The Midnight Witch By, Paula Brackston

I loved The Midnight Witch By, Paula Brackston.  Taking place in London during the Edwardian era, The Midnight Witch begins with a funeral.  The death of Lilith's father brings about a major change in her life, not just the loss of her father, but new responsibilities, one of them being becoming the new head of the Lazarus coven.  Lilith tested and challenged throughout this tale with the; taking care of her troublesome brother, placating her mother, keeping a relic out of the hands of a nefarious group of sorcerers, dealing with a love triangle, keeping coven secrets, living a dual life, and becoming the woman her father would be proud of.  She struggles between following her heart and doing what is 'sensible' and proper.  The Midnight Witch doesn't disappoint, it's full of an array of different personalities from maleficent villains, and love struck artists, bohemian households, dubious spirits, and gallant fiancés.  The only thing that I didn't like about it was that there weren't chapters, or breaks between which character I was with, but I received this book as an advance copy, so that probably will not be a problem when the book has been released.  This was a very enjoyable read I highly recommend it.

The Furies By, Mark Alpert

John an unemployed, ex-gang member, meets a beautiful woman in a bar.  They spend the night talking, and connecting, leading up to what was suppose to be a night of lust.  It ends much differently than expected.  This novel is full of action, secret societies, genetic mutations, biker gangs, and betrayal.  The Furies has such potential to be a great novel, but there were things that just didn't work for me in this book.  The first and most important thing that would have helped me to connect with the story is the introduction.  The novel wholly takes place in the present; do not put something from the Elizabethan area, when the reader will never be brought back to that time period.  Everything that is shown in the introductory chapter is explained later in the book.  I would really drive the mystery of the story if the introduction were cut out of the book.  The second thing that was confusing to me was creating God, or 'birthing' God into the world.  I can understand wanting to make the world a better place, or creating heaven on earth, but how exactly would this group of people 'create God', it just didn't make sense to me.  Also if this group of people doesn't believe in a God or a deity, then why are they always thanking a 'Mother' or asking a 'Mother' for help.  It seems to me that they do believe in God, just a female representation of God.  Also, I'm not wholly buying into an FBI agent being as gullible as Agent Larson was in this book. The last thing that bothered me was the second sex scene, it was downright clinical.  Maybe, I didn't get it because I am a woman and it was written with a male audience in mind, but it made me uncomfortable reading it.  I have read books with a lot of sex in them, so it's not that I am shy and feel ashamed reading about sex, it wasn't unconventional dirty sex either...  I guess I am going to have to stick with it being too clinical.  I really hope that a second addition of this book is released, maybe with some rewrites, because I really like the idea behind the book, and I really enjoyed the science fiction aspect of it.

The Here and Now By, Ann Brashares

I loved, The Here and Now, Preena a teenage girl from the future, has time traveled to our present time.  Preena is living here with a group of fellow time travelers who live by stringent rules, geared towards fitting in with the present time and not affecting the 'natives'.  Preena works hard to follow these rules until she meets a 'native' Ethan.  Preena lives in a world where connections are hard to make, the people in her community have been highly affected by the future they have come from, unable to talk about what they went through with each other, due to the communities rules, making it difficult to have meaningful friendships and romantic relationships within the community.  Ethan a smart guy who is in a lot of Preena's advance classes, he is charming, popular, cute, and kind.  Ethan is the ideal 'nice guy'.  The Here and Now, has everything from young romance, corrupt governments, apocalyptic disease,  and trying to save the world.  I highly recommend this young adult novel, the characters are easy to relate to, the story is believable, there are surprises and twists, and the narrative never drags.