Review: Where I Found You by Heidi R. Kling

Where I Found You

Author: Heidi R. Kling

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Pages: 307

Release date: 4^th December 2017

Genre: Young adult Contemporary

Synopsis (Goodreads): After her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean, seventeen-year-old Sienna Jones gave up everything she loved about living in California. No more surfing. No more swimming. No more ocean, period. Playing it safe, hiding from the world, is the best call. 

Until her dad throws down the challenge of a lifetime: spend the summer with his humanitarian team in Indonesia, working with orphans who lost everything in a massive tsunami. 

The day they arrive, Sienna meets a mysterious boy named Deni, whose dark, intense eyes make her heart race. Their stolen nights force her to open up and live in a way she thought she couldn't anymore. When she’s with Deni, she remembers the girl she used to be… and starts to feel like the woman he sees in her. 

A woman he wants for his own.

Gulp.

But when Deni’s past comes looking for him, Sienna’s faced with losing another person she loves. She can’t do it. Not again. 

Fortunately, this time, she has a plan.

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

Where I Found You is the first book in the Sea series by Heidi R. Kling and

follows the story of seventeen year-old Sienna Jones who after three years is finding it hard to move on with life following the tragic death of her mother and is being encouraged by her friends and father to start to do things that she once loved like swimming and surfing, something that she hasn’t been able to do. When her father purchases her a plane ticket to accompany his team on a humanitarian project to tsunami devastated Indonesia she is most reticent but agrees to go along.

What I did enjoy about Where I found You was learning about the Indonesian culture and customs and how the Indonesian people were dealing with the after effects of the Tsunami, it was utter devastation to see how affected the children and the area that was hit were coping and how they were attempting to move on and rebuild their lives. Sienna was working with a group of orphaned children and helping them with their loss through therapy, this aspect was written well.

What I didn’t enjoy was the rushed romance, I didn’t feel the connection between Sienna and Deni at all and everything happened so quickly; it was too much, unrealistic and the way Sienna continually defied the strict traditions and the rules of the orphanage as well as her father made her look like a spoiled brat. I didn’t enjoy this aspect whatsoever; she didn’t seem to show any respect at all.

Sienna was a character that didn’t grow on me over the course of the book and Deni was a bit mysterious and secretive, he was a bit of an unknown; I did like the secondary characters – the children of the pesantren (orphanage) showed strength and resilience despite their PTSD and were able to connect with Sienna as she too suffers with night terrors and grief over the loss of her mother; reading the conflict between Sienna and her father was difficult as well as her loathing towards his Team Hope colleague Vera who he had started to show affection towards. I was keen to see the relationship between Sienna and Spider explored further.

Where I Found You is a book about grief and loss but also hope; the author has written about one of the most devastating natural disasters and you are saddened and reminded of the utter loss and turmoil that the Indonesian people experienced, it was heart-wrenching.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book and I won’t be continuing with this series. Thank you to Entangled Teen via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Where I Found You.

About the author: Heidi R. Kling writes books about normal girls in fantastic situations. 

Her debut novel SEA (Penguin/Putnam) was a finalist for Northern California Book of the Year," an IndieNext Summer Pick, Goodreads “Mover and Shaker," Scholastic Reading Pick, and Gateway Reader’s Award Finalist among other generous accolades. SEA, which launched June, 2010, is a bittersweet love story set in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Indonesian tsunami, and is set to relaunch with Entangled Teen December 4 as WHERE I FOUND YOU (Sea series #1) with its sequel WHERE THE SEA TAKES ME out April, 2018! 

After earning her MFA in Writing for Children from the New School in New York, Heidi returned to the Bay Area where she lives with her family in a tiny seaside village like the towns in her books.

She's also the author of the acclaimed PAINT MY BODY RED (for fans of Speak and 13 Reasons Why), bestselling romantic comedy NOT OKAY, CUPID and the Spellspinners of Melas County series about feuding witches and warlocks. 

Please visit her on twitter (Heidi R. Kling) where she loves to live-tweet TV shows, overuse gifs and chat with her readers about books, love and travel. She's very fortunate to write stories for a living and is grateful to you for reading them!
http://heidirkling.com

Review: Infinity (The Infinity Division) by Jus Accardo

Infinity

Author: Jus Accardo

Series: The Infinity Division

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release date: 1^st November 2016

Pages: 320

Amazon

Synopsis (Goodreads)

Nobody said being the daughter of an army general was easy. But when her dad sends a teenage subordinate to babysit her while he’s away… That’s taking it a step too far.

Cade, as beautiful as he is deadly, watches Kori with more than just interest. He looks at her like he knows her very soul. And when he saves her from a seemingly random attack, well, that’s when things get weird.

Turns out, Kori’s dad isn’t just an army general—he’s the head of a secret government project that has invented a way to travel between parallel dimensions. Dimensions where there are infinite Koris, infinite Cades…and apparently, on every other Earth, they’re madly in love.

Falling for a soldier is the last thing on Kori’s mind. Especially when she finds herself in a deadly crossfire, and someone from another Earth is hell-bent on revenge…

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

I am such a huge fan of Jus Accardo, I have loved all of her series to date so I was quite excited to read and review her latest title, Infinity which is the first book in the series, The Infinity Division.

Unfortunately, I didn’t completely love it. It took me a while to get through and just as long to warm up to the main character, she was a bit of a pain and not the most endearing personality that Jus Accardo has written.

Kori is rebellious teenager with an Army general overprotective father. After getting in trouble for a graffiti incident he sends in two soldiers to watch over her whilst he is away but these guys are unlike others that have watched over her previously and she soon discovers secrets about her family life and ends up on the run from someone wanting to kill her.

The storyline about a secret government project was creative but not unique and there is a lot of information yet to find out. Other characters we get to know are Noah, Cade and Dylan and to be honest they were quite bland and I didn’t fully connect with them. As this is the first book in the series I am really hoping things improve in the sequel.

The world building was more tell rather than show, the alternate universe was mentioned but we never quite go there so I am still eager to learn more or see Kori visit. Parallel dimensions have never been a favourite storyline of mine but my hopes were high.

We also have the villain of the book and this guy is missing more than a few screws! His purpose was all about revenge and the lengths he took were pretty crazy.

Another thing I couldn’t connect with was the romance, it felt like too much too soon and I honestly couldn’t see how it would work out so this is something else I’m eager to see further explored.

I couldn’t fault Jus Accardo’s writing style but the pacing was slow and a few scenes were over dramatized. It pains me to give this book a low rating but I do want to give this series a go as it does have potential.

Thank you to Entangled Teen via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Infinity.

Review:The Dead Boyfriend by R.L Stine (Fear Street relaunch)

The Dead Boyfriend

Author: R.L Stine

Series: Fear Street relaunch

Publisher: St Martin’s Press

Release date: 27^th September 2016

Pages: 288

Amazon

Synopsis (Goodreads)

R.L. Stine's Fear Street series is back, and in The Dead Boyfriend, he tells the frightening tale of teenage love - and how it can go terribly, murderously wrong. 

Caitlin has never had a real boyfriend before. When she starts seeing Colin, she throws herself into the relationship with fervor. She ignores her friends who warn her that Colin may be a phony and that she is taking the whole thing too seriously. Caitlin is smitten. She doesn't care if she loses her friends. All she wants is Colin. When Caitlin approaches Colin with another girl, she completely loses it. She snaps. Everything goes red. When she comes back to her senses, she realizes that Colin is dead - and she has killed him. 

But if Colin is dead, how is he staring at her across a crowded party? 

Terrifying from the first page to the last, The Dead Boyfriend is a heart-racing young adult novel from the master of teen screams himself. 

Review: 2 out of 5 stars (me) & 4 out of 5 stars (my son)

My son has recently started to read the R.L. Stine Goosebumps series which he has thoroughly enjoyed so we decided to do a read-a-long of this title but unfortunately it failed to wow and impress me, my son on the other hand thought that it was pretty awesome (his words).

A lot of the book is told in the synopsis so I won’t recap, we do get a lot of freaky moments, the typical mean girl, an unusual mystery and a freaky weird romance gone wrong!

The MC Caitlyn is crazy weird, she is unusual and impulsive as is gothic girl Deena Fear! The only normal characters seem to be Caitlyn’s best friends.

My son asked many questions as we were reading along and I was constantly shaking my head wondering WTF but thankfully Stine had answered the questions by the end of the book.
We also get a small twist but it was quite obvious and didn’t have us going oh wow as we have in the Goosebumps books. The ending though I felt was a  huge let down and definitely not what we expected but we really should know better after having read so many of Stine’s books.

I think this is a great book for a teen, my adult self couldn’t really get into it but my son enjoyed it immensely.

*ARC Provided by St Martin’s Press via NetGalley

Review: Shadow Falling (Scorpius Syndrome #2) by Rebecca Zanetti

Shadow Falling

Series: Scorpius Syndrome #2

Author: Rebecca Zanetti

Pages: 400

Release date: 30^th August 2016

Publisher: Kensington Books/Zebra

Source: Netgalley

Synopsis (Goodreads) Before the Scorpius Syndrome tore through North America and nearly wiped out the population, Vivienne Kennedy was the FBI’s best profiler. The bacteria got her anyway. But she survived. She recovered. And when she woke up from a drug-nightmare of captivity, her skills as a hunter of men had gone from merely brilliant to full-on uncanny. Her mysterious rescuer wants her to put them to the test. But no matter how tempting he is, with his angel’s eyes and devil’s tongue, Vinnie knows she shouldn’t trust him.

If the FBI were still around they would rate Raze Shadow as one of the bad guys. His military training can’t wipe out his association with the Mercenaries, the most feared gang in a thousand miles. His loyalties are compromised. He won’t even tell Vinnie his real name. But there’s no FBI in the new America of fear and firepower, only instinct and risk. 

And the way his arms wrap around Vinnie tells its own story. Whatever else Raze is concealing, he can’t hide his desire . . .

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

Shadow Falling is the second book in the Scorpius Syndrome series, I have not read the first book Mercury Striking but I didn’t at any time feel lost.

Every review I have read for this title sings its praise but unfortunately for me I had a few issues but I think I may be in the minority.

My biggest issue is in no shape or form do I condone the barbaric treatment of women, I don’t care in what context it is written – sexual or otherwise but when there is the threat of beating a woman it makes my blood boil; the males in this book were over the top masculine and treated the women terribly, throwing them over their shoulders and using threats to get them to submit, it didn’t work for me at all.

Our MC is Vivienne Kennedy a former FBI profiler but after being infected with the Scorpius syndrome and rescued, she is now residing at Vanguard and helping out as a psychologist/profiler; Vinnie now has a special ability after being infected that I would have liked to have seen explored further but I’m sure it will be touched on in other books.

Raze Shadow is a trained soldier but he has many secrets that he is keeping from the leader of Vanguard and also Vinnie, his past left me curious but it didn't take long to find our what he was hiding and why.

I think if it wasn’t for the romance I would have enjoyed this book a lot more; there are a few plotlines; the first being Raze trying to infiltrate the Mercenaries to get his sister back, another the threat from the president and also the non-infected pures within the Vanguard compound looking to go out on their own to keep the human race around.

I found the world-building to be lacking, I wanted to know more about this dystopian world and the Scorpius virus and the destruction that it causes. I found certain things were glossed over and important information missing.

We meet a few secondary characters, Jax Mercury is the leader of the group, a little untrusting and also barbaric; I did like Lynne Harmony; her mysterious blue heart has me curious and the other infected at vanguard each played an important role. Tace and Sami were great, both wild and mysterious.

Overall, Shadow Falling is a dark dystopian, it’s a kill or be killed kind of book. Despite not loving everything about this, the premise is interesting as was the virus and how it affects people differently. I am not sure if at this stage I will read book 3, Justice Ascending despite my curiosity. I’m not sure if romance and the apocalypse works for me.

Thank you to Kensington Books/Zebra via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Shadow Falling.

About the author: New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner - only to culminate it all in stories about Alpha males and the women who claim them. She writes dark paranormals, romantic suspense, and sexy contemporary romances.

Movie review: Ice Age: Collision Course directed by Mike Thurmeier

Ice Age

Release date: June 23, 2016 (Australia)

Director: Mike Thurmeier

Film series: Ice Age

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation

Synopsis.

Scrat's epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the universe where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego, and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, travelling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colourful new characters

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

It pains me to give this movie such a low rating but for me it was the worst of the five films to date.

We were bored of Scrat’s pursuit of the acorn; right off the bat we saw him chasing after it in space and it dragged on and on, it’s also what set of the events that threatened everyone on earth, including the herd of mixed species that we have come to know and love over the past few movies.

We see the original cast of Manny (voice of Ray Romano) his wife Ellie (Voice of Queen Latifah), Sid (voice of John Leguizamo) Peaches (voice of Keke Palmer), Diego (voice of Dennis Leary) and his wife Shira (voice of Jennifer Lopez) as well as Peaches boyfriend Julian (voice of Adam DeVine) trying to divert a giant flaming asteroid from hitting earth, leading them in their journey is Buck (voice of Simon Pegg). Along this adventure and not known to anyone but Buck, they are also being tracked by flying dinosaurs that he had managed to peeve off.

Unfortunately, Collision course has failed to evolve; it’s formulaic at best and doesn’t move away from what we have already seen, it wasn’t fresh and unique and we found the plot to be disjointed and boring.

To say we were disappointed is an understatement, we have thoroughly enjoyed this franchise up until now but I think it has run its course; the only saving grace for us was the geotopia the herd stumbled across and the interesting characters that we met.

Of the movies that we watched during our winter break, Ice Age; Collision Course was our least favourite.

Movies in order:

Ice Age

Ice Age: The Meltdown

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Collision Course

Review: Blocked by Jennifer Lane

Blocked

Author: Jennifer Lane

Source: Netgalley

Pages: 300

Publisher: Psyched Publishing

Release date: 21^st October 2014

Synopsis: College freshman Lucia Ramirez has a secret crush on Dane Monroe. He’s a tall drink of water — blond, brash, and one hell of a volleyball player. ¡Híjole! Lucia hopes her volleyball scholarship to his school will make him notice her.

Too bad what’s noticeable is Dane’s obvious hatred for Lucia. Her family’s politics contradict everything he stands for. And politics are front and center in both their families. Dane’s mother is about to face Lucia’s father in the race for US President. 

When Secret Service throws them together, Dane can’t deny his frustrating attraction to Lucia’s athletic curves and sweet faith in the world. Amid the intense pressure of college athletics and presidential politics, can opposites not just attract, but overcome overwhelming odds to be together? Or do their differences block their match from the start?

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Psyched Publishing for providing me with a copy of Blocked by Jennifer Lane, I am a huge fan of sports in my books but politics doesn’t usually interest me; I thought this book was ok but I was left underwhelmed by the end of it.

The story is told from the POV’s of star volleyball players, Lucia Ramirez the daughter of the Republican Presidential candidate and Dane Monroe; son of the Democrat's Presidential candidate. Dane and Lucia are under the care of the secret service and end up residing in the same apartment for safety reasons.

Lucia has had a crush on Dane for a while so being thrust together was a positive for her but Dane had other opinions and couldn’t get past their political views and was quite an ass. Unfortunately what let this book down for me were the characters. I found Dane to be extremely rude and immature and Lucia was inconsistent and lacked spark. Admittedly by the end of the book I liked them that little bit more but it did take a while to get there.

Jennifer Lane has given us a slow-build romance which is always my favourite but unfortunately it felt forced and I didn’t enjoy the Lucia/Dane pairing, for an NA book I felt it read more like a YA romance.

There were a lot of serious issues dealt with in this book which I felt was done well such as alcoholism and eating disorders. I did feel that the political portion of the story was too drawn out and I would have loved to have known who had won after everything the families went through. 

Despite this book being written well, unfortunately it didn’t work out for me.

About the author: Get psyched for romance with psychologist/author (psycho author) Jennifer Lane! By day she’s a therapist, and by night she’s a writer. She can’t decide which is more fun. 

Jen adores creating sporty heroines and hot heroes in her college sport romances. Volleyball wonder Lucia Ramirez found her love match in Blocked despite the glaring political spotlight aimed on her family. In Aced, the second book in the Blocked series, it’s her brother Alejandro’s turn to get lucky in love. Aced launches in December 2015. 

A swimmer and volleyball player in college, Jen writes swimming-based romances as well: Streamline, a military mystery, and the free New Adult novella Swim Recruit.

Stories of redemption interest Jen the most, especially the healing power of love. She is also the author of The Conduct Series, a romantic-suspense trilogy that includes With Good Behavior, Bad Behavior, and On Best Behavior. 

Ultimately, whether writing or reading, Jen loves stories that make her laugh and cry. In her spare time she enjoys exercising, attending book club, and visiting her sisters in Chicago and Hilton Head.

Review: It Is What It Is by D.R. Graham

 It Is What It Is

Author: D.R. Graham

Series: Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club #1

Source: Netgalley

Pages: 190

Publisher: Psyched Publishing

Release date: 22^nd February 2016

Synopsis: Tracking down the runaway teenage daughter of a senior member of the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club should be a quick, easy assignment for Tait—a chance to earn his full patch and officially join the outlaw biker family. But Tait didn’t count on the complication of working alongside the sassy-mouthed older sister, Kolby. He also didn’t count on the mission leading them into the clutches of a lethal international drug ring. Defying direct orders and relying on only his training and wits, Tait will have to risk everything to protect Kolby, rescue Roxie, and get them all out alive. 

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

It Is What It Is by D.R. Graham was a quick and easy read provided to me by Entangled via Netgalley.

Our MC is Kolby who is searching for her missing little sister Roxie, after exhausting all avenues she turns to her step-father Cisco, a leader of the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club for help. When Kolby arrives at the clubhouse she meets Tait, a clean-cut smart guy who wants nothing more than to become a member of the club.

I really liked Tait aka Uni but I didn’t understand why he wanted to become a member so much; he didn’t fit it at all! He was a kind-hearted, intelligent guy and I liked his interactions with Kolby but I would have loved some sweeter, romantic interactions between them, everything seemed so rushed.

A lot happens in their search for Roxie and they end up involved with the Mexican cartel, at only 190 pages I didn’t feel there was enough time to develop the storyline properly and meet all of the key players; everything seemed to happen all at once.

Besides Kolby and Tait, I didn’t like any of the side characters and that is probably because there wasn’t enough page time to learn enough about them. It would have been great if this book was a lot longer.

Unfortunately, I felt this book lacked depth; I would have liked more – the inner workings of the club, what had actually happened to Roxie in the days since she was taken, the relationship between Cisco/Roxie & Kolby. I’m not sure if this book is a part of a series but I think it definitely had potential.

Thank you to Entangled via Netgalley for the opportunity to read It Is What It Is by D.R. Graham.

About the author: D.R. Graham is the author of: RANK, NOIR ET BLEU MOTORCYCLE CLUB SERIES (ONE PERCENTER, THE HANDLER, IT IS WHAT IT IS, THE NOIR ET BLEU), the upcoming BRITANNIA BEACH SERIES (HarperCollins) and the Apple iBooks best selling novel, HIT THAT AND YOU'RE DEAD. She is also an award winning columnist for the Richmond News.

D.R. Graham worked as a social worker with at-risk youth before becoming a therapist in private practice. Her novels deal with issues relevant to young adults in love, transition, or crisis. 

She currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband. Visit her website: www.drgrahambooks.com 
Or join her mailing list:http://eepurl.com/bieKQz