Books: The Cheapest Vacation You Can Buy











Lost GirlFrom Goodreads: Juniper Lynch has a flair for all things psychic – a gift she inherited from her dearly departed granny.

When her best friend, Gena needs help finding her missing retainer, Juniper is quick to try scrying, aka crystal-gazing. With no crystal ball handy, she goes the easy route and gazes into a glass of water. But the image that appears is not what she expected. The shriveled face of a missing girl floats to the surface. Juniper is seized by a mystical connection and the countdown clock begins.

Can she find the lost girl before they both wither away?

___________________________________________________________________

As the first in the series, this story almost feels a bit too perfect.  Everything clicks into to place so easily, and the characters are too sweet or perfect for them to seem valid and real at this point. There really weren’t any problems or issues to contend with within the story itself—the girls don’t know whether they believe Juniper’s vision or not—so though Juniper and her friends are looking for the girl who seems to be in immense danger, there isn’t much standing in their way besides their own disbelief in the fact that they might be able to find her.

This was good story, though short, about 60 pages, so readers don’t really get much connection time with the characters. Though as the first in a series of novellettes yet to come, I assume that we’ll be seeing these girls again and probably learning more about them.  Thus, there’s hope for more of a connection, and I’m looking forward to the next novellette as this was well written and did spark my interest.  After since we’re just now getting to know the heroines, I’m assuming that the next installment will hopefully be a little more climactic.  Regardless, if you’re looking for something light to read, I suggest picking this up.  Three stars.

3 stars

I received this novel from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Kindle | Barnes and Noble

Advertisement


Every Saturday I run a feature for the 99 Cent Club, and below are the eBook picks for this week that caught my eye and are currently ONLY 99 Cents on Amazon, with a few on Barnes and Noble as well. I don’t know if these are permanent prices, so please don’t shoot the messenger, and double check pricing before pressing the buy button. Enjoy! (If you could help give these authors some love by spreading the word, that would be epic.)

______________________________________________________________

12021559Sophie and Carter by Chelsea Fine

While other high school seniors are dreaming about their futures, Sophie and Carter are just trying to make it through each day. Carter is overwhelmed by issues at home as he struggles to support his mother. Meanwhile, next door neighbor Sophie is left to care for her three younger siblings in place of their absent and troubled mother. All that holds these two best friends together is each other, and knowing that each night they’ll sit together on Sophie’s front porch swing and escape from reality, if just for awhile. But as their relationship reaches a turning point and high school graduation nears, will their friendship become something more?

Find it on Amazon.

______________________________________________________________

18629798Jellybean Kisses by Amy Evans
First love is the sweetest….Jax and Jacey are everyone’s favorite couple, even though they’ve barely ever kissed.In kindergarten, Jax pulled out a chair for Jacey and swept the play dough off so that she would sit down next to him and he’s been carving out ways for them to stick together ever since. Though everyone in their conservative, small beach town sees them as a couple, they’re not, exactly. Because while they both want more, they’ve agreed to wait. Jacey works hard, respects her elders and follows every spoken and silent rule about fitting in and doing the ‘right’ thing. She doesn’t dare give the gossips more fodder from her family, so she’s kept Jax firmly in the friendzone. It takes a hurricane for her to realize timing is everything, but months later she’s still too afraid to put her heart on the line and tell him how she feels. Then plans change – hers for summer and his for college, and Jacey needs to make the most of the time she and Jax have left, or stay stuck in the land of missed beginnings forever.

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

18622158Shaken, Not Stirred by Alyssa Rose Ivy

*New Adult Romance mixed with humor and garnished with a twist*

Finding the perfect guy is like mixing the perfect drink. It’s all about the taste and presentation.

Faced with a pile of med school rejection letters and no plan B, I took a job tending bar in a beach town while living with two male roommates. All of that would have been fine if I’d had a clue what to do with my life or if my love life wasn’t just as pathetic as my career path. But in the end I figured one of those things out—and I also discovered his perfect drink.

Find it on Amazon.

______________________________________________________________

20498767Consequence by Shelly Crane

Significance Valentine’s Novella

Maggie and Caleb are married, leaders of their people, parents to their children, and happier than they ever dreamed, even with the visions they saw of it to prove it so. The council is still rebelling against Maggie’s changes, but this time it’s different. It’s almost as if something…or someone is behind them, pulling the strings and making decisions for them.

And Maggie is having strange visions that only she can see, leaving Caleb helpless to help her. But when her visions start to warn her that their daughter, Ava, will one day be in danger, they’ll do anything it takes to find out what’s going on and how to stop it, even paying a visit to a previous Visionary.

Maggie and Caleb must find out who or what is behind it all and stop them before Maggie is one vision too late.

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

18821664Podium Finish by Beth Pond

With six months until the Olympic Games, seventeen-year-old Harper’s life is pretty much perfect. She’s fighting for the starting spot on Team USA Women’s Hockey, and for the first time ever, she has a crush on a guy who likes her back. She feels like the luckiest girl in the world, until she runs a risky play at practice and breaks her knee, thereby sentencing herself to six weeks in a cast and possibly ending her Olympic dream before it even starts.

For seventeen-year-old Alex, being anything less than the best is unacceptable. That’s why, after a miserable debut season at the senior level, the former junior national singles champion switches to ice dance. Her skating partner, Ace, is an “all skating all the time” type of guy, which would be fine, if he’d stop keeping secrets about the real reason he and his former partner broke up. Now is not the time for second thoughts, but how can Alex skate her best if she can’t trust her partner…or herself?

As the pressure to make the Olympic team builds, the girls must rely on each other, because if there’s one thing they both know, it’s that the only thing harder than skating to the top is staying there.

Find it on Amazon.

______________________________________________________________

18769594Lost Girl by Dax Varley

Juniper Lynch has a flair for all things psychic – a gift she inherited from her dearly departed granny.

When her best friend, Gena needs help finding her missing retainer, Juniper is quick to try scrying, aka crystal-gazing. With no crystal ball handy, she goes the easy route and gazes into a glass of water. But the image that appears is not what she expected. The shriveled face of a missing girl floats to the surface. Juniper is seized by a mystical connection and the countdown clock begins.

Can she find the lost girl before they both wither away?

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

18260618Never Been Ready by J.L. Berg

Leah Morgan was done with men. After barely surviving a horrendous childhood, and a boyfriend who bailed when things got rough, Leah had given up on love. Then she met him, Hollywood’s new golden boy who suddenly had eyes only for her. She tried to convince herself that one night couldn’t hurt, but after six months, the memories of his mesmerizing gaze and searing touch still invaded her every thought.

Declan James had just one rule when it came to women. Keep it simple, and never linger. That all changed the moment he met Leah. Even across a crowded bar, he could tell she was different. Sweet, with just the right amount of sass, she made him break his golden rule and now he couldn’t walk away.

When casual becomes anything but, and emotions run deep, will Leah and Declan fight their fears, or let old insecurities tear them apart? When Declan’s past comes roaring back in a way neither of them could have expected, will they stand united or be torn apart by the challenges that lie ahead?

It was only supposed to be one night, but only forever will do.

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

19383432Full Measures by Rebecca Yarros

Three knocks can change everything…

“She knew. That’s why Mom hadn’t opened the door. She knew he was dead.”

Twenty years as an army brat and Ember Howard knew, too. The soldiers at the door meant her dad was never coming home. What she didn’t know was how she would find the strength to singlehandedly care for her crumbling family when her mom falls apart.

Then Josh Walker enters her life. Hockey star, her new next-door neighbor, and not to mention the most delicious hands that insist on saving her over and over again. He has a way of erasing the pain with a single look, a single touch. As much as she wants to turn off her feelings and endure the heartache on her own, she can’t deny their intense attraction.

Until Josh’s secret shatters their world. And Ember must decide if he’s worth the risk that comes with loving a man who could strip her bare.

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

18739739Marrying Ember by Andrea Randall

It started like it always does. For musicians, anyway. The moment Bo Cavanaugh heard November Harris sing, it all clicked into place.

That was a year and a half ago. Between then and now there’s been unthinkable tragedy, ruthless heartache, and lifetimes of passion.

It was never a question in Bo’s mind that he would marry Ember someday. The question he faces, though, is can he do it before the weight of a family’s history pulls Ember away from him forever?

In this novella in the November Blue series, follow Bo as he sets out on the only quest he was ever meant to accept: Marrying Ember.

Find it on Amazon.

______________________________________________________________

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00019]Dear Emily by Trudy Stiles

Two women. Carly and Tabitha. They each have suffered life-altering events that have left them both traumatically damaged.

Carly Sloan’s life was perfect until her security and innocence was torn from her. The vast repercussions from horrific events threaten to destroy her stability and her chances for a happily ever after. Kyle Finnegan comes into Carly’s life at the height of her turmoil. Can he help her find what she desires most?

Tabitha Fletcher has constantly suffered from a very young age. She has been hiding from her past, which was full of sadness, loss and abuse. She has been so brutally damaged that she has very little hope for redemption. The revolving door of men only leads her deeper into misery.

What circumstance brings these two women together and can they help each other heal? And will they each find what they need?

Redemption.
Love.
Family.

Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

______________________________________________________________

99 Cent 85

If you could help give these authors some love by spreading the word, that would be epic.

For more information about books on sale throughout the week, as well as giveaway updates, be sure to like A Book Vacation’s Facebook Page.



{December 11, 2013}   {Review} Severed by Dax Varley

18400224From Goodreads: Katrina’s still haunted by her encounter with the Headless Horseman – the night he beckoned to her. Now he has risen again, slashing heads and terrorizing the quiet countryside.

Her only joy during this dismal darkness comes when Ichabod Crane, a gorgeous young man from Connecticut, moves to Sleepy Hollow and their attraction turns to romance.

When the Horseman marks Ichabod as his next victim, Katrina, despite dangerous efforts to save him, sees no other choice than for them to flee.

But the Horseman awaits. Now it’s up to her to sever the horror and alter the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

___________________________________________________________

This is a very, very well done take on the classic short story, “Sleepy Hollow.”  In truth, I actually like Severed much more than I like the classic for a number of reasons, two of them being that I can actually connect with the characters and I can fully understand the text!  No offence of Washington Irving, but his story is very dry, whereas this recent rendition is full of characterization, mystery, intrigue, and romance.  Varley does an amazing job staying close to the original story throughout much of her retelling, but adds her own flare near the end, changing the story to a much more sinister and intriguing end, I think, than that of the original.  In fact, as I was reading I pictured the film version with Johnny Depp from 1999, and just like the movie, Daxley creates her very own end that fits perfectly within the storyline.

The story itself kept my attention late into the night, and had my eyes allowed it, I know I would have finished this in one sitting.  Varley definitely knows how to spin a tale, and her characterization was spot on.  I loved Katrina and Ichabod, and loathed Brom and Peter, just, as I imagine, Varley wanted readers too.  In the end, the characters do get their comeuppance, and this twist was really intriguing. I never saw it coming, and truth be told, I think this is an even better ending that the film version.

If you are intrigued by the legend and would like a different approach to the classic, I highly suggest you read this novel. Four stars.

4 stars

Dax Varley was extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

See my review of Washington Irving’s “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow” here.



et cetera
%d bloggers like this: