Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 8 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
The Survivors: Point of Origin
Synopsis: Reviews

Readers who were enticed by the first volume will gobble this one up and probably mark their 2013 calendars with reminders to order volume three. It s that addictive, and, thankfully, also worth the effort. ForeWord Reviews

Amanda Havard spins a rich story that's rooted in history, but teeming with all our favorite myths and legends. The Survivors: Point of Origin is a wild ride, beautifully written and wonderfully told. --Brittany Geragotelis, author of the Life's a Witch series

Filled with colorful characters, romance, and a fascinatingly rich mythology, Point of Origin is one heck of a read! I couldn't put it down and now I'm left wanting, no, needing the third book! If you haven't started this series, do so immediately! Once you start, you won't want to stop. -DJ DeSmyter, author of Hunted

The book you're holding in your hands is chock-full of the Good Stuff. Don't waste any more time reading this blurb; head directly to the checkout, do not pass Go, and start reading the stuff between the covers immediately. -Rodger Nichols, Haystack Broadcasting

Point of Origin is astounding. That's the best word to describe it: astounding. -Kallie Mathews, Bookshelf Banter

Review Direct Title of Special Note

The winter is upon us. The Survivors are in chaos. The war is coming.

One year ago, Sadie Matthau was living among humans, existing as one of them. But now she wakes each morning in a house in the Survivors City, listening to the invocations and insults of her family members as they cope with their new future. A war. Rogue abandoners turned monsters. Sadie and the icy Winters living in their midst, bringing the outside world in.

The Survivors: Point of Origin is Sadie's quest to save her family. But can she find what she is looking for when she can barely stomach the Winters wintry demeanor and finds herself distracted by Cole Hardwick s warm heart? Will she be able to uncover her family's history even as the elders grip tightens around her throat? In an action packed ride full of magic and misery, terror and triumph, Sadie Matthau seeks the Survivors beginning just in time to face her end.
Publication Date: 06/12/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Lies Beneath
Anne Greenwood Brown
Synopsis: Fans of Amanda Hocking's novel, Wake, will dive into this paranormal romance featuring mermaids--the killer kind--and won't come up for air!

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

"Riveting! A cold-blooded tale of secrets, revenge, and forbidden love that will leave you terrified to go in the water."--Gretchen McNeil, author of Possess

"Scary and spooky . . . I really enjoyed reading this."--USA Today

“A haunting tale of revenge and romance.”--Justine Magazine
Publication Date: 06/12/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Rapture: A Fallen Novel
Synopsis:

The conclusion to the worldwide bestselling FALLEN series, with exclusive content from the darkly romantic world of FALLEN and an excerpt of Lauren Kate's novel TEARDROP.

A USA Today bestseller
A New York Times bestselling series
More than 3 million series copies in print!

When evil triumphs . . . when the world ends . . . trust your love.

The sky is dark with wings. . . . Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn't know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again. Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen. For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they've borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters. In the fight for Luce, who will win? The astonishing conclusion to the Fallen series. Heaven can't wait any longer.

And don't miss FALLEN on the big screen! The first book in the worldwide bestselling FALLEN series is now a motion picture available for streaming.

“Sexy and fascinating and scary . . . I loved loved loved it!”
—P. C. Cast, New York Times bestselling author on Fallen 

Publication Date: 06/12/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Unbreak My Heart
Melissa Walker
Synopsis: Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams' heart. She fell for her best friend's boyfriend and long story short: he's excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents' plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he's just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem's walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem's heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.
Publication Date: 05/22/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Jersey Angel
Beth Ann Bauman
Synopsis: It's the summer before senior year and the alluring Angel is ready to have fun. She's not like her best friend, Inggy, who has a steady boyfriend, good grades, and college plans. Angel isn't sure what she wants to do yet, but she has confidence and experience beyond her years. Still, her summer doesn't start out as planned. Her good friend Joey doesn't want to fool around anymore, he wants to be her boyfriend, while Angel doesn't want to be tied down. As Joey pulls away, and Inggy tours colleges, Angel finds herself  spending more time with Inggy's boyfriend, Cork. With its cast of vivid and memorable characters, this tale from the Jersey shore is sure to make some waves.
Publication Date: 05/08/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Spellbound
Monique N. Peterson
Synopsis: Have you ever wanted someone...you couldn't have? For almost a year, all Bea wanted was for things to go back to the way they were before her best friend left…but when Caid Knight comes into her life, everything changes. Even after Princess Jennipher returns, there is something different about the friendship they once shared as her relationships with fellow housemaids, Kerry and Lucy, begin altering and dwindling. News of a revolt against Crimson Isle’s four monarchies threatens the lives of those closest to her while her own safety becomes the most endangered as she considers leaving the only home she has ever known. As for Caid, her feelings for him are growing stronger with each passing day yet she doesn’t know how he feels about her. Before she can ask, she is told that fate will not allow them to be together, regardless of what she tries to do to be with him. Will she defy this foretelling or surrender herself to it?
Publication Date: 05/03/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Pure Blood: Time Spirit Trilogy (Volume 3)
Synopsis: It is only a matter of time before Gemma's parents find out she traveled through time to bring Harrison back into existence. The fear of being found out is a heavy weight on her shoulders, but she refuses to give up on everything she's fought for. Harrison is worth the risk. The couple draws closer together as they battle opposing forces from all sides. They stay strong until Gemma's parents welcome an exchange student into their home. Simeon, a gorgeous Californian, is as smooth as coffee and, supposedly, a fellow time spirit. Gemma's parents expect her to take him everywhere and, of course, fall in love with him. After all, he is the boy they have chosen for her. No longer able to sneak off alone, Gemma must watch every step as she waits for the inevitable nightmare to catch up to her. Her parents ultimate goal is to get that last necklace and open the box hidden in their safe. If they do, Gemma knows her entire world will unravel. As the danger mounts, Gemma must decide if she has the courage to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the ones she loves and stop to her parents' destructive plans.
Publication Date: 04/23/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
BaSatai: Outside In
Suzan Battah
Synopsis: BaSatai: Outside In Seventeen year old, Armani Radnelaq a full blooded BaSatai is plagued by a curse in her blood. A curse created from hate and designed to break the divide between two parallel worlds of Earth and H-trae when Armani's blood is spilled in attack and she dies. S'teuqoubs have been travelling back and forth across the divide for centuries without trouble. The BaSatai and Guardians monitoring activity and enforcing rules to ensure peace and harmony but if the divide splits and opens, a much greater number of supernatural S’teuqoubs will filter into earth destroying equilibrium which the BaSatai and Guardians will be unable to control. Humanity and the BaSatai will suffer and perish. The parallel divide must remain secure at all costs. Armani has remained hidden on earth with her adopted father Elijah since her birth. She has been raised in the human way and fights her natural instinct to evolve into a BaSatai. The BaSatai in her requires her to evovle and shift, use her powers and strength. Yet Armani is freaked out by the need to shift. She smokes, has a bad attitude, must deal with aggressive bullies and control her natural BaSatai instinct. Her Guardian with BaSatai Warriors are coming for her. She refuses to accept her fate and doesn't believe any BaSatai should die to protect her. The blood curse maturing in her veins makes her a target for her enemies. Her Guardian Karhl and an elite BasSatai Warrior Rafael are the first to arrive and prepare her for her crossing over. Her attraction to Rafael complicates her purpose to stay on earth even more. They both insist she fall into line and follow their lead but she is not ready to leave earth just yet...
Publication Date: 04/14/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Amaranthine
Tricia Rigli
Synopsis: Amaranthine is a tale of the dark side of desire. Crimson Wilkinson is a seemingly normal high school senior who, bored with life, finds her kicks in reading a popular vampire series. But her boredom is well remedied when she becomes an active part in the very true vampire stories the world thought were fiction and falls in love with their author, Nicholae Albaric, the dangerously gorgeous and sweetly lonely vampire celebrity. The rush she once so longed for becomes a burden as Crimson discovers she has a rare gene that makes the carrier extremely powerful once they are made into a vampire, and she is targeted as the vampire community's number-one most wanted, some who want to kill her before she can become a threat and others who want to use her powers to their own ends.
Publication Date: 04/10/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Julie Rayzor - Romance, Adventure, Zombies
Richard Howes, Richard Howes
Synopsis: What do you do when you're 17, in a fortress surrounded by a zombie apocalypse, and your boyfriend is outside and lost? If you're Julie Rayzor, you lock and load. Reviews: “Crisp, fast-paced action novel... Writing style is very impressive... usually found in male adventures, yet his heroine is a woman in love... he pulls off the balancing act between realistic feminine energy and highly effective tough combat... Successfully blends all three genres: sci-fi, a love story, and a war story, and it works on all three levels... Great dialogue in this entertaining novel... Elmore Leonard type: short, character-revealing, and advancing the story conflict. And conflict is everywhere... I will not give away any secrets in the plot... I won’t tell you about the train scenes, wow, you’ll have to discover those yourself. I will say that the love story kicks in like an afterburner...” says John Hill, Author and Screenwriter of "Quigley Down Under", and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (uncredited), "LA Law" and "Quantum Leap". 17 year-old Julie is caught between a world of zombies outside of "Fort Tulsa" and a life of drama inside. When everything she loves in life is stolen away; her soldier-boyfriend missing-in-action; troubles with Jill, her best friend; Felix, a nerdy medical researcher fawning over her; plus a broken leg in a cast to weigh her down, she has to join the zombie war to fight or be killed. When she learns of a plan to rescue her boyfriend and save the city, she uncovers a dark secret - a secret that she must keep hidden deep inside until she can complete the most dangerous task of her life. The sequel, Rayzor-Wire, is in production. Zombies zombies zombies, killing zombies, Zombie brains, brains, horror, Zombie horror, zombie books, How to zombie, how to zombie in books, how to be a zombie, how to be a zombie in books, how to kill zombies, how to survive zombie, how to survive zombie apocalypse, how to speak zombie, how to speak zombie - a guide for the living, zombie infection, zombie survival, zombie survival kit, zombie attack, zombie attack weapons, zombie romance, zombie romance in kindle store, zombie romance in books, zombie apocalypse, infection. zombie apocalypse in kindle store, zombie in books, zombie in games, zombie in toys, zombie apocalypse, zombie apocalypse survival kit, zombie apocalypse survival gear, zombie war, zombie plan, Julie Razor, Razor. infecti The hunger games, World War Z, Zombie survival Guide, Zombies zombies zombies, killing zombies, Zombie brains, brains, zombie infection. horror, Zombie horror, zombie books, How to zombie, how to zombie in books, how to be a zombie, how to be a zombie in books, how to kill zombies, how to survive zombie, how to survive zombie apocalypse, how to speak zombie, how to speak zombie - a guide for the living, zombie survival, zombie survival kit, zombie attack, zombie attack weapons, zombie romance, zombie romance in kindle store, zombie romance in books, zombie apocalypse, zombie apocalypse in kindle store, zombie in books, zombie in games, zombie in toys, zombie apocalypse, zombie apocalypse survival kit, zombie apocalypse survival gear, zombie war, zombie plan, Julie Razor, Razor. The hunger games, World War Z, Zombie survival Guide, zombie infection, Zombies zombies zombies, killing zombies, Zombie brains, brains, horror, Zombie horror, zombie books, How to zombie, how to zombie in books, how to be a zombie, how to be a zombie in books, how to kill zombies, how to survive zombie, how to survive zombie apocalypse, how to speak zombie, how to speak zombie - a guide for the living, zombie survival, zombie survival kit, zombie attack, zombie attack weapons, zombie romance, zombie romance in kindle store, zombie romance in books, zombie apocalypse, zombie apocalypse in kindle store, zombie in books, zombie ga
Publication Date: 04/10/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Zombyre My Love
Traci Hall
Synopsis: “As always, Ms. Hall manages to beautifully convey real characters--and the human emotion that rules us through all time. I love her work!” – Heather Graham, New York Times Bestselling Author of PHANTOM EVIL and KREWE of HUNTERS series 18 year old Lolita Howard is one of the last uninfected humans on earth, and Valdric has six hundred years of vampirism under his cloak when he faces medical evolution, or extinction. He chooses to survive and becomes part vampire and part zombie. His duty is to protect the human race. He wants to save the world. She wants a boyfriend who doesn't think of her body parts as appetizers. Zombyre, My Love is a post apocolyptic survival story about a girl and a new breed of monster – or hero? 
Publication Date: 03/29/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Black Blood: Time Spirit Trilogy (Volume 2)
Synopsis: Gemma's parents have put enough rules around her relationship with Harrison that she feels like she's living on parole. But she wins one battle—a summer job working for Harrison's step-father. It is the perfect chance to spend the steamy, hot Florida days with her boyfriend. It's also a great distraction from the cellphone hiding in her underwear drawer—her only contact with Gabe, the mystery man who's stalking her.  When she confronts Gabe, he tells her that her parents are not who she thinks they are, and Harrison has the gall to believe him. Surrounded by conflict, Gemma doesn't know what to believe, and it takes a trip back in time for her to glimpse the sickening truth.  Thanks to her parents, she returns to the present to find the love of her life no longer exists. His family line was broken and now, so is she. This betrayal forces her to seek out Gabe. Setting aside her fear of the truth, she must trust this man and learn what he can teach her... otherwise, she'll never get her boyfriend back.
Publication Date: 03/26/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Timeless
Alexandra Monir
Synopsis:

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.
 
Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.




From the Hardcover edition.
Publication Date: 03/13/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Somewhere Over the Freaking Rainbow
Synopsis: Jamison is crushing on the new girl next door. Bad news—the neighbors are Somerled cult-members killing off their own. Worse news—she’s next in line for sacrifice. Jamison will have to rise above the coward he thinks he is to get to the bottom of it all. Something is drastically wrong with Skye. She’s experiencing emotions like the mortal teenager she’s pretending to be. When she finally asks the right questions, she finds answers that will rock the Somerled world... ...and none of her options include Jamison, the boy who has stolen the heart she was never meant to have.
Publication Date: 03/03/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Golden Blood: Time Spirit Trilogy (Volume 1)
Synopsis: Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While "across the line," her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected. 

Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family's safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be "used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew... Harrison Granger.

Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.
Publication Date: 02/27/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Believe in Me
Judith Dickerman-Nelson
Synopsis: Believe in Me: A Teen Mom's Story traces the emotional journey of Judith, a cheerleader and honors student at a Catholic girls' school in Massachusetts. When her 17-year-old boyfriend, Kevin O'Brien, gives her a diamond ring the summer before her senior year, she feels as if her life is perfect. But her pregnancy changes everything. Kevin's parents don't want him to start a family at such a young age, and Mrs. O'Brien tells Judith to get an abortion. As a Catholic and an adopted child, Judith must look within her own heart and decide what to do.

This beautifully written coming-of-age story will appeal to students of women's studies as well as teenagers and their parents and grandparents.

"Believe in Me is the honest and courageous story of 16-year-old Judith's transformation into a responsible young woman. Highly recommended reading for teens, parents, and educators."
--Joyce Allan, R.N., author of Because I Love You
Publication Date: 02/15/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS