Obsidian Eyes by A.W. Exley

This is the first I have read anything by this author for young adults and may indeed be her first foray into this genre.  I absolutely loved The Artifact Hunter’s series that she is writing so I thought I would try this one.  I got it through the Amazon Prime loaning program so I didn’t actually pay for it and I am glad because I really didn’t love it.  I like the premise but the execution was off.

The world is split into people who belong either to the nobles or the guild.  This book follows two teenagers.  One girl who is part of the guild although in what capacity isn’t revealed until later in the book.  She has someone been granted admission into a school for noble kids.  The other is a guy who is a noble and betrothed to a nasty piece of work.  They meet when sparing and Jared is intrigued.  He doesn’t know girls who can fight.  Allie soon learns she has been sent for a reason and must decide between loyalties with her new friends or her life. 

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed, but overall it was the type of book I had no problem putting down and not picking back up for a while.  It read very flat and one dimensional most of the time. The ending happened too abruptly.  It is obvious it is being set up for a series, but there were too many things that felt unresolved.  I was actually startled to turn the page and learn it was the end.  The one thing I loved was Weasel.  I hope to read more about him.   

I am not sure if I will read the next installment.  There are so many good books out there calling my name.  But I did love the authors other series so I am not sure I am ready to give up on this one.   

Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster (London Steampunk Series #2)

I REALLY, REALLY loved the first book in this series (Kiss of Steel). This one didn’t live up to my hopes and dreams for the series, but it was still enjoyable and I will be reading the next book (My Lady Quicksilver).

This book follows Lena Todd (sister to the heroine in the first book) who is human. She is the ward (secret half sister) of Lord Barrons (a blue blood, which in this series means they need blood to survive but aren’t a full fledged, nasty vampire yet). The hero is Will Carver who is verwulfen, which from what I can tell is just a really strong person infected with the verwulfen virus. I haven’t heard of him turning into a wolf, but he does battle for control and his eyes change color, etc.

These two have history and chemistry but are both trying to stay away from each other for different reasons. Lena because she is afraid of rejection and Will because he doesn’t want to infect Lena. However, obviously they are thrown together. Lena hasn’t gotten herself involved in a scheme with the humanists that puts her and her family at risk. Will is called upon by the blue bloods to further the treaty between England and two other nations. Lena must teach him the etiquette to survive amongst the posh blue bloods. Will gets a whiff of her schemes and attempts to uncover her secrets. It turns out they are working for opposite sides that both have noble causes.

I hope that the next book (which follows the leader of the Queen’s Army) is more like the first one. They had such amazing chemistry I devoured the book in a couple days.