Review: The Witches of Santa Anna (The Witches of Santa Anna #1-7)

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Title: The Witches of Santa Anna

Author: Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine

Series: The Witches of Santa Anna, #1-7

Age Group: young adult

Format: ebook

Pages: 307

Release Date: March 13, 2011

A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Natalia Moore is the new girl at Santa Anna Prep, and all she wants to do is fly under the radar -- get to her classes, meet a few friends, and try not to make a total fool of herself in the meantime. But when handsome and popular Campbell Elliot goes out of his way to be nice to the new girl, Natalia's plan to go unnoticed flies out the window. 
Cam's hot, but he's completely off-limits. Raine Marsden, the most popular and meanest girl in school, has had her eye on him ever since the summer. And Raine doesn't like competition.
When Cam goes as far as inviting Natalia to the exclusive weekend party at Raine's house, Raine sets her sights on a new victim. But what Natalia doesn't know is that Raine and her friends are no ordinary mean girls. They have powers most people can only dream of, and nobody will stand in the way of what they want. And what Raine wants is Campbell.
The Witches of Santa Anna series of novellas, proves just how far true love will go and that nothing--not even pure evil--can change your destiny. 

At first, I was going to review these books separately, but since I was given books one through seven in this set, and I was so hooked, I'm just going to review all of these books. Each book is actually really short, and it was a very quick read.

I'm surprised. Normally, I'm not someone who tends to pick up many books about witches. Now, don't misunderstand; I have nothing against witches. I guess I just tend to lean more towards vampires and other paranormal creatures. Anyways, my last witch book, Earth, had elemental witches. These are totally different, for the most part. Now we have mind-controlling witches, and I just happen to love it!

Raine is one bitch you do not want to mess with...unless you're Natalia. In fact, according to one of the characters, Raine is the most beautiful girl...in the world. But not even this girl's looks make up for her personality. Raine is controlling, cruel, and practically everything you can imagine in a villain. Add to that, she wants Cam to be her property.

Of course, in comes our heroine, Natalia (who just so happens to have a slight, yet awesome, British accent!). And guess who Cam starts to fall for? Bingo! Well, add in another hot (did I mention they're both football players?) guy, and we have our love triangle! Brody x Natalia x Cam  In the end, I could not really decide who I like more. Brody's a douche at the beginning, but goes through a complete metamorphsis. Cam's just...Cam. They're both the American boys. Not really my type of guys (I tend to stick towards dark and mysterious). But, the love interests were definitely cute, and the love games between the three were hilarious.

Like I wrote above, the witch's most useful power as far as I can tell is mind control....that and flinging people against trees. I did have a lot of questions running through my head by the end of the book. A few included: What is the big deal with Cam and Natalia dating? What war? There were so many more, and that did leave me frustrated.

I guess I'll just have to go buy the next set of books! That is about it. My only regret is that I did not read these books before. The Witches of Santa Anna is definitely an entertaining read. I loved every minute of it! If you are short on time, it's also a quick read.

My Rating:

Review: Earth (Elemental #1)

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Title: Earth

Author: Shauna Granger

Series: Elemental, #1

Age Group: young adult

Format: ebook

Pages: 233

Release Date: May 1, 2011

A copy was provided by Shauna Granger for review.

Shayna and her two best friends have the abilities to manipulate and control the four elements, earth, air, water and fire. While learning to hone their growing powers, they discover a new and malicious presence in their sleepy beach town. Someone is performing blood magic and threatens to expose their small magical community. So far only small animals have been slaughtered, but then the nightmares start. 
Shayna suffers nightmares of being chased and sacrificed only to wake up bloodied and bruised. She thinks her magical blood is the ultimate target for the final blood rite. When an innocent girl, Tracy, is kidnapped Shayna knows it's only a ploy to draw her out; she can't let someone die because of her. 

I'm so sorry everyone about my extremely long leave of absence. But, it is summer now, and I'm back, hopefully for the long run this time. As is to be expected, I have not been reading in quite a while. But the first book that I picked up is Earth.  I definitely do not regret it!

I've always been a fan of mostly any book having to do with the dealing of elements. There are many people that say that it is overused. But, I keep reading these types of books, to find the diamonds among rocks. And Earth is a diamond.

Earth follows the story of Shayna, or Tess (her element name), Steven (Drake), and Jodi (Fae). I loved all of these characters, especially Steven. He reminds me of one of my friends. He's quirky, funny, and fun, and was probably my favorite character in the book.

On the other hand, Shayna, the main character, I had a few problems with. She was a bit too bossy, although considering she is the strongest out of all three of them, it's reasonable, she could treat Steven and Jodi more equally. Hopefully, as the series progresses, she won't let her powers go to her head.

You're probably what their powers are. Well, as I stated before, there powers have to do with the elements. Steven is fire, Jodi air, and as you can probably guess from the title of the book, Shayna is earth. But, there is something more to Shayna, so just your eyes on her while reading. In a way, they are witches, except for Steven, who I guess you could a warlock, but's he pretty much counts as a girl. ;)

I think I have said enough about Earth. I just think you guys should go read it. It's definitely a memorable book, and I can guarantee you will enjoy it.

My Rating:

Once a Witch (Witch #1)

Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Series: Witch, #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Hardback
Pages: 292
Published: 9/14/2009
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: Local Library
My Rating: * * * * *

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a very handsome professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search--and the stranger--will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.

The Good:
This book was amazing, and not just because I love anything that has to do with the four elements, but because Once a Witch was simply delightful. I loved the whole Talent thing, and it would be awesome if you had a Talent to where you could control one of the elements. At least, me personally, I would really like that. I had actually picked up this book a long time ago, and returned it to the library without reading it. Recently, I picked up the second book, Always a Witch, accidentally at the library, and found out that that was the second book in the series. I went back and picked up Once a Witch at the library hurriedly, read it, and well, here I am, writing a review for this amazing book.
The Bad:
Tamsin was a good, headstrong character, but I did have a problem with her smoking. And not just a little, but I mean packs. But, at least they only showed that in the book when Tamsin was stressed. Otherwise, the author didn't mention the smoking. I just felt that the author was throwing in smoking to appeal to the younger crowd by making it look cool. It just slightly derrated the book for me. Rowen bothered me. The "perfect" sister. Just read the book, and you'll find out what I mean.
The Guy:
In Once a Witch, the main guy was Gabriel, a childhood friend. For a moment, I though that the professor would be a love interest, too, but he wasn't. Gabriel was okay. A muscician who drinks and has a tattoo. Didn't appeal too much to me in that sense, but I liked that he was sweet and caring. Sexy, definitely.
The Quote[a teaser]:
"Okay," I gasp. "I can't really breathe, but other than that, okay."
"Breathing's overrated," Gabriel advises me. "I'm discovering that right about now with this damn tie."
The End:
Go read the book, I recommend it.
The Author:

 Carolyn MacCullough received her MFA in creative writing from New School and lives with her husband in Brooklyn.