Review Catch-Up: Anna and the French Kiss, The Restorer, and The Iron King

Here are some super-shorty reviews of recent reads!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Summary:
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

My Thoughts:

• Read it all in one sitting
• While it's a really cute love story - that's not the best part of the book.  The best part is the quirky and fun writing...a bit like that of John Green.
• For me personally, I loved that Anna is a movie-blogging wannabe film critic...I know the feeling :)
• 4/5 stars

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

Goodreads Summary:

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

My Thoughts:

• Super-fun...read it in a flash!
• Love Amelia and her unique profession of cemetery restoration.
• Devlin is one sexy and mysterious dude
• The book left me wanting much more...good thing it's just the first book of a new series (the sequel, The Kingdom, is expected to be out April 2012)!
• 4/5 stars

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Goodreads Summary:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. 

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. 

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

My Thoughts:

• Another fast read :)
• If you're a lover of fairytales this is right up your alley!
• I'm not totally in love with the characters yet...but there are plenty of sequels allowing me to get to know them better.
• 3.5/5 stars