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Review: The Hero by Donna Grant

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hero What an exciting start to this new series!

Usually when I read a second chance love story, one of the participants is a little slow to embrace the re-connection. In The Hero, it seems that both really want a second chance. While it may not be the best of times, with a kidnapping, attempted murders and government conspiracies, but the heart doesn’t listen to anyone’s timeline.

Owen and his three brothers haven’t been home in over a decade, and when they do it’s to find their aunt and uncle murdered and their dad kidnapped. So now they must come together and put aside all their past feelings and find their dad and figure out what kind of trouble he’s gotten himself into. What it didn’t anticipate was seeing his one and only love after 14 years. How’s he supposed to keep his eye on the prize when he can’t take his eyes off of her?

Even though Owen shattered Natalie’s heart 14 years ago, seeing him again brought all those past feelings right up to the surface. She’s been dragged into the family drama and now must rely on Owen to keep her safe. Too bad he didn’t keep heart heart safe all those years ago. Kinda hard to trust him this time around too.

Donna Grant steps away from her usual paranormal stories to bring us a new romantic suspense series. This installment was non stop action and intrigue mixed in with a nice dose of romance. I am so very curious to see where this series is headed. I can’t until the next book!

~Melpomene

Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220643-the-hero

Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2faUBSm
BN: http://bit.ly/1WiqBWU
Nook: http://bit.ly/1YIv2cC
BAM: http://bit.ly/1Tjsx1V
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/1TuprXe
iBooks: http://apple.co/1WGpiSy
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1WGjJUX
Tantor Audio: http://bit.ly/2cIuTar

Pre-Order Incentive Information:
There are TWO pre-order incentives going on now for Donna’s new military romance series!!

If you pre-order THE HERO you will be entered for some seriously cool prizes including the **entire** Dragon King series (Dark Heat – Smoke and Fire – including novellas) signed to you, winner’s choice of a bundle of books, Darkest Flame (signed) and some swag, and swag and a coveted DK t-shirt!

But to be entered, you MUST FILL OUT THE FORM. All pre-orders are acceptable as long as you have an order number from the retailer you purchased from.

Pre-order form to THE HERO: http://bit.ly/TheHeroPO

If you pre-order THE PROTECTOR you will receive a bonus scene that features Owen and Natalie from THE HERO. The scene will NOT be shared anywhere else. It will be exclusive to those who pre-order THE PROTECTOR and fill out this form:

Pre-order form to THE PROTECTOR: http://bit.ly/TheProtectorPO

Links for THE PROTECTOR:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29875933-the-protector
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2g57DS7
BN: http://bit.ly/2d49mro
Nook: http://bit.ly/2cG4Ld5
BAM: http://bit.ly/2dmIe9e
iBooks: http://apple.co/2cUHbL7
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2d4a34e
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2cG4ozv
Powells: http://bit.ly/2d49NSv
Tantor Audio: http://bit.ly/2d7g7Md

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Date: Thurs., 12/1/2016
Time: 7pm CST / 8pm EST
Link to the FB Event is https://www.facebook.com/events/267169100347430
Hash Tag: #TheHeroDG

Review: Fablehaven Book of Imagination by Brandon Mull

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15135731_1299809816725483_7146308628241356337_n This isn’t my usual review. In fact, this was probably my least stressful review ever. A book of activities. No thought required. Easy peasy. Well, some did require thought, but don’t tell my kids. They may yell at me that they’re “learning” something instead of it being all about playing. When I first saw this Book of Imagination, I knew this would be perfect excuse to have fun and learn at the same time.

My kids have wanted fantasy books, that aren’t fill with romance, so when I stumbled upon the Fablehaven series, I knew this would be a hit. So far, I’m right. My daughter is reading book one right now and she is liking it. That’s huge in my house. We struggle to find books that they like, so we don’t have to force them to read.
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If you have tweens, or young teens, and you’re looking for something to give them a little escape from the real world, I recommend this activity book. Even if they haven’t read the series, they can still do activities. So add this to their stockings and make them happy. There’s recipes and activities to cure boredom and make the holidays run smoother. In fact, I brought this book with us when we went out to eat and it made the time pass much faster and there was no fighting. We all worked on a page and it was fun. We did one of the “How many words can you find?” pages and the next thing we knew, our food was arriving. Working your brain makes time fly. 🙂

This is my favorite page, as I was scrolling through. That girl of mine is such a stinker. 🙂
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~Melpomene

Grab the Fablehaven Book of Imagination http://amzn.to/2g7rvr5

Check out Sadie Mull’s video on how to make the wizard’s slime from one of the recipes in the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruaUdPKNmBY&t=6s

fablehaven-book-of-imagination-blog-tour-image

Review: The Devoted by Suzanne Woods Fisher

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What a terrific book! I loved reading The Devoted for Suzanne Woods Fisher’s excellent writing and ability to touch my heart. Amish Ruthie is thinking of leaving the community to search for something bigger and better. Dok has been there, done that, has the t-shirt… and wore it back home for a reason.  Patrick the Englischer faces matters of his own mortality and wants to become Amish, serendipitously taking away time Ruthie might have with her boyfriend Luke. 

The bishop watches it all unfold, shares his words of wisdom, and takes a stand when individual storing-up grows into a problem worse than the Israelites hoarding manna. I so appreciated the discussions of sufficiency and dependency woven seamlessly into a story that centers around family and community. 

Fisher has a way of bringing the reader into the Amish world, so we wend through problems with the characters, connecting and loving and learning with them. I’m grateful. 

-calliope

Buy THE DEVOTED

Review (Take 2): Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult 

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Urania reviewed this book recently (Click here for her thoughts) and now it’s my turn. I’ll take a page out of Urania’s book by not including any spoilers.  🙂

This book is about race, truth, blindness, and forgiveness. Picoult will make you uncomfortable. She will push against your cheek until your head is facing truths you’ve denied for so long. She will chip away at the facade of equity that you believe in. You will fight it tooth and nail, chapter by chapter, because you don’t want any of it to be true about you or your best friend or anyone. 

I’m going to say it. I still don’t think just being white makes me racist. But I do see that being white gets me through the day a lot more smoothly than not being white would. For that, I should act responsibly, always standing up for what’s right and true. That will be my small great thing. 

-calliope

Buy SMALL GREAT THINGS

Review: A Blind Guide to Normal by Beth Vrabel

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I loved loved loved A Blind Guide to Stinkville, and so there was no way I was going to miss out on the sequel, which proved to be very satisfying on many levels. (Both of these books are YA, by the way, for grades 5-7 I would guesstimate.)

First, I understand why many authors use alternating narrators, but frankly it just confuses me and makes the story choppy and less engaging. Beth Vrabel is so clever that she didn’t need to use alternating narrators, because she used Alice as the narrator for book one and Richie Ryder as the narrator for this book. Presto: The benefits of alternating narrators without the abrupt shifts every chapter! 

Second, and I’ve said this about Vrabel’s other books, I just love when the book reflects the personality of the narrator/protagonist. I was so annoyed with Richie Ryder and his jokes and stupid way he had with people. He really got under my skin! I didn’t want to keep reading at one point… and THEN I realized that it was Beth Vrabel’s awesome writing talent making me feel that way. It was like she was channeling Richie across dimensions. (Beth, do you tesser?!)

My most favorite facet of A Blind Guide to Normal wasn’t the fabulous karate competition or the yard horse or even Richie Ryder’s heartfelt friendships with quilting classmates and Alice and Jocelyn and Max. The best part of the book for me was the ending, where everyone figures out that fear is pretty much the ONLY thing that’s normal, and where Beth Vrabel again writes a book within a book. 

-calliope

Buy A BLIND GUIDE TO NORMAL

Review: Claiming Noah by Amanda Orlepp

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What would you do if you desperately wanted a child but were unable to have one? What lengths would you go to and where would you draw the line?

Catriona and James badly want a baby, James a bit more so. After trying unsuccessfully, they agree to try IVF. And it works. They soon find themselves the parents of a healthy baby boy. Diana and Liam are in the same predicament. They explore many options before eventually settling on embryo donation. And they, too, are successful. Another healthy baby boy.

But Catriona doesn’t find herself easily settling into motherhood. She’s soon in a downward spiral, deep in the throes of postpartum depression. Diana, on the other hand, quickly adjusts to being a mom. All is going well until the day her baby is taken right out from under her.

This story was completely different from what I expected. For that, I give props to whoever wrote the description. There’s not much worse than a book blurb that gives too much away. No such worries with this one. And I’m not going to give anything else away, either, other than to say that there are several juicy little twists and turns on the path to the final conclusion of this story.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Claiming Noah

Review: The Christmas Angel Project by Melody Carlson

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This is a charming story of five book club friends whose main connection is friend Abby. When Abby dies, the remaining four need to find a way to carry on. Abby provides that guidance from some angel gifts she’s left for them. 

I was disappointed in the beginning of this book because I could sense the “setting up” of the plot… a little contrived or overplanned. However, by the middle, I loved the direction Carlson took the four women – it seemed natural and authentic. Seeing the women use Abby’s Angels to help them grieve and then use their talents to help others warmed my heart, and it will warm yours, too. 

-calliope

Buy THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL PROJECT

Review: Torn by Carian Cole

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torn OH MY GOSH!! This book almost didn’t get read. Not that it was bad, but it was very taboo. Hang with me here. Last week I saw this picture on Facebook. It was a sponsored ad. I’ve never heard of this author. Heck, I didn’t even know what the book was about, but I thought the picture was just lovely. I posted it in one of my book clubs and then I found out what it was about. And I gotta be honest, I wasn’t going to read it after that. That was a little too taboo for me. I have certain things I won’t read about, while this wasn’t on my list, it was just something a bit too different for me.

Well, two of my friends decided to give it a shot and they loved it. They know what I like and they both told me to try it. They said it was tastefully done and quite romantic. *sigh* I love romance, and I’m a follower not a leader, so I did what they said. I bought it and read it. And let me tell you, I was sucked in from the very beginning. Here’s the picture I saw. Isn’t it beautiful? There’s something about boots and little shoes that’s just so sweet.
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This book was exactly like they said. It was beautiful. It was romantic. And it was written in a way they wasn’t creepy or gross. Even in the synopsis, it even says no underage sex. Once you read the synopsis, you’ll see why THAT was my biggest fear. I like my sexy scenes with people who are old enough to vote, thankyouverymuch.

I fell in love with all of these characters. Family was the main theme and everyone was so different, but in the end, it was all about love. The love of two people who were there for each other, all their lives. It was beautiful. And it was right.

So if you’re in the mood to try something new and different, read Torn.

~Melpomene

Buy Torn HERE

Review ~ Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

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Phewf! Well, that was an intense week of listening! I’m going to hold my hands up shamefully admit that I’d held off from reading anything by the super popular author Liane Moriarty, simply because her fiction was so often labeled as chic lit. I conjured up aspersions of a bodice ripper type novel, empty angst or some other unfair generalization. Well, if this novel is classed as chic lit, then sign me the hell up! 

Big Little Lies follows a group of parents in a seaside Australian town. They have their rituals, meet at the school drop-offs, and have their cliques and issues. A new parent moves to town and soon makes fast friends, and indeed enemies. 

The novel starts off in an interview type manner, and we soon learn that something has happened at a school PTA quiz night. As we hear witness accounts of may or may not have happened that night, we are taken back to when Jane first arrives on the scene. 

What makes Moriarty’s novel such a hit, is not the plot; the plot, while good, is not one so unique that you wouldn’t ever see in a novel. No. Where Moriarty excels, is in her characters and their interaction. There is such razor sharp authenticity in how these parents and friends talk and act, that you really feel like you know them, and are there living with them. 

This is a brilliant novel that will keep you glued until the very end. If you’ve yet to start reading Moriarty, then Big Little Lies is a great place to start. 

~ Pegasus 

Big Little Lies

Review ~ June: A Novel, by Miranda Beverly-Whitemore

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This is one of those books that I picked up without really knowing anything about, and in a way, I’m glad I did. Some of you may have enjoyed Beverly-Whitemore’s previous novel, Bittersweet, and I had heard a lot of good things about it, so I guess that influenced my decision in picking up this book. 

The plot centers around 25 year old Cassie who has inherited an old mansion in decay, in the middle of Ohio. Stuck with this crumbling house, Cassie is even more shocked when a man turns up claiming that she is also inheriting millions of dollars from a famous actor who has just died, and who claims that Cassie is his granddaughter. With this insane piece of news, Cassie is left wondering how, when, why her grandmother would meet, fall in love, and have a child with a famous Hollywood actor. Could it really be true? 

The story is split into two time periods: one in present day with Cassie and others investigating her grandmother’s life, and then we are transported to the 1950’s to meet the grandmother as a young woman. 

This novel kind of reminded me of the style found in novels such as Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Except this one lacked the humor. However, it is an easy read, with elements that make you want to continue and find out how it all pans out. Towards the end, it does get a little too convenient and “nice”, but overall this is not a bad read at all.

~ Pegasus 

June: A Novel