Review: Hexed by Michelle Krys

Title: Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1)
Author: Michelle Krys
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)
Acquired Via: NetGalley
Release Date: June 10, 2014
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

My Review

I decided to pick up Hexed because I had been reading some lengthy epic fantasies and urban fantasies and wanted a lighter young adult fantasy. And that is exactly what I got with Hexed. I had a lot of fun while reading Hexed and it was a very quick read. It wasn’t the most poignant, issue driven book in the world, but I enjoyed it.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Read So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I Have Read So Far This Year


1. Scarlet (Scarlet #1) by A.C. Gaughen
This is definitely the best book I've read so far this year, especially considering I almost didn't read it. To get over the dialect, I listened to the audiobook, and the book is just amazing. You can read my review HERE



2. Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity #1) by Elizabeth Wein
This was such a great story of friendship set against the background of World War II.

Cover Reveal: A Beauty So Beastly by RaShelle Workman

Title: A Beauty So Beastly (The Beastly Series, #1)
Author: RaShelle Workman
Publisher: Polished Pen Press
Cover Reveal Organizer: Blog Tours by Elana
Release Date: July 3, 2014
“For your vanity, your cruelty, and your cold unfeeling heart, a curse I leave upon you...”

What happens if the beauty is also the beast?

The stunning Beatrice Cavanaugh is considered American royalty. She has everything except the ability to love. Cursed on her eighteenth birthday, she becomes more beastly than ever, having a newfound craving for raw meat, and an undeniable yearning for the night. Bitterness is her only companion.

After accusing a maid of stealing, a disgustingly kind and exquisitely handsome guy named Adam shows up asking Beatrice to drop the charges against his mother.

Infuriated by his goodness, Beatrice vows to break him. Destroy him. Make him hurt the way she hurts. So she agrees. On one condition: Adam must take his mother’s place as a servant in the mansion.

Because Beatrice won’t stop until he’s more beastly than she is.

*Special Note*
A Beauty So Beastly will be available for 99 cents until its release date on July 3rd! Then it'll go up to $2.99. So pre-order on Amazon now!




About the Author

Blog Tour (Review): The Heiresses by Sara Shepard

Title: The Heiresses
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
You know the Saybrooks. Everyone does. Perhaps you've read a profile of them in People or have seen their pictures in the society pages of Vogue. Perhaps while walking along that choice block on Fifth Avenue, you've been tempted to enter the ornate limestone building with their family name etched into the pediment above the door.

The only thing more flawless than a Saybrook's diamond solitaire is the family behind the jewelry empire. Beauties, entrepreneurs, debutantes, and style mavens, they are the epitome of New York City's high society. But being a Saybrook comes at a price—they are heirs not only to a dizzying fortune but also to a decades-old family curse.

Tragedy strikes the prominent family yet again when thirty-four-year-old Poppy, the most exquisite Saybrook of them all, flings herself from the window of her TriBeCa office. Everyone is shocked that a woman who had it all would end her own life. Then her cousins receive an ominous threat: one heiress down, four to go.

Was it suicide . . . or murder? In the aftermath of the tragedy, the remaining heiresses—Corinne, the perfectionist; Rowan, the workaholic; Aster, the hedonist; and Natasha, the enigma—wrestle with feelings of sadness, guilt, and, most of all, fear. Now they must uncover the truth about their family before they lose the only thing money can't buy: their lives.

The Heiresses is a whip-smart mystery that simmers with the wicked sense of humor and intrigue that made Sara Shepard's number one New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series a must-read, must-watch phenomenon.

My Review

Oh dear Bob, The Heiresses... What can I say? I've never read anything by Shepard before, but I was sold on the premise alone. (I found out the author's bio and stuff later.) Was it what I expected? Oh yes, and so much more. Drama, betrayal, mystery, and hot mess fills this book as well as any daytime soap opera or copy of Star. The Heiresses is delicious, delicious trash, and I loved every second of it.

Waiting on Wednesday (57): Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Boneseeker
Author: Brynn Chapman
Publisher: Month9Books
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Arabella Holmes was born different and raised different. After it became apparent she wouldn't fit the role of a proper 1900's lady, her father, Sherlock, called in some lingering favors, and landed her a position at the Mutter Museum. The museum was Arabella's dream; she was to become a purveyor of abnormal science. What her father called a BoneSeeker.

Henry Watson arrives at the Mutter Museum with a double assignment--to become a finder of abnormal antiquities and to watch over and keep Arabella Holmes. An easy task, if he could only get her to speak to him instead of throwing knives in his general direction.

But this is no time for child's play. The two teens are assigned to a most secret exploration, when the hand of a Nephilim is unearthed in upstate New York. Soon, Arabella and Henry are caught in a fight for their lives as scientific debate swirls around them. Are the bones from a Neanderthal ... or are they living proof of fallen angels, who supposedly mated with humans according to ancient scrolls?

Sent to recover the skeleton, they discover they are the second team to have been deployed and the entire first team is dead. And now they must trust their instincts and rely on one another in order to survive and uncover the truth.


First, I just love the cover - so creepy noir! Plus, the book sounds like it was written for me to love it. Girl that doesn't fit in (and is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes, I think) lands a job in a museum, only to become involved in a paranormal mystery. When I saw it was only $3.99 on Kindle, I immediately hit "pre-order".

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Publisher: Roaring Book Press (Macmillan)
Acquired Via: Publisher
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback, Brandon Fitzsimmons, dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice. Ask anybody.

Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the "slut stall" in the girls' bathroom: "Alice had sex in exchange for math test answers" and "Alice got an abortion last semester." After Brandon dies, the rumors start to spiral out of control. In this remarkable debut novel, four Healy High students tell all they "know" about Alice--and in doing so reveal their own secrets and motivations, painting a raw look at the realities of teen life. But in this novel from Jennifer Mathieu, exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there's only one person to ask: Alice herself.

My Review

First things first, I want to disclose that I've been past my teenage years longer than I was a teenager. Therefore, Jennifer Mathieu's debut, The Truth About Alice, didn't really affect me greatly like most of the reviews that I've seen. Or maybe it was because I went to school in a small town like Healy with a bunch of catty people and found myself just saying, "Yep, that's pretty much what happens." However, the longer it took me to write this review, the more I "got" the novel.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Be in Your Beach Bag

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books That Should Be in Your Beach Bag


1. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
A light YA contemporary set on the beach - perfect beach read. Almost any Sarah Dessen book is the perfect beach read, but I picked this one just because it is set on the beach.



2. One for the Money (Stephanie Plum #1) by Janet Evanovich
Light, hilarious with a touch of mystery. Plus, Lorelei King is one of the best narrators, and I can't imagine reading this series any other way.

Blog Tour (Review): The Runaway Highlander by R.L. Syme

Title: The Runaway Highlander (Highland Renegades #2)
Author: R.L. Syme
Acquired Via: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Release Date: April 16, 2014
Anne de Cheyne has a choice. She can play the dutiful daughter and allow her mother to sell her to a greasy English sheriff, or she can take control of her own life and find her own match. After a frightening run-in with her promised husband reveals a dark secret, she makes a desperate choice. Flight.

Aedan Donne needs easy money and no-questions-asked. When Milene de Cheyne offers him enough to pay all debts, requests complete silence, and pays half up front, just for a simple recovery, he can't believe his luck… until he meets his mark. Anne’s beauty and passion ignite something Aedan can’t ignore, even as she leaves him in the dust. Suddenly, he finds himself wanting to capture the runaway Highland lady for himself.

My Review

The Runaway Highlander is R.L. Syme's second book in her The Highland Renegades series, though the first that I've read. Even so, I don't feel like I missed too much, and I enjoyed the novel. The main character, Anne, is a spunky, headstrong heroine that is so common and adored in historical fiction. Her sweetness is what hooked me in the novel initially and then kept me invested in the book. I also enjoyed the interaction between Aedan and Anne quite a bit.