Don't let the title fool you. Although, your first thought is of a romance novel full of steamy scenes, this book is far from that. It is a tragic story beautifully written.

It is the story of Tamsen Donner and what occurred on that fateful journey. The journal is fictional but the emotions are real. The book truly puts you in touch with the joy of a great adventure and the desperation of having it gone all wrong. This story made me feel closer to the Donner's human tale, their physical and emotional suffering. Just as Gabrielle Burton visited Donner Lake, the story she has written make me want to visit Donner Lake and experience the awe of being where these heroes of the movement West were.

I love the fact the book isn't written in chronological order. With the flashbacks thrown into the story we are made to experience Tamsen's longing for that safer time.

I really enjoyed this book. I almost expected for it to be a growp-ups version of the dreadful "Twilight" series, but was pleasantly surprised at how fun the story is. I like the twist of Vampires being "out of the coffin" and the desire of some of them to want to mainstream. Sookie Stackhouse is a most enjoyable character. You like her because she could be like you and in some respects she is just like you. The characters in this book (with the exception of the vampires) are true to life and that's makes this a series worth reading. I haven't seen the show "True Blood" but if it closely follows the Harris novels, then the show is worth catching.

Lucy Valentine comes from a long line of matchmakers who have the inside track on finding true love for others but, unfortunately, not for themselves. Lucy’s “gift”, though, doesn’t work like it does for her father. She cannot help people find their true love, what she can find is objects that have been lost and are valuable to the person that lost the object.

With that premise the story takes off on a promising start and totally delivers. The story moves quickly and it grabs your attention from the get go and keeps it. I didn’t want to put this book down.

If you like a little mystery and humor with your romance, then this is a book for you.
At the end of this ARC there is a short excerpt for the sequel. I’m actually looking forward to reading the second book.

With every new book I read by Richard Matheson, I realize I've always been a fan and just didn't know it.

More than I imagined, it was a heavy book with wonderful characters and an exciting plot. I will definitely pick up the second and third books from this trilogy!

The beginning was a bit confusing. I didn’t quite understand what Mariutza was talking about when she talked about “the Badness” and I thought maybe it was because Powers is the second book in a series. Giving the story the benefit of the doubt I continued to read.

Mari was given training by her grandfather to Stand against “the Badness” because she is a “Standing”. She is supposed to give aid to the prophet she is to find. Enter Jazz. He starts having visions and begins to look for the answers behind those visions. He, too, is being chased by “the Badness”. They want to kill him but Jazz must live.

You want to like Jazz, and you do, but you never really get involved with any of the characters. There is no depth. I forced myself to read it to the end, hoping I would get the answers and just simply wanting to give the story a fair shot. I never got any answers and was very disappointed.

Mari mentions that if “the Badness” catches up to them, they must fight. There is no real battle. Danger and death are easily prayed away.

Throughout all of this, Jazz begins to have romantic feelings for Mari. But, in the end, I didn’t care if they became romantically involved.

I did enjoy Jazz’s plot more than I enjoyed Mari’s plot. It seemed as if a third plot was attempted at (Daniel Grove’s plot) but was never fully developed.

Ever since I can remember I've been fascinated by Zombies. World War Z adds a new chapter to my fascination. Max Brooks writes brilliantly. The Zombie war happened and here is told the aftermath. Very realistic. Documentary style. What would happen and how would different cultures and different social classes react to the Zombie invasion. Loved it!