Have you ever had a moment in life happen that makes you just want to get away?  One of those road trips of a lifetime?  Well, that’s exactly what Madison Lam does in Kathryn Burns’ charming tale, Elsewhere. 

After Madison and Amy’s relationship ends, Madison has to escape.  Whether her goal is just to get away for a while, start a new life, or on a mission to self-destruct, she’s doing it with or without help. 

However, she receives the assistance of family, friends and strangers as she hits the road in Illinois headed to the Pacific coast.  As she begins to hitchhike she decides to head to Seattle where her sister sets her up with a couch to crash on.  But as will become a trend on this adventure, Madison leaves a note of thanks and hits the road again the next day. The travels take her to San Francisco, Vegas and a number of other places.   

Although her adventures are just what she needed, there comes a point when suddenly it all makes sense and Madison knows what she needs to do.  After a visit to her grandparents, her best friend Bella convinces her that it’s time to head home and fix what started this journey to begin with.  In the end, she finds herself with her mother so that the healing can begin,

I really enjoyed the cast of characters, despite how small their role might have been along Madison’s journey.  The trip itself seemed like something everyone should do to learn about themselves.  The imagery was great, “,,,.the sky appears to me like a painting, the baby blue hues or the grays representing the finite border of our world, the clouds painted on the canvas with cotton balls.”

​Elsewhere is a raw, honest and completely insightful book.  A good read that I highly recommend – especially if you just want to get away.

A Brutal Betrayal
By DC Renee

This is going to be one of the most difficult reviews I've had to write up to this point because at the heart of this book is the storyline. This particular storyline truly makes the book. So I'll say what I can and hope you'll pick up the book despite the dismal, minute details I can provide.

Told in 3rd person, we're introduced to our two main characters, Declan Connors and Megan Verona. With this perspective we are able to climb in to the minds, personalities, and lives of each of them.  These two couldn't be more different; even in the same city they live worlds apart. Declan is a war vet who now works as a therapist, the very therapist that Megan is referred to by Declan's mentor, Chuck.

From the very beginning the relationship between Declan and Megan in DC Renee's A Brutal Betrayal is not anywhere near the patient/therapist relationship. In some ways, therapeutically this is just what they both need to struggle with their inner demons. As they try their hardest to not blur the lines between them, there's also a lot of healing taking place.

This is as far as I can go, I think, without spoiling the book for you. Although there were questionable moments throughout, the writing and editing were well done. The two main characters

Again, in closing I want to apologize for not writing a more in-depth review of a book I did truly enjoy.  This is not the way I like to handle things but the storyline  in this book is a detour from the norm.  My hope is that you'll give it a chance because it really is worth it.  And once you see how worth it the book is, I hope you'll pass it on to others as well.

Unkept: A Novel
By Ericka Clay

Burling Gates, Missouri, is one of those towns where many of us would have been ready to run upon graduating from high school.  However, there were also girls like Vienna Oaks, our main character in Ericka Clay’s Unkept: A Novel.  Vienna knew from a young age that her life would be to stay in town and help run her family’s mortuary and funeral home business.  And as the ever so dutiful and hard-working daughter, she stays.

It is easy to be looked at as the one in the family who did what was meant for them – unlike that of her waste-of-space brother, Troy.  However, that doesn’t mean that deep down inside you weren’t wishing for another outcome, like the one Heather Hammel – one of Vienna’s torturers from school – ended up with…or the man she ended up with, Wylamd Turnbull, the love of Vienna’s life since they were kids.

I must say that I was completely enthralled in this book from the jump.  It completely kept me captivated until the very last
page.  The interesting way in which Clay chooses to introduce us to the world of Burling Gates is both in first person, through Vienna’s voice, and in third person but from Heather’s perspective.  Each of these ladies lives such a different life, but the same as the other. 

The plethora of characters the women introduce us to all are quite charming in some way.  They each play an intricate role in how these women’s lives have unfolded. Everyone from Vienna’s best friend since childhood, Rosa, who now does the makeup in the mortuary; to Amber Ellery, Heather’s best friend since childhood who was a part of the group that tormented Vienna when they were in school hand now – strictly on the outside – is living the life of luxury.

​I try my hardest in each  review I write to not spoil the book for my readers because I know how irritated that makes me (If I ever do ruin one for you PLEASE email me!!)  The reason I mention this is because I want you to know I’m not intentionally being vague.  Unkept is an amazing book and definitely deserves a read if you enjoy contemporary fiction.  Every word, in my opinion, is impassioned and there for a very particular reason, not just to fill pages.  

Beware the Sheep
By M. Lewis-Lerman.


Livi is a pretty ordinary girl living a pretty ordinary life. She has siblings and friends and parents-- though they aren't biologically hers, her own parents were killed-- and she kinda longs for adventure, as we all do when we're teenagers.  But Livi is soon charged with a task to save her best friend, which includes a suicidal journey to find a magical plant that will set everything back into the order in which it was intended. She meets and makes new friends, is constantly harassed by a group of would-be assassins and kidnappers, and encounters brand new parts of herself that she could never have imagined would exist.

Firstly, I just want to say that I'm a big fan of these sorts of fantasy novels.  Beware the Sheep reminds me hugely of a Harry Potter-esque adventure, full of magic and strife and a rich, imaginative world that boasts of just how much time M. Lewis-Lerman has put into her work.  There's something really cool about being completely immersed in an entire alternate universe that's complete with towns and villages and items, as well as all new, creative, unheard-of creatures that take an enormous amount of effort to create.  I can't brag enough about how satisfying it is to get lost in something so abundant. 

Beware the Sheep is chock full of action and intrigue too-- the action sequences are intriguing and captivating, and really put you on the edge of your seat for the characters you're growing to love.  I'm always worried when I read action, particularly in YA, because I'm afraid of the fights and their consequences being sugar-coated.  But when Livi and her friends get into tricky situations, you're genuinely concerned for them, and that's one of the biggest compliments I can give in regards to these sequences.

I think the only complaint I have is that there were numerous spelling/grammatical errors throughout the book.  I'm the kind of reader who is distracted from my train of thought and from the otherwise smooth advancement of scene and plot by those sorts of things, so it detracted a little from my experience.  But that being said, the narrative kept me interested regardless, and the characters made me want to learn more about them and their motives, so after each initial jarring out of my focus, it wasn't too tough to get back into it.

Overall I found that Beware the Sheep was a really great introduction to a fascinating world full of action and intrigue.  It'll be interesting to see where Livi's questions and curiosities and loves lead her, and because of how much I enjoyed the book, I'm eager to follow her throughout all of them. I'd recommend this book to readers who like a little magic and a little fantasy, and a whole lot of adventure.
 
Review by Amanda Scott

The Available Tart
By Eugene Roome

The Tinseltown Tarts were at one point a popular girl band in Eugene Roome’s The Available Tart.  The group eventually disbands over internal conflict while Ana, known as the Red Russian, continues with a solo career.  The other three members, three sisters – Paula, Wendy, and Claudia – go on with life until a tragic event reunites the women; Paula has a brain aneurism.  Although not the exact thing you want to happen to bring friends back together, but this event reunited these ladies and Paula made it through to boot.

Each of the women are married save for Ana.  As the group starts playing together again, there is a particular gentleman, Pete, who is very interested in the Red Russian – aka Baby by the group.  The group’s first reaction is to ensure Baby’s safety by making sure he isn’t a stalker.  Once he passes snuff with the stalker test, the women allow the contact to take place.  Unbeknownst to Pete as he is given the opportunity to get to know Ana, his life is being torn apart bit by bit to make sure he is appropriate for her.  Without any spoilers I’ll just say my jaw dropped and I laughed at some of the stuff that Pete had to deal with.   Can love make it through?

With the exception of some needed proofing, this book is extremely well written.  Mr. Roome develops his characters brilliantly through the use of dialogue.  I didn’t feel exactly fulfilled though, as if the climax was missing.  My only warning for readers is very mild sexual content and a few overly done monologues
.   
All in all, The Available Tart is a great read that I enjoyed very much. I was able to get a little insight into the music world.  Although I think I’d have to say my favorite thing about this book was the bond between the women…and their husbands as well.   The strength of those bonds not only protects the women and their families, it reinforces the importance of both close friendship and family. This is definitely a book I’d add to your bookshelf!

Barking Madness
By Ryan Hill

Barking Madness by Ryan Hill, a young adult paranormal book, definitely was a letdown for me.  As a lover of both paranormal and YA books I had high hopes that just didn’t meet my expectations.  From both a storyline and character development standpoint I think you take a chance if you read this one.  Please don’t misunderstand that for some it might be a great read, but for me it just didn’t meet the mark.  

The narrator and main character, Rosetta, was an extreme let down.  She was actually quite nauseating.  From the jump I didn’t care for her.  She’s like the typical mean girl.  Rosetta is an instigator, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and pretentious.  She is such an ungrateful brat!  To be honest, I can’t say that I’ve disliked a main character so much.  However, perhaps that is the way Mr. Hill intended us to feel.  If so, bravo!

Although I can say that I feel the storyline had potential, there were just things I couldn’t overlook.  The editing wasn’t up to par nor was any proofing that could have been done – there were small but noticeable errors.  The characters often seemed contrived with their flippant attitudes.  The relationships between the teens and parents seemed off-putting.  The dream scenes rolling over into real life were very confusing.  The dramatics seem fake and the plot was just super convoluted, On a positive note I did think Mr. Hill did a great job with the imagery throughout, especially during transformation scenes from human to wolf.

As I typically do, especially with YA books, I like to let readers know what to be warned about before picking up the book to read.  In Barking Madness, the only warnings I have are drinking and drugging by teen characters, sexual situations involving teens, language, and violence.
 
As aforementioned, I am hesitant to recommend this book to my readers…unless you are a super werewolf fan.  Other than that, I think I’d leave this one on the shelf.