(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After a painful breakup with her childhood sweetheart, Jessie Taylor wants nothing to do with love.  The 25-year-old accountant has dated a little since arriving in Seattle three years ago, but all that's done is convince her that her perfect man does not reside in the Emerald City.  Not that she's looking for him.  Because she's not.  And if she was, she certainly wouldn't be searching for him on an online dating site.  No way.  She may be in a bit of a love slump, but she's not totally desperate.  Yet.  

Jessie's mortified when she discovers that she does, in fact, have an active profile on LDS Lookup.  Thanks to her pesky roommate, Jessie's become a hot item on the Mormon dating site.  She's seconds away from deleting her account altogether when one guy catches her eye:  Ben Bratton.  His profile picture is fuzzy, but his description of himself seems almost ... normal.  Jessie takes a chance and it pays off.  Ben is normal.  In fact, he's kind of incredible.  Does she dare get to know him better?  Can her trampled heart take any further abuse?  And what about her intense work schedule—if she spends all her time with Ben, how is she going to prove to her boss that she deserves the promotion he just gave her?  And, the biggest question of all:  Is Ben worth the risk?

Twitterpated by Melanie Jacobson is another fun, lighthearted read about a 20-something Mormon girl finding love online (Jacobson knows of which she speaks—she met her husband on an LDS dating site).  The story gets predictable, of course, and a bit contrived, but like I said, it's entertaining.  I would have liked more conflict, (it almost seemed like Jessie had to invent reasons not to be with Ben), as well as better character development, (Ben had no discernible personality and Jessie was a little too independent to win my sympathy) and a little more story (the subplots didn't get enough playing time for me).  Overall, though, Twitterpated is another upbeat, enjoyable romance from an author who actually makes me excited about the future of LDS fiction.  Jacobson's got a lot of exciting projects coming up.  I, for one, can't wait to see what she does next.         

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Melanie's other books, The List and Not My Type; also of My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions by Becca Wilhite)     

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for very mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I bought Twitterpated from Deseret Book with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

When 20-year-old Michael Shipman wakes up in a hospital bed, he's confused.  He can't remember where he's been for the last two weeks or why he now needs medical care.  Vague images of an empty, hollow city are the only memories swimming through his muddled mind.  Michael has no idea what happened to him, but he knows who's responsible—Them.  Of course, the doctors don't believe in Them.  They might even be Them.  He can't trust his medical team any more than he can trust anyone.  His best bet is to convince the doctors he's healthy and get the heck out of Dodge.

But, Michael's not going anywhere.  Especially not after the authorities name him as a suspect in a string of grisly murders in the Chicago area.  Michael can't remember killing anyone, but then, he can't remember not killing anyone either.  The voices in his head say he couldn't have harmed another person.  They say lots of things, not all of which are real.  In fact, the longer he stays in the mental hospital to which he's now confined, the less anything makes sense at all.

In his heart, Michael knows he's not a killer.  And yet, he's pretty sure his alarm clock will attack him if he doesn't keep it covered.  What is real?  What's only true in his head?  In order to save himself, Michael must figure it out before he's condemned to a lifetime of incarceration in a mental hospital—or worse.

The Hollow City, the newest adult novel by horror writer Dan Wells, is a riveting mind-twister.  I don't want to spoil it by saying too much, so I'll just tell you that I loved this entertaining psychological/supernatural thriller.  To me, it's more compelling, more entertaining, and a whole lot less gruesome than Wells' John Cleaver series.  I may be in the minority here, but I really think The Hollow City is Wells' best novel to date.   It's my favorite, anyway.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of Dan Wells' John Cleaver series [I Am Not A Serial Killer; Mr. Monster; I Don't Want to Kill You] and a teensy bit of Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson)

Grade:  B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG-13 for mild language (no F-bombs), violence/gore and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The Hollow City from the generous folks at Tor/Forge.  Thank you!

**Don't forget that you can win yourself a copy of this excellent psychological/supernatural thriller.  Click here to enter the giveaway.  It ends on August 15th, so don't delay!         

First off, I want to announce the winner of One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf.  It's Linda Brower.  Congratulations, Linda!  If you would please send your snail mail address to me at blogginboutbooksATgmailDOTcom, I'll pass it on to the publicist, who will send the book to you.  

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway.  If you didn't win this time, don't despair.  You can still enter to win a copy of Dan Wells' new psychological/supernatural thriller, The Hollow City by clicking here.  And, of course, you must stay tuned because I will definitely be hosting more book giveaways in the near future.