Midnight Magic: Be Careful What You Wish For! by Nancy Di Fabbio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wish, I wish, I wish you were real and belonged to me. Please, please make my wish come true…

Mattie is horse crazy. Living in the small town of Gull’s Nest, she passes her summer days dreaming of owning her own horse and envying the rich girls that flocked to the town with their own horses to spend their summers riding and relaxing. But when Mattie takes a trip to see her Granny T and discovers a painting of Figure, a black horse with intense eyes, things start to change. She learns several lessons, including ‘Be careful what you wish for.’

Mattie’s changes through the book are fairly typical of the fourteen-year-old girl that she is. Materialistic and judgmental, Mattie learns to work for what she wants and to not judge a book, or horse, by its cover. Even while she pines for Figure to leap off the canvas and be hers, she ignores that Posey is a wonderful, show-experienced horse that she has right in front of her.

The book itself was sectioned off into chapters, sometimes very short, that would be good for a younger reader but somewhat disjointing for an older reader. The chapters are also titled, though in a font that is hard to read, which gives a glimpse of what’s to come.

Slightly reminiscent of “The Saddle Club,” Midnight Magic is a tale of growing up, learning to appreciate what you have in front of you and working for what you want. Full of spooky moments and mystery, Midnight Magic sure to capture a young horse lover’s attention and gallop away with it.

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Rhyn’s Redemption by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I mean, you look beautiful for a dead woman.”

Trapped in the underworld, Katie is racing against time to get back to Rhyn before Death claims her and her daughter’s life. Meanwhile, Rhyn is breaking down the barrier that keeps Death safe from the Dark One, willing to do anything to get Katie back before it’s too late.

When the time comes to choose between Katie’s fate and the fate of the entire world, will Rhyn make the right choice?

Once again, this fast-paced novella drags the reader in, taking them through the roller coster of emotions both Katie and Rhyn have been fighting the entire series. Rhyn maintains his noble character despite all his brothers and others throw at him, finally accepting what Katie has been saying all along – there is something good in him.

Rhyn’s Redemption grips you from the beginning and doesn’t let up, leaving you hungry for more.

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Katie’s Hope by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Her choices were plain: Death or Hell. Bad or worse. Screwed or screwed.

After three weeks of playing lab rat for Kris, Katie realizes he’s never going to let her go. Worse, she has no idea what to do about Rhyn, who is trying very hard to give her what she asks for – space, time – yet sets her blood on fire whenever he’s near.

When Rhyn finds there are demons in the forest and a war on the horizon, he does what all his brothers seem to think he should do – he lets Katie go. The emotions run high as he finds out that, instead of giving her the protection she needs, he has just left her helpless – or as helpless as Katie can be.

The family dynamic really comes out in this book, with the brother against brother being undermined and twisted. Rhyn comes out looking like an angel when he saves Kris, though his methods are more brutal than Kris would like. Katie shows the depth of her love for Rhyn, even if she can’t admit it to herself, by her sacrifice.

Katie’s Hope keeps you on edge, waiting for the next plot twist until the very end, where it makes you beg for more.

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Redbacks by Aaron Crocco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody wakes up thinking they’re going to die today.

James Cole just survived a world-wide earthquake. Together with Tucky, James sets off to find his wife and make sure she’s safe. When a darkness creeps up over the city, James and Tucky find strange creatures coming out as well. Since there are so few left to fight, James decides to join in the battle with the Redbacks. A chance meeting with Travis Hunter gives him a clue about the darkness, and James vows to take out the source of the Redbacks – Travis himself.

Book two of As Darkness Ends, Redbacks gives a lot more action than the first book. By following James around, the reader gets to experience the effects of the Encautum on the survivors and how they react to the Redbacks.

In this quick-paced story the apocalypse continues, forcing survivors to fight the zombie-like creatures brought on by the darkness.

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Katie’s Hellion by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Can’t take you anywhere without you beheading folks,” she whispered.”

The Council of Seven, made up of seven immortal brothers, is falling apart from the inside. With two brothers dead, two more banished to hell for aiding the Dark One, and internal skirmishes happening almost daily, the fate of the human race seems unlikely at best.

And then there’s Katie, a “mere” human that has a remarkable trait – her blood makes her immune to immortal abilities. She finds herself thrust into the immortal world when a four-hundred-year-old baby angel drops in and claims her as his mom, a death dealer shows up outside her window, and gets kidnapped and sent to hell. With going crazy a real possibility, Katie bargains with Rhyn to get out of hell but her plan backfires as he claims her as his own mate.

A unique twist on vampires with a complex world, Katie’s Hellion sets up the rest of the series. As tension between Katie and Rhyn builds, can they find a way to trust each other enough to save humanity?

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Telesa – The Covenant Keeper by Lani Wendt Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful – and so terrible in my life.”

Leila is searching for a place to belong after her father’s death. Against his final wish, she travels to Samoa to try to find out about her mother, who her father had told her was dead.

After she arrives on the island, she settles into her routine, but a fire builds inside of her that she can’t explain. Even as she adjusts to her knew school – and the God-like boy, Daniel – she gets throwing for a loop again – her mother is alive. Now, she needs to find answers to the cause of the flames. Answers only her mother can give her.

Trying to quench her inner fire, but thoughts of Daniel feed the flames, so she agrees to move in with her mother to find out how to control this power. But even as she learns to control herself as a telesa, she finds out why her mother’s name brings fear to the locals and must decide between her mother’s ways and her own.

Full of Samoan culture, Telesa: The Covenant Keeper is a tale of accepting who you are and standing up for what you believe in.

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