WEM VII: Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep and Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

It's the week-end! It's the week-end! Just too bad that the temperature has started dropping. Although, I'm kind of happy... because now, it feels more like spring instead of summer LOL.

I haven't talked about it, but this week was the World Women Curling Championship and I've been following it religiously :) The teams either did great or not in the round robin and some teams I was expecting to see as the top 4 didn't make it like Scotland and China. The big, big surprise this week was Korea!! Wow, they won 8 games and lost 3... Their previous best record was the opposite, 3 wins and 8 losses and that was 2 years ago! Such improvement! So I'll definitively be rooting for the underdog. The funniest thing about Korea is that they came to Canada to train a couple of month and guess how they learn strategy? By watching TSN! TSN is our national sport channel on which I watch curling all the time because it's so popular in Canada. The commentators are very good and knowledgeable. They will talk about all the options available, what is the best call in their opinion, what should have been done for the perfect shot (brush more, brush less), etc. I just find it fun that Korea could improve so much by watching it LOL. Oh and USA was pretty amazing this week. They lost 4 straight games and everyone thought they were out... and had 7 consecutive wins! That meant there was a tie-breaker with Canada. Just too bad they had one bad end, so Canada ended up winning it. The top 4 teams are Sweden, Switzerland, Korea and Canada. Sweden is already sure of winning either gold or silver and it was a great match between Sweden and Switzerland. I hope this week-end's curling will be as good as last night :)

All right, back to books :) Since I've been pretty much up-to-date with my reviews this month, I thought I'd take the opportunity the books that slipped through the cracks last year :) And I decided to go by genre, which was YA last week. The whole week, Kiss of Frost was leading... and at the last minute, someone sneaked in a vote and we got a tie with Sean Griswold's Head! So here we go :)

Oh and for next WEM feature, the genre is historical :) As usual, the poll is on the sidebar :)


Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

published by Kensington in November 2011

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword...

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Series: Mythos Academy, Book #2

What do you need to know? The story actually takes place away from the Academy. The students are headed to a ski resort for the Winter Carnival. Otherwise, Gwen has been training with the Spartan boys. She still has a crush on Logan, but he's with someone else. So when she meets a cute guy at the ski resort from another Academy, she decides, why not? Also, Gwen has the feelings someone has been following her and perhaps there's been a few attempts on her life, but doesn't really speak up ^_^;

Why this book? In the past couple of years, I've become a big fan of Ms Estep. First with her Elemental Assassin series and now, the Mythos Academy series. I enjoyed Touch of Frost and thought the series had potential... so it was simply a matter of time for me to pick up Kiss of Frost. Plus, great cover!

My thoughts? Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed with Kiss of Frost ^_^; I thought Touch of Frost was a great beginning to the series and I thought Ms Estep would use this opportunity to ride the momentum. Instead, she seemed to have "halted" with Kiss of Frost, almost like a breather. It was bogged down by too many descriptions, internal dialogues and Ms Estep's Archilles heel, recaps. It's nice to provide information to new readers, but at the end of the day, this book is part of the series and therefore the author should expect that readers have read the previous books.

I did like that Ms Estep changed the setting for Kiss of Frost and that most of the story took place at the ski resort. I have to say, I wished there's been more action in this one, but what was there was good. As for the storyline, it wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. The idea was good, but I thought the identity of the villain was too predictable and I didn't like how it connected with Gwen's mother's death. Too coincidental and too obvious. I think for this series to be a success, it needs to be more subtle and intricate. The way it is now, you know that every new information or element is important and will come into play later on.

Something else that I liked about Kiss of Frost is that Gwen finally seems to be coming out of her cocoon and making friends. She's not universally loved, but at least, she has people that she can count on :) Aside from Daphne, I think Oliver will become someone she can confide in. While it's improving on the friendship front, there was little progress on the love front. It annoyed me that Gwen was mooning so much over Logan ^_^; I like Logan and I can see how someone would have a crush on him... but to say that he broke Gwen's heart is going too far as well as the way Gwen is hanging up on him. Yes, they could have started something but Logan backed out at the last minute. Both Gwen and Logan's attitudes towards each other is simply frustrating. Either you get together or you move on... However, as it is, one minute they care, one minute they don't: it's just so contradictory.

Luckily, what saved the day for me was the overall story about Gwen's family being Gypsies. It clears up some questions I had and kept things interesting :) And because of it, I think the series still has a lot of potential.

My Grade? C+. Kiss of Frost felt very much like a transitional book to me. However, the end sets up well for the next book. I'm definitively going to read the next and hope it's a winner :)


Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
published by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books in March 2011

According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold... all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Series: None

What do you need to know? Payton is very close to her father, therefore finding out that he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) is a shock. While not life-threatening, the disease is debilitating on a long-term basis and obviously, life-changing. Payton is scared, but also hurt that her parents did not tell her and she was last to learn about it.

Payton decides to listen to her guidance counselor who suggested to focus on an object and write about it to help her go through this rough period. And she chooses the object that she has been seeing most since third grade: Sean Griswold's head. Well it starts out with the head, but quickly expands to the rest of him. Payton realizes that while she's been sitting behind him for years, she barely knows the boy. What are his likes and dislikes, his interests? As Payton starts getting to know Sean better, she finds she enjoys his company and likes his personality... But Sean's migraines are troubling her and she fears they are not simple headaches...

Why this book? This book first came to my attention on Rowena's The Book Scoop blog :) There was the cover which I found absolutely cute, but also the fact that this book dealt with the acceptance of MS. During my undergrad, I worked at the MS clinic, so I'm familiar about the disease. Also, I thought I'd enjoy this book since it's about Payton's acceptance of her father's disease instead of high school drama.

My thoughts? I'm really glad I read Sean Griswold's Head, because I enjoyed it a lot. It was also as I expected: the book was focused on Payton's acceptance of her father's disease and not centered on high school drama. I find that Ms Leavitt did a great job because the story was very realistic, what Payton and her family were going through felt really real and so did their feelings. In addition, the author did a great job at balancing the serious aspect with the silly, fluffy side of the story :) While the topic is serious and hard at times, the tone wasn't dark or heavy. Instead, it was easy to read and that made it a good read for me :)

All in all, I really liked this book. Payton was a good heroine, although a bit self-centered. I don't mean it in a bad way though. It's just a side-effect of being a teenager :) Payton is hurt and scared and as a result, she's angry at her parents. And while she was angry, she didn't stop to think about how her parents felt... Especially her father who is the one sick. I thought the reaction was very normal, very real... Not just from Payton's side, but also her father. I really liked his explanation for not telling Payton sooner. He himself needed time to accept the disease... by telling Payton, it became too real. I also liked that overall, Payton had a good relationship with her parents and her family was normal.

I also liked Sean very much. He was such a great guy in my opinion. I wished we could have read his POV or seen more of him. I liked how Payton started getting to know him better. First, it was a bit stalker-ish, but then, she started talking to him and made a new friend, found a new interest - biking... Seeing her develop feelings for Sean and her feelings being reciprocated, that was definitively the cute part of the book :) Especially when it started from such a silly idea LOL.

My only complaint is the author's need to add conflicts to a story that already had one. First, there was the fight between Payton and Jac, her best friend. I thought it was superfluous and especially, the way it was done ^_^; Then, there was Payton pushing Sean away because of his migraines. I understand that Payton doesn't want to care for someone who might be sick... She's dealing with her father's illness and so, is scared she could lose Sean. So instead of standing by his side, she pushes him away. I really didn't like that part because I think it spoke poorly of Payton ^_^; As it turned out, Payton's reaction was very premature and lucky for her, Sean forgave her... But what about the future? If something does really happen to him, will Payton rabbit again or will she be strong? Obviously, the relationship was pretty new and as it deepens, things will change... but it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Finally, with these two conflicts, it meant Payton was pretty much on her own in the last quarter of the book... and it took out steam from the book. It just wasn't as interesting and engaging and I thought it was unfortunate since the first 3/4 was so strong :(

My Grade? B. Despite a couple of issues, I really liked Sean Griswold's Head and will definitively read more books by this author :)

Review: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Ugh, what an awful few days it's been. First, it's been really busy at work... and second, my computer is giving me trouble. Again. This time though, I'm throwing down the towel and I'm ready to buy a new computer. Except, buying one is not as easy as it seems or as it should be ^_^;  I'm debating whether I should still go with Dell or another brand and how long it'll take till I get it if I order it. Just yesterday night alone, I got the blue screen of death 6 times!!  That's not counting the number of times Chrome crashed on me! At the rate it's going, I won't be able to wait for long... so I'm thinking perhaps instant gratification at a store is the way to go instead of ordering online. Sigh, decision, decision, decision.

In the meantime, I'm really happy to finally have this review up!! Yay!! I'm really having a hard time putting reviews together lately. It's just not coming together nicely in my opinion... Despite that, I hope this review still make sense :) Let me know if it doesn't!!


Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

published by Kensington in July 2011

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died...

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Series: Mythos Academy series, Book #1

The Story: In Gwen Frost's family, the women have powers. Her grandmother sees the future, her mother could sense the truth and Gwen knows, sees and feels an object or a person's history upon touch. Because of those powers, the Frost women are considered as Gypsies.

Six months ago, Gwen's mother died. Not long afterwards, Gwen was enrolled at Mythos Academy, an elite Ivy League prep school for the descendants of mythological warriors: Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans, Trojans, Celts, Samurais, Ninjas and so on. Being the new kid is difficult, but in this case, Gwen just feels she doesn't fit in: she is not a warrior and cannot wield any weapon, she's not rich, she's not wearing any brand names and is into comics... Her friendless state doesn't really matter anyway as Gwen is still dealing with her grief.

Then, the most popular - and mean - girl, Jasmine Ashton, is murdered in the Library of Antiquities, where Gwen works, and the Bowl of Tears, one of the Thirteen Artifacts, is stolen... Jasmine wasn't among Gwen's favorite people, but she is bothered that everyone is indifferent to Jasmine's death. Something else that's on her mind is that Gwen actually touched Jasmine's blood and corpse... and didn't flash. Things just don't add up and therefore, Gwen decides to investigate Jasmine's death. And in the course of her investigation, she ends up making unexpected allies...

My Opinion: Well I've become a fan of Ms Estep with her Elemental Assassin series and I was looking forward to Touch of Frost because I thought that Ms Estep's writing would lend itself well to YA... and I was right :) Touch of Frost ended up being a really enjoyable read :)

I admit, I'm not a fan of high school drama. I know, I know, it's the predominant theme in YA books ^_^; I guess it's because I never experience high school drama to that extent, so I cannot relate. That's why I usually prefer paranormal or fantasy YA. However, in this instance, I think Ms Estep did a good job at blending the regular life of a teenager with the paranormal elements. It felt a bit like the Percy Jackon series version teenagers LOL. I like that while these characters were supernaturals: Valkyries, Spartans, etc., their concerns were ones from typical teenagers, i.e. going to school, having friends, their crushes, who are they going to go to the dance with and so on. For them, being supernatural didn't bring them more angst or make their lives so different. I liked that at Mythos Academy, they didn't need to hide who they were. As you can see, the setting  really worked for me.

Another aspect of the book that worked for me were the characters :) I really liked them. Gwen was a nice heroine that I could get behind and cheer for. She was quite independent and didn't really care about high school drama - a plus in my book :) I liked that she was her own person and was quite comfortable with it. I also liked that she wasn't too morose or depressed. Yes, her mother passed away and part of Gwen felt guilty and that's why she isolated herself in the past few months... However, she was ready to come out of her shell and move on, start making friends and live. Basically, she was a good character with a lot of potential and one that I'm curious to see what will happen to :) I also liked what I've seen of the secondary characters. I thought at first that Daphne would be a bitch, but it was nice to see things turn around and her becoming Gwen's ally. I'm looking forward for their relationship to develop :) Carson was a nice guy, a bit of a geek. I thought his romance with Daphne was cute and most likely, he will become the voice of reason in their little group. As for Logan, he was quite the mystery. It was hard to figure him out, as he blew hot and cold... Obviously though, the guy is interested in Gwen and I'm sure whatever his secret or reasons to be had to do with Gwen. Right now, I'm thinking he's her protector... He seemed to always be there at the right moment and probably know much more than he let on. I wonder how long it will take for Gwen to figure it out :)

There was a lot of world building in Touch of Frost, but Ms Estep was good at not dumping all the information at once. She was able to spread it out as the story went on and I thought the storyline was a good one. I liked seeing Gwen taking an interest and investigating Jasmine's death... although it felt like her amateur sleuthing was too easy. Also, the fact that the teachers didn't look more into Jasmine's death was highly suspicious in my opinion. In any case, the twist at the end was quite interesting and I didn't really expect it :) What I'm most happy about though is that Ms Estep cleared out the Gyspy thing in this book. First, it means she thought about it and so every dots should connect :) Also, it gives us a little idea of what to expect in the future.

All in all, Touch of Frost was a solid start to this series in my opinion. The style of the book is easy to read and enjoyable, the characters are engaging and the storyline was interesting. Ms Estep gives us enough information and answers so we are not too anxious and going crazy, but still looking forward to the next book :)

My Grade: B.

Review: Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Lani Diane Rich

One of my all-time favorite author is Jennifer Crusie. I love her characters and the wacky situations they get into :) As a result, I pick up everything that has her names on it... even collaborations.


Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Lani Diane Rich
published by St. Martin's Press in February 2009

Abby has just arrived in Summerville, Ohio, with her placid Newfoundland, Bowser. She's reluctantly inherited her grandmother's coffee shop, but it's not long before she's brewing up trouble in the form of magical baked goods and steaming up her life with an exasperating college professor.

And then there's Daisy, a web code writer, and her hyperactive Jack Russell, Bailey. Her tightly-wound world spins out of control when she discovers the chaos within and meets a mysterious dog trainer whose teaching style is definitely hands-on.

Finally there's Shar, professor of ancient history at Summerville College, who wakes up one morning to find her neurotic dachshund, Wolfie, snarling at an implacable god sitting at her kitchen table, the first thing in her life she hasn't been able to footnote. What on earth is going on in this unearthly little town? It's up to Abby, Daisy, and Shar to find out before an ancient goddess takes over Southern Ohio, and they all end up in the apocalyptic doghouse...

Genre: paranormal romance, mythology
Series: none

The Story: Hmmm, the backgrounds in the synopsis are correct, but I find the summary a tiny bit misleading. Let see if I can do a better job.

Basically, Abby, Daisy and Shar are brought together along with 3 other girls to the "Kammani Gula Dog Obedience Course" under different circumstances. Turns out that Kammani Gula is a goddess from the Mesopotanian era who has been 'revived.' She plans to reunite her seven prietess and take over the world.

Abby, Daisy and Shar are descendents of the priestess who used to serve Kammani Gula and actually discover that they are demi-goddesses. After drinking Kammani Gula's tonic, they seem to come into their powers which include being able to understand what their dogs are saying. Thing is, Abby, Daisy and Shar have no intention of aiding Kammani Gula to rule the world or to serve her... as a result, they have to find a way to send her back...

My Opinion: To tell the truth, the only reason I bought this book is because of Ms Crusie. I really enjoy her writing and I think it's unfortunate that she's been writing collaborations instead of coming up with solo books. Holly told me it's because Ms Crusie does not think she could surpass Bet Me... however, to be frank, none of her collaborations have come close to her older books, let alone Bet Me.

Anyway, Anne Stuart wrote Abby's storyline, Lani Diane Rich - Daisy's and Jennifer Crusie, Shar's. None of the storylines were perfect, I had issues with all of them ^_^; Then, when put together into the greater story... well let say the result is a bit confusing.

So let see... Out of the three, I enjoyed Abby's storyline and dog the most. Abby is new to town and seems to never have fit anywhere. She's looking for a place of her own and she finds it in Summerville. I think it would have been better if we were given a bit more of a background on Abby. I dislike how her mother said negative things about Abby and to stranger no less! Don't know though if what her mother said was true or not, since we were not given much on her background. Abby's hero was Christopher, a math college teacher who's a genius and socially impaired. He follows Ms Stuart's hero mold; however, didn't have time to be a complete jerk. My issue with this storyline was the relationship between Abby and Christopher. See, Abby was a virgin when she had sex with Christopher... and well, he reacted dumbly and as a result, Abby didn't want to have a relationship with Christopher and he had to try to win her back. Bleh...

Daisy's story was a bit meh... Basically, her mother skips town as soon as she hears about Kammani so Daisy will be chosen as the priestess instead of her. Talk about a selfish mother!! Thing is, it was never explained how Daisy's mother knew that Kammani was revived. There was no specific dates for Kammani's revival... so how did she know? I liked Daisy's relationship with Noah though... however, dislike how Daisy didn't trust Noah. In addition, I think Daisy's story was the one that had the most holes... like why did Mina (another prietess - the only one willing to serve Kammani and aware of the whole story) hate Daisy so much? In addition, I have to agree with Noah that Daisy was a bit self-centered :(

Finally, Shar... I think her storyline would have worked better if she wasn't 48 y.o. ^_^; All right, all right, I admit it, I've never been fond of older heroines. I like it when the heroines are between 25 and 35 y.o. I find I can relate with them better... At least, Shar wasn't a divorcee with kids, small blessings. Anyway, Shar is the lucky heroine and gets the god as her hero, Sam. Basically, Kammani needs to sacrifice a king (who also turns out to be a god) to start taking over the world. So when Kammani is revived, Sam is as well. Sam was yummy, but a bit superficial... I'm not sure how I feel about Shar and Sam together... I'm not sure they fit well. See, my problem is in the beginning, it was a big deal for Shar to be older... then as the story went, it seems like it was forgotten. I didn't feel like Shar was older by the end... and if you go through all the trouble to write about an older character, it shouldn't be forgotten right? Then, there's the fact that Shar thought that Sam was sleeping around, but she still went to him... because she loved him. Ugh. Woman, stand up for yourself and ask! Make it clear you don't want him to look at other women... So a bit frustrating.

Finally, I have to say that the overall plot was a bit confusing and felt like it was rushed. Actually, the pacing didn't feel right, probably because there are three authors trying to work on their own storyline. It didn't take too much time for the women to figure out what was happening... then, it seems the book went on pause in order to develop the characters and their individual storyline. Once it was "settled," the ending was rushed to wrap everything.

Personally, I could have overlooked a lot of things if at least, it's been funny... but it wasn't really. In the end, Dogs and Goddesses was a meh book, not as funny as I expected and with a few plot holes that left me wondering.

Grade: C-. If you didn't care for The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, then you'll be disappointed with Dogs and Goddesses, because it's not really better :(

It seems like these collaborations aren't really working. Lucky for us though, it seems that Ms Crusie is working on a solo book. That, I'm looking forward to... but I think that I'll skip any other of her collaborations.