Review: Moon Spun (Unbidden Magic #3) by Marilee Brothers

Title:  Moon Spun (Unbidden Magic #3)
Author:   Marilee Brothers
Rating:  4/5

Summary: Beck is healing a new girl.  Junior and his entourage are back from Mexico.  Mom is now dating Principal Hostetler.  Tri-Marks are still a menace and the pendant has revealed even more mind-boggling powers.  Allie Emerson’s life as the Girl Voted Least Likely To Save The World From Evil has gone from Weird to Super-Charged Super-Weird, and the rollercoaster ride of weirdness is not over yet.  Enter the mysterious Ryker, who can turn himself into a hawk btw, divulges that Allie is a faery princess and destined to be his bride.  Wait, what?! Yeah.  Oh yeah, and the faery land, Boundless, is dealing with a threat bigger than the Tri-Marks and Allie and Ryker gotta save it.


Review:  This one is just as compelling as the first two in the series, but this one has a flavor all its own.  It picks up shortly after where Moon Rise left off, summertime is here and the faeries are out to play.  Beck is in Seattle and with his departure Junior returns.  However, we also have mysterious boy number three, Ryker, who is now after Allie’s heart.

The threat in this book, thankfully is not the Tri-Marks, but in a whole new world, the Faerie Land of Boundless.  Allie’s grandmother needs her help to free the faeries of the forest from the prison they’ve been in for years.  There is a changling who wants to return to Boundless, and oh yeah, if Allie goes to Boundless, the land of her grandmother, she may never be able to return to her home.  Sounds good right?!  We learn more about her heritage in this book, her grandmother is a faerie queen, and her father has a mysterious heritage as well.

Another well written installment to this series, and kudos to Ms. Brothers for creating such a wonderful world and delightful characters – that I adore! Also, I do have to feel for Allie, I mean, the boys keep coming out of the woodworks to woo and protect her regardless of what she wants.  Allie would be just peachy settling down and being a normal teen, but that isn’t in her cards.  I love that we get this glimpse into her grandmother’s world and what it means for Allie’s future.  I love how she is further coming into her own as she bargains and stands up for what she wants.  I am more than ready for the next book in the series to see what twists and turns Allie comes across and if any more woo and protect hotties come out of the woodworks.


If you have any questions, comments or recommendations you can contact me at simplicity.kindreth@gmail.com
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Review: Moon Rise (Unbidden Magic #2) by Marilee Brothers

Title:  Moon Rise
Author:  Marilee Brothers
Rating: 4/5

Summary:  Allie’s powers have taken a hike, she can no longer read people’s minds and move things by looking at them.  Junior is gone off to Mexico to become a soap opera star (not something I’m thrilled with), however, Allie’s got enough to worry about.  The evil Tri-marks are closing in, wanting to grab the moonstone necklace while she is helpless, the Starseekers need her more than ever, and there is a new guy in Allie’s life that is ready and willing to fight her battles.  Oh yeah, and new hottie is a demon, always a plus right?


Review:  This was an exciting follow up to Moonstone, and a wonderful continuation of Allie’s story in the Unbidden Magic series, however, my one pet peeve is that Junior got shipped away to Mexico.  Sadness there.  However, that sadness faded away at the introduction of the new hottie on the block, this story is filled with twists and turns that are prevalent on every page and it was hard to put down once I started it.  Allie is starting to learn more about her powers, but much like her mother Faye, her grandfather will reveal nothing of what he knows, and she also has the potential to reveal secrets about her mother’s past.

Allie’s grown up quite a bit in this one, she’s growing stronger and more mature as the story goes on, and the timid Allie has been left behind.  Brothers did a fantastic job growing her up in this second book, allowing her to become a strong equal in the war of good versus evil.   Also, I truly enjoyed the introduction of some new faces Beck and Nicole, the twins.  The mixture of a nun and a succubus, with some Shaman training, that is the yummy Beck.  I also liked the inclusion of Grandfather Claude in the mix, however, saddened that he may not be around much longer, and it did annoy me that he is as closed mouthed as Faye. 

There were some questions I had about Allie and Beck’s relationship and not understanding the reason for the “pretending” of boyfriend/girlfriend when they were clearly both into each other.  Perhaps there was something more along the lines of Allie’s age, as she’s only fifteen and Brother’s is skirting the line for a more realistic setting.  The message sent to young adults by having innocents discovering the opposite sex for the first time. 

I do look forward to reading more installments of this series, this book is definitely one I would recommend along with the first, because with this series, if you do not read them in order you will miss out on important information.


If you have any questions, comments or recommendations you can contact me at simplicity.kindreth@gmail.com
My reviews can be found here:
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Review: Moonstone (Unbidden Magic #1)

Title:  Moonstone (Unbidden Magic #1)
Author:  Marilee Brothers
Rating: 4/5

Summary:  Allie lives in Peakcock Flats, Washington with her mom.  Every day life has the typical filler of every fifteen-year-old’s life: high school bullies, snarky drama queens, bad-guy dudes with charming smiles.  Oh, Allie also has this prophecy to live up to about saving the world from evil.  Her psychic abilities are jump started by an electrical jolt from a TV antenna which brings forth a hippy-dippy guardian angel and the gift of an incredible moonstone pendant from the town “witch,” who just happens to be Allie Emerson’s next door neighbor. 


Review:  The story starts off a touch strange, but it quickly becomes exciting and more suspenseful as you progress.  Kudos to Marilee Brothers on her first attempt, and as a self published book there are a few flaws, but that is to be expected, and they did not bother me too much, except for the failure to set the ‘rules” so to speak for the many magical talents Allie is now in possession of by the end of the book. 

Allie’s powers are telekinetic and they are amplified by the moonstone pendant that she is given by her eccentric neighbor, however, there are others that want the pendant as well, and now Allie’s world is filled with quite a bit more than your average high school drama, she has now started her part in the age old battle between good and evil, however she isn’t sure who she can trust. 

The characters are pretty well developed, and they are the type you can either love or hate.  Allie just wants a normal life, and actually wants her powers to go away when they first manifest themselves.  She is also more grown up than her mother Faye, who you just want to shake and smack some sense into.  Junior is the local bad boy, former gang member and now trying to right his wrongs and keep himself out of trouble.  I love the interaction between Allie and Junior and the potential for a budding relationship is so strong, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.

If you have any questions, comments or recommendations you can contact me at simplicity.kindreth@gmail.com
My reviews can be found here:
http://www.caedyslibrary.blogspot.com
http://www.tumblr.com/caedy
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Life In General...

UGH! Why do I even bother setting up a schedule, trying to keep a routine? Every time I try, something gets in the way and throws a complete WRENCH in the system and nothing ever gets done.  Well, UGH! Just UGH! The past few days have been nightmarishly devoid of any productive activity, thank you neuropathy.  Between my wrists and various other things I've been absolutely stagnant.  I got up yesterday's release party post, only because I had that one prepared after I'd gotten the images it was just a matter of publishing it at the right time.

Everything else, is still sitting backlogged and waiting to be shoved forward so everything behind it can be moved.  I've still got books 2-4 of the Unbidden Magic series to write for Galley Galore 2.0, and I still have to write reviews for Galley Galore 3.0, as well as get up the initial theme that I was going to get up today.  I also have today's Bibliophile Eats to get up, since I missed last weeks, shame on me.  Either way, I have a lot to do to catch up to where I want to be (and I've made publishers wait long enough to see the reviews over on netgalley, which I've just received 2 new galleys from).  Also, I want to update my blog, personalize it and make it my own rather than just use templates from blogger, not that I have anything against them...I just want my own.

So, I'm going to try and get busy...oh and did I mention I still have cleaning to do *twitch*

The Dryad Quartet Release Day Party!

So, remember that special event that I told you about! Well, it is HERE! Welcome to the Release Day Party for books three and four of The Dryad Quartet by Katie Jennings!  Who wants free books? Everyone! Well, there will be a giveaway for US and International residents!  One lucky US resident will win a signed print copy of ONE of the four books in this series or one International winner will receive an Ebook copy of all four books! Use the widget below to enter for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Three: A Life Earthbound

Her name was Rhiannon, and she was Earth. 

She was graceful, intelligent, and undoubtedly a workaholic. She could put a crack in the Earth’s surface a mile wide and grow the loveliest flower ever to have existed right beside it, a contradiction she held with both reverence and pride. For she herself was something of a contradiction: a girl, seemingly free, but silently trapped within her own heart and mind, never to be released.

Or so she thought. She never wasted much time on impractical dreams or wishes she figured could never come true. But all her life one person has been there, a constant reminder of the true girl living behind her mask of cool indifference and solitude.

But the tides of her fate were changing, and her helplessness building as a master plan was in the works that would only bind her wrists further, and destroy everything she never even thought she could have.

Throw in a dash of murder, vicious accusations, and plenty of family drama, and it could very well be a recipe for freedom, or for death.


Purchase A Life Earthbound A Life Earthbound on Amazon

Book Four: Of Water and Madness

His name was Liam, and he was Water. 

His heart was as expansive and deep as the ocean, with emotions that could both rage like storms and soothe like a clear and quiet stream.  He lived for the smell of rain, and thrived in the knowledge that it was he who made it fall.

But while most everything in his life seemed to be going great, there was still this impending doom just over the horizon, threatening to wipe his home completely off the map.  All he had to do was rise to the challenge and fight once the war came.

But there was just one little problem:  he had gone, quite simply, mad.

Not that he knew it, nor did anyone else.  But he wasn’t himself any longer, and the truth behind the lies would eventually come out.  And when it did, Liam would discover the burned bridges and the destroyed hearts he’d left in his wake.

It was a funny thing, madness.  A funny, cruel, and violently destructive thing.

Purchase Of Water and Madness: Of Water and Madness on Amazon

Katie Jennings

Katie Jennings is a mid-twenty-something year old girl with an imagination for days and a supportive husband who thinks she’s a colossal nerd. She writes because she loves it, and because breathing life into characters is the greatest escape she’s ever found.  Most of her time is spent puttering around online, editing her latest book, or feeding people food to her cat.  She lives just north of Los Angeles, and enjoys reading fantasy and romance novels, watching Once Upon a Time, playing around on Photoshop, and finding new music to fall in love with.  She believes in, above all else, happy endings.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/dryadquartet

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/dryadquartet

Blog:  http://katieajennings.wordpress.com/

Website:  http://www.katieajennings.com/index.htm

Other Books in the Dryad Quartet