The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news. Moses is strange, exotic, beautiful, and broken.

I'm gonna start off this review by saying straight up this will be one of the hardest reviews I've ever had to write before. The Law of Moses left me feeling every emotion humanly possible. I guess I'll just start at the beginning...

First off the prologue is probably one of the best ones I've ever read. It's only a couple of pages long, but after reading it I already had to set the book down because I knew it would be an emotional read. Even with the warning crystal clear at the start I wasn't prepared for how deep this book would hit. I didn't stay away long before crashing right back into it. Amy's writing is the thing that kept drawing me back. Her writing is like no others. She writes so that the reader isn't just reading they are actually able to see everything. It makes you have to stop and close your eyes just to take it all in before you can move on to the next page. It's remarkable. Her words had me drowning and I was in no rush to get air.

"If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it's coming, and it will hurt. It will still make your chest ache and you stomach flip with dread. But you'll know and you´ll be able to prepare . And that's my gift to you . I wasn't given that same courtesy. I wasn't prepared."

If that doesn't both pull you in and give you goosebumps I don't know what will.

As far as the characters went, they were just as stunning. Georgia is a strong willed and strong written character. I loved her love for live. I loved that she was 100%  Moses' opposite. She's the soft to his rough. I loved her boldness and the way she always kept pushing forward. Moses was my favorite character. He might actually be one of my favorite written males. Why is that? Because he is what made me so emotional. One moment I loved him, the next I wanted to punch him, and then the next he would have me in tears. This book had me crying and sometimes there was no reason other than the writing style. Moses is the definition of character development. I loved that Georgia is just a small town girl and that Moses is a mess with so much artistic talent is unreal. Georgia comes from a loving family with so much heart, and Moses was the crack baby left in a basket at a local laundry mat. Everything about how the characters clashed was flawlessly written.

The other highlight of this book was the love story. It wasn't the typical tale, and it wasn't the untypical, it was something all its own. I loved watching it grow. I loved it's highs and it's low. My favorite part of not just the story but the romance was the way Moses' art came into play. I love how it was the pretty little bow that tied everything together.

“My mom always said negative attention is better than no attention at all. She was usually talking about foster kids who acted out. But apparently it also applied to seventeen-year-old girls who were in love with boys who didn’t love them back.”

As far as the plot goes I sadly can't go too deep into it. I will say that the book is split into two halves. The first half is a lot of background and build, while the second is all the heart hitting emotional reveals. I preferred the second half to the first but with saying that I loved the first so much. The plot line surrounds the fact that Moses is able to see the dead and then paint their messages. I thought this would come off as cheesy, but it never once felt that way. Something that really brought this story to such a high level was the switch of Povs and how it was never constant. It didn't alternate between Georgia and Moses every other chapter, it only changed when needed. This might make it sound like a cluster but it was so important to how the story played out. 

That's all I can say about this book. I can't go into an events or even sub-characters. This is a book you need to go into blind. The Law of Moses wasn't at all what I thought it would be. I agree with most when they say they don't know what genre this book would fall into. Paranormal? Contemporary? Romance? I don't know and I don't really care. It's unique theme and it's thought provoking writing won me over. The writing is captivating, the story is heart breaking, and has a love story of all its own. This was the first Amy Harmon book I've ever read, but it wont be the last. This book struck a emotional cord that I can't even explain.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

(The Law of Moses BookDepo) 

Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

"Thirty years ago, civilization collapsed. Few survived.
Ten years ago, the aliens arrived…and stayed.
One year ago, I killed two men and went a little crazy.
Today, the aliens took my brother and I will do anything to get him back." 

Until recently, the E’rikon have remained segregated in their city and ignored the few humans who have tried to engage them, that was until now... They have taken Jax’s brother. After the aliens have taken him she finds that she wasn't the only one left behind. One of the aliens was also left.  Coming to some sort of an agreement, they decide to work together to get her into the alien's city. That seems like it would be the hardest part of their journey... it's not. In this world where alien and human are at odds, the connection forming between the two could have major consequences. What started off as a rescue mission sets a chain of events in motion which threatens everyone one earth. 

We were fortunate to be asked by Theresa Kay to give this book a try in exchange for an honest review. Below we are going to post both of our views on Broken Skies. 

Angela's Review

All I knew about Broken Skies was that it was being compared to The Lux Series a lot... If you know anything at all about me you know that The Lux Series is my favorite series. And yeah it is very comparable, but too me it was more like The Lux Series, The Dustlands Trilogy, Taken, Alienated, and The 5th Wave had some kind of crazy sex party and during which a baby was formed and that baby turned out to be Broken Skies. Yeah it's that insane. On top of all of that I am a known Alien obsessed freak so I have very high standards when it comes to alien books... All that being said... I LOVED THIS BOOK! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.

Starting off with the characters. Jax is this fiery strong willed sassy redhead that you will love. Her loyalty and determination are absolutely amazing. Her character growth is off the charts! She is strong; yet weak at the beginning, but by the ends transforms into the leading lady that you wanted and you'll be standing behind. Her attitude is much like mine aka very sarcastic, and made it very easy for me to connect with her. Lir... OH LIR... I loved him. The second he appeared and was described I knew I was in love. Normally it's the characters I have to worry about falling in insta-love, nope this time it was me. whoosh, SWOON. Even when I hated  him I loved him. The relationship between the two is what really makes this story, and I have no complaints about that. Their relationship is an emotional roller-coaster that I want to ride on another 50 times. They don't have insta-love just insta-like and it was to cute for words. I like how their relationship builds, what it becomes, and how it is left at the end. At one point when they are in the Alien city and things happen with Lir (can't say what because spoils) that I seriously screamed....

It's just so good. The sub characters like her twin brother Jace, her family friend Flint, and Lir's cousin Rym were all strong and well rounded. I especially liked Rym. Pretty sure if some kind of side story or novella was written from his point of view I would eat that junk right up. The next thing I loved about Broken Skies was the world building. It wasn't anything over the top. It was just enough to get it's point across and then left it so you could fill in the rest yourself, and I loved that. Their journey never feels forced or rushed, another plus side too this story. With strong characters, and a strong story you think that is all I would really have to say about this book but its not... My favorite thing about Broken Skies is that Theresa has given us something new to the alien genre!!! AND THANK YOU!!! She gave us a new spin on what aliens look like. Their hair color was brillz, their eyes amaze, but the fact that they have these scales on their backs leading into their hair line was something that I thought at first hear was going to be odd... NO LOVED IT!!!!! Never thought a man with scales could sound sexy, but I loved being wrong about that.... And I know I've said this before as well but I don't care Imma say it again... I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE IF ALIENS DO COME HUMANS AND ALIENS COULDN'T BE TOGETHER!!!!! I seriously love them that much. And who are we kidding I know we all hope aliens come and that they look like Lir, Daemon Black, and Evan Walker. BEAM ME UP HOTTIES!!!! AM I RIGHT?!?!

The plot is fast paced and constant, leaving you with a "never a dull moment" feeling. The story starts small and just keeps building up and up until the ending leaves you breathless. No it didn't per say leave on a cliffhanger but just about as close as you can get too one. Action packed, no emotion left un-felt, and super suspenseful... Too me the ending was left at the perfect moment.

 I can not wait to read book two in this series, and hope that Theresa will bless us with more chances to read her work... Theresa Kay was born to write. She might be an "under known" author right now, but I have no doubt that that will end soon. 

10/10 Stars 
-Angela

Leah's Review

I'm not as big of an alien fanatic as Angela, but I do love some romantic action packed alien stories. When Theresa contacted us and described this as a post-apocalyptic scifi novel that is like Lux.... Well, SOLD.

I was sucked into the book as soon as I started reading. You find out early on that Jax is pretty damaged as far as emotions and people skills go. Something really awful happened to her which pretty much changed her life and now she relies on her brother to keep her together. Once her bro is taken away by some aliens, she kicks it into high gear and sets out to find him. Problem is that one of the aliens got left behind and is now with her. He also just happens to be a super handsome, sarcastic, and charming alien named Lir (seriously, who knew a dude with a line of scales on his back could be hot... don't knock it until you read it!!).  The thing that I love about Jax is that she knows she is broken. She knows that what happened to her really screwed her up, but it doesn't stop her at any point in the book from being a complete BA. She reminds me of Katniss from The Hunger Games where she channels her hurt and pain into doing what she has to do for her loved ones. I think she is a killer leading lady.

The majority of the book follows Lir and Jax on their misadventures through the woods trying to make it back to the alien city where Jax's brother is supposedly being kept. A lot of stuff happens along the way that brings them together... then apart... then together... You get the picture. Basically they spend two weeks together hiking through the woods and almost dying several times and accidentally fall in love with each other. They have to learn to depend on each other and trust each other, but EVERY TIME things seem to be going good for them, something else happens. It was so frustrating!! It was also sort of awesome at the same time because there isn't a whole lot of insta-love going on and you have to stay on your toes to keep up with all the action. But when it happens, BAM YOU LOVE IT. Oh, and I just love Lir. I love how he could be Daemon Black's handsome witty cousin. They could get together and be sarcastic and makes girls drop their underwear all over Earth.

There are some pretty major plot twists that happen. Like, I had NO idea and was completely thrown off my game because I had no idea where the book was going to go. In short, this book was amaze-balls. I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time because I had no clue where Theresa was going to take the ending. My favorite part of the book is when Lir and Jax actually get to the alien city and the time they spend inside of it. My only complaint with the book is that I wish that there would have been a little less time in their woodsy adventure and more time focused on them once they got in the city. THAT ENDING THO. Holy bananas. Talk about a cliffhanger. I seriously need book two NOW because everything ended right when you are on the edge of your seat and have NO idea where your allegiances lie.

If you are an alien lover or just a fan of scifi in general, this is definitely a book you want to pick up. It reminded me a lot of Lux, The 5th Wave, and Alienated, which btw all happen to be my favorite alien books.

5/5 stars
-Leah

The Girl in Between: Laekan Zea Kemp

The Girl in Between: Laekan Zea Kemp

"...dream with your heart and the universe will bend at your will."

Bryn Reyes suffers from Klein-Levin Syndrome, she suffers episodes of prolonged sleep that steal weeks, and sometimes even months, from her life. Unlike most KLS patients, she doesn’t spend each episode in a catatonic state or wake up with no recollection of the time she’s missed. Bryn instead spends half her life in an alternate reality made up of all her favorite memories. She has always spent her time in the alternate reality by herself, that is until one day a boy she’s never met before washes up on the illusory beach of her dreams with no memory of who he is. Bryn’s symptoms are worsening, her body weakening as she’s plagued by hallucinations even while she's awake. Her only hope of finding a cure is to do an experimental treatment created by a German specialist.When she finds out that the German Doc might know more than he originally let on Bryn thinks that the boy in her head might actually be the key to understanding what’s happening to her, and worse, that if she doesn’t find out who and where he is before it’s too late, they both may not survive.

I was gifted this book from Laekan Zea Kemp in exchange for an honest review. A lot of times gifted books are hit or miss. This book was a hit. It broke my heart in the best way possible. Laekan does an amazing job at world building. She's very descriptive and I found myself never questioning what the atmosphere around the characters looked or felt like. Everything from the her real world to her dream state is described in such a beautiful way. 

Not only did I love the places in this book I also loved the characters! Bryn is PERFECTLY written to portray the age she is. I remember being 16-18 and thinking and talking just like her. The relationship between her and her mom is just like mine and my fathers. Totally lax and easy going. As far as our leading man goes for this review I'm just going to call him "R", the reason for that is because the way she introduced his name was really cute and I don't wanna spoil you. The relationship between them is subtle, simple, and sweet. The only thing (and this is my only real complaint about the book) is that she spent a lot of time describing the setting and I wish she would have spent more time telling us what the characters looked like. I was left feeling so/so about what their complete appearance was. Besides that "R" seems like total boyfriend material and Bryn is a very interesting and quirky leading lady. As far as sub characters goes this story might have some of my favorite... Dani and Felix OMG LOVE! Espically Felix... If I was Bryn I would be laying it on a brother like a pop-tart. He sounds so cute, and he is beyond witty. Dani and Felix relationship gives so much comic relief to this book, and the times they are in it are some of my favorite moments. The things that Felix says and does had me dying and swooning. 

"Are you going to keep interrupting me or are you going to let me help our sick friend who has a guy in her head who may or may not be the link to some parallel universe where you are not a bitch?" 

I know I know, he's not the LM but I just liked him so much. (You can even ask Leah I always tend to go for the sub male characters. I have no clue why.) Plus he does something SUPER cute and romantic, and I think you'll see why I loved him. Oh and then there's this guy named Drew, don't even get me started on that D. He's Bryn's ex and UGH HATE HIM!!! Wanted to kick him where the sun don't shine every time he showed he's face! Whoosh, just breathe! *composes self*. Her family is so well built even down to her Grandma whose obsession with left over food and worrying about them losing their V cards had me cracking up. "R" and Bryn's background stories are slowly uncovered as the book went on and "R's" tale had my heart hurting.


This story truly is like I said a heart breaking tale. Under the witty one liners, and mysterious search for answers this book is about enduring. It constantly had me thinking how hard it would be to have no control over my body. How I could just fall asleep and just miss huge chunks of my life. I can't even imagine how hard it would be on a person. The way Bryn handles it shows truly how strong of a character she is. I really enjoyed how this book both dipped into a sort of If I Stay feel and how it touched a little on the paranormal side. Another thing that I love about this book was the build up to the ending. There were a few small sections that were a little on the slow side but overall this book kept a steady pace the whole time leading up to the perfect cliff hanger ending...  All I can say is how can you leave me hanging like that Zemp?!?! It's not okay! My heart has a hole in it and you're to blame!

I can not wait to read book two and I'm very jealous of whomever wins the free E-copy. I want to hear more of "R" and Bryn's story, and I can't wait to see if their romantic relationship continues and I want, no need to know what happens to them!

8.5/10 Stars 

-Angela 

Doesn't this book sound awesome? Well lucky for you guys, this book is now available for FREE! You can find it on Barnes and Noble and Amazon, but if for some reason the price hasn't updated to free yet, you can also find it here: Smashwords at no cost. 

Laekan was awesome enough to not only let us read this book in exchange for a review, but she is now letting us provide you guys with a giveaway! The sequel to TGiB is now available for purchase! The Boy in Her Dreams  is available on Amazon and Smashwords and will hopefully will resolve that killer cliffhanger that we were left with in TGiB. One lucky reader can win a free copy of it! 

CONTEST RULES!

This contest will be open November 1st through November 5th. On November 6th, one lucky winner will be chosen at random. In order to be eligible to win, you must complete all of the following:
-Follow us on our Instagram (@southernbredbooks)
-On Instagram, repost our photo of the books with  #sbsr
-Become a fan of Laekan on Goodreads

The more you repost and comment on our Instagram, the more likely you are to win! Also, it never hurts to comment on this blog post as well ;-) 

GOOD LUCK! We will contact the winner on 11/6! May the odds be ever in your favor!

 

Don't You Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

This book was published recently and after seeing a ton of 5 star reviews on Goodreads, I deemed this to be my Halloween spooky read. The plot seems original and the cover was cool, so why not?

The story Skylar who lives in the town of Gardenville where no one gets sick or is unhappy... except every fourth year. Every fourth year the teenagers in town go nuts and something bad happens. Four years ago from when the story is being told, Skylar's older sister Piper basically murders 16 of her fellow classmates by making them play chicken with a train and then jump off a bridge. I think it's pretty obvious to say there is some sort of mind control thing going on with Piper. Oh, and 16 year old Piper is having some sort of illicit relationship with her 21-ish year old high school teacher Elton who happens to show up the night of the incident.

Anyway, so Piper ends up disappearing after the incident. There is a reformatory in the town where the crazy teenagers go, but it has never been confirmed if Piper is actually there or she is dead or missing or what. Skylar has spent the past four years pretty much trying to forget everything about her life because she is mourning Piper. She turns into a druggie off of these pills Elton (after the whole Piper disappearing thing he makes it his goal to reform the town and drug everyone into submission so no one goes nuts) and some wonder quints develop out of forget-me-not flowers (oh what a coincidence) that make you forget. They druggies that are hooked on them are referred to as notters. There's also some dude named Foote who I think eventually will turn into a love interest but he is constantly described as wearing a fedora, so that would be a NOmance in my book. There's also Jonathan who's sister LuAnn ended up in the reformatory but now she's out and talking about Piper or something... I don't know. I really don't.

This book falls onto the did-not-finish shelf for me after I got a little over 100pg in and pretty much had no idea what I was reading. I didn't even know what Skylar looked like. It just didn't jive with me, so DNF it is. Other reviewers rave about it and it's unique paranormal plot that supposedly happens, so maybe someone out there will like it more than me. It just reminds me too much of Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea which was an absolute WTF/hate read for me. No, just no.

1/5 stars

Pivot Point: Kasie West

Pivot Point: Kasie West

What would you do if you knew the outcome of your life... If you could see the outcome of both paths and what would happen to you in each one... This is Addison Coleman's life.

Addie has the ability as a searcher to look into the future and see both of the outcomes. When Addie's parents announce they're getting divorced you think she would have seen it coming, but that is the least her worries. She is faced with having to pick between living with her mom in the para world; or moving out of the compound in the norm world with her father. When her best friend Leila convinces her to just take a little dip into the future pond Addie searches six weeks into the future to see what both worlds would hold. 

In one of the potential futures Addie is trying to adjust to the "norm" life at a new high school with a made up background story and being the predictable loner new girl. That is until she meets Trevor. The ex football star who seems to understand her better than most. In the other future Addie is being pursued by the hottest and most popular guy in school Duke who also just happens to be the football teams star quarterback. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound in both futures, she’s drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she knows and loves. With the risk of loss and love in both lives, she'll have to decide which future she can live with and what she's willing to live without.

Let me start off by saying Wow just wow. I didn't see this read coming. I have never read anything by Kasie West until now, but I will be buying books by her in the future. Her writing style is flawless! Seriously I need to go take a Tylenol after reading this book... because my mind was that blown.

I am very good at predicting most book ending, and when I thought I had it figured out West

would shock my socks off with twist that I think anyone whose read it can agree, we didn't see coming. I have always find myself disliking books that have dramatic changes in time and even places and flip back and forth... Never once did I feel that way about this book. West's writing keeps you from needing to stop and ask for directions.

Not only is the plot super strong so are the characters. Addie is so strongly written she feels like an extension of yourself. Duke was so disgustingly loveable and you'll hate how much you like him because he is the epitome of "dude". Trevor, whoosh never thought I'd be swooning over a boy who wears cowboy boots, but there's a first time for everything. Then there Addie's best friend Leila WHO I LOVE!!!! She is all sass and brass.

This book has so much going for it and probably turned out to be one of the biggest surprise reads Ive came across this year... Since I fear I can't go to into detail because of spoils I'll leave it at this.

If you walk into the book store and you have the choice between two futures; one being another book from your TBR list and the other being Pivot Point take the path that leads to this book. You wont be disappointed in the outcome or end up with "what ifs". 

9.5 Stars 

-Angela

**I just finished this book and I want to add to Angela's review by saying OMG WOW. This book really blew me away. I kept texting Angela saying I felt like I was in inception because it was like a thing within a thing within a thing. Killer book that took me all of 12 hours to read (that's including being at work for 8 of those hours so that should say how quick this read was). I'm really looking forward to reading book 2 just to see how the story continues. The ending was amazing even though it wasn't exactly how I had hoped (#teamtrevor). I just loved this book!! 5/5 stars from Leah!