Unveiled by Courtney Milan.

Ash Turner is motivated by love and revenge. Margaret Dalrympe by loyalty. Ash is determined to prove Margaret and her brothers are illegitimate and, therefore, himself the rightful heir to the dukedom. Although Ash doesn’t know who Margaret really is, he is determined to have her, while Margaret’s secrets compel her to keep her distance.

An intriguing historical romance, with very flawed characters. Ash is one of three brothers – their stories are told in Unclaimed (Mark) and Unraveled (Smite). The brothers’ mother was a religious fanatic and named her sons after biblical verses. They are all wounded by her madness and abuse of them. The relationships between the brothers is also damaged, as Ash left the family home to make his fortune, leaving his brothers behind.

Meanwhile, Margaret is left by her brothers to fix the disaster their father has made of their lives – and inheritance. Disguised as her father’s nurse, Margaret is to spy on Ash, the usurper. However, her growing awareness and appreciation of Ash’s morals and past come into conflict with her brothers’ demands – and the realisation that her brothers’ action and intents are not pure.

The brothers are not your typical historical romance heroes: they are wounded men, with deeply-held convictions and beliefs, tempered by their mother’s insanity. You can feel Ash’s agony as he tries to built relationships with his younger brothers.

Margaret, fortunately, is not just a cipher – a passive receptacle of Ash’s passion. Hers is a more quiet strength, but is fully capable of withstanding, and supporting, Ash’s.

Give this one a go, and keep an eye out for the sequels. I have been.

Some other historical romances that might appeal…

• The Duke and I (and all the sequels!) by Julia Quinn.
• For the Roses (and the sequels) by Julie Garwood.
• Slightly Shady (and the sequels) by Amanda Quick.
• Someone to watch over me by Lisa Kleypas.
• The pretender by Celeste Bradley.

Reviewed by Thalia.

A confusion of Princes by Garth Nix.

Khemri is an enhanced being – equipped with medical and technical enhancements which make him a Prince of the Empire. As an adult, he learns there are millions of princes, but only one can become Emperor and leader of the Imperial Mind. With his retinue of priests and Haddad, his Master Assassin, Khemri learns his destiny is not the same as other Princes, if only he can stay alive to discover all of it – and achieve it. As he faces physical challenges, Khemri begins to question his training. As he is expose to life outside, and some time spent as a normal human being, Khemri’s choices become even less clear-cut.
A thoughtful, thought-provoking, exploration of humanity and technology, in a Space Opera setting.
This is what science fiction is best at: making us question our lives and society now.
5 stars all the way!

If you like this, try:

• The Xenocide mission by Ben Jeapes.
• Decision at Doona by Anne McCaffrey.
• Genesis by Bernard Beckett.
• The tomorrow code by Ken Catran.
• The sky inside by Carle B. Dunkle.
• Enchantress from the stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl.
• Ender’s game by Orson Scott Card.
• Gate to women’s country by Sheri S. Tepper. 

~  Thalia.

Iris’s ukulele by Kathy Taylor.

Iris and her best friend, Sidney, are Masters of the Musical Universe, with big plans. Except, Iris gets into a pickle and it seems like her partnership with Sidney is over. And her behaviour hasn’t impressed the wonderful Elijah, specially with Iris doesn’t stand up for Sidney against the class bully. How can Iris unpickle herself? It’s easy when have a great family and real friends.

A fun and quirky read about identity and individuality, friendship and family, and what’s really important.

An impressive first book.

If you liked this one, try these other New Zealand children's fiction books:

• Super freak by Brian Falkner.
• Hollie Chips by Anna Gowan.
• Super Finn by Leonie Agnew.
• Through thick and thin by Shirley Corlett.

~ Thalia.

Private games by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

Private London is poised for action, they are about to help with the security arrangements around one of the worlds biggest sporting events - the 2012 London Olympic games.  The lead up has been shaky, Peter Knight has been thrust into the lead role at Private after the rest of the senior team was killed in a plane accident, and while he is a good agent it is a stressful time.  His nearly three year old twins are chewing through nannies (sometimes literally) at an alarming rate, and when a twisted villain named Cronus makes his presence known, things go from bad to worse.

Cronus plans to bring down the Olympics one crooked and twisted individual at a time.  His targets are the corrupt, the deceivers, the cheaters who flaunt what they have done.  His allies are the Furies, three sisters that have survived a worse fate than most of us can imagine, and now they fight by his side to help him bring down the Olympics.  But Cronus may have bitten off more than he could chew when he took on Knight and Private, because Knight is determined to find the man who killed his mothers fiancee.  As he gets pulled deeper and deeper into the case, Knight must work through not only the intricacies of the case, but also the multiple collisions between the case and his personal life - and the upcoming anniversary of his wifes death.

The Private series is one of the better series from James Patterson and his co-authors.  By basing the series in different offices around the world, and by using a series of different co-authors, Patterson has allowed for a greater depth of story than your traditional agency story - he can move characters from other agencies in and out of the storyline to give it more depth and more realism.  Having now read all four of the available books in the series, I have to say that Private Games was not my favourite, but it had some delightful twists and turns that keep you guessing, while also laying out some things that make you go huh until you realise that some of it is just a ruse to keep you guessing about what comes next.

Patterson is a fantastic author who keeps the pace strong and keeps the plot moving at a fast pace.  The twists and turns are usually interesting, and he has a knack for finding other authors to work with that are strong authors in their own right.   Hopefully the Private franchise will stay alive and well for many years to come.

If you like this book then try:

• Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Private London by James Patterson and Mark Pearson
• Private # 1 suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• The postcard killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund
• Level 26: Dark origins by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski
• Level 26: Dark prophecy by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swiercyznski
• The survivors club by Lisa Gardner
• The surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
• The apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

Reviewed by Brilla

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Kendra is a witch with a difference - she uses her magic to try and right wrongs.  Her magic doesn't always work out as planned, but she has certainly had some amazing adventures over the centuries.  Some of you may even have read Beastly, the story of how Kendra helped a young man by making him beastly so he could do the whole beauty and the beast thing.  Bewitching blends together the main story of Emma and Lisette with several other stories, along with Kendras own story.

I have to be honest and say that I was not that enthralled with Bewitching - I would have enjoyed it more if the different stories had been told as a series of novellas or short stories as the way the stories were woven together felt clumsy and rushed.  It was interesting to read stories involving Kendra as I enjoyed Beastly when I read it many years ago.  I know someone else who read this book who was really enjoying it, so maybe this is one of those times when I have read so many good things lately that even a great book could seem mediocre in comparion.

If you like this book then try:

• Beastly by Alex Flinn
• Cloaked by Alex Flinn
• Princess of the midnight ball by Jessica Day George
• Snow by Tracy Lynn
• Beauty sleep by Cameron Dokey
• Ella enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Reviewed by Brilla

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Violet’s mother makes her living as a spiritualist – a fake medium who tricks high society Victorians into believing she has the ability to speak with, and channel, the dead.
With such a background, it’s no wonder Violet is bewildered when real ghosts start appearing to her. One in particular – Rowena, a young aristocrat who mysteriously drowned a year earlier.
How can Violet prove Rowena was murdered when the clues given by Rowena are subject to interpretation (who was the fish aimed at anyway?). When Violet’s mother’s trickery is exposed, Violet is taken away from the murder site, making it even harder to solve the mystery. Oh, and then there’s Colin – her mother’s jack-of-all-trades. Romance, danger, ghosts and history.


If you like this book, then try:

• A matter of magic by Patricia C. Wrede.
• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen.
• Dingo by Charles De Lint.
• Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
• Give up the ghost by Megan Crewe.
• Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe by James M. Ward.
• Radiance by Alyson Noël.
• Velvet by Mary Hooper.

~ Reviewed by Talia.

The Industry by Rose Foster

Kirra Hayward is your average teenager, she goes to school, struggles to deal with living with a perfect sister, and tries to stay out of trouble at home - the only thing that makes her really special is her ability to do maths.  Kirra is so good at maths that she is taking maths classes with senior students, something that makes her a bit of a social outcast at school.  When she is given an assignment to make a puzzle, she decides to cheat a little and find one online to copy, but the puzzle she finds is like nothing she has even seen before, and the way she works out the answer is even weirder.  At first it seems as though there is nothing to the puzzle, but then some strange men come out of nowhere and drag Kirra away from her family, her country, and her whole life. 

Trapped far away from everything she has ever known, Kirra struggles to grasp what has actually happened to her, and clings to the hope that someone will come and save her.  This is a hope that slowly fades away as the weeks pass and there is no sign of rescue.  The rules of her captivity are pretty simple though, she is one of the few people in the world who can crack the Spencer code and she will crack the code every time she is asked to - if she doesn't then they will use force.  It is a terrifying world she has been forced into, and she is not alone for long, soon Milo joins her and he can crack codes too.  But as she finds herself sharing more and more with Milo, Kirra leaves herself open to more pain and anguish as the people who have taken them use their growing friendship against them.

Kirra and her world are imagined in intricate detail in this first installment in an amazing new series.  Rose Foster may be a debut author, but she has started with a high quality read that is both engaging and highly believable.  It is easy to imagine that there really is an Industry out there, a shadowy organised world that connects criminals across the world.  Kirra is realistic and engaging, her emotions are genuine, and you feel what she feels as she is forced to become part of a world she never knew existed.  The people around her are more than cardboard cutouts of bad guys, they have connections to other people, emotions and dramas that flow around the main part of the story.

I hope that the rest of the series is as good as this first book because it starts with a hiss and a roar and was incredibly addictive - I had to read it in one go to get through it to see what happened next.  There were some great twists and turns in the story, and Foster seems to have really kept a rein on her creativity to keep the story firmly grounded in the here and now which makes it so much more believable and engaging.

If you like this book then try:

• The recruit by Robert Muchamore
• Also known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher
• The arrival by Chris Morphew
• Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
• Boy soldier by Andy McNab
• Maximum Ride: the angel experiment by James Patterson
• Agent 21 by Chris Ryan
• Heist society by Ally Carter
• Wake by Lisa McMann
• Legend by Marie Lu
• January: Conspiracy 365 by Gabrielle Lord
• Crime seen by Jenny Pausacker

Reviewed by Brilla

The half life of Ryan Davis by Melinda Szymanik

For the past three years Ryan feels like he has been living in a parallel world - everything that happened before three years ago is the world of his family, and the past three years have been the world where his oldest sister Mallory vanished and his family fell apart.  The past two years have been just his mum, his younger sister Gemma, and him - his dad left and found himself a new life away from the pressure of Mallory and her disappearance.  It is a strange way to live, he can't get an afterschool job, he has to babysit Gemma whenever his mother goes out (even though she is 13), and he has to live with the fact that he will never live up to the high standards set by Mallory. 

Sometimes Ryan resents Mallory for disappearing, and sometimes it is all he can do just to try and stay normal.  When the detective involved in Mallory's case turns up to say that her old cellphone has been turned back on, things go from bad to worse.  Ryan's mum has always believed that Mallory will come home one day, and keeps searching for her, but things are taking a strange turn at home.  Ryan has always tried to stay under her radar, but with a girlfriend to impress he starts breaking all the rules - and then all hell breaks loose.

Too often when I read New Zealand books it feels as though it is a "once over lightly" taking an intense topic and making a pass at the idea rather than examining things in depth - and this is not one of those times.  The half life of Ryan Davis is a tense psychological thriller that grabs you from the start and keeps you hooked until the end.  Without giving away any of the plot twists and the subplots of the story, I can say that this book exceeded my expectations, the blurb promises an in depth read and it delivers. 

What would it be like to live in a household where a sibling has vanished?  It is something you often wonder about, and it comes up again and again in other novels where there is a kidnapping, it feels like the parents become so invested in the child that is missing that they forget that there are other children in the household, or in some cases it feels as though they expect the whole family to suffer because someone is missing.  This is an intense read and ends with a good amount of closure for the reader - without feeling too rushed.

If you like this book then try:

• The face on the milk carton by Caroline B. Cooney
• Dead to you by Lisa McMann
• I am not Esther by Fleur Beale
• Girl, missing by Sophie McKenzie
• The sleeper wakes by David Hill
• See ya, Simon by David Hill
• The project by Brian Falkner

Reviewed by Brilla

Also known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher

Bobby Steele is an impulsive person, someone who doesn't really think things through very well- which is not always a bad thing.  His latest impulsive project, inventing a kid with his best friends Marcus and Big Poobs and seeing if they can get him into the elite Whitestone school.  It seems like a harmless prank until they get the letter back saying that Whitestone would like their new kid, Rowan Pohi, as a student.  It's a big laugh for Marcus and Big Poobs, but as the time for school starting gets closer and closer it becomes less of a joke to Bobby, and more of a chance to get away from being that Bobby Steele, the son of the man who shares his name and ended up in jail for what he did to his wife.

Home is tense, his little brother Cody walks around with a feather in his hair claiming to be an Indian, and his dad is distant.  Taking on the guise of Rowan Pohi allows Bobby to enter a whole new world, a place where he has access to small classes, the best equipment, a football team - and most of all a chance at a future.  But he is also walking a tight rope, trying to keep the lie from spiralling out of control, trying to keep his balance when someone threatens to blow the whistle.  Whitestone is a real chance, but only if he can keep his act together.

Also known as Rowan Pohi is a thought provoking novel, and although it is short and relatively light, it raises some very interesting ideas about what it would be like to be that kid, the one with the infamous father who has your name, a name you can never escape.  The reactions of some people are subtle, but you can see that Bobby (junior) shares some of the shame of Bobby (senior) just because they share the same name.  It also makes me wonder what I would do in the same position, what chances would I have taken at the same age to make a difference in my own life. 

To say too much about the story has the potential to impact on the enjoyment of other readers, so I will just say that Ralph Fletcher has handled this story well, not only in terms of writing a good plot, but also in terms of handling such a difficult topic so well.  It doesn't feel like there could be a sequel to this book, but hopefully Fletcher will write more thought provoking novels as he has the potential to be another Chris Crutcher, another person who tackles difficult topics for teen readers.

If you like this book then try:

• Whale talk by Chris Crutcher
• Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The future of us by Jay Asher
• Thirteen reasons why by Jay Asher
• Hate list by Jennifer Brown
• Street dreams by Tama Wise
• Stuck in neutral by Terry Trueman
• Cut by Patricia McCormick

Reviewed by Brilla

Spider's bite by Jennifer Estep

Gin is an assassin, a very successful assassin known as the Spider.  Her reputation has been well earned, she is fast, deadly, and always gets her target - but she also lives by a trick code, no children and no pets.  Her handler Fletcher handles the business side of things, compiling folders of the targets, taking the deposits and collecting the rest of the money once the job is done.  She has just come off a job when she is offered another job on short notice that seems too good to be true - and when the job goes severely pear shaped she realises it really was too good to be true.  

Trying to hunt down the person responsible brings her into contact with sexy Detective Donovan Caine - he would the perfect partner if not for the fact that he wants her dead because she killed his partner.  This is not going to be an easy job, not only does she have to contend with the cops and the bad guys, she also has to take into account that the person responsible for her troubles is an Air elemental who can control the very air around her - but Gin has a few tricks up her sleeve too, she is a Stone elemental with a little bit extra on the side. 

I loved this book from start to finish, it jumps straight into the action and doesn't let up to the final page.  Gin is a strong character and while she should come off as an anti-hero, because she is an assassin after all, there is enough of her background in the story to pick up that she is has some pretty strong morals and does pro bono work on the side - hence the death of Detective Caines partner.  I picked this book up as a paranormal romance, but have to confess that it fits more in the fantasy with romance section than the romance with fantasy section.  The world they live in appears to basically be alternate reality where elemental magic exists and people of other "races" also exist - for races read dwarfs, giants, and vampires.  It is an amazing world, made all the more interesting because the magic has rules and limits that make it all the more believable. 

This was an entertaining read that I finished in an afternoon because I didn't want to put it down, and if there weren't so many other things on my shelves to read at the moment then I would have jumped straight into book number two.  The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that the author kept saying Gin put a knife up each sleeve, a knife in each boot, and a knife in the small of her back - once or twice would have been enough. 

If you like this book then try:

• Spiders web by Jennifer Estep
• Dead witch walking by Kim Harrison
• Angel's blood by Nalini Singh
• Children of the night by Mercedes Lackey
• Blood price by Tanya Huff

Reviewed by Brilla