Megan Curd

It took me all of five seconds to get sucked in the adventure packed world of Ashlyn, the awesome main character that Megan has crafted. Megan is strong, stubborn, and cares so much for her friends and family. Ash has a wit and humor about her that I can't help but fall in love with and be invested in her until I get to the last page and beyond.
I was up until all hours of the night reading this, and didn't want to stop until I got to the last page, and even then, I still wished that there show more was more to read.
The other characters that I loved, Liam the hot love interest. My heart broke for some of the things that he and Ash went through and had to deal with, and I love the heated moments we see between them. Meemaw is present and kick ass as ever. I love every scene that she is in, and I never know what to expect. I also love hearing what other people think about her, and how she invokes such a response from people. When I get old, I wanna be just like her, lol.
It wouldn't be complete without talking about how awesome Reece is. My heart goes out to him and his feelings, and the sacrifices he makes for the people he cares about. He is such a great best friend, even in those moments he is being hard-headed and you want to strangle him a little. I almost cried near the end at what he did, and I can't wait to see what happens in his story next.
There is never ending action, and surprises and twists that I never saw coming. Megan keeps me on my toes, and I can't wait until the next one to find out what happens to these characters that I have come to love and care about so much. show less

Part steampunky, part post-apocalyptic tale, part mystery, part teen hijinks--honestly STEEL LILY wears many hats depending on what you like/focus on. Admittedly I almost gave up on the book--wait wait hear me out. Almost from the start Avery is given the worst luck in the history of ever. Her classmate pulls a cruel trick, several folks in the Polatzi (special police force) take advantage of her 'gift', her parents are missing, her gift makes her ill--and that's not even getting into some show more of the other stuff.

I'm not terribly fond of heroines (or heroes) who are so heavily tread upon from the get go. Sometimes, if handled well I'll ignore it and move on. But we all have those moments of impatience right?

Once the plot starts rolling...well actually Avery acquires almost chronically bad luck (mostly for those around her), but her proactive spirit to survive and help those around her (even the mean classmate) make her likeable. Also I'm a sucker for sarcasm.

Jaxon (or Jax) is an odd duck to be sure. He talks a lot, but most of what he says talks circles around itself and half of what he says is to get a reaction. He's quite full of himself, or projects as much at least, and I found myself quite smitten with his kind of reckless behavior (though if I was in Avery's position I may not have). His interactions with Avery tend to be him flirting, her smacking him down, him trying harder, her smacking him down harder and so forth.

I appreciated that Curd didn't have Avery just tumble into lust with Jaxon, but not question everything he said. Until some reveals about his past come about, Jax's actions aren't what you'd call in Avery's best interests. Secreting her out her first night to do something highly prohibited, talking about escape pretty quickly after knowing her--he seems reckless, problematic and disruptive to the new life Avery wanted to build. His softer side is shown slowly and covered up by a lot of bluster when caught out.

There's a couple twists in the book that come as a one-two punch at the end, and the supporting characters are certainly worth reading about (Sari is kinda hilarious and Alice wavered for me, she felt less defined then the others, Griggs is oily and swarmy while Xander is...difficult to get a handle on). I'm eager for the next book (Winter 2013 release, hopefully) and certainly hope that Avery finds some measure of peace eventually. show less

Bridger by Megan Curd
Bridger is one of the better books I’ve read this year; Megan Curd did a terrific job in writing this story her descriptions are great and the story bring us a different view on the fairy world. There is murder, mystery, romance and betrayal something every good book requires.

The story begins with the drowning of Ashlyn and Chris’s father, they are distraught and trying to understand what has happened. Struggling through the shock Ashlyn displays serge of power show more trying to get the paramedic to save her father. This is the first glimpse where we the readers know there is more to come.

Ash and her father were planning a trip to Ireland to visit their family and learn about her heritage, seeing the tickets is hard but she makes up her mind to continue on with the trip bringing her best friend along. Reluctantly her mother and grandmother agree that Ash may go, but her grandmother warns her to stay out of trouble and never go anywhere alone.

In Ireland Ash meets her extended family and some new friends, one in particular seems to have grabbed her attention. Liam who is tall handsome and seems very interested in her also. The romance is fresh and you can see why Ash is falling for Liam.
Then we are introduced to fairy realm and find out what some would say a dark side and good side. Finding out the Ash is a Bridger mean she can travel between both realms. Something only one other person can do.

When Ashlyn finds out she was the one meant to die in the pond that this was not an accident that took her father’s life but a plan of revenge. A different world opens up to Ashlyn and she finds out more than she ever expected about her families heritage. To save her family and friends Ash needs to figure out her abilities and use them to fight for her life.

This book has a great list of character, and you fall in love with all of them. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. show less

I was looking forward to reading Bridger, and it got off to a pretty thrilling start. The opening of the story was full of action, drama and foreshadowing. But beyond that, much of Bridger, to me, just felt sort of forced.

From the beginning, the fact that there was a big secret regarding Ashlyn is pretty apparent. The uncovering of that secret was fairly drawn out. And call me impatient, I just wanted to get on with it. To be fair, what Ashlyn learns about herself was a very creative and show more unique concept. I just felt the revelation was too slow.

Another problem I had with Bridger was the pace of the story. The scenes felt abrupt to me. Ashlyn meets Liam and within minutes they are snuggling and sharing secrets? Really? For example, on the first night they meet, Liam tells Ashlyn his little brother was kidnapped by faeries. What? She doesn’t exactly believe him, but just shrugs the story off, thinking that he’s gorgeous but crazy. Without giving spoilers, I’ll say that there were several decisions by the characters that I just didn’t get.

Lest I come off as Miss Crankypants, there were some things that I did like about Bridger. I genuinely liked the actual premise of the story. The Bridger was an innovative concept that I haven’t read before. Such a relief. Even though I didn’t feel a full connection to the characters, there were some that I liked. Tess, Liam’s mom, was a warm and loving mother with a few secrets of her own. Ashlyn’s grandmother, Memaw, was funny, protective and a total ninja-style badass. Even Ashlyn, though I didn’t love a lot of her choices, was courageous and loving.

I had no intentions for this to be a purely negative review. But I do have to “call it like I see it”. I didn’t hate Bridger, it just wasn’t the book for me.

*I received Bridger from the author, in exchange for an honest review.* show less