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Friday, August 1, 2014

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #14: The Nightmare Dilemma by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Dilemma
Author: Mindee Arnett
Format Acquired: Hardcover
Publication Date: March 4 2014
Publishing House:  Tor Teen
ISBN: 9780765333349
Source of Copy: Gifted by Louisse from The Soul Sisters

Summary: 


Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn't make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school's jokester, Lance Rathbone is accused of the crime, Dusty's as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that's easier said than done. Eli's dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies.

To make matters worse, Dusty's ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty's heart.

As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they're connected to something bigger. And there's something wrong with Eli's dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have imagined.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 


Note that The Nightmare Dilemma is sequel to The Nightmare Affair which was reviewed HERE.

When one of Dusty's friends is attacked and accusing eyes are cast on resident jock Lance Rathbone, Dusty is doubtful of Lance's participation in the heinous crime. She's all set to find out who the real perpetrator is but it's not as easy as it seems. The dreams she shares with Eli are no help either seeing as how they're more nightmare than prophecy. To complicate things even more Dusty's ex-boyfriend is back and he's all about trying to get back into Dusty's good graces just as Eli's all set to capture Dusty's heart.

The Nightmare Dilemma is as entertaining and enjoyable as its predecessor. The summary might be a little misleading - with Paul making an appearance, you'd think that a love triangle was in the making. Fear not because nothing really ever happens between Dusty and Paul, aside from making Eli jealous. Which is good; jealous Eli amused me.

Dusty is still as funny as she was in the first book. She's developing her powers as well as nurturing her budding relationship with Eli. It was glorious, really. I ship them so hard. Dusty is an amusing character, she's also real and human (as human as a nightmare can be) and she doesn't have a hero complex going on. She's got rad powers and wields a super sword but that doesn't mean she's going to jump in headfirst into danger, totally disregarding her life. No. She makes rash decisions sometimes but come on, don't we all?

In the second book she also has to deal with Eli and Selene keeping secrets from her. Selene and her nightly forays and Eli with his hot and cold attitude towards their relationship. It's pretty obvious that Eli wants her too. You're not fooling anyone Eli! Paul too is trying to get Dusty to trust him again. After the events of the first book, it's hard to not cast suspicion on everything Paul does but I feel like he's genuinely remorseful about his actions.

The pacing of the book was great with decent helpings of mystery and romance. But that ending? The way the romance was heading has me worried. Don't do anything to ruin my OTP please. I beg of you. All in all The Nightmare Dilemma is a solid sequel and I cannot wait for the next installment.

Rating: 





"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Obviously this week's feature is The Nightmare Dilemma. I actually made nail art for the Nightmare Affair too and if you want to check that out you can visit my nail art tumblr HERE or my instagram HERE

Nail polish used: 
OPI Keeping Suzi at Bay

I used white acrylic for everything else. Freehand yo!



I would have used black but the blue base was a little too dark.



See Excalibur? And the castle? And the tree? Yeah. I like how they turned out. Not too shabby.


Here they are with the book.


Huzzah! Hope you liked this mani. I've been doing a lot of freehand designs recently and you can check out my recent work over at my Instagram. I did Divergent nails which I'm oddly proud of.



                       

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