NetGalley Month Wrap Up Post

Emily over at Red House Books declared July NetGalley Month. For those who don't know what netGalley is I suggest you go to the website right now and check it out because it is the greatest thing ever!

Emily created an awesome challenge where you had to try to read as many netGalley books in July as you could. This was perfect for me as I had a huge backlog of netGalley books to read.

Now that July is over it's time to take stock and see how I did.

I managed to read seven netgalley books, which is one more than last time but no where near as many as I wanted to read. Oh well there's always October.

Here they all are:

The Beginning of After - Jennifer Castle
Tris & Izzie - Mette Ivie Harrison
Luck of the Devil - Patricia Eimer
Pregnant Pause - Han Nolan
Good Girls Don't - Victoria Dahl
Never Eighteen - Megan Bostic
Yours To Keep - Shannon Stacey

I was hoping to link to the reviews but I haven't had time to write any yet hopefully I'll start next week.

That's all for now.

July is NetGalley Month!

Emily at Red House Books has declared July NetGalley Month! For those who don't know what NetGalley is I suggest you go to the website right now and check it out because it is the greatest thing ever!

Emily created an awesome challenge back in April where you try to read as many NetGalley books in a month as you can. She is doing it all over again this month and I am definitely going to be taking part as I have a huge backlog of NetGalley books to read.

Check out this post to learn more, she is generously offering prizes too!

I have no idea how many I am actually going to be able to read but I am going to give it my best shot. Making it a challenge always gives me an added incentive to actually read books so I would like to say a big thank you to Emily for doing this. I'm hoping to at least equal my April total which was six NetGalley books read.

Here's the list of books I have to read:

Whisper Falls - Toni Blake

Queens of All the Earth - Hannah Sternberg

My Favourite Band Does Not Exist - Robert T. Jeschonek

The Vampire Voss - Colleen Gleason

Long Gone - Alafair Burke

Bluefish - Pat Schmatz

A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan

The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

The Vampire Dimitri - Colleen Gleason

Mercy - Rebecca Lim

Spell Bound - Kelley Armstrong

Never Eighteen - Megan Bostic

Pregnant Pause - Han Nolan

The Vampire Narcise - Colleen Gleason

The Girl in the Steel Corset - Kady Cross

68 Knots - Michael Robert Evans

Bite me, Try Me and Fang Me - Parker Blue

The Art of Forgetting - Camille Noe Pagan

Of Dukes and Deceptions - Wendy Soliman

Courting Disaster - Carol Stephenson

A Marriage of Inconvenience - Susanna Fraser

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair - Elizabeth Laird

The Magnolia League - Katie Crouch

The Near Witch - Victoria Schwab

Queen of the Dead - Stacey Kade

Phoenix Rising - Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz

Ultraviolet- R.J. Anderson

Misfit - Jon Skovron

Flyaway - Helen Landalf

Wisdom's Kiss - Catherine Gilbert Murdock

The Inquisitor's Apprentice - Chris Moriarty

Yours To Keep - Stacey Shannon

Ashes - Ilsa J. Bick

Luck of the Devil - Patricia Eimer

The Beginning of After - Jennifer Castle

Tris and Izzie - Mette Ivie Harrison

Wow I have way more to read than I though I did - I have to stop requesting so many.
Things are a little full on in real life at the moment so I haven't been writing as many reviews as I would like but I am really going try this month.

That's all for now.

Review: Die For Me - Amy Plum

I received Die For Me by Amy Plum from netgalley courtesy of HarperCollins.

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent. Mysterious, sexy and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen. Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies...immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

So I'm not going to write anything too spoilery in my review because I went in to this book not really knowing anything more than what's in the summary above and enjoyed it so much more because of it. Let me start by saying that it was super cute and super awesome.

I loved the main characters Kate and Vincent I think they may have made it in to my top ten favourite fictional couples. They seem well suited and I really liked how well Kate took the news about Vincent's deep dark secret. I love all the extra abilities that Kate and Vincent have together it makes there relationship seem meant to be.

I also loved both Kate and Vincent's families, they made the book far more interesting and gave it a lot more depth than if it had just focused on the main couple. Although I am a little wary of Jules because I really don't want this to be a Edward/Bella/Jacob thing - I can't stand love triangles. Kate's relationship with her sister Georgia was one of the highlights of the book, although they still fought like sisters do they had this bond because of what they had been through that meant no matter what happens and no matter what they had been fighting about they would always come through for each other and that was nice to see.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series although it's going to be a long wait I can't wait to find out what's in store for this couple, I'm sure it's not going to be an easy journey for them.

Die For Me is an excellent addition to the YA paranormal romance genre and it's one of my favourites so far this year.

That's all for now.

Review: Dead Is Not An Option - Marlene Perez

I received Dead Is Not An Option by Marlene Perez from netgalley courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

There are four previous books in the Dead Is series Dead Is the New Black, Dead Is a State of Mind, Dead Is So Last Year and Dead Is Just a Rumor all of them are fantastic and the latest Dead Is Not An Option is no exception.

The Dead Is series is about Daisy Giordano and her crazy little town called Nightshade. As the name suggests Nightshade is not your normal town. It is populated with all sorts of paranormal creatures from vampires and werewolves to witches and mermaids. Daisy, her sisters, and their Mother are all psychic and they use their abilities to solve mysteries. Their father was kidnapped by a shadowy group called the Scourge who exist to rid the world of paranormals. Daisy, her family and pretty much all her friends are paranormals so this means they fight the Scourge.

This book centres around a brewing Vampire werewolf fight, Daisy’s boyfriend Ryan is a werewolf and her sister’s boyfriend is a vampire so there is a lot of tension. Running parallel to the mystery aspect of this book is the fact that Daisy has come the end of high school and she must figure out what she is going to do now and what is going to happen with her relationship with Ryan.

Dead is Not an Option flies along at a really fast past as there is so much action which is probably why I read it in one sitting. While there are many different aspects to the story which could make it complicated Marlene Perez makes it very light and easy to read.

I love the fact that everyone is aware of all the mysterious happenings in Nightshade, there are so many other books where everything is kept a secret which makes things unnecessarily difficult, the Dead Is series is not like that. Instead everyone is in on the secret and is willing to help each other out.

I don’t want to give to much away but there is an incident near the end of the book that I did not see coming and if I am being honest the book would have been better with out it. However the incident was used in a way to keep two characters together so I suppose I can live with it.

I didn’t realize going into this book that this is the last book to feature Daisy as the main character, at least I assume it is because it seemed that way in the end. I got the feeling that there maybe other books set in Nightshade with a new lead character, I don’t know for certain but I really hope so.

I recommend you read the first four books in the series before reading this one because a lot of past plot lines are involved in this book. But it would be totally worth your time. This is definitely a series I will be re-reading.

That's all for now.

NetGalley Month Wrap Up Post

Emily over at Red House Books declared April NetGalley Month. For those who don't know what netGalley is I suggest you go to the website right now and check it out because it is the greatest thing ever!

Emily created an awesome challenge where you had to try to read as many netGalley books in April as you could. This was perfect for me as I had a huge backlog of netGalley books to read. Check out this post to learn more, she generously offered prizes too.

Now that April is over it's time to take stock and see how I did.

I managed to read six netGalley books.

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale - Christine Bell
The Dark Enquiry - Deanna Raybourn
Die For Me - Amy Plum
Putting Makeup On Dead People - Jen Violi
Wherever You Go - Heather Davis
Girl Wonder - Alexa Martin

Reviews will be posted as the books are released.

I wanted to read way more than this but I suppose six is OK considering I was reading other books in April too.
Of course I still have a massive backlog of netGalley books to read. I've already started reading The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross. However Emily is going to do this all over again in July so I will for sure be taking part again.

That's all for now.

Review: Girl Wonder - Alexa Martin

I received Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin from netgalley courtesy of Hyperion.

As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.

Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.

But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.

Our main character Charlotte finds herself having to start over at a brand new school, her parents are focused on her getting into a good college but Charlotte has a learning disability relating to math and is struggling to fit in. In an attempt to do this she finds herself doing some pretty out of character things to secure the friendship of Girl Wonder Amanda and the affections of popular guy Neal.

From the beginning it was pretty obvious to me that Amanda and Neal were shady but it was up to Charlotte to figure out this for herself and learn a little in the process.

One of the things Charlotte got involved with was drugs. I didn't really like the drug stuff I actually find any sort of drug taking pretty hard to take. For some reason it makes me feel physically sick when I read about it or see it on the TV and in movies. So that part of the book was pretty uncomfortable but I did appreciate that it was Charlotte's way of trying to keep her new friends and eventually became the reason for her to change.

I admired Charlotte for being able to pull herself out of the mess she had made, she eventually realised where she had been going wrong and with a little help managed to turn it around. Charlotte and Milton, her neighbour, were so cute towards the end of the book this relationship made all the bad in the beginning worthwhile. Charlotte's little brother John Henry also turned out to be a great character too.

I loved the epilogue at the end, I always seem to be a fan of the epilogues. It came in form of a list, it didn't overload you with information but gave you enough to know things ended well. I'm looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.

That's all for now.

Review: My One and Only - Kristan Higgins

I received My One and Only by Kristan Higgins from netgalley courtesy of Harlequin.

Divorce attorney Harper James can't catch a break. Bad enough that she runs into her ex-hubby, Nick, at her sister's destination wedding, but now, by a cruel twist of fate, she's being forced to make a cross-country road trip with him. And her almost-fiancé back at home is not likely to be sympathetic.

Harper can't help that Nick has come blazing back into her life in all of his frustratingly appealing, gorgeous architect glory. But in Nick's eyes, Harper's always been the one. If they can only get it right this time, forever might be waiting—just around the bend.

I have read almost all of Kristan Higgins previous novels and I am a big fan, she writes easy to read funny contemporary romance. I knew I was probably going to like this one before I read it as it combines a few of my favourite things. One of them being where the main characters are separated or divorced and the book is about them getting back together. I have no idea why this is such a big thing for me, my parents are still married so it's not like I have any latent Parent Trap style dreams (although when I first saw the movie I totally wanted my parents to split up so I could create some elaborate plan to get them back together - OK maybe I do have some Parent Trap desires). Plus this book involves a road trip and there is nothing I love more in a book than a road trip!!!

The main characters have a long complex history which we get the to see through some awesome flashbacks. It makes the love story far more realistic if you get to see how it has developed in the past rather than if they have only know each other for a couple of weeks. Harper and Nick's relationship unfolds in the present and the past. My One and Only is a little different from Kristan Higgins previous books, it has a little more edge. Her characters usually have charmed family lives and are pretty upbeat but in this one not so much, both Harper and Nick have unsettled family lives and as a result Harper is very cynical but understandably so, Nick is a bit more positive and the characters play well off of each other.

The secondary characters really make Kristan Higgins books that much more awesome. From Harper's hilarious stepmother to her dopey almost fiance, the characters really stand out. I was worried about how Nick and Harper were going to work things out because they both had such different lives and big commitments so I was happy to see the little epilogue at the end which assured me it all works out for them.

I will without a doubt be getting all of Kristan Higgins future books and recommend all her previous ones as they are excellent contemporary romance novels.

That's all for now.

It's NetGalley Month!

Emily at Red House Books has declared April NetGalley Month! For those who don't know what netGalley is I suggest you go to the website right now and check it out because it is the greatest thing ever!

Emily has created an awesome challenge where you try to read as many netGalley books in April as you can. This is perfect for me as I have a huge backlog of netGalley books to read. Check out this post to learn more, she is generously offering prizes too!

I have no idea how many I am actually going to be able to read but I am going to give it my best shot. Making it a challenge always gives me an added incentive to actually read books so I would like to say a big thank you to Emily for doing this.

Here is a list of books I have to read from netGalley:

Whisper Falls - Toni Blake

Queens of All the Earth - Hannah Sternberg

My Favourite Band Does Not Exist - Robert T. Jeschonek

The Vampire Voss - Colleen Gleason

Long Gone - Alafair Burke

Bluefish - Pat Schmatz

A Long, Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan

Die For Me - Amy Plum

The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

The Vampire Dimitri - Colleen Gleason

Girl Wonder - Alexa Martin

Mercy - Rebecca Lim

Spell Bound - Kelley Armstrong

Never Eighteen - Megan Bostic

Pregnant Pause - Han Nolan

The Vampire Narcise - Colleen Gleason

The Girl in the Steel Corset - Kady Cross

68 Knots - Michael Robert Evans

Bite me, Try Me and Fang Me - Parker Blue

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale - Christine Bell

The Art of Forgetting - Camille Noe Pagan

Ha I totally didn't realize I had that many to read. I'm hoping it will be easier now the Kindle option is back up though. And I am going to try very very hard not to request anything else, unless I really really want it, during April.

I will of course be writing reviews for these books but I won't be posting them until the actual book is released. I will however be writing a wrap up post at the end of April to tell you all how I did.

That's all for now.

Review: Dangerous Secrets - Katie Reus

I received Dangerous Secrets by Katie Reus from netgalley courtesy of Carina Press.

Isabelle Ballantine has been fighting for independence since she was old enough to walk. Now that she's finally out from under her father's shadow, she won't let anyone stand in her way. It's tough living on her own, working in a bar and keeping her true identity a secret, but things start to look up when a sexy new stranger walks into her life. After working side by side for weeks, Izzy can't figure out why he won't make a move... To cinch the deal of a lifetime, Adam Marcellus agrees to help Izzy's eccentric father convince his daughter to move home. He'd assumed Izzy would be another spoiled rich princess, but he's surprised to discover his feelings for her are stronger than anything he's ever experienced. When a deranged stalker targets her, Adam finds himself fighting not only an unknown threat—but an unexpected attraction to the one woman he can't have...

I am a big fan of romantic suspense and Dangerous Secrets was no exception, it's a fast paced exciting read. Izzy is a millionaires daughter who has moved away from her overbearing father. Adam is the security guy said overbearing father has employed to get her to move back. Of course they fall for each other and just forget to mention who they really are. Add in a twisted serial rapist that has fixed his sights on Izzy and you have classic romantic suspense.

This is one of those books where you are literally shouting at the characters to tell the truth. I know I know there would be no story if everything was out in the open but it's still frustrating when you know they wouldn't have this big conflict at the end when Izzy finds out the truth if Adam had just been honest a little sooner. But never mind it all turns out good in the end. I liked that the characters break the mould, Izzy although a millionaire's daughter was not a typical rich girl and Adam although ex-special forces was not an over bearing macho-man. And the climax at end where Izzy was trying to get away from the killer was pretty intense.

I will be on the look out for the authors other books when I need a fast paced entertaining read.

That's all for now.

Review: Everything I Was - Corinne Demas

I received Everything I Was by Corinne Demas from netgalley courtesy of Lerner Publishing Group.

"My walls were stripped, and all that was left in the room was a pile of boxes and my mattress propped against the wall."


So begins Irene's journey from an Upper West Side penthouse to--well, she's not entirely sure where. Irene's father, a corporate VP, is "downsized" when his company merges with another. When he can't find work, her family's lifestyle--and her mother's spending--quickly catches up with them. Eventually, they're forced to move in with Irene's grandfather in the family farmhouse upstate. But what begins as the most disastrous summer of Irene's life takes a surprising turn, and Irene must decide what she wants for herself after losing everything she was.

Everything I Was is a very sweet simple story. Irene's father looses his job so she along with her mother and father have to move in with her grandfather on his farm. The great thing about this book was the main character Irene, instead of the usual spoilt New Yorker she was a genuinely lovely character. She knew what she wanted and seemed more mature than most teens her age. I loved how resilient she was and how quickly she adapted to her change in circumstance.

Irene meets and make friends with the Fox Family who I loved. They seemed so welcoming and old fashioned. They put on plays and went on family outings, it kind of reminded me of my siblings and cousins when we were younger it brought back some good memories.

Irene's relationship with her parents becomes very strained throughout the book but the ending was perfect, Irene fought for what she wanted and in the end she got it. I will be looking out for more of Corinne Demas's books in the future.

That's all for now.

Review: The Vespertine - Saundra Mitchell

I received The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell from netgalley courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

It's the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

I've been trying to find the right word to describe this book for a few days now and I think I am going to go with enchanting. I didn't really know to much about The Vespertine before I started reading it so I didn't really know what to expect. I got a little worried at the beginning because the start was very ominous but once I got in to the main part of the book I found myself swept away with the story. I felt the excitement and trepidation Amelia was feeling at being in new surroundings. I felt the giddiness of Amelia and Zora's new friendship and the magnetism Amelia felt to Nathaniel.

The Vespertine was a great mix of historical and paranormal, although it wasn't to heavy on the paranormal just enough to make it interesting. When anyone asks if you could have a superpower what would it be foreseeing the future is up at the top of my list (teleportation being at the very top), The Vespertine however reads like a cautionary tale. The sense of foreboding hangs over every chapter, you just know something bad is going to happen you just don't know what. I wanted to reach into the book and warn Amelia before it was to late.

I usually like my endings straight up happy but I liked the ambiguous aspect of this ending, the possibilities it presented and feeling of hope it left me with. Maybe some of the relationships weren't tied up with a bow but that was OK maybe someday they would be.

I am definitely going to have to dig out her first book, Shadowed Summer, out of my stacks and add it to my tbr pile.

That's all for now.

In My Mailbox 1

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

So here goes my first IMM post - I hope they don't all take as long as this one did.

Books I got this week.

In The Post:

Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead
Blood Promise - Richelle Mead
Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead
Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead
The last book of 2010 that I read was the first in the Vampire Academy series and I have to say it was a great start. I have already begun to read Frostbite, the second book in the series and I wanted to make sure I had the rest of them so there would be no waiting around if I wanted to read them all in one go.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride

I love the title of this book and the description sounds even better.

The Lady Most Likely...: A Novel In Three Parts - Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Connie Brockway
I like both Julia Quinn and Eloisa James historical romance so I am hoping this will be a good read.

Paranormalcy - Kiersten White
My first book for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. Review already up.

My Love Lies Bleeding - Alyxandra Harvey
Out For Blood - Alyxandra Harvey
Blood Feud - Alyxandra Harvey
A vampire series recommended by Kristi from The Story Siren, looking forward to reading them.

Hexbound - Chloe Neill
I have the first novel in this series Firespell but I have yet to read it, hopefully having the second will give me an incentive.

Love And Other Impossible Pursuits - Ayelet Walman
This has been made into a movie staring Natalie Portman - I like to read the books before I see the movies - this usually means I am disappointed in the movies but oh well.

Kiki Strike: Inside The Shadow City - Kirsten Miller
Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb - Kirsten Miller
Looks like a cute series recommended by Leila from Bookshelves of Doom.

Nightshade - Andrea Cremer
I'm not really a werewolf person but loads of bloggers are recommending it so I'll give it a go.

You Against Me - Jenny Downham
I loved her previous book Before I Die so I hope this will be just as good.

Fall For Anything - Courtney Summers
I loved her first novel Cracked Up To Be. I have her second novel, Some Girls Are in my TBR pile and can't wait to read her third.

Nevermore - Kelly Creagh

Beautiful cover and it sounds like a great story.

Across The Universe - Beth Revis
My second book for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. But I think I will wait until next month to read it as I have already read one for this month and I want to spread them out through out the year.

The Lonely Hearts Club - Elizabeth Eulberg
Elizabeth Eulberg has a new novel out called Prom and Prejudice that sounds really great - I love Pride and Prejudice and all things associated - but I figured I should read her first book first to see if I like her style.

My Soul To Take - Rachel Vincent

The start of a new series and another book for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. Maybe March.

XVI - Julia Karr

A 2011 debut dystopian novel. I am not a fan of dystopian novels as they all seem to be about pretty bleak miserable futures but these books are everywhere now so I had better start giving some of them a go.

Angel's Blood - Nalini Singh

It seems that everyone loves Nalini Singh so I thought I would try one of her books.

Kindle:

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever - Julia Quinn
What Happens In London - Julia Quinn

Already have paperback copies but I wanted to re-read them on my Knidle.

Falling In Love With English Boys - Melissa Jensen

Read a review on the Hobbitsies blog and I couldn't resist.

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

One of my favourite books and I got it free on amazon.

Fatal Affair - Marie Force
Fatal Justice - Marie Force

Sounded like a good suspense series looking forward to reading them.

Wish - Alexandra Bullen

Free on amazon.

Moonlight - Rachel Hawthorne

Recommended by The Story Siren.

Netgalley:

I will be reviewing all the books I get from netgalley on my blog in the coming months.

I, Emma Freke - Elizabeth Atkinson
Dead Is Not An Option - Marlena Perez
The Vespertine - Saundra Mitchell
Always A Witch - Carolyn MacCullough
Whisper Falls - Toni Blake

Yeah OK I went a little overboard in the past few weeks it won't usually be like this but what with starting the new blog and getting my Kindle I just had to get a few books.

That's all for now.

I, Emma Freke - Elizabeth Atkinson

I recently joined netgalley where you can read and review upcoming or recently published books. I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson was the first book I have received from them courtesy of the Lerner Publishing Group. I requested this book because it sounded light and fun and I really wanted to read the story of a girl named Am A Freak.

I, Emma Freke is the story of a girl who feels that she does not fit in and her journey to try find a place where she does. Emma is very tall, very bright and has very few friends. This, she feels, makes her a freak. Her mother is completely hopeless and Emma pretty much has to fend for herself. This involves running her mothers shop almost single handedly, attempting to home school herself and most importantly going to a family reunion. The Freke family, her fathers family whom she has never met before, are not what I was expecting and I found the whole reunion very strange at first and then very funny when I finally realised what was going on. Whilst at the family reunion Emma finally finds what she has been looking for, she learns a few lessons about being herself and not letting it matter quite so much if you don’t fit in.

I am 26 and this is a book about a 12 year old, usually this would bother me because I don't really like reading books about characters this young but in this case I found myself enjoying the story so much that character age became irrelevant. Emma did not give the impression of being someone so young, she seemed much older I think due to her home life and the responsibilities she had. In fact I found that her mother and grandfather seemed to fit the role of children more than Emma did.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this novel was Emma's best friend Penelope she was cute, bright and completely fearless. In fact I liked Penelope so much that it would be great if she could have her own book, she had a very interesting back story and home life that would be good to see more of.

Overall I thought this was a great book with a great message for readers of all ages.

That's all for now.