Radiance by Alyson Noel

Riley has crossed over to the Here and Now but "life" isn't what she expects. Her parents are happy doing their own thing and Riley desperately wants to go back to the earth plane. She earns a job as a soul catcher and is able to coax a very difficult soul to the other side.

Quick read to see the other side of things.

Firespell by Chloe Neill (book one)

Lily is being shipped off to a Chicago boarding school while her parents take a sabbatical in Germany. Immediately she makes friends with Scout, who leaves in the middle of the night on mysterious errands. After following her one night, Lily starts to learn the truth about her new friend, her parents, and herself.

Easy read. I loved the idea of these group of students saving the world, but underground. It has an interesting take on the magical community, still pitting good against evil. But the perspective of magic being a short term gift that is given back to the universe is a unique one.

The Black Circle (book 5) by Patrick Carman

Book five in the 39 Clues takes Amy and Dan to Russia. They team up with one of the Holt's to find the next clue. I enjoyed the author's writing style. While I generally don't like mystery's, this series is easy to read and simple.

Marcelli Bride by Susan Mallery

Joe comes back home to the family who gave him up for adoption many years ago. After being responsible for a mistake his navy seal team made, Joe is assigned to be on the team watching over the president's daughter, who just so happened to be kidnapped. Despite Joe's feelings for his family and Darcy, he ends up coming to realize what it important in life.

Love, love, love this book. Of course, I usually end up loving most of Susan Mallery's books. I haven't found one yet that I haven't liked. She has a great writing style, interesting characters. I love that there's always a happy ending with some drama as well. Plus, who doesn't love a gret romance?

Hunted by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Book five leads Zoey and the gang to finally battle Nefreet and Kalona. He is a fallen angel, determined to take over the world. Nefreet wants to start a war with the humans. Zoey's BFF is now a full red vampyre.She has a fledgling who's a prophet which helps her ultimately take care of Kalona. Along with her inner circle, grandmother and a nun, she defeats Nefreet for the time being, plus getting Stark back on her side.

I really liked book five. It was funny (Aphrodite is still sort of nasty but her attitude towards everyone and her new love Darius is hilarious). I liked that Stark is now a good guy (again) but tired of Zoey's spreading tattoos and boy drama.

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (Incarceron 2)

Finn is on the outside but it isn't what he imagined. With protocol in place, it's like a jail in the outside world. Claudia believes (or wants to believe) that he is the long lost prince. But Finn has no memories of his life before Incarceron. Except he still has his visions. Feeling guilty for leaving Keiro and Attia inside, Finn continues to look for a way back. The portal is not working and the warden has taken both keys inside the prision. Incarceron is desperate for a way out and will do anything to find it.

I enjoyed the second installment. This book saw the end of protocol, interesting choices made by Jared, and an appearance of "Sapphique."

Entice by Carrie Jones

Nick is in Valhalla and no one can get to him. Zara is now a Queen.....of the pixies and Astley is her King. As Zara struggles to deal with her new pixie self, she's always trying to stay alive, since someone wants her and Astley dead. She is desperate to find a way to Valhalla and save Nick, whatever the cost. Somewhere along the line Astley wants to be more than friends with her and patiently waits and helps her to find Nick.

I really loved the third installment. Each bit of the story just gets better. Cannot wait for book 4. As much as I like the Nick/Zara relationship, I think I have to root for Astley. In this book he became a little more human and we got to know more about his upbringing and his feelings towards Zara.

There's Cake in My Future by Kim Gruenenfelder

Cute story about three friends: One is getting married and is ready to live her perfect life. The second is in love with her male best friend but refuses to make a move. The third is in a long term relationship and finds out he's been cheating on her with multiple women. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the girls. It's a cute, fast paced and well written story, all centered around the cake pull, something that is done at bridal showers.