Review: If You Know Her by Shiloh Walker

If You Know Her

by Shiloh Walker
Published by Ballentine Books

ARC recieved from author

FAIR WARNING! If you haven't read the first two books in the series, If You Hear Her and If You See Her, then this review will contain some spoilers. You can find my review of the first book HERE, and I suggest that to be where you start, and my review of the second book HERE.

From Goodreads:

A SHADOW IN THE WINDOW. 

Nia Hollister doesn’t scare easily. Come hell or high water, she intends to find her cousin’s killer. She returns to Ash, Kentucky, for answers. What she doesn’t expect is to ache with desire every time she sees Law Reilly. If any man can help her escape the nightmares for a while, it’s him. But can she allow herself to take comfort in those strong arms when a murderer still roams free? 

Unknown to Nia, as she quietly slips into Law Reilly’s home, is that she’s being watched—by someone who is waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

Timing is everything, though he can’t wait forever. If she’s not frightened, she soon will be. Nia has made a vow to find her cousin’s killer. She should be careful what she wishes for.

My Thoughts:

This book was a perfect ending to the series. On the romance side of things I was so happy to see Law finally find someone, and become a little more confident in himself. In the first book I saw him as a sad little puppy dog who couldn't get the girl. In the second book he was like a big brother looking out for Hope, but Nia brings out his stronger side and he does a little more taking charge in this book, and I really liked that.

Nia is a really interesting girl. I love the bad ass persona she has, albeit the grief stricken gun wielding girl from the second book had me nervous. She's leveled out some in this book though. She comes back to Ash because she simply isn't satisfied that her cousin's murderer is really Hope's dead ex-husband. She starts digging around and finds some pretty disturbing facts.

When we discover who the killer is, and find out the totality of his MO, it's incredibly disturbing! I was excited that the killer was who I suspected though. That's my favorite part of reading a mystery, trying to figure out "who done it" before the author tells us!

This was an incredible series, I highly recommend it! My book club is reading If You Hear Her for March's meeting and I can't wait until they get into this series so I have more people to talk about it with!

I love my couch!

So today I'm linking up with Parajunkee and Alison for the Friday Feature and Follow hop. This week's features are Oh! For the Love of Books and Ezine of a Random Girl.

This week's Question is an activity too, or would be if I actually had a picture to post. "Post a picture or describe your favorite place to read."

Favorite Place #1 is my couch. I have a very comfy couch and there is good light in my living room. I love to swing my feet onto the sofa and lean back against the cushy arm with a fuzzy blanket.

Favorite Place #2 is my bed. Like a lot of people I read until I fall asleep most nights. I can get all snuggled up under the blankets and prop myself up with pillows. It's nice to read at night because there isn't a lot going on in my complex and there are less noises to distract me :) Also, I only drink hot tea before I go to bed at night, so it's nice to sip my tea while I read when everything is quiet.

Hmm, sounds like place #2 is really  #1, no?

Review: Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Then Came You
By Jennifer Weiner
Audiobook by Simon and Schuster Audio
Read by Jenni Barber, Aya Cash, AnnaLynne McCord, and Karen Ziemba
Audible.com

Synopsis:


In this novel by Jennifer Weiner four very different women find themselves involved in Princeton's Fertility clinic's surrogacy program in some capacity. Jules, a college student, is looking for a way to earn enough money to help her father battle a substance addiction. Annie, a young wife and mother of two wants to contribute to her household, so that her family doesn't have to struggle financially. India, newlywed to a powerful businessman who is much older than she, longs to have a child to complete their family. Bettina, India's step-daughter, will stop at nothing to prove that her father has made some kind of mistake, and that India can't possibly be anything other than a gold-digging impostor out to ruin her father.

Over a span of roughly two years these women will be forever impacted by the decisions they make, and the connections, however unlikely, they make with one another.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It isn't often that I listen to audiobooks, but I'm glad I've started. I have always enjoyed books with multiple points of view. I enjoy hearing the same story told from different perspectives. The fact that this recording actually used four different women to read really added something for me.

I loved the story line. Surrogacy has never been a controversial topic for me, but I began to see how it could be. For these women, the stereotypes and stigmas associated with it had a real effect on their day to day lives.

Annie was mu favorite character, a young mother left wondering if there had been more out there for her, wondering what it would be like to go to college. Her yearning for things that many of us take for granted really tugged at me.

I didn't like Bettina. She was spoiled and judgmental, but by the end of the novel she had grown up a lot. I could see how going through the awkward teen years without a mother could mold her into the bitter adult who doesn't trust anyone. In some ways she doesn't have the maturity that an adult her age should have because she grew up with everything she needed. She has a very narrow view of how things are, and I wonder if that ever really changes for her.

It was a new look at a topic I've never spent a lot of time thinking about. I really did enjoy it, and I would definitely recommend it.

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath

By Brodi Ashton

Published by Harper Collins

Released January 2011

ARC Tour with Once Upon a Twilight

From Goodreads:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. 

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. 

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. 

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

My Thoughts:

What a great story! I was happy to see some indication that there will be a second book, because the ending simply blew me away, and I still have so many questions!

In Everneath Nikki Beckett goes to the Underneath as a forfeit, meaning she literally forfeited her life so that she wouldn’t have to feel pain anymore. Only afterwards she realizes that it was a mistake and chooses to return to the surface for six months instead of going straight to her end in the Tunnels of the Everneath.

Cole, the Everliving who took Nikki to the Underneath to feed off of her energy, realizes that she is special and wants her to go back to the Underneath as his queen. Only Nikki doesn’t want to give up her heart and feed off the energy of others for eternity.

In her six months on the Surface she tries to reconnect with those she hurt most by leaving. She tries to be a good daughter and sister, and most importantly she tries to reconnect with her boyfriend Jack, the reason she wanted to give up her pain in the first place.

The story that unfolds revolves around the ancient myths of the Greeks, and the strong emotions of young love.

This is definitely a book worth reading. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series to see what comes next.

Sidenote: I love that the strong connection between the teens in this novel didn’t revolve around sex, but rather around their long friendship and their honest love of being together. I know that teen sex is a reality, but I hate seeing it glorified. This novel didn’t do that and I was very grateful for that.

Catching Up!

Hey guys! I've been super busy but I am still reading! I promise to get some reviews up later this week and I should be back in the swing of things by next week! I hope things are good with everyone and I will catch up on goggle reader soon to see what's up with everyone!