Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts

Monday, August 26, 2013

5 Star #Review for Improper Conduct

5 Ribbon Review! Yeah, how excited am I?!My first review for Improper Conduct! Read the whole review here at Romance Junkies.

Isabel Roman’s new release IMPROPER CONDUCT is a thrilling read that held my attention from beginning to end.  Jules obsession with the series of crimes and her emotional upheaval over the entire situation is riveting, especially when she goes head to head with Callum about her plans regarding the suspect.  I couldn’t help but feel for Callum, as a police chief he has a job to do and has to trust in his officers’ skills, but as a man he wants to ensure that Jules doesn’t succumb to the killer’s seduction attempts.   I’m not normally big on suspense novels, but I have to admit I loved everything about this story – from the mystery of how the killer is getting away with his crimes, right down to the romance between Jules and Callum, even the crimes themselves left me in a state of awe.  This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Roman but I can definitely say it won’t be the last.  

Her next book, SINK OR SWIM doesn’t have a release date yet but it looks just as appealing as IMPROPER CONDUCT so stop by her website and check it out – and while you’re there, be sure to enter her contest for an Amazon Kindle Fire HD. 






Monday, April 8, 2013

#Review Storm Dancer by Rayne Hall

About Rayne:
Rayne Hall has published more than forty books under different pen names with different publishers in different genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Recent books include Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel), Six Scary Tales Vol 1, 2 and 3 (mild horror stories), Six Historical Tales (short stories), Six Quirky Tales (humorous fantasy stories), Writing Fight Scenes, The World-Loss Diet and Writing Scary Scenes (instructions for authors).

She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, Spells: Ten Tales of Magic, Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies and more.  

Rayne has lived in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal and  has now settled in a small dilapidated town of former Victorian grandeur on the south coast of England.


Twitter  (Twitter is my most active social network)

Youtube
Rayne will be awarding an ebook copy of The Colour of Dishonor, Stories from the Storm Dancer World to a commenter on every stop (chosen by the host). One grand prize winner will received the following ten ebooks: Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Beltane: Ten Tales of Magic, Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies, Bites: Ten Tales of Zombies, Six Scary Tales Vol 1, Six Scary Tales Vol 2, Six Scary Tales Vol 3, Six Quirky Tales, Six Historical Tales

Blurb:  

Demon-possessed siege commander, Dahoud, atones for his atrocities by hiding his identity and protecting women from war's violence - but can he shield the woman he loves from the evil inside him?

Principled weather magician, Merida, brings rain to a parched desert land. When her magical dance rouses more than storms, she needs to overcome her scruples to escape from danger.

Thrust together, Dahoud and Merida must fight for freedom and survival. But how can they trust each other, when hatred and betrayal burn in their hearts?

'Storm Dancer' is a dark epic fantasy. British spellings. Caution: this book contains some violence and disturbing situations. Not recommended for under-16s.

Review:
A wonderfully written fantasy story with vivid details and a truly interesting plot that had many levels and meanings. The world Ms. Hall created is fascinating and clearly rendered, and I loved reading about it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters. Immature and insensitive didn't begin to describe them and I had little to no sympathy for either. I will give them this: Dahoud constantly fights his inner demonic djinn and really himself in the process, and Merida at least grows from the woman she was raised as into someone she truly owns.

I also think there needs to be a stronger warning about the level of violence: The caution about some violence and disturbing situations is not strong enough and I would not recommend this for even 16 year olds. This was very much an adult story with disturbing rape scenes and heavily graphic torture scenes.

Overall, I give it 3.5 stars
  

Excerpt:

Even in the shade of the graffiti-carved olive tree, the air sang with heat. Dahoud listened to the hum of voices in the tavern garden, the murmured gossip about royals and rebels. If patrons noticed him, they would only see a young clerk sitting among the lord-satrap's followers, a harmless bureaucrat. Dahoud planned to stay harmless.
 
The tavern bustled with women - whiteseers hanging about in the hope of earning a copper, traders celebrating deals, bellydancers clinking finger cymbals - women who neither backed away from him nor screamed.

The youngest of the entertainers wound her way between the benches towards their table, the tassels on her slender hips bouncing, the rows of copper rings on her sash tinkling with every snaky twist. Since she seemed nervous, as if it was her first show, he sent her an encouraging smile. Ignoring him, she shimmied to Lord Govan.

The djinn slithered inside Dahoud, stirring a stream of fury, whipping his blood into a hot storm. Would she dare to disregard the Black Besieger? What lesson would he teach to punish her insolence?

 Dahoud stared past her sweat-glistening torso, the urge to subdue her washing over him in a boiling wave. For three years, he had battled against the djinn's temptations. To indulge in fantasies would batter his defences and breach his resistance. He focused on the flavours on his tongue, the tart citron juice and the sage-spiced mutton, on the tender texture of the meat. 

Where to Buy:

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wednesday Review: Minotaur Revisited by David Gelber



Legend states that the Minotaur was confined to the Labyrinth, slain by Theseus and then laid to rest by thousands of years of Greek mythology. But, the truth is far different. Read the Minotaur’s own words as he recounts his full life as god, king, warrior, matchmaker, midwife, monk, sage, father, mother, husband and, most of all, witness. The fierce Minotaur lived to see and be a part of the best and worst of humanity during a life spanning thousands of years. Part bull, part human, the Minotaur struggled to find his place in this world and, in the end, left his unique mark on history.




 Review:

This was a tough one. I loved the concept, but felt it dragged a little. One of those on and on stories. But let's start off with the positive: Wow, what a concept! I love mythology, Greek, Roman, Viking, Native American, ancient Japanese, whatever, I love it. And to see a character from mythology working his way through history is pretty cool.

And not so cool. It may be that I've been sick, or it may be that I've been reading other things lately, but this one seemed a little bogged down in the middle. Course, he did go through quite a bit of history (like all of it) and was pretty much everything and everyone he could possibly be. Which did make for interesting changes in perspective.

 All in all, if you want something a little different, enjoy history and mythology, and don't mind it being told from the Minotaur's perspective, then this is the perfect book for you. Not that I know of another Minotaur-type book out there, but all that aside, definitely try this one.

David will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter at the conclusion of the two tours.


About David:

David Gelber, a New York native, is the seventh of nine sons and one of three to pursue medicine. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1980 and went on to graduate medical school in 1984 from the University of Rochester.

He completed his residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, followed by three years as attending surgeon at Nassau County Medical Center in Long Island, N.Y. Gelber has since joined Coastal Surgical Group in Houston, Texas.

Gelber has been a surgeon for more than 20 years, but over the last few years he began to pursue his passion for writing, initially with his debut novel, "Future Hope" (Emerald Book Company, January 2010). The novel speculates about future Earth and what the world might have been like if man had not succumbed to temptation in the Garden of Eden. "Joshua and Aaron" is a sequel to "Future Hope" and follows the battle of wills that transpires between unsung hero Joshua Smith and satanic Aaron Diblonski.

Dr. Gelber has added two books about surgery, "Behind the Mask" and "Under the Drapes", both of which provide the reader with a view of the world of surgery rarely seen by those outside the medical professions.

"Last Light" is an apocalyptic short story which starts off asking the question: "What would happen if nobody ever was sick or injured?"

"Minotaur Revisited" is an entertaining romp through history seen through the eyes of Quint, the famed half bull half man monster of Greek Mythology. It was in October 2012.
 

Gelber was raised in reformed Judaism, but joined the Presbyterian Church 15 years ago. He is married with three teenage children, four dogs and 24 birds of various species. His interests include horse racing, mechanical Swiss watches and, of course, writing.

Monday, February 11, 2013

#Review: Wisteria by Bisi Layton

Bisi Leyton was born in East London in 1978. She grew up in London, Nigeria and the States, listening to the stories life and love from aunts, cousins and big sisters.She lives in London, but has worked around Europe including France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. She has a fondness for reading graphic novels. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Wisteriabooks Current Blog; Old Blog; Twitter; Goodreads





 

Blurb:

Sixteen year old Wisteria Kuti has two options—track the infected around the Isle of Smythe or leave the only known safe haven and face a world infested with flesh eating biters. But even with well-armed trackers, things go wrong and Wisteria ends up alone facing certain death, until she is rescued by the mysterious Bach. Uninfected, Bach is able to survive among the hordes of living dead.

Eighteen year old Bach, from a race known as The Family, has no interest in human affairs. He was sent here to complete his Great Walk and return home as a man—as a Sen Son. The Family regard humans as Dirt People, but Bach is drawn to this Terran girl, whom he has never seen before, but somehow knows.

Hunted by flesh eaters, cannibals, and the mysterious blood thirsty group called Red Phoenix, Wisteria and Bach make their way back to the Isle of Smythe, a community built on secrets and lies.

Review:
I can go either way with a YA book. Some are fantastic and I devour the entire series in a week. Some have the stereotypical teenager I hated in myself and despise in books I wish to read for pleasure. Wisteria fell into the former category. She didn't make me want to scream and beg for it to end, she was a very well-visualized teen. I liked her a lot and felt really awful for her over the abuse and treatment she endured from everyone throughout.

Seriously, I'm amazed she didn't go zombie-psycho on the town. Maybe in book 2...

The zombies were simply the world, the Nero virus how it all started. The story really centered on the characters, however, not the zombies so much.

The rest of the book, however, I had some difficulty with. For instance Bach. As in most all of Bach--his back story, his Family, his speech. Didn't like him at all. Nope. I could have done without his storyline and equally bad treatment of Wisteria. In fact, he's not worthy of being her love interest OR of having a distinct storyline.

Other little things that bothered me were the slang and the lack of description for the Isle of Symthe (Is this a real island? Or one of those places where it's made up like in Hunger Games and Panem?) I had no real physical layout of the place and found myself confused over distances and locations. As for the slang, I'm all for that, don't get me wrong but a little description on what it means would probably have helped. Are these English words? Or the post-apocalyptic world's words?

I'm all for Indie writing, definitely, but I'm also all for editing. I think Ms. Layton needed another pass with a really great editor. There were continuity errors, weird sentence structuring, repetitiveness, and lack of character development until the very very end. Hey, don't get me wrong, there's that in a 'publisher' published book, but again I recommend a great editor to weed some of that out.

Overall I'd give this book 3 stars for the interesting plot, the execution of said plot, and Wisteria. Give it a chance and see for yourself.


Excerpt:
Thirteen months after the first official case of Nero Disease


“Wisteria, run!” Rebecca O’Leary screamed over the radio.

Wisteria Kuti whipped around and came face-to-face with the blood-red eyes of a hungry flesh-eating biter. The biter was a man, infected by Nero Disease, who had long lost his mind. He looked more animal than human and he wanted one thing—to feed on the flesh of uninfected people. The biter growled and staggered toward Wisteria.

She fled down the deserted road to the nearest house. The front door was locked. She kicked at the door, but it didn’t open. Taking out her handgun, she smashed through the window of the door.

“Ugh,” more biters growled behind her.

She spun around, fired once, and hit one in the head. She unlocked the door by reaching in and turning the lock. Once inside, she chained and bolted the door.

Crash—a biter smashed through another window into the house.

Wisteria’s heart jumped and she darted up the stairs as fast as she could.

“Get out of the house, Wisteria!” Rebecca radioed.

I’m trying.

A biter grabbed her ankle as she ran. Falling hard on the steps, she wailed in pain. “Ah.” No time to cry, Wisteria. She fired at the biter holding her. One bullet left.

Three more biters appeared below and started coming up the stairs. Leaping up, she sprinted to the top floor and dashed into the first open doorway that led to the master bedroom. Locking the door, she headed straight for the window.

The infected clawed at the door, tearing it apart and snarling as they entered.

Friday, January 25, 2013

#Review: Bird Brain Books by Emlyn Chand

Today I'm reviewing children's books. As anyone who has read this blog in the past knows, I enjoy reading just about anything. I don't know if these are e-book only, I did read the epub version, but the stories are worth checking out.

The illustrations are exceptional, full color, and beautifully done. The stories are for early readers, beginning chapter books. I feel they're best read with the child, because who doesn't love reading to children? Plus there's a lot to grasp here--the child will take away certain themes and thoughts from the stories, but there is a deeper level that I think the adult will enjoy.

These books aren't simplistic, nor are they heavy-handed morality books that I'd never be able to finish! Rather, they're well written stories that take ideas we're all familiar with and treat them with care; not cliche, not ho-hum, but new takes on the tales we embrace.

About Emlyn:


Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity. Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children's book series and is beginning to dapple in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit EmlynChand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky!









Emlyn will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Honey the Hero



Honey, an inquisitive young parakeet living in the Australian Outback, decides to become a superhero after she spies a human family watching Superman. Since she already has the power of flight, all she needs to do is create a costume to conceal her true identity and then fly off in search of animals that need rescuing.



Unfortunately, every time she tries to help, Honey only ends up making matters worse. She spoils Kangaroo’s game of hide-and-go-seek by revealing his hiding place to Wallaby; Mr. Anteater must go hungry when she alerts the ants to his presence, and Mrs. Koala is made a laughingstock among bears when Honey pretends to be her Joey. Finally realizing that she’s not as heroic as she’d like, Honey gives up her day-saving efforts.



But what happens when someone actually needs Honey’s help? Will she rise to the challenge?

Review:
 What you have here is a bird superhero. Let's face it, superheros are hot no matter how old the child--or the child's gender. And a female super-heroine who likes to help? Neatness all around. I think the major themes of this story would be more appreciated by the parent/guardian-but its stories where both the adult and the child come away with something that make the story worth it. So while the adult can easily see the helping, the fitting in, the wanting to be someone themes, the child will see what it's like to help and be appreciated for it.


Davey the Detective



Davey dubs himself the luckiest crow in the entire world when he finds a wonderful, shiny object. It even has a fantastic name: “paperclip.” Wow!

 

One dark and dreary day, Davey’s treasure goes missing, and he is beside himself with grief. Luckily, he knows just how he can find out which of the forest animals is to blame for the theft. Inspired by the torn pages of a Sherlock Holmes story that were used to fashion his nest, Davey calls on the help of Sarah the sparrow to investigate the mystery and, hopefully, retrieve his prize.



Together the two birds begin to collect clues. Their trail leads them straight to Mr. Bushtail, a greedy squirrel who keeps a giant store of objects in a hollowed-out tree trunk. When Mr. Bushtail refuses to cooperate, the two birds have no choice but to break into his tree house in search of the truth.

Justice will prevail and treasure will be found in this intriguing tale of mystery.
  
Review:
Crow meets Sherlock Holmes, hires on Dr. Watson. Following a trail of clues, solving the mystery with facts not accusations, and finding the missing item; it's all about seeking the truth-- for kids. Perfect.

Poppy the Proud



Poppy is the prettiest peacock in the entire garden, but one day his privileged existence is upset when an all-white peacock is born and promptly named the most beautiful by a smitten flock. Intensely jealous, Poppy no longer knows where he fits in and decides to reclaim his title as the fairest bird in all the land, no matter what it takes.



In a desperate attempt to regain the admiration of his peers, Poppy steals items from the humans that visit his park. He wraps himself in a beautiful silk scarf, wears a series of ornate bangles around his neck, and even tries to dye his feathers with colored dust from a festive Holi celebration. Unfortunately, each of these attempts not only fails to improve his appearance, they actually make it worse. What’s a poor bird to do?



In this compelling tale of self-esteem, pride, and learning what makes each of us special, Poppy the peacock discovers that true beauty lies beneath the feathers.



Review:
It's all about attention, and each of us can relate to that, child or adult. But it's also about accepting others, and poor Poppy has to accept that before he can understand his own specialness. Yup, another lesson for children and adults.




Tommy goes Trick-or-Treating



Tommy is a mischievous little woodpecker who loves to fly to the edge of the forest and watch the people in the nearby suburb. One evening, something strange and exciting happens—people emerge from their houses wearing costumes and carrying colorful buckets with smiling faces on them. What’s even crazier is that they shout a special codeword while standing outside of each house, and are given delicious-looking candy.



Tommy simply must join in the fun. He and his friend, Michael the raccoon, fashion their own costumes and head off to join in the festivities. Thanks to Tommy’s knock-knocking beak and Michael’s quick paws, the duo is able to heist many a candy bar from the unsuspecting homeowners and children.



But are they missing out on the true spirit of Halloween?

Review:
The phrase "Don't be greedy" would be apropos here, but maybe a little strong. The story isn't that heavy handed, which is what makes all these stories worth reading. I hate those bang over your head types of stories! Once again, Ms. Chand has brought an interesting story with a two-fold theme that is sure to catch the attention of child and adult alike.

Courtney Saves Christmas

Courtney is a peppy young penguin who just loves exploring, and is overjoyed when she receives a compass from Santa on Christmas morning. She’s so grateful for the gift, in fact, that she just needs to give Santa a great big hug and say “Thank you!” in person. The only problem is she lives in the South Pole, and Santa is all the way on the other side of the globe!

With the aid of her new compass, Courtney sets off on a journey that takes her almost an entire year. By the time she reaches Santa’s workshop, the elves are in a flurry preparing for the upcoming holiday. Unfortunately, Rudolph is feeling very sick—too sick to guide the sleigh. If Courtney can’t find a way to help, Christmas will be ruined and all the children of the world will be devastated. What’s a little penguin to do?
  
Review:

Who doesn't love helping? Saving the day? Just like Honey the Hero, Courtney is called up to step in. And why is a penguin in the North Pole you ask? Because she received a beautiful Christmas gift and just had to thank Santa--how thoughtful is that? When do we take the time to say thank you, let alone travel so far to do so? Lots going on here...

Goddess Fish Blog Tour Partner

Goddess Fish Blog Tour Partner
Goddess Fish Blog Tour Partner