where it came from. Even though I enjoyed the story it is a very odd story.

Leilani is plagued with seizures due to epilepsy. Wanting to live a normal life Lei agrees to be part of a test group with a new drug to help treat epilepsy. Traveling with her father to a smaller Hawaiian Island she beings the test on the new drug. However things start to go wrong quickly with no power on the island and many mechanical devices fried the medical center has no way to continue the tests and thus tells Lei and her father they are free to return home.

The writing was average and I did not see much along the way of character building. I did get tired of reading constantly about Lei talking about her epilepsy pills and the seizures. It was about the seventy percent mark in the story that things started to get really odd for me. Even though their is a second book I am not sure I will read it.

The Destiny Code

The Destiny Code is the first book in the Daughter's of Empire series. Everything from the lovely cover with the delicate coloring and elegant font fits perfectly for The Destiny Code. Without a doubt Suzette Hollingsworth has done it again! 

 Miss Alita Stanton is a refreshing presence in the world of historical romance. Unique, believable, interesting, and entertaining Alita is happy to beat to her own drum. Blessed or perhaps curses with the ability to "see" Alita does her best to keep her gift from society. Not even her close friends knows until Alita accidentally slips up upon receiving some shocking news. Unfortunately it gets worse for Alita, at her presentation ball she once again has a vision and all of London now knows her secret. Cast out in shame her Grandmother comes up with the solution of travel abroad to give time for things to be forgotten.

Enter Lord Captain Ravensdale, the Black Panther from Alita's vision. Tormented by having killed a friend on the battlefield the Captain has shut off his heart. Seeing an English woman who appears to need help the Captain rushes to her aid only to be bewildered by her presentation. Unsure how to handle Alita the Captain flounders around a good deal which is highly entertaining. Mesmerized by Alita but terrified of her demeanor Lord Ravensdale works at keeping his distance with little luck.

Even the side characters played a nice role in the story. Alita's grandmother came off as secure about who she is but also a bit too traditional. The barkeeper the Captain confides in also has a distinct personality and offered insight into how the local Egyptians think. Despite only having a small part Alita's distant family makes a strong impression, I fell in love with them immediately and wanted more of their story.

Mrs. Hollingsworth has an elegant writing style with a talent for providing ample amounts of detail without it being overbearing. A clear picture of the setting is painted perfectly each and every time. I never once wondered which character was talking, presenting themselves, or where the characters were. The story line progressed smoothly with plenty of humorous moments added in along with some bits of action. Overall a perfect blend of romance, clairvoyance, humor, history, and action. It is always a delight and pleasure to read Mrs. Hollingsworth work.

The Release

The Release is the third and final book in The Prey trilogy. Without a doubt Tom Isbell is one of the most consistent writers I have read. He keeps the tone and pacing the same throughout the trilogy.

Even though the story is split between Hope and Book I still feel like Book was more of the main character. I had hoped for more growth for Book he remained the same in a lot of ways, he continued to trust people no matter what and always seemed to come up with last minute plans that miraculously saved everyone. I wanted Book to fail and learn from his failure but that never seemed to happen on a large scale. Also the love triangle aspect had too easy of an ending.

Hope never really opened up, she could never come to terms with the death of Faith or her mother. She seemed to accept the death of her father a little better but maybe that was due to him dying from natural causes. Overall I was more disappointed in Hope's development then Books.

Since the writing was so consistent I never really felt like I went from one book to another, it just seemed one big book I was reading. I adore that about Tom Isbell since that is not easy to do. Not sure I would read more of Tom Isbell's work since I was not a huge fan of how the series ended.

The Capture

The Capture is the second book in The Prey trilogy. I am happy to say that The Capture did not suffer from what I call second book syndrome.*

Having made it to the next territory everything is golden for Book, Hope and the rest of the survivors that is until Book decides he has to go back for the rest of the LTs in Camp Liberty. Along with some other LTs and Sisters Book works on leading the group back into the hostile territory doing his best to avoid traps and the danger that lurks all around them.

Hope did not seem to want to go back to rescue anyone so I am a bit surprised she agreed to go along with the group. Even though part of The Capture is told from her point of view I still feel like I do not really have a good feel for who Hope is. Maybe it is because she is just empty from Faith being murdered and let her emotions go numb.

I am not really sure why I am so adsorbed in The Prey series it is not my usual type of story, too gritty, yet once I start reading I struggle to put down the book and do something else. The writing is alright and the character development a bit weak at times. Maybe it is because so many bad things keep happening to the group of survivors that I just need to read to finally see something good happen to them. No matter what is going on I already have the third and final book, The Release, checked out.


*Second book syndrome is a term I use to describe a trilogy that starts out with an awesome page turning first book and the second book totally goes downhill. I only finish the trilogy to find out what happens because something was left unanswered from the first book.