The Book Bag: Girls on Fire Boxed Set: Featuring The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard and Perception by Lee Strauss

Girls on Fire

Girls on Fire - 10 authors

Publication date: June 16, 2014

Price: 99 cents for 10 amazing YA novels!

So far I have read 2 of the 10 books in Girls on Fire. Let me tell you, I have loved them both. I can't wait to work my way through the rest of them. And you can get all 10 right now for only $.99!! What a deal!

Here are my thoughts on the 2 books I have read so far.

The Forgotten Ones

by Laura Howard

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about The Forgotten Ones ~~

(originally posted on May 13, 2013)

Love, love, love this cover! Yep, that's what drew me in. And then I read a sample of the first chapter and just knew I had to read more. I have to admit that the taste I got from chapter one did not prepare me for what was to come. The Forgotten Ones took me to a world I was not expecting.

I immediately connected with Allison. She is a young woman, trying to get through school while also trying to deal with her mother's schizophrenia. And then things start to change when the father she never knew shows up. There is so much she doesn't understand.

The reader is swept away right along with Allison to another place to try to find out the truth about her past. Can she get her mother back? This is the part of the story that I was not expecting, to be carried away on this adventure. What a great ride!

And..... I discovered, after the fact, that this is book one of The Danaan Trilogy! How did I miss that? I am so excited to read more of this series to see how this story continues.

Perception

by Lee Strauss

Eternal Life is To Die For.

Seventeen year old Zoe Vanderveen is a GAP—a genetically altered person. She lives in the security of a walled city on prime water-front property along-side other equally beautiful people with extended life spans.

Her brother Liam is missing.

Noah Brody is a natural who lives on the outside. He leads protests against the GAPs and detests the widening chasm they’ve created between those who have and those who don’t. He doesn’t like girls like Zoe and he has good reason not to like her specifically.

Zoe’s carefree life takes a traumatic turn. She’s in trouble and it turns out that Noah, the last guy on earth she should trust, is the only one who can help her.

Perception is a (SF/mystery/romance) Young Adult novel that takes place in the not-too-distant future in a world changed by climate extremes, natural disasters and impending wars, and where scientific breakthroughs cause class divisions—both financially and philosophically. It explores the clash between faith and science and how differences can separate us as enemies or ally us together. And in some cases, even in the midst of betrayal and personal crisis, there’s room to fall in love.

This is the first book in a series.

My thoughts about Perception ~~

(originally posted June 18, 2014)

This series has been on my radar for some time now (I just love the covers) and have been meaning to read them. But you know how that is - so many books, so little time. Well, this series and the author came to my attention again after the Girls on Fire boxed set was released. I figured this was a great time to get this one read.

I know that the dystopian genre is huge right now and I suppose I have read a few. When I started Perception, I felt very comfortable in the world of Zoe, Liam, and Noah. I love how an author's imagination can visualize what the world could possibly be like in the future. And it's amazing to think about how close their imagination might be to the truth.

'I spoke Jackson's name into the dashboard computer. My pod car followed the magnetic grid through the city - down wide boulevards lined with palm trees and artificial energy capturing "trees" that looked more like over-sized kitchen utensils - miraculously skirting pedestrian and a maze of other electro magnetic vehicles.

I immediately loved Zoe and her independence. And I loved how she just never gave up trying to find out what happened to her brother. What an amazing woman she is! And you just have to love Noah, such a nice guy with strong beliefs and values and who is always trying to do the right thing. What a pair they make.

'"Yes, I believe you have a soul." It meant so much to hear him say it. Never in my life had I doubted myself, my reason for being, my right to exist. Now everything was in question.'

I loved Perception and I am looking forward to read all the rest of the series. And I love it when I can just go right into the next book. That's one good reason for waiting to start a series. Volition here I come!

But for all this futurist thinking and imagining, some things never change.

'"I don't know," I said. "You can't trust everything you read on the Internet."'

About the GIRLS ON FIRE boxed set

WITCH FALL – Amber Argyle

High Fantasy

Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the witches. Born of witches but raised among their enemies, Lilette searches for a way to heal the rift between mankind and the witches. But it may be too late to save either. For if there is one thing Lilette has come to know for certain, it’s that all things fall.

ETERNAL STARLING – Angela Corbett

Paranormal Romance

For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie Starling. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

AWAKENING – Christy Dorrity

Fantasy

When an ancient curse threatens McKayla McCleery's family, she must decide what in her life is real and what is fantasy. Based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

INEVITABLE – Tamara Hart Heiner

Suspense

Visions of death plague Jayne, who thinks watching her sister die is the worst that could happen to her. But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne realizes that the next death she sees might be her own.

WATCHED – Cindy M. Hogan

Romantic Suspense

Change. She longed for it.

A murder. She will never be the same.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES – Laura Howard

Fantasy

ELEMENTAL HUNGER – Elana Johnson

Futuristic Fantasy

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Kilpatrick can shoot fire from her hands, which would be great if she didn’t get blamed for a blazing inferno that kills 17 schoolmates. Gabby will have to learn who she can trust, how to control her own power, and most of all, how to lead a Council of Elementals, most of whom have more control over their power than she does. If she can’t, she’ll find herself just like those 17 schoolmates: burned and six feet under.

THE FAERIE GUARDIAN – Rachel Morgan

Fantasy

Kickbutt faerie Violet is about to graduate as the top guardian trainee of her class, but when an assignment goes wrong and the human boy she’s meant to be protecting follows her back into the fae realm, a dangerous plot is set in motion.

PERCEPTION – Lee Strauss

Dystopian/Romance

Eternal Life is to Die For.

A spoiled genetically altered girl needs the help of a jaded “natural” boy to find her missing brother.

INTRINSICAL – Lani Woodland

Paranormal

The gene that allows the women in Yara’s family to see and communicate with spirits seems to have passed her over. Until the night she rescues a local hottie from an attacking ghost. Her act of heroism attracts the attention of the evil spirit, and she finds herself entrenched in the middle of a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening her own life as well as that of her friends.

About the Authors

Follow each author’s link to learn more about them and their books.