Carpe DiEmily (Part 1) - Riley J. Ford

TRIGGER WARNINGS: SUICIDE AND MENTIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Emily Keane has her life organized, filed, scheduled, and color-coded, and now things are looking up:  Her boss, Darren, has a promotion she just knows has her name on it, and her longtime boyfriend, Lenny, is going to propose to her tonight.  Except... not.  Turns out the promotion is for her sleazy coworker, Simone Stevens, and Lenny bought her a break-up gift instead of a ring.  Now her life is in shambles, and decides to end her life.  She doesn't want it to end for nothing, though, and decides to donate her organs when she dies - and that's where Dr. Becker comes in.  Enigmatic and calculating, he gives Emily an offer: One million dollars and one year to do what she wants before he comes to assist her suicide and harvests her organs.  Now, with the clock running down, Emily tries to shake up her methodical lifestyle and do what she's never done before: Live spontaneously.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Under the Burning Sky - Olivia Bersell

In 1969 Ex-Marine Ethan Coles, arrives at Stoney Creek, a cattle station in the remote Australian outback to take up his new position as the resident school teacher, and is instantly drawn to the beautiful eighteen-year-old half cast girl, Amarin.

The year is 1969.  Ethan Coles, an Ex-Marine, goes down under, to Stoney Creek, a town in a remote area in the Australian outback to teach.  He is instantly enamored by Amarin, an beautiful half-Aboriginal girl.  They quickly find themselves falling for each other, despite Amarin's mother's disapproval.  As they begin their summer romance, Ethan deals with getting accustomed to life in the Outback and trying to avoid a rival, while Amarin struggles to uncover the secrets to her birth, all while a mysterious murder shakes up the small town.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Plantation - Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

A century has passed since they arrived. Human history has been erased. Children are enslaved on Alien plantations. Some have heard whispers of the existence of a rebel band of humans who roam free in the forests. Most slaves dare not speak of the rebels for fear the mutant guards will grab and make an example of them.

It's one hundred years after the fall of humanity. Aliens have taken over the earth, enslaving humanity and putting them on plantations. Not all hope is lost, however, as Freya, Finn, and the band of escapee slaves who call themselves the Saviors are out there, training and waiting for the day they can start a revolution. While every Savior has some sort of superhuman ability given to them by alien testing, Freya is average, making her the weakest one on the team. Tensions rise as leadership is challenged in this struggle for humanity. 

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Investigating the Hottie - Juli Alexander

When Amanda spends a week with her aunt, Christie, she learns that her aunt is a spy. Christie admits that Amanda has security clearance and has already started her training. When her aunt asks her to investigate a teenage hacker, Amanda thinks that spending time with a nerd should be doable despite her social ineptitude. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is a hottie.

Amanda Peterson, super spy. At least, that's the temporary occupation this high school sophomore takes when she spends her fall break at her aunt's place. Her assignment? To investigate a hacker who has promised something big come next Monday. So far, the top suspect is Will Middleton, who attends school near the area. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is, in her words "yummy".

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Scary Mary - S.A. Hunter

Mary has always been different. She’d like to be normal, but being able to hear ghosts means she’ll never be like everyone else. She starts her junior year of high school hoping to be left alone, but Cyrus Asher is new and doesn’t know or seem to care that she’s an outcast. They start hanging out and all is well until she goes over to his house. Cy’s house is haunted, and not by Caspar, the friendly ghost. 

Mary is an outcast at her school. She can hear ghosts, and that, complemented with her macabre sense of humor, has earned her the title of 'Scary Mary' or freak, if classmates don't want to get too formal. However, the new kid, Cy, doesn't seem too bad. In fact, Mary kind of likes him. But when she goes over to his house, she finds that Cy's house is haunted, and not by any old thing, but by a malevolent and dangerous spirit.

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

In Your Dreams - Amy Martin

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titusville, Illinois, where the junior high and high school are in the same building and everyone's known everyone else since birth. But when Kieran Lanier moves to town and passes out on her desk on his first day at school, Zip's life gets complicated in a way she never dreamed. 

Zip McKee is just a junior trying to get through school in the sleepy, small town of Titusville, Illinois.  However, the arrival of a new family in town shakes up her small world.  She finds herself growing closer to Kieran, the new boy with narcolepsy. However, she soon finds out that his narcolepsy isn't exactly normal - sometimes when he dreams, he dreams of the future. Together Zip, Kieran, and his family try to piece together why that happens. 

My review: 4 out of 5 stars

Styrofoam Throne - David Bone

Coastal California, 1984…with school season just ending, sixteen-year-old Donovan wants nothing more than to work inside Castle Dunes, the seaside haunted attraction that his mom wishes him nowhere near.

 School has just ended for the sixteen-year-old, macabre weirdo Donovan.  This year, he has his sights set on Castle Dunes, a horror attraction nearby.  The only problem?  He's broke, and his mom won't help whatsoever.  However, after getting out of working with his mom, he finally finds himself at Castle Dunes.  Before he knows it, he's now in, an employee at Castle Dunes.  There, he makes friends and tries to make the most out of his dream for the summer.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5