This is a wonderful series which I had the great fortune to literally stumble upon. Once I read book one I could not wait for book two, and now finally the long awaited book three will be coming out soon. Don’t miss it!
Author Archives: karenjvjohnson
Survivor Chronicles
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Monument 14
Monument 14 (Monument 14 #1)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I do love finding an author I have never read before who is able to get my attention with the first thing I read from them. The characters are a bit of a stereo type, such as jock, nerd, pretty girl, promiscuous girl, etc. but that can be overlooked for the most part. They are kids however and so you almost expect this but hope it will not be so pronounced. The dialogue is generally good, the only time it becomes a little stilted is with the introduction of adults into the main story. It also became predictable because I knew exactly where things were going as soon as in a natural progression.
It’s a normal morning in Monument, Colorado and the kids are on their way to school as the buses arrive at their homes for pick-up. But what happens after they are on the way is anything but normal. A massive hail storm starts and the hail starts to punch through the roof of the bus either killing or disorienting those on the high school bus. The driver for the elementary and middle school kids manages to get them to safety and rescue the high school kids too.
Soon the kids are left on their own with no adult supervision as the world outside the superstore they lucked into goes from bad to worse. They find themselves struggling to keep order for the younger children, who are as young as 5 years old, while trying to deal with each other and their different ways of viewing each other. They have everything they could hope for and enough to take care of them for a long time if they can keep the contaminants out. They are already living a precarious life when they allow two more into their haven, making a tense situation even worse.
This was even better than I had expected. It had a sense of tension and urgency with that feel of ‘how will they get out’. I liked enough of them to make it worth keeping up with and those I disliked was because the writing was good and gave me cause to do so. Definitely worth the time.
If you do not like the idea of children in peril and on their own I would pass it up.
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Wide Awake
Wide Awake (Academy of the Fallen #1)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I flew through this book within the span of several hours and was surprised at how much I liked it. I like YA but it is not my usual read and so finding something that pulled me in so completely is a testament to how good it is. The characters are so well-defined that I couldn’t help but be drawn to them, even the side characters had a definite feel that gave you insight into them and what could be expected from them. Based on the ages of the characters the dialogue was spot on for they talk to each other and the adults they interact with giving them even more life.
Kayla is your typical 16-year-old, she has good friends, nice parents, and a so-so boyfriend. The one thing that seems to set Kayla apart is that she was adopted when she was 3 years old and no one has told her about her biological parents. Her days have been spent with shopping and hanging out with her friends until they go on a field trip to the museum and everything changes for her. First she sees a little girl named Carolyn in a back room at the museum and then she shows up again at her home, not totally strange and she takes her home, but then she starts seeing her in other places.
Hunter Chambers was once a friend but now is anti-social and keeps to himself. When Hunter approaches Kayla and says that he knows how to help her and she refuses. He tries a few times and then leaves the ball in her court so she can decide. As things get worse she has to call for help as her normal world starts to spin out of control. Things she never thought existed are now after her and Hunter is the only person standing between her and something worse than death.
Kayla is a kid and as teenagers go not so bad, though we would have issues with her attitude. I found Hunter to be the best part of this since Kayla is still a little to soft for my tastes, hoping for her to get a little tougher as things progress. But overall a very enjoyable and entertaining story leading to an even better story I see on the horizon. I will definitely be continuing this series!
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One Blood
One Blood
by Qwantu Amaru
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a book that had me confused as to what it was really about. I went in expecting a simple horror novel but got a lot more than that. This is a twisted story of revenge, hate, blind ambition, manipulation,murder, voodoo,and a cursed family. The characters are all very dark and not always likeable but they can be sympathetic from time to time. I really found myself not liking most of them for most of the book because they were so single-minded and seemed like the worst type of opportunists. The two characters that I did feel a little something for were not really fleshed out enough for me to really decide anything about how I wanted things to go for them.
Can I just say that there is only one thing that can drive me up a wall while reading is when I have to keep track of what year I am in from chapter to chapter or even section to section within a chapter. This started in 1963 and moved in a nice linear line for a few chapters then it was on and we jumped around for almost the entirety of the rest of the story. I understand the need for it here but it made things drag a bit for me. If possible I thought there was too much background that could have been condensed and left more for those characters I wanted to get to know better. Just a thought.
This is the story of Randy LaFitte a man who was marginalized by his father when he was young and took steps to make his life better, or so he thought. Randy decided that the only way to get rid of a man he hated was to resurrect a curse which had been dormant for years. His actions set off a chain of events which will affect not only his family but the lives and families of all those within reach of his influence. Randy had big ambition and went about getting what he wanted in the most ruthless manner possible, not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination.
When his sins come back to claim him they take a form no one would believe possible.
This is a good story that I wanted to be even better. I liked where it was going but just wanted it to get there faster. I stopped and started reading when it seemed I knew what was happening but this still left not sure if I even understood it all. Don’t read this for horror but more for the mystery that surrounds everything and everyone.
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A Touch of Midnight
A Touch of Midnight (Midnight Breed 0.5)
by Lara Adrian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book I have read in the Midnight Breed series and I am glad this was my introduction. The characters are very well-defined and make you want to know more about them. While I was not pulled into the story from the first moment it did not take long for me to get really involved in the story. The story flowed so well that it was easy to determine what was happening and why things were happening the way they were.
Savannah Dupree is a student at Boston University in 1974 on a full scholarship. She is originally from Louisiana and is a very intelligent girl but has an ability which has always made her feel different from those around her, since nobody knows her here she feels more a part of things. Savannah has the ability to see the history of any object she touches. Gideon is one of the Breed, an elite vampire order which keeps the law by taking out rogue vampires. He has been a warrior for 300 years and in that time has never considered taking a mate.
Savannah is working on a special project in her art history class, helping to identify and catalog items in a collection the school has recently obtained. She finds a sword and after touching it she sees twin boys slaughtered by men who seem wrong in some way. Not long after she finds the sword it is stolen and her friend is killed in a brutal manner by a man who seems to have a lot in common with those she saw kill the twins. While giving an interview on television she is seen by Gideon who seems to know the sword she is talking about and wants to find and question her about it. But when he meets her he finds that the sword may be the least of worries.
There are the usual difficulties for the couple to go through such as misunderstandings about who knew what when and so on. But the story is kind of sweet, in a dark way. I wanted it to go on just a bit longer so I could find out just one more thing about them. I look forward to seeing them again in other novels though. I would say everyone should give it a chance.
“All it took was a chance meeting with a stranger, some unexpected conversation. A few moments of kindness from someone who had no inkling of what she’d been through. Someone who wandered into her workplace on a whim and ended up making the worst day of her life seem less awful simply by being in it. “Nice to meet you, Gideon.” “Likewise, Savannah.”
― Lara Adrian, A Touch of Midnight
― Lara Adrian, A Touch of Midnight
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What Zombies Fear: A Father’s Quest
What Zombies Fear: A Father’s Quest (What Zombies Fear #1)
by Kirk Allmond
I give this 4.5 stars for being an interesting take on zombies. I have never read anything by this author before and was pleasantly surprised to get a zombie tale that was at least at little different from the usual, though I do remember something somewhat similar. The characters were interesting if a bit less fleshed than I would have liked, I see room for them to gain more personality and life as the series moves forward. While the first chapter didn’t bring me fully in, by chapter two I was ready to settle in and read as long as I could to find out what would happen next.
Victor Tookes, rhymes with kooks, starts out his day like any other by going to the office. This is no ordinary day however and he finds himself in the middle of the end of civilization. It has been 12 years and he is going to tell us how he has managed to protect his son, Max, who is being sought out by the zombies for some reason. While Victor was able to save his son, his wife did not make it in those first days. This left him with a 3-year-old boy in a hostile world. Max was bitten but did not change like so many others and seems to have some type of 6th sense about the zombies.
This has a good story, really good ending, great zombies, and even better hero’s. I will be continuing to follow this story as long as it lasts.
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The Long Afternoon of Earth
The Long Afternoon of Earth
I generally love science fiction from the 50’s and 60’s but this was one of those that was just a little to bland for even me. It starts in a very distant future where mankind has been reduced t not even a shadow of its former self. There was no explanation as to how the changes to the planet and the lifeforms came about, we were just thrust into the middle with nothing said. I know this was thought to be a good book and example of the genre but it left me flat. The characters had no personality and did not make me care about them, the plot was totally uninteresting and did not seem to really be going anywhere.
It’s a decent book but very slow. The characters are not likable and I found myself rooting for their demise. Overall I would recommend it, but only as a last resort.
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Lords of the Were
Lords of the Were (Tales Of The Were #1)
by Bianca D’Arc
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this story for being interesting enough to keep my attention and having characters who I would love to know in the real world. The story grabs you immediately and makes you want to find out what could possibly be so mysterious about what the ladies are doing. As characters are introduced you will want to continue on because things get more interesting as they progress. The story flows well and is explained as it goes so you do not have some of those gaps which can be so annoying.
Allesandra (Allie) was orphaned at a young age and never knew her real parents, so when a woman comes to her and says that her mother asked her to get in touch with her when the time came she should have been surprised. What she finds out is that her mother was a priestess and now she must be consecrated into the service of the deity that her mother served. Allie feels so comfortable in a world she had no idea existed until her 32nd birthday when it all opened up to her. She seems a little timid at first but steps up and turns into a gutsy woman.
Tim and Rafe are the twin pair Lord’s of The Were who are sworn to protect Allie and love her if she will let them. They rule over all were no matter what they may be and have a pact with the Lady which keeps them all safe. They are two gorgeous hunks of wolf who take their responsibilities very seriously and will do anything to protect their people.
What no one realizes is that a plot to kill their priestess from an ancient evil is moving their way and they may not be as prepared as they think.
This had what I love in a story in that it made me cry, made me laugh, made me hot! Their was hot sex, good fighting, good magic (black and white), emotional moments, and family. A quick read but a satisfying one.
*This book contains scenes of menage a trois
Bookgirl 