The Devoured Series by Emily Snow

There are two books in this series, All Over You and Devoured (with a third coming out soon)  This series begins like so many where the MC is a girl who lacks a bit of confidence and comes from a bad family background and is trying to do better.  I say that as if there is something wrong with that story line, but I LOVE IT.  I find the pattern an easy read.  I am not sure whether to classify this as New Adult, but I think I will.  These books start with the MC Sienna, working on a video shoot for a rock band.  Now I also find that these books tend to have musician types.  Helps with the broodiness I guess.  Sienna is in charge of wardrobe and of course Lucas the protagonist sees her as his easy target.  Kind of a little Fifty Shades with him seeing the weak lamb and thinking he can over power and dominate her.  And all seems to be going as planned until she ends up at his house and he tells her to put handcuffs on and she says (as everyone should)  Yeah!  NO!  So he kicks her out.  Moving to book two...of course Lucas can not get her out of his head because she turned him down and decides to move to Tennessee, where she is from, to write music.  He finds a house in foreclosure and decides to buy it and it turns out it is Sienna's grandma's house.  So long story short, Lucas gets Sienna to work as his assistant for ten days and if she can get through it he will give her the house again.  Sparks fly and all seems well until Sam, the mysterious ex-wife shows her ugly head and Lucas turns Sienna away.  We don't know what Sam holds over Lucas but it must be bad.  I am waiting for the next book to find out.  I have to say this book, although follows a formula I am familiar with, is a great read and drew me into the characters and I have to say Lucas is on my list of book crushes.  I loved the epilogue at the end of Devoured and think it is super romantic.  The dialogue and character development is good and although back story is sprinkled through I didn't find any information dumps and the pace kept me reading.  4 Stars for sure and a recommended read for the February Month of Romance.

Find You In The Dark by A Meredith Walters

This is a YA contemporary.   It stars Maggie a reliable and middle of the road popular senior who is kind of bored with her life.  She had two best friends that she has known for her entire life and feels like she is in a rut.  What I really liked about this book is she has two normal, loving parents.  Maggie's life is slowly turned upside down as Clay comes into it.  Clay is a transfer student from far away and is broody and mysterious.  What Maggie doesn't know at first is that the reason he is all broody is because he suffers from Bipolar Disorder.  I loved this story as it followed Clay's struggle to deal with the medication, wanting to feel normal but unable to embrace normal when the meds rob him of his emotions and energy.  I see this in my classroom so many times.  Where a parent has to decide which is better; a child that can sit still in a coma and hopefully learn or a kid bouncing off the walls and struggling with emotional ups and downs, while hopefully learning.  I can't say which is best but in this case Clay's emotional roller coaster not only puts him at risk but also Maggie.  I love how this book takes us through her downward spiral as she tries to be the support she thinks he needs.  Tries to be enough for him to get well.  When eventually she figures out she can't.  I thought the character development, dialogue, and most of all the realistic depiction of the characters was spot on.  I felt so connected to Clay and his struggles.  I have to say my only complaint is that I want to read the next book and although a teaser is placed at the end of the book I can not find any reference to it being available nor a date of release.  Frustrating...the teaser just kills me and I need, NEED to see how Clay turns out.  Please finish it if it is not done and if it is I would love to read it for a review.
4 1/2 stars

World Building Post 4

This is an easy one to show.  The culture of the Navajo is very rich and they are a beautiful people.

This is my main character, Solomon.  *sigh*

A turning point in my story is when the boys take the MC to a Pow Wow and dance for her.

Porcupine quills are a popular addition to their colorful dress.

Monument Valley, where the boys originate from.

The Skinwalkers chosen form...a Raven.

This is Josiah,  one of the Holy Ones and Solomon's angsty brother.  He tends to have a bad attitude.

Solomon in hus dressed best!

And the bad guy.  Luke a.k.a Raven.  Kind of looks like Tonto from the new Lone ranger movie but I think they just found the same picture as me.  Hee Hee

World Building Post 3 Religion

My entire story revolved around the religious belief of the Navajo and the Holy People.  Here is a little blurb about them.  There are four Holy people, each representing a direction on the compass and each possessing powers derived from the elements.  Sort of like the Avatar, Air bender cartoon.  In Native American culture they believe the number four is spiritual.

 

 

 

Holy People: The Navajo believed in good and evil. They believed that everything in the universe had a purpose - be it good or evil. It was important that the universe remained in balance. If not, evil could take over. Their ceremonies were designed to restore harmony. 

Their Holy People were supernatural beings with the power to hurt or help the Navajo people.