Search (The Empire Chronicles # 2)

Alyssa Rose Ivy Website

Book Details: Written by Bestselling New Adult and Young Adult author Alyssa Rose Ivy. Published April 17th, 2014. 271 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Smashwords /
Amazon

Synopsis of Search: Casey, our leading lady, finds out at the end of Soar that her real father is a Pteron, not just any Pteron but the recently retired king, making her Levi's new baby sister and royalty. Casey turns to Toby for help and guidance with her new discovery after their recent failed attempt at a relationship. Toby is more than happy to help, being that he found out he was a Pteron later in life also. Not only does Casey have a new set of wings but also a new set of family members. The second that Georgina, Levi's grandmother, finds out about her new granddaughter she packs her bags and takes Allie with her to New York to welcome Casey to the family. After a tiring day of shopping with her grandmother Casey decides to meet up with Toby who has found some surprising information about her mother.

Jared is shocked and upset to find out he slept with another Pteron, which is taboo in his mind. Casey is brought back to New Orleans in order to train with Hailey on the new skills she acquired after her first transformation. Casey is glad to have Hailey, another female Pteron, showing her the ropes in this new world she has been thrown into. Allie is excited to have a new future sister in-law and asks Casey to be one of her bridesmaids for the approaching wedding of Allie and Levi in Hawaii. Things finally work out for Toby and Casey making for a very steamy couple of chapters. 

Jared has a gut feeling that something is going to happen while they are all out of New Orleans for the wedding and has a hard time enjoying himself while there.  Turns out Jared is right when all hell breaks loss and Casey is kidnapped by the bear shifters. Jared and Toby jump into action in order to save Casey from whatever the bears and their "boss" have planned for her. The ending is very shocking when the author reveals "the boss", leaving you with a million unanswered questions.

My Thoughts: Very unexpected ending!! I would have never guessed who the author was going to make "the boss". Great book! I love this series, it doesn't even seem like a spin-off from the Crescent Chronicles but just a continuation.  The author has a way of making you feel very comfortable with the characters, like they could be friends of yours. I loved how welcoming Georgina was with Casey to the family, she remains one of my favorite characters in the story.  I am very glad that Toby and Casey end up together, I wasn't sure what was going to happen after the ending of the first book Things get pretty steamy between the two, finally, when they are in Hawaii for Allie and Levi's wedding. So glad we finally get to meet Casey's long lost sister Vera, she has quit the personality! I cannot wait until the next book comes out the ending left a lot up in the air!

The Day Human Prince (Book One of the Day Human Trilogy)

B. Kristin McMichael Website

Book Details: Written by B. Kristin McMichael. Published April 11th, 2014. 234 Pages. You can purchase a digital copy at Smashwords / Amazon

Synopsis of The Day Human Prince: The story begins with a quick recap from the end of The Legend of the Blue Eyes series, with Devin, a day human, almost dying Nessa, a night human, saves his life by magically bonding to him. Nessa also happens to be the reason her brother, king of the sidhe, dies making her heir to the thrown. Nessa and Devin are on their way to the hidden sidhe community, very similar to faeries, to find a way to break their bond. With all the bickering between the two they are both ready to go their separate ways. 

During their travel to the sidhe community they come across invisible sidhe assassins, luckily Devin has been trained by one of the best night humans around and is ready for the attack.  Nessa is still amazed to see Devin in action, fighting better than most night humans she knows. Narrowly making it out with Nessa's life Devin must let her feed off his blood to help her heal, while both contemplate what will be waiting for them once they reach their destination since it seems someone does not want Nessa to make it back home. Day humans are a rarity in the sidhe community, fortunately they arrive back at her home while everyone is asleep and decide to catch some shut eye before things get out of control.

Devin has a unique ability to see threw the sidhe magic, that not even sidhe's can see. This ability helps him to protect Nessa like no one else could.  Both Nessa and Devin become closer as their journey continues, worried more about each other more than themselves. With Nessa's uncle and cousin working to prove her innocence in her brothers death to the other leading families, her and Devin search for a way to break the bond but run into trouble along the way and discover much more than they could have imagined.

My Thoughts: Perfect spin-off to The Legend of the Blue Eyes series. Begins right where the series left off following Devin's life. I love Devin and Nessa together!! They are perfect, this is such a great story! I am so glad the author decided to write this series!! Traveling into the world of the magical sidhe night human race, very similar to faeries, Devin and Nessa try to break the magical bond formed between them after she saves his life. Fighting off assassins all while figuring out who they can trust in the sidhe world. Devin and Nessa are constantly bickering with each other but deep down its because they care for the others well being. It only took me a couple of days to read, it was hard to put down and had me wrapped up in this world of the night humans the author has created. I cannot wait for the next book in this trilogy to come out, I have no doubt it will be just as great!!

The Legend of the Blue Eyes (Book One of The Blue Eyes Trilogy)

B. Kristin McMichael Website

Book Details: Written by B. Kristin McMichael. Published March 8th, 2013. 256 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Smashwords / Amazon

Synopsis of The Legend of the Blue Eyes: Arianna, our protagonist, is about to turn 16, little does she know her whole world is about to change forever. Ari's aunt and uncle are being very mysterious about their plans for a trip with an unknown return date for her birthday.  Ari meets her friends at the movie theater, something they do every Friday night, where Ari also receives letters from an anonymous source talking about her parents who passed away when she was very young. Before her aunt and uncle can take her on this trip she meets the anonymous letter writer who turns out to be her father's uncle. He tells her all about her parents and how both were murdered because of a feud between their families. 

All along she thought she had no living relatives other than the ones she lived with and discovers an uncle, a cousin and a grandfather all in one night. Her uncle informs her that she is both Dearg-Dul, vampire on her mothers side, and Baku, demon on her fathers side. This is something that has never happen before, you are either one or the other never both. Of the four groups of night humans Dearg-Dul and Baku are natural enemies; Lycan have sided with Dearg-Dul and Tengu with Baku.  Ari's mother was a vampire while her father was a demon which in the end caused their death and is the reason Ari was raised by her mother's close friends, who Ari calls aunt and uncle.

Arianna leaves her Uncles to be escorted to her grandfather's property by a young man Ari has grown up seeing as long as she can remember.  She starts the change into a vampire and needs blood immediately, Devin cannot get Ari to her grandfathers in time and has to let her feed off of him and then she passes out. Ari wakes up in her grandfathers house to discover her own personal security team, consisting of Devin and the rest were all familiar faces from the bus ride she takes to the movies every Friday.  She also notices that she can see and hear everything much clearer than usual and can sense others emotions. Getting ready for the party she has to drink more blood to complete her change, but the only blood she will drink is Devin's. While at the party she is finally able to meet her grandfather Randolph, who is a very intimidating man but loves her deeply. When Ari changes into her Dearg-Dul form everyone is in awe when they see her blue eyes; all Dearg-Dul's eyes become brown when transformed. 

Ari discovers there is a legend of the blue eyed vampire that no one knows the whole legend for except her grandfather who refuses to tell her. He believes that she can make her own destiny and choose not to be the legend.  Being a pure blood Dearg-Dul and Baku makes Ari very strong and powerful and also the next in line to rule over both groups of night humans. She is quickly enrolled into a night human school so that she may better understand the world she is now living in. Her first day there she meets Turner, a lycan, who she becomes fast friends with and helps explain everything new to Arianna. Turner is fascinated by Ari and offers to be her keeper, protector for life. Legend says she needs 5 keepers all from a different blood line, between Turner and Devin she is quickly reaching that number and starting to become the legend.

My thoughts: Great book! I loved that there was more that one paranormal being in the story! Vampires, Lycans, Demons oh my! Arianna's character is truly someone you can connect with because she is that shining light of a girl in a world of hard night humans. Ari is just trying to find her place in this new world which is hard when you are only getting some of the pieces needed with Devin and her grandfather trying to keep her safe. I thought all the characters were great and had a hard time putting the book down! Love Devin, my favorite character, even if he is always emotionally cut off from the world just the little bit he shows is enough. The story kept me entertained the whole way through with ups and downs and plenty of obstacles to overcome, never a dull moment. I already started the second book Becoming the Legend and its is great so far, I am really enjoying this series!!

Soar (The Empire Chronicles #1)

Alyssa Rose Ivy Website

Book Details: Written by Bestselling New Adult and Young Adult author Alyssa Rose Ivy. Published November 19th, 2013. 252 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Smashwords / Amazon

Synopsis of Soar: Casey, our protagonist, is working in New York City at a small coffee shop, currently taking a semester off from NYU to save some money. While taking out the garbage at work Casey is corned by a wolf, shocked and scared, she pauses wondering what to do until the wolf starts to back off, Casey passes out right before seeing a winged man. The next day Casey starts chatting with Toby (Allie's ex from The Crescent Chronicles series) a cute quiet guy who is a regular costumer at the coffee shop that Casey has been crushing on for some time. Casey's friends Jess and Emmett are planning to have a house warming party the coming weekend, little does she know Emmett is one of Toby's best friends from high school and arrives shortly after her at the party. Toby overhears Casey talking about her needing to make plans Saturday night to ditch her boss who asked her out. Toby happily offers to take her out since seeing Casey at the coffee shop every morning is the only bright spot to his day. 

Toby also dropped out of college after his first semester from Princeton but for very different reasons. Toby is a Pteron shifter with huge hawk wings and after the death of his grandfather he took over as head shifter in New York City reporting back to the King Pteron, Levi. Since he has come into power the lower bear and wolf shifters have been acting out and attacking humans. Levi discovers the situation has become a little out of hand and sends the head of his security and best friend, Jared, to New York to handle the problem.

Toby and Casey go out to a paranormal coffee shop run by witches. Both are having a great time until Toby realizes they put something in the coffee that enhances any feelings already there. With Casey throwing herself at him, Toby decides to do the gentlemanly thing and take her home and hope the potion wears off soon. Toby meets with Casey's boss that night who is a bear shifter to discuss the possibility that the wolves are after Casey for some unknown reason. Casey is back to normal the next day so Toby takes her out to dinner and they end up back at his place where she decides to stay in his guest room for the night.  Toby has some business to deal with early the next morning and is gone when Jared shows up looking for him. Casey answers the door to see some gorgeous shirtless guy. Jared immediately turns on the charm for Casey and has her thinking about him until Toby shows up to see if she wants to do dinner again. 

Casey is closing at the coffee shop when Murphy, the boyfriend of her missing older sister, shows up. He tries to take her by force but she is able to escape and run to Toby's building. Toby shows up completely transformed with his wings out ready to fight Murphy who turns into a bear right in front of Casey. Casey is officially freaked out and confused by what is going on. While the fighting is going on Toby's friend takes Casey back to the safety of the family estate.With things so out of control in New York Levi and Allie show up at the estate shortly after Toby and Jared arrive to discuss business. Everyone ends up going back to New Orleans where the King resides to further investigate the uprising from the lower shifters. The love triangle just gets worse from here with both Toby and Jared trying to win Casey's affection. Obstacles continue to get in the way for the group as they try to find the source of the uprising and Casey discovers the secret her parents have been keeping from her, changing her life forever.

My Thoughts: Great spin-off series to The Crescent Chronicles. So happy all my favorite characters are back!!! Just like the other series I had a hard time putting it down and wasn't ready for it to end! It was great having the story jump between Casey, Jared and Toby's point of view so you can really understand how everyone is feeling throughout the plot.  I loved that you got to see more of both Toby and Jared, including their sensitive sides. I never thought that Jared would act that way over a girl after reading about him in the other series.  I kind of feel bad for Toby though' first he losses Allie to Levi and now he is having to compete with Jared for Casey. I am ready for Toby to have his happy ending! Huge surprise ending for Casey and who her real father is!! Not sure how I feel about Casey's character yet, going between Toby and Jared. Very entertaining cannot wait for the second book in The Empire Chronicles, Search, to come out later this month, April 17th.

Found (The Crescent Chronicles #3)

Alyssa Rose Ivy Website

Book Details: Written by Bestselling New Adult and Young Adult author Alyssa Rose Ivy. Published July 16th, 2013. 234 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Smashwords /
Amazon

Synopsis of Found: At the conclusion of Focus you discover that Toby, Allie's ex-boyfriend, is the heir to the Blackwells, Levi's family rivals, and has taken her friend Jess as hostage until Allie agrees to come back to him. Levi is upset to discover that he was not Allie's first Pteron. Allie is upset that her friend is being held hostage, Levi tells her he has people watching to make sure nothing happens to Jess until they can go save her. Letting Allie go to the Blackwells is not an option. Trying to keep things normal Levi and the guys take Allie and Hailey to a paranormal New Year's Eve party to celebrate, where Allie runs into Toby. Toby tells her he can't believe Levi is keeping her in the dark and not telling her what she is. Allie already had a feeling that her dating two Pterons was not a coincidence and goes to visit Levi's mother to try and find out more. Levi's mother is not sure why but says if anyone knows it would be Lev's grandmother who lives a couple hours outside town and that she can set up a time to go visit her soon. 

Levi knows that Allie is up to something, first meeting with his mother and now his grandmother, and decides to tag along for the ride. Allie is not sure she made the right choice by talking to his grandmother since she is one feisty old lady. Levi's grandmother tells everyone that her and Allie will be going to visit her seamstress when really she takes her to an older studio to discuss what Allie really came to visit her for. Allie discovers that written in Pteron history there have been women known as the Enchantress. The Enchantress is like a Pteron heir magnet and whom ever she chooses to accept the family ring from will become the next King. Levi's grandmother thinks that since Levi tricked her into taking the family ring he somehow tainted to bond between them which is why the Toby is still after her.

The Winter Ball has arrived with Allie by Levi's side, they are both enjoying themselves until another possible heir to the thrown shows up to request his dance with Allie, which has to be granted based on Pteron tradition. Allie can feel a weird pull towards him and he to her which just upset both Allie and Levi. After the dance Toby shows up to request his dance, where Allie starts to feel faint. Both Allie and Levi has been experiencing extreme of jealousy and a need to be with each other which is causing Allie to become ill due to the bond not being done correctly. While at the Ball Toby's grandfather threatens to dispose of Jess and also tells her he knows where her mother lives.  

Allie can't wait any longer to go save Jess and sneaks away from Levi and her guards to travel to New York, where Jess is being held. Once she gets Jess out of trouble she goes with Toby knowing that is the only way to protect her family and friends without Toby's grandfather going after someone else. While with Toby she blacks out and starts to get very sick, this is the longest she has been away from Levi and the tainted bond is killing her. Toby still cares for Allie and calls Levi to come help, together they take her to a witch who tells them how to break the bond. During the process of breaking the bond both have tears steaming down their face, they love each other so much. An attack breaks out shortly after they break the bond with Toby saving everyone and Allie still choosing Levi, always Levi.

My Thoughts: I loved this series!! I could not put any of the books down and ended up finishing all three plus the novella over the weekend!! Great story different idea for a plot with the shifters originating from birds and having large angel like wings.  The way the author ends the second book, Focus, was very surprising; I could not believe that Allie's ex, Toby, was the Blackwell heir!! Levi and Allie are adorable, I love when the guy has to fight for what he wants instead of the girls just fawning over them. Allie definitely keeps Levi on his toes throughout the story but you can tell that she loves him beyond belief and she gives him a hard time when needed.  Levi continues to prove to Allie over and over how much he loves her even if she second guesses him occasionally.  

Quit the drama between all the heirs to the thrown when they show up at the winter ball to dance with Allie. Very entertaining, also I loved all the girly descriptions of the dresses that Allie wears for each event. Then you find out that since Levi didn't do the mate bond right when he tricked Allie in the first book, the two get sick from the tainted bond and have to find a way to fix it before things gets worse. I loved Levi's grandma she was a great addition to the already great group of characters. I feel terrible for Toby by the end of the story and really hope things work out for him in the spin off series. It all ends at the coronation when Levi takes over as King; I just wanted the story to keep going for Allie, Levi and the gang!!! I will be reading the spin off series The Empire Chronicles Book 1, Soar, next.  Overall a very entertaining read!!