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Another Throwback Review, this time from February 2012. Take a looksie: The Game of Triumphs is a YA urban fantasy by Laura Powell. Fifteen-year-old Cat is on her way home, doing her best to avoid human contact as always, when she can’t help but notice a man being chased – a man that asks for her help. But Cat sees the gleam of excitement in his eyes, along with the fear, and figures he’s just a weirdo. Yet something about it all sparks her curiosity, and Cat can’t seem to help pursuing the situation. Doing so brings her to an extravagant party that introduces her to the Game of Triumphs. It’s a centuries-old game played between modern-day London and an alternate, unexplainable reality called the Arcanum where game players embark on challenges having to do with the tarot cards they are dealt, or the card they are trying to win. It’s all a bit confusing to Cat at first, but the intrigue is undeniable. Not long after becoming involved in this enigmatic game, though...

A Worthy Heart is a Christian historical fiction novel by Susan Anne Mason, also the second book in the Courage to Dream series. Desperately wanting to remove herself from an uncomfortable ended romance, Maggie is gleeful about leaving Ireland to visit her brother and his wife in America. Even if she does, of course, miss her family at home. Hopeful to never have to return to Ireland, Maggie intends on digging her feet in and making something of herself in America – and then she meets Adam O’Leary. Initially she thinks he is just an alluring stable hand, but soon enough she is told that he is the recently released from prison black sheep of the O’Leary family – and her brother Rylan’s brother-in-law. They encourage her to stay far away from him. Yet there is something about him, and a bond that develops between the two, that is impossible for her to ignore – despite everyone’s best efforts to destroy it… A Worthy Heart features many characters and is much ...

The Masque of the Black Tulip is an adult historical novel with a contemporary mashup and the second in the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig. Many years ago I read The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and enjoyed it. I am finally getting interested in continuing the series, which last I checked now has twelve novels and is not done yet!! I would definitely recommend reading The Secret History of the Pink Carnation first, as it introduces the reader to the fictionalized world of flowery espionage in England during the days of the Napoleonic wars. We also first meet our cast of characters in it. Though The Masque of the Black Tulip puts emphasis and focus on a different set of characters, they are within the same family and social circle. So, I still recommend reading it first. Okay, now onto deets of The Masque of the Black Tulip! Having discovered the shockingly delicious identity of the Pink Carnation, modern day graduate student Eloise has even more questions....

Jane and the Barque of Frailty is the ninth in Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen Mystery series. I thoroughly recommend reading this fantastically imagined, Regency whodunit series from the beginning. You would want to start with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor . I’ve been a huge enthusiast of this series from the beginning as a fan of both Jane Austen and mysteries! It’s 1811 in London and Jane Austen is enjoying a month-long visit with her brother Henry and his lively wife Eliza. She’s awaiting publication of her first novel, Sense and Sensibility and spending her free time socializing during the height of the Season. When a mysterious, exiled, lovely Russian princess is found dead outside of the abode of a notorious Tory minister, though – even Jane is surprised. The determination of self-murder does not sit right with Jane, and she is happy to investigate further. What is more surprising, however, is that Jane and Eliza manage to thrust themselves into the ca...

Lying Out Loud is a YA contemporary novel and a companion to The Duff by Kody Keplinger. I have not read The Duff and was able to enjoy Lying Out Loud as it focuses on different characters. It does, however, glimpse into where the characters of The Duff are now – so reading The Duff first would probably be most rewarding. No spoilers in this review, though! Sonny Ardmore has become an excellent liar. From why she’s late to work and school to where her father is – to why she needs to stay at her best friend Amy’s house every night. Sometimes it almost seems like lying is second nature to her at this point. Amy may be the only person who sees through her lies and knows the truth – yet even that is beginning to get foggy. There are some things Sonny does not want to share even with her… Then enters new guy at school: Ryder. Constantly whining about how his pretentious school in D.C. is better than their small-town education and being essentially impossible to befriend – hi...

Across a Star-Swept Sea is a YA sci-fi, dystopian retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Diana Peterfreund. Though this story stands on its own, it brings back characters from Peterfreund’s wonderful For Darkness Shows the Stars – so I personally would recommend reading that first. You can read my review of For Darkness Shows the Stars here – but there will be no spoilers for it in this review, no worries! New Pacifica’s two separate islands are all remaining of the world after centuries of war and destruction. Even the prior horror of the Reduction – a brain disorder that caused many of the wars and left much of the population without fully-functioning minds – is a thing of the past. After all, there is now a cure. Yet on the island of Galatea, there has been a revolution – a revolution against the aristocracy that has morphed into the ultimate revenge. A drug has been created to cause Reduction – and the revolutionaries are forcing anyone who disagrees with them to take i...

Off the Page is a YA contemporary fantasy companion to Between the Lines by mother-daughter writing team Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer. Oliver is about to start his new life as an ordinary teen boy at a new high school. But he’s not an ordinary teen boy. He’s a prince taken from the pages of a fairy tale – and his new life is due to hard-earned freedom to be with the reader he loves, Delilah. In order to do this, he has to fake an American accent and pretend to be Edgar, son to the author of the book he is from. Totally not complicated. At first, Oliver and Delilah delight in their ability to be together – but then real life interferes. Things aren’t as easy as fairy tales. And the real Edgar, who is voluntarily taking Oliver’s place in the fairy tale – which he has now changed to a sort of space adventure meets alien invasion storyline – is finding his new role isn’t as easy as he expected either. Is Happily Ever After possible? Off the Page has full color ill...

As Love Blooms is the third book in The Gregory Sisters Christian historical romance series by Lorna Seilstad. Though each book focuses on a different sister, reading the books out of order potentially spoils you for the other sisters’ romances. I would recommend reading When Love Calls first and then While Love Stirs before As Love Blooms . Click on the titles to be swept away to my reviews of said novels! In 1913 St. Paul, Minnesota, youngest Gregory sister Tessa is determined to put her horticulture education to good use by getting a position at prominent Como Park. When she is rebuffed for being a woman best left to garden at home, Tessa’s persistent, audacious spirit is flamed all the more. With a mixture of a little good hearted deception involving penetrating the affluent and powerful society to drum up financial support for a new conservatory for Como Park and working with a attractive male gardener at the Park to utilize her creative designs, Tessa is sure she can ...

The Madness Underneath is the second book in the urban supernatural YA series Shades of London by Maureen Johnson. I strong recommend reading the books in order – so if you haven’t read The Name of the Star yet, check out my review of that first book here . Final warning to look away if you haven’t read the first book yet… Rory’s move from the American South to a London boarding school didn’t turn out the way she expected it to. Suddenly gaining the ability to see ghosts was startling enough – to then also be nearly killed by a Jack the Ripper copycat was the icing on the horror cake. Yet Rory doesn’t feel like she’s as psychologically damaged as she should be – and when she’s given the opportunity to return to Wexford, she does. But there’s evidence of a new potentially ghost-like string of murders and Rory’s powers have morphed into something stronger since she was nearly murdered… Is she as ready as she thinks she is to take on another dark force? First off, I lo...

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover is the third book in the YA contemporary spy school series Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter. If you haven’t read the first two books, I strongly recommend not reading this review to avoid inevitable spoilers. Got it?!? A visit to Boston to visit one of her best friends Macey during her summer vacation sounds like fun to Cammie. After all, it’s not every girl that gets to watch their best friend’s father campaign to be the next vice president of the United States! Yet what was believed to be a friendly visit turns deadly – not necessarily surprising considering the line of business Cammie and Macey are being groomed for. But this time it is not a test. It’s not a practical exam. It’s real. When a kidnapping attempt leaves Cammie and Macey battered – their best friends Liz and Bex join them to try and figure out who is after Macey and why. Even if the Secret Service wants them nowhere near the investigation… Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cov...

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is the second book in the YA teen spies-in-training series Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter. To avoid any spoilers, you’ll want to have read the first book I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You before you read this review. Deal? Returning to school after having to give up her civilian boyfriend, Josh, Cammie is hoping to be fully distracted by her spy skills training to think of him – or that he is just outside the highly secure walls of the Gallagher Academy. Alas, her troubles with the male gender have not ended it seems. For a long time, there has been supposition that there must be a boy-version of the Gallagher Academy out there somewhere … Then the code name Blackthorne starts being thrown around – during some innocent eavesdropping on her mother the headmistress, ahem – and a wing of the Academy is being prepped for guests – determined after some just-as-innocent reconnaissance. Blamed for security breaches that – t...

Shadow Scale is a YA fantasy novel, and the long awaited follow-up to Seraphina , by Rachel Hartman. Though it is said you could read Shadow Scale without having read Seraphina , I strongly believe you will get far more impact from the sequel if you read the books in order. For my part, I actually re-read Seraphina before reading Shadow Scale – and I’m glad I did! To read my review of Seraphina , click here . Consider avoiding the below review for inevitable spoilers of the first book. Final warning! Seraphina’s secret – that she is half-dragon, half-human – is now known to the kingdom of Goredd at large. It’s something she never expected – but has become an advantage now, as the potential victory in the brewing war may lie in her kind. And she can find them. Locating all of the grotesques from her mind garden appeals to Seraphina – she thinks of them as a family, wants to gather everyone together to be happy and free from the shame that has dogged them since birth. Y...

On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God is the second book in the raucous British YA contemporary Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. For maximum hoots and haws, I recommend reading this series in order – which means starting with Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging . If you haven’t yet read that first hysterical entry in the series – not only do I feel pity for you but I also warn you that this review may include potential spoilers of the first book. You have been warned. Just when Georgia has finally snagged Robbie the Sex God with her wily charms, her Mum announces that they will be joining her father in New Zealand – which may help to prevent Georgia’s Mum from embarking on an affair that she sees all too clearly – but is also very, very bad because she doesn’t want to leave the Sex God and go through snogging withdrawal. Not to mention hot steam apparently shoots out of the ground in New Zealand. Not marvy. With all of that ...

The Hero of Ages is the third novel in the high fantasy Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. This is a highly, highly serialized trilogy – so I strongly recommend you read Mistborn and The Well of Ascension before The Hero of Ages , or even this review of The Hero of Ages . It has been a year since Vin located the legendary Well of Ascension. A year since she made the fateful, selfless decision to free the power that was imprisoned there. A year since she found out that was the wrong choice. Now, earthquakes shake the land, ash pours from the sky heavier than ever and the mists have grown larger, stay longer and are killing people. Vin, Elend and the rest of Kelsier’s crew have overcome the thousand year reign of the Lord Ruler, fought impossible battles and sought freedom for Skaa and Noble alike – but how can they fight this? Shaken and frustrated that the answer they had been seeking at the Well ended up being trickery that only worsened everything – all they can...

The Well of Ascension is the second book in the high fantasy trilogy Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. If you haven’t read Mistborn yet, I would strongly suggest you do not read this review. Instead, go read Mistborn ! Though Vin and her group of thieves-turned-rebels have ended a tyrant government that had been held for a thousand years, the final words of the Lord Ruler haunt Vin. She may not want to believe that the Lord Ruler was holding something even worse back, but she cannot ignore the growing threatening nature of the mists and the figure that is watching her amidst them. Beyond the supernatural concern, Elend’s new freedom-focused government of Luthadel is being confronted with multiple outside armies who’ve decided they’d like to take the kingdom from the young king. Defeating the Lord Ruler was only the beginning… The Well of Ascension was quite something. Just as when I entered into Mistborn , part of me wondered if The Well of Ascension could possibly be w...

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is a YA contemporary humor novel, and the first of the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson , by Louise Rennison. A long time ago I read And Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers , which is the 6th book in this series, as I had won it in a contest. Even though it was smack dab in the middle of the series I was immensely entertained and I am FINALLY getting the chance to read ALL the books in the series in correct order. Georgia is your average fourteen-year-old girl in England – nothing abnormal to see here. Yeah, right. Her cat Angus’s favorite pastime is to round up the neighbors small dogs and terrorize them. Her little three-year-old sister is at times adorable and other times pees in her room. In fact, there could be pee somewhere in her room right now . And, finally, upon deciding her eyebrows were furry terrors, she accidentally shaved them off. Whoops! But then she meets the Sex God – dazzling, older boy that makes her heart a-tremble...

Love Me is the second book in the YA 1930s Hollywood Starstruck series by Rachel Shukert. As this is a highly serialized series, I strongly suggest that you read Starstruck – reviewed in October - before Love Me . Ya hear? If you have yet to read Starstruck , avert your eyes from this synopsis… After becoming an overnight sensation and sparkling movie star, Margaret Frobisher is now truly Margo Sterling. She’s also involved with heartthrob Dane Forrest – someone whose picture was over her bed back in Pasadena not that long ago. Now the issue is not losing it all… Amanda Farraday is nursing a broken heart after her seedy past as Ginger was revealed to Harry Gordon, hotshot screenwriter. She’s sure if she could only talk to him she could convince him that the love they have overcomes her scandalous former life… Popping pills and downing alcohol is getting easier and easier for childhood vaudeville star Gabby. She’s still waiting for her big break after Harry Gordon decided to...

Fox Forever is a YA sci-fi novel – and the third in the Jenna Fox Chronicles – by Mary E. Pearson. Happily, I was able to take the time to re-read The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance before reading Fox Forever . Yet again I was moved and amazed by the originality and characterizations that made both books so stunning. I recommend reading these books in order to get the whole effect – so refrain from reading this review if you haven’t yet read The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance . Locke Jenkins has left the relative comfort of Jenna’s home to live the life he’s been robbed of for the last 260 years – time that Jenna has lived, despite still looking a young seventeen-years-old. But he has a Favor to repay – from the time that he and Kara were escaping from the monstrous Dr. Gatsbro and the Network – those who are on the fringes of society as non-civilians in this futuristic, split United States - helped them. They seem to think Locke would be ...

House of Many Ways is a middle grade/YA fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones and the sequel, of sorts, to Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air . Due to this, I recommend reading the books in order to get the full, fun effect. When Charmain’s great-uncle, the royal wizard of their land, becomes mysteriously ill and is carried off by elves to be tended to, Charmain is volunteered by her wealthy aunt to look after his house in his absence. To Charmain this is an opportunity to read nonstop without pesky, bothersome parents about to disturb her – but she soon discovers that time to read at this unique house may be tougher to come by than she expected. A humble, ordinary dwelling on the outside, Charmain’s great-uncle’s residence is a wonder from the inside – with the ability to bend space and time. There’s also a clingy, stray dog in residence that may or may not be magical and an inconvenient arrival of a clumsy wizard’s apprentice. To top all of this off, Charmain becomes...

Castle in the Air is a middle grade/YA fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones. It’s also a companion to Howls Moving Castle . To keep from being spoiled at all on Howl’s Moving Castle – I recommend you read it first. You can read my review here . Young carpet merchant Abdullah makes smart buying decisions and spends his free time with his friend Jamal and Jamal’s people-hating-except-for-Jamal-and-Abdullah dog. He also spends a lot of his time dreaming. When one day a mysterious man sells him a persnickety magic carpet, things begin to get complicated. That very same night, Abdullah awakens to find himself in his imagined palace garden and meets girl just like the one he’d daydreamed about – she is a princess and her name is Flower-in-the-Night. Just as Abdullah begins to think all of his dreams are coming true – Flower-in-the-Night is kidnapped by a wicked djinn. A quest has begun – as he must save her! Along the way his stubborn magic carpet leads him to a shady genie a...