Ratchet the Reluctant Witch by Sara Pascoe

Pages:  352 pages

Publisher:  Brown Dog Books

Publication: date:  October 22, 2015

ISBN-10:  1785450654

ISBN-13:  978-1785450655

Genre:  Young Adult

Source:  I received the book free in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful young adult book about Rachel aka Ratchet, a 14 year old foster kid that is ready to strike out on her own.  Ratchet has been in and out of foster care for years.  She is finally in a good home, and has befriended a younger kid by the name of Jake.  In many ways Ratchet has made herself responsible for Jake.  

Even though things are better for Ratchet and she has become good friends with Jake, she is still determined to get out on her own.  So, she does leave taking money she has saved up for the occasion.  However, she ends up in London without any money, frightened, and alone.  She meets a man by the name of Pavel.  Pavel introduces Ratchet to his friends, Ian and Emma.  They own a cafe called the Cosmic Cafe.  In exchange for Ratchets work in the cafe, they provide her with a room to stay in and food to eat.

Ratchet eventually discovers that Pavel, Ian, and Emma are witch integrators and they sense that Ratchet is a witch.  Pavel begins teaching Ratchet how to control her powers and just when she starts feeling happy with her arrangement, she is discovered by her old social worker, Bryony, along with Bryony's  cat, Oscar.   They threaten to take Ratchet back to the foster home.   Ratchet's lack of experience ends up getting her, Bryony and Oscar pulled back in time.  They end up in Essex, during the witch trials.  They also  end up on the gallows awaiting execution for being witches.  Since Ratchet is the one responsible for getting them there in the first place, she is the only one that can get them back home, and they only have a few weeks before they become permanent residents in the past.  At the very last moment they get sucked into old Istanbul, where  Ratchet becomes a fortune teller.  The Sultan's wife wants to get her fortune told by Ratchet, which leads to more trouble for Ratchet Bryony, and Oscar.  

As if being in another time is not enough trouble for Ratchet, she finds out telepathically that Jake has been in a very serious accident and is fighting for his life.  This is an enjoyable read that will take you on several adventures.  The story did seem a little slow at first, but once the characters go back in time, it more than makes up for the slow start! This book was provided free in exchange for an honest book review.

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The Hours Before by Robert Parry

File Size:  4464KB

Print Length:  424 pages

Publication Date:  March 1, 2015

ASIN:  B00ufz10AC

Source:  I read this book free through Amazon Unlimited

Another great read by one of my favorite writers, Robert Parry.  This book  keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.  It is the story of a woman's desperate search for  her daughter.  Her daughter was reported to be dead among other dead members of an occultist group.  The members' charred remains was discovered among the rubble of the building they were living in.  Deborah Peters is the mother of Penelope,  "Poppy" Peters..  Deborah Peters is the ex wife of Hugh Peters, a newspaper tycoon and she is  a very well known and  well loved clairvoyant   Their only daughter, Poppy had recently left home to live with an occultist group that is focused on doomsday and preys on  Europe's wealthiest citizens.  When the bodies of some of this group were found, it was assumed that Poppy was one of the dead.  Hugh accepts that his daughter is dead, but Deborah does not believe that Poppy died in the fire.  Because of her  clairvoyance she just knows deep within her soul  that  her beloved Poppy  is still alive.  

Hugh begins to make Deborah's life a living hell.   He blames her for influencing Poppy to make bad choices.  He makes vicious accusations and does his best to turn admirers against her.    He goes as far as claiming that she is insane.  With his influential power, he makes sure that there is something on every paper's front page on a daily basis.  He even employs a particularly despicable reporter to follow her around.  The reporter manages to always be around to take photo's  of her for the newspapers when she is looking her worst. To make matters worse, Deborah  is also  betrayed by her best friend, because she marries Hugh.  Deborah eventually hits rock bottom.

Deborah is determined to find  her daughter.  Along the way she meets Herman "Manny" Grace, a magician.  Manny is drawn to her and doesnt know why, but he  gets deeply involved with finding Poppy.  Over time Deborah runs out of things to sell and she becomes destitute and a mere shell of the wealthy lady she used to be.  Just as Manny gets information about Poppy's possible whereabouts,  he and Deborah are separated and he cannot get in touch with her. In an effort to find out if Poppy is at Castle Schloss Lethe, Manny makes the decision  on his own to infiltrate the group and pretend to be a new follower.  What he discovers is taking place  in this remote place is shocking

This is an awesome Gothic Victorian  tale.  It is a nice, long read that will keep you engaged from the first page until the end.  As you read this book you will have a hundred questions, but I assure you that you will not be disappointed with the answers.  And, all of them will be answered.

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The Urban Boys by K.N. Smith

Publication Date:  September 29, 2015

Publisher:  Two Petals

Language:English

ASIN:  B015zS01M1

Version:  Kindle file size 928B

This book starts with a bang and does not let up until the very end.  The story is centered around a group of  five high school boys that have known each other almost their entire lives.  These boys all feel like brothers, even though they are not. But, they have such close ties to each other, they are more like family, than just friends.  These boys come into contact with a mysterious energy source at the edge of a forest and their lives are forever changed.  After coming into contact with this mysterious energy, each of the boys gained a different superhero type of sense.  It turns out the that it was a good thing they received these gifts, because they would need them for the battles they were about to be up against.  They soon came into contact with a group of evil thugs in the town next to theirs.  These evil doers were destroying the town.  The town's name was Sandry Lake, and their police department was almost non-exist-ant.  So, the boys felt it was their job to get these evil doers under control.

Through the guidance of a dark stranger and a beautiful, great fighting girl named Alina, the boys became protectors of Sandry Lake and the surrounding area.  They would keep their visits to the area from their family and friends, and all of the secrecy created a lot of stress and tension.  The fights were always brutal and left the boys exhausted, and it became more and more difficult to keep their secret to themselves,

K.N. Smith has proven herself to be a great writer with this debut novel.  She grabs your attention on the first page and keeps it until the very last page.  She brings depth to the characters and the scenery that feels genuine, and makes the reader feel like they are part of the story.  I recommend this book for any person wanting to read a great, action packed story.  The target population might be for young adults, but I loved it, and I have not been considered a young adult for several years. Having done such a wonderful job on her debut novel, I can't wait to read her future books!  I received this book from K.N. Smith in exchange for my honest review, and I am truly glad I was able to read it!

Here is a short excerpt from the book to give an example of the kind of writing you can expect:

"And it took only a few steps for their senses to flare as they saw numerous thugs running behind them.  Practically tripping over one another to get to the boys, they advanced with Olympic level speed, and swarmed like ants upon the group.  Loc 2169 of 2480 or 80% 

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The Second Best Time

by Lisa April Smith

Publisher:  Windgate Publishing

Date: January, 2016

ASIN: B019OU6Z00

Pages:261

Available at: Amazon, Barnes Noble, Books A Million

Although this book is the 3rd in the Charlie series, it can be enjoyed without reading the first two. Lisa April Smith managed to include her knowledge of psychology, history, and art into the story, and it was done beautifully. I have read most of her books and enjoyed all of them and enjoyed them. However, this one is hands down, my favorite. This is one of those books that is hard to put down. In fact, I stayed up way too late several nights reading this one.

The story continues to focus on Charlie, but a new character named Kat is introduced. Kat is almost as interesting as Charlie. Where Charlie is sophisticated, and educated, and accustomed to living among the wealthy, Kat is a working girl from a large Catholic family. Charlie has a difficult time handling money and taking care of things related to her art consultation business. Kat is efficient , organized , and hard working. She helps Charlie not only keep her business, but also to grow it. In addition to Kat, another character named Hayden ( a handsome artist cowboy) comes into Charlie's life and he really heats things up. Just how he manages to do this, well you need to read the book! You wont regret it! I promise!

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