Rider's First Call by Kristen Britain

Resisting the call to be a green rider doesn't keep Karigan G'ladheon away long. The First Rider, Lil Ambriodhe, made sure of it. Karigan moves into service of the King of Sacoridia as a green Rider only to be thrown into a new adventure of great peril within her first couples years of service. The breach in the D'yer wall is loosing wild magic upon the Kingdom and strange happenings resulting from this is the least of their problems. The awareness beyond the wall is awakening more and more each day and it's calling out to it's old friends, servants...including Karigan...

Kristen Britain engulfs us in Karigan's story once more. We can only love Karigan more and more as we journey with her. Great adventure, deadly evil, preposturous betrayal, agonizing greif and forbidden love entrance us from page 1 to page 596 as with the last few pages we release a few tears for it all. I read this in about one day. It was AMAZING. To pass this book up would be ignorant. Ignorance is not bliss... Kristen Britain is. 25/5 Stars!!!!

A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer

The cover on this book caught my attention. The girl pictured looked alot like Keira Knightenly. So I picked it up and found the location given for the setting to be; Barnett,Kansas. I'm not from Barnett, but I am from Kansas. So I picked up the delightful Christian historical romance.
K.V. Sawyer makes us fall in love with little Miss Tressa within the first three pages, technically pages 7, 8, and 9 because some how the page numbers 1-6 were skipped. :P lol. At 344 pages long (minus 6 pages that were missing), I read this book in one day. The wonderful story line of girls from the city heading out to go to school to learn to be ranchers' wives was unique and wonderful. We read about girls being boughten as brides in those days by ranchers and such. This is the first time I've read of girls going to learn to be ranchers wives and then being matched off. I liked this idea better than the buying of brides. Anyways, this book has wonderful mystery, some action adventure and a little romance. It wasn't nearly as romantic as I'd prefer, yet I still enjoyed it.
4/5 Stars! If you enjoy historical romances, then I recommend it for you!

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

"Five adventurous sisters...
Four dark creatures...
Three magical gifts...
Two forbidden lovers...
One enchanted frog...

Cross the threshold into the Wildwood, and enter a land of magic, daring, betrayal... and true love."

Very interesting, eh? I thought so. What a lucky find this one was while I was searching for hidden treasures at the 1/2 price book shop. I actually got this one for less than 1/2 the original cover price. It was well worth more than I paid. At 400 pages long, I read this book in about 15 1/2 hours give or take... It is so easy to become ensnared in this wonderful fantasy about five sisters and their frolicking to another world and dealings with witches, vampires, and other-worldling beings. Dear Jena is so easily loved, as well as her frog Gogu. As one of four sisters I loved the family togetherness, tightness, friendship shared between these five sisters; Tati- the beautiful, Jena- the leader, Iulia- the flirt, Paula- the learned and Stela-the child. We get to experience love, friendship, trust/betrayal, magic/reality-change. This is really, truley a wonderful coming of age story. The main character learns, grows and changes. For we all must change and accept change as life takes us on our own journies. My only complaint about the book that bugged me was the mis print at the beginning confusing the actual ages of the two older girls. At first the author says that Tati is in her seventeenth year and then later says she is only 16. This affects Jena's age because she is introduced as being one year Tati's junior. Then later they are said to be 16 and 15 instead of 17 and 16. To me that year makes a difference. 15 is quite young to be experiencing the love that the author writes about. Unrealistic but then I suppose that this book is aimed for young adult. Also, when telling one of my sisters about the book, she was put off by the romance between two first cousins. It didn't put me off from it only because I understood it to be told from a time when that was deemed acceptable, unlike today. All together, It was well written, easily read and most easily enjoyed. I loved it! Nearly crying in anguished joy at the end. 5/5 Stars!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Decidedly in love with the newest film version of Pride and Prejudice (2005) staring Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen, I could not resist finally delving into the literature which led to such a movie. First I must say that I had seen a previous version of Pride and Prejudice and found it confusing and uninteresting. The new version was easier to understand and with a wonderful cast and soundtrack, I fell in love. Jane Austen is amazingly witty, clever, romantic. I was so impressed by her writing that I started to think and want to speak in her dialect and wished for her wit so direly. There is not much more I can say of such a wonderful novel that hasn't been said yet to this day for the last 197 years. I had difficulty in adjusting to the dialect though since I haven't read much anything like it. At 334 pages long it took me about 3 days to read. 5/5 Stars! A must read for anyone.


I loved the dance scene the most in both book and movie. :) --->

DragonKnight by Donita K. Paul

The adventure continues with Kale and Bardon. I was at first disappointed that the book started out with only Bardon's point of view. I had not quite liked him enough after the last book to want to read from his point of view. But wanting to know what happens to Kale kept me reading. I was pleasantly surprised with I found out there was a Part Two further into the book which switches to Kale's point of view. Though you eventually realize that their points of view start to mix and become one as the story proceeds. This story starts three years after the last book ended. Bardon wants to become a knight, but he had found the social part of the role to be daughting for him. He is mostly a solitude person, enjoying time alone or with very few. With a decision to take time for solitude and sort himself out and have time with Wulder to figure out what Wulder's plan for him really is. Bardon's sabbatical doesn't last long. It is the start of another adventure, one that leads to new friends, new enemies and new realizations. This is the best of the books in this series I have read yet. :) Must read!!! 5/5 Stars!!!!

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks is an amazing romance novelist. I have read A Walk to Remember and The Notebook written by him as well and he never fails in delivering a heart warming, lesson learned romance. He continues his well earned reputation with this wonderful novel. The Last Song has recently been made into a feature film staring Miley Cyrus. I wanted to read the book before watching the movie so I could enjoy the story even more when I watched the film because some many times they leave a lot out. The Last Song, at 463 pages long, took me two days to read. It's not a Nicholas Sparks novel if you don't have tears at least spring to your tear ducts at least once. However, that's no reason not to read them. Amazing amazing amazing.... Ronnie is so relatable. Steve is so ideal. Will is so swoonable. Jonah is so adorable. Blaze is so frustratable. Scott is so annoying. Marcus is so creepy.... A must read! Such great family values shown. Such amazing love shown. Such a mature understanding for love and family and life. God smiles down upon Nicholas Sparks as he is able to mass preach such good things to everyone without some of them even realizing it... lol. 25/5 Stars!!!! Go buy it now! It's definatly one to buy and keep on your book shelf.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

So I just re-read the 3rd book of the Twilight Saga, Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. The 3rd movie for it is about to come out in theaters in a few months and I couldn't remember it well enough. This book is one hard to put down. I read the 629 page book in about a day and a half. This part is mostly the story of the struggle for Bella between Edward and Jacob. The action plot is moved through the revenge of Victoria. All the Victoria business gets resolved in an exciting, but not epic enough battle. I haven't ever been too impressed with Stephenie's fight sequences that she has written. It's all a little vague and short. I'm sure it's like that because she probably had a hard time describing and explain how a vampire battle would go down, especially when they move so fast human eyes can't hardly tell what is going on. I would describe this book as nearly as heart breaking as New Moon was, but from a broader prospective. It seems like everyone gets their heart broken at least a little bit and one person dramatically. *wolf howl* =*( If only she could love him enough. If only... If only it was just a story... OH WAIT! It is... lol. Silly me. I'm one of those people who yell at the characters on tv doing stupid stuff too. All in all a great addition to the whole saga, it wouldn't be complete with out it, though sometimes I wish Bella had never gone after Edward in New Moon and just stayed with Jacob. 5/5 Stars!

The Wayfarer Redemption (US version of Battleaxe) by Sara Douglass

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a long time now that I bought one day and kept for a new read when I was bored. Well I regret putting it on the shelf for so long. I should have read it long ago. The Wayfarer Redemption aka Battleaxe by Australian author Sara Douglass(www.saradouglass.com) was a refreshing epic fantasy. I had been looking for a new epic fantasy to read. One that would come close to standards with David Eddings' Belgariad series. This is the first of a trilogy and then there is another trilogy that takes place in the future past the Axis triolgy. I didn't realize this was a series until most of the way through the book (that always seems to happen to me...otherwise I try to avoid series.lol...not that it does me good since I have read so many now.) It took me a little to get into this book at first only because it was so foriegn to me I had a hard time grasping it. It took me 3 days to read this 629 page paper back book. It takes a while to become engrossed in the story only because it takes forever for us to be introduced to the two main characters and learn to like them enough to want to find out what happens to them. Though the main characters, Axis and Faraday, are very likable; there are many people controlling them that we don't like. This can become distressing. Don't let it. This fantasy has some crucial must haves: 1. some sort of magic 2. some sort of prophecy 3. great battle sequences 4. a great Hero 5. a great Heroine. I have yet to even purchase the next book in this series but how could I not? The end leaves us on a cliff and we have to read the next to find out what happens. Though they were nice enough to put a nice couple chapter exert from the next book at the end, I will not read it because it will just torment me that I can't continue to read past those chapters. I will hopefully purchase the book the day after Christmas. Merry Christmas to me :)! Merry Christmas to everyone else and Happy Holidays too! Pick up this book and read it! it's a marvolous read =) 10/10 stars!!!!!!

Loving the Highlander by Janet Chapman

I read this one shortly after I read the last one in this series. This story continues with the same highlanders whom traveled through time. We see the brother of Grey, Morgan, find his love. We also get to see the older men find some romance as well which is nice. I believe I enjoyed this one more than the last one. Mainly because I liked the main characters more. The male is one I could fall in love with and the female is someone I can relate to. It was exciting to see such a lovable woman be so accepting of her man. Good action scenes and love scenes. Overall very enjoyable read. I give it 8/5 stars.

Charming the Highlander by Janet Chapman

So I took a break from romances. But now I'm back. This one is a mix of historical meets fantasy. Janet Chapman takes the beloved highlander men from old days and throws them through time to find the loves of their lives. This is the first of a 7 book series (so far). The beginning of this book was hard for me to get into because of a sudden death that annoyed me. All the characters are lovable (except the ones who are supposed to be the bad guys. haha) Janet Chapman knows how to slip her characters into your heart nearly by the end of the first paragraph introducing them. With a winter setting and dangerous exciting stuff happening Janet Chapman keeps this story rolling. She also didn't disappoint with the Sutter brothers! Grace Sutter is the main female character and her 6 brothers are scattered about the country away from her. But by the end they come together and if anyone ever dreamt of tough, protective brothers, the Sutter brothers are perfect. Especially considering who they gotta be intimidating to. hehe. A good read. I will continue to read through this series that once again my sister got me into. That's what I get for getting her into the Dark series by Christine Feehan (it's 19 books long. so far. haha). Anyways... 8/5 stars :)