Sappy Sweet

* I read this ARC via Star Book Tours.

*Book will be released on May 10. 2011

This book gets 2 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes  for this awesome cover and a story that was good but just went on much longer then it needed to.

I liked the whole premise of a girl who loves to put cakes together.  Anyone who watches all the cake decorating show out there will probably be intrigued by this story.

Throughout much of the book up to about the mid 200 page range I just wanted to slap some sense into the main character, Sheridan aka Cake Girl.  She seems to excel at making poor decisions and acts like a selfish word that rhymes with witch for most of the book.

The story is cute but the I wish that main character was more engaging right from the beginning of the book.  She's the go to cake decorator in town but doesn't have much of a life beyond making cakes.  Then her dad gets a deal for a cooking show and she kind of flips out about probably having to move to New York.

What really bothered me was how much she idolizes her mother and how naive she is at fifteen.  Her mother left when she was eight but she is still looking for her.

Sheridan's relationship with her father is strained but I found myself just wanting to tell her that communication is a two way street.  I hate to agree with a main character's friends but I too think that a teenager would be more likely to be excited about their parent getting a TV show and not angry like Sheridan is.

There's a love triangle in the book between her, her best friend Jack, and Ethan an uber popular guy.  She is a tad bit indecisive about who she should be with.  She falls hard for Ethan and goes out with him even though they've never talked that much before, he is also someone that she has put on a pedestal as being the perfect guy so her going out with him isn’t exactly a sound decision..

Her judgment of people just seems so off especially with people that are trying to help her like her dad (most of the time), Father Crowley and her art teacher.  This character just seems to be a narcissit at heart so it takes quite a while to warm up to her.

My favorite characters were her Grandma who she calls Nanny and Mr. Roz who helps run the bakery.  Nanny and Mr. Roz had some of the best lines in the book and were great characters that tended to help keep Sheridan grounded into the reality of what is important.

I think that the book probably could be 100 pages or so shorter, if it was it would really ramp up the conflict and tension more.  There is to much story in the middle and not enough at the end.  Towards the end of the book I was really starting to like the main character and wonder what she was going to do next.  The ending was pretty good though a tad Lifetime esque, it does make you want to know what happens next to Sheridan and if all her plans will succeed.

Devious Desires

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

*I read this ARC via Star Book Tours. 
*Some spoilers in the review but nothing big.

This book gets a pretty great 3 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes for having some great characters but a mystery that ends up not being mysterious enough.  The gnome hat that brings it up to almost four gnomes is the potential in the story of Violet doing more with her powers.

It starts off with a prologue of Violet finding a body.  Then it does that TV staple of stopping at a tense part and then starting the first chapter almost a month earlier.  Violet and Jay are still a couple and everything seems to be going along normally.

A new family has moved into town.  Jay being the nice guy that he is, shows them around.  Mike and Megan are an interesting pair because he is more outgoing while she holds back more.  Jay quickly becomes friends with Mike.  Violet's jealous because Jay doesn't spend as much time with her.  

While in the city Violet finds a body but can't physically reach it so she gets that unsettling feeling when a body is not at rest.  Violet's powers may be growing because she has dream/visions of what the body she found went through.  This is an interesting development because nothing like this has happened to her before so maybe her seeing and hearing the death echoes is also leading to more of an empathetic aspect of her abilities.  This body really bothers her and after leaving an anonymous tip the FBI starts to seek her out.  

There are plenty of problems for Violet.  A stalker's after her and the FBI won't leave her alone.  I think Violet's just a little too fond of keeping everything a secret from everyone, even those who already know everything.  I really hate her decisions in the book concerning secrecy. Also I seriously wanted to smack some sense into Violet when after one fight with Jay, who she's known for just about her whole life, she stops talking to him and tells everyone that they broke up.  Basically there is no real communication just her feeling sorry for herself.

I wish the book had concentrated more on the FBI aspect and what they are doing.  The mystery this time is not a surprise which really makes the tension fall considerably.  Kind of wanted a little more crazy thrown in and the stalker mystery wasn't as mysterious as it could have been, the reader actually knows the name of the stalker this time.

Overall, I guess I just wanted more from the story.  I am excited though because it seems to be hinted that there will be more of a team aspect in the future.  Now that her ability is more out in the open, I do like where the story is going.  Also very curious about the other special people at the FBI, especially Rafe.  Can't wait to see what happens next and where the story goes from here.

Being Jamie Baker - My favorite quotes/lines

Here's some lines/quotes from Being Jamie Baker that will show you why I liked this book so much.

"It was just over a year since my accident, the one that made me join the comic book persuasion..."

"It was some kind of superkiss.  Kind of freakish, like me."

"My dad was definitely trying to use his I-have-a-gun-and-I-doubt-anyone-would-miss you voice, but Ryan didn't seem to mind."

"Right then I was just a normal girl, and Ryan was the superhero."

"Superpowers--one.  Tofu lasagna--zero.  Sometimes life's not all bad."

"I'm not letting you risk your life just because you can't think with your upstairs brain."

"In my dreams you're usually dressed like Wonder Woman."