Review: Take Me Home for Christmas(Whiskey Creek #5), by Brenda Novak

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I know what you’re thinking. It’s not even Halloween and this crazy Muse is posting about Christmas?! Well, the truth is that there are a ton of Christmas books that are coming out next month, that if we don’t space them out a bit, we will be overwhelmed almost every day with them. Not that I would mind, but I’m sure the other muses would shoot me if that’s all I did. So I’m starting now. 🙂

This is a story about true friendship and forgiveness.

Sophia returns to Whiskey Creek after her abusive husband dies running from the FBI. She has hit rock bottom and most of the town isn’t ashamed to rub it in her face. She has to be strong for her 13 yr old, but she doesn’t know if she can.

Ted Dixon is secretly pining over her all these past years, since she jilted him. So he really doesn’t want her here, but he’s not going to do anything about it. That is until he hears and sees what the town is doing to her. He decides to be the bigger person and help her out.

Sophia is so desperate for money, she’ll even work for Ted. Even though she knows her heart won’t be able to handle it.

I felt so bad for Sophia. I understood why she did some of the things she did. But it was still hard to watch her fall apart and just give up. I knew some people would help her. But I was shocked at some other’s reactions.

I may have to read this series from the beginning. It was really good. I’ve read the first two books and skipped to this one, but I don’t feel like I missed anything. The only thing I really missed was the hook ups from the past three that I didn’t read. But since I know who ends up with who, I can go back and relax and read.

I received this ARC for an honest review.

~Melpomene

Buy it now Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek)

Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

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11958033 The premise of this book seemed interesting to me – suspenseful, horror-ish YA book. The book description seemed very Scream like to me, a movie which I loved and have seen a dozen times at least.

Best friends Minnie and Meg get a secret invitation to a private party on an island. When they get there they realize that there were a total of 10 people invited to this party – from different school and from different cliques in those schools. From the beginning it’s obvious things are not quite okay between the best friends who are both interested in the same guy – T.J. He’s at the party and that makes Meg nervous.

When the party gets going and a movie is put in the party takes a quick turn to the twisted when a bizarre video plays and Vengeance is Mine scrolls across the screen. From there things get much, much worse. Out of nowhere one of the teens die and a huge storm hits. Things are crazy and scary – the girls have no idea who to trust.

While this book deals with a scary topic and is a young adult book I did not get either of these feelings from this book. There were a few twists and turns that were unexpected but none that were scary in any sense. The relationship between the two friends also seemed a little young younger than the young adult books that I read. I would suggest this to maybe a 10-13 year old who likes a little darker books. There was not a ton of gore. Overall just not a book for me.

2 stars.

~Clio

Ten

Review: Operation: Date Escape by Lindsey Brookes

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Kelsie Collins had a bad marriage, an emotional divorce, and a plan for a bad date escape book. Her best friend Nanci and her mother Melinda helped out by setting up blind dates just a little too often.

When Kelsie tries to escape from an especially horrifying blind date, she gets rescued by hunka hunka burning love firefighter Cole. And then it happens a second time – a bad date, fudged escape, and rescue by Cole. It has to be fate!

Kelsie and Cole go through customary ups and downs in their short but intense relationship before a delightful, realistic happily ever after.

The novel is funny and fresh. Lindsey Brooke writes a straightforward romance with easy, natural dialogue — especially between Nanci and Kelsie. She writes an awesome subplot, too: Nanci and Cole’s friend Joe hit it off in a different but still big and romantic way.

Operation: Date Escape is great fun… lighthearted chick lit romance with realistic characters and laugh out loud moments.

-Calliope

P.S. The cover doesn’t do the book justice.

Buy it now Operation: Date Escape

Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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RoadThis book was an audible deal of the day recently, so I’ve heard it mentioned quite a bit in the last few days, so I decided to revisit it and post my review….I just read it for the first time a month or so ago…and it really left me feeling a bit hopeless…

Okay, let us all travel down “The Road” for just a moment…it’s a dark and dreary road to be sure, but it is a road that I did, in fact, travel down with Mr McCarthy…This might be a book I need to come back and revisit and perhaps re-rate as well (I don’t usually post my star ratings, but this one received a 3). The writing style was hard to catch on to at first. I hated the dialogue formatting. It was something that I could follow, but at the same time, in my mind I always took a moment to be annoyed with it!! Very distracting. Depressing books don’t bother me. I actually enjoy them most of the time…I know….depressing, eh? Bwhahahahahahahahaha. But seriously, where was the hope in this one? Where was the light at the end suppose to shine? I seriously hate Hollywood endings, but as depressing as Water World & Mad Max were, at least in the end you were able to see a glimpse of what the world might become….here? I saw not even a flicker of light….I saw nothing as to what the world might become….I suppose as much as this book left me with unanswered questions (let me just point out, I freaking love books without a pretty bow wrapped ending, my favorite books are those that give the reader just enough for the reader to imagine the ending….or in many cases, the start of the rest of the story that will go on and on) the main question I am left with is this….which McCarthy book shall I read next? I need to know if all of his books are written such as this…….SEE!!!!!!!!! I told you I was into depression…..bwhahahahahahahahaha….Seriously, I have heard some great things about Cormac McCarthy….there are a few books of his that I REALLY want to read…and I want to read them soon….”Blood Meridian” and “No Country for Old Men” are two books that I think about often and really want to make the time to read…..Has anyone reading this read either of them? Have you read “The Road”? How do they compare? Who dares to help me out here?

Be sure to watch for my upcoming review of “The Cuckoo’s Calling” by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling

~ Urania xx

Buy It Now The Road

Review: Just One Song, by Stacey Lynn

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Silly as it sounds, I bought this book after seeing the cover. I never read what it was about. All I knew was it was a romance, and that was good enough for me. But I loved it!!

Nicole Parsons’ life tragically changed over one year ago. And since then, she has stopped living. Her friend, Mia, challenges her to go out on a limb. And while she’s out there, she meets mega star, Zach Walters. She doesn’t wanna get involved with someone who reminds her of her past. It’s too hard.

Zach has never found anyone who likes him for him. Until he meets Nicole. He is thrown for a loop, over this girl who keeps to herself and who always looks sad. He wants to find a way to make her happy.

Nicole is shocked she feels anything for Zach. She is so used to being lost and sad. But she listens to Mia and goes out on that limb. She does some life changing things, but she needs to do them, in order to move on.

Zach helps her succeed in moving forward, without forgetting the past. It’s far from easy. But he doesn’t give up, and neither does she.

“Tell me that when you’re this close to me, when you feel my heart beating in my chest and feel my arms wrapped around you that you don’t want me; that you’re not falling in love with me. Because I am, Nicole. I’m completely falling head over heels in love with you.”

My favorite parts were all of the music scenes. I’m suck a sucker for musicians.

There is another book, about Mia, coming out at the end of this month. It’s called Just One Week. I can’t wait!!

~Melpomene

But it now Just One Song

New Releases for October 8, 2013

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This week doesn’t seem to have nearly as many new releases as last week. But there are a few I’m waiting for.

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The Heroes of Olympus, Book Four: The House of Hades
I now many kids who are anxiously waiting for this book. This is book four, in the Heroes of Olympus series, by Rick Riordan

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Convicted (Consequences)
This is the third book in the Consequences series, by Aleatha Romig. I have the first two books, but I was waiting till they were all out before I attempted to read these. I don’t do well with series like these. 🙂

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Just One Year
This comes out on October 10. I really enjoyed this book. But you must read Just One Day, first. Here is the link to my review.

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I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
This one looks REALLY good. I think one of us will be reading this soon.

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White Trash Damaged
This is the second in the White Trash trilogy. The first book has been on my tbr list for a while. Some day……

I hope today brings you many new books. Or maybe at least many pre orders. 😉

~Melpomene

Musings: The problem with Romance Critics

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books-20167_640If you read any of my reviews here (and I hope you do!) you should notice I read a variety of genres. I read Young Adult, New Adult, Dystopian, Romance, Sci Fi, Literature, Horror, LGBT and the list actually does go on from there. I don’t review everything I read because not everything is worthy of a review. I read a lot of 3 star books and in general those reviews would be pretty boring so I try to stick to the 4 and up or the 2 and below. So if it seems I read only a certain genre on here that would be why!

But one genre that I do read a ton in is romance. I love romance books. Which is why I get so incredibly annoyed and quite honestly pissed off when I hear over and over about how dumb romance books are or how predictable and fluffy they can be. I assume those people have never read the romance books that I am reading because I don’t read predictable or dumb romance books – those would be the ones I pick up and put down immediately.

I love romance books because they are so all encompassing. They can include literally every genre there is, so you have paranormal romance, the urban fantasy romance, contemporary romance, historical romance, sci-fi romance, inspirational romance, Christian romance and the list seriously goes on and on and on from there. A ton of young adult books can be considered romance because most of them are centered around a romantic triangle of sorts, even while other dramatic events are taking place.

What I hear over and over again is – oh romance is fluff. REALLY? Not the stuff I read. I read Nalini Singh’s captivating Psy/Changeling series with it’s great world building and a build up over 12 books as of now with 3 different races – the Psys, the Changelings, and the Humans trying to coexist. I read Singh’s Guild Hunter series with it’s insanely complex mythology, and a gritty world where archangels guard over their cities. I read Sarah Mayberry’s and Shannon Stacey’s contemporary books with real life settings and real life problems that are so incredibly well written, laced with humor and with intense feeling that I don’t see how it’s any different from any other “normal” book.

I read Ruthie Knox and Tessa Dare. Jill Mansell, Mary Balogh, Jeaniene Frost. I was super excited to read new author Mary Ann Rivers and fall in love with her writing. I just discovered Elyssa Patrick and Sabrina Elkins and absolutely loved their recent releases. Ruthie Knox and Nalini Singh both recommended Laura Florand and off I went to discover yet another author I loved with a totally new twist. I discovered the New Adult genre by reading romance and fell in love with Colleen Hoover, Jessica Park, K.A. Tucker, Tammara Webber.

That’s the other thing I’ve discovered about the romance genre – the people. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a group of book lovers online and then even more lucky to discover a small group of romance lovers within that group. I love having friends who read some of the same books I do. They suggest great books for me to read and we have excellent book discussions on who to read next. We band together because when people get asked what genre they read what we hear most often is anything BUT ROMANCE or I don’t read fluff. We have long discussions about how our favorite books are so not fluffy, they’re emotional and intense, hilarious and suspenseful. I love my romance book friends – they are ridiculously awesome!

But I’ve found that the authors are also just really amazing. Maybe that’s true with all genres, I don’t know. But I find that these authors are kind and funny on Facebook and Twitter. They interact with their fans, give recommendations and get them. Quite honestly, it makes me like some of them even more than I did before.

So the problem with romance critics is that they don’t get it. These books definitely have romance in them obviously. But there is SO much more to them. There is humor, suspense, action, mystery and so much more. But you know what? If you don’t want to read romance that’s totally fine with me. I’m cool with that, I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi either. So don’t read it.

But please do me a favor. Shut up about how stupid or vapid Romance books are unless you read them and want to review them – because obviously if you do so that’s your prerogative to not like something you’ve read. But if you don’t read them then just shut up already. Say you don’t read romance. Leave it at that.

And stop using the word fluff. My books are not fluffy, my cats are fluffy. Get it straight.

~Clio

Review: Five Days at Memorial

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Where were you at the end of August, 2005?  Chances are, most people couldn’t say with any degree of accuracy.  But for those in the path of one of the worst natural disasters of all time, that date is indelibly etched in their psyche just as surely as other notable dates in history.  For those involved, time can be divided into two eras:  before Katrina and after Katrina.

Five Days at Memorial delves into the unimaginable conditions immediately before and after the tragedy at one of New Orleans’ largest hospitals that ultimately led to the deaths of a larger than expected number of patients.  Rumors began to circulate that certain patients deemed “disposable” had been purposely euthanized by medical professionals to avoid the trouble of moving them when rescue finally arrived.

Sheri Fink walks us through attempts by authorities to charge and convict those deemed to be in charge of the situation.  But really, was anybody in charge at that time?  Certainly not the state or federal government whose blunders are clearly documented in this book.  Miscommunication by all involved, lack of planning, bureaucratic red tape, and plausible corporate deniability  all led to a chain of events that had lasting repercussions for everyone regardless of the legal outcomes.

The author poses both medical and ethical questions regarding “humane intervention” when someone is critically ill.  If we can provide humane and compassionate end of life decisions for our pets then why not human beings? However, the bigger question for me as the reader was, who gets to make this decision? How much of a life is worth saving? I’m not sure if there is a black and white answer to this.  New Orleans was basically cut off from America for several days during that period.  Most of us cannot even begin to imagine the conditions inside that hospital and throughout the region. As I read this book I felt the panic and heartbreak of all involved as they tried to simply survive.

Seven years after Hurricane Katrina the region is still recovering.  On the outside everything looks shiny and new.  Memorial Medical Center narrowly escaped demolition and was sold a few years after the disaster after undergoing extensive renovations and was reopened under a new name.  Many of the people involved in the euthanasia controversy have moved on while others have not for various reasons.  If anything positive resulted from this horrible situation, I would hope that lessons were learned to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.  Only time will tell.

~Thalia

Review: Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel (a Dear Daphne novel) by Melody Carlson

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20131005-230242.jpgThis is a charming novel set in the fictional small town of Appleton. Daphne grew up there, and after more than a decade in New York City, she moves back to Appleton due to a death in the family.

Daphne doesn’t expect to fall in love with her hometown, nor does she expect to fall in love with a man. But Daphne does realize she is surrounded by loyal friends and family — as well as several potential suitors. While Daphne negotiates the terms of her aunt’s will, she begins to appreciate old friends, fresh faces in town, and the start of a new career. She meets more than a handful of attractive men – and has to decide just how much flirting she’s going to do!

Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel is a straightforward, quaint story of a contemporary 30-ish woman’s life. Carlson shows us broken hearts, jealousy, discontent, the need to refocus as life throws curveballs, and finally, the benefits of simple living.

Lock, Stock is the first in a series. I want to read the next one to find out who Daphne falls in like with, how Daphne’s writing career takes off, and how the little town of Appleton continues to grow.

If you’re a Melody Carlson fan, liked the “Green” series by Judy Christie, or the Aggie’s Inheritance books by Chautona Havig, you’ll enjoy this!

–Calliope

Buy it now Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel

Review: A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

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Oh. My. Goodness. A Hundred Summers was so good and so substantial that I had to stop every few chapters to reflect on and digest what I just read. I consumed this novel, and it consumed me. I was smiling as I read. Grinning from ear to ear. I’m happy even thinking about it now. A Hundred Summers is a conventional love story with unconventional twists and characters who made my eyes bug out of my head. There were several mouth-agape, palm-over-mouth gasping moments as well as full chapters that got my shoulders a-tense.

It’s the writing that makes this book a winner. Williams’ cleverness impressed me. She used metaphor and symbolism expertly: a football game, a snowstorm, a hurricane. What you see isn’t what you get; you get something even better.

Reading A Hundred Summers, I was surprised at every turn. I could not predict a thing (well, until the end, and even then I was afraid I was wrong). The characters surprised me, their circumstances shocked me. Their behavior — for the 1930s, especially! — entertained me.

Nick and Lily were an item six years ago. They had even planned on getting married. But family issues, misunderstandings, and Lily’s friend Budgie interfered. Budgie ended up with Nick. Budgie’s old flame Graham wanted Lily. No one’s intentions were pure … Jealousy, ego, anger, hurt and vengeance all played a part.

The plot explains how Nick and Lily untangle themselves from the scandal that was built around each of their families, but it isn’t a straight and narrow road. The twists and turns will pull you in, and drag you around the beach for a hundred glorious summers.

A Hundred Summers is going into my Favorites collection, along with Hosseini’s And The Mountains Echoed and Conroy’s The Prince of Tides.

-Calliope

Buy it now A Hundred Summers