Waiting on Wednesday: The Countdown (The Taking #3) by Kimberly Derting

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week it is the 3rd book in a series that I really have enjoyed. My reviews for them are here:  The Taking and The Replaced.  And here is the blurb from Goodreads for the 3rd book in the series:

She may no longer be human…but she’s their only hope.

Every morning since she was abducted and then returned to Earth, Kyra Agnew has felt a searing pain in her gut. It’s as unavoidable as the dawn and comes like clockwork. Too busy running from a shady government agency and rescuing Tyler, the boy she loves, Kyra hasn’t had enough energy to focus on what the strange, stabbing sensation could mean. Then Kyra is captured by an unexpected enemy who knows exactly what the pain is: a signal that time is running out. The aliens are coming, and Kyra fears they will destroy everyone in their path.

As much as she hates to admit it, technically, Kyra is an alien too—they replaced all of her human DNA with their own. But in doing so, the aliens gave her supernatural gifts, like incredible healing, enhanced eyesight, and telekinetic powers. Now Kyra has to wonder…are her new abilities actually a curse? Is she, as her captors believe, meant to play some key role in helping the alien invasion? Is it programmed into her, something inescapable? Or can she fight that destiny?

No matter what the truth is, Kyra is sure of one thing. She just got Tyler back and she is not going to stand by and let anyone hurt him or her friends. Whatever it takes, Kyra will do everything in her power to save the world…even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Have you read this series yet?  Are you as excited for then next book as I am?  What book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: The Replaced (The Taking #2) by Kimberly Derting

First, thanks to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I was happy to get this early since I got to read the first one, The Taking, as an e-galley as well.  If you haven't read the first one, this will definitely have some spoilers.  The last one left you hanging and waiting to know what would happen next!

We pick up shortly after the end of the first book.  When we left off, her new boyfriend, Tyler, her father, and the horrible Agent Truman had all disappeared when the fireflies and bright lights went away.  Kyra had to go live in the camps with the other "Returned" as they called themselves because she'd learned that her blood really was toxic to her friends and family. That is part of why she'd tried to get the aliens to take Tyler in the first place, so that they could save him.  But now she's waiting with them for any sign about where Tyler and her father went.  Normally people are returned in about 48 hours.  Kyra was different, being gone for five years.  And as we've learned, she even has some differences from the others.  Like she can heal much quicker.  However it seems there is no word from either her dad or Tyler.  But soon there is something out there, a cryptic message that seems to maybe be from her dad.  And then a message from the NSA about an unknown boy who has shown up.  So Kyra decides she has to go to where they are supposed to have found the boy.  Even if it is a trap, she has to know.  She feels it was her fault he got taken in the first place. 

Along the way they will stay at some other camps, ones where there is history between the leaders of the camps, between Simon, the camp she first was at, Thom, from the latest camp, and even one more, Griffin.  They will run into their nemesis on their search.  Griffin, not a guy, a beautiful girl actually.  And there will be some strange things going on when they find out if Kyra's dad or Tyler made it.  It seems maybe there is now not only the "Returned", but people like Kyra who are more what they call "Replaced".  You'll have to read the book yourself to find out out what that means, and if Tyler and Kyra will be reunited.  And will you want them to be?  Simon seems to have feelings for Kyra, whether she wants him to or not. And he will make her think about whether the strength of her connection to Tyler is real, or if it is just based on her guilty feeling for exposing him to her blood and having him need to be rescued by the aliens.  And it won't just be Agent Truman they have to deal with, but also there is a traitor within the Returned. 

As I've noticed, and I think mentioned in the past, the second book is often what seems to be an "on the road" or traveling story.  This one definitely has that feel.  But it was good. We got a lot of good information about the aliens, as well as their history here on Earth with this book.  And we got a look at what might be their next move with humans.  Enough so that I again am left hanging and waiting for the next book to come out, which has no release date set as of yet, but I'm hoping for this time next year!

I did get to meet the author last year shortly after I read the book, here is the picture of me with her!

While you're here, go check out my giveaway on one of my A to Z Challenge posts, like my R Post yesterday!

Review: The Taking by Kimberly Derting

First of all thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I thought it sounded really good, and then was even more excited to read it when I found out Kimberly Derting is supposed to be one of the authors at the panel I might be getting to lead in May.  And let me say this, even though the book doesn't come out until April, I am already needing there to be a sequel!  While there isn't one listed yet on Goodreads, the fact that it has in parentheses: The Taking #1, makes me know that I won't be disappointed!

The main character is Kyra, and she is a softball player and we begin with her team having just won the championship.  She's so excited and ready to go the celebration with her best friend Cat and boyfriend Austin.  But she promised her dad she would ride to the celebration with him because he had something important to talk to her about.  On the drive they get in an argument over what college she should go to.  Kyra's dream is to go to college with her boyfriend.  Her dad of course wants her to go to one of the good colleges that is offering her scholarships for her softball.  They keep fighting until Kyra orders her father to stop the car and she will walk the rest of the way.  As she gets out, her father also gets out to try to convince her to get back in the car.  All of a sudden there is a really bright light, and she hears her father yelling for her, and then there is nothing.

When she wakes up she is behind a gas station.  She's not sure how she ended up there, why she would spend the night behind the gas station.  So she walks home.  As she walks home, things in her town are the same, but something seems off, she can't quite put her finger on it.  When she gets to her house, she realizes she'd left all her stuff in her dad's car, so she reaches in the hiding place for the house key, and it isn't there.  She looks in the window and sees a little boy she doesn't recognize in her house.  Then a man comes to the window.  When he opens the door, she asks why they are in her house.  Nothing is figured out, so she goes across the street to her boyfriend Austin's house.  His mom is there.  So she feels at least like things aren't completely wrong.  But then she finds out it is 5 years later than the day she last remembers.

Everything is changed.  Her mom and dad are separated, that kind of thing is always traumatizing to married couples it would seem.  Part of the problem is that her father is so sure that she was "taken" or abducted by aliens.  And he has really gone a bit crazy with all of his research.  Her mother is now remarried, and the man and little boy at her house are her new stepfather and younger brother.  All Kyra has thought about since she got back was seeing her boyfriend Austin, and then of course finding her best friend Cat.  They are now 22, and so away at college.  But things have changed with them.  Something that is even more changed is Austin's younger brother Tyler.  Tyler is now basically the same age as Kyra, since she doesn't seem to have aged at all.  And he looks a lot like Austin, she almost mistakes him for Austin at first.  But while things have changed in the world around her, she has changed as well, even while staying the same age with the same bruise from the day before, and the same tan lines.  Food doesn't taste the same to her.  When she tries to throw a softball, she throws it so hard it busts through a wooden wall.  And there is an NSA agent bugging her.

Kyra must figure out what happened, where was she for 5 years?  Why is there an NSA agent after her?  Is it okay to have these feelings that seem to be developing for Tyler?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat.  Was she abducted by aliens?  Or not?  What did they do to her if she was abducted?  How will she fit into this new world that has gone on without her for 5 years?  And the ending?  Wow!!!!!  I can't believe it ended like that!  I don't know if I can wait a year or however long it is until a sequel comes out.  I am going to have to talk to this publisher about letting me on the list to get a copy of the sequel as an e-galley or ARC.  Love, love, loved this book!!!!