Basia's Bookshelf Book Reviews — YA with a dash of adult, a bit of nerd and a lot of swooning

Love Story

July 14, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 2 Comments

By Jennifer Echols

Publisher: MTV Books
Publication Date: July 19, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Source: Publisher

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions–it’s her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family’s racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin’s college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she’s sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He’s joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin’s heart with longing. Now she’s not just imagining what might have been. She’s writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

Goodreads Summary

Erin was given a choice: her grandmother will pay for college where she’ll major in business and she’ll inherit the multi-million dollar family horse farm or she can choose to study something else and lose it all. There wasn’t any question about what Erin would do. She’d always wanted to be a writer so she turned her grandmother down flat, got as many scholarships as she could, a job as a waitress and lived on the cheap so she could follow her dream.

When Erin left Kentucky she knew exactly who’d be getting her inheritance. In exchange for that college tuition complete with a business degree, the son of one of the farm’s trainers, Hunter Allen, gets it all. He and Erin had a rocky past beginning in middle school when a crush bloomed, but an accident, misunderstandings and the jeering of high school students calling him her “stable boy” kept them apart despite their feelings and led to hostility when her grandmother made the deal that gave him the horse farm.

Pouring her heart into her latest story, Erin writes a romantic historical piece about a wealthy debutante and her dangerous dalliance with a stable boy. Her creative writing class takes turns reading each other’s stories and critiquing them in a discussion and Erin’s story is up that day. She gets the unpleasant shock of her life when Hunter appears in the room, saying he’s transferred in – and he’ll be reading and critiquing her story – one that contains thinly veiled characters based upon them.

Hunter’s revenge is simple. He starts writing stories about them that are obviously meant to get a rise out of Erin. They barely even conceal who he’s writing about and soon he and Erin are battling it out in front of the whole class with their fictional work. Erin’s fallen back in love with Hunter but she can’t tell what he’s feeling – she doesn’t know how she should interpret his stories but she’s afraid to ask him.

I was surprised this was the first Echols book I’d read given how popular she is. I did a quick look this morning and saw (a little sheepishly) that I have a couple of her books way, way back on my Kindle that I haven’t gotten to yet. I really like her writing style and I liked several background elements of the story but I just didn’t like the relationship between Erin and Hunter.

Erin and Hunter’s story is interspersed with the stories that they’re writing in class (shown in italics) and the book starts off with the piece Erin wrote. It wasn’t that offensive and if Hunter had kept his mouth shut, no one would have known it was even remotely based upon him. I know, then there wouldn’t have been any more Big Misunderstandings, but it was just one of the things that made me think these were characters that were in high school, not college. Hunter’s answer, to write an over-sexualized story that hinted about a sexual encounter with someone else while someone like Erin was watching was obviously intended to get a rise out of her – this sort of thing went on and on and on. It was a contest to out-hurt each other, to probe each other’s soft spots to test what the other one was feeling. How about just asking?

I really didn’t strongly like or dislike Erin. She was an interesting character that could have had her own book without Hunter – she might have been better off in too many ways. I liked her when she was with her friends, at her job and doing the usual college things like going to a party or just hanging out in her dorm room. I could relate to her. I could relate to the “does he or doesn’t like me” feeling with a guy too, as well as the feeling that I had to play some silly game to make him admit he liked me – but that was in high school or middle school – not college and I really didn’t understand the lengths Erin went to. She repeatedly risked the internship with badly written overwrought personalized stories just to get back at Hunter. I couldn’t see why that would make sense.

For the most part, Hunter was as clear as mud to me. Since the story was from Erin’s perspective, what she sees as his response to her – none – is what I got. I didn’t get the feeling that he was hiding any grand passion for her from his stories, only that he was poking at her and he seemed shocked when she didn’t get what he intended. It was more of the same game Erin was playing. If you like me, you have to say so before I’ll say I like you. There were so many misunderstandings – in a non-novelized relationship, these two would need couples therapy to unravel the hurt feelings they went back so far and were likely so ingrained.

There was a small secondary romance involving Erin’s roommate and Hunter’s. It’s a shame more page space wasn’t given to it because it was more realistic than the main romance was. It had all the great hallmarks of a real college romance – getting drunk at a party and sneaking off, being afraid to introduce each other to the others’ parents for one reason or another and unexpectedly not coming back to their own dorm room one night. I didn’t care or expect that they’ll have a permanent happily ever after, but I enjoyed their story anyway.

My Summary: I wanted so much to drag this rating up. I kept thinking that Echols’ writing was so good that it had to overcome the things that bugged me about the story the more I’d think about it, but it just didn’t happen. I know my angst tolerance can be fairly low sometimes but it was more than that. I didn’t buy their story, I couldn’t believe who the characters became and the things they did and even though I really did find pieces of the story authentic, there were too many sections that felt out of place. I’m not writing Echols off at all – the two books I have are rated very highly – but I don’t think this one is up to her usual standards.

My Rating: C+

Filed Under: *C Rating, Contemporary/Romance, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: Jennifer Echols

Lost Voices

July 11, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 2 Comments

By Sarah Porter

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: July 4, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Source: Netgalley

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy, Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.

Goodreads Summary

Just after settling into a home in Alaska after abandoning their vagabond, grifting lifestyle, Luce is left orphaned when her father is presumed dead after the fishing boat he was on shipwrecked. Now in the custody of her abusive uncle she’s friendless except for a mentally disabled boy who drags her out into storm one afternoon. Luce and the boy discover a strange looking girl washed up dead on the beach but she shows no sign of having been drowned. When her uncle finds out she’s been somewhere other than school or home he snaps and in a drunken rage, tries to sexually assault her. In shock, lost without her father and having no hope left, Luce steps off the cliffs and into the ocean.

Luce doesn’t drown though. As she sinks she hears music calling to her and she’s singing back. Out of nowhere, a ship appears above her and she has to dodge both the bottom and then the bodies falling into the water. The singing gets louder and a sense of peace seems to descend on the passengers as they slowly die. Just as Luce is about to run out of air she’s dragged to the surface then into a partially submerged cave – shockingly full of mermaids that surrounded her earlier.

Certain girls who have been the victims of great trauma and choose to enter the sea can become mermaids Luce learns. Their songs are used to lure boats and ships to wreck on the crags of the Alaskan shores and drown their passengers. The stronger the song and singer, the larger the ship is that can be manipulated. The best singer in their mermaid tribe is their volatile queen Catarina who takes Luce under her wing.

The longer Luce spends with the mermaids, the more she realizes she doesn’t belong with them. They take malicious pleasure in sinking ships and when it’s apparent that Luce’s singing is as good if not better than Catarina’s, unrest divides the tribe. When a ruthless and ambitious newly-turned mermaid joins the group, Luce finds herself on the outside of the new clique – a dangerous place to be.

From the blurb, I wasn’t expecting the story this ended up being. There was a point at which I thought the tension had really reached its climax and the story would play out from there but the story took an outrageous turn and almost became a joke. Plot threads got dropped, characters started acting crazy and things that happened off the page before the story started were being brought up that didn’t really need to be.

Luce is a really likeable character. She’s had a rotten life if you look at it from the outside but she loved her father and is still grieving for him. She doesn’t hate everyone unlike the other mermaids so her conscience bothers her when they bring down ships. She spends time alone practicing her singing so she can find ways to ease suffering or find other ways to use her voice for something more than killing. Even when it becomes clear that she can take Catarina’s place as queen, she won’t do it – she’s her friend, she won’t undermine her place in the tribe. She’s the one character who means what she says and isn’t trying to manipulate someone.

My problem was really with the other mermaids once Anais joined them. The story had been fine before that – the tension between Luce and Catarina was already there, the tribe was having some trouble and Luce was feeling distanced from them. It would have been enough to work from. When Anais showed up, this went from a fantasy novel to some sort of story about high school cliques and mean girls. There were actually mermaids raiding ships for bikini tops, hair accessories and Manolo Blahnik shoes. They gossiped, snubbed Luce, started rumors, spied on her and insulted her. The sudden arrival of a large group of new mermaids from a group home only made things worse when they fell under Anais’ leadership. The entire last third of the book I was just wondering why, why?

My Summary: I really would have liked to have seen more focus on the fantasy in the story. There was a nice amount written about Luce’s singing, but I wanted more about the potential mermen. It was spoken about a great deal, but then something happened with Luce that seemed important and it wasn’t followed up on. Rather than the filler about bikini tops, expensive shoes and high school-type cliques, I wanted the fantasy. The way this ended made me think the next book will be different. Luce knows more about herself and her world and if she can avoid another tribe of mean girls, the series will still be worth a shot.

My Rating: C+

Filed Under: *C Rating, Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: Sarah Porter

On My Wishlist (14)

July 9, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 5 Comments

On My Wishlist is a Saturday meme hosted by the lovely Book Chick City and Mr. Linky is always ready to go on-site there if you’d like to join in.

I’ve been regularly irregular about posting my wishlists but since this has been a crazy week, I thought I’d settle back into a routine with a nice “I want, I want!” post.

Both of my picks this week are YA and all demony-evil and violent and of course, I want to pet the covers.

Frost
By Marianna Baer
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 13, 2011

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar. But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night?

Goodreads Summary

The Pledge
By Kimberly Derting
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: November 15, 2011

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It’s there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she’s never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

Goodreads Summary

So what’s on your wishlist this week?

Filed Under: On My Wishlist

Rising, Freestyle (Xtreme Adventures #2)

July 5, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 2 Comments

By Vivian Arend

Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Publication Date: July 5, 2011
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Author

Melanie Dixon’s body may have recovered from a horrific climbing accident, but her nerve is long gone. So is the natural enthusiasm for life she took for granted. Tired of being scared, beyond ready to conquer her fears, she pulls up stakes and moves to her brother’s new hometown to start over. Her first step is the most terrifying—to tackle the wall at the local climbing center.

Derrick James is mesmerized by Melanie’s dark beauty, and equally impressed with her climbing abilities and determination. Watching her retune rusty skills spurs a desire to partner with her—on and off the ropes. Melanie’s a compelling mix of wit, sensuality and vulnerability, and it’s his delicious task to convince her the scars on her body are no match for the heat rising between them.

Then a man from Melanie’s past shows up, pushing their relationship to the edge. Nathan King wants photographs for a “where are they now” series, but his side agenda is more personal in nature. A proposal that brings her out of her sensual shell and onto a precarious sexual ledge. Where trust is crucial…and too easily shattered.

Goodreads Summary

One slip of a rope, one safety failure and Melanie Dixon’s life as she knew it was gone. Once a confident rock climber, she’s scarred physically and mentally – years later she’s still locked in a box of fear. Taking a class at Derrick James’ climbing center is going to be her first step back to scaling something bigger than a set of stairs and the longer she works with the gorgeous instructor, scaling him is starting to look pretty good too. Holding her back are those lingering scars that seem to get bigger the closer she gets to him.

While the view from under Melanie as she’s relearning to climb is pretty fine, Derrick much prefers the one he gets when they’re face to face. She moves him – her courage, her beauty and her passion and the scars on her body are less than nothing to him. With Derrick, Melanie finally feels beautiful.

Her calm, happy life with Derrick and acceptance of her scars is torn away from her with the arrival of her old friend Nathan. He’s a photojournalist working for a big magazine and has supposedly shown up to work with her. He’s also an old crush of Melanie’s – a crush that hasn’t gone away – and he’s making it clear the feeling’s mutual. Derrick knows. He’s making it clear that Melanie’s his, but he’s not discouraging Nathan either even when he asks for a kind of trust from her that she’s only given to Derrick.

Well. I suppose I can get a couple of things out of the way before I start trying to make some sense in my thoughts in the review. I love Vivian Arend’s books in so many ways I just keep losing count. I own them all, I reread them all. I love the guys, I love the storylines and I usually end up sniffling through parts of the stories. Secondly, after I read Falling, Freestyle, I’d pretty much decided that Kane was my favorite male character Arend had written. Kane can move to the back of the bus. Derrick’s sitting with me in the front, sorry. Okay, on to the review.

Just from what tiny bits I’ve gathered of the author’s own odd habit of spending time outdoors in cold places where insects and animals live, doing things that involve rocks, water and snow, I’m sure she’s done her research well on the subject of rock climbing and it shows. Without being technically showy, I love that the characters know what they’re doing and the writing is confident. I shudder to think I’ll ever have to know what to do when someone yells “belay,” at me, but it would be handy to know how to make one of those hanging sex harness things if I find myself in a climbing center with a gorgeous instructor (never).

I could easily imagine the story could happen to any climber who’d suffered a bad fall. I liked that Melanie was just allowed to be - the story was really driven by Derrick and the majority of it seemed to be told from his perspective. Her internal story was more about feeling inadequate but the external was seeing how beautiful she was and of finding ways to show her and make her see it.

I think the worst that can be said about Derrick is that he didn’t ever really get irritated with Melanie which probably puts him on the border of being too perfect. He knew most of what he felt about her soon enough that he started making decisions about how to help her. I really loved being in his head seeing Melanie – his possessiveness, deep concern for her and appreciation of every bit of her had me alternating between shivering and sniffling. He’s smoking hot in bed (and in that climbing center harness) with Melanie. Rather than devote an entire paragraph to the sizzle this time that I need to start up my fan, I’ll just promise you that it’s gulp-worthy.

I had some mixed feelings about Nathan. I didn’t like him that much when he first showed up since I thought he was messing with Derrick and Melanie’s relationship. As things progressed and Derrick’s feelings became clear, I felt better. By the end I was left feeling somewhat fondly of him, although I’m still not sure I like him.

In Falling, Freestyle there was a committed menage relationship and I had a couple of people ask me if there would be some sort of menage involved in this story because of the blurb. I don’t usually go into to much detail but I was asked about it and thought I’d just include some spoiler behind white text.

Derrick asks Nathan to be the third once with Melanie but his participation is extremely limited, brief and he doesn’t get to, uh, fully enjoy himself with Derrick and Melanie in the flesh but as a voyeur. One final scene starts when he photographs Derrick and Melanie in a climbing encounter that turns sexual – his role is strictly limited to voyeurism.

I didn’t want to end this review without mentioning that Jack, Kane – who’s Melanie’s brother – and Dara from Falling, Freestyle, also make appearances here. It’s been about eight months since their story and there’s some fun and interesting perspective on how their relationship is going. It was a great addition and I loved it.

My Summary: While it would have been improbable that I wouldn’t have liked any Vivian Arend book anyway, I can easily say that this is wonderful and fully deserves the grade it gets on its own merit regardless of the author. The technical details were nice and it was a treat seeing the characters from the last book but what won me was that Derrick was big-hearted and wildly romantic, a hero worth the Kleenex pile in my lap and the happily ever after made me smile.

My Rating: A

*Both Falling, Freestyle and Rising, Freestyle are going to be published together in print, with an anticipated release next summer.
*There will be 2 more books in the Xtreme Adventures series, the next one will involve ocean kayaking (my note: shudder – fish and stuff)

Filed Under: *A Rating, Contemporary/Romance, Reviews Tagged With: Vivian Arend

Dark Awakening (Dark Dynasties #1)

July 3, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 2 Comments

By Kendra Leigh Castle

Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: July 1, 2011
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Netgalley

For centuries, shapeshifting vampire Tynan MacGillivray has prowled the night as an outcast, valued only for his ferocious hunting skills. When a feud among the immortals escalates into all-out war, he is ordered by his ruthless queen to locate a Seer-a human woman with a special gift-who can secure victory for their clan. Ty’s search leads him to a quiet New England town, but once he has the Seer in his grasp, her touch awakens within him a hunger like he’s never known . . .

Lily Quinn has always been different. Since childhood, she’s had vivid nightmares and an eerie sixth sense. When a sexy, silver-eyed stranger demands her help, Lily plunges into a new world of danger and sensuality. With Ty, she discovers sizzling passions she cannot deny and powers she cannot control. Soon, it is clear that Lily is much more than a Seer-she holds the key to ancient secrets and unthinkable destruction. But will a vampire’s vow of eternal protection stop these evil forces . . . or unleash her dark destiny?

Goodreads Summary

Someone’s placed a curse on the highblood Ptolemy vampire clan that’s killing them off bit by bit and their queen has a good idea who it is. Arsinoe wants proof and for that she needs a Seer to confirm exactly who’s doing it and where. She’s sent her best hunter out to find one -Ty MacGillivray, a lowblood Cait Sith – but he’s not the only one looking. Rival highblood clan Dracul is also trying to find the Seer, but their motives are a little more sinister.

Lily Quinn is living a relatively normal life as a professor when she catches the handsome Ty following her after her latest ghost hunting excursion. She’s attracted until he starts in on the whole nutty Seer-vampire business, but right around the time some of the bad guys come to grab her, she decides Ty might be telling the truth and at least be able to protect her. As they drive west, Lily wrestles some of his story from him and learns about the vicious caste system among the vampires. Already seriously in lust with him, she loses her heart somewhere along the way too. The only problem is Ty – he’s declared her untouchable no matter what his feelings are.

Ty is loyal to one person: the queen of the Ptolemy, whether he likes it or not. She saved his life and he’ll spend his in servitude to her now. He has strong feelings for Lily – feelings that deepen the closer they get to Chicago and the queen – but he knows what his duty is just as clearly as he knows what Lily’s fate is as soon as she’s done with the job she’s destined to do. There’s just one thing holding him back from handing her over right away though. Each vampire house has its own mark and its members wear it. Ty wears the Cait Sith symbol and when he agreed to serve the House of Ptolemy, their mark was placed within it. Lily bears a mark no one has ever seen before, something no Seer should have.

This was a book that I had to really make myself stick with for the first quarter before I began to enjoy it. I didn’t have any problem following the storyline, but Ty was just such a stone that he made it difficult to even imagine any romance with Lily.

The world building was the best part of the book. I loved the set-up of the houses and even the caste system – the author included a nice glossary of each house, their leader, origins, strongholds and type of power at the beginning of the book which I thought was a really handy place for it. The members of each house are all easily physically identifiable as well, from the snobby Ptolemy to the eerie, creepy Grigori and the dangerous, simple Cait Sith. Without an excess of infodumping, the awful effects of the caste system are shown as well as the origins and evils of the houses. It would be an understatement to say the story is full of interesting sequel bait.

The one place I really didn’t connect with though was the romance between Lily and Ty. I understood why she was off-limits for him while he was taking her to the Ptolemy queen and when they were free to be with each other, they had some well-written steamy scenes. I liked Lily a lot – she was warm and compassionate and desperately wanted to help free the Cait Sith. She had a great wry sense of humor and despite being tossed into a really rotten and weird situation, kept looking for ways to help everyone else.

I never really got much of any emotional reaction to Ty though. Even though I could sympathize with the reasons for his initial sense of loyalty to the Ptolemy queen, he continued to turn his back on his Cait Sith brethren and even Lily for so much longer than he should have that it left a bad taste in my mouth. He felt cold to me rather than just solitary or the strong silent type. By the end of the story I did feel some emotion from him but it seemed motivated by shame and the desire to do the right thing more than any great passion. He wasn’t a horrible character – he fought hard to protect Lily whenever she was in danger and there were glimpses that he wasn’t always so closed off – but he had some major self-esteem issues that contributed to his disconnect that made it hard for me to like him as much as I wanted.

My Summary: Like any first book in a series, this seemed to be mostly about the world building and less about the romance. I liked the way the story ended with the arrangement of the houses and the relationship between Ty and Lily. I wouldn’t necessarily pick this up for the romance. The hero is more flawed than I liked for longer than I wanted but the action is very good and the writing is excellent. One of the characters introduced is the lead in the next book, Midnight Reckoning which has an anticipated release in January of 2012. Given the way this book ended and the character, I’d expect that book to read a bit more like a paranormal romance.

My Rating: B-

Filed Under: *B Rating, Paranormal Romance, Reviews Tagged With: Kendra Leigh Castle

Summer’s Crossing (Iron Fey #3.5)

June 29, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 5 Comments

By Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 1, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Source: Publisher

A Midsummer’s Nightmare? Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Summer Court prankster, King Oberon’s right hand, bane of many a faery queen’s existence—and secret friend to Prince Ash of the Winter Court. Until one girl’s death came between them, and another girl stole both their hearts.

Now Ash has granted one favor too many and someone’s come to collect, forcing the prince to a place he cannot go without Puck’s help—into the heart of the Summer Court. And Puck faces the ultimate choice—betray Ash and possibly win the girl they both love, or help his former friend turned bitter enemy pull off a deception that no true faery prankster could possibly resist.

Goodreads Summary

Having just left Meghan behind, Ash and Puck are searching for Grimalkin, the enigmatic cat that’s popped in and out to help them all whenever they’ve needed it on their journey. As they’re about to begin, they’re interrupted by Leanansidhe, Queen of the Exiles, who’s come to collect on the bargain she made with Ash. She wants him to sneak into the Summer Court and retrieve something Queen Titania stole from her. It should be a task impossible for a Winter Prince but he’s with Puck, a powerful Summer fae who loves nothing more than to make trouble for his Queen.

The long-troubled relationship between Ash and Puck had worsened when both fell in love with Meghan, but a truce had been called while they tried to find a way to help her. On their way to the Summer Court, Puck is unexpectedly offered the chance to force Meghan’s decision. He’s been given a choice – betray Ash and win her by default or ignore the offer and let Meghan decide.

I’ve really grown to love this series. The first book hooked me because it was so wildly imaginative and while pieces of individual books didn’t work for me, as a whole, it’s been an amazing journey.

I didn’t care much for the first novella because it seemed a little out of place with the characters acting oddly. Summer’s Crossing is completely different. It has a sweet, melancholy feeling to it that reflects the way The Iron Queen ended. Ash is a little more brooding and quiet and while Puck plays the irreverent fool like he always has, there’s an undertone of sadness. This trip to the Summer Court is a perfect way to force them to work together, argue and get back some of their comfortable animosity and rivalry. Puck and Ash just aren’t the same unless they’re at each other’s throats.

The one way that this is like Winter’s Passage is that there’s no resolution to anything. It’s just a little side journey on the way to something else. In this case, it’s the final book in the series - The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4) is set to be released October 25, 2011 and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

My Summary: The adventure of sneaking into the Summer Court was fun but what won me were the emotions Kagawa wrung out of Ash and Puck and how familiar the characters felt in such a small space. Read all the books in order and then read this one to get the maximum effect.

My Rating: B+