Dark Secrets 1 by Elizabeth Chandler

Two girls haunted by the past... and destined to relive it.
In Legacy of Lies, Megan has to stay with the uptight grandmother she wants nothing to do with. She's determined to get through the visit without any drama, but when she falls into a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences, Megan may be caught up in her family's legacy in more ways than she realizes.
In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she;ll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all and maybe Lauren is next.
--
Ah, the days before I cared when my books got screwed up. This book looks sadly out of place on my perfect bookshelves. To get to the point, I'm going to do two separate, mini reviews instead of two separate posts:


Legacy of Lies:
I'm not the biggest fan of stories with reincarnation as the main story line, mostly because it tends to totally and completely give away the ending. I mean, when the exact same thing happened a hundred years before and their names are like two letters away from each other, its pretty obvious how the story ends. That being said, Chandler does a great job of keeping Legacy of Lies suspenseful, and the reincarnation didn't bug me nearly as much as it could've. And the side story with Alex and Sophie was cute in a mushy, girly way. Matt made me both love him and hate him, and let's not deny it, my ever growing list of fictional sweethearts has grown to accompany one more. While Megan wasn't totally relatable, I found myself biting my nails over her hardships. The story was easy to predict and when it came to dialogue, a bit cheesy, I still liked the story a lot. In my opinion, the YA genre wouldn't be the same without the over-the-top romance stories, especially paranormal ones like this. (Oh, and as a side note, I despised the grandmother. Even once you realized what was actually up, I still wanted to slap her.)
3.5 stars and a recommendation to fans of cheesy paranormal romances.


Don't Tell:
From the opening, eerie sequence that starts Don't Tell, to the not-so-much-a-surprise ending, I got a creepy, disturbing feel from this slightly-light feel. The love story was slightly drowned out, in my opinion, under the paranormal themes. While the first story in this book was first and foremost a romance, this one was more of a murder mystery with paranormal origins. And honestly, the good guys seemed a little too much like the bad guys, and the bad guys were scarily close to the good guys, making the story feel forced, like Chandler was so going for the surprise ending (even thought it wasn't really) she forgot that it should be slightly realistic too. The poltergeist mystery served as a complicator too, and I found that it seemed a little silly and well, insane. Besides the point, I actually enjoyed a lot of this book. Nick was sweet and while I knew what was up from the first time she saw him, it was still cute when the ending came. But all the characters and the plot were so jumbled, it was just plain confusing, and instead of trying to figure it out, I was just happy that Lauren got the ending she deserved, and the mystery was (apparently) solved. The redeeming point was the creepiness the author mostly maintained.
3 stars, and a recommendation to fans of poltergeists and ghosts.


I'd give Dark Secrets 1 an overall rating of 3.25 stars. Even though on the enjoyment scale, I'd give it an 8. These are light reads, and ten times better if you read them late at night.

Kissed by an Angel Trilogy by Elizabeth Chandler

A love beyond life...a danger beyond doubt.

In a romantic and suspenseful collection of the New York Times bestselling trilogy, love's unbreakable bonds are put to the test.

When her boyfriend, Tristan, died, Ivy thought she'd lost everything, even her faith in angels. But now she's discovered that he's her guardian angel — his presence so strong that she can feel the touch of his hand, the beat of his heart. Ivy needs Tristan now more than ever because he knows she's in terrible danger. Only Ivy's guardian angel can save her now that his killer is after her.

But if Tristan rescues Ivy, his mission on earth will be finished, and he must leave her behind forever. Will saving Ivy mean losing her just when he's finally reached her again?

--

I was going to do three separate reviews for this trilogy, but instead I'll just do three paragraphs, one for each of the books in this amazing trilogy.

Kissed by an Angel:

Starting off with the title, I loved this book through and through. Ivy was so sweet and shy and her love of angels quickly rubbed off on me. Beth, her writer best friend, was funny and reminded me of myself, and Suzanne was great as the girl you love and hate, depending on the circumstance. Gregory, Ivy's stepbrother gave off an ominous feel, although he seemed at times sweet and caring. Tristan, Ivy's perfect boyfriend, the guy every girl wants, is so beyond imagining, I almost felt he was overdone. But maybe it was because of his perfection that I fell in love with him anyways. The writing was simple and easy to read, and despite the quickly moving plot, the pages were emotionally charged in a way only the best romance novels are. I hated knowing the ending, only because I didn't want it to be true. But I still loved it from start to finish. 5/5

The Power of Love:

Lacey, newly introduced, quickly became my new favorite. From the purple hair to the overdramatic sighs, she was the epitome of awesomeness. (In my humble opinion). I found her story line tragic and Tristan was so blinded I was tempted to fall out of love with him. (As if). Gregory's ever present presence (no pun intended) became a bit more chilling and I started to speculate his intentions. The downfall of this book was how long was spent with Ivy not getting the fact that Tristan was there still. Beth was cute as ever and Suzanne a bit annoying in my opinion. She's a little too popular-girl-who-gets-everything-she-wants-ish. I don't see how her character enhanced the plot, but oh well. The writing was still graceful and flow-y, though I started to become skeptical about the fact that Ivy now has THREE--count 'em, 1, 2, 3--love interests now. Will's a sweetheart, but I'm a little afraid of where Chandler is planning to go with his interest in Ivy. (Go, team Tristan!) Great book, still loved it. 4.5/5

Soulmates:

The craziness and drama in this finale to the fantastic Kissed by an Angel series went a little overboard, but I still loved it. I've read some reviews that ragged on the murder themes and the sudden darkness of the series, but I disagreed. Sometimes we need a little murder mystery, and although some of the story was very Ghost-like, it was still original and great. I loved Lacey more than ever (I felt her pain, truly I did) and I still want to marry Tristan (Okay, so, yeah, DIBS!) so long as Ivy's no longer interested (who am I to stand in the way of true love?). But anyways, as Gregory became the sinister force I always knew he was--insert obnoxious "I told you so" here--I found the changes and the explanations that came to life to be realistic in a way only supernatural books can be. Beth and Suzanne remained the strong support characters they were, and I even liked Suzanne a bit. The writing as elegant as ever (these parenthesis are getting annoying now, right?) and so did the plot. The ending was its one down point. And unfortunately, it made a big impact on the story. It was all a little quick. (SPOILER!!: "So I didn't feel guilty for falling love with you." What!? Where did that come from!?) Anyways, it made me hate the ending more than the beginning. These books were great, and I secretly wrote an alternate ending, because as much as I loved the railroad scene, the last two pages shouldn't have happened (like that at least) at all. 4/5.

Overall, this series gets an average rating of 4.5 stars. Big ole fat recommendation to all those girls who love Ghost (I should hope all of us, unless you haven't GASP seen it) and to supernatural romance fans.