The Tegan Cave by Inge-Lise Goss

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn't exactly what I got. I thought, you know... spiders (seriously shuddering here). It's going to be something creepy, maybe keep me awake at night with the lights on and a fly swatter in my hands. That's not exactly what happened.

Aside from the fact that I find spiders to be incredibly creepy, I did enjoy this story. What upped the "ick" factor for me is the fact that I can see some scientist crazy enough to attempt what a character in the story succeeded at. And if I tell you what that is, then why would you bother to read the story for yourself, hmm?

This story is very well written, well edited and completely believable in a crazy-scientist-who's-gone-around-the-bend kind of way. The experiment that is the back story this book is set around has its own pitfalls for some characters. There are the expected good guys and bad guys. When you think you know which characters fall into which category, Goss changes it up on you.

The characters have a depth that makes the events that happen to them believable. Could reality as we know it be skewed sideways by some crazy in a lab? You betcha. Goss brings a level of believability to her writing in much the same way Stephan King did in his epic, The Stand. That alone makes her work worthy of reading. Unlike King's book, The Tegan Cave is not an apocalyptic story.  Should Goss decide to continue writing, I can see a time when her name will be as well-known as Stephen King. Take a chance on this author. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

In spite of the spiders, I had a difficult time setting the book aside. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars.

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Amazon Australia
                                    Barnes & Noble

A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (The Mortal Edition) (Ashen Twilight Series Book 1) by Rae Lori

I have mixed feelings about this book. While the story is in a genre I enjoy, the editing and proofreading left much to be desired. The errors ranged the gamut from missed punctuation to incorrect word choices to incorrect forms of words used.

This author shows a lot of promise, but the number of errors left me unwilling to spend money on future books by her. Before I take the step to purchase other books by this author, I will make use of the free hour of in-store reading time Barnes & Noble offers their Nook customers. Unlike Amazon, Barnes & Noble doesn't allow Nook users to automatically update a book that has been re-edited. Consequently, I am very thankful this was a free book.

My recommendation would be to pull the book and for the author to avail herself of either a couple of beta readers or a good editor. Had this book been properly edited, I would have happily bought every book in the series. I would have also given this book 4 stars. Due to lack of sufficient editing, I can only give this book 2 stars.