Shut Up & Read

About the Author: Jeffe Kennedy took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Since then, an erotic short, Feeding the Vampire, and another erotic novella, Sapphire, have hit the shelves. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training.  Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Author.Jeffe.Kennedy and Twitter ( @jeffekennedy ) or visit her at her website http://jeffekennedy.com/ . See my interview with Jeffe Kennedy Title: Sapphire Series: Book 1 Facets of Passion Author: ...

That First Kiss by J.C. Valentine My rating: 4 of 5 stars That First Kiss is a fun, sexy story full of humor and emotional ups and downs. Piper is in desperate need of a job, and after landing her last hope she goes out with the girls to celebrate. A few drinks and a hot and heavy encounter with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome later, Piper is ready to get serious about her new career. That is until she walks in on her first day to find her new boss is Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. I liked Piper a lot. She was strong willed, confident, stubborn and not afraid to tell off Tate when he got out of line. She knew what she wanted out of life and was not afraid to go after it. Tate was completely charming and sexy when he wanted to be and a complete jerk the rest of the time. He was demanding and kept everyone at a distance. But when you get them together, watch out! I loved the interactions between Tate and Piper. They had definite chemistry from first site. Their working rel...

Title: The Outside Series: The Hallowed Ones, book 2 Author: Laura Bickle Genre: Paranormal YA Publisher: Harcourt Date of Publication: September 3, 2013 Number of Pages: 320 Cover Artist: Shane Rebenschied Book Description: One girl. One road. One chance to save what remains… After a plague of vampires is unleashed in the world, Katie is kicked out of her Amish community for her refusal to adhere to the new rules of survival. Now in exile, she enters an outside world of unspeakable violence with only her two “English” friends and a horse by her side. Together they seek answers and other survivors—but each sunset brings the threat of vampire attack, and each sunrise the threat of starvation. And yet through this darkness come the shining ones: luminescent men and women with the power to deflect vampires and survive the night. But can these new people be trusted, and are they even people at all? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, it’s up to one Amish girl ...

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle My rating: 5 of 5 stars Growing up in an Amish community, Katie is looking forward to Rumspringa for a real taste of the Outside world. Her and childhood friend Elijah have everything planned out that they want to do before going back to the Plain community to give up their childhood ways and get married. But a series of strange events send Katie's life into an uncontrolled spiral. Strange things are happening, people are disappearing, and Katie must decide if she should trust herself and do what is right or listen to the Elders and ignore everything, hoping it will go away. As you can see from my five-star rating, I really, really liked this book. Katie is not fearless, but despite her fear she does what she believes is right. Throughout the story she is constantly searching for something to justify or confirm her community's faith. She realizes that she is not perfect, which makes her feel guilty, but she can't help but quest...

Silencing Joy by Amy Rachiele My rating: 5 of 5 stars Being a fan of Amy Rachiele's previous work, I went into Silencing Joy with high expectations. I was definitely not disappointed. Silencing Joy is an intriguing, complicated story. Through most of the story you have no idea who you should really be trusting and who is double-crossing. The good guys seem trustworthy, but then something happens to make you question them. It definitely makes you want to keep reading! Joy is an art student, a photographer, who normally stays out of the spotlight and keeps people at a distance. After witnessing something she was not meant to see, Joy goes home feeling shaken but determined to put it behind her and forget it - until a few nights later when she returns home to find someone in her apartment. Now on the run for her life and not knowing who she can trust, Joy's world is flipped upsidedown and she is introduced to a whole new scene she never wanted any part of. Each of ...

Jake by Michael Cargill My rating: 3 of 5 stars Jake is just an ordinary boy who wants to be liked. This sentence sums up Jake pretty well. The story of Jake is the story of a pretty ordinary teenage boy going through his ordinary day to day life. I think that is what makes this book interesting, the fact that Jake is just like the kid next door…or just like you. He has a good home, a nice life, and satisfying friendships. He is not some secret superpower waiting to be discovered – he's just Jake. The characters are well written and believable. Jake's little brother Ben is cute. I think it is hard to write kids and make them credible, but the author is able to do it here. Overall I enjoyed this story, though it was a bit depressing. I guess life is sometimes, though. The beginning was a bit slow for me, but as Jake's story continued things and people's lives started weaving together and created an interesting narrative. View all my reviews

Love Lines by Diana Nixon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Besides being haunted by dreams of the unknown, Eileen was a typical teenager and lives a normal life. Until the day she discovers she is not normal. This story is beautifully written and has a different twist on magic. The reader follows Eileen to Dever, a school where she is to learn about her magic and how to use it. There she meets some new friends as well as learns a lot about herself and her family. I really liked Eileen as the lead character. She was able to handle herself through all the changes her life was taking. Her personality was well balanced, not whiny or weak, yet not all knowing or powerful either. I enjoyed the addition her friends brought to the story as well. Amanda, Christian, and Evan each brought their own personalities to the story and made it come to life. The romance to the story was great as well – Christian and Eileen had definite chemistry from their very first meeting. Overall, this b...