Something SUPER is coming to Alice in Readerland! For the first time ever, I’m having a special two-part post that will review two books from a series, interview the author, and host a giveaway! This week, I’m reviewing Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula as well as Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift, which can be seen below. Be sure to check back next week to read my interesting interview with Cassidy Jones Adventures author, Elise Stokes, and find out how you can win your very own ebook of the first Cassidy Jones Adventure, Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula! (To help keep up with the interview and giveaway news, you can also follow me on Twitter or click the ‘Follow’ button on the right side of this page.)

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“Something Strange Has Happened To Cassidy Jones, And Her Life May Never Be The Same Again…

Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Jones wakes up the morning after a minor accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist to discover that her body has undergone some bizarre physical changes. Her senses, strength, and speed have been radically enhanced.

 After exploring her newfound abilities, Cassidy learns that the geneticist, Professor Serena Phillips, is missing and that foul play is suspected. Terrified that her physical changes and Professor Phillips’ disappearance are somehow connected, Cassidy decides to keep her strange transformation a secret. That is, until she meets the professor’s brilliant and mysterious fifteen-year-old son, Emery. An unlikely duo, they set out to find Emery’s mother, who is key in explaining Cassidy’s newly acquired superpowers.

 Their lives are put at risk when they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous, action-packed adventure. Soon they are forced to confront a maniacal villain willing to do anything—including murder—to reach his own ambitious goals.”

Title: Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula (Cassidy Jones Adventures #1)

Author: Elise Stokes

Publisher: JACE Publishing LLC

ASIN: B004GB1FIK

Cassidy Jones just thought she was going on another boring interview with her father to visit the peculiar Professor Phillips; what she didn’t know was that she would be gaining superpowers. As the wooden stool Cassidy sits on at the professor’s laboratory breaks, she smashes into the beakers on the burners, inhaling the vaporized liquids. Cassidy hits her head, and even though her Dad gets her to the hospital to get stitches, she can’t help but think that Professor Phillips is acting a little too fascinated with what happened to her. Once arriving at the hospital, Cassidy’s deep wound has somehow turned only into a surface wound, and even more mysterious then that, the next day the wound is entirely gone from Cassidy’s forehead. But that’s just the first of the strange things that Cassidy starts to realize when she wakes up; she moves swift as a gymnast, can jump several feet in the air, her splash of freckles are gone, she can hear people talking from far away, her eyes can zoom in on things like a microscope, and she keeps smelling pancakes two doors down from her house.

But suddenly, Cassidy receives even more disturbing news: Professor Phillips lab has caught on fire and the professor is missing! Throw in the professor’s son, Emery, who is as mysterious as his mother; secret-missions; a kidnapping; a whole lot of action; and you’ve got yourself a fascinating plot.

Wonderfully written with fast pacing that may even rival Cassidy’s super speed, this is one book that will hold your curiosity until the end. I also liked how girls can easily identify with Cassidy. Yes, she may have superpowers. Yes, she may be the only one who can go up against the devious villain and actually win. But she’s also a fourteen-year-old girl: She has mood-swings (due to adrenaline crashes after using her superpowers), deals with bullies, fights with her brother, worries about the boy she has a crush on, and tries to finally beat the mean, popular girl at school in P.E.

Packed with hilarious scenes, action-adventure, and enough surprises to keep you guessing, you’ll definitely want to read Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula.

“An ancient secret has come to life, and everyone on the planet is at risk…

Two months after being infected with a strange retrovirus, Cassidy Jones continues to live a double life while she struggles to master her newly gained superpowers. High school has become the only normal thing left in her life—except for tall, dark, and handsome Emery Phillips, who shadows her every move, making sure she doesn’t reveal her secret. Then an overnight sleepover at Catamount Mountain Zoo takes a menacing turn, putting everything at risk.”

Title: Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift (Cassidy Jones Adventures #2)

Author: Elise Stokes

Publisher: JACE Publishing LLC

ASIN: B006HYLY3K

The biggest thing that Cassidy Jones is worried about SnOOZe, the Catamount Mountain Zoo’s sleepover fundraiser, is that she’ll be able to control her superpower impulses (racing cheetahs and arm-wrestling the gorilla aren’t exactly normal behavior), or perhaps, her fear of snakes. But what starts out as a care-free day of her tracking scents ends in hysteria. After tracking the scent to Roga, the tiger, she tunes into a zookeeper telling Roga that one day he’ll spring her free. Cassidy and Emery decide not to say anything, and instead focus on keeping Cassidy’s little brother, Chazz entertained by the indoor animal show. Everything goes smoothly, until the lights are turned out, the doors are locked, bats are let loose, the python is left free to slither across the floor (that is, until Cassidy straddles it and holds it in place), and they receive the news that Roga has escaped.

Feeling responsible, Cassidy and Emery vow to track Roga. But instead, what discover in the woods isn’t the tiger; it’s a man in a mysterious silver suit who seems to have some sort of super powers too. They also run into the famous television Big Game host, Leroy Rays, who tries to shoot Cassidy with tranquilizer darts, believing she’s some sort of animal in her fur coat.

So all they have to do is 1) Find out who or what the silver suit is, 2) find the tiger, and 3) avoid, or maybe confront, the group of sasquatch enthusiasts swarming the woods because they believe that Cassidy is sasquatch. Or do these problems somehow all tie together?

Not only is this book filled with action-packed scenes that hold so many twists-and-turns, the well-described settings of the zoo and woods will keep you fascinated. While trying to solve the mystery, there are also so many hilarious scenes, including Cassidy in a Chewbacca costume, the Sasquatch enthusiasts, and a rather unfortunate 1968 Camaro. What I also liked about this book is that we get to see more characters explored, not only do we get to see Cassidy gain more confidence, but we also see more of Cassidy’s neighbor: the bum, self-serving, Jason Crenshaw.

Fans of Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula are sure to love Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift.

Extras:

Be sure to come back next week, Monday, September 3^rd, to see my interview with author Elise Stokes and to find out how you can win your own ebook of Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula! (To help keep up with the interview and giveaway news, you can also follow me on Twitter or click the ‘Follow’ button on the right side of this page.)

In the meantime, be sure to visit the Cassidy Jones website, Twitter, and Facebook!