Novella

Giveaway and Review: Eternal Redemption by Paul Andreas Wunderlich

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eternal redemptionI will be the first to admit, I’m not a huge fan of novellas or short stories….however, this is one I really enjoyed! I admit I was a bit worried after the author contacted me and I accepted his offer of a free copy to read. He was very polite in his offer and very informative as well. I was just a bit worried that I would hate the book and have to give it a low rating….or worse…that I would hate it so much that I would be forced to give a less than favourable review! As I seem to be learning more and more in my later life…the thoughts and worries I constantly have rumbling around in my head are usually unfounded….life usually turns out so much better than I had hoped….This novella was no exception. I really did enjoy it.

When I contacted Paul (Paul Andreas Wunderlich’s webpage ) to thank him for the gift and to tell him just how much I enjoyed the book and wished to feature it in this blog, he once again showed his generosity and offered not one but THREE free copies to our readers. Just comment on this blog post for a chance to win!

Now back to the review…

This novella reminded me of the fables or mythology that I loved as a teenager…no, let me rephrase that….as I first loved as a teenager and continue to love now. Here you have a main character that gets exactly what he wishes for the most in the world….alas, only then does he realise that what he wanted was actually exactly what he already had….he tries to rectify his past mistakes and true to life…finds out that you can’t always go back to how things were…and many of us are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over in this life…and perhaps the next life as well….

It says a lot that my favourite character of this novella was the Devil himself. It also reminds all of us that the most evil person in the room might be the one who can appreciate, understand, and see the most pure and beautiful in that very same rule. After all, how can one know beauty without knowing it’s total opposite as well? What is happiness and love if we have never known pain and suffering to compare it with? The trick is in the knowing of how to keep the one in your life instead…or perhaps, in spite, of the other….

The title is also something to give you much to ponder….if we seek to find eternal redemption, whom should we be seeking it for? Ourselves or those that we have wronged? Can we be redeemed whilst we have no chance of ending our own suffering? Is it enough for those that we have wronged to be happy, even at our own expense? Should we feel shorted if the happiness of our loved ones comes on the back of our own suffering? Sure, it’s easy to say yes….but we’re talking about human nature here….Can one really be happy for our loved ones if we are never in a position to personally share their happiness? To see their laughter every day through the sheen of our own tears?

If I have one complaint in this novella it is that perhaps Wunderlich has too much of a fondness of adjectives. By the end of the book, I wasn’t bothered at all and I really did enjoy this short read. I also admit that since I went into this not at all sure I would like this novella, I might have had a part of my mind (the annoying part that is ALWAYS speaking and never shuts up!!!) that was looking for parts of the story to justify my original worries of the novella….

If you’re in-between a couple of chunky novels and need something to break them up, this might be the perfect read for you. You should have no problem finishing it in one sitting…and there is much moral contemplations to ponder whilst you do….

Until next time….

Urania

***Please don’t forget to comment to this post for a chance to win a free copy of this novella***

Buy it now Eternal Redemption by Paul Andreas Wunderlich

Review: Sarasota Dreams by Debby Mayne

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20140228-144652.jpg Sarasota Dreams is the compilation of three novellas. Each novella focuses on a Mennonite man and woman and their search for romance.

I like Amish/Mennonite fiction, and Debby Mayne writes it well. I appreciated that we could see what the men AND women were thinking. Abe had to figure out how to make Mary trust him. Jeremiah had to prove his faithfulness to God before Shelley would let herself fall in love, and Charles had to commit to becoming Mennonite so Ruthie’s reputation wouldn’t suffer.

Besides the romances being very well written, Mayne illustrated her knowledge of the Mennonite lifestyle without making the novellas feel like documentaries. The reader gets more than a glimpse of small business management (diner and souvenir shop), farming, and church life.

These were three lovely, realistic, fun, clean romances. The loyalty to family and community was comforting, and the food sounded delicious. Bring on some coconut cream pie!

–Calliope

New Release March 1!

Buy Sarasota Dreams

Review: Once Upon a Winter’s Heart by Melody Carlson

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20140107-143208.jpg New Release!

Emma’s Poppi died, and with him all romance and true love – or so Emma thought. When she left Seattle to go home and take care of Nona, Emma was jaded as. Watching her parents’ marriage crumble and her sister Anne’s neglect of her marriage, Emma was set to start the new year in mourning.

Then Emma began helping at Poppi’s bookstore, spending time with her young nephew Tristan, and having fun with friends – especially Lane, Poppi’s protégé. She remembered Poppi’s wisdom and open heart, and tried to do what would make him proud – and make herself happy. Lane joined her on the journey.

Emma and Lane had a roundabout way of realizing that romance and true love was alive and well. Once they did, it warmed my heart. This was a well-written novella with nice, drama-free main characters, and a family feel. I especially liked Nona’s cooking lessons and the spontaneous singing of That’s Amore!

-Calliope

Buy it now Once Upon A Winter’s Heart

Review: The Holiday Survival Guide by Jane O’Reilly

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20131228-082612.jpg New Release!

This sexy novella tells the story of London tabloid writer Erica and the survival trip she signed up for in the dead of winter. Her survival guide is Nathan, whose wife she publicly, and in low tabloid style, busted for cheating.

The story was equal parts scary snow survival and steamy sex. Erica and Nathan had great chemistry and creativity. The well-written sex scenes were integrated perfectly into the plot, the dialogue was smart and natural, the characters were likable and well-developed.

I totally enjoyed this winter romp, which came with a bit of commitment and a happy ending. I’d read it again, and I recommend it even to readers who don’t usually read novellas. This is one of very few that uses its 60 pages so wonderfully!

A note to American readers: This HOLIDAY refers to vacation, not Christmas!

-Calliope

Released January 1, 2014.
Buy it now The Holiday Survival Guide

Review: Delicious by Adrianne Lee

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20131208-225450.jpg If I could live in a bakery and read books all day, I would. But since I can’t, I do enjoy reading books about food. And love. And loving food.

Delicious deserves 4 big, yummy, juicy stars for those reasons and more. Adrianne Lee gives her readers mesmerizing descriptions of baking pies, wonderful characters, and a fresh take on love.

Nick and Jane run into each other in their 30s… years after having met and hated each other as teenagers. They realize they have to work together — and help each other sort out some personal problems along the way. The details around their past (read for yourself, no spoilers here) were a first for me – and I’m a romance junkie!

The plot is fun: advertising agent falls in love with head pastry chef…. who works at the bakery he’s doing a huge campaign for. Their friends and family are positive influences, their problems are real but can be overcome, and there’s quite a bit of flirting going on. Delicious made me happy!

I loved that Delicious showed a career-oriented female protagonist and a ready-to-settle-down-but-still-macho hero. I lapped up the excellent dialogue: Nick and his friends talked just like the guys I know. I thought that every character was developed precisely. I got the right amount of backstory for the main characters and secondary characters, enough so I felt like I knew them, but without extraneous details. Most importantly, I loved that Nick and Jane’s heartbreak touched me without being angsty, and their love warmed my heart without being smarmy.

The à la mode was a happy-ever-after that was simply perfect for Nick and Jane… and for me.

–Calliope

Buy it now Delicious

Delicious is Book 2 in Adrianne Lee’s Big Sky Pie series, but can be read as a standalone. Book 1, Delectable, was enjoyable as well, as you can see from the review here.

Review: Holiday for Two by Maggie Robinson and Elyssa Patrick

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18629390 I’m starting to think I have a thing for Holiday novellas as this is the second one I fell in love with. Always fun to find a new “thing” that I love! This is a duet of two novellas. The first one up is All Through the Night by Maggie Robinson. I’ve never read anything by this author and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the story.

Carrie is trying to get to her employer’s house on Christmas Eve with groceries and various supplies her eccentric author sent her out to get. When she misses the last ferry for the day and is stranded in a blizzard she doesn’t panic, just goes into girl scout mode. Lord Griffin Archer who is the author employer’s nephew is stranded with her as well and is pretty horrified at the girl scout mode that includes breaking and entering to save them from the elements.

While they slowly thaw out, they get to know each other and realize while they may come from totally different worlds, *ahem* he is a Lord, that do have some things in common. I found this short story overall cute and funny. The hero is very British and I love that the heroine repeatedly points out the differences in the language. The romance was sweet and the HEA was perfect.

ELyssa Patrick’s novella, While it was Snowing, is up next. I’m a fan of this author’s other work and this is the main reason I was excited to read this in the first place and I was completely not disappointed. I loved her book Stay With Me from earlier in the year which is a low angst New Adult book. This novella is completely different – zero angst and more adult. So I was super happy to see that I still loved her voice in a different area.

The scene opens with Felicity, naked, whip creaming herself into a bikini for her best friend Harry, who has no idea this is going on. The opening scene had me laughing at the vivid description of Felicity trying to figure this out and then realizing how freaking cold the whip cream actually was. Immediately I love Felicity. She comes across as extremely confident, plus size, cursing and hilarious. I adore her. She owns a company called Fat Lady Sweets. Love. Her.

When Harry gets there I’m even more in love. He’s an adorable beta nerd who has no idea how cute he is, wears a bow tie and ruffles his hair. Oh, and he’s a virgin. Let me remind you that Felicity is naked, well – in a whip cream bikini of sorts. Chaos ensues. Harry produces a contract, which is my second favorite moment. We don’t see the entire thing (which is almost 17 pages) but I wish we could have because I was laughing at every single point.

My favorite moment is the spider of death moment because I was truly laughing out loud here.

A big, nasty, black spider. Waiting for her. Planning to kill her.
And then it started to move.
She screamed.
And screamed.
And screamed some more.
She scrambled out of the shower, keeping her eye on the Spider of Death and took the shower curtain with her. Her legs tangled with the fabric and oh my God, what if there were more spiders on the shower curtain? What if they were climbing on her body right now and laying spider eggs everywhere?

Okay, obviously there is way more to this than this snippet but seriously I was laughing so hard at certain parts. I thoroughly enjoyed this and thought it was a great read. Not everyone can write good novellas- and I thought this one was just about perfect.

Overall I give this duet 4.5 stars. It releases today and is only 99 cents! For this price I highly recommend it, they’re both great reads for the Holidays.

I received an ARC in return for an honest review.

~Clio

Buy it Now Holiday for Two (a duet of Christmas novellas)

Review: Kentucky Christmas by Sarah Title

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20131206-230315.jpg New Release!

Kentucky Christmas is an upbeat, festive, romantic novella with pretty cool characters. Billie works in her dad’s vet office, and Andrew is a traveling salesman selling… yes, vet supplies. Only he’s a horrible salesperson. And he’s completely smitten with Billie. She returns the sentiments, and boom, romance ensues.

What I love about Kentucky Christmas is Billie’s insouciance and Andrew’s seriousness. Billie is up for anything, likes to party a little bit, and amps up Christmas with more kitsch than you can shake a leg at. Andrew appreciates Billie’s fun-loving attitude, just as she appreciates his way with electronics, his Clark Kent glasses and the way his trousers fit. 🙂

This isn’t a serious book. Sometimes you need a pick-me-up, and Kentucky Christmas did that for me, with tinsel.

-Calliope

Buy it now Kentucky Christmas

Review: On His List by Wendy Sparrow

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20131119-142353.jpg Remy and Owen meet serendipitously. That’s perfect for spontaneous Remy… but a little crazy for organized, structured Owen. Little does Owen know that he’s going to fall hard for Remy, and loosen up in the process.

On His List is a cute, romantic novella filled with flirtation and double entendres. Even though I am more of a list-maker myself, it was fun to see Owen want to relax and enjoy the insouciance that Remy brought to the table.

My favorite part was the end, when Owen did the most spontaneous thing in his life — all for the sake of love — and then showed how he still stayed true to himself by making the ultimate romantic list. Even Remy swooned.

3.5 stars for 77 pages of flirtatious fun.

–Calliope

Buy it now On His List

Review: In the Clear by Tamara Morgan

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18627383 Fletcher Owens has not had a great life, but the one thing he could count on was his best friend Sean Sinclair and his twin sister Lexie. Their family became like his family while growing up and he would never do anything to risk that, not even act on his feelings towards Lexie. Fletcher is quiet, sensitive and afraid of blood. To conquer that fear he decides to volunteer for the Search and Rescue team, but doesn’t want the attention he knows that will bring so he keeps it secret from his best friends.

Lexie is outgoing and bubbly, a fundraiser for a local charity. She loves her twin brother and Fletcher but hates feeling like an outsider in the trio. When they hang out without her she feels left out as they are truly her best friends as well. When Fletcher’s secret is revealed in the local paper she is shocked that she really doesn’t know him as well as she thought. Lexie ends up on a rescue mission with Fletcher and what they discover about each other surprises them both.

I fell in love with this novella immediately, I love this romantic trope. I felt that the traditional gender roles in these kinds of stories were flipped, which I really appreciated. Often in romance novels we see the confident, outgoing males who will get what they want no matter want and in this one while Fletcher was definitely a strong male, he has his quirks and anxieties. Which made me love him even more. The rescue mission with Lexie interacting with Fletcher and the whole team was the best part of the book for me as it revealed Lexie’s strengths, that she didn’t know she had. The banter between Lexie and the other guys slowly revealed more of Lexie to Fletcher that he didn’t know was there.

Both characters have a lot of depth and are well thought out for a short story. I felt that I knew them very well. Fletcher and Lexie are almost opposites and seeing the two together and interact was very cute. Overall, this was an adorable Holiday novella. I would definitely recommend. PLUS it’s only 99 cents! That is a crazy good price a such a cute story. I would so buy it if I were you. Now!!

I received this ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

4 stars.

~ Clio

Buy it Now In the Clear (Winter Rescue)

Review: The Christmas Wish by Katy Regnery

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20131026-223743.jpg Just Released!

In a dive-y diner in a small Montana town, Katy Regnery serves up a Christmastime romance full of hope. Tess is the townie with a bad reputation – and it’s all true. Lucas is an ex-con whose only crime was protecting the ones he loved. They work together, befriend each other, and learn to trust one another. Tess and Lucas dream bigger than their small town, and together they know they can make their Christmas wishes – and their dreams – come true.

The Christmas Wish is a clever, sadness-to-gladness romance told in about 40 pages. The brevity works because Katy Regnery keeps the focus on just the two main characters. By the end, my heart was full and my faith in humanity restored. And she’s got me thinking about what my own Christmas wish will be. 🙂

–Calliope

Buy it now The Christmas Wish