Terra's Reviews: A Couple of Treats to Consider

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent is a delicious telling of two creatures from Irish folklore. A book to catch not only your soul but your undivided attention as well. The writing I have come to love in Ms. Vincent's adult Urban Fantasy has most certainly been carried over into the Young Adult Genre with the same silky smoothness that we have all come to expect.

Kaylee has felt different all her life but little does she know how much the truth is about to change her. Her mother died when she was young and her father pretty much abandoned her with his turning over of guardianship to his brother and sister-in-law. Kaylee has felt this keenly and along with strange things that have been occurring to her physically, she's not sure if she might be going crazy or has some fatal disease. All she does know is that things are far from normal.

Along comes Nash, a hunky football jock, which not only gives Kaylee someone to hold onto while she is in the throws of her strange behaviour but also someone who can give her some explanation of what in the world is going on in her topsy turvy life. A sturdy anchor that she so desperately needs.

What Nash and Kaylee don't know is who or what is killing vibrant young healthy girls for no apparent reason. What they do know is that they need to try and find out and see what the connection is to the deaths and Kaylee's strange outcries.

Our author has given us a tasty Autumn Treat with this book. Granted it would be good anytime of the year but right now it is the perfect read along with a cup of hot cocoa. A story that makes your head snap up when things go bump just outside your line of vision. A story of the unexpected being accepted and of love so strong and true that even the ugliest evil cannot prevail. I for one am going to be biting my fingernails while waiting for the next book in the series.

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin (August 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373210035
ISBN-13: 978-0373210039


The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is a delightful mix of present and past. A story that kept me wanting more and never leaving me feeling empty. It is a story of the Salem Witch Trials that dramatically changed the lives of a few but affected many and how it still creates a stir of interest some several hundred years later.

Connie is a Harvard Grad working towards her doctoral dissertation when she is assigned the task of cleaning up her grandmother's house so that it can finally be sold. In her meandering she comes across an item and inside is hidden the name of Deliverance Dane.

Connie gets excited by this because being a history major the name is familiar to her and she wonders if possibly this could be one of the women who was tried and executed during the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

The phrase, "The Past Comes Back To Haunt You" soon takes on a life of its own and Connie is caught up in the mystery of who this Deliverance Dane really was. Question is will she be able to find the proof needed to tie Deliverance Dane and the Witch Trials together to use in her dissertation or will it come to a fruitless dead end? Will the past life of Deliverance Dane come to haunt Connie as she travels down a road of possibilities, probabilites, sorrows and swamped in mystery.

I do think the author did quite a good job of keeping the story going without any lagging points. The mystery unfolds at an even spance and the little tidbits of magic interwoven create a savory warmth that keeps you entranced from beginning to end. Personally knowing a bit about the Salem Witch Trials and recognizing some of the women's names myself gave me that extra umph to keep me salivating for more.

Audio CD
Publisher: Hyperion; Unabridged edition (June 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401393055
ISBN-13: 978-1401393052