Beautifully Broken Review {PTB Review}

-Shorter Version of Real Review-

Title: Beautifully Broken
Author: Sherry Soule
Publish Date: June 30th, 2011, Moonlight Publishing
Synopsis:

Thirteenth daughter. Heritage witch. Demon slayer.
They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse.
Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. When she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan, and immediately becomes spellbound by his charms. Yet she is determined to discover the connection between them before it’s too late.
Finally, Shiloh's met someone who is supercute and totally into her, but Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list. And Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him. Complicated much?
It sucks to have a destiny, especially since Shiloh would rather spend her summer being a normal girl who worries about clothes and boys, not the supernatural. But she’s never been
normal and the stranger things become the more her own magical senses awaken.
With cryptic messages from a pesky wraith, she will begin to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and decide how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.
Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.

Definitely not something you would catch me reading. But, I decided to try something new. Change things up. I'm happy I did. Beautifully Broken, a paranormal romance novel, had a lot of twists and turns, a non-predictable read. Sherry Soule writes incredibly good for a debut author. Being only her first published novel, I had just little expectations. Sherry met them.

Shiloh Ravenwolf is a descendant from a line of witches. Some good, others that dabble in the dark arts. Shiloh is on the good side, only using her magick for simple things and a protection spell. The protection spell is used against a demonic force that is trying to steal her soul and drink her blood. With that in mind, Shiloh took a summer job at the town's haunted house, trying to get answers and get closer to the guy she has her eyes on, Trent. In the end, Shiloh finds more than she thought she'll learn and uncover secrets that people would bury.

To read more of my review, click here.

P.S. This is my first real review on Page Turners! :D

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab {18th]

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy. Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

Title - The Near Witch

Author - Victoria Schwab

Pages - 288

Paperback, Hardcover, eBook - Paperback (ARC)

Published & Publisher - August 2nd, 2011 ; Hyperion 

Source - Giveaway

Rating - 4/5

I honestly love stories that follow the lives of rebels. The Near Witch is a perfect example of that. This story is a whirl of mysteries. Plus, there is a love story thrown into the mix. Of course, you can't have a fairy-tale without a little romance. Thankfully, The Near Witch had that.  

Ever wonder what it would be like to live in a town where everything is the same and you know everybody and everything? That's exactly how the people of Near are. Until, the stranger came. Lexi seen him out her window, nothing more than a figure in her yard. No, that's not even the weird part. The stranger isn't all the way there. His body looks as if it was smudged in the night air. The stranger caught Lexi looking at her. When Lexi looked away for a quick second, he was gone. *Insert dramatic music* 

The rebel part kicks into play when Lexi's uncle repeatedly tells her not to go searching for the stranger. Except, she does. And when children start going missing and being taken from their beds in the middle of the night, the stranger is to blame because he suddenly popped up the night before everything took place. Everybody in the town of Near believes that the stranger, who is name-less, is the reason that the children go missing. Lexi understands that the town dislikes the stranger, but that doesn't stop Lexi and the stranger's secret meetings in the night.

Teen rebels nowadays, gotta love them. They brighten up stories to an epic proportion. Agree or Disagree?

For a debut novel, I give Victoria a *virtual* pat on the back. I can tell that her next novel is going to be a bestseller, if this isn't going to be. :)

First Line: It starts with a crack, a sputter, and a spark. 

"Cole, you're not a rock," I say. "You're not a tree, or a bunch of grass, or a cloud. And you're not just something to cast aside, or burn down, or walk over. Please tell me you understand that."