Musing: Wanting to Love a Book, and ‘Tisn’t Cooperating

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So I’m reading an advance copy of The Dressmaker, and the premise is terrific. The characters crack me up with their sly humor, and my heart breaks for Tilly as she has been excluded and harassed for all of her life. I love the setting, too, and the eccentricities and quirks of small-town living. 

But the formatting. Argh. Take a look at the photo above. The first few pages of each chapter have formatting issues so bad that I can barely read the sentences. I’m sure I’m missing something important to the story. 

And the plot development is killing me. Get to the point already! It seems like the several subplots are going somewhere… But WHERE?! 

Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you ever started a book and it starts to disappoint you, but you hold out and keep reading? 

I’m already in 50%, so I’m going to finish it. But I so hope it improves, because so far it’s just a book I Want To Love. 

-calliope

Review: The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

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23014701I have so many great books on my TBR list that it’s not often I read books I don’t like. However, that doesn’t mean I limit myself to well know authors or sure fire proven winners. Some of my best reads were books that no one I knew had read. Glancing at the blup of this book I thought it had real potential.

What can I say….this will probably be my lowest rated book this year. Damn it! I hate it when that happens…when you read a book and you just know it will be the low point of the year. I’ve spent some time trying to figure out why I disliked it so much. Really, dislike is a strong word. I didn’t dislike it so much as I just didn’t care for it. It was a very flat read for me. It didn’t excite me. It didn’t leave me wanting to rush through it to find out how it ends. It didn’t have me wanting to slow down and savory every word. Once I bonded with a character they would do something really strange that weirded me out and I couldn’t get past it enough to like them or be interested in them. Then there are the characters I just didn’t get enough insight to even feign interest in them.

After reading the book and being somewhat disappointed I rushed to read the other reviews to see why they loved it so much. Hmmmmmmm….nothing to enlighten me there either…Granted, there aren’t many out there as the book has yet to be published at this time….but what I saw gave me no insight as to why they rated the book so high….

Alas….I guess that’s just how it is sometimes….as really, I can’t give much insight to why I didn’t enjoy it as much….nothing in it made me passionate to hate it either (I sometimes love books that I hate! Just to know they can get such raw emotions from me is something!)….there just wasn’t much inspiration in this novel for me….it was like mushy potatoes….yes, you can eat them….but you neither love them or hate them…they are just something to fill you up until the next great meal comes along….

Until next time…

Urania xx

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

Buy it now The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

Review and Giveaway: Better When He’s Brave

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01bwhb Titus is a cop. He’s a good cop who always does the right thing. Never illegal. But this time around he needs to walk a fine line and rely on those, who don’t always work on his side of the law, in order to keep his girl safe.

I’m a sucker for cops. But I’m really a sucker for hot, bossy cops, and Titus King fits the bill perfectly. That man has been so focused on the job and so used to doing things his way, that when Reeve walks back into his life, he’s no way prepared for what is coming.

When Reeve walks in his door and lays down a plan to help him, he is forced to protect her in order to take down the latest criminal, who’s trying to destroy The Point. But being in close proximity with her is messing with his body. He doesn’t want to want her. He wants her gone. She’s caused enough trouble for him and his family. But the longer she stays the longer he’s pulled into her.

The Point has been a dangerous place. But when Reeve comes, it jumps up a notch and seems to follow her and pretty soon the people around them are going to start paying for it. So Titus is on a mission. Keep the girl alive. Protect his family. Do whatever it takes, even if it cost him his life.

I was FREAKING out, when I read the prologue. Seriously. I love Titus and to see him in that situation, was very nerve wrecking. In fact, throughout the entire book I was stressing. Craziness on every corner was pulling him down. He is the job. But when Reeve started to creep into his life, I saw the man, not the cop. And watching them grow closer, amidst the turmoil, was perfect. Even with all the bad things happening, love manages to still creep in.

~Melpomene

Buy Better When He’s Brave: A Welcome to the Point Novel
Get caught up with the rest of the Point gang:
Better When He’s Bold: A Welcome to the Point Novel
Better When He’s Bad: A Welcome to the Point Novel

EXCERPT
“Everyone has a breaking point.”
I sounded gruff and really had to concentrate on getting the words out because she leaned forward and her lips hit right below my ear on my rough jaw. Her teeth started to nibble and her tongue lapped a long wet trail all the way up behind my ear where she breathed, “I would love to see you when you reach yours.”

She curled a hand around the back of my neck and rubbed her cheek against mine. When I let my monster have at her, it took in giant mouthfuls, gobbled her up, and tried to burn as fast and as hot as the pleasure would allow. She wasn’t kidding when she said hers needed to be soothed. Every move she made was deliberate, erotic. We touched everywhere and somehow it was more intimate than all the times I had been inside of her over the last month. She brushed her chest against my own and I decided the playing field needed to level out a little, so I hooked my hands under her shirt and lifted it up off over her head. Her hair fell back down around us like a dark curtain and I grabbed her face so I could kiss her. She blinked at me with big eyes and smiled.

“You are the only one that sees it, over and over again. You were the breaking point from the moment you walked in the door to tell me you helped Novak grab Dovie. I wanted to be disgusted, to hate you, but I didn’t. I thought you were beautiful and resilient. You seemed so misguided and lost, and even then I wanted to get you naked and fuck you on my desk.”

Her face lowered to mine and our lips touched just a tiny bit. One of her hands skated down the center of my chest and landed on my belt buckle. I reciprocated by popping the clasp on the back of her bra and pulling it out of my way.

“You should’ve tried. I would’ve let you.” The words danced across my lips and somewhere in the center of my chest an animal howled in delight. That was what was missing in my life. Someone that appreciated all the sacrifice, the hard choices I had made to become the man I was, but who could also appreciate the fucked-up kid I had been.

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Review: How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

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How_to_Say_I_Love_You_Out_Loud_for_sitejpgModern-day readers are very fortunate. No matter what situation-ailment-predicament-life event they find themselves in, there’s a book for it. Nonfiction if they’re after factual information, fiction if they want to simply lose themselves in a story. And it’s the same for young adult readers. Almost every possible scenario has been imagined, everything from bullying to living with a mental illness. It’s not as common, however, to find a book that tells the story from the perspective of a family member. This wonderful book from Karole Cozzo does just that.

The story is told from the point of view of Jordan, a young girl living with a secret. To her it’s a terrible secret, one that’s led to embarrassment and isolation in the past. But it’s not something she can control. Her younger brother Phillip has autism, and it pretty much governs everything that goes on in her family. From family outings to alone time spent with her mom, it all revolves around Phillip and his unpredictable, ever-changing moods.

She survives by keeping a definite separation between home and school. A student at an elite school, she gets by well enough. She’s active in sports and does well enough academically. But she keeps her friends at arms-length, never letting down that boundary between the outside world and her home life. While not an ideal solution, it works for Jordyn. Until Phillip is unexpectedly and unavoidably transferred to her school. Now all her worst fears come true as the lines between home and school are crossed. And Jordyn has to confront some hard truths about herself. Is she using Phillip as an excuse to not let others into her life?

It’s hard to like Jordyn at first because she’s so hard on herself and her family. She’s embarrassed of Phillip, even to the point of pretending to not even know him. Most of us would find that inexcusable. But she’s a teenage girl, and that says a lot. Being a teen is hard enough, especially in an elite school. It’s entirely understandable to see how she’d want a little bit of normalcy, one area of her life that isn’t ruled by Phillip.

This was an outstanding story. It’s plausible and realistically written, and the descriptions of Phillip’s behavior as a person with autism ring true. It will hit home for anyone affected by autism, but will have readers of all kinds hooked until the very end.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: How to Say I Love You Out Loud

Review: Rome in Love by Anita Hughes 

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I loved Lake Como by Anita Hughes and was so excited for another great summer read set in Italy. 

Rome in Love is the story of Amelia Tate, movie star on location in Rome. She meets a handsome man, and then needs to resolve a couple of challenges: one, she told him she was a maid; two, she has a fiancé; three, she keeps drinking too much champagne and passing out in the handsome man’s presence. 

Hughes includes flashbacks to Audrey Hepburn via letters from Hepburn to a friend, and she also writes a subplot involving a princess who falls in love with someone other than the pre-arranged Prince-to-be. 

I loved the on-location descriptions and “seeing” the sights with Amelia, Philip, Sophie, Theo, Veronique, and Greg. Traveling in Italy was wonderful — and no jet lag for me! 

While I enjoyed all the threads of Rome in Love, it could have used some editing. It seemed every chapter began with a description of someone’s attire, with lots of brand-name-dropping… and most chapters ended with Amelia falling asleep. Too repetitive for me. Also, how many times does a young woman get drunk, pass out, and find herself in the same strange man’s apartment before she decides to stop? She was in a foreign country! I had to suspend my disbelief just a little too much.  

Nonetheless, I was so enamored with the romantic gazes over espresso and the delicious food descriptions that I’ll be reading the next Anita Hughes novel, for sure!

-calliope

Buy ROME IN LOVE

Review: Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking

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01 cry This is the third book in the Kanin Chronicles, and I was totally taken in with this series. An epic fantasy with enough action to get your heart racing and enough romance to make your heart happy. I know this is a spin off from the Trylle books, but I haven’t read those yet. But after reading this series, I have to bump them up my tbr list.

SYNOPSIS
Bryn must decide: follow her head or her heart.

Thrown into a world of suspense and intrigue, Bryn has to fight to clear her name. But she’s not alone. With help from the Trylle – including Finn Holmes – she’s on a quest to discover the truth.

With her life and her world on the line, will Bryn be able to risk it all?

Bryn has to make some very difficult choices in this final book. She is an outlaw, and must rely on some unlikely alliances if she wants to clear name and find out who’s behind all this trouble. Her heart was pulled in so many different directions, I felt so bad for her. I wanted her to find happiness, but not at the expense of all that she, and her loved ones, had to endure. Just when things were looking up, the rug was pulled out from underneath her. So many times….

I loved all these characters. Konstantin was so bad, and yet not really. He was a wild card, and I love him. I wanted only good things for him. Ridley was amazing. He endured so much for her. The pain he went through was insane. But for Brynn, he would do that and so much more. I was glad to see many of the Trylle characters in this story. They seem to have a great story to tell. Like I said already, that series is getting bumped up. I need to know how they came to be.

Brynn was so used to doing a job and not thinking of love, that she missed out on so much. She was all about the job and never understood why so many of her friends were choosing love. By then end, she knew. Without feeling love for others, this battle was pointless. But perhaps now, she’ll be able to move on to bigger and better things knowing that there’s more to this life now.

All in all, a fabulous conclusion. Mind you, there were quite a few scenes in which I yelled, “NO!!!” and my heart was crushed and ripped out a few times, but I was left satisfied. The last chapter wrapped everything up, with a nice little bow. I wish we were able to see a wee bit more of Brynn’s future, but perhaps we’ll get a surprise novella later. That would make me happy.

~Melpomene

Release Date: Aug 4, 2015
Buy Crystal Kingdom (The Kanin Chronicles)

First you must get caught up.
Frostfire (The Kanin Chronicles Book 1)

Ice Kissed (The Kanin Chronicles)

Review – The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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11250317Today, we’re going to be travelling back a few thousand years! Don’t worry, you won’t need your passport! Now, we all know, or at least have heard of, the classical Greek stories of Achilles, the Trojan War, Helen of Troy etc etc… However, as with any great myth or story, we rarely hear the precursor; what happened before the events to these people? Particularly, what force, passion, emotion, inspired Achilles to step up and continue fighting (readers of Homer’s Iliad will know that Achilles refused to fight after his slave was taken away)? I don’t want to spoil anything, as even if you already know the whole story of the Iliad, this is a fresh take, so the raw power of the story will take your breath away.
Miller takes us on an adventure (I purposely use that word because that’s exactly how this books reads, as an adventure) exploring the early years of Achilles and his friend, Patroclus. They are brought up together in the same house and received much of the same education and training. Over the years we experience their bond strengthening and later events make much more sense.
Again, I just want to make a point of mentioning that my lexical choice of “experience” and “adventure”, is really not an accident. Miller’s writing allows us to “be in the moment” and to really feel for these characters, because we have been on the same journey as them. We’ve essentially experienced what they’ve experienced. Now, I know that sounds incredibly corny, but it’s the only way I can describe it. Miller’s style of writing is sparse, complex, simple, detailed, lyrical, poignant and mythical. All this coming in a debut novel is extremely rare. I suppose it helps that Miller has both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Ancient Greek and Latin languages as well as Classical studies. That urge to know more, and be inspired by the texts in their original languages, and have the academic ability and opportunity to really research your subject, is a real credit to Miller, along with her seemingly innate ability to write a damn good story!
I really cannot recommend this novel enough. A solid read, and for those of you that dislike lengthy novels, one t that packs such a punch in just over 400 pages – got to be worth a read!

Pegasus (and no, I did not consult on this novel!)

The Song of Achilles: A Novel

Review: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery

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Susan Mallery is a genius! She wrote Thrill Me as part of her long-running Fool’s Gold series, but it’s also part of a mini-series trio.  I love that! If you’re new to Fool’s Gold, or you don’t keep up with series, you can read the Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me trio and be totally satisfied. (You can read any of the Fool’s Gold books as standalones, but they’re much more fun together.)

In Thrill Me, Maya and Del separately return to their hometown to work on a project for Mayor Marsha. Maya works in video editing, and Del is a charmer on camera. Their work chemistry is easy and natural, and even though they had decade-old romantic history together, Del and Maya renew their relationship in the form of friendship. 

Mallery impresses me by coming up with new and exciting professions for her characters. I LOVE the video production descriptions in this book.  Plus, it’s a good backdrop for Del and Maya getting close in the editing room.  😉

Maya and Del are loveable and fun characters, perfect for each other, and perfect for Fool’s Gold. Their romance was mostly in their own minds until they finally admitted feelings for each other and decided on Happily Ever After.  Another Susan Mallery winner! 
-calliope

Buy THRILL ME

Review: Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon

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17302690I usually don’t pay much attention to reviews. A contradiction, I know, coming from someone who shares my love of great stories by writing reviews. But let me clarify. I don’t pay much attention to reviews unless they come from someone whose opinion I know and trust, someone who enjoys the same types of stories that I do. So I hope that’s how you view us here at the Muses, trusted friends who offer a little bit of something for everyone.

Having cancer sucks, even more so when you’re seventeen years old. That’s just what Richie is facing. And even worse, he’s been moved to hospice. We all know what that means. He’s the youngest person on the hospice ward with the exception of Sylvie. So of course there’s a romance brewing. If the story ran on that alone, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. It’s the cast of supporting characters that adds so much more. There’s Richie’s crazy but fun uncle who manages to sneak him out for a night of fun on Halloween. There’s his grandma who is complicit in helping him sneak around with Sylvie. Sylvie’s dad, by the way is one scary dude. Staying out of his reach becomes a full-time challenge in itself for Richie. And then there are the nurses and staff members, all full of personality and compassion at the same time.

I think it’s unfair to compare this story to The Fault in Our Stars as so many reviews have done. Because let’s be honest, that was a one of a kind, once in a lifetime story. And I don’t say that to take anything away from this book. It’s a different kind of book that just happens to share a few common characteristics with TFIOS. But it’s just as good in its own way.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: Somebody Up There Hates You: A Novel

Review (revisited): The Coldest Gril in Coldtown by Holly Black

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12813630I really enjoyed this book. However, I must warn you, it is predictable….and although I Black has said that this is a stand alone book….well I just don’t see her leaving it as it ended…there is just so much more she can do with the storyline….

This novel centers around a teenager named Tana. She lives in a world were vampires live in walled “Coldtowns”….when Tana wakes up after a party and discovers her and a friend might be infected she ventures into Coldtown, knowing it’s her only chance for survival but also knowing that once you become a resident of Coldtown there is little chance of ever leaving….

This whole vampire/paranormal//teenager/love triangle/save the world thing has been done over so many different ways and times…well it’s hard to get really excited and feel like you’re reading something new and different….

Having said that, I really think Black has taken the best of all of those numerous books out there and meshed them together to form a really enjoyable read. You have bloggers connecting the vampire world with the outside, human world. You have vampire fans that would do anything to be turned into a vampire…you have a love interest….you have revenge….you have betrayal….you have family issues….and Black does an excellent job in laying all those out to make a fast paced read…..

But at the end of the day….you still know what’s gonna happen….so if that doesn’t bother you….well I say read on! If you like a book full of surprises and an ending you can’t imagine….well…..perhaps you should move ahead and skip over this read….it might not be for you….

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black