Review: Ashes To Ashes & Cinder To Cinder by Cameron Jace

Title: Ashes To Ashes & Cinder To Cinder

Author: Cameron Jace

Series: Grimm Diaries, Prequel #2

 •Source: Won @ Reading Until Dawn
 •Publisher: Indie Author
 •Publication Date: September 1, 2012

Opening Line: Dear Diary, The remains of the dead witch's skeleton were found in a small town near Venice in Italy.

  

Seventeen-year-old Alice Grimm lives a dangerously enchanted life. Other than being distracted by a Dreamhunter called Loki Blackstar who has a heart of gold but acts like a jerk, she has a job to do. Being a descendant of the Brothers Grimm, she is one of few in the world who can locate the fairy tale characters and remind them of who they are. This time, Alice flies to Venice where an 800 hundred year old witch's skeleton surrounded with seventeen glass slippers was found by archeologists in the city that invented the art of glassblowing. When Alice and Loki follow the lead, they find one of the fairy tale characters she had been searching for. It's a famous girl character that you know by name, but never really knew what actually happened to her.

This Grimm Diaries Prequels are a number of short books in the form of epistolary diary entries. The diaries are more of teasers for the upcoming series: The Grimm Diaries, allowing you to get a glimpse of what to expect of the series.

Review: Familiar by Michelle Rowen

Title: Familiar

Author: Michelle Rowen

 •Source: Purchased
 •Publisher: Smashwords
 •Publication Date: May 12, 2011

Opening Line: "That one." The witch followed the direction of my pointing finger, which singled out a tiny, tawny-colored striped kitten sitting in the far corner of the pen.
   

When reluctant teen witch Brenda Collins is sent by her mother to a magical pet shop to pick out her animal familiar, she settles on a small tawny-striped kitten not realizing it’s a shapeshifter currently in hiding. Discovering the gorgeous but troubled Owen’s secret plunges the witch-in-training into a dangerous and romantic adventure that will test her magical abilities like never before.

 

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: The Iron Fey, #1

 •Source: Purchased
 •Publisher: Harlequin Teen
 •Publication Date: February 1, 2010

Opening Line: Ten years ago, on my sixth birthday, my father disappeared.

   

Megan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Review: Poison by Molly Cochran + Giveaway

Title: Poison

Author: Molly Cochran

Series: Legacy, #2

 •Source: Author
 •Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
 •Publication Date: December 4, 2012

Opening Line: I probably went to the only school in the country with a rule against practicing witchcraft.

    

The Darkness is watching . . .
The Darkness is waiting . . .
The Darkness lies within.

Arthurian legend mixes with modern-day witchcraft in this haunting romance by the author of Legacy, which Publishers Weekly said “should please the legions of paranormal fans looking for a sophisticated supernatural thriller.”

Mischief abounds at the Ainsworth School, and evil is lurking. What’s more, Katy has won Peter’s heart and is now claiming her place in the magical world. Though half the students at her boarding school come from witching lines, the use of magic is expressly forbidden at Ainsworth, so as to keep the witching world hidden from the blue-blooded preppies, aka Muffies, who also walk the halls.

But the Muffies have at least a notion of magic, because Katy catches them staging a made-up ritual—and then fall seriously ill. When Katy is blamed, she becomes desperate to clear her name and finds herself battling all odds to harness her growing magical powers in order to save the Muffies and dispel the Darkness once more.

  

Review: Legacy by Molly Cochran

Title: Legacy

Author: Molly Cochran

Series: Legacy, #1

 •Source: Purchased
 •Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
 •Publication Date: December 20, 2011

Opening Line: I was sixteen years old when I discovered exactly who—and what—I was.

   

When her widowed father dumps 16-year-old Katy Jessevar in a boarding school in Whitfield, Massachusetts, she has no idea that fate has just opened the door to both her future and her past. For one thing, nearly everyone in Whitfield is a witch, as is Katy herself, although she has struggled all her life to hide her talents. For another, Whitfield is the place where her mother killed herself when Katy was a small child. Determined to find the reason for her mother's seemingly senseless act as well as her own strange gifts, Katy embarks on a weird journey of discovery that leads her into the heart of darkness itself.

Review: Snow White Blood Red by Cameron Jace

Title: Snow White Blood Red

Author: Cameron Jace

Series: Grimm Diaries, Prequel #1

 •Source: Won @ Reading Until Dawn
 •Publisher: Indie Author
 •Publication Date: September 1, 2012

Opening Line: Dear Wilhelm Carl Grimm,
She is not the giddy, naive, and helpless princess she pretends to be.

  

What if all you knew about fairy tales was wrong?

I have always wondered why you never asked about my name. Was I so superficial to you? So stereotypical and mundane? Why did you treat me as if I were just the monster of the week? You know what I think? You never had the time to really hate me. You wanted to hate me, long before you even met me. You wanted to scrape my existence and avenge your childhood princess by laying all blame on me. What if they didn’t call me the Evil Queen, what if I told you the real story from my point of view instead of hers, would you ever think of me as an angel? Could I ever make you care? I know that deep inside of you, you adore me,but you’re just scared, afraid to admit how much you love the Snow White Queen.

This Grimm Diaries Prequels are a number of short books in the form of epistolary diary entries. The diaries are teasers for the upcoming series: The Grimm Diaries, allowing you to get a glimpse of what to expect of the series.