Waiting for Gideon by Kristy Nicolle

Genre: Fantasy/Romance (Short story)
Rating: 5/5
Patience is a recently graduated art student working at Dairy Queen. During one particularly crummy shift, a handsome stranger comes in and orders a Blizzard. After some shenanigans ensue with a couple of creepy villains, Patience and Gideon leave Dairy Queen in his Mustang. Patience quickly learns that Gideon is not a normal person... They spend an exciting evening together, and the rest is history.  

Kristy Nicolle is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors ever. I absolutely adored "Something Blue," a dystopian romance, so I joined her group and started following her on Facebook. It turns out that Something Blue was sort of an anomaly for her, and she has this whole other mermaid universe going on!
I have the first three books of the Tidal Kiss Trilogy, but I have been bogged down with so many other things that I have not had time to sit down and read them. When she released this prequel, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get an introduction to the series.
I was not disappointed! Kristy has such an amazing talent with words. Gideon and Patience are very likable, and you immediately find yourself drawn in and rooting for them. I don't know anything about how their story turns out apart from the "present day" scenes, but the promise of the heartbreak, adventures, and struggles to come is really wonderful. I am even more eager than ever to begin reading the main series. I know Kristy has put a lot of thought into the universe, and I am excited about "diving in." :-)

Purchase the series by following the links below:
Waiting for Gideon
The Kiss that Killed Me
The Kiss that Saved Me
The Kiss that Changed Me

Transient Echoes by J.N. Cheney

Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5

Mae and John thought Terry died when the Ortego building was destroyed. Mae gets the opportunity to go back to the site a few years later, having convinced the brass that she wants to recover some of the technology. She really wants to find out what happened to Terry. John, who is in the military, comes to join her where she and her team are camping. Will they be able to find out what happened to Terry before the project gets shut down?
Meanwhile, on an unknown planet, Terry is struggling daily to survive. He is in an alien place with alien food, plants, and wildlife. He discovers the ruins of some sort of civilization, but no people. He wonders if variant killed this planet as well. Will he be able to survive this place? Will he ever have any hope of getting home?

The sections in this book about Terry's adventures on the unknown world were what made this book phenomenal. The author did a great job of creating an alien world with its own unique elements.
I was less impressed with the sections about Mae and John. In particular, they are supposed to be dating, but we don't get to see any romance or much of anything between them. They are almost the same as in the first book. Mae just has more authority and training. Their tireless efforts to get to the anomaly in the basement of the Ortego building are important, but they are not as exciting as what is going on with Terry. It's still an excellent book!

Purchase the series using the links below:
Book 1: The Amber Project
Book 2: Transient Echoes
Book 3: Hope Everlasting
Book 4: The Vernal Memory

The Turning by Phil Price

Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Rating: 5/5

Jake and Katherine are living in a new home and have a new baby girl. Jake's parents have moved closer to him, and they are all hoping to live their lives in peace. The danger and adventures from Lickey Hills and Amatoll Forest are just memories now- or so they think. Unfortunately, Elias is not done with them yet. He comes back to wreak havoc and stir up their lives. Jake has more to lose now than ever, and he is thrust back into the mayhem.

Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that this book was a ride! I felt like the beginning of this story was a bit more stable than that of the first book (Not as much jumping around with characters and time periods.) It's not a mystery - it's a thriller. Since the characters are established, we get a more in depth look at them. The interactions with Jake and his family were just great. We also get to see a few different kinds of people in Amatoll (the Cravens and the evil evil people on an island that even Elias wants to stay away from). The forests have continued to mutate and are now filled with ghosts and wraiths. Jake is more knowledgeable about what needs to be done with the vampires now, but they also know what he is capable of. It's not about Korgan anymore, it's about revenge.

I loved this book, and I can't wait for the last in the series!

Purchase the books in the series here:

Book 1: Unknown
Book 2: The Turning
Book 3: (Coming Soon!)

The World Between the Trees by C Freeland

Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

Jake and Ryan have visited their special spot in the forest often as children. They know that it's a unique and wonderful place, but they don't know how special it is. Years later, it's been forgotten by Ryan, even though Jake has asked his brother to return with him. When Jake goes missing, the family is beside themselves with grief, thinking that they will never see him again. One day, someone shows up at their doorstep, claiming that Jake has sent him to find Ryan. Ryan and Shiloh, the boys' Jake and Ryan have visited their special spot in the forest often as children. They know that it's a unique and wonderful place, but they don't know how special it is. Years later, it's been forgotten by Ryan, even though Jake has asked his brother to return with him. When Jake goes missing, the family is beside themselves with grief, thinking that they will never see him again. One day, someone shows up at their doorstep, claiming that Jake has sent him to find Ryan. Ryan and Shiloh, the boys' best friend, decide to follow the strange tall man into the forest, thinking that the risk is worth a shot if they can find Jake. Where has Jake gone? Is this strange ethereal place they visited as children real or just part of Jake's and Ryan's imagination? When Ryan and Shiloh pass over to the other world, they are immediately thrown into a thrilling adventure with witches, shape-shifters, giants, and more. They must be careful who they trust, and they must do all they can to fight the evil that is spreading throughout this new world. First of all, this book is incredibly well written! It really drew me in from page one. I read a lot of books, and I will just say that this author is very talented. There are wonderful descriptions throughout the book that help paint a beautiful picture. The characters are genuine. The universe is well thought out. I can see this author really going places - I was so super impressed! This is an awesome piece of literature. I would highly recommend it to anyone! There is a lot more that could be done with this universe (I am hoping to see more books after this, but even if it's not turned into a series, this is an author to watch. I might just be one-clicking all of her books!) (

Unknown by Phil Price

Genre: Paranormal/Mystery
Rating: 5/5

Around the world, in different time periods, people are going missing. Jake Stevenson, who has just lost his wife and child, becomes involved in an investigation concerning several of the missing people - most notably a man named Guzman whose fingerprints have been found at the scene of a violent murder. The only problem is, Guzman would be over 80 years old now. As Jake delves more into the mystery, he is transported to another world with creatures he never knew existed. There is a lot that goe Around the world, in different time periods, people are going missing. Jake Stevenson, who has just lost his wife and child, becomes involved in an investigation concerning several of the missing people - most notably a man named Guzman whose fingerprints have been found at the scene of a violent murder. The only problem is, Guzman would be over 80 years old now. As Jake delves more into the mystery, he is transported to another world with creatures he never knew existed. There is a lot that goes on in this book, especially in the beginning. It is a little confusing and hard to piece together until you get a few chapters in. At that point, it becomes clear that there are many seemingly unrelated things that tie together. There are lots of characters and lots of points of view, but the character development is still great. The supernatural elements are well thought out, and there is plenty of intrigue, suspense, and horror. Despite the fact that my time is so limited, I found myself thinking about this book a lot and wanting to sit down and read it. I actually read it semi-simultaneously with the second book, The Turning, and it ended up being ok! (Some spoilers but not anything too bad). Great job, Mr. Price! Purchase the series by clicking on the links below: Book 1: Unknown Book 2: The Turning Book 3: (Coming Soon!)

Host by Erin Lee

At the end of Alters, Lola is out of Rosewood, thinking that her alters have merged into one personality. She misses them, but she is in the process of trying to move on with her life outside of the mental institution. In Host, she wakes up one day with foggy memories of one of her alters (Clare) having resurfaced. They only tricked her into believing that they merged. They now want to experience life outside Rosewood to the fullest...
In this installment, Lola and her alters have a larger variety of experiences. She gets reacquainted with her family, and she learns about the Internet and all it has to offer. Her experience is so disjointed because all of the alters are eager to get their turn in the real world. Lola is more confident, but she is also confused and fearful that her family and her doctors will discover that her alters did not merge and send her back to Rosewood.
The experiences of the alters when they take turns controlling Lola's body are quite heartbreaking. Since two of the alters are male, this causes some nasty name-calling and even some physical abuse at one point. Other people whom she or the alters confide in treat her like a "freak" in some instances. She does have several people who are truly kind and supportive, which is really wonderful. There are some revelations about her family in this book that put things in an entirely different perspective as well.
In this book, where Lola is "free" for the first time in 30 years, we see more how people with mental illnesses are received, and it is truly heartbreaking. This is a wonderful series, and I look forward to the next installment!

Purchase the books in this series by following the links below:
Book 1: Alters
Book 2: Host (Coming August 26)
Book 3: Merge (Coming September 9)

Alters by Erin Lee

Lola has 7 other people sharing her body. As a woman living with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), Lola's alters take turns controlling her (the Host's) body. She has been in a mental health facility for around thirty years, and she remembers only bits and pieces. These personalities are not figments of her imagination; they are real people trapped inside of her with their own memories, thought processes, desires, and ideas. The personalities have meetings and eventually decide that they have to get Lola out of Rosewood at any cost...

Before I read this book, I knew almost nothing about DID. I knew the disorder only by the old name: Multiple Personality Disorder. This book was truly educational for me because (and I am ashamed to admit this) before this book, if someone were to have told me that they had multiple people living inside of them, or they said they were someone else one day, I would immediately have written them off as insane and not taken them seriously at all. It blows my mind that this actually happens to people. The psychology behind it makes sense - a new personality can be born during a traumatic time to help the host cope.
The detail of this book is one of the things that makes it so great. The personalities literally talk about how much physical space inside of Lola's body that they have to move around in. They theorize about why they are there (reincarnation?) and they wonder about what will happen if they merge into one personality. They keep secrets from one another. They interact in such a believable and organic way. There's not just a whole lot of actual action that happens - it's mostly conversations within Lola's mind. But it's truly fascinating. They are real!
This book will stretch your mind!
As others have pointed out, it's not a particularly short book, but it feels short because it really draws you in. Well worth the read for anyone of almost any age! Well done, Erin Lee!

Purchase this book (and the other two in the series) by clicking on these links: (Not an affiliate link :-) )

Book 2 - Host (Coming August 26)_
Book 3 - Merge (Coming September 9)