The Protectors: Destined, Book 1 by Taylor-Grace Davis

Only eighteen, Taylor Scott has moved to England to live with her godfather while studying to be a surgeon. Instead of taking her home with him, he drops her off at what will be her first apartment as an adult. Taylor quickly makes friends with the girl next door, lands a job in a boutique run by a very nice older woman and gains the interest of a good looking young man in one of her classes. All would be great except for the nightmarish dreams that keep plaguing her.

Unknown to Taylor, she has a role to play in the ongoing fight of good versus evil. When she is finally told of her destiny, Taylor refuses to accept it. Evil is hiding behind some very charming faces. Destined is another twist on a familiar plot.

The author displays a lot of promise in her ability to weave a story. Unfortunately, that potential was not realized in this story. Sections of her descriptive narratives are over done and in other places don't contribute anything of value to the story. In its current state, the story does not live up to the claim in the book blurb of being a masterpiece. A great deal of editing/proofreading is needed before it can stand up to that.

Did I like the story? Absolutely. Would I like to read more from this author and this series in particular? Most certainly. I would like to see the next book in the series have proper editing, and in fact, this book would benefit from the same. Had this book been properly edited, I would have gladly given it four stars. The rating is strictly because of the lack of editing. Due to the fact that the story read more like a work in progress, I am not able to do so. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 2 stars

This book is available from Amazon.

Supernatural Seduction, Coffin Girls Book 2 by Aneesa Price

I have not yet read the first book in this series. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. The primary focus of this story is Sophie, a vampire-witch who is a very powerful but untrained empath, and Sylvain, a fae prince. Sophie is one of the Coffin Girls, a group of vampire witches in service to the Goddess. As part of that duty, they go after supernatural bad guys, rescue kidnapped witches, run a school to train young witches in their powers and run a wedding planning business out of an old southern plantation.

Sophie is drawn to Sylvain, but is unsure if the feeling is mutual. When he notices her empathic abilities threaten to harm her, or worse, he offers to have one of his subjects train her in the use of her empathic abilities. This turns out to be a good thing all the way around because she gets to spend more time with the very sexy prince.

While I did like the story, there were several errors that got in the way of completely enjoying it. There were several places where the incorrect pronoun was used and one or more words were missing from the text. These editing errors diluted what would have otherwise been a great book. In spite of these problems, I do plan to read the other books in the series. Hopefully, the editing/proofreading will be more thorough by the time I read them. Due to the errors, I can only give this book three stars.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.

Wicked Souls by Sabrina Samples

Spencer very clearly remembers her wedding to David and the year that followed. Driving home after a weekend with his parents, she swerves to miss a man dressed in white standing in the middle of the road and crashes. Spencer survives with minimal injuries while David has to stay overnight at the hospital. The morning after coming home from the hospital with David, she wakes up and finds that he has died sometime in the night. Spencer's life is about to get more interesting than she could have imagined.

Or did he? Visits from an angel, a demon, a trip to heaven. Memories of a wedding that didn't happen, no memory of a love that did, murder, angels, demons, and souls are at stake. Samples has put a new spin on the familiar tale of the war between heaven and hell, angels versus demons for control of earth and all souls. She threw a curve ball at the end that I wasn't in anyway anticipating.

This was an interesting book. The narrative isn't quite smooth in some places, but overall, a good novel for a first time author. If Samples continues the way she started, she will have a promising career as an author to look forward to. I hope she does. I want to see what happens in the sequel. I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (paperback only so far), and Smashwords.

On Shadowed Wings by Amanda DeWees

Gail, a high school senior is helping out Dr. Sumner, her next door neighbor by babysitting his young daughter, Joy, in the months following his wife's death. Other characters in the story are Darryl, an over-controlling boyfriend and Jim, a quiet young man from an area college studying moths and butterflies on the neighbor's property. This story has love, loss, a beautiful myth about butterflies and a magical Beltane night that helps heals two broken hearts.

This is a very short story in the Ash Grove series. While I enjoyed the story, I was left wishing the book were longer. I'm considering reading the rest of the books to see where this story falls in the series. I received this book as a gift in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Bishop Street by Rene D. Schultz

The story centers around Maggie Gray who grew up in Bishop Street Orphanage. Abandoned at seven when her mother chose a boyfriend over raising her daughter, Maggie is now a successful author. An emotional meltdown and recurring nightmares brings her to the decision to locate and reconnect with three friends she hasn't seen in twenty years.

A private investigator has located each person and provided a brief report on how they are doing. Maggie's journey to reconnect with each person is fraught with tension, memories, and fear. Each of the children were at the orphanage for different reasons, reasons that have left mental and emotional scars that have shaped who they are as adults.

This story is definitely not one in my preferred genre, but every once in a while, I try to step outside my comfort zone and explore something else. I was uncomfortable when the characters had flashbacks of the abuse and bullying that occurred the orphanage. None of the four children grew up unscathed by the abuse or the bullying from other kids.

This was not a story that held me in its grip from start to finish. There were points in the story where I had to set the book down and take my mind off what had been done to them as children. Although outside of my preferred genre, this was surprisingly, a good story. It felt as though the author either had first hand knowledge or researched her subject matter very well.

There were several errors missed in the proofreading/editing phase that got in the way of enjoying the story. I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available at Amazon.

John's LOVE by J.J. Valentin

A story of soul mates reborn to find each other again. John and Sarah say good-bye to each other in heaven as they prepare to be born on earth. But something is wrong when John sees Sarah for the first time at school - he remembers his time in heaven and isn't supposed to. He recognizes Sarah and knows they are meant to be together. Sarah doesn't remember any of their time in heaven.

John and Sarah face one challenge after another. The closeness they developed in high school is challenged by the distance of attending different colleges. Eventually, Sarah tells John she can't handle the separation and breaks it off. Heartbroken, John leaves. Sarah takes up with Lucas and follows him to California. While there, Satan, in his human guise as Lucas, makes every effort to demean her in as many ways as possible. His goal is to keep the young soul mates apart, and make John denounce God.

Although faith is a large part of John's part of the story, it's not so much for Sarah. This comes in to play as she is faced with trials all too often handed to young girls far from home. What follows is drug and alcohol dependency, and prostitution.

This is a sweet story of the redeeming power of faith, love and forgiveness. I found the story an easy read. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. Due to the errors missed in proofreading, I was unable to give this book 5 stars.

This book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Hunted; Talented Saga - Book 3 by Sophie Davis

Talia's seizures are mostly controlled with a daily shot. However, her mood swings are becoming more rapid and uncontrollable. Erik is standing by her through everything, giving her much needed strength as she struggles to stay in control. She is beginning to ask questions and question the answers.

In an attempt to get her mind off the betrayal and execution of her best friend, the director tells her she will be going with him for the annual testing for Talented children. Already uneasy with how the tests are conducted, twice Talia is told she and Erik must collect a Talented child the parents have hidden. During all of this, Erik has a friend who may be able to provide answers Talia desperately needs.

Secrets are revealed, lies and truths are exposed. Potentially fatal decisions are made. I suspected where the story would go by the title of the book. What I couldn't possibly have anticipated was the way in which the story would get there.There were a small handful of missed proofreading errors in this story, however, by the time I was half way through the book, Davis had such a tight grip on me I couldn't put the book down. How tight? I risked being late to work in order to finish the book. I finished the book and punched in six minutes late.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. With the way Davis ratcheted things up in this book, she has earned space in my box of favorite authors the next time (if ever) I move. Hunted is far and away the best of the series so far. She has definitely earned that fifth star, which I rarely give out to books with errors. Make sure to read the first two books in this series, Talented and Caged. They provide the necessary background to get the most out of Hunted.

This book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.