The Women of Fantasy

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. ;)