Wake by Amanda Hocking

     This is a YA or Young Adult novel. It's also the first in the Watersong trilogy.
     
     The teaser for this book is really what caught my interest. A supernatural creature book that wasn't teenager vampires, werewolves, or witches. I won't spoil it, but I was pretty sure I knew what the creatures were, and I was right.
     I expected more from this book. It was disappointing to me. I have read several other YA supernatural stories, and not all from authors I love. This one lacked the essential balance between the normal human world and supernatural world. Ninety percent of this tale felt like I reading a normal teen type story, nothing out of the ordinary. The balance doesn't have to be fifty-fifty but does need enough supernatural stuff in it to move the story along into the paranormal.
     Beside this, I had a few issues with the story. Things that seemed to not fit, and make the story a bit more sluggish. For one, I have no problem with an omnipotent narrator, but what is wrong with saying her Dad left for work, instead of Brian left for work. It took me a few times before I adjusted to using his name instead of Dad or father. It was a little confusing at first.
     Secondly, your a creature that has lived for centuries and you can't risk being discovered, but you can't dispose of a dead body? Thirdly: What was the purpose of having the brain injured mother in the book? To me her character just wasn't needed. A simple sentence or two could have filled in necessary facts. Number four: Teenagers have gone missing and you let your child go out alone after dark. Finally, number five: Why would any adult let their daughter going swimming, not only alone, but at night, in the bay, where she could drown, or get attacked by a shark? Seriously? I know he feels guilty about not being around as much as he is needed, and about Gemma, not having a Mom, but there is a difference in being a responsible adult, and being a little too hands off.
     This story could have been so much more, but in my opinion, fell way short of the mark. A few changes to the story and it could have been a much better teen tale, without anything paranormal in it. I will not be reading the other books.

Hex Appeal : Short Story Anthology

     I usually only read short story collections if they contain a story from a an author I already like. This one happened to contain several of my favorites.
     Since all collections have an underlining theme, this one has stories that include lovely and sometimes, dangerous women in them. Stories are all fantasy themed and include vampires, big foot, a sex droid from the future, magicians who wield real magic, witches, and even men who are brought back from the dead, and  even a trip to Hell. These tales do contain a bit of romance at times, but are much more.
     Contains authors such as Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Simon R. Green, and many others.
     I enjoyed most of these stories, two really weren't my favorite, Cherry Kisses and I think it was titled There will be Demons, were not really my cup of tea, but the rest of the tales were interesting and a good read. This is one of the better collections I have read. If your looking for a break from full novels, this wouldn't be a bad choice.

Cold Days by Jim Butcher

     I first discovered The Dresden Files through the short lived Sci-Fi channel series. I wanted something to read and remembered the series was based on a book series. So I checked out Storm Front and fell in love with Harry Dresden.
     This is one of those series that needs to be read in order. The first book is Storm Front.
        The last book, Ghost Story, though it was an interesting, at times, was not my favorite read of the series. I was not disappointed in Cold Days. I loved the twist and turns in this story. This installment was the Harry Dresden I love. A typical normal, bad day for Harry, that as it continues always seem to get worse, but no matter how bad it seems, Harry, always seems to persevere, and live to fight another day, but not without making his life all the more messy and complicated. This story grabs you and especially toward the end is one of those stories that is hard to put down. I can't wait to see what trouble is in store for Harry next.