Betrayal's Shadow, The Guardians of Eden Book I by KH LeMoyne

Quoted from GoodReads:


What would you do to save your people from extinction? 
What if your race held the key to mankind’s future? 
One Guardian will risk hell to change the future. 


Descended from the race of Guardians, Turen’s people have survived the last two hundred years, quarantined and isolated. Living in secrecy with no mates and no offspring, they fail to deliver on their ability to replenish and heal human souls through the birth of their Guardian children. Risking his life, Turen chooses capture at the hands of a comrade-turned-enemy to seek answers to change the future. 


Mia Bowman has no knowledge of the secret Guardian race. Yet, her uncontrollable, nocturnal summons to Turen’s prison cell and her strong sense of justice leave her with little choice but to help him. She can heed his warning and stay clear of his people’s problems or she can ferret out the lies and unravel an ancient tale of murder and deceit. It will take an ultimate sacrifice to stop the unexpected evil and reverse a fatal ending to the Guardian line. 


THE GUARDIANS OF EDEN: 
A race of beings created in a Sanctum at the far edge of Eden. Co-existing with mankind, they safeguarded human souls and the promise of eternity—until a virus killed all over the age of eighteen. The surviving children fled to the Sanctum for protection, children raising children without the full legacy of their history and knowledge. Two hundred years of solitude have produced a race of semi-immortals fortified with powers and intellect but lacking the mates who will make them whole and allow them to fulfill their covenant with mankind.


My Rating Scores:
Cover Art Rating: *****       5 out of 5 stars
Overall Content: ****1/2      4.5 out of 5 stars

A race of human-like beings known as Guardians,  each with a unique super power. They coexist along side of  humans, created by God and charged with guiding humans from "perils if their own making".

The book begins with some strange events that happen to the main character, Mia. I liked Mia. She is scarred by the betrayal of her dead husband, but attempting to move on with her life. She is persistent in her pursuit of knowledge and new skills, especially related to the new happenings in her life and she really does grow as a person throughout the book.

Of course, there is a male involved in this.  He is Turen. In his first scene, he is  barely clothed and restrained in a cell.  Even dirty and tied up, he is HOT! He's also smart and sensitive.  He's handy around the house and can create useful items out of junk.  What more could you want in a man?  How about some super powers and a very sexy tattoo?

The first sex scene is steaming! You knew there would be sex.  It is inevitable!  The scene is well written with just enough naughty bits thrown in.  Yummmm.

There actually is a plot in this book.  The author takes advantage of her newly created race and uses them to develop a pretty interesting story line.  I really liked that their "super powers" weren't just the usual ones we have seen before.  This is the first book in a series.  I am anticipating seeing  Mia and Turen in the next book, but I also want to see what happens with the secondary characters in the next book.  They appear to have great potential for more fun plot lines.


I Loved the cover art.  It just added fuel to my imagination as to what Turen looked like.  I also liked that I couldn't see his face.  It left more room for my imagination to create Turen as I wanted him to be.

Things I found confusing.... The monster's created by Xavier.  They just didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the setting and plot line.  I found them to be somewhat distracting and more than a little freaky.  I think they could have been edited out of the book.

The other thing that was never really resolved to my liking was the actual goal of the Guardians. What are they really supposed to be doing to save the humans?  It seemed like they were busy with the plague and other issues within their race, BUT....what were they supposed to be doing?  It is really never explained.  I guess that I need to read the rest of the books in the series to find out!  Now,  I love instant gratification and do not like to wait, so I gave the book 4.5 stars, instead of 5. (Actually, the monsters mentioned above was the real reason.)

Zombie Love The Outbreak by Eric J. Sobolik

Quoted from GoodReads:
"Zombie Love is the story of a widespread virus, in a way that has never been done before. As people lose loved ones, some decide that sometimes the people you love are the only ones worth fighting for. As factions form, and the world crumbles, people must choose sides. Help or destroy. When a virus is developed as the ultimate cure all by reversing death itself, the world is plunged into a crisis of faith, dedication, and love. In book one we meet Summer Strom, a normal high school teenager who is thrown cruelly into a set of circumstances that nobody should have to deal with. She has to fight back against everybody she knows as she battles for the only thing worth fighting for. Love."
Paperback, 188 pages
Published August 8th 2011 by Jericho Publishing (first published August 6th 2011)
ISBN 061552396X (ISBN13: 9780615523965)

Cover Art: The cover is a little freaky...I think the zombie eyes and open mouth are very creepy looking, but what should I expect from a zombie story?  Zombie lovers will definitively appreciate it!

This book is a very fun, quick read.  The margins are very large and it gives the pages a unique look.  I think that someone who is not a "reader" might find this style less threatening than a full page of text and it just may encourage some adolescents to give it a try.  I'm all about getting more kids to read, so for me this was a great bonus.

The story is well written.  It has appropriate grammar and sentence structure. It is written in the third person, which for me, gives a book a less intimate feeling.  Although you know what the characters are thinking, I think reading it in the third person, puts a certain amount of emotional distance between the reader and the characters.

The writing is descriptive without feeling forced and it flows along well, although it does backtrack at times as the narrator changes.  This wasn't a bad thing, just different.  The pace is good and the plot is interesting.  The narrator changes through the book and I found this a little distracting at times, because I wasn't always ready for the change. These are very minor complaints and they are not meant to imply that this is not a book worth reading.  I do recommend that you pick up a copy of this one!

The main characters are Summer and Daniel, whose families dislike one another. Summer and Daniel are both crushing on each other, although neither has been brave enough to act on it.  Both characters are insecure but fairly normal teens. They don't have special powers or family secrets or the ability to see ghosts.  (A refreshing change from the glut of other paranormal YA books.)

Summer and Daniel do have somewhat dysfunctional parents. Their Mothers are stereotypical from a YA standpoint.   One is a helicopter parent and the other is detached and uninvolved, even though she believes that she "lives" for her child.  Most teens will relate to some of these traits and sympathize with Summer and Daniels' feelings toward their Mothers.  

Summer and Daniel have very little time to discover their affection for each other before Daniel is turned into a zombie.  I would have liked to see a little more time for their relationship to develop.  It happens very quickly and it makes Summer's devotion to Daniel less believable. Summer's obsession with helping Daniel  seems to have no basis. It made her appear kind of silly and immature.  If Summer and Daniel had had at least one chapter for their relationship to develop, I think most readers would have found the relationship more realistic and thus, inspire more sympathetic feelings towards Summer.  Because of this, I had a harder time liking Summer at first.  However, as the story plays out, Summer becomes stronger and smarter.  She begins to evolve into a character that I care about.

I really found Daniel to be an interesting character.  He has a funny self-depreciating wit.  I was really not quite ready for him to become a zombie and I missed his humor throughout the rest of the book.

The ending of the book has an interesting twist and since this appears to the first of a series of books, I am looking forward to see where the author, Eric Soblik takes us in the next book. If you are a fan of zombie stories you don't want to miss this one.  If you are not a zombie fan, this book is still entertaining and worth your time.  Pick up a copy!

Thanks to Eric Soblik for proving a copy of his self published this book for this review.

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Expected publication: March 13th, 2012


My Rating Scores:
Cover Art Rating: ***** 5 out of 5 stars
Overall Content: *** 4 out of 5 stars



Quoted from GoodReads:
"A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra—and lost for 2,000 years. 


Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances—and of her mother’s suicide—she moves to America, leaving the company in the hands of her brother Robbie. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind. 

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac discovers a secret the House of L’Etoile has been hiding since 1799: a scent that unlocks the mysteries of reincarnation. The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past."





This book is a mix of ancient history, paranormal, religion, mystery  with a little romance tossed in on the side!  It doesn't sound like a combination that would work, but it really does.  The only thing missing was the actual smell of the fragrances being described in the story (remember scratch and sniff??). 


I really liked the character of Jac.  She had an interesting history  and a few scars from her troubled past remained, but she strong enough to move on with her life.  I would have liked to know more about her brother, Robby.  The author, M.J. Rose, tossed out some enticing bits of information about him that made me want to know him better!  (Maybe in another book...)  


The pace of the book was good, but at times, I found myself re-reading the first few paragraphs of each new chapter.  The story flip flops between ancient Egypt, Napoleonic France and present day.  It was like reading several different stories that all converge in the last few chapters.  Some of the plot was predictable, but there are a few surprises along the way.


So why didn't it get 5 out of 5 stars?  Well....my 5 out of 5 stars are for books that haunt me for days after reading them.  The Lost Book of Fragrances just didn't do that for me.  It's a quality that is hard to pin point, but you know it when you see (or read) it!  This is still a book I will recommend to my friends. It would be a great book to take on a trip.  I look forward to reading more books by this author!


Many thanks to netgallery for allowing me to read and review this book.