Review - "Infinity" by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I was so happy to find a copy of this on the day it was released. Darn my local bookstores, they almost never get anything in on the release date. But guess who did? That's right, Kroger! My local GROCERY store came through for me in the book department - and for 25% off! Well, okay, maybe I'm a little over excited, but still!

Disclaimer: I, the book reviewer, purchased this book on my own. I was not given the book, nor anything else, in exchange for a review.

Type: YA Fiction, urban fantasy, series

From the back of the book: " At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough, and savvy, Nick and his quick sarcasm are the stuff of legend... until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.
Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil covering a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead. But before Nick can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh-eating zombies. And he's next on the menu.
As if starting high school isn't hard enough... now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chain saw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that? "

Well, Sherrilyn Kenyon has done contemporary romance, historical romance, character name source books, writers guide to the middle ages, and of course, paranormal romance. But that wasn't enough, oh no! Now she has decided to try her hand at Young Adult. And this is another well done attempt, at least in my opinion.

First off, those of us familiar with the Dark-Hunter series know Nick as an older man. Or, at least we know him in his late teens and early twenties. But as mentioned on the cover, he is fourteen in "Infinity." And I think Kenyon pulled it off very well. Nick feels fourteen - he's worried about graduating, he's worried about schoolwork.. or at least he is when zombies aren't attacking him. And most of all, he's checking out nearly every girl that comes by. I chuckled every time he made sure to get an eyeful of a newly arrived girl.

And of course, we get to see all of our old favorite characters - Kyrian, Acheron, Simi, Tabitha, etc. And seeing Nick interact with them, and starting to shape the relationship he will have with them at the beginning of the Dark-Hunter series is wonderful. And I'm sure some of you are going "Simi?! But that's not right!" Well.. I don't want to spoil anything, but trust me, things are a-changing. It's a very interesting plot dynamic.

Also, a bit of a random note here, but I found out that I've actually been saying Nick's last name wrong all this time! However many books into the series, and it takes a whole 'nother series (sort of) to make me really learn his name. Well dang! And once I learned, I felt a little silly. Of course that's how it's supposed to be said..

Now, the only downside to this book.. is that if the reader is not familiar with the Dark-Hunter world, I can definitely see how it can get confusing. There are plenty of characters to learn, and even more confusing new terms that are mentioned, but aren't really explained much. However, at the same time, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. If the reader is unfamiliar with the DH world, they're learning everything along with Nick, and figuring things out as he does.

Well, for the rating, hmm.. I would give "Infinity" by Sherrilyn Kenyon a FIVE out of FIVE. I did really enjoy it, I mean, I sat down and read it all in one sitting. It was great seeing some beloved characters again, and I can't wait to see whats thrown Nick's way next. So please, give "Infinity" by Sherrilyn Kenyon a try!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow

Review - "In the Spotlight (Mayne Attraction)" by Ann Mauren

I was given this book to review by the author who put it on Smashwords, so this was actually my first experience with it. I haven't researched it much, but I think it's an interesting venture. However, that's not what this review is about, so I guess we should get right to it..

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me to review by the author. I have not received any money in exchange for a review.

Type: Modern YA fiction, Romance

From the back of the book: " Ellery Mayne is a high school girl who makes a disturbing discovery. After a foiled abduction attempt, she realizes that an entire team of security personnel are secretly shadowing her every move. As she works to make sense of this startling development, she secretly transitions from the one who is being observed to the one who carries out observations of her own, testing the limits of a secret service detail who think they are conducting transparent surveillance on a clueless teenager.
When the mystery behind the secret security unravels, Ellery is faced with decisions that involve her future and the hopes of two unlikely love interests: A handsome but conflicted security agent who doesn't realize she knows about him, and her first love - a boy that broke her heard - who has returned to explain his actions and his feelings for her. Told from Ellery's perspective, she puzzles over what could interest not one but two handsome suitors and a whole security force. Suddenly this quiet loner realizes that her life is In The Spotlight and she is the Mayne Attraction. "

I saw some great potential in this book. Ellery is an interesting character, some of her quirky habits (looking up phobias, or even creating names for phobias), can resonate with the nerd in all of us. And I really like the idea of a girl being followed by a security team, with no clue why, and even conducting "experiments" to see what the team would do in certain situations.. That's wonderful. I think I'd love the chance to do something like that.

Unfortunately, this book fell short, at least in my opinion. I generally like the idea of a girl having two men who love her, and having to choose the right one between the two, or maybe she makes the wrong choice and the guilt eats at her.. either way, it can lead to some great drama. But in this situation, I was uncomfortable with it. In this book, Ellery is a senior in Highschool. She felt far too immature to be in this situation. I mean, she meets Ash, guy number 1, only in passing, and not even as her real self (she was dressed up in goth clothes at the time), and the next time she really converses with him, she tells him she loves him. And there was a fair amount of time between that first meeting, and the second, but Ash is only mentioned maybe once or twice. If she has been dwelling on him this entire time, why wasn't he mentioned more.

And Ash returns these feelings. Now, I can believe his position a little more. This is a guy who has been following her for months, watching her every move, watching out for her. In that scenario, I can see someone either completing hating or having an affection for their charge. In Ash's case, it was affection. But he's supposed to be older (I won't go into how old, since it's a mystery until near the end of the book), but he really doesn't act like it. I had a very hard time dealing with his real age, after seeing how he acted since he started actually talking to Ellery.

Back to Ellery, she seemed to get too easily attached to people. Which isn't a bad thing, for the most part, I'm the same way. But there's a difference between getting attached and liking someone.. and getting attached in a creepy stalker way. I think Ellery leans a bit to the other side. She has "heroines" she loves, and idolizes them. This, again, makes her seem far younger than she should be.

Despite all that, there were some aspects I liked. In the end, Ellery finally did some much-needed growing up. She stood up for herself, and made a decision that will eventually lead all of the characters into the second book in this series called "In the Smoke." I think, initially, the way Ellery went about the ending was a good idea. Her plan was sound and made sense. At the same time, what she did to give herself some time to think all this through was extremely risky, possibly dangerous, and parts of it seemed rather illegal. And the people who helped her along.. it just didn't seem reasonable.

As I said, I saw some potential in this story, and in this author. She has an interesting voice, and her descriptions of some of the scenery Ellery gets to see near the end are beautiful. Maybe when Ellery returns, she will be more of an adult, and hopefully Ash will do some serious growing up as well.

All that said and done, I'm giving "In the Spotlight" a TWO out of FIVE. As I said, plenty of potential.. but still quite a ways to go. If you would like to purchase "In the Spotlight (Mayne Attraction)" by Ann Mauren, you can find it at Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/13213