Author love

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Do you ever notice that the author’s attitude influence you and your opinion on their books? I find that they do. Strike that, sometimes I like or love a book, even if the author’s a snot. But mostly I love it even more if they are friendly. If they interact, with us little people, on Facebook or Twitter, that makes a HUGE difference. What’s even better, is if they actually take time to answer their emails. That’s more personal, I think.

For example, I have a book that I am completely in love with, but the author seems kinda snotty. I won’t say her name, but she never interacts with us. I think it’s rude. I don’t love her book any less, but it’s hard to encourage others to buy it, if she doesn’t seem to appreciate the praise she gets. How hard is it to interact with us on Facebook really?? Not that hard.

On the opposite end, I have another book, which I will read over and over and love to the depths of my soul, and the author is amazing. She responds to emails and completely interacts with us on Facebook. She is a riot!! I even sent her a book to sign. But she didn’t just sign it, she made swag to go with it.

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How amazing is that?!?! I mean, truly, she is awesome!! I love her to death and I’ve never even met her. However, that is on my bucket list. *crossing fingers*

I understand that authors are busy writing. I mean, we don’t expect them to chat with us all day long, but we’re the ones that take the time out to buy their books. The least you can do is respond to us when we give you praise or ask a question.

~Melpomene

Review: Like Falling by Jaden Wilkes

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17995429Like Falling (Surfaces #1) is another take of my current favorite angst filled genre, New Adult. I can’t help it – I can’t get enough of it. I’ve read the good, the bad and the ugly in the genre so far and believe me there has been some very ugly! But this one seems to fit pretty much right smack dab in the middle of the genre- in a good way.

Sarah Miller comes from a Mennonite family who wants her to marry as soon as possible and have lots of Mennonite babies. She wants to go to college and her parents decide to let her and Sarah explores her boundaries while there, in every way. Sarah lives with her Mennonite friend Nic, who quickly introduces Sarah to all the joys of college life.

Sarah seems at times to be almost over the top, but then I remember people who I’ve known who felt repressed and she acted pretty much just like they did. She is wide eyed and trying to experience different things from cursing to kissing. I did laugh at her text messaging and dealing with her roomate’s girlfriend.

This book was part amusing, coming of age story, and part angsty romance between two people who obviously should be together. It does end in a cliffhanger, but does so in such a way that did not make me angry. The author pointed out that the the 2nd book is in the process and it will be part of a trilogy as she felt that the story was too much for one book.

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

Solid 3 stars

~Clio

Review: The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar #1) by Tad Williams

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DirtyI’ve been wanting to try Tad Williams for a while now. I just kept putting it off. I am not opposed to fantasy writers. Some of my favorite books are from this genre. However, for whatever reason, I am always intimidated by them before I start. Perhaps I am afraid the story line will be too foreign for me to follow. Perhaps it is because so many of the great fantasy reads are volumes upon volumes of novels…whatever the cause of my hesitation, once I start I am fine….after all, a great story is a great story no matter the genre….and the fantasy world has some totally amazing storytellers. I have always heard that Tad Williams was one of these amazing storytellers….

Having said all of that…some parts of this book were actually very good….however, other parts were just bad….no, not just bad, but very bad! I might give Tad Williams another go, but I don’t think it will be with this series….I do like how Bobby was loyal in the end…not only to his own self, but also to a friend….So Williams gets full props for the main character. The rest of the story is where it fell short for me. It was not exciting. It was not original. I could pick out dozen of instances where certain characters reminded me of another from some other series, by other writers. I knew who the culprit was almost from the start and I know it was supposed to come as a huge shock…..I also thought the same “action packed monster scenes” were very repetitive and hence, very boring…maybe this was all my own fault as I had very high expectations of Williams. Hearing about the subject of the story excited me. It sounded original. It sounded exciting. It sounded so unique and I was expecting not only to be blown away by it, but refreshed by it as well. I mean seriously, even the title was fantastic to my mind! I was super excited going into this book…..I wanted to finish it a full run, excited to hit my next book…..that didn’t happen….I felt as if I hit a brick wall reading it. I lost all interest about halfway through….I found reasons to either put the book down and find more interesting things to do, or a strong desire to just skim over pages and pages to get to the ending I knew was waiting for me.

The one thing I did learn from reading this novel is that even an original concept can end up being told in a very unoriginal way.

~Urania

Buy it now The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Bobby Dollar)

Review: Geoducks Are for Lovers by Daisy Prescott

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So. This book made me laugh and made me cry… but not until 80% through. The characters were fleshed out and awesome… but they didn’t DO anything until 50% through. Daisy Prescott nailed the landscape in the Pacific Northwest setting… but repeated the same details in every chapter.

Maggie invites a group of friends to her island cottage home before they celebrate a big school reunion. Maggie is surprised when Gil – former best friend and crush – shows up. They spend their time together exploring whether they should start a relationship now, 20 years later.

Cute plot for a rom-com. But it took so very long to get to the plot that I just couldn’t enjoy the book. I was bored for the first half, waiting for something to happen. This was a 2-star book until the 3-star end.

-Calliope

Buy It Now Geoducks Are for Lovers

Review: The Redemption of Callie and Kayden, by Jessica Sorensen

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OK. Let me start out by saying that I have been dying for this book to come out. I read The Coincidence back in December and no one told me it was a cliffy!! A super duper horrible cliffy!!! I was so upset. Seven months is a long time to wait, but I did. So if you haven’t read it, stop right now and go grab it. This review will spoil it for ya.

This book takes place a few days after the last one ended. Kayden is in the hospital and Callie is trying to figure out how to survive without him. She doesn’t wanna leave him. She knows he’s hurting and wants to help, but he wants her to stay away from him. He thinks he’ll drag her down. But he doesn’t realize that she needs him.

He’s one of two people who knows why she’s broken and she needs him.

“You’re the only person who I can ever feel whole with.”

Callie, with the help of Seth and Luke, bring him on a road trip, in the hope that it will help him to open up and break free. She learns his secret and tries to help him with it. But it’s something he has to wanna do. Callie can’t do anything but love and support him. Kayden has been so broken for so long, he doesn’t know how to live a normal life. He doesn’t think he’s even worthy of it.

Meanwhile, he faces battery charges from the beating he put on Caleb. His parents are trying to do everything they can to get him out of it. But he doesn’t want anything to do with them. The only way out of it would be if Callie came forward with her secret, but he can’t ask her to do that.

“Callie, tell me what you need.”

“I need the world to stop being such an ugly place full of hurt.” Tears slip out of her eyes. “I need to wake up and really believe everything will be okay instead of hoping it will be. I want to be one of the lucky ones who has a good life.”

My heart was breaking from these two. So much hurt and pain. I wanted to reach in and hug them both. And perhaps beat up one a few people also. I’m a scrapper, I could take them. 😉

Seth and Luke were very good friends to them. They brought a bit of the necessary comedic breaks the book needed. You see a small glimpse into Luke’s life also, and you know there is more to him than what he’s showing. BTW, his book is next.

I was glad when they faced their fears and told someone. That was hard to read though. People’s reactions to horrible situations like theirs, are very difficult to read. I didn’t know if they were going to believe them. I’m glad they did.But they are able to move past them and slowly put their lives back together.

“I think the leaves made it back to the trees.”

~Melpomene

Buy it now The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden

Buy it now The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

Musings: Anatomy of a Book Slump

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I love to read. A lot. Like all the time. Which used to be a problem with limited space, limited budget and almost no bookstores near me. But then I got my first Kindle and it was like the clouds parted and I got manna from heaven – books at my fingertips. Whenever. Wherever. Only limited by my budget.

So, all my book problems were a thing of the past, right? Umm, not quite.

I began to have the opposite problem – what should I read?? This is almost as serious a problem as not having anything TO read as my fellow book lovers know. And then the worst problem of all hit me – a book slump.

What is a book slump you ask? A book slump is when even with all the resources of Amazon at your disposal you still cannot find anything to read.

I had such a bad book slump this weekend. At any given time I have about 40-50 books on my kindle, because I like knowing that I have options. These consist of a combo of library books, books I’ve gotten on sale, ARC’s to review and all are sorted carefully into genres. Then I have a short list of books out of those that I want to read very soon.

I chose a book from that pile and just wasn’t into it. Put it aside. Started another book – thought I’d try a suspense this time. Got 20% into it and was soo bored. Move onto romance. No. Thriller. No. Non fiction. Nope! Maybe a different romance. How about dystopian? OOh, what about supernatural?? Nope, no, not even close.

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At this point I’ve read about 10-15% of at least 10 quality books that I truly want to read. ARGHH!!! I then bought 6 books of my Amazon wish list o’ books but still wasn’t really interested in any. I’m feeling pretty desperate here…it’s like I NEED a good book fix right now!

And then a wonderful fellow muse, Thalia, saved the day! She gifted me a book she enjoyed and I was off and reading. Finished the book that night and the next day was able to pick up a different one and keep on going.

Thank heaven for good friends, sometimes they can save you from yourself 🙂

~ Clio

Review: Sweet Revenge by Zöe Archer

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image“Oh, aye,” he said, bitter. “I’m a goddamn hero.” “I never said that.” Her mouth curved into a soft, bittersweet smile. “But maybe someday you’ll become one.”

Jack Dalton has a gun held to his head. On the other end of the gun is Eva Warrick. She and her companions are part of a private organization called Nemesis Unlimited. Nemesis’ mission is to help those in the lower social classes. Their current client is a merchant’s daughter. She was seduced and abandoned by Lord Rockley. Eva and her fellow agents believe that Rockley is also involved in some illegal activities. They want to expose him and thus bring retribution for the merchant’s daughter.

Jack just wants to kill Rockley. Jack’s sister was a prostitute. Rockley had rough sex with her and caused her death. He escaped prison to kill Rockley. Eva threatens to bring him back to prison if he doesn’t help her.Jack is the only person who left Rockley’s employ and is still alive. They need him to track Rockley’s activities as well as his business associates. Jack has no choice but to help Eva and her partners.

Jack and Eva are immediately attracted to each other when they first meet. The romance slowly develops as they work together. They learn of each other’s past. Jack’s is painful, of course, as he is riddled with guilt over his sister’s deaths.

This an exciting and entertaining, action-packed first book in the series with a kick-ass heroine. The tv shows Leverage and Burn Notice inspired Zoë Archer to create this series. I eagerly look forward to the next book. Hopefully, Simon will be the hero.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Sweet Revenge: A Nemesis Unlimited Novel

Review: Tell the Wolves I’m Home (Revisited) by Carol Rifka Burnt

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“I thought how that was wrong and terrible and beautiful all at the same time.”
― Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I’m Home

This quote is exactly how I felt about this book. There is no doubt that this will go down as an all time favorite of mine. What a powerful read for me. I want to go out and buy multiply copies and give it to all the people I love. I want to hand out copies to complete strangers. I want just one person to read it and then turn to me and say, “I understand what this book means to you, I feel it too.”

I usually start a book and it’s easy enough for me to tell if I am going to like it or not. I can tolerate an okay story if the writing is “quote worthy.” It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I can get lost in words if the author writes them in a lyrical way. This book was no exception. I fell in love from the start. This book sang to me! As I read along I loved the writing I was witnessing. Yes, I was not just reading words on a page….I was feeling as if I was present in Brunt’s imagined world. However, at the same time, I thought, this is a really a pretty cool book and I’m really enjoying it, but there’s no way I will be able to review it. The story was too hard to put into words. Many times, as a book goes along I lose some of my passion for it. As I went further along in this book, I was surprised to find that my love for the book was not easing off. In fact, my love for it was growing in leaps and bounds. My despair at trying to figure out how to start a review also changed. Now the story wasn’t too hard to put into words, it was simply too big! How could I encompass all the emotions that this book evoked from me and put it into mere words?

“Proof that there are worlds and worlds and worlds on top of worlds, if you want them to be there.”
― Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I’m Home

Brunt has masterfully given us so many stories on top of stories here. Is this a story about the ignorance of AIDS in the 80’s and the assumptions people made born out of that ignorance? Is this a story of family rivalry? Or of family love? Is it a story about the bond between sisters? Is it a coming of age story of a single young girl? Or is it the story of two lonely people that find a way to hold on to one another to overcome life’s grief? Is it about courage? Or sorrow? Loneliness? Acceptance? Regret? Acceptance?

“She was wired into my heart. Twisted and kinked and threaded right through.”
― Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I’m Home

Brunt has somehow taken these separate amazing stories and twisted and kinked and threaded them right through the reader’s very heart and made them into one…..how does one do that? How is it possible for this to be a debut novel? Surely there must have been bit of magic involved!

What strikes me most about this book is just how well Brunt was able to capture what being a teenager was like for me. I felt as if I had traveled in some time machine….that I was transported back to my own life as a teenager….forced to re-live all those thoughts and fears I had. I remember all those same feelings that June and Greta were feeling. The self-doubt. The selfishness of not being able to see the world beyond how it affects me. Ultimately this was June’s story and we only had her viewpoint to follow. This story could have read so differently if it had been Toby or Greta’s voice that we heard. Some parts of me wish it had been the type of book that was told from multiple viewpoints. That feeling came from my own personal greed. I was so able to climb inside the character of June. I wish I had been allowed to also climb further inside the characters of Greta and Toby as well. How different my life might had been had I been privy to their thoughts and insights at the time…it really is something when an author is able to transport you to another place and time….to make you feel as if you are no longer a reader, but instead, you are present, living this story, just as if it were your own…..

Please don’t let all the hype and the great reviews of this book deter you from giving it a chance. Sometimes you run across a book that not only lives up to all the hype….to a book that truly deserves all the hype….sometimes you also run across that a book totally and completely captivates you and takes you by surprise…..

This is that book! Read it! I dare you to!

~Urania

Buy It Now Tell the Wolves I’m Home

What Makes a Good Book Good

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I’ve been thinking about what makes a good book GOOD. I know, I know – developed characters, an even and forward-moving plot, a genre I like, good writing…. But there’s something else that’s not so objective.

I need the characters to be relatable. The plot has to be somewhat realistic (that’s over a 5 on the realism scale -yeah i made that up- where 1 is unrealistic and 10 is nonfiction). The book has to evoke emotions – make me laugh and cry. There have to be enough details that I can see what the characters see, but not so much detail that it bogs down the plot. Dialogue has to be natural, not contrived.

But you know what it really is? The book has to make me want to invest in it. I’ve got to be drawn in and live the story I’m reading. I want that book to speak to me!

Since having a kindle and putting quite a few free-or-on-sale books on there, I’ve experienced some books that just aren’t good. I’m either bored with the characters or driven crazy with unnecessary details. Sometimes the plot seems to be going absolutely nowhere– because it isn’t. And sometimes the characters are so contrived, I find my eyebrows raised… page after page after page. Why do I put myself through it?!

The most recent failure was Coffee Beans and Blue Jeans. Or Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans. I struggled to 20% and just couldn’t go any further. If you’ve read it and enjoyed it, please let me know what its redeeming qualities are. Maybe it deserves a second chance. Or maybe it doesn’t!

I have 700 books on my kindle, all unread and waiting for me. I’d like to find one that moves me rather than struggle through one that frustrates me.

So…. Hello, “Geoducks Are for Lovers.” I’ll let you know how it is in a future review. If I finish it. 😉

-Calliope

Buy Some Now <a href="http://Kindle eBooks

Review: Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

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20130728-200959.jpgThis was a hard review to write. Why? First, I didn’t want to include any spoilers for the first book just in case there were readers waiting for this book to be released before starting it. Second, I didn’t want to include spoilers for this book. So, here I go.

I read this book without re-reading Masque of the Red Death first. Bethany Griffin’s evocative writing quickly drew me back to the plight of Araby and her friends. The book picks up almost immediately where Masque left off.

Araby has her father’s journal. Through it, we discover what happened between Prospero and her father. I was entranced while reading the book and kept flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen next.
The only problem I had was the drawn out love triangle. Maybe because I have never cared for love triangles. I wanted to yell at Araby to pick! Who she finally chose was the right fit for her.

As for Araby herself, I liked her growth in this book. Early in the book she talks about being hurt and how she doesn’t need Elliott’s syringe to help her survive the pain. This is much different from the Araby we met in book 1.
I am glad to have met Araby and her world. I’m sad to leave it after two books instead the promised series but very happy that Ms. Griffin didn’t drag the story out.

ARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Dance of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death)

Buy Book 1 Masque of the Red Death