Ash Reads Stuff

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller Publication Date: October 31st, 2017 Pages: 320 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 2 stars Goodreads Synopsis: When the state controls your emotions, how hard will you fight to feel free? In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors and provokes emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept. Much like the device itself, The Dark Intercept might get under your skin. My Review:  I...did not like this book. I gave it two stars ...

Y'all. It's been a hot minute since I've done a Top Ten Tuesday , a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish . I'm celebrated being off work for five days with a glass of wine, my kitten, and some books I'm thankful for. I have copy of this book from when I was in second grade that I show my second graders every year. There is no cover and there are pages missing, but I keep it to show them how much I love reading. I can still recite some of these poems by heart.  Before you scoff, there are a lot of reasons I'm thankful for Twilight. It opened me up to a new genre that I hadn't read before, but it also opened me up to a plethora of amazing people. I've made some of the best friends because of this book.  Always a classic. Always a favorite.  Also thankful to my mom for buying me all of the BSC books ever.  I read this to my new class every year. Every year I cry.  I love Emery Lord's words. Reading about wor...

Below Northern Lights by Ashlee Cowles Publication Date: November 30th, 2017 Pages: 368 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  4 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Nineteen-year-old war veteran Lucas Santiago is grappling with the knowledge that he’ll never walk again when he learns his best friend, Seth, hasn’t returned from his solo trek through Scotland. If Seth doesn’t report back soon, he’s risking an AWOL charge that could end his military career. Lucas has no desire to leave the house, let alone brave a foreign country in a wheelchair, following bizarre clues Seth left behind. But Lucas’s sister, Gabi—who has feelings for Seth—won’t take no for an answer. The one thing Lucas never expects when he agrees to Gabi’s harebrained scheme is meeting Skye, a young British veteran with a traumatic past of her own. Skye also has unwavering confidence and a thirst for adventure—qualities Lucas sorely lacks as he struggles to adjust to his new life. The trio sets...

Haunting the Deep by Adriana Mather Publication Date:  October 3rd, 2017 Pages: 368 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Samantha Mather knew her family’s connection to the infamous Salem Witch Trials might pose obstacles to an active social life. But having survived one curse, she never thought she’d find herself at the center of a new one. This time, Sam is having recurring dreams about the Titanic . . . where she’s been walking the deck with first-class passengers, like her aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, in Sam’s waking life, strange missives from the Titanic have been finding their way to her, along with haunting visions of people who went down with the ship. Ultimately, Sam and the Descendants, along with some help from heartthrob Elijah, must unravel who is behind the spell that is drawing her ever further into the dream ship . . . and closer to sharing the same grim fate as its ghostly passengers. My Review: When I reques...

Sweet Tea and Sympathy  by Molly Harper Publication Date: November 21st, 2017 Pages: 320 (paperback) Genre: Contemporary Romance My Goodreads Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Beloved author Molly Harper launches a brand-new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with this story of a big-city party planner who finds true love in a small Georgia town. Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business. Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes ...

Dress Codes for Small Towns  by Courtney Stevens Publication Date: August 22nd, 2017 Pages:  352 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 4 stars Goodreads Synopsis: As the tomboy daughter of the town’s preacher, Billie McCaffrey has always struggled with fitting the mold of what everyone says she should be. She’d rather wear sweats, build furniture, and get into trouble with her solid group of friends: Woods, Mash, Davey, Fifty, and Janie Lee. But when Janie Lee confesses to Billie that she’s in love with Woods, Billie’s filled with a nagging sadness as she realizes that she is also in love with Woods…and maybe with Janie Lee, too. Always considered “one of the guys,” Billie doesn’t want anyone slapping a label on her sexuality before she can understand it herself. So she keeps her conflicting feelings to herself, for fear of ruining the group dynamic. Except it’s not just about keeping the peace, it’s about understanding love on her terms—this thing th...

My Image of You by Melanie Moreland Publication Date:  September 19th, 2017 Genre: Romance My Goodreads Rating:  1 star Goodreads Synopsis: She was the first good thing that ever happened to me. The only person who made me want to stay put. Until she disappeared. My name is Adam Kincaid, and I’m the most daring freelance photographer in the world. Or, at least, I used to be. After losing my parents way too young, I hid behind a camera lens—and discovered a talent that took me all over the planet. No assignment was too dangerous, no location too remote, no subject too painful. Then came the accident, and the hospital, where I met her: Alexandra Robbins. My nurse. My savior. With her fiery red hair and crystal-clear blue eyes, the most striking woman I could’ve imagined—and the kindest too. How could such a big personality fit into such a petite package? But she was running from something too, something I never had: her family. She thought she’d escaped their con...