Without a Voice by Lauren Ritz

I'm a sucker for a good thriller, so I was excited to have the chance to read this book. It started out with a bang and had me thinking about it whenever I had to put it down and do something else—like feed my kids lunch—and I couldn't wait to get back to it.

Here is the synopsis:
Don’t put yourself on the grid. No credit cards, new name, new city. Few friends, no family. Connections of any kind are a risk.

Five years ago Mae left Justin in Orlando. Never again will she cower, wondering who he'll hurt next. She's done letting him punish her.

Now she has real friends, people she cares about, a life worth living. After years of relative peace she's gotten complacent, relaxed her guard. Somehow, he's found her. 

There’s nowhere you can go. 

Mae can no longer cling to her safe obscurity if she's going to survive.

Once she could have run and been certain Justin would leave those she loved alone. But he's changed. Justin is the whisper in the dark, a shadow on the street, the phantom no one sees.

You are mine. I will never stop.

Crazy, right? It was great! Justin was the perfect bad guy who makes your skin crawl. From the first moment you meet him, you want Mae to run away as fast as she can. Mae was one tough girl who had learned to stick up for herself and after starting a new life to get away from Justin, she starts forgetting to be careful.

Keli, Mae's best friend, owns a bookstore that I would have just loved to browse through. She's a great friend to Mae and is always watching out for her.

Lauren brought in a twist with adding religion that I wasn't expecting but I like how she did it. There are times when adding it can fall a little flat but she did a fantastic job.  This is a great book for those that love thrillers.

You can purchase her book here: www.amazon.com
                                         or here: www.barnesandnoble.com

You can learn more about Lauren Ritz here:  lauren.laurentritz.com

Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School by Laura Josephsen

I was offered a chance to read this book and I'm happy I took that chance. It was a wonderful book of Sephie and her five sisters. The writing style is fun and you quickly fall in love with the characters. 

Here is the synopsis:


"Write what you know."

Persephone "Sephie" Benson scoffs when her creative writing teacher throws that little gem out there. Maybe this advice would work for a professional skydiver or a baseball star or a ninja princess. It's not so great for a high school student who doesn't even know what to do with the rest of her life. Add in being the oldest of six girls, having Responsibilities with a capital R, and living in a town the size of a tick, and you've got a recipe for boring soup. 

At least, that's what Sephie thinks until her senior year. Now, her grandfather is losing his house. One of her sisters plays a starring role in the local high school scandal. Even things with her best friend Joey aren't the same. As Sephie deals with the changes in her life, she finds that nothing is quite what she expects--and that sometimes, the most extraordinary life can be the one that seems the most ordinary.


Persephone—or Sephie, as she likes to be called—is a senior in high school and thinks her life is pretty boring. Her feistiness and quick humor make her anything but boring. I knew I would enjoy the book from the first couple of pages, by the way she went into the description of her favorite high school teacher, Mr. Hinkley.

Her best friend, Joey, is always right there when she needs him. He's the type of friend that everyone needs more of. Her sisters are great and even when they're fighting, they're willing to stick up for each other.

Things start to change drastically throughout the year, and she has to hold on tight to her family and friends. This is a great book to share with your teens.

You can buy the book here: www.amazon.com

Here is a little more about the author:

Laura Josephsen has authored several novels and works as a freelance editor. She likes to listen to music, watch sci-fi shows, and drink coffee. She believes there's no such thing as having too many socks. She lives in Tennessee with her awesome husband, imaginative children, and feisty cats.