Book Review: Pyxis: The Discovery by K.C. Neal

Title: The Pyxis: The Discovery

Author: K.C. Neal

Series: Pyxis, Book 1

Publisher: StoneHouse Ink

Release Date: October 2011

Format: e-book, ARC

Source: given by the author

My Rating: 4 stars 

Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path.

Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free.

I'm not sure what Pyxis is about even now that I've finished the book. I am a label type of girl, meaning I like to categorize my books by vampires, werewolves, etc. but for this one I had non. Well it's definitely a fantasy novel and a good one. 

I can tell you for sure it has nothing to do with your typical paranormal books. I would say it has more to do with magic but I would have to see about that after reading the next book. The story ends right where things start to get clear about Corinne and what her destiny is.

The book starts when Corrine bakes some cupcakes and uses some stuff that were supposedly food colouring, only they weren't. Weird stuff begin to happen and she starts to investigate what those colourful bottles are that she found inside a box called Pyxis.

Now the romance part- because you know how much I love my stories to be accompanied by love stories. 

I liked the fact that Corinne and Mason already knew each other and there was already the initiation from being friends into something more. It was so refreshing because no matter how much I love it, it's beginning to be a little tiring the whole girl meets boy and fall in love without really knowing each other. 

Mason was one of the main reasons I wanted to keep reading and not stop. I wanted to know what had happened between them and if they were going to end up together. The suspense lol! That and of course what the heck Pyxis is and what Corinne is and Mason. They may share mutual feelings but they have more in common than they think and an unbreakable connection.

Overall, I loved and I will keep reading the series. It's perfect for those who want something new and unpredictable.

Book Review: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Title: Cold Kiss
Author: Amy Garvey
Series: stand alone book so far
Publisher: Harper Collins
Expected Release Date: September 20th, 2011
Format: e-book, ARC
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 2.5 stars

"It seemed so right. Danny was mine, I was his, and that wasn't going to work if he was dead. So I would make him not dead, not anymore. I didn't think any further than what it would feel like to kiss him again, to wrap my arms around him and bury my head against his shoulder.That was my first mistake. It also turned out to be the biggest."
When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can't imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she's inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved. 
Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can't turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him-and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

Cold Kiss was my first book about zombies and I found myself waiting anxiously to read it. Sadly I was dissapointed. When I heard it was about zombies my first thought was that the book will be filled with a lot of zombie action but found that the book was focused on Wren and her feelings for her undead dead boyfriend. See the zombie in this story is her boyfriend that she brought to life because she couldn't handle the loss.

Throughout the book we get glimpses of how their relationship was before Danny died and Wren realizing as the time passes that the Danny she brought back has nothing to do with the Danny she fall in love with. There wasn't really any action in it but it kept me reading in the hopes I would find some in the end. Needless to say I loved Danny's and Wren's relationship, at least the 'alive' Danny.

In this story we are being introduced to the new love interest named Gabriel. I couldn't see a connection between Wren and Gabriel unfortunately and just couldn't believe that those two were falling for each other. Wren acts selfish pretty much throughout the novel and Gabriel just stood there. If I were him I would be long gone.

Another aspect of the story was Wren's family and their magical abilities which was not explained at all in the book. By the end of Cold Kiss we know nothing about their abilities expect from the fact that the women do have magic but not their uses or where it came from and what kind of powers they have. 

Overall I liked the book. I was just expecting something else.

Frosy