The Mind Readers [Kindle Edition]

The Mind Readers follows Cameron Winters. Cameron lives in a small town in Maine with her Grandmother. The secret that she & her grandmother share, that they can read minds, causes a daily struggle for Cameron to fit in with her peers. One tragic day she sees the dead body of her friend and hears her murderer. Lewis Douglas, a young gorgeous stranger who she believes to be the killer suddenly comes along. Lewis shows an interest in Cameron like no one else ever has. He treats her like she is normal. When everyone finds out Cameron's secret she goes away with Lewis to find others like her who will teach her who she could be if she trained.

Cameron has to struggle with her beliefs of right and wrong. She contends with her Grandmother's wishes to keep who & what they are a secret as well. In the beginning of this book, I found Cameron to be a little bit annoying. She had a tendency to be whiny while only using her gift to be friends with the most popular kids in school. Finally, in the middle of the book, Cameron starts showing some back bone and begins to stand up for herself. I love the way the author keeps you guessing throughout the entire book.

Cameron grows up so much from the beginning to the end of this book. She finally realizes the kind of person that she wants to be. I found myself heart broken along with Cameron when she finally makes a decision concerning Lewis. The author does a great job of making you feel the emotions of Cameron. I liked that more than just the main character is complex.

Lets talk a little bit about the other characters in this great book. Lewis is very surprising to me. He has such amazing depths to his character. Maddox had my attention from the first minute that he was introduced in this book. He had an atmosphere of danger along something hiding under the surface that has not been polished. Aaron also peaked my interest, but in other ways. He didn't come off as trust worthy. I could never tell who was telling the truth or who I should be cheering on. The characters that missed the mark were Cameron's high school friends. There was not much dimension to them, not too surprising from shallow high schoolers.

Well I would recommend that you defiantly take a look at this book. With equal parts romance, action, murder mystery, and paranormal aspects you will not be disappointed. The characters are well written as are the scenes. There is a killer cliffhanger that will leave you wanting more. I can not wait to see what the future will bring for Cameron in the sequel

**The is a 4.5 Review**

When I was in the fourth grade my teacher posed a very interesting question. "Think about this long and hard" she said to us while scribbling the question across the chalkboard. "Because...no matter your answer, there are always repercussions."

The question was: "If you could have ANY super-power, what would it be and why?"

Not such difficult a question right? Wrong. See, the tricky part comes in the second part of her statement, not necessarily the question itself. "There are always repercussions."

Now, being in the fourth grade I didn't really concern myself with the inevitable repercussions Ms. Keister was referring to. I picked "Stop Time" because I wanted to check out (very stealthily) the really cute boy in the front of the class, but as I got older I finally started to understand the meaning of the original question, and why she worded it the way that she did. It was to teach a lesson; that regardless of how invincible we think we are, not matter our strength, our abilities or our beauty...everything you do or say will cause and action an a re-action.

The reason I bring this up (besides it being a very convenient tie-in) is because Cameron from "The Mind Readers" (by Lori Brighton) had to learn this the hard way. She was given a gift, and if used incorrectly, this gift had very horrifying repercussions.

Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth ...that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers. But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron's abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she'll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.

First, let me talk about the characters, (cause let's face it, if they are flat the whole damn book is sure to be a flop.) Cameron was about as solid a character as I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Her exterior dialogue fit well with her inner turmoil, (which is sometimes difficult to do if you have a million things going on at once - aka the mind reading) and though the plot offered up several "opportunities" that could have (very easily) swallowed Cameron's personality whole (or at the very least morphed it) her original values stood their ground. (This is a mark of solid character development and quality writing.)

As for the 2 men in the story (Max and Aaron) ...WOW!

While I'm sure your first thought was, "great...another love triangle" let me assure you that THAT is not the case at all. BUT...that doesn't mean that the two don't hold very integral pieces to the plot that surrounds Cameron and what she believe to be "true." (Let's just say they add the mystery to the story.)

So...what about the plot?

Well, like I stated above, Cameron is faced with probably one of the hardest questions of all: Does she use her powers for good or evil? The problem however appears when she's not sure which is which. Her journey to discover the difference is what drives the book and makes it worth the time you'll spend reading it.

This read spans several genres of literature (paranormal, mystery, romance, sci-fi) so if you are a fan of 1 or all of these, chances are you will like it too. My only warning...it is the first in a series and YES...it ends with you hanging over a cliff. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: life is too short to read crappy books.

Click image for additional details.

First thing you have to keep in mind when reading this book is that it is only 170 pages long aka very short. With that in mind, the pacing of the story was not too bad. Yes, everything did feel rushed, but I wasn't too upset about it.

What I was upset about is the main character. She's confused, really confused and trusts no one. As the heroine of the story, I should be able to relate to her to some degree, but I found myself more annoyed. She is constantly going back and forth with her trust, her feelings, and just her grasp on what is going on. That being said, the turmoil and metal state of mind was truly well expressed. If the author was trying to have me feel just as lost as Cameron, she did a great job. Her redeeming quality is that she sticks by her morals. The struggle between self-preservation and her morals is probably the only thing I found myself liking about Cameron.

In truth, I found myself more attached to the support characters such as Caroline and Olivia, two "students" of Aaron's school for those of abilities. They bring the story into prospective. They are the truly wise and tortured souls of this story, not Cameron. If it weren't for those two, I'm pretty sure that Cameron would have been stuck in her happy bubble.

But please, don't go thinking this is like X-Men because I mentioned a school for those with abilities. It kind of is, but it really isn't. This is a story completely on it's own.

And Lewis... well, I'm not even going to touch on that subject. Let's just say that if you've read my other reviews then you know how I feel about instalove. No matter if there is an explanation for it, I don't like it.

Overall, it wasn't a bad read. I wouldn't mind recommending it to someone younger than myself, but for me, it just didn't cut it. And I can't say for certainty that I'll be getting a copy of the second book.