Young Adult

Seeking Unseen

Seeking Unseen
Title: Seeking Unseen
ASIN: ASIN : B00UZSUBF6
Publisher:
Published: March 19, 2015
Author's Twitter: @KatHeckenbach
It may be Angel's wish...but it's Melinda's journey. It's been two years since Angel learned the magic chip of wood inside her locket would grant any wish. What is taking her so long to choose? An alarming discovery about her beloved foster brother Zack makes the decision easy...but everything else gets complicated after she runs into her old friend Melinda, who demands to go along for the return to Toch Island. Melinda doesn't fit in with the magical freaks any more than she did with the losers back in Florida, but she never wanted to belong before. A secret world surrounds her where even the bugs have magic...She's more of an outsider than ever. So when ex-con Doran Ashe slinks out of the shadows and offers her an easy road to powers of her own, Melinda follows him despite--or maybe because of--everyone's warnings. The sequel to young adult fantasy, Finding Angel.

Assessed for Awesome Indies

 

The Genius of Little Things

The Genius of Little Things
Title: The Genius of Little Things
ASIN: B00B1KN99C
Publisher:
Published: January 15, 2013
Author:
Sixteen-year-old Tyler’s big dream of becoming a top immunologist could come crashing down if he doesn’t manage all of the little things right now. But when this obsessive-compulsive science geek confronts a school election, a demeaning job, needy tutees, a first girlfriend, and the possible extinction of honeybees, there are suddenly too many things to manage. Tyler’s catastrophically humorous run for high school student council convinces the principal that he’s a troublemaker, while it wins him the admiration and desire of Rachel, a smart and iconoclastic reporter for the school paper. A new night job at a nursing home puts Tyler on a collision course with his new foster parents, a childless middle-aged couple with an agenda and a tragic past of their own. And the pain of his mother’s death becomes too big to ignore. Set on the mean streets of suburban Las Vegas, The Genius of Little Things is about how you can’t always get what you want. But sometimes, well, you know...

Assessed for 

When Women Were Warriors Book I – The Warrior’s Path

The Warrior’s Path
Title: The Warrior’s Path
ASIN: B001MBU7EK
Published: November 25, 2013
Author's Twitter: @cmwilson_wwww
When she was a child, the author happily identified with all the male heroes she read about in stories that began, “Once upon a time, a young man went out to seek his fortune.” But she would have been delighted to discover even one story like that with a female protagonist. Since she never did find the story she was looking for all those years ago, she decided to write it. In Book I of the trilogy, Tamras arrives in Merin’s house to begin her apprenticeship as a warrior, but her small stature causes many, including Tamras herself, to doubt that she will ever become a competent swordswoman. To make matters worse, the Lady Merin assigns her the position of companion, little more than a personal servant, to a woman who came to Merin’s house, seemingly out of nowhere, the previous winter, and this stranger wants nothing to do with Tamras.

Assessed 

Lethal Inheritance

Lethal Inheritance
Title: Lethal Inheritance
ASIN: B009NPL1D8
Series:
Publisher:
Published: November 13, 2012
Author's Twitter: @TahliaNewland
A scream pierces the night. Ariel jolts awake and watches in horror as demons drag her mother into a hidden realm. She finds help and sets off on a rescue mission. But to defeat the demons, who feed on fear and seek to enslave the human race, she must learn a secret esoteric wisdom to awaken the dormant, but potentially explosive, power of her mind. Walnut, a quirky old wise man, guides her through treacherous inner and outer landscapes, and Nick, the powerful Warrior who travels with them, proves a dangerous attraction. Can Ariel defeat the sadistic demon lord before he kills her and enslaves her mother? The stakes are high, death a real possibility. Fail now, and she fails humanity.

Assessed 

October 18, 2013

Ariel’s Dream

Ariel’s Dream
Title: Ariel’s Dream
ASIN: B00D5OALUM
Series:
Publisher:
Published: June 2, 2013
Author's Twitter: @TahliaNewland
Ariel’s Dream is a prequel short story to the award-winning Diamond Peak Series. It includes the first chapter of book one, Lethal Inheritance. A shadow escapes from Ariel’s dream and stalks her in the real world. No matter how she tries to shake it off, it always returns. Even a mysterious old man and a boy bathed in light can’t keep its chill breath at bay. Like the fear that called it, the only way to defeat the shadow is to face it.Ariel’s Dream has received the AIA Seal of Excellence and is a prequel short story to the award-winning Diamond Peak Series. It includes the first chapter of book one, Lethal Inheritance.  

Assessed 

Sept 2013

Gang Territory

Gang Territory
Title: Gang Territory
ASIN: B004UNFYCW
Series:
Published: March 30, 2011
Author's Twitter: @stjohnwrites
A wartime evacuee's tale of village gangs and first love: When a boy from London finds himself homeless after the orphanage where he lived is bombed during World War II, he is bundled off to the countryside to live with his only relative, a pious spinster aunt he barely knows. Her village of Widdlington would be a peaceful place to live; or so he imagined. The evacuee desperately seeks to understand his place in a bewildering, strife-filled world. He falls helplessly in love, but it's a passion that seems doomed, because the boy's aunt and the girl's parents are in bitterly opposing religious camps. He does, however, possess one treasure he's prepared to guard with his life; his go-cart.Lightning. He'd rather burn it than let it fall into the hands of the Nazis, should they invade, and he dares to wrest it back from a rival gang which has stolen it. Humorous yet thought-provoking, the Gang series explores the difficulties and rewards of forging relationships in violent times.

Assessed 

Stim

Stim
Title: Stim
ASIN: B00FYPH9FU
Series:
Published: November 11, 2013
Author:
Author's Twitter: @kevinberryxxx
Robert is different. He has Asperger’s Syndrome. He experiences the world differently to 99% of the population. Follow his entertaining and highly empathetic story as he struggles to realise and accept who he really is, try to understand other people – which he cannot – and find a girlfriend. Especially find a girlfriend – he’s decided it’s his special project for the year. Accompanied on this transformative journey by his quirky flatmates, Chloe (who also has Asperger’s, amongst other things), Stef (who hasn’t, but doesn’t mind) and their oddly-named kitten, Robert endures a myriad of awkward moments in his quest to meet a nice, normal girl…and not even a major earthquake will stop him.  This absorbing and humorous story is starkly told from Robert’s point of view, through the kaleidoscope of autistic experience.

Assessed 

December 2013

Thrall

Thrall
Title: Thrall
ASIN: B008464TEK
Published: June 1, 2012
Author's Twitter: @jennq
When 16-year old Braedyn learns she’s a descendent of Lilith–the mother of all demons—she is swept into an ancient war with no easy answers.   Welcome to Braedyn Murphy’s life. She’s a typical—if shy—sophomore navigating the slings and arrows of high school life with her two best friends, Royal and Cassie. Then a new boy, Lucas, moves into the house next door, and Braedyn finds herself falling in love for the first time. But Braedyn’s normal life comes crashing down around her ears when she learns she’s a descendent of Lilith, the mother of all demons – and that she might play a critical role in an ancient war between the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Lilith. Turns out the right answers aren’t always clear or easy. And as for “good” and “evil” – it all depends on how you choose to act. Inspired by the ancient Mesopotamian myths of Lilith and her offspring, Thrall explores first love, strong friendships, and taking on adult responsibilities against the backdrop of powerful supernatural forces and life-and-death stakes.

Assessed 

Ed Undead – The Chronicles of a Teenage Zombie

Ed Undead – The Chronicles of a Teenage Zombie
Title: Ed Undead – The Chronicles of a Teenage Zombie
ASIN: B0748LW5ZB
Categories: ,
Publisher:
Published: May 18, 2012
Author:
For Ed Kirk, your, normal sixteen year-old high school student, the world changed the day he awoke to a plague that had turned almost everyone around him into flesh-eating zombies. Now, fighting the virus himself, he must find a way out of the small town he used to call home. Fleeing from the hordes of living dead, he and his girlfriend, Lisa Jane, fight for survival and cling to the hope that they can find help and a cure for the virus that is slowly eating away inside Ed, and that will eventually turn him into one of the undead creatures they are desperately trying to escape. Can they find a way to survive before it’s too late?

Assessed for Awesome Indies