Top 10 Tuesday

Ten things I hope that New Years to bring me

1. A Job in a school as a TA
2. A New house
3. The ability to read more books
4. To lose weight
5. To be able to make two cool Cosplay costumes for 2017's Wales Comic Con
6. To connect with more authors
7. To finish writing my book
8. The stuff I need to create a scrapbook
9. To pass my uni course
10. The one thing I really want a puppy

Happy Christmas

I would just like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas, I hope that you all have had a great day and got lots of nice presents.

Review - Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Title: Puck

Authors: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Series: Twisted Lit

Pages: 319

Release Date: November 15, 2016

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Doublet Press

Format: Paperback and Kindle

Buy It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble

Add It: Goodreads

Summary: Life isn’t always fair, and no one knows that better than fifteen-year-old Puck. When she’s unceremoniously booted from yet another foster home, this city kid lands at DreamRoads, a rehabilitation wilderness camp for juvies. Her fellow campers include a famous pop star with a diva attitude, a geeky, “fish out of water” math whiz, and a surly gang-banger with a chip on his shoulder. The program’s steely director aims to break Puck, but she knows that every adult has a breaking point, too. Determined to defy this realm of agonizing nature hikes and soul-sucking psychobabble — even if that means manipulating four lovestruck camp counselors and the director’s dim-witted second-in-command — Puck ultimately gets much more than she bargains for in this “wondrous strange” outdoor odyssey inspired by The Bard’s most beguiling comedy.

My Review: Puck is about a young messed up girl who is taken from her foster home in the middle of the night. Puck is a handful and because of this she has been to many different schools, lived in lots of care home and had seen a lot of different therapists, but who can blame her for acting out after what happened to her.

Puck is living with a nice young woman Paula, but when Puck makes an accusation about Paula's fiance Paula has had enough and sends Puck away to DreamRoads hoping that it will help her to let go of all her anger and finally learn to trust someone.

While at DreaRoads we meet seven other children who have all done different things wrong to end up being stuck there, and it turns out that there stay could be longer than they imagined.

First is a pop star Tatania (Tonya) who was rich and successful but she got sent to DreamRoads because she was stealing, then there is Nissa who was sleeping with her married teacher, Frances who took an overdose, Quin who got hooked on medication, Peabo who liked to set fires when he was angry, Snout who acts like a crazy person but is there because he was hiding out in his school for seven months after playing off his parents, he only got caught because he accidentally set the canteen on fire while cooking and DreamRoads longest resident Ronnie who hurt someone bad enough to put them in a coma.

At first Puck decides that she is going to do everything she can to get out of the place and she starts a fight with Tonya on her first night and ends up injuring the woman in charge Barb and is punished by making her take a cold shower to get all the food of her.

The next morning the campers are split into two groups with two cam chaperones Puck is with Mia and Xander while Ellen and Dmitri are assigned to watch the other campers while they hike through the desert to where they will start working on the four Stepping Stones to help them get out of DreamRoads and back home to their families.

Stepping Stone one Fire - the campers had to be able to light a fire with the exception of Peabo, this is the Stepping Stone that Ronnie keeps failing at and why he is still at DreamRoads, at the same time Puck is also failing at it until Ronnie uses a lighter he stole from Tonya to light the fire and Puck takes credit for it.

Stepping Stone two is Air - this challenge requires the campers to rappel from a mountain, Puck goes second down the side of the mountain and half way down she stops to take in the scenery and everyone thinks she has stopped because she is scared but she shows them that she isn't scared by free falling until Xander stops her decent.

Stepping Stone three Earth - for the earth challenge the campers are made to dig a hole so that when they are stood in it, it comes up to their necks after digging each camper is given paper to write anything they want on it, it could be a poem, a confession anything, they are told that no one will ever read what they have written it was a promise, Puck struggles to write anything and then just before they are make to stop she writes something. Barb tells the campers to put the paper in the hole that they had dug and then they cover it up.

Stepping Stone four Water - for the water challenge the campers take a short hike and then they are put into groups again where they get into boats to go down stream on it the only problem is Puck has a fear of the water because of something that happened to her when she was younger. Puck manages to get onto the boat and help sail down the river until they hit a problem and the boat capsizes and Puck gets stuck under the water and Barb has to save her but Puck doesn't realise that it is Barb trying to save her.

Once the campers have completed all the Stepping Stones they go back to DreamRoads safe house for graduation Ronnie and Puck don't graduate because of something that Puck did that was dangerous and it got her kicked out and because Ronnie didn't complete the Fire challenge.

The campers preform a new version of The Wizards of Oz and Tonya sings a song that she had written while at DreamRoads and she decides to donate all of the money from that song to DreamRoads who use it to fund a new scholarship that they give to Puck.

Currently Reading: Hunted by Sarai Henderson

Read In 2016: 34/35

Review - The Case of the Curious Canine by Tara Ellis

Title: The Case of the Curious Canine

Author: Tara Ellis
Series: Samantha Wolf Series
Pages:
Release Date: December 22nd 2016

Genre: Children's Fiction
Publisher: Tara Ellis Publications
Source: Author
Format: eBook

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: The next best thing to owning your own dog is having a job where you get to take care of them. That’s what Sam figures when she, Ally, and Cassy all volunteer at a local animal shelter. But they don’t expect the trouble that comes along with the work.

When dogs start showing up at the shelter with odd symptoms, the director doesn’t seem concerned. However, strange coincidences start to happen and Sam doesn’t believe that they’re random.

Confronted with the hard decision of following either her heart or her nose for a good mystery, Sam faces an emotional dilemma. Sometimes, the right path is the most difficult and this is one challenge that’s going to take all of her friends to help solve.

My Review: Another amazing book in the Samantha Wolf series. In this adventure the girls are volunteering at an animal shelter where they bathe, walk and help to clean out the cages. While they are volunteering they are also still doing their charity club and are working on a bake sale to help raise money for a women's shelter and the girls are looking after Cora the  5 year old daughter of their neighbour Kendra most nights.

While at the animal shelter someone brings in a cat that they have found and asks about a dog that their neighbour has lost but the shelter haven't seen the dog that they describe, only to find out that a dog that was brought in earlier that day was the one they were looking for, this dog was sick, it had missing fur and red swollen eyes that the vet had determined was an allergic reaction to something it could possibly have eaten, the same day two more dogs with the same injuries get brought in and Sam falls in love with a poodle she names Rocky.

Sam and Ally look after 5 year old Cora one night and when Kendra comes to collect her she is wearing a lab coat and when she picks little Cora up Cora has an asthma attack and Kendra takes off the lab coat that she had forgot that she was wearing and tells Sam and Ally that Cora is allergic to some of the things she has been working with and because she was in a rush to get back to collect Cora she forgot to take it off.

One day Sam is travelling to Cassy's house by herself as Ally is babysitting again and see's a car going really slow and the driver and passenger are acting strangely, when they pass her she spots the same symbol on the side of the car as one that was on the lab coat.

On their next visit to the animal shelter someone comes in and takes one of the sick dogs away claiming that it was theirs but Sam recognizes the man as the one from the car and she believes that he is the one causing the dogs to be ill.

Later on in the story Sam notices that Kendra looks like she has been crying and after telling Ally and Cassy while they are baking with Miss Covington she ends up using Miss Covington's advice to let an adult talk to Kendra rather than talking to her herself and getting into trouble and Ally says she will get her mum to talk to her.

John and Sam go to the lab so that John can ask questions for a school project and so Sam can see if she can recognize any of the people working there as the people who took the dog and Sam ends up wandering off and as she is exploring Kendra bumps into Sam when she is exiting a room where Sam hears dogs barking.

After Mrs Parker has spoken to Kendra she agrees to take Cora to Covington Ranch so Cora can ride the horses and to see if she is allergic to them too. While they are at the Ranch Sam sits with Kendra and after some light conversation Sam gets a phone call from the shelter telling her that Rocky had been collected by his owner and this ends up getting Kendra to tell her all about what has been going on at the lab. The concoct a plan to prove that the owner of the business had no idea about what one of his employees has been up to and this causes Sam, Ally, Cassy and the boys getting caught sneaking onto the property of the lab where Kendra is being held and they get held hostage until the director of the animal shelter finds them and takes the five kids, Kendra and the dogs.

The kids parents come to the animal shelter to collect them after the incident and they get told that they don't think they will be able to help in the shelter anymore but John suggests that they stay as a part of their punishment plus it gives the shelter extra hands as they are struggling with just the three staff members.

The ending of the story is awesome, I won't spoil it but it is great.

This installment is due to be released on December 22nd so click the link above to pre-order now

Currently Reading: Hunted by Sarai Henderson
Read In 2016: 34/35

Top 10 Tuesday

This weeks Top 10 is Top 10 things I want for Christmas this year

1. Jessica Brody's A Week of Mondays
2. To catch up on my uni work
3. To move house
4. A new laptop
5. A job
6. The rest of the Hunger Games, Divergent and Alice in Wonderland DVDs
7. A car
8. A WWE Paige T-Shirt
9. To be able to get everyone presents
10. To spend Christmas with my family

Review - I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls
Pages: 309
Release Date: April 25th 2006

Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Publisher: Orchard Books
Source: Amazon
Format: Paperback

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school - that is, it would be if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses, but it's really a school for spies. Cammie Morgan is a second-generation Gallagher Girl, and by her sophomore year she's already fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways (one of which involves a piece of uncooked spaghetti). But the one thing the Gallagher Academy hasn't prepared her for is what to do when she falls for a boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through town without his ever being the wiser - but can she have a relationship with a regular boy who can never know the truth about her? Cammie may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's beginning her most dangerous mission - falling in love.

My Review: I decided to read this book because I had previously read the Heist Society series and I had read a lot of good reviews about and I really enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to get started on the next one.

Cammie is a student at Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women and also the Head teachers daughter. The Gallagher Academy is an all girls school for young spies where the girls are taught various languages and numerous ways to kill someone.

Cammie and the rest of the sophomore girls get to join the Cov Ops class and the first mission Cammie and her friends go on turns out to be a lot more complicated than they first thought, Cammie falls in love while on the mission.

Cammie has to make up stories so that she can keep on seeing him without letting it slip that she goes to Gallagher Academy. This is easy for Cammie as she is taught on how to keep a fake identity straight, her friends help her to get to know the guy by pulling off their own missions and stake outs to get dirt on the lad.

This story has a lot of great scenes that I want to write about but if I do the it will spoil it so if you have't yet read this book WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Currently Reading: Hunted by Sarai Henderson

Read In 2016: 34/35

Review - Faking 19 by Alyson Noel

Title: Faking 19

Author: Alyson Noel
Series: N/A
Pages: 224
Release Date: March 1st 2005

Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Source: Amazon
Format: Paperback

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: On the surface, 17-year-old Alex has it made; she is beautiful and smart. Plus, she's best friends with M., the absolute most popular girl in school. Feeling bored with their fancy Orange County suburban town, Alex and M. decide to check out L.A.'s glitzy nightlife scene.

Pretending to be 19, Alex and M. meet Trevor and Connor, two rich older guys. At first, Alex can't believe her luck--she gets to hang out at hip Hollywood houseparties and downtown L.A. clubs. These weekend trips into the city become the perfect distraction for Alex, who is secretly struggling with her failing senior year grades, her absentee father, and her clueless mom. 

But, after the initial fun wears off for Alex, she is forced to reevaluate her friendship with M., who is hiding some secrets beneath her perfect Burberry-clad exterior...

My Review: Faking 19 was Alyson Noels debut novel and it was good.

Faking 19 is about two 17 year old girls Alex and her best friend who she refers to as M. Alex and M are from a different backgrounds, she is significantly poorer than M. Alex's parents ave been divorced for 10 years and she lives with her mum where M's parents are hardly home.

Alex is a very smart young girl who ace's all her exams until her sophomore year where she starts receiving Cs and not really putting in any effort into he school work, she is also skipping classes so her grades are going down even more and she defiantly won't be graduating but she doesn't care as her dad won't pay for her college fees.

M is a party girl and is more experienced than Alex with boys and one day when out shopping the girls meet two rich 21 year old British boys and this is where Alex's world becomes more about parting and having fun over attending school and doing school work.

Connor is mega rich as he owns a large record label and Alex is glad that she may have found her way out of her boring life and decides that she won't even have to go to college like everyone wants her to, the only problem is what should have been a great time doesn't go as Alex hoped it would and she realizes that she cannot count on anyone, she also realizes that there is more to life than the latest fashion and cute guys.

This book shows that Alex is just a regular girl underneath all of the false bravado that she often hides behind.

I am glad that Alex finally get the happy ending that she deserves. This is a good book for anyone who wants to escape the real world for a short time.

Currently Reading: Hunted by Sarai Henderson
Read In 2016: 34/35

Review - A Distant Echo by Tara Meyers

Title: A Distant Echo

Author: Tara Meyers
Series: N/A
Pages: 224
Release Date: November 4th 2016

Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Forest Grove Books
Source: Author
Format: eBook

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: Criminal profiler, Chris Echo, has worked hard to become one of the elite members of Seattle's police department. Nothing, not even her personal life, gets in the way of her pursuits to track down ruthless killers. With a serial murderer on the loose, Chris struggles to find the connections necessary to close in on a suspect. While taking risks to force the answers, she unexpectedly places herself in the path of her worst nightmare. 

A Distant Echo is a short story of around 10,000 words and takes the average reader one to one-and-a-half hours to read. It is a lead-in to a new, thrilling crime series called The Chris Echo Mysteries. 

My Review: This is Tara Meyers first story and it is just a taste of her new upcoming series. 

A Distant Echo is about a Criminal Profiler who is working on a case about a woman who was murdered and the murdered woman's murder is similar to two other women's murders and where they were dumped but her boss and team mates thinks she is getting to involved in the case and they decide to take her off it and give her another case to work on but Chris Echo cannot let the case go and she goes to the house of the guy who she believes is the murderer to stake out his house and take pictures.

Later that night when she gets home she realizes something while she is running, she realizes that for the places that the women were dumped are places that would need passes to be able to get into the areas so she goes home and when she gets there she is attacked by the guy she was staking out and as he's about to kill her two Chris' work mate turns up and see's whats going on.

This was a nice short story and I hope that the novel that is to follow is just as good as the teaser as I want to know what is going to happen next.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Read In 2016: 33/35

Review - Daddy's Little Secret: Pregnant at 14 and There's Only One Man Who Can Be the Father by Tina Davis

Title: Daddy's Little Secret: Pregnant at 14 and There's Only One Man Who Can Be the Father

Author: Tina Davis
Series: N/A
Pages: 336
Release Date: June 9th 2011

Genre: True Story
Publisher: Ebury Press
Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: 'I hated the thought of his child growing inside me...but at least I'd soon have somebody to love and, finally, somebody to love me back.'

Tina has never had a stable upbringing. Aged seven, she has a paranoid schizophrenic for a mother and her father is a distant memory. So when Tina gets a new step-dad, who lavishes sweets and cuddles upon her, she feels wanted for the first time ever.

Sadly, her new daddy isn't all that he seems. He begins to sexually abuse Tina, using chilling threats to scare her into silence.

Tina is so terrified, she even gives birth to four of her step-father's children without breathing a word. Her world becomes so warped the cruelty she endures seems normal. Until eventually, the tragic death of one of her innocent children makes her see otherwise...

This is the inspiring true story of how a frightened little girl grew into a fighter and finally found the strength to escape the man who stole her childhood.

My Review: Tina was only 9 when her step father started to abuse her, he used threats to keep her quiet and it worked, Tina was stuck under his threats for 16 years before she found the courage to finally leave him.

During the 16 years of hell that Tina went through her mum left her stepdad and left her with him taking her little brother and sister so Tina was left to suffer the abuse as well as look after her youngest sibling who believed that Tina was his mum.

When Tina turned 14 she got pregnant by her stepdad and he made her come up with a story about her going out and getting drunk and sleeping with a guy named Alex, after she find out she is pregnant she ends up with social services on her doorstep because someone had called telling them that her step dad was abusing her and was the father tot he baby but because she was so scared she kept up with the charade that the dad was this guy she met in a club.

A few years later at 16 she get pregnant again with her stepdads second child who has learning difficulties and Tina is now staying home full time looking after 3 children and having to make sure that her controlling stepdad is pleased every night. He won't let Tina chose what the children wear or eat and if she ever does pick out an outfit he makes her take it off and put something else that he picks out on them.

After the devastating death of her 3rd child Tina finds some solace in an online group support group for grieving parents and she finds new friends and her stepdad doesn't like it and tried to stop her from getting online by taking away the cables.

In the end Tina finally finds the courage to leave him and he believes that she will be back within 2 years and after she has left him the whole secret comes out about what her stepdad did to her for the last 16 years and he ends up getting arrested, but when he got arrested he denied all charges and when a second person came forward and the trial started he was putting Tina through hell taking the kids and not giving them back.

On the day that Tina was mean to testify he pleaded guilty to some accounts of abusing her so that he got a reduced sentence but he pleaded not guilty to the second victims crimes and was found guilty but with the reduced sentences that he got for Tina he only got sent to jail for 11 years and would be able to get out in 5 and a half.

Tina found out during the cases that she was going through that her mum was the one who was trying to get Tina away from her stepdad but she couldn't do it because Tina denied all the accusations.

I think that Tina is a very brave woman to share her story with the world, it certainly had me in tears in some places and I hope that it helps other victims who haven't yet come forward to come forward so that their abuser can be punished.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Read In 2016: 33/35

Review - Diary of Anna the Girl Witch: Foundling Witch by Max Candee

Title: Diary of Anna the Girl Witch: Foundling Witch

Author: Max Candee
Series: Diary of Anna the Girl Witch
Pages: 171
Release Date: May 27th 2016

Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Helvetic House
Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: What do you do when you discover you’re a witch... And that using your new powers destroys your soul a little each time?

Set in the Swiss countryside, this story blends ancient folklore with a coming of age tale about a young witch on the brink of womanhood. 

Anna Sophia has always known she was different. She didn’t know just how different until now. 

On the eve of her 13th birthday — in the orphanage where she’s spent most of her childhood — Anna wonders about her past. She never knew her parents, doesn’t even know where she came from. All she has to go by is an unbelievable fairy tale her uncle used to tell: that she was found as a baby, tucked among a pack of bear cubs in the wilds of Russia. 

To make matters even more complex, Anna has discovered that she can see and do things that no one else can. So far, she’s kept her powers a secret, and they remain strange and frightening even to her. 

It’s only when Anna receives a letter from her mother — a mother she will never meet — that she discovers some of the truths about her past, and begins to uncover the possibilities in her future. As Anna continues to learn more about her secret abilities, she finds out that her neighbors are hiding something of their own: a plot to harm Anna and her friends. 

Can Anna Sophia use her newfound supernatural powers to stop them? Can she fight back, without endangering her own soul? And maybe, just maybe, is her own secret tied up with theirs? 

Through a story of otherworldly magic, Anna Sophia finds a sense of real-world belonging. With its cast of strong characters, inventive setting, and engaging storyline, this fantasy adventure is a relevant novel for middle grade children or young adults. 

My Review: Anna is an independent and confidant young girl and the story follows her journey to discovering who she really is.

Anna lives in an orphanage and often wonders about her parents who she knows nothing about as she was found among a pack of bear cubs in Russia.

Anna is worried about her Uncle Misha because he hasn't been replying to her letters. Uncle Misha looked after Anna for the first 6 years of her life, he was the one who found her among the bear cubs.

When Anna is about to turn 13 she senses something is going to happen and she starts seeing and doing things that other people are unable to do like being able to see the moon when the sun is out.

She discovers that there is a fine line between good and evil in this new world that she is finding out about.

I liked Anna as a character and her abilities were cool. The story however might be a little more for teens rather then young children as it is a little dark in some places but it is a nice little read.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes and The Case of the Curious Canine by Tara Ellis

Read in 2016: 32/35

Review - A New Witch in Town (Maybe Two) by Dani Corlee

Title: A New Witch in Town (Maybe Two)

Author: Dani Corlee
Series: Witches of Springsville
Pages: 159
Release Date: February 6th 2015

Genre: Fiction
Publisher: N/A
Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: Kimberly wants nothing more than to begin a new life with her four-year-old daughter. What begins as a fresh start quickly becomes something Kimberly could never have imagined.

Becoming a witch was never part of the plan. Kimberly is soon hailed a Queen, but why that happened and how she deals with it is only the beginning of her adventure.

Fearing for not only herself but her daughter, Kimberly struggles with fighting destiny and not fulfilling a prophecy laid out long before she and her daughter were born.

Can this duo of new witches come to terms with what has happened or will all be lost and their destiny not reach its full potential?

My Review: Kimberly and her daughter Aurora are moving to a new house and Aurora is excited about all the new adventures she would get up to with her mum and new friends.

Once they get to their new house their neighbours are spying on them and they seem to be baffled as to why they would have bought the house and figure it's because they don't know the story of the house. The story of the house is interesting and everything the towns members predict comes true. The town has been waiting for this day for a long time, they have been waiting for a Queen witch to arrive but at first they are confused when a regular girl shows up instead.

While exploring the house little Aurora finds a china pot under her bed and Kimberly is sure that it doesn't belong to them and wasn't there when they unpacked the furniture and when Kimberly opens it she discovers a yellowed piece of paper with what she believes is a poem on it which little Aurora insists Kimberly reads to her once Kimberly has finished reading the poem there is a loud noise which startles the pair and unknown to them the poem turned them into witches.

During the book Kimberly meets with the towns witch council members who help her with her magic and they help Kimberly out by looking after Aurora while she is doing chores and working.

Overall this was a great story and I can't wait to read the next one.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Read in 2016: 32/35

A message from Ashley S Clancy

Ashley S Clancy is a brand new author who wants to remind readers how important they are to an author. She wants readers to know that without your support (no matter what you think of the book in the end) authors probably wouldn't feel inspired to write more amazing books.

Encase you never realised how important you are to an author as a reader here is what matters; your thoughts, opinions and reviews no matter if they are good or bad help make a difference to the author.

So Thank You to every reader out there who shares their thought and opinions about a book with others and leaves a review, it really is appreciated.


Ashley's debut novel The Cure Hotel is a gripping thriller, with a horrifying twist, where the dark sexual past of this tarnished building, can't be fixed by the new owner, who simply hasn't got the Cure in his blood.

The book is available now on Amazon. You can read all of the positive reviews for The Cure Hotel on Goodreads and see what the story is about.

Happy Birthday Alyson Noel

Review - A Mysterious Christmas on Orcas Island by Tara Ellis

Title: A Mysterious Christmas on Orcas Island

Author: Tara Ellis
Series: Samantha Wolf Mysteries
Pages: 106
Release Date: October 27th 2016

Genre: Children's Fiction
Publisher: Tara Ellis Publications
Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: When Sam and Ally get a special Christmas invitation to Orcas Island, they have no idea that the small island has such big mysteries.

When their friend, Sandy, begs them to help her solve a troubling situation, they are drawn into a puzzle with layers of uncertainties. From secret meetings, to legendary ghosts, they explore the picturesque setting in an attempt to make sense of it all. 

But in the middle of their plight, a storm of the century bears down on them. Not only do they end up battling the raging storm, but also a criminal plot. Stranded and alone, can the girls come together to overcome their most harrowing adventure yet? 

My Review: Sam and Ally are visiting Sandy the posh girl from Camp Whispering Pines for a few days before Christmas, hoping to have a nice holiday with their friend Sam and Ally don't plan to get into any trouble, little did they know that they would be caught up in another dangerous mystery and saving Sandy's fathers company.

Sam and Ally hear about a mysterious ghost of a woman in red who is seen on Orcas Island, they find this interesting and hope to discover more about her, they didn't figure that this would create any trouble, little did they know that the ghost would help to solve other goings on on the Island and save Sams life.

Sandy's parents spend most of their time off the Island leaving them with the housekeepers, Sam gets strange vibes off them and when she tells Sandy about them she dismisses it because they are her friends and they are the ones who look after her when her parents are away from home.

One day while hiking on some of Sandy's property they find a small cabin run off  solar where a guy is living, Sandy is angry because he is on her families property but when they talk to him they find out that he owns the land that his home is built on.

After overhearing one of the housekeepers on the phone Sam tells Ally and Sandy what she had heard and wants to tell Sandy's parents but Sandy has another plan, she decides that she wants more prove so she suggests a picnic on the small Island just off theirs where the housekeeper was heard saying he was meeting with someone.

Eventually they discover what they have been up to unfortunately a storm hits and cuts the power so they have to use a back up generator and when they go to Sandy's bedroom they try to contact her parents who are away to tell them that the housekeepers are trying to steal her fathers work for their boss the back up generator cuts out, when they go and investigate they find that it had been tampered with and they cannot fix it themselves. This forces the girls to leave the house in the snow storm and head someplace Sandy finds safe but once they are there they find that they have no power either so they tell the owner what the housekeepers are up to and that they need to contact Sandy's parents to tell them whats going on but the housekeeper turns up and threatens the girls and injures the man who was trying to protect them.

Sam runs off out to the cabin in the woods even though the weather is horrendous to get help from the guy who lives in the cabin there but she ends up passing out from the cold thinking she is going to die, the man from the cabin saves Sam telling her that he saw her light in his reflectors and that's how he knew where she was even though Sams torch had died. Sam tells the man why she was in the woods and tells him that he needs to go and save Ally and Sandy because there being held hostage and someone is injured, he makes Sam stay in the cabin to keep warm and he leave and gets help.

When Sandy's parents finally get back to Orcas Island Sandy tells them everything and they discover that the housekeepers who took off in the storm on a boat ended up getting into trouble and caught by the police.

This story in the series was nice, it was great to revisit an old character and have her help to solve several small mysteries and a big mystery. I was an easy read and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series that hasn't read it yet.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Read in 2016: 31/35

Review - Diary of an Almost Cool Girl Book 1: Meet Maddi - Ooops! by B. Campbell

Title: Diary of an Almost Cool Girl

Author: B. Campbell
Series: N/A
Pages: 48
Release Date: October 14th 2015

Genre: Children's Fiction
Publisher: KC Global Enterprises Pty Ltd
Source: Amazon
Format: Kindle

Buy it: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: Hi Almost Cool Girls and Boys,

Some of you might have read Diary of an Almost Cool Girl- My New School. Did you ever wonder why Maddi had to leave her last school? What happened that could be so bad?

In this book, you get to meet a slightly younger and less wise Maddi and find out what happened at her old school (before she was asked to leave).

Hope you enjoy this prequel to the BEST SELLING Diary of an Almost Cool Girl Series.

Almost Cool Kids Rock! 

My Review: This short story is about a young girl named Maddi. The story starts with Maddi sitting in the principals office waiting for her mum to arrive so he can explain how Maddi almost burnt the school down.

Maddi's first diary entry tells the readers that she gives everyone nicknames based on their traits such as her parents and teachers. The book goes on through some lessons and trouble she has with the schools MG (Mean Girl).

One day Maddi tries to get the day off school so that her mum doesn't end up volunteering in the school canteen but it doesn't work and the children all complain to Maddi about her mum who uses tofu instead of sausage, give out vegetables instead of a bag of crisps and gives on kid a green smoothie instead of the chocolate milkshake they wanted, but Maddi's week gets worse when her parents tell her that their getting divorced.

After a lot of chaos Maddi finally tells the readers about the big fire that almost burnt down the school. It happens when Mr. Facebook one of her other teachers ends up taking her for science, she is sat at the back of the class and cannot hear the instructions for the experiment clearly and when she she asks the teacher he is to busy on his phone to pay any attention to Maddi and he just says yes so Maddi makes a mistake and the experiment goes wrong and she ends up throwing her beaker in a waste paper basket which sets the fire alarms off.

The story is nicely written but is definitely written more for children than for someone my age.

Currently Reading: Puck by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Read in 2016: 31/35