The Shepherd Book Review

Synopsis:

Mike Evans here. Sixteen year old skate punk squatting in a white-trash trailer park with my loser drunk Dad. Seems I lost most of my friends when Dad lost our home in foreclosure. Only Anita stuck by me. Worse, I keep having strange clairvoyant visions of things that always come true.

Then I almost ran over Nadia in my Geo. A passing truck finished the job – left a crumpled heap of skin and bone on the road. I fixed her. Me.

Now this fourteen year old girl won’t leave me alone. I sorta let her sneak in my window when she needs a place to crash.

I have a double life: daytime at school, Anita, skating, and then my nights with Nadia. She's my secret friend, gives me money and listens to my problems when nobody else will.

My world is spinning out of control. Old friends have turned enemy, my grisly visions of death won’t quit, and Anita’s intentions make my head spin. Even with all that, I’ve got bigger stuff to worry about.

Nadia’s hiding something.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

My Review:

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Mike Evans is almost a typical teenager, I say typical because not only does he live with the guilt of his mother dying giving birth to him, but he has also inherited her visions. He's a skateboarder with very few friends. Then one day after posting his friend's McDonald's escapade on Facebook, his world is turned upside down. He then meets Nadia, a beautiful, homeless younger teenage girl, who seems to be drawn Mike. As he tries to get the bullies to leave him alone he begins to have troubling visions of people getting hurt. Will they heed his warnings before it's too late?  How will Mike react when he finds out the truth about Nadia?  Will anyone even believe him?

This was an awesome paranormal thriller. You can easily relate to Anita and how she sees herself. Being a teenager is difficult as it is, but to have a bad self image and also a huge crush on your best friend is quite a bit to handle. Nadia, I couldn't get my head around at first, because she was a homeless teen that seemed to pop up everywhere Mike went. When you find out the truth it'll certainly surprise you! Everything about this book was plausible and it made a great story that held me captivated from beginning to end.

About Travis Luedke

Travis Luedke is a husband, father, and author of Urban Fantasy Thriller, Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, and Sci-fi. He is currently catching a 3rd degree sunburn in San Antonio, Texas, and loving every minute of it.

As the author of the Nightlife Series novels, Travis lives very vicariously through his writings. He invites you to enjoy his macabre flights of fancy, but be warned: The Nightlife Series is violent, sexy, and occasionally violently sexy.

Connect with Travis:
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Fallen Book Blitz

Title: Fallen

Author: Laury Falter

Series: Guardian Trilogy

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Audeamus LLC

Release Date: April 1 2009

Editions/Formats Available In: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis: 

Fallen - the first book in the bestselling Guardian Trilogy...

Maggie is unaware of the terrifying fate that awaits her. It isn't until she lands in New Orleans for a full year at a private high school and her unknown enemies find her does she realize that her life is in danger. 

As a mystifying stranger repeatedly intervenes and blocks the attempts on her life, she begins to learn that there is more to him than his need to protect her and that he may be the key to understanding why her enemies have just now arrived.

Laury Falter is a bestselling author of young adult romantic suspense and urban fantasy. She has three series out: the Guardian Trilogy, the Residue Series, and the Apocalypse Chronicles.


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The Sandpiper Book Review

Synopsis:

One family's story of pain, secrets, and love.

The Sandpiper is about three Cameron women. Kate the perfect older sister. Jamie the screw-up. Their widowed mother Ellie. It's about Nina Judd, their guardian angel, the novel's heartbeat.

Kate had the chance to know their father Dr. James. Jamie was born too late. Sisters by birth. Sisters in loyalty sanctified by a blood oath. Two bright, pretty women full of promise. Then something happens the summer Jamie turns 18 that ruins everything.

And maybe Kate is not so perfect after all. Jamie, not so hopeless. Embraced by The Sandpiper, Nina's white-shingled cottage above the endless blue of Lake Michigan, the sisters struggle toward forgiveness, toward healing.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

My Review: 

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This is a beautiful and enriching story of love, friendship, loss, forgiveness and redemption. Ellie and James Cameron were the perfect couple until the Vietnam War took James and left Ellie the single mother of two young girls. The only friend she had was Nina Judd, the woman whose cabin James had rented for them while he was away. Jamie and Kate Cameron were polar opposites. Kate was three years older than her sister. Not only did she help to raise her, but Kate was the perfect child, while Jamie struggled through life, leaving her older sister to pick up the pieces, cover for her and made everything okay again. The one anchor they have is dying of cancer, and they all reunite at The Sandpiper to be reminded of what is really important.

Susan. Brace Lovell has written a wonderful book. The characters are so realistic and a connection is immediately felt with them. Each scene felt like I was right there on the patio sipping hot chocolate and chatting along with them. I think the most important thing I learned about myself as I read Jamie's plight, is that in order to really move on, I need to forgive myself before I can completely accept others forgiveness. This novel certainly feels more like a family friend, one that I will revisit time and time again.

About the Author

Susan Lovell earned undergraduate and graduate degrees with honors in English from the University of Michigan and taught high school and college English. She co-founded Cadence, a weekly newspaper in East Grand Rapids, Michigan and is the author of four non-fiction histories. Lovell currently sits on the Grand Rapids Salvation Army’s Advisory Board. She and her husband live in Grand Rapids.