Heal Up: TOUCH OF POWER by Maria V. Snyder

TOUCH OF POWER (Healer #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Fantasy

394 pages, paperback

Available now (Dec. 2011)

Publisher: Mira

Review copy provided by publisher via NetGalley

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

Positive: Interesting world. While it isn't as nuanced or richly drawn as Snyder's other worlds, it's a great start to a new series, and I do hope we'll learn more as we travel through it. Hit hard by a plague that swept through the population, the fifteen realms are rebuilding. There's magic in the realms, though people have done their best to wipe some of it out. There's also plenty of political drama with much infighting and political machinations going on behind the scenes.

Positive: Kerrick, the head of the band of rogues who save her from death then drag her with them to their prince. At first, I wasn't a fan because he's all about his mission and doesn't really let us in but, after spending some time in his company, he really grew on me. He's a very enigmatic guy and very loyal to his people and his prince. The interplay between Kerrick and Avry is intriguing to watch, as they grow to like and understand one another through their journey.

Wish: That Avry weren't practically a Mary Sue character. Hunted and guaranteed death if she's caught, she still has to help people who are sick, especially the kids. When she is captured because she helps a sick child, she just accepts it and rolls over in her prison cell and goes to sleep. What? She's not going to fight at all? And, as a healer, she's pretty saintly anyway (see wish #2). She never really loses this Mary Sue saint thing, continuing to heal people to her own detriment.

Wish: That I understood the point of the healing power better. Healers can't heal the big stuff, and can't pull someone back from the brink of death if they had, say, a knife wound to the belly, because the healer would die. Healers can only heal a little at a time because they take the pain/illness into themselves and have to fight it off like a "normal" person since they don't have speedy healing themselves and can die just like everyone else. And it's not like they get off on the pain--if they were into that, at least it would be a benefit for them. Instead, they're almost saintly in their acceptance of the pain they take from others.

Overall: While this wasn't my favorite of Snyder's worlds or stories, I still really enjoyed it. 

Available on Amazon | IndieBound

LORD OF THE ABYSS by Nalini Singh

LORD OF THE ABYSS (Royal House of Shadows #4) by Nalini Singh

Fantasy

288 pages, paperback

Available now (Nov. 2011)

Publisher: Harlequin

Review copy provided by publisher via NetGalley

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

Talk about having your dessert before dinner--I read this book before the other three in the series!  

Micah is the Lord of the Abyss, a terrible place where the bad folks go, and he's the one who hunts them down and contains them in the Abyss. He lives in the Black Castle, a forbidding residence with a dark history, and he doesn't know anything more than that. He doesn't know he's the youngest member of the royals of Elden, he doesn't know anything but his lonely existence.

Until Liliana literally falls right in front of him. Horribly abused by her evil father since childhood, Liliana wants only to help Micah remember himself and defeat the Blood Sorcerer. But Micah doesn't know why she's there, so he puts her to work as a maid in his household.

He finds himself fascinated by her and his sweet personality emerges in the form of little thoughtful gifts for Liliana. But Micah is disappearing beneath a covering of black armor and, when he's covered completely, the Micah of Elden will be gone forever. In the face of overwhelming odds, Liliana chips away at his armor both literally and figuratively uncovering the man beneath. Her perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds is admirable.

Just one wish with this book--that the end was a bit more end-y. This book contains the final battle of the siblings, who haven't seen each other for 20 years, against the Blood Sorcerer. The reunion is more of a fist-bump, "Hey, how ya doin'" rather than an "OMG, I haven't seen you in 20 years" grand reunion. It was too rushed for my taste.

This book is definitely cake with so many awesome elements coalescing into a fabulous story. Nalini Singh does it again.

Available on Amazon | IndieBound

Butt Rock Lives: BELIEVE IT OR NOT by Tawna Fenske

BELIEVE IT OR NOT by Tawna Fenske

Romance

352 pages, paperback

Available March 6, 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Review copy provided by publisher

Do you believe in...accounting?

Numbers never lie, so Violet McGinn found safe haven in the most boring profession she could find. Until her renowned psychic mother lands in the hospital and Violet has to run her business. Now you can have your taxes filed and your aura read, in one convenient location. 

Do you believe in...music?

Drew Watson is the jaded owner of the local hot spot next door, and doesn't need a single thing except a good crowd to dance to what he's spinning on Saturday night.

Do you believe in...love?

The only thing Violet and Drew seem to have in common is that neither believes in that psychic hoo—hah. Except Drew seems to play exactly the right song at exactly the right time. And truth be told, it makes Violet's heart dance just a little ... 

Oh, I do believe Tawna Fenske is my new favorite humorous romance author. I giggled most of the way through this book, which I absolutely love in a romance. 

This is definitely a story of opposites attract. Violet's a seriously buttoned-up chickadee, an accountant who knows her numbers and her (many times useless) trivia. Drew's a total playboy, running a bar that features male strippers (woot!) and heading home with a new bed bunny practically every night. They're definitely nothing alike but there's a spark that neither of them can deny.

The secondary characters are just as much fun as Violet and Drew. First up, there's Violet's mom, Moonbeam. Moonbeam's a psychic and a totally crunchy hippie who just wants the best for her daughter. She works her magic hoo-doo behind the scenes to push Drew and Violet together, driving both of them insane with what they consider to be flightiness. Then there's Jamie, hot as all get-out and dumb as dirt. Super-sweet and kind to a fault, he's one of Drew's male strippers--a stripper with a heart of gold who Drew's taken under his wing. There are, of course, a plethora of other characters that add dimension and hilarity.

But the interplay between Violet and Drew is what kept me laughing. Their romance definitely follows a winding, nontraditional path as Drew blasts his 80's butt rock (we always called them "hair bands" but I kind of like the butt rock title) and Violet makes every attempt to ignore the infectious beats. Quirky and humorous, Fenske's sophomore release will strike a chord and have you humming along.

Available on Amazon | IndieBound

Speed Date with Leah: KISS CRUSH COLLIDE by Christina Meredith

This is a new meme I'm starting. Next week, if you're interested, I'll set up a linky so we can do a full-on speed dating thing. All we need after that is some drinks and awkward conversation! Hehe.

KISS CRUSH COLLIDE by Christina Meredith 

YA Romance

313 pages, hardcover

Available now (Dec. 2011)

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review copy provided by publisher via Amazon Vine

Kiss

What Leah did—only she really shouldn’t have—one hot night at a country club party.

Crush

What Leah has—only she really shouldn’t have—on the guy with the green eyes, the guy who is not her perfect boyfriend, the guy who does not fit in her picture-perfect life, the guy her sisters will only mock and her mother will never approve of. Not in a million years.

Collide

What happens when everything you always thought you wanted—having cool friends, being class valedictorian and homecoming queen—runs smack into everything it turns out you really do want.

Kiss. Crush. Collide.

For Leah and Porter, summer is only the beginning.

While the words flow and the pace is steady, it was a bit too predictable for me. Of course, it's a romance, so what do I expect, right? After all, the queens of YA romance, namely Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Echols, write somewhat predictable plotlines (hey, it's romance--everyone needs their HEA). But this story just didn't have me rooting for the main characters the way I'd have liked. Leah, the main character, isn't very deep and flits through her life like a carefree butterfly. She's got the money, the family, the smarts, and, of course, the football player boyfriend. But then she falls for Parker, a valet at her country club, and suddenly she's dating a boy from the wrong side of the tracks and questioning the direction her life is going and her place in the world.

A cute, light romance, KISS CRUSH COLLIDE will keep you turning the pages to find out what Leah decides to do and to read more about Leah's dysfunctional family.

Available on Amazon | IndieBound

Waiting on...TIMEPIECE by Myra McEntire

Time travel books can be done really well or really poorly. This series? Done really well. I enjoyed the entire premise and the set-up in HOURGLASS and can't wait to see what Myra McEntire does within the world she created. It sounds like this book as a different main character (Kaleb versus Emerson) but that Emerson and Michael and the whole Hourglass group show up. Interesting... And I like how the cover follows it's predecessor, though it looks like the girl's struggling a bit more to keep her grip on things. I also like the funky angles of the wall and ceiling. It's rather eye-catching.

TIMEPIECE (Hourglass #2) by Myra McEntire

YA Paranormal

336 pages, hardcover

Releases on: June 12, 2012

Publisher: EgmontUSA

A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...


Kaleb Ballard's relentless flirting is interrupted when Jack Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, timeslips in and attacks before disappearing just as quickly. But Kaleb has never before been able to see time travelers, unlike many of his friends associated with the mysterious Hourglass organization. Are Kaleb's powers expanding, or is something very wrong?


Then the Hourglass is issued an ultimatum. Either they find Jack and the research he's stolen on the time gene, or time will be altered with devestating results. Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their unusual powers to find Jack. But where do they even start? And when? And even if they succeed, it may not be enough...


So, what are you waiting on?


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.