Book Review: Sworn by Emma Knight

Sworn (The Vampire Legends #1) by Emma Knight
Genre: Young Adult Fiction (Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: September 7, 2011
Publisher: Self

When her dad is transferred, Rachel Wood is uprooted from her home in Pennsylvania and forced to enter a new high school, in 10th grade, in an affluent suburb in Westchester, New York. She finds herself in way over her head, as she struggles to come to grips with meeting new friends, finding a boyfriend, avoiding the cliques of mean girls, and figuring out how to survive in such a hostile new world. She has trouble navigating this new world, where drinking and drugs seem the norm, and where social pressures build on her from every direction. Everything seems to go wrong for Rachel, until salvation comes in the form of Rob, a football player who takes a liking to her. But just as there romance is about to blossom, she finds herself confused by his actions. As things reach a low point, Rachel meets a mysterious boy from her school, Benji, a loner who keeps apart from the other kids, and who takes her on a ride on his motorcycle. They have an unforgettable night together in an amusement park-until something goes horribly wrong, and Benji shocks her by saving her life. Rachel knows that Benji is different from everyone else, and she knows that he is the love of her life. And as their romance deepens, she has to decide if she is willing to give up everything to find out his secret...

Sworn is the first book in the Vampire Legends series by Emma Knight. I’m not sure about this series yet. I need the main character to be a bit more likable. She falls for one guy without knowing him. Then falls for another guy practically a blink later. There was no “get to know you” of any kind with either guy. She makes bad decisions all around. Her friends are pretty awful. And, the vampire aspect doesn’t show up until the very end. I’ll give it another chance by seeing if things get better in the next book. We shall see.

Emma Knight is author of the bestselling vampire series THE VAMPIRE LEGENDS, consisting of six books and counting: SWORN, TAKEN, BITTEN, CHOSEN, AWAKENED and RISEN.

To learn more about Emma Knight and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads & BookBub.

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Book Review: The Other Sister by Jessica R. Patch

The Other Sister by Jessica R. Patch
Genre: Adult Fiction (Phychological Thriller)
Date Published: April 1, 2025
Publisher:  Love Inspired Trade

She thought she was the only one lying about her identity. Until she stepped into her sister’s life.

Charlotte Kane has always dreamed of a different life, one where she isn’t living paycheck to paycheck. An existence worlds away from the chaos of her own. Then her estranged mother dies, and Charlotte makes a stunning discovery—she has an identical twin who was given up for adoption.

Acelynn Benedict is polished, successful and seems to have everything Charlotte yearns for—a wealthy, doting family in Savannah, a handsome boyfriend, a great career. She’s just as surprised as Charlotte to learn she has a sister. But when tragedy hits and Charlotte is forced to assume Acelynn’s identity in a desperate moment, she uncovers something altogether darker…

No one in her sister’s life is quite who they seem to be. And every discovery leads Charlotte deeper into a web of deadly secrets. Charlotte may have wanted Acelynn’s life, yet now that she’s living it, she wants out. But if she reveals the truth about herself, it will mean returning to her old life—and she’s already a dead woman there.

The Other Sister by Jessica R. Patch is a phychological thriller full of twists. There are a lot of characters within this story, and you can’t trust most of them. They have something they’re hiding or ulterior motives. Even the main character... You find out some surprising stuff as the story progresses. The only thing I really expected was the epilogue. I just knew it from the start. It ends in a way that leaves room for a sequel. I’m not sure there’d be enough for a sequel though, and I’m happy with how it ends. I kind of hope it’s left as a stand alone with its little bit of mystery left to keep you wondering.

The ARC of  The Other Sister by Jessica R. Patch was kindly provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for review. The opinions are my own.

I’m Jess Patch, a wife of over thirty years to my real-life hero, a mom of two grown adults with my first grand on the way! I’m a dog-lover and have a super spoiled Shetland Sheepdog (sheltie). Now that my kids are grown, when I’m not writing inspirational romantic suspense and dark twisty thrillers that explore the darker parts of human hearts yet offer a hope-filled ending, you can find me binging audiobooks at my pool during the summer or on my daily walks. If I’m not doing that I’m avoiding household chores with lunch dates over tacos and copious amounts of cheese dip and tortilla chips and the discussion usually surrounds true crime and how we could solve cold cases so easily if given the chance (we do love our delusional state)!

To learn more about Jessica R. Patch and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, BookBub, YouTube, Pinterest, and Twitter.

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Book Review: My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Genre: Young Adult Fiction (Historical Fantasy Romance)
Date Published: June 26, 2018
Publisher: HarperCollins

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

My Plain Jane is the second book in the Lady Janies series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows. This was an alternate version of Jane Eyre… or should I say, This is how it really happened? I loved the idea of the first book taking actual history and twisting it, so I wasn’t sure if I would like this just as much being based on a fictional book, but it ended up being a lot of fun. It took real life characters and mixed them up with fictional folks. Very clever! I think I still enjoyed the first one a smidge more, but this one kept me entertained with its fun characters! 

You may think you know the story.
Oh, heard that one, have you? Well, we say again: you may think you know the story. By all accounts it’s a good one: a penniless, orphaned young woman becomes a governess in a wealthy household, catches the eye of the rich and stern master, and (sigh) falls deeply in love. It’s all very passionate and swoonworthy, but before they can be married, a—gasp!—terrible treachery is revealed. Then there’s fire and despair, some aimless wandering, starvation, a little bit of gaslighting, but in the end, the romance works out. The girl (Miss Eyre) gets the guy (Mr. Rochester). They live happily ever after. Which means (sigh) everybody’s happy, right?
Um… no. We have a different tale to tell. (Don’t we always?) And what we’re about to reveal is more than a simple reimagining of one of literature’s most beloved novels. This version, dear reader, is true. There really was a girl. (Two girls, actually.) There was, indeed, a terrible treachery and a great fire. But throw out pretty much everything else you know about the story. This isn’t going to be like any classic romance you’ve ever read.
It all started, if we’re going to go way, way back, in 1788 with King George III. The king had always been able to see ghosts. Sometimes he even had amusing conversations with long-deceased courtiers and unfairly beheaded queens who were floating about the palace grounds.
Then disaster struck. One particular day the king was without his spectacles. As he was walking in the garden, a mischievous ghost rattled the branches of a nearby tree and said, in its most stately voice, “Hey, look at me! I’m the King of Prussia!”
George, who had been expecting a visit from the King of Prussia, immediately bowed and exclaimed, “I am most pleased to meet you, Your Highness!” and tried to shake the tree’s hand.
From that moment on, George was referred to as “Mad King George,” a title he greatly resented. So George assembled a team made up of every kind of person he thought could help him be rid of these irksome ghosts: priests who specialized in exorcisms, doctors with some knowledge of the occult, philosophers, scientists, fortune-tellers, and anybody, in general, who dabbled in the supernatural.
And that’s how the Royal Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits was established.
In the years that followed, the Society, as it came to be called, functioned as a prominent and well-respected part of English life. If there was something strange in your neighborhood, you could, um, write the Society a letter, and they would promptly send an agent to take care of it.
Fast-forward right past the reign of George IV, to William IV ascending England’s throne. William was practical. He didn’t believe in ghosts. He considered the Society to be nothing more than a collection of odious charlatans who had been pulling the wool over the eyes of his poor disturbed predecessors for many years. Plus it was a terrible drain on the taxpayers’ dime (er, shilling). So almost as soon as he was officially crowned king, William cut the Society out of the royal budget. This led to his infamous falling-out and subsequent feud with Sir Arthur Wellesley, aka the Duke of Wellington, aka the leader and Lord President of the RWS Society, which was now underfunded and under-respected.
This brings us to the real start of our story: northern England, 1834, and the aforementioned penniless, orphaned girl. And a writer. And a boy with a vendetta.
Let’s start with the girl.
Her name was Jane.

Have you read the first book? 

We're the authors of the young adult novels MY LADY JANE, MY PLAIN JANE, MY CALAMITY JANE, MY CONTRARY MARY, MY IMAGINARY MARY, and MY SALTY MARY. 

Our group is made up of Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows—all authors of our own separate young adult books. We met on a group book tour back in 2012, became fast friends, and initially came up with idea for the Lady Janies books as a way for us to be able to spend more time hanging out and traveling together. 

Between the three of us we've written thirty novels, a bunch of novellas, a handful of short stories, and a couple of really bad poems, but we have the most fun working on our books together. 

We're friends. We're writers. We're fixing history by rewriting one sad story at a time.

To learn more about The Lady Janies and their books, visit their website. You can also find them on Facebook, and Instagram.

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