Midnight Moon by Marilee Brothers

The Trimarks are planning an invasion. And the only thing standing in their way is Allie and the moonstone.

All Allie wants is a normal life - friends, boys, school dances. Right. Like that's going to happen.

In two weeks, during the summer solstice, Allie's going to face the biggest challenge of her life, fighting against time to save the world from a Trimark invasion. You'd think the world of weird might leave her alone to plan how she's going to survive. But nothing in Allie's world is simple or easy, especially when she's attacked by Trimarks trying to steal the moonstone. Then Sammie disappears into the faery world of Boundless, and Allie must follow and bring her home, only to find the fairy queen, Luminata, isn't about to let Allie leave. So, what's a girl with magical powers supposed to do?

Fortunately, she has a team to help her, a team with special talents of their own.

Allie has a very short period of time to come up with a plan to stop the Trimarks from invading earth and unleashing their evil. She also has boyfriend blues with Junior and old feelings for Beck ...... definitely the least of her troubles. As if coming up with a plan wasn't bad enough she gets tricked by Luminata into going to Boundless but comes up with a plan with Luminata's mother to help her get out of her deal, but she also loses Sammie to her faery family. She needs a miracle to happen before the summer solstice.

This is the fifth book (and I believe the last?) in the Unbidden Magic series and, despite it's rocky start with me, I love it. I really enjoyed this series - the characters and the world that Brothers created is fantastic. Allie's mum started off annoying but has became a great character for some light relief, and thankfully the whole everyone-falling-in-love-with-Allie thing didn't last and by the end of this book, everyone is happy with who they're with.

Highly recommended YA series from me, don't miss it.


Book Depository: Midnight Moon
Amazon UK: Midnight Moon

Shadow Moon by Marilee Brothers

Allie Emerson is hoping for a few quiet months to catch her breath after a summer that included the discovery she is not only a twin and of faery blood, but also destined to play a pivotal role in faery world. School has barely begun when Allie must kiss her hope of a normal year goodbye.

She can't escape her unfinished business with the fae, the Trimarks, or Junior Alvarez, who is making it clear he plans to win her back. Signs, portents and whispers are pushing Allie to "find the girl" before it's too late. Hoping her twin can help her solve the riddle of their destiny, Allie uncovers old secrets and begins a cross-country journey that puts her in more danger than ever before. If she succeeds, she may just find the answers that can save everyone she loves.

The good thing is, the whole every-boy-loving-Allie thing has calmed down. It's all about Junior in this book, which is a major plus 'cos I liked Junior from the start. I thought Allie may have ended up with Beck but that thing sailed a while ago.

This time around we see Allie search for her sister and try to get her help in saving the world, bit of a big thing to put on someone's shoulders on your first meeting. Of course, in Allie style, nothing goes to plan. More Trimarks appear, dark faes turn up and new things come out of the woodwork.

I really did enjoy this series. I received the whole series as a whole from the publishers through Netgalley so I was lucky enough to get to read them all at once but I now have to wait to see if there is even going to be a 5th book in this series. I really, really hope there will be 'cos I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen with Allie and co.


Book Depository: Shadow Moon
Amazon UK: Shadow Moon

Moon Spun by Marilee Brothers

Junior's back from Mexico with his movie-star entourage. Beck's using his half-demon charms to "heal" a new girl. Mom's still wacky and now she's dating Principal Hostetler. High school is still an obstacle course of drama queens, bullies and nutjobs. The Trimarks are still a menace, and the moonstone pendant has revealed even more mind-boggling powers. In other words, Allie Emerson's life as the Girl Voted Least Likely To Save The World From Evil has gone from Weird to Super-Charged Super-Weird, and it's about to get even weirder. You're a faery princess. So says the mysterious Ryker, whose handsome talents include turning himself into a hawk. By the way, he and Allie are destined to marry. In faery land - Boundless. If they can save it from forces even more deadly than Trimarks and high school. The third book in the Unbidden Magic series plunges readers into a rich other-world of danger, humor, romance, fable, fairytale and magical destiny.

So third book into the series and there's a third guy wanting to get with Allie ... at this point the series is starting to feel like House of Night, where every important guy seems to want to get with Zoey. That's my only annoyance so far, just that one. Other than that I'm really enjoying this new (to me) series.

This time around Allie meets her grandmother and helps save the day in Boundless, then re-introduces her mother to her grandmother. As well as dealing with major drama between the 3 guys she's had after her so far. This series is really a welcome addition to the YA genre, which is fast becoming filled with a lot of the same type of story. And before anyone jumps in with "Not every YA is the same", that's not what I said ... so don't bother.

I definitely recommend the Unbidden Magic series to anyone that likes supernatural stories.


Book Depository: Moon Spun
Amazon UK: Moon Spun

Moon Rise by Marilee Brothers

Her mom's still dating losers. Her boyfriend's gone back to Mexico. Dad still hasn't told his wife and kids that she exists. At school, the drama queens and bullies still rule. But worst of all for Allie Emerson - aka the Star Seeker of an old Gypsy prophecy - is that her powers have taken a hike. She can't read minds anymore. She can't move stuff just by looking at it. The other Star Seekers are counting on her psychic gifts more than ever, and the evil Tri-marks are closing in, eager to snatch her magic moonstone necklace while she's helpless. The hot new guy at school is ready and willing to fight her battles, but he comes with some wicked baggage. Dear Diary: I'm a little worried. My new BF is a demon. Welcome again to Allie Emerson's funny, scary, amazing, and always unpredictable life, as the girl voted least likely to save the world from evil.

This is the second in the Unbidden Magic series and I'm still loving it. Allie is an extremely likeable lead, even if she is a little naive and trusting. This time round, she gets over Junior by meeting Beck (who's all geeky by day and sexy half demony by night) who turns out to be just what the moonstone ordered by healing her powers.

It bothers me that Allie's mother, Faye, is so immature. Faye has said that her life was hard and she ran away from home, so how has this not forced her to grow up? She has a teenage daughter but still acts like a kid herself, somehow Allie has grown up as a very mature teenager (or maybe this is exactly what has made her this way). But that aside, I like the little moments of mother daughter interaction we get to see, they really are very good together.

Another little annoyance is how trusting Allie is, even after her mother getting kidnapped and Allie almost getting killed in the first book, she never seems suspicious enough for my liking. If I was her and had Trimarks after me trying to do god-knows-what to get the moonstone, I'd be wary of EVERYbody.

All in all though, this is a nice addition to the Unbidden Magic series and I can't wait to read the next.


Book Depository: Moon Rise
Amazon UK: Moon Rise

Moonstone by Marilee Brothers

A sickly mom. A tiny house trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad-guy dudes with charming smiles. Allie has problems. And then there's that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy and saving the world from evil. Geez.

Welcome to the sad, funny, sometimes-scary world of fifteen-year-old Allie Emerson, who's struggling to keep her and her mom's act together in the small-town world of Peacock Flats, Washington. An electrical zap from a TV antenna sets off Allie's weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows she's being visited by a hippy-dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the town "witch," gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a good-hearted "Star Seeker" is meant to command. "Who, me?" is Allie's first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie realizes she's got a destiny to live up to. If she can just survive everyday life, in the meantime.

This is the first in the Unbidden Magic series. I got the whole series for review from Netgalley so I'm going to do one book at a time in review but publish them all at the same time when I've finished. So, on with the review!

Allie gets a moonstone from the town "witch" because she has the "gift", she finds out this gift having is in fact true. She has telekinetic powers. But they come at a price, people want her moonstone and they'll happily kill her and her family to get it.

I enjoyed Allie, although she did seem a bit naive at the beginning I soon found this wasn't really true. She's been forced to grow up fast after her mother decided she had fibromyalgia (after seeing it on Oprah), so she's not as young as she appears. I'm glad she didn't turn out to be naive and could actually stand up for herself, I'm sick of reading YAs that have a weak, immature, naive main character. I know they're YAs and therefore have kids as the main characters but they should still be strong enough to lead a book.

Brothers has a nice writing style that kept me intrigued and wanting to read the rest of the book (always a bonus!). I can't wait to read the rest of the series, luckily I have them on my kindle all lined up.


Book Depository: Moonstone
Amazon UK: Moonstone