Review: The Replacement (The Replacement #1)

'' It's been one year since I met Merrick. Six months since I knew I could not live without him. Three months since we started to run. Three days since they caught me. ''

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Angelica was willing to do almost anything for Merrick, until they were caught. Her punishment for breaking Lymerian law is unthinkable, but at least she will live. In fact, she might live forever. This YA Sci-fi novel is the first in a series by debut author Bianca Sierra-Luebke.

The Lymerians have been living in secret on Earth for centuries. Angelica is their newest replacement, taken to ensure the survival of this long-lived race and to discourage falling in love with a human. Yet Angelica is not like the previous replacements. Even her Architect is unusual. Clara, commander of the Slayers and deadliest of the Lymerians, is chosen. When she steps forward, their fates are sealed. The Laws of Liturgy are binding. As Clara and two Guards descend into the dungeons with Angelica, the entire race wonders what kind of Lymerian will return when the transition is complete.

Full of deception, heartache, and despair, this dark novel is for readers that love a great twist. Bit by bit the story unfolds, changing everything you thought you knew the page before.

You have to read until the very last sentence to get the idea of what the book is about. So buckle up, be patient, and bring snacks.

Review: The Artisan Heart

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

From Goodreads:
Hayden Luschcombe is a brilliant paediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organized by Bernadette.

When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation, Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia’s southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays, and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind.

A chance encounter with a precocious and deaf young girl introduces Hayden to Isabelle Sampi, a struggling artisan baker. While single-handedly raising her daughter, and trying to resurrect a bakery, Isabelle has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise, Hayden, protective of his own fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own.

As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.

This is one of those books you know is going to have a happily ever after. Still, you are perched on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Review: Ewan Pendle and the Castle of Nightmares

'' The Wraith That Walks is cruel and cold, 

He lives among the skies of old.

In night he dwells, in blackness deep,

Outside your room to slowly creep.

He knows just what you've seen and done,

He'll nibble at your bones for fun.

So watch each move and step you make,

Lest next will be the last you take. ''

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
When Ewan Pendle began his second training year at Firedrake Lyceum, he thought it might at least be easier than the first. Now that he knew he was a Lenitnes, one of an ancient race of peoples who alone can see the real Creatures which inhabit the earth, he hoped things would maybe go a little downhill from here … How wrong he was.

Ewan is summoned by Alice Blazely, the would be assassin who he and his friends Mathilde and Enid helped capture last year, the cunning woman using her final wish after being sentenced to death for her crimes to request a private meeting with Ewan. Alone together in a deep and dank cell, Alice reveals a secret which could turn Ewan’s world upside down – again. Does she hold the answer to deciphering Ewan’s disturbing reoccurring dreams? Can he ever trust the woman who wanted to see him dead?

As if a shocking revelation from a new foe wasn’t enough to handle, Ewan must also tackle a sea monster in the Thames, deal with the evil Rosethorn twins, come face to face with a shadow troll in a London alleyway and bargain with a crafty dragon, and attempt to find a treasure lost for over a thousand years …

As the summer ends, Ewan’s year long initiation into the world of creatures and the Lenitnes is finally over. But it’s then when monsters of all shapes and sizes really do start leaping, clawing and flying at him thick and fast!
The adventure continues after Ewan has spent his summer at Firedrake. The new year brings around challenges for him as their studies as cadets advance into more clique-specific studies.