Speed Reviewing

 The Witches of Santa Anna

Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine

4 Stars!

Natalia Moore is the new girl at Santa Anna Prep, and all she wants to do is fly under the radar -- get to her classes, meet a few friends, and try not to make a total fool of herself in the meantime. But when handsome and popular Campbell Elliot goes out of his way to be nice to the new girl, Natalia's plan to go unnoticed flies out the window.
Cam’s hot, but he’s completely off-limits. Raine Marsden, the most popular and meanest girl in school, has had her eye on him ever since the summer. And Raine doesn’t like competition.
When Cam goes as far as inviting Natalia to the exclusive weekend party at Raine's house, Raine sets her sights on a new victim. But what Natalia doesn't know is that Raine and her friends are no ordinary mean girls. They have powers most people can only dream of, and nobody will stand in the way of what they want. And what Raine wants is Campbell.

It was very simple, a lot of swearing, but really hooks you in. If you are looking for great writing or a literary master piece, this is not it!
But if you are looking for entertainment and fun - yep!
It is all about high school and "mean girls" who just happen to be witches! Sounds like fun huh?

4 Stars!

When racy photos of Jane are leaked to the press, she becomes the center of a tabloid scandal. She turns to costar Madison Parker for help, but does Madison really have Jane's back?
Scarlett's got a scandal of her own. She's fallen for a guy who's strictly off-limits—which means Scarlett has a big secret to keep. But nothing stays secret for long in Hollywood.

Haha! Great book! More wicked naughtiness from these girls, I love it! This is book 2 in the series. Who would have thought I would be reading and loving a Lauren Conrad book???!!!
Since it is a YA book there is very little swearing (some, but little) and just suggested sex not explicit. Sooo wicked naughtiness but clean, LOL.
I now have book 2 and will be starting that soon.

 4 Stars!

Set in the heart of the earliest days of a new nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints, The Sister Wife is a riveting account of two women forced into a practice they don't understand, bound by their devotion to Prophet Joseph Smith. When Mary Rose marries Gabriel, neither of them could foresee how quickly the community would turn to the practice of plural marriage. Devastated when Gabe is faced with an order from the Prophet to marry her best friend, Bronwyn, Mary Rose tries to have the faith to carry through with the marriage. But can she really be married to the same man as her very best friend? Can Mary Rose and Bronwyn face betraying both their husband and their God to do what they feel is right?

One of my reading challenges for this year was to read about different religions. So this book helps fulfill that challenge being about the Mormon Faith.
This books was VERY interesting, to say the least. I didn't really know that much about the Mormans. Being a Christian I certainly don't share the same beliefs as the Mormans but I did find this very interesting history to read. There was very good character development and I bonded with and felt for these women who had to share their husbands.
This was book 1 in a series. I am now starting book 2 and will be giving away the set of 2 books as soon as I finish.

3 Stars

Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he's recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother's upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn't like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma's offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there's no chance he'll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he's not planning to call home.
Emma's not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his "pretend" kisses are...

This book started out "good enough" for me, a little slow and had I read the story line before in other books. Then I liked the little twist in the middle and this was enough to keep me reading. Then the whole last half of the book became about sex. If someone loves books about sex then this is the book for you, but I am not one of those people!  I tried to blah blah blah my way through "those" scenes. The problem was there were so many of them I would have missed the whole last half of the book! So in conclusion... for me... way too much sex and not enough content!
Thanks to - Carina Press and Netgalley for giving me an e-book copy of this to review.

Also - the winner of the book "The First Gardener" by Denise Hildreth Jones is...

Vicki of "I'd rather be reading at the beach"