Bogormen

Title: Burning Justice
Author: Helena Smreck
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1.5/5
# pages: 301
Date read: March, 2015

Pacifist Mennonite social worker Nora Martin is on the verge of opening a residential facility for first-time offenders. After years of planning, she'll finally be able to rescue young men from the violence of prison... or what has been their only other option, the violence of the military.

But then a stranger in camouflage and combat boots marches through her front door and claims to own her house. And he's not interested in letting Nora change it.

Who is Petty Officer Jacob Schwartz, and why does no one in the close-knit town of French Lick, Indiana want to acknowledge that he exists? What are they hiding? What had seemed like a safe community is now full of secrets and old heartaches, and Nora is caught in the dangerous middle. Her only ally is her best friend, FBI agent Alicia Yu, but even Alicia can't protect her from the way Nora's heart races every time Jacob's in the room.

Can she trust a man in uniform?

Nora and Jacob's choices have taken them down different paths, but God may still show them a safe way back.


I was contacted by the author for an honest review.

As I started reading "Burning Justice", I didn't really know what to think of it. I liked the plot well enough - small-town secrets are always a great way to pull me in - but thought the writing left quite a bit to be desired, as it seemed to occasionally get in the way of itself, with flowery passages and sometimes awkward imagery like "With a speed of a new laptop, I memorized other details that would possibly be useful in the future police report" and "The deep remorse and guilt I felt when I went to the hospital were only the messengers of a new heartbreak now on the horizon of my soul. They were like the sunrise in a barren desert, heralding the arrival of scorching heat that would bring death to those who dared to venture out unprepared". But though eye-roll inducing in places, it wasn't bad enough for me to actually put down the book, and I read the first 50-60% of the story pretty quickly, despite such dubious moments as the suddenly political twist, and when an FBI agent couldn't stop Nora from contaminating a crime scene.

However, at about the half-way point, it turned out that I'd entered into the book with completely wrong expectations. The novel was described as a "romantic suspense novel" and where my mind immediately focused on the "suspense" part, it really is first and foremost a romance novel. And unfortunately the romance part didn't really work for me. There was too much telling, and too little showing, so while I could believe in lust/attraction at first sight between Nora and Jake (as proven by phrases like "His good arm briefly caressed my back, and I felt as if my deepest cravings were satisfied), I never bought into there being any real feelings between them -- they barely spoke throughout the book and hardly knew anything about each other -- which made the ending both too saccharine and too unbelievable for my tastes.

At the end of the day I do think that Helena Smreck shows potential though, and my problems with the book are nothing that a good editor can't fix. So if you like romance novels, do check her out in the future. But if you found yourself wincing at the passages I quoted, better give this one a miss.

Title: Fifteen (Dreamwalker Diaries #1)
Author: Jen Estes
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 233
Date read: March, 2015

Legend has it if you die in your dreams, you die in real life. Fifteen-year-old Ashling Campbell knows that's not true because when she closes her eyes each night, she doesn't dream about public nudity or Prom dates. Instead, she's catapulted to the front row of her future self's execution - fifteen years from now - where monsters have taken control of her hometown and she, or rather, her 30-year-old counterpart, is their public enemy number one.

For three months and counting, it's been the same dream... until an encounter with an antique dreamcatcher. Ash falls asleep to discover she's no longer a mere spectator in these dreams - now she's astral-projecting into the body of her future self. Each night, she goes on the run with a ragtag group of rebels - who have no idea she's really a high school sophomore and not their noble warrior. She has to make it through each night so that she can wake up and find a way to change the future. For every action she does in the present day, she falls asleep to discover it had an equal impact fifteen years later. It's up to her to manage her two worlds and make sure she's still got a place in both.


A bit slow to start, but once it did, it really took off, and had me turning pages as fast as my eyes could keep up. I think I read the last 66% in one sitting.

This book has shades of both "The Future of Us" by Jay Asher and the movie "Inception", as 15-year-old Ash discovers that her dreams show her the future, and that she can change this future by her actions in the present.

A fascinating idea, that unfortunately suffered a bit from seeming too rushed in places, especially near the end... which came a LOT faster than I had expected! For a moment there I feared that the author would leave me hanging in the worst possible way. Fortunately that wasn't quite the case, and once I got past my frustration of the book being over, I can actually understand why Jen Estes chose to end it where she did, but it was still abrupt enough to make me subtract a star from my rating.

Both Ash and Tate seemed older than their 15 and 16 years, and I think certain aspects (trying not to spoil anything) would have seemed more believable if they had been just a couple of years older. Also, Tate's action at the end seemed really out of character for him, but I'm hoping that will be explained in the sequel.

Because yes - I will definitely be reading the sequel. Despite my (slight) complaints about "Fifteen", I was thoroughly drawn in at the end, and want to know more.

Title: A Dangerous Witch (Witch Central #3)
Author: Debora Geary
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 165
Date read: September 2014, March 2015, June 2018, December 2021


Very bittersweet book to read, since I knew it would be the last book about my dear witches. I almost put off reading it, so I'd still have something 'new' to read, but in the end I couldn't wait. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that Debora Geary gets attacked by plot bunnies sometime in the future after all ;)

That said, having read this I can understand her decision. I don't mean to say that it's badly written or anything, but for the first time ever the book is plot-driven rather than character-driven... Which makes sense, if she no longer feels like she can draw on her personal experiences to write the characters - then the plot would have to take center stage. And it feels weird to say, because usually I prefer plot-driven books, but this series is apparently the exception that proves the rule, and I missed the crazy asides that has made me come to know and love the Witch Central characters so. But Debora Geary was determined only to "add words that were worthy of Witch Central" and I understand and respect that decision. And at the end of the day, I think she succeeded very nicely.

I am very sorry to see the end of Witch Central - it has meant more to me than almost all other book series I can think of - but I wish Debora Geary all the best for the future, and thank her for the hours of joy and love she has brought me through these characters.

She hasn't stopped writing completely though, and I will make sure to continue to follow her under her new pseudonym.

Title: An Imperfect Witch (Witch Central, #1)
Author: Debora Geary
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 250
Date read: September 2013, July 2014, March 2015, November 2016, June 2018, December 2021

Two years ago, Lizard Monroe was Berkeley's newest delinquent on parole. Now she's a hot young realtor with a great life, an awesome guy, and enough friends to chase away the ghosts of her past.

Almost.

The crystal ball has spoken - life isn't done messing with her yet. And neither is the need brewing in the eyes of the man she loves.

The eve of Halloween approaches. And whatever the sexy poet realtor wants to believe, moving beyond your past isn't the same as facing the future.

I've long since realized that the plot of Debora Geary's books really doesn't matter at all (well... that's probably an exaggeration, but it matters very little), because what really drives the book are the characters and their interaction - it's just so refreshing to read a series where people are generally kind and generous towards one another for once.

What struck me while reading this installment of the witch series is that though easily overlooked, Debora Geary has an amazing way with words. I'd constantly find myself paging back to reread some sentence of another. She's a poet in the truest sense of the word, putting together sentences such that the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. An ability very rarely seen, and undeniably a big reason why her books resonate so with me.

Title: A Celtic Witch (A Modern Witch #6)
Author: Debora Geary
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 247
Date read: May 2013, 2014, March 2015, December 2021

Cassidy Farrell is a world-class Celtic fiddler. And if she has her way, that's exactly who she'll stay.

Except that's not what the rocks have in mind. Or a certain fetching spell. Or the truth working its way free in her own heart.

Can the music, and perhaps a certain grumpy curmudgeon and his baby girl, help Cass find her life's new song?


This one was strangely slow to start compared to some of the others, but once it did, it took off with a vengeance. Not much page-time for the Californian witches in this one, which was a shame, but on the other hand I appreciated all the page time that Marcus got. Such a sweet story :)