Sugar Rush (The Ophelia Dawson Chronicles), by Kimber An, is a great Kindle read at $4.99. 

I love my Kindle and I love books under $5. This is one of them, and it deserves more than 2 reviews on amazon.com.

Why? Because this book takes the "been there, done that" theme of vampires and delivers it in a whole new way - leaving thoughts of the numerous Twilight clones far behind.

Ophelia is a twin, a Sci-Fi fan, the president of math club, lives close to Freebanks, Alaska, and is also Diabetic. With type I Diabetes she is called a "Sweet," the walking, breathing human version of meth to the resident vampires.

Ophelia doesn't accept the vampires as vampires however, and instead of running for her life keeps getting distracted trying to get that darn DNA sample. 

I really enjoyed this one, because it was funny, and it just kind of... made sense, somehow (in the same way Star Trek can sound logical - no pun intended).

Read it and see.

Note: One need not have a kindle to read this - it can be read on any computer - pc or mac - on android devices, ipads, iphones & the ipod touch.

Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken, is an enchanting novel about a young woman who is traveling with a young wizard as payment for him ending her hometown's drought.

The protagonist, Sydelle, is a weaver, and the threads of the story unfold just like the beautiful tapestries she makes. All is not as it seems, and magic, danger, romance and discovery make this a delightful read.

Looking forward to more books by the author.

Over the course of a week I raced through two amazing fantasy novel's from author Jill Williamson. The series is called Blood of Kings.

The first, By Darkness Hid, is a Christian Fantasy Novel for Young Adults (and adults!)
Achan Cham is a stray in the land of Ar'Rets - a status lower than a slave. His life changes when a famous old Knight appoints him as his squire. Mysterious voices flood his mind that he does not understand.

Vrell Sparrow is a noble woman masquerading as a boy to escape a horrific arranged marriage. She has the gift of "bloodvoicing" - the ability to hear others thoughts. She sacrifices her own safety for Achan's - using her skills as a healer for his mortal wounds sustained during battle.

A riveting tale, it is also the debut novel of Williamson.

The next book in the series, To Darkness Fled, is just as exciting. Without giving anything away, Achan grows immensley as a character as does Vrell. Romance will keep women riveted. The third book is due out in April 2011. Jill Williamson's website is http://jillwilliamson.wordpress.com/.

It's been awhile since I've read anything new by Sharon Shinn, but lately I stumbled upon "Troubled Waters," and am deeply immersed. Reminiscent of her 12 Houses series, it also holds it's own, with a strong and powerful protagonist who one moment seems predictable only to throw me for a loop in the next sentence. All of Shinn's books are masterpieces, building layer upon layer to surprising events that unify every character. She is a master storyteller.

Zoe, the young heroine in "Troubled Waters" faces tragedy with courage and resolve, and her water gifts are somehow believable.

Although Shinn has this book listed as a "stand alone" my mind is screaming out sequel - but I'm only halfway through so we'll see.

A brand new series, in the YA paranormal genre is looking pretty hot right now. "Hush hush" was a huge page turner and I'm psyched to read Crescendo. Instead of being about vampires, werewolves or anything else stereotypical now of this genre, it's about angels. And not the usual kind. The protagonist is strong, highly likable, and the angel she falls for is just plain hot. Don't put it down.

This of course leads me to mention possibly my favorite YA book right now, "Halo," by Alexandra Adornetto. The sequel isn't coming out until next year. The take on the paranormal theme is original, which says a heck of alot.

These are all books by mainstream authors, but recently I've stumbled upon the "Indie" author set via amazon's Kindle .

Some are duds but there are some true gems - that need a really long post to justify their awesomeness. So that'll be next time. ;)

I love the works of Juliet Marillier. I had avoided her YA books Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret - maybe because they are YA? Or the description didn't do it justice? I'm not sure. In any case, I have read them now and they are up there with my favorite books by her. Wildwood Dancing is set in Transylvania - which immediately summoned up "Dracula" to me. There is no Dracula in this book, although there are some similar sounding names, and Fae that are called "Nightwalkers" who sound very much like vampires. This is not a vampire book. This is beautiful, faerie legend historical fantasy at it's best with a beautiful love story flawlessly told.

Cybele's Secret is almost as good - set in Istanbul, it explores the history and legends there. Cybele is an ancient pagan goddess. Told by a younger sister this time, the beginning moves a bit slowly. But the love story in Cybele's Secret is just as good as Wildwood Dancing - and is much more central to the plot. I love the amount of detail and research Juliet Marillier puts into her stories. They come alive.

After perusing her fan boards it seems there should be a third installment in the Wildwood series. I hope, that like the Sevenwaters series, it has more than three. There is so much more to learn about this world!!