The only world that Lake Devlin has ever known is one that is flooded by climate change.  Only several cities remain in the waterlogged world. Locked deep in the melting ice sheets, the world received another surprise, a virus that turns people into rabid monsters or Living Corpses.  Inside the city walls Lake, her family and friends are relatively safe, approved babies are vaccinated from the virus and The Guard patrols the walls.  Upon graduation, Lake and her friends Ava and Ralley decide to carry out their voluntary term within The Guard.  Lake thought she would take a cushy fashion apprenticeship, but when her best friend Ash returns on leave from The Guard and things heat up between the two, Lake decides to do her civic duty.  The Guards may not be as easy as Lake thought and Ash may not be all that she thought either.  When the four friends are chosen for a special assignment, they learn of dangerous secrets that their government has been holding from everyone.

I was really interested in the plot of this book,a dystopian world destroyed by global warming plus zombies, awesome.  This book took a little while for me to get into, the first half was pretty much an average teen-aged girl's life in a very different world. I was very interested in the virus and how the world was handled the increasing water levels, unfortunately a lot of this wasn't explained.  There were some glimpses of this at the very end with the reveal of the secrets.  The plot picked up for me when Lake, Ava and Ralley entered The Guard.  The Living Corpses were intriguing, but there wasn't much action with them until the end.  I was a little disappointed in Lake's reaction to everything The Guard tried to teach her, it seemed that she was not even trying to learn anything in The Guard, especially after she meets up with Ash again, and even more so when a love triangle is revealed.  I was also extremely disappointed with the fact that Lake and Ava are expected to be pawns, but we will see.  Overall, an ok dystopian young adult novel with an interesting plot. not-so-strong female characters and a cliffhanger ending.

Lori Winslow is a deputy working undercover in narcotics.  Lori is trying to bring down a major distributer, Montoya and has been deep undercover for a while.  On one minor bust he gets a pipe to the ribs and a trip to the E.R. where he is treated by Dr. Leigh Matthews, head of the E.R.  Lori pesters Leigh until she agrees to a date.  Surprisingly, Lori and Leigh hit it off.  However, a relationship is complicated at this point in their lives.  Leigh works long hours in the E.R. and Lori is unreachable for weeks when he is undercover.  As Lori and Leigh’s relationship grows, Lori becomes close to taking down Montoya and his ring; however, a leak in the police department may put Lori and Leigh in danger while endangering their whole relationship.

A quick romantic suspense read perfect for the summer.  I enjoyed that Lori and Leigh were mature adults with responsible jobs; especially that Leigh was a doctor and was financially better off than Lori.  The relationship and romance was a slow build and sweet, with no gratuitous sex scenes.  Reading about Lori’s undercover operation was interesting and exciting, getting to see the intricacies of a drug raid from the inside.  The ending was very suspenseful, but wrapped up pretty neatly and securely.  The epilogue let us see a little of Leigh and Lori’s continued relationship, but almost seemed to be enough to be another book! Overall, a quick, sweet, romantic suspense read.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.  

For eleven years Tara has lived with the guilt of not knowing where her childhood friend Mukta has disappeared to.  When Tara and her family lived in Bombay, her father often brought home poor village children to live with their family until they found permanent homes.  One child was different though, Mukta stayed with their family.  Mukta was born into a Devdasis, bound to serve as a temple prostitute.  Tara befriended Mukta and was able to reach through to her, even teaching her how to read.  In return, Mukta cared for Tara as a little sister and inspired her with her outlook on life.  However, one day of Tara’s mother is found dead after a bombing, Tara is led to believe that Mukta’s presence in her home is responsible for her bad luck.  In her grief, Tara pays a neighborhood gang member to kidnap Mukta and return her to where she came from.  Tara’s wish comes true and Mukta is captured that night.  Now, eleven years later, Tara returns to her home in Bombay with new information hoping to find the childhood friend that she believes she is responsible for losing. 

A beautiful and heartbreaking story that examines the lives of two girls from India who were born into different social castes.  There was so much emotionally charged and lyrical writing in this book that I was stopping to re-read some of the quotes and highlighted many of them.  The story is told from Tara and Mukta’s alternating points of view. Tara’s point of view begins from the present with her search for Mukta and the mystery of how she was possibly responsible for her kidnapping.  Mukta’s point of view begins from the past with her early childhood as the daughter of a temple prostitute, her rescue by Tara’s father and being sold back into the brothel.  Through their stories, I felt like I got to know Mukta much better than Tara.  While her story is tragic, Mukta’s spirit shines and her memories of her time with Tara and her family keep her strong.  It was very interesting to learn about the Devdasis, the social differences in the Indian culture and the people who are trying to help.  While tragic, this is a powerful book and well worth the read.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.