Dark Frost: A Mythos Academy Novel (Book 3) by Jennifer Estep

Dark Frost: A Mythos Academy Novel (Book 3) by Jennifer Estep

Completion Date: May 16, 2012
Reason for Reading: Carry on with the series.

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

I have had this book for a while on my 'currently reading' shelf, but other things kept happening to push it aside. I still find it very odd that I even like this series. I went in to it basically expecting to not like it at all, but this is the third book in the series. I obviously like it enough to keep reading. I guess it just goes to show that I cannot always predict what I will and won't like. I wouldn't say the books blow me away, but they are enjoyable. I think it helps is Gwen Frost, the main character, is a strong female lead. I think there should be more strong females in literature. The strength aspects often get overshadowed by things like love triangles or obsession. While there is romance in this series, it is not as bad as it could be. It is just a guy and a girl liking each other, but there is a lot of drama involved. I was determined that they work out the drama in this book or I was through with the series. That was caused by it going back and forth throughout the whole book. It has basically gone back and forth for the entire series so far.

The problem with third books in a series is it is hard to say anything without spoiling the previous two books. So, I will reiterate a few things instead. The thing I like the best about this book is the use of mythological creatures and subject matters. It is different than the other popular series out there and I enjoy reading different things. It is set at a boarding school, too, which another aspect I enjoy about books. As I said above, the series isn't amazing, but it is an enjoyable example of young adult fiction. I am glad that I got a chance to read an early copy of this book and look forward to book 4!

Mythos Series:
Touch of Frost
Kiss of Frost
Dark Frost (Released at the end of May)
Crimson Frost (2012)

Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to get this through Netgalley!

The Bigtime Trilogy by Jennifer Estep

Karma Girl by Jennifer Estep

Completion Date: March 17, 2012
Reason for Reading: Fun!

Bigtime, New York, is not big enough for both Carmen Cole and the superheroes and ubervillains who stalk its streets. An intrepid reporter, Carmen's dedicated her life to unmasking the spandexwearers, all because her fiancé turned out to be a superhero, and a cheating one at that-sleeping with none other than his nubile nemesis.

Exposing the true identities of the nation's caped crusaders and their archenemies has catapulted Carmen from her sleepy southern hometown to the front pages of the country's biggest newspaper, The Exposé. Hobnobbing with millionaires and famished fashionistas is all in a day's work for a woman on the trail of the Fearless Five and Terrible Triad. But when Carmen gets the scoop of her career, her life comes crashing down around her. And even Bigtime's sexiest superhero, Striker, may not be able to save her.

I discovered Jennifer Estep at the end of 2011. I have been reading her Mythos Series. When I was at the second-hand book store the other day I found a copy of this book and Hot Mama, so I wanted to see what her adult books were like.

This trilogy is about superheroes and ultravillains. I like that Jennifer Estep picks different subject matters for her books. This first book centres around Carmen Cole. At the beginning of the book Carmen should be having one of the happiest days of her life, but instead she has this sinking suspicion that something is wrong and decides she has to know before she walks down the aisle. What she walks in on leaves a very angry Carmen bent on revenge. Her revenge is a bit different, though, because she becomes determined to unmask the superheroes and ultravillains of the world. The newspapers fight over the chance to have her reveal the ones in their towns. This brings her to Bigtime.

In Bigtime there are many superheroes and villains. The biggest of them, though, is the Fearless Five. She becomes obsessed with this group in particular, but when she reveals the identity of one of the group things do not go quite as she expected. He winds up committing suicide and she winds up doing society news. She puts her investigating on a back burner, but some people are not willing to leave it there. This ends up in lots of adventure and even some romance. In the end it will also explain the title of the book. I have to admit that I found this book to be a lot of fun. Carmen Cole is not about to be a damsel in distress if she can help it. She is a strong female lead that you cannot help appreciating. I found myself caught up in the story and how it was going to all play out. It was a fun diversion.

That being said, this book was not perfect. It was a bit clichéd at times, which was almost laughable. You couldn't help a little groan when some of the superheroes reveal how they went from 'normal' to super-human. The book was also a bit predictable, but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. I think my biggest problem was sometimes Carmen was a little too 'super-woman'. She annoyed me some times and I almost wanted to shake her to get back to the point, but that only happened once in a while. I am really happy that Estep puts so much stock in strong female characters in her novels. That is not to say the men are not appealing, too!

Recommended!

Hot Mama by Jennifer Estep

Completion Date: March 18, 2012
Reason for Reading: Carry on with the Series.

By day, Fiona Fine is a successful couture designer, catering to the high society players of Bigtime, New York. By night, she's Fiera, a member of the heroic Fearless Five who can create and manipulate fire with her bare hands.

Fiona's personal life, though, isn't so hot. She still misses her fiancŽ, who was killed by ubervillains a year ago. Still, men admire Fiona's smoking assets, and she decides to get back in the dating game- especially after she meets Johnny Bulluci. But this notorious playboy has plenty of secrets to go along with his sexy smile. And, with two new ubervillains in town who are intent on raising hell, Fiona's love life might just crash and burn.

Then, we get to this book. I hadn't read the back of the book, so I was expecting a continuation of Carmen's story. Instead, the book focuses on Fiona Fine. She is the female member of the Fearless Five and she is quite the character. I have to say, though, I wish she had got a better title for her book. I find this one a bit silly and not as suited to the books as book 1 and 2's titles are. That's just a small quibble. I actually really enjoyed Fiona, but I didn't enjoy the book overall quite as much as the first book. With the first book I hunkered down and read it almost in one sitting, but this book I kept putting down without any major regrets. I still read it relatively fast, though; so it wasn't terrible.

Fiona is fun, though. Just the amount that she needs to eat is jaw-dropping. She has a very fast metabolism. It was refreshing to read a book about a woman that eats instead of one that doesn't. Of course, she still has a perfect figure, but that is genes pure and simple. There were times where Fiona got on my nerves a bit, but it could have been a lot worse. Overall it was another fun addition to the trilogy, but I liked the first book better.

Jinx by Jennifer Estep

Completion Date: March 22, 2012
Reason for Reading: Carry on with the series.

Bella would feel better about being born into a family of superheroes if her own superpower was something she could control-or at least use. But static electricity? That's less a power than a jinx. Then she stumbles on two things no supergirl should be without: an ubervillain and a dashing-if shady-stranger named Debonair. Bella's about to learn just how well love and danger mix.

Then, there was this book. This book annoyed the heck out of me, folks. Bella was so annoying! All she did was bitch and complain. I was ready to throw the book somewhere and never look at it again, but I was determined to finish this trilogy and not have it hanging over my head. But, honestly, I wanted to slap Bella over the head with any object handy and get her to stop. She doesn't like superheroes. In a series based around superheroes that is not what you want to put up with. And, if you have to, it is better for it to be a secondary character and not the main one going on and on and on. She did things that just were so unnecessary. There were interesting parts to this book, don't get me wrong, but Bella soured the whole experience. I can't even force myself to talk about this book any more because just thinking about Bella is making me get annoyed all over again.

I have to say, though, I wish there were more books in the series. I have some guesses on who some of the other heroes and villains are in real life, so I want to know if I am right or wrong. It's a really fun series so far and there is lots left to explore. So, hopefully in the future she will return to writing for this series.

Overall, I do recommend it for enjoyment, but be prepared for some imperfections and Bella. Estep has written a lot since this trilogy, so I think if she ever returned to it there would be a vast improvement in the areas that bother people with this trilogy. The good thing is that she showed a lot of potential with this trilogy.

Book Extravaganza

I recently got my taxes back, so that always means putting a bit aside for a bit of a book extravaganza. I hummed and hawed and almost didn't buy anything at all, but in the end I couldn't resist.

Since the end of last year I have been reading Jennifer Estep. I am caught up in her Mythos Series, am currently reading Jinx, which is the third book in her Bigtime Series, and I wanted to see what her Elemental Assassin series was all about. The thing is I have been reading books in series one right after each other, so thankfully thanks to wonderful prices on Book Depository I was able to get the first three. From Estep's Web Site:

The Elemental Assassin books are set in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland, where Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina meet in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in her spare time. Gin is also an elemental or person who can control one of the four elements – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. Gin has the rare gift of being able to control two elements, Ice and Stone in her case. Besides elementals like Gin, Ashland is also home to giants, dwarves, and vampires.

Books in the series are Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, Spider’s Revenge, and By a Thread. Thread of Death, an e-novella, is also available.

Widow’s Web, the seventh book, is set to be released on Aug. 21, 2012.

Also, Haints and Hobwebs: An Elemental Assassin short story will be published in The Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance, which will be released on June 7, 2012.

I actually try and limit my urban fantasy so I don't burn out on it, but I am all caught up with Patricia Briggs and the last book in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series is out a bit later this year. I decided that two new series would give me something to read in the meantime. So, the next author I decided to explore was Ilona Andrews. I was originally just going to get three of these books, too, but I all ready have a second-hand copy of the 5th book and I plan to read this series before starting the Estep because I have read so much of Estep in the last couple months. From Andrews' website:

The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.

It’s a volatile, screwed-up world. Magic feeds on technology, gnawing down on skyscrappers until most of them topple and fall, leaving only skeletal husks behind. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.

In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But sometimes even trained killers make friends and fall in love, and when the universe tries to kick them in the face, they kick back.

That should keep me going for a while! Now for them to arrive...

Touch of Frost and Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep (Mythos Academy Series, Book 1)

Completion Date: December, 2011

Reason for Reading: I blame Cat from Beyond Books for introducing me to this series. (In a good way.)

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. 

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

This was one of the last books I read in 2011. I was so happy to actually read something, but I never got around to reviewing it. I have found that while young adult works its way into my reading a lot nowadays, there are very few books that wow me enough to make my best of list. I have to say that even though this one did not make it; I still really enjoyed it. You see, I really enjoy Mythology and I am getting a bit tired of vampires, witches, etc. When I learned that the main character in this series, Gwen, was a Gypsy I was intrigued. Then, I discovered that the book takes place at a boarding school. I seem to really enjoy books that have that as a setting. The thing that made me pick up the book in the end, though, was the fact that it includes Amazons, Spartans, and other historical superheroes AND the Gods and Goddesses they believed in at that time. It was just a different idea from the norm and I was in the mood for something different.

Anyway, as I was saying this book centres around Gwen Frost. She had a very normal up-bringing other than the fact that when she touched a person or their personal objects she could pick-up on their emotions, memories, etc. The Gypsy trait runs through the women in her family. Her grandmother Frost can tell the future to a degree and her mother had the ability to tell when people were telling the truth. I say 'had' because Gwen's world has been turned upside down following the horrific death of her beloved mother. It is only after that she goes to Mythos Academy and begins to learn just what people are capable of and just what amazing things have been there all along that she didn't even know about. Her mother and grandmother decided she she was going to be raised separate from that world, but situations have changed.

So, what did I think? Gwen is a kick-ass heroine. You have to give her some credit as she comes to terms with her new world, so she can still be a bit naive at times and do stupid things, but ultimately she is totally not a damsel in distress. That does not mean she doesn't need some help along the way. The people she is going to school with have been training for years and she hasn't even known about all of this for more than a few months. There is a bit of weirdness with the romance angle of the book, but I have seen much worse. Overall I was happy with the world that Jennifer Estep has created. It fits in well with the world we know about and that makes it believable. I enjoyed all of the characters and found watching everything from Gwen's perspective worked for the book. Recommended!

Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep (Mythos Academy Series, Book 2)

Completion Date: January 30, 2012
Reason for Reading: Carry on with the Series.

Logan Quinn was try­ing to kill me. My Spar­tan class­mate relent­lessly pur­sued me, swing­ing his sword at me over and over again, the shin­ing sil­ver blade inch­ing closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes prac­ti­cally glowed with the thrill of battle...

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword...

Then we fast-forward to January of 2012. I was browsing the library e-book catalogue looking for something else and stumbled across Kiss of Frost. I decided that I was engaged enough in the overall story to read on with the series right now instead of waiting forever which is my norm. I also decided that this way I could review the two books I had read in the series at the same time and that works for me. I am always a bit worried about the second book in trilogies because they can tend to drag, but this one continues on with the action. I think it is because there is an overarching story to the series, but at the same time there are separate events that are necessary in order to reach a conclusion. This gives the author different things to focus on with each book. So, once again I enjoyed visiting with Gwen Frost and Mythos Academy.

As to the book itself, Gwen learns that she has more powers that she originally thought. She uses these powers for impressive pursuits and continues to be a readable character. I am still a bit annoyed with the screwed up romance, but at least we can begin to understand it a bit more with this book. This book also gives us more insight into Gwen, the Reapers (bad guys), and the evil God Loki and what he is up to. I believe there will be a lot going on in book 3, so I am looking forward to that. I also have been thinking this is probably a series and not a trilogy because there is way too much to work on. (And, it is. I checked.) What I do know is that I say too much more I will give away book 1 to those that haven't read it, so I will just be cryptic and say that this book, and the series, are recommended.

Mythos Academy Series
Touch of Frost
Kiss of Frost
Dark Frost (June, 2012)
Crimson Frost (January, 2013)