Burner by Robert Ford REVIEW

Summery:

It's terrifying how quickly everything can be taken away from you. Iris learns this agonizing lesson in the blink of an eye. Her future dreams. Her past life. Everything gone in a storm of pain. But this pain is only the beginning.

Audrey had the perfect life. Great husband, beautiful daughter, lots of money. Except her husband isn't the man she thought she was. Her dead husband's burner was bad. The polaroids were worse. But the secrets she uncovers next set her entire world on fire.

Two women's lives intersect because of one man's actions. The transformation is pristine, and beautiful, and filled with pain. Sometimes the scars are on the inside.

My Thoughts:

Audrey's husband is in the hospital for a stroke, and as soon as he wakes up and sees her beside him, he apologizes. Before she can ask why he's apologizing, he gets a second stroke that's much worse and takes his life. Audrey is stricken with grief, and doesn't know when to tell her daughter, who is on a vacation with friends. So she calls his work instead - only to find out that he never worked there. Upon going into his office, she opens his locked drawer and finds a burner phone - and a disturbing text offer. She also finds a secret safe with money and disgusting polaroids. But those aren't the worst she finds, as going into the locked barn, Audrey discovers a woman chained up - naked with burns all over her body. As she struggles to come to terms with the man she thought she knew, we also hear the girl's tragic story - and what she becomes.

This book was extremely well written and intriguing to read. The chapters switch from point of views between Audrey and Iris, as well as past and present. The subject matter is horrifying as Audrey learns her late husband was involved in a human trafficking ring. The characters feel very real and sympathetic, even though they don't always make the right choices. The only issue I had with the book was the ending. It ended pretty suddenly with no mention or update on Audrey's daughter's condition or what happened after she ran in with Iris. I would recommend reading this, but definitely check your trigger warnings with this one.

My Rating: 5 stars 

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner REVIEW

Summery:

When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school's Family Weekend, she isn't looking for a hookup - it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around, and her friend drags her along to meet her mom - the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.

Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not to have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn't known Cassie was a student when they'd met. To make things worse, Erin's daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin's better judgement - how could sleeping with your daughter's friend be anything but bad? - she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.

What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?

My Thoughts:

This was my first time reading contemporary romance, and I absolutely devoured it. The writing and pacing was well done and the characters felt like real people. The college students felt like actual college students, and Erin felt like an actual mom. You can feel the chemistry between Cassie and Erin - and it doesn't seem at all forced. They expect a one-night stand, but it turns into something else over time. Cassie and Erin don't fall in love immediately, it happens over time. It takes Cassie even longer to realize her feelings because of how terrible her previous relationship was and the fact that it's with her friend's mom. Parker, Erin's daughter, felt real too. She didn't accept the truth right away, instead distancing herself from Cassie to collect her feelings. Parker eventually accepts it and pushes them together, but it doesn't happen instantly. Acacia is Cassie's other friend who she had known since childhood. She is the one Cassie goes to about the situation, and she does her best to give advice.

This book had me laughing out loud and blushing. I would definitely recommend giving this one a read, especially if it's your first time trying out contemporary romance.

My Rating: 5 stars 

Summer Never Ends by Judith Sonnet REVIEW

Summary:

Tanner thought church camp would be boring. That this summer would be forgettable, uneventful, and lifeless. Then, he was surprised to make two friends, both of whom shared his interests and anxieties.

Together, maybe the three of them have a chance of surviving this long, hot summer . . .

But all is not what it seems at Creston Camps. Deep in the woods, there is an abandoned cabin. Inside of it lies a dark, wicked secret. A human evil that will shock Tanner and his friends to their souls . . .

Summer never ends this year. It only gets worse . . .

My Thoughts:

As someone who was raised religious and is no longer religious, this book made me feel something. Tanner is not willingly going to church camp - his parents are forcing him. He's questioning whether he actually believes in God. When he sees a familiar face at camp, and is introduced to another, Tanner thinks that maybe summer could be fun. They show him an old, abandoned cabin - but the cabin isn't in the same shape it was when they discovered it. One of the camp kids is tied up in a chair.

I really like the theme that is present - religious hypocrisy. Of course, in this book the example is extreme, but it's still a huge issue today. I will never hear "God doesn't/never makes mistakes" the same again. I really liked the backstory into why this was all happening, and the only critique I have is that the main character isn't really developed. It made it a lot harder to care about what happens in the novella. Overall, I would recommend reading this.

My Rating:  

Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan REVIEW

Summary:

In the land of the dead, Queen Hades' word is law. Hades gets what she wants - always - and what she wants is a certain goddess of the springtime.

Innocent Persephone chafes beneath her mother's hawkish gaze and mercurial temper. Demeter has rebuffed all her daughter's suitors, but she is not yet satisfied; she strives to crush Persephone's spirit.

Still, when Hades pulls her into the dark realm of the underworld, Persephone longs for the world above, even if it means an eternity under her mother's thumb.

With her tears and pleas for freedom ignored by pitiless Hades, Persephone must learn to satisfy her keeper in all ways, lest she suffer the consequences.

And though she cannot deny that something blooms within her, something forbidden, Persephone despairs of ever feeling the sun upon her skin once more.

No matter the cost, Hades intends to keep her. Forever.

My Thoughts:

Persephone is kept under her mother's thumb, unable to escape her ruling or her temper. When she meets Hades at a party, she thinks nothing of it. But after an explosive fight with Demeter, Persephone finds herself kidnapped and brought into the underworld to be Hades' bride. She hates Hades, and longs to go back to the world above to be one with nature. But Persephone starts to find herself starting to like Hades against her will. And even her mother cannot break her again.

I really like the author's writing style for this book. It is very beautifully written, and drew me in on the first page. Since this is a retelling of the Greek myth, there is a lot of darker content, including abuse and assault. I think that the author handled it well by not romanticizing these things like others have done. The biggest issue I have with this novel is that the only well-rounded characters are Hades and Persephone. Every other character, even the important ones, seem very one-dimensional. I can understand some of them being underdeveloped, but it weakens the story when so many of them are.

My Rating: 3 stars  

The Dead Children's Playground by James Kaine REVIEW

Summary:

Kylie Macklin is eager to live a normal life. Freshly moved from Florida to Alabama and finally in remission from cancer, the optimistic nine-year-old is used to dodging her overprotective mom's warnings. So when a new playmate invites her to hang out, the happy girl thinks nothing of the playground being located in a graveyard for young victims of the Spanish Flu . . . and a local serial killer.

Kayla Macklin hates starting over. Forced to relocate after her little sister's recovery, the sullen nineteen-year-old despises her new home more when she sees a terrifying vision in the nearby crypt. And as kids around town start to fall gravely ill, she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.

Tormented by a frightening specter's ever-closer appearances, Kylie turns to her older sibling for help. But as Kayla digs into the history of the haunted ground, the twisted truths she discovers hint at a bloodthirst that can never be sated.

My Thoughts:

This was a really fun read. Kayla is at odds with her mother, who spends more time worrying about Kylie. While she understands why, she is still resentful about feeling ignored. However, you can tell she genuinely loves her little sister and will do anything for her. Kayla is the first person to believe Kylie when she reveals her ghost encounters. Since she isn't going to college, her parents tell her to get a job. She strikes an unexpected friendship with Desiree, her coworker, and meets her friends Jasmine and Ben, as well as Jasmine's grandmother Ethel.

Kylie is immediately befriended by a girl named Emily, who invites her to play at the nearby playground. But the more Kylie is around the girl, she becomes more and more unsettled. When her new friend Drew becomes sick and dies, Kylie enlists the help of her sister and friends to figure out what is really happening, and how to stop it.

This was a fun and fast read. Most of the characters were really well developed and felt like real people. One of the few things I didn't like was how little Ethel was in the book, even though she turned out to be a pretty important character. The only other gripe with this book is the ending, which seemed very unnecessary. ***SPOILERS*** Kylie's cancer comes back and she dies, which was contradictory to the demon's reasoning to why it wanted her as a host. It didn't make any sense in that context.

Overall, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.

My Rating: 4 stars