ARC REVIEW: In Too Deep by Coert Voorhees

Title/Series: In Too Deep
Author: Coert Voorhees
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Expected Publication: July 2013
Format: eBook | Pages: 336
Genre: YA, Thriller
Source: NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
★★★✩ (3.5/5) Stars!

Coert Voorhees | Twitter | Goodreads

Annie Fleet, master scuba diver and history buff, knows she can’t fight her nerd status as a freshman at her Los Angeles private school. And she doesn’t care—except for the fact that her crush, Josh, thinks she’s more adorable than desirable. Annie is determined to set him straight on their school trip to Mexico. But her teacher has other plans: he needs Annie to help him find Cortez’s lost-long treasure.

Suddenly, Annie finds herself scuba diving in pitch-black waters, jetting to Hawaii with Josh, and hunting for the priceless Golden Jaguar. But Annie and Josh aren’t the only ones lured by the possibility of finding the greatest treasure ever lost at sea. Someone else wants the gold—and needs Annie dead. In deeper danger than she ever imagined, can Annie get the boy and find the Jaguar, or is she in over her head?

Critically-acclaimed author Coert Voorhees delivers breathtaking romance and non-stop action in his newest novel, the spirited and captivating In Too Deep. 

 

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Sure enough, I picked it up and hardly put it down until I was finished (basically one day lol). It was such a quick read and easy read filled with action, danger, a bit of romance and of course treasure hunting! That's what made pulled me in initially. I was hoping it would be exciting and fun. I wasn't disappointed.

There was so much funny in this book, which did surprise me. I really enjoyed all of the characters, especially Annie's friends Gracia and Mimi. When the two of them would start in on her I would constantly find myself laughing out loud. The relationship between Annie and Josh was sweet and frustrating. Frustrating in that misinterpreted signals kind of way where you just want to say "kiss each other already!!" But it was cute.

The treasure hunting adventures were both exciting and dangerous and had me wanting to bite my nails at times. I mean it was fun when they were doing all the research and the excitement sort of builds up in you as well with new discoveries or evidence. Then on the flip side there are other bad people who are also wanting to get their hands on the treasure. It was hard to know who to trust at times. So the danger and adrenaline kick in a few times. It was great!

So I do have one pretty big complaint. While I did enjoy this book and the adventure that it brought me on, everything just always seemed to fall in to place too conveniently. I mean they're teenagers. Still in high school. And I realize they're in a fancy private school for celebrities and children of celebrities but it was still just too easy for one of the girls to plop down a credit card (limitless black one no less...) and buy $50 grand worth of diving equipment. It was a bit ridiculous and frustrating. Whisking away in private jets. It took a bit of the fun out of it. I mean in all honesty had they not been teenagers I mean I could have seen one of them having the bank account to fund all of this and do the whisking. But the fact was they were kids so it just didn't sit well with me. That's just my opinion though. Still in the end I did enjoy the book very much and I want to thank Disney Hyperion for giving me the chance to read and give an honest review for this book! :)

REVIEW: Heat Flash by Taylor Anne

Title/Series: Heat Flash
Author: Taylor Anne
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Expected publication: August 14th 2013
Format: eBook | Pages: 214
Genre: Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Adult
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review
 ★★★★ (4/5) Stars!

Taylor Anne | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

When FBI agent Mason Black left Kendall Reed without warning, it devastated her, but she managed to bounce back. Now on the run from a maniacal stalker, she must learn to trust the man who betrayed her in the past. 

Dealing with his own insecurities and secrets, Mason will do anything to protect Kendall from the dangerous lunatic terrorizing her. But the bigger threat may be the one Kendall poses to his heart. Scared of Kendall's reaction if she learns the truth about him, Mason puts his own problems and emotions on hold to find her stalker. 

But when Kendall's life is threatened, he has no choice but to risk body and soul--and even his heart--to save her.

About a week ago or so a friend had messaged me to mention that a friend of hers had a book out and she was currently reading it and wondered if, when she was done would I be interested in giving it a shot and reading it as well. That whole blurb up there had me extremely interested so I agreed. And that's a huge deal. It always makes me nervous before I even start a review book. I mean what if I don't like it? What do I say? #CueAnxietyAttack. Okay, it's not quite that bad but you get my point. But luckily some of those books, like this one, will never have to have those questions answered.

It switches back and forth between Kendall and Mason's POV (third person) but, ohhhh but there's also a few little glimpses from the stalkers POV. It totally added to the creep factor and just made things that more fun to read. He seriously creeped me out!

Mason is your typical tough guy that comes from a completely broken and dysfunctional family, and in growing up in that sort of dysfunction he's afraid of becoming one of his parents. His mother in this case. And I don't know what it is but I love reading these types of guys. The ones who have this girl in their life, sometimes it's a friend or a friend's sister or I don't know it doesn't matter, the point is they would love to be with them. But never feel like they'd be good enough for them or are so afraid of messing up like they've seen happen their whole lives that they're afraid to give themselves the chance to realize that in reality...they're a perfect match. I just love it!

Kendall was frustrating in the beginning. And honestly it's not because I didn't like her. It's because she was so real. There are women out there who have things going on in their lives that they're afraid to talk to someone about it or ask for help. Kendall was one of those girls. It was a bit of stubborn independence but I also think she didn't want to be sort of an inconvenience to someone in asking for help? I don't know maybe that wasn't the intention but it's how it felt. I mean she was getting harassed by some creepy *beep*, and yeah sure it was mild little things at first, but stalking is stalking. It can only escalate. I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her a little bit and say "Your brother is a freaking detective CALL HIM" ahhh. But hey it adds to the intensity of the story and it made it more real. And look it had me yelling haha

It is such a fast and easy read. I mean when I had time to actually sit here and get into it. I messaged Taylor at one point yesterday just to let her know that "hey I'm still reading and don't worry because I'm loving and my only frustration with this book, is not having solid blocks of time so far to find out what happens next!" But those times when I did, I swear it would feel like maybe 15 minutes had passed but in all reality it was closer to an hour and I'd read about 20% more. You just really get sucked into the story.

The ending? *Sigh* Mason had me swooning. Okay he had me swooning more than once in this book. He is very yummy. But honestly the end was the best, love, love, loved it. The last chapter (not the epilogue) had me grinning like an idiot and so happy I was screaming "Thank you Mason!!!" on the inside I swear.

Thanks to both Taylor and Tara for the joint effort in getting me this book because it was a pleasure to read it. :)

ARC REVIEW: The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan

Title/Series: The Twisted Window
Author: Lois Duncan
Publisher: Open Road Publishing
Published August 28th 2012 (first published 1987)
Format: eBook | 184 pages
Genre: YA, Suspense, Mystery
Source: NetGalley

★★★✩ (3.5/5) Stars!

**An old format of how I used to do my reviews. I just don't have the energy to update it to my current style**

Summary (from B&N):

The new guy at Tracy’s school is handsome, intense, and desperately needs her help—but there’s something about him that isn’t quite right

High school junior Tracy Lloyd is unsure about the new guy in school. Brad Johnson is attractive, smart, and polite, but Tracy can’t help but feel he watches her too closely. Then one day Brad confides in Tracy a horrible secret: His little sister Mindy has been kidnapped by his stepfather, and he needs Tracy’s help to get her back. But even as Tracy commits to a plan to help her vulnerable new friend, details emerge that suggest nothing is what it seems. The Twisted Window is a zigzagging thriller that keeps readers guessing up until the final page.  This e-book features an illustrated biography of Lois Duncan including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

My Review:

Plot (3/5):

When I first read the summary, as I was browsing NetGalley, it seemed pretty interesting. I mean obviously right? I did request it. And it wasn't horrible. I made it through and it kept my attention enough. But it wasn't exactly great either. I think the idea behind the story was pretty good, it just could have been executed much better. It wasn't until after I had finished and was pulling stuff up to get ready to post this review, did I see on Goodreads that this was originally published back in 1987...it explains a lot.

Characters (2/5):

Though there were some likable aspects to them, in a lot of ways these characters were so unrealistic. Even if we consider them from a point of it being 15 years ago.

First of all Brad is just a nut job. I won't get into it because you really can't without revealing plot twists and such. Just trust me...the boy needs an extended vacation in a room with padded walls. I mean, yeah, he's got things that have happened in his life to lead him to the point of coo-coo, but seriously someone should have intervened a while ago. And Tracy? She's not exactly a golden girl either. The whole "then one day" that Brad confides in Tracy is like hardly 24 hours after semi-stalking her. And the girl just agrees to go along with helping him?? Really??? But that's not the worst thing. She runs off with him, knowing he has a gun and only knowing him for like a week tops and even then they'd talked 3 times during that period. I swear I felt like I was reading a manual on how to get yourself chopped up into a million pieces instead of a YA suspense novel. Sheesh!

Originality (5/5):

I will give it respect for being original. Like I said the idea is good, just poorly executed.

Ending (4/5):

There's a pretty good twisting "whoa, no way!" type of moment at the end so I can't get into much detail. It did end, somewhat, leaving things a bit unanswered. It could have gone on at least one more chapter maybe to let you know what happened to everyone. Or even an epilogue maybe. But in the grand scheme of things it wasn't really that vital to the book I suppose. It's just one of those "it would've been nice" things.

Overall Satisfaction (3/5):

There was a lot of awkward dialogue and at times it was really stiff and formal. Teenagers, at least American teenagers don't normally go around saying "mustn't" and it was used at one point. Along with the fact that these days contractions are used a lot more often; won't, didn't, can't etc. Knowing now though that this book is really 15 years old, I guess maybe that could explain a some of the stiffness and formality. Maybe, maybe not. But that wasn't the only thing that lessened my enjoyment, I just really had a hard time believing things would have happened the way they did. Am I sorry I read it? No, not really. It had its moments and it was an okay read. However it didn't wow me by far and I wouldn't sit through it again. I guess I'll leave you with take your chances.

About the author:

Lois Duncan 

Goodreads

Purchase this book at:

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble