"A Season of Eden" by Jennifer Laurens

Format: Kindle
Genre: Mature YA Romance/ Coming of Age
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: He’s my teacher. I shouldn’t be alone with him. But I can’t help that he’s irresistible.

I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us.

“I like hearing you play,” I said, moving toward him.

He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn’t say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. “May I?”

The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. “Eden.”

My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. “Is it okay?” I asked.

His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking.

“Let me stay,” I said. “Please.”

“You’re going to get me in trouble,” he said.

My Thoughts: I'm so mad that I wasted four hours reading this book straight last night when I came home from work. The writing was decent, and the story had the potential to be awesome... but every time it was about to go over and enter into the "Oh my god, I have to keep reading" phase, the author would step back from the jump. However, me, being the book lover that I am, kept reading. I just thought "she's going to take the plunge, it's going to happen, this book is about to get amazing." Except it didn't. I was left on the last page and my final words were "WTF?!" It was like she just up and left the book unfinished. I kept thinking of what my creative writing teacher would tell me last semester, "Leave your characters in a room, LOCK the door, and don't let them come out until it's over!" Eden and James need to be locked up in that music room and not be allowed to come out until something is freaking resolved.

The Cons: 

*The other characters were more reminiscent of junior high kids, than acutal young adults.

*Unsatisfying overall

*Insta love

*James walked a fine line between sensitive and just plain being a woman- seriously, a pink shirt?

* Inconsistent writing- first James is 22, then he's 21. Edens mom died 10 years, then it was 12. 

The Pros:

*Great tension/ build up... but that's all it was- you're left hanging

*I liked Eden. At first I thought she was a complete bitch, but in the end I saw what she truly was- a girl just trying to grow up.

*The church scene- right when they are about to leave after James has played for her... yeah, that was pretty hot.

Overall:

 This book gives off the impression that it's a romance. In fact, it gives that impression through out the whole entire thing until you reach 97% of it and then you realize the author is going to change the direction on you. So, 97% of it IS romance, the other 3% is coming of age. But it's the LAST 3% and that's what's important because it's the ending! I felt ripped off a little. I really was starting to love the story, but it needed to go to the next level. Right now, I can just compare it to a bad lifetime movie.

My Rating:

"Nevermore" by Kelly Creagh

Format: Hardback (543 pages)
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look. 

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. 

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares. 

My Thoughts: First off, I LOVE Edgar Allen Poe. I mean, I'd marry the guy if he wasn't dead. He's one of my favorite poets. Ever. So, when I discovered this book was linked with the Poe legacy, I kind of went nuts. In a good way.

Nevermore was amazing. It lived up to all of my expectations and it was original (which, if you've read any of my reviews you know how important originality is for me). The way Creagh weaves Poe's gothic stories into her own, creating a completely new world, was just simply incredible.

And the characters! I loved Varen and Isobel! I'll admit, I was afraid of the cliches when I seen that she was a cheerleader who was falling for the "goth kid", but somehow it worked! Not to mention the chemistry between the two. Varen and Isobel just seem to fit, even though they are complete opposites. It works. I even got those tingly shivers in certain moments when Varen would open up and show Isobel glimpses into who he was. I love those shivers. They mean that I'm getting completely sucked into the story.

All in all, this story was so worth my time and money! As soon as I finished it I put it up on my favorites shelf! Thank goodness the second book just came out so I can get my hands on it soon!

My Rating: 

Extras:

Soundtrack to "Nevermore":Nevermore Extras

And since this story did have a Poe-esic theme to it, I decided to put in my favorite poem of his for your enjoyment! 

Annabell Lee:

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea. 

"One Foot in the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost (Night Huntress #2)

Format: Paperback (357 pgs)
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars

***Spoiler Warning: This is book #2 in the Night Huntress series, if you haven't read "Halfway to the Grave" you may want to avoid reading this review until you do***

From Goodreads: You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide…
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.

My Thoughts: This is one epic second book! I was expecting things to slow down in this story- sometimes, I find second installments to just be "fillers" between the beginning of the really awesome story, and the epic conclusion of what happens. However, Frost doesn't disappoint her readers that way! If possible, I found that I loved One Foot in the Grave even more so then it's previous book.

Four years has passed since we first left Cat, and boy has she changed. She's one badass heroine and she's not taking crap from anyone anymore. Seriously, I love her in this book! She holds her own and she's not some meek little girly girl that just lets people run all over her. Oh no. She has her own government team of kick-butt vampire killing soldiers.

And what about the sexy vampire Bones, you ask? Well, you'll just have to read and find out. But I promise you, this is one story you're going to finish in no time!

My Rating: