L'Landra's Tale: Riding The Storm Out by Leandra Martin Review

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.

"The storm is coming and they must ride it out.
It has been three years since the last devastating battle with the Krall. The base is complete and thriving, and the civilians have begun building new homes around the base. All is quiet and, as far as they know, there is finally peace.
But an arriving stranger throws the base into upheaval. Along with a derelict ship, an unknown disease, and the threat of a zealot general who could possibly be greater than the Krall ever were, L’Landra must fight her way out of imprisonment and race against the clock to prepare her base for yet another war. One that could be their last.
Together with the help of friends and family, she fights for her people and freedom from tyranny, in a raucous ride over one obstacle then another. What will they find on the ship? What ills will they suffer at the hands of yet another group who want to dominate them? And will they survive another war without losses too great to come back from? Join L’Landra and her people as they battle the storm that’s coming and fight their way to true freedom."

The cover of Riding The Storm Out is a major relief to me. Remember the covers of A New Day for the Dauntless and its sequel? Well, those are just plain horrible compare to this one. It's appealing (compared to the previous two books) and interesting (especially with the clones and starship in the background). (Sorry if I rush because I'm doing this review pretty fast and furious.) 

All the problems from the previous two novels appear again! The quickly written plot, the speedy events, the small mentions of the synopsis that isn't the main events happening within the book, the odd grammar errors, the mysterious history of humans (what happen to Earth?), and the small character developments. Yep they are all there. But there's addition problems that arises as the plot goes on. 

New Problems: I'm annoyed by how the plot goes. Not because of how fast-paced it is (although that is still annoying), but because of how ridiculous and annoying the situations the plot reveals. (Yeah, I blame the plot for going in the wrong direction, although it is partially the character's fault too, but sometimes plot moves character.) Oh, yeah, I'm kind of bored as the story goes on, because there is obviously parallel events. 

Character develop is as annoying. I'm not going to go into that, but know that it involves the spy, the main character, and some other people. 

Riding the Storm isn't that bad, from my POV. It's quite good (and bad), but there's some major changes that need to take place if it is to get any better than it is. 

The title is a bit odd, because the last book was named "Ghost, Present, and Future" and then the first book was named "L'Landra's Tale: A New Day For the Dauntless." So is the title of the second book going to change?

Rating: Two out of Five. 

Ghosts, Past and Future by Leandra Martin Review

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads. (Sorry guys, I'm a bit behind on my reviews because there's a lot of them [lazy!]) 

"It is two and a half years since the last battle with the Krall. 

The Dauntless is put to rest, and the remaining civilians rebuild using the deserted Krall outpost. A new era has arrived, and L'Landra struggles to keep up with it all. Dalton is in her life. She wishes for a life forever with him, but a new man makes her unsure that he really is the one. Will she choose this new rogue or pick Dalton too late and lose him forever? Will she be able to find all the answers to her uncertain future?

Meanwhile, a ghost ship brings confusion, and Colicos and the Krall are back stronger than ever, with new secrets yet to reveal. When L'Landra's ship goes down during battle and she disappears, the base is sent into a tail spin of uncertainty and chaos. Will they find L'Landra alive? Will they be able to fight off the Krall and their new technology? Or will they surrender themselves over to the enemy for good this time?"

Oh, the second book in this series. I find it slightly amusing that Ghost, Past, and Future is labeled as "finale" to this series. Truth is, this series is a trilogy unless there's a book I don't know about. 

Ghost, Past, and Future has a little more character development compared to the previous book. (I know, I'm out of order, but character development is all I can think about at this moment). L'Landra grows a bit, but I'm more focus on the love of her life, Dalton. Dalton, now that's a biggie. Okay, Dalton, first of all, is the biggest idiot in the entire galaxy. Even worse, he's arrogant and charming, all the horrible characteristic put in one person. (Okay, arrogant and charming can be quite hot, but not in this book). One, (ladies, please subtract points as you listen to negative traits) Dalton waited two freaking years to tell L'Landra you-know-what. Two, Dalton undergo this major character change that change his entire view on the world. Three, Dalton has the biggest ego that I've ever seen (other than movie James Bond with the ladies). Four, Dalton can't freaking admit his feelings to L'Landra (I know I'm saying this again, but this is big). 

I hate how the author gives us a new love interest only to be taken away close to the end of the book. Don't you hate how authors do that? 

I know I failed to mention this in the last review of this series, because I thought this thing wasn't a big deal, but it comes up again. I want to know where in the world am I when I'm reading this book. An alternate universe? Obviously, a different planet than Earth. Different galaxy? I don't like being lost as a reader. 

Ghosts, Past, and Future's plot is just as quick and fast as A New Day for the Dauntless (doesn't that remind you of Divergent?). There's still easy errors that can be fixed and the targeted audience needs to change. (Maybe the author can republish it under a different name and title and change it up a bit). Still, the foundation of A New Day for the Dauntless is solid ground for a sequel. 

Rating: Three out of Five

L'Landra's Tale: A New Day for the Dauntless by Leandra Martin Review

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.

"A planet destroyed. A race of people looking for a new home. A woman struggling to find her place in the universe is thrown into the responsibility of being the savior of her race. She had run away once, feeling the weight of too much responsibility drowning her, but now she had to return to finish what she started, before the nightmares overtook her. As the youngest woman to ever be assigned as a Captain of a battleship, the Dauntless is now in L'Landra's care and finding a new planet to start over is her only goal. Time is running out. Her people are hungry, and she must face the odds of losing more souls to starvation and sickness before she can find a stable home. The enemy is always lurking. Not knowing when they will strike, she must continue to move forward and be ready for anything that comes their way. Along the way, she finds comfort from family and friends and understands her purpose for being thrown back into the very thing that caused her to run away so many years before. A handsome rogue finds his way into her heart. Can she get him to admit his love, or will she forever be wondering whether love will be part of her life?" 

Let's just call this book A New Day for the Dauntless, cutting off the beginning part of the title. To be truthful, A New Day For the Dauntless isn't very bad. It's just... I'll explain it in more detail. Anyway, this book is... Well, I'll explain it to, just not in this paragraph. 

First of all, the cover. To many people's eyes, not just my own, the cover isn't the best it could be. It's a little unusual and strange. Remember the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well, I'm afraid that's what people aren't doing. The colors of orange-red and purple are odd together. The outfit of the woman on the cover doesn't seem very captain-ish, assuming she is L'Landra. 

What else? Oh yeah. This book is totally targeting the wrong audience. Seriously, a thirty or so women shouldn't be describe as a heroine for a Young Adult book. Katniss Everdeen has the right age for a YA book, not thirty years old, but sixteen-seventeen years old. This book should be targeting... Hmm...put in some dirty language and some kissing scenes and change the targeted audience. Make it Adult instead of YA. 

Pretending the cover and targeted audience is okay and normal, I still see some room for improvement. The author could have edited the book more because the errors are slightly annoying and almost appears frequently. The plot is much better, but it goes by so quickly. The events are quickly and crazily written. The writing is good that I happen to have the will to read the next two books. 

The characters are good, but I'm not so sure about the character growth. Some of L'Landra's humor fades as the book expands the mysterious world, but it's not very much. Other characters are eh... 

Rating: Three out of Five