Review 21: There Goes the Bride

There Goes the Bride. Catherine Mann/Joanne Rock. 2015. [May] Tule Publishing. 139 Pages. [Source: Netgalley eArc]

First sentence:  Lindsey Ballard wasn’t superstitious.

Premise/Plot:  From Amazon - Hair stylist Lindsey Ballard hates answering questions about her family's country music roots in Nashville. She's been avoiding music producer, Myles Emery, at all costs, who's trying to write a book on her famous relative. But he can't get to her today. It's her wedding day. Or so she thought...

When Lindsey suddenly needs to call off the ceremony to Atlanta's popular mayoral candidate, she makes her getaway with the persuasive producer, all the while trying to ignore the chemistry between them that had never existed with her ex.

Myles Emery has his own reasons for needing the truth about a country music legend-secrets the Ballard family keeps closely guarded. But when he happens to catch Lindsey running out on her wedding, he knows his luck is about to change. Too bad Myles wants Lindsey on first sight and the attraction is making it complicated to stay on task. "Uncovering her secrets" begins to take on a whole new, delectable meaning...

My thoughts: Sweet, short, simple.  Those sum up my feelings for this book.  It is a nice relaxing romantic novella.  You have the bride running away on her wedding day and meeting her real Prince Charming.  This really was a by the book romance with the added twist of the mystery surrounding Lindsey’s step-grandmother.  All in all I would say go for this if you want a nice relaxing non stressful afternoon of reading.

Rating 7.5/10

Recommendation- Fans of the series Runaway Brides, novella fans, romance fan, all will enjoy this book

*I received a digital review copy for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Review 20: Man Eaters: The Last Refuge

Man Eaters: The Last Refuge. Thomas Jacob. 2015. [April] CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 216 Pages. [Source:Amazon Purchase]

First sentence: The KG-D6 experiment is a success!

Premise/Plot: From Goodreads - The age of man is over. The age of the man eater has begun.

It's Year 3 of the Great Infection and the human race is on the brink of extinction. Seven foot man eaters roam the world, preying on anything that moves.

The Neneks are a tribe of reindeer herders living in the remote Siberian Arctic. Katya, a 15 year old boy, the son of the chieftain, comes of age in the midst of growing threats to his nomadic tribe.

After his father's sudden death, he has to lead the tribe and a ragtag group of American high school survivors across the Tundra safely. Everything is complicated when he falls in love with the beautiful Kiara.

Battling enormous odds, as he fights for his loved ones, he realizes that the greatest danger the group faces might be from the monsters within themselves.

This is a coming of age story set in a post-apocalyptic world.

My thoughts:  This book is a very quick and satisfying read.  I wish it had been longer but it has whet my appetite for more books set in this world.  The characters were believably flawed.  You had villains and no I don’t mean the man eaters I mean the humans; then you had the heroes of the story bringing their people to a relative safety.  Reading this made me both glad to not be living up in the frozen wastelands of Russia and also worried because if something inexplicable like this actually happened I would have no where to hide.

Rating 8/10

Recommendation:  Zombie fans and fans of dystopian apocalyptic futuristic fiction

Review 19: How to Lose a Groom in 10 Days

How to Lose a Groom in 10 Days. Catherine Mann and Joanne Rock. 2015. [April] Tule Publishing. 69 Pages. [Source:Purchased as a free Kindle book on Amazon]

First sentence:  Buying a wedding dress off the clearance rack twenty-four hours before the Big Day had not been Melanie Webb’s brightest idea ever.

Premise/Plot:  From Amazon - He thought their love was a grand slam, until his bride called foul...

After an impulsive courthouse wedding with one of baseball's rising stars, Melanie Webb wonders if she's fallen victim to lust at first sight. She hardly knows Grady Hollis, the Atlanta ball player who swooped into her Florida hometown and charmed the socks--and more!--right off her. She couldn't resist when he proposed under the stars right on the outfield. But when the aftermath means moving to Atlanta and following him around the country for his eight-month a year travel schedule, she gets cold feet.

But Grady has never been a man to give up on a dream and Melanie is everything he ever hoped for in a woman. He knows if only he can convince her to come along for the ride, he'll convince her that their forever can be something special... and sizzling too. The road trip brings them both deeper understanding, surprise revelations and a love every bit as fiery as the passion.

My thoughts:  I loved this story!  The ending brought me to the brink of tears but I got the happy ending which prevented the tears from falling.  This story though short was very well written and executed.  The characters were well developed and believable.  The story of Melanie and Grady I think will hit home with a lot of couples that experienced that whirlwind love.  This is definitely worth the read especially to experience a new author!  Really and truly the only negative I could find was the fact that it was short; I would have loved to see some of the relationship before the marriage.

Rating 9/10

Recommendation:  Contemporary romance fans will love this!!

Review 18: Sailor Man

Sailor Man. Del Staecker. 2015. [April] Hellgate Press. 124 Pages. [Source:Bostick email copy provided by the publisher]

First sentence: “I loved him more than I love my mother and father,” she said with a heartfelt sigh that bridges time.

Premise/Plot: From Goodread’s - SAILOR MAN is the illuminating account of James Preston Nunnally, a teenager who lied about his age to enlist in the Navy, endured combat service in World War Two’s Pacific Theater, and returned home. What sets SAILOR MAN apart, making it an invaluable addition to the canon of World War II, is that it also reveals the lesser known dark side—the psychological trauma so many of these brave young men experienced as a result of their repeated encounters with the horror of war—what we now call Post Traumatic Stress.

My thoughts:  This is a short book.  It was something that I could have read very quickly in a matter of hours I chose to read it over the course of several days because I wanted to think about and absorb what JP went through at such a young age.  I am thankful that we recognize PTSD for what it is and try to help our returning soldiers I wish that it was not something recent but had been happening for much longer back to JP’s time.  I enjoyed reading the letters the most but appreciate that the author expanded and explained more about each set of circumstances. This book has made me wonder just how many other soldiers suffered the same thing and treated it the same way that JP did.  I am truly glad that I had the chance to read this and hope that more do so.

Rating 8/10

Recommendation: Anyone that likes true stories from WWII.

*I received a digital review copy for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review courtesy of Bostick Communications. All opinions are my own.*

Review 17: Mirage

Mirage. Monica Burns. 2015. [June] Samhain Publishing. 318 Pages. [Source: Netgalley eGalley]

First sentence: Good Heavens, you’re a woman.

Premise/Plot:  The hunt for the lost city of Per-Ramesses.  The fulfillment of an ancient and I do mean ancient prophecy.  Learning to trust in spite of a very rocky start.  We will follow Alexandra Tablot and Altair Mazir on the adventure of a lifetime.

My thoughts:  This was an enjoyable read.  It takes us from a brief glimpse of late 19^th century London all the way to the height of the Egyptian archeological period.  We have intrigue, love, sex, and best of all adventure!  We meet Alexandra Talbot American archeologist trying to find her place in the male dominated field.  Then we have Lord Altair Mazir half Bedouin half English. The descriptions in the book were very on point on I could feel myself transported to each scene as I read it.  On the bad side I felt in some ways that the attraction that the two main characters felt was very over the top.  From almost the very beginning they basically wanted to rip each others clothing off and for the time period that just wasn’t done.  Then the first time they do finally give in she is very knowledgeable in what to do and I find that very unlikely.  But, over all I did enjoy the book the extremely steamy scenes between the lovers and the story itself regarding the hunt for the lost city.

Rating 8/10

Recommendation:  If you love late 19^th century period literature then you will enjoy this.  If you like adventure in the desert and looking for lost Egyptian cities then this is for you.

*I received a digital review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Review 16: Up and In

Thank you Goodread's and Deborah Disney for letting me join the fun on this buddy read!

Up and In. Deborah Disney. 2014. [December] Harper Collins. 320. [Source:Contest through Goodreads copy provided by Netgalley]

First sentence: There is was again. That damned full stop.  How does so much passive aggression fit itself into such a tiny punctuation mark?

Premise/Plot: From Goodreads - A wonderfully wry tale about the pressure women put on themselves and one another to fit in, measure up and look glamorous while doing it. Distinctly middle class parents, Maria and Joe have committed all available income to giving their daughters Kate and Sarah the best education possible, which to them means attending the most exclusive girls school in the state. But when Kate befriends the spoilt and moody Mirabella, Maria finds herself thrust into a high society of champagne-swilling mother-istas she hasn't budgeted for. Saturday morning netball is no longer a fun mother-daughter outing, but a minefield of social politics. While the increasingly neurotic Maria struggles to negotiate the school mum hierarchy, Joe quietly battles a midlife crisis and Kate attempts to grow up as gracefully as possible (without having her life ruined by embarrassing parents). For every woman who has ever felt she may be wearing the wrong shoes, this is a book that will remind you - you're not alone

My thoughts:  First off let me start by saying that I participated in my very first buddy read with a group on Goodreads.com.  I enjoyed this book even though I kept bouncing back and forth between liking the main character Maria and shaking my head in abject disapproval for her handling of situations.  I personally have never been one to obsess about other people’s approval of me or their disapproval.  She is extremely flawed which makes her more believable and relatable I think.  She is so focused on what the other mothers of her social circle think and mean by every text, email, and face to face exchange she can’t see the forest for the trees.  We have her husband Joe supportive even while struggling with his own crises.  Then we have her daughters Kate and Sarah, Kate is the daughter that the drama centers around.  Then we have the wise sister-in-law who dispenses little tidbits of insight just at the right time.  Finally we have the ‘Bea’s’; Bea (the queen), Sonya (OCD control freak), Caitlin (the social brownnoser), Jen (follower), Nic and Lauren ( down to earth non-snobs). Ultimately this is a book from which we can all stand to take away the larger picture you just never know what someone else is going through at any given point so don’t take everything to heart all the time.

Rating 9/10

Recommendation:  Chick lit fans will like this, fans of character growth.

*I received a digital review copy for free from the author through a contest  in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Review 15: Raveled (Audiobook)

I am trying out a new Q&A segment for part of the review process particularly on the audiobooks I will be reviewing!!

Raveled. Anne McAneny. 2013. [January] Farrington Press. 12 hours 5 min. [Source:AudioBlast and the Author]

First sentence:  Sixteen years since my last trip to this park, and not a tree had changed. 

Premise/Plot:  What's a girl to do when her imprisoned brother begs her to delve into their father's 16-year-old murder conviction? How about peel back the lies, upend the fairy tales, and roil the populace of Lavitte - a sweet apple of a town with a wormy, festering core? That's what Allison Fennimore chooses. Despite her infamous surname and people's wilted memories, this jaded cynic of a daughter sinks her teeth in and refuses to let go. She can practically taste the bitterness of that long-ago, twisted night when two teenagers died, linked to her father by bad luck and a few strands of rope.
Ignoring the dense local atmosphere, where image trumps substance and lies become legend, Allison stirs the pot. The more layers she discards, the more elusive the truth becomes. And when a key source of information turns up dead, the dark edges of resentment coil in around her like a slowly tightening noose. As revelations get ugly, Allison may wish she'd never ventured toward the forbidden fruit of truth.

My thoughts:

If you could sum up Raveled in three words, what would they be?

Twisty, turny, and enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot and how you would get snippets of what happened 16 years ago through out the story.

Which character – as performed by – was your favorite?

Charlie, I adored how Rebecca Roberts acted him out it was spot on to how I would have heard him if I hard read the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The interactions that Allison had with her mother were extremely touching.

I enjoyed listening to this book.  The narration by Rebecca Roberts was enjoyable.  The plot twisted and turned enough to keep me guessing til the end!  Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen I had the rug pulled out from under me!  I can imagine that a crime like that happening in a small town even 16 years later it would still be an open wound so my hat’s off to the heroine for never backing down no matter what!

Rating 8/10

Recommendation: Mystery fans, seekers of an enjoyable way to pass the time.

*I received a digital review copy for free through Audioblast and from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*