Monday, August 12, 2013

Monday in my mailbox

This is what had been in the mailbox lately.  We are still well overbooked with books to read and review.  Thanks
Prairie Song (Hearts Seeking Home #1)The first step in a challenging journey is often the one that means the most. 
 
Though it means saying goodbye to the beloved friends and spiritual mentors of her St. Charles, Missouri quilting circle, Anna Goben is certain that she needs to enlist her family in the Boones Lick Company wagon train. The loss of her beloved brother in the Civil War has paralyzed her mother and grandfather in a malaise of grief and depression and Anna is convinced that only a fresh start in the Promised Land of California can bring her family back to her. Although the unknown perils of the trail west loom, Anna’s commitment to caring for her loved ones leaves no room for fear—or even loving someone new.  
 
During the five-month journey, trail hand Caleb Reger plans to keep a low profile as he watches over the band of travelers. Guarding secrets about his past and avoiding God’s calling on his life, Caleb wants to steer as far from Anna as she does him, but she proves to be just as he assessed her from the beginning— independent, beautiful trouble. 
 
Led by a pillar of hope, the group faces rough terrain that begins to take a toll on their spirits. Will the wilderness of suffering lead them astray, or will the gentle song of love that echoes across the prairie turn their hearts toward God’s grace and the promise of a new home?
Deep Brain Learning: Pathways To Potential With Challenging YouthProfessionals with decades of experience working in the field, Larry K. Brendtro, Martin L. Mitchell and Herman J. McCall set out to demonstrate how combining brain research, human values and practice expertise can lead to success with at-risk youth. Much has been written about educating and working with challenging children, but what's often missing from those theories are what youth think and how they feel. According to Dr. Brown of the William Gladden Foundation, "This book places the voice the young person at the center of evidence-based practice, building respectful alliance to surmount challenges." "Deep Brain Learning" uses the voices of youth, case studies and insights gained over decades in the field, to create powerful principles for success with youth, who often are more concerned with looking good than doing good. The roadmaps created in this book show that true, lasting transformations come from person-centered approaches where quality relationships are key. You will discover 25 principles that lead to transformational change in challenging children.
The Other Half of Me: A Novel“What good can the past do the living? What harm?” Growing up in their family’s ancestral home in Wales, Jonathan Anthony and his little sister, Theo, are inseparable. Together they explore the wild acres of Evendon, inventing magical worlds and buttressing each other against the loneliness of life with their alcoholic mother, Alicia, and a shifting cast of gossiping cooks and maids. When a family tragedy brings their glamorous grandmother, Eve, home from America, Jonathan and Theo are initially elated by the attention she lavishes on them. But soon it becomes clear that there is more to the Anthony family history than either Eve or Alicia will acknowledge, trapping Jonathan and Theo in a web of dark secrets that have haunted Evendon for generations. Written in luminous prose, with richly endearing characters and a profound appreciation for the rustic beauty of the Welsh countryside, The Other Half of Me is a darkly wise coming-of-age novel and a masterful portrait of a family and the burdens of the past.
Tidal (Watersong #3)The magical world of Watersong is about to change forever. The answers Gemma and her friends have been searching for are finally revealed - but evil is closing in and time is running out....
Gemma and Harper Fisher are facing the fight of their lives. Gemma has been cursed with extraordinary powers that have a terrifying dark side, but she's finally found what she needs - a way to break the curse and become human again. However, finding the means to do it will be her greatest challenge yet. And now Penn, Lexi, and Thea - the gorgeous but deadly creatures who cursed her - are determined to kill her before she has a chance. Making matters worse, Penn has her sights set on Daniel - the guy Harper loves - and Penn always gets what she wants.
As Gemma and Harper race to break the curse before it's too late, they're thrust deeper into a mythical world of immortal secrets. They must into their enemies' past to find the answers they need, even if it means being drawn deeper into their savagely beautiful world. But one of the girls is not what she seems...and Gemma finds an unlikely ally as she struggles to save herself. Will it be enough to break an ancient curse that no one has ever escaped from alive?
This Girl (Slammed, #3)There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.

Colleen Hoover’s New York Times bestselling Slammed series has brought countless readers to their knees with a whirlwind of love, passion, and heartache. 

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from hispoint of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.
With All My Love: A NovelA heartwarming novel about a shocking discovery that forever changes the lives of three generations of women.

When Briony McAllister takes a trip to visit her mother, Valerie, she uncovers a letter from her long-lost grandmother, bringing to light a nearly unforgivable act her mother has kept secret for decades. Having always believed that her grandparents didn’t want to see her, she finds that the opposite is true: her grandmother had been seeking her out all along, and it was her own mother who willfully kept them apart.

Devastated that her past has come back to haunt her, Valerie realizes that her daughter’s anger might cause their troubled family history to repeat itself in a new generation. Rich with emotion and featuring magnificent descriptions of Ireland, With All My Love deftly weaves the stories of the past and present to take us into the heart of a family at war. As the truth is revealed, so too are the complex yet enduring bonds between mothers and daughters.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Book Feature - Lock Stock, and Over a Barrel - Melody Carlson - A Dear Daphne Novel

Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel
Title: Lock Stock, and Over a Barrel - A Dear Daphne Novel

Publisher: Published June 1st 2013 by B&HBooks
ISBN: 9781433679308
Copyright: 2013 
Pages: 320
Synopsis:  With high hopes, Daphne Ballinger lands her dream job at The New York Times. But it's not long until writing about weddings becomes a painful reminder of her own failed romance, and her love of the city slowly sours as well. Is it time to give up the Big Apple for her small hometown of Appleton?

When her eccentric Aunt Dee passes away and leaves a sizeable estate to Daphne, going back home is an easy choice. What isn’t easy is coming to terms with the downright odd clauses written into the will.

Daphne only stands to inherit the estate if she agrees to her aunt's very specific posthumous terms -- personal and professional. And if she fails to comply, the sprawling old Victorian house shall be bequeathed to . . . Aunt Dee’s cats.

And if Daphne thinks that’s odd, wait until she finds out an array of secrets about Aunt Dee's life, and how imperfect circumstances can sometimes lead to God's perfect timing.
Melody Carlson
Author Bio:  Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus.

She also writes many teen books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series.

Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon.

Other Reviews:



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Book Review - Lullaby - Amanda Hocking - Watersong Series Book 2

Lullaby (Watersong #2)
Title: Lullaby

Author: AmandaHocking

I read book 1 , Wake and was looking forward to seeing how the story progressed.  As with book series that have an ending, like this series, the middle books are never as good as the first or the last…I hope in this case the last is GREAT! 

Back to Lullaby…I enjoyed the story continuing and a look at how Gemma was going to handle her new thirst and hunger.  How will she ever return to being truly human if she succumbs to her hunger and kills another?  Harper of course is searching for Gemma and being helped by the two men in her life.  Her relationship with Daniel grows with a small amount of romance.  You learn a bit more about the sirens and their lives before the change and after since there are thousands of years old.

I just wonder how Gemma can ever come back to being human with all the calls of the ocean and the siren blood she has ingested.  This is an interesting look at mermaids….not like the Little Mermaid at all, a much darker vision of the creatures that call men to their deaths..financially and physically.  I look forward to Tidal coming in the mail from Amazon now.

Publisher: Published November 27th 2012 by St.Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9781250005656
Copyright: 2012 
Pages: 290 
Quick Review: 3.5 stars out of 5 
Why I Read It: I went to a book signing for the first book- so I pre-ordered this title. 
Where I Obtained the Book: Amazon Pre-order. 

Synopsis:
Don't miss the next chapter of Watersong, a bold new series that will enchant you, entrance you, and hold you captive under its spell.

Now that Gemma Fisher has inherited Penn, Lexi, and Thea's curse - and all the strange new powers that come along with it - she has no choice but to run away with them. Devastated that she has to leave everyone she loves behind, she's still determined not to give in to the unspeakable hungers that plague her. Unfortunately, they're growing stronger every day, and she's not sure how much longer she can resist.

Harper won't give up on finding her sister Gemma, vowing to get her back no matter what the cost. The search draws her closer to too-gorgeous-for-his-own-good Daniel, and tests her fiercely guarded independence like never before. She's always been the strong one who everyone else depends on.... Can she let herself depend on Daniel?

As Gemma and Harper plunge deeper into a magical world they barely understand, it becomes painfully clear that Gemma's old life may be lost forever. But can she still hold on to her humanity?
Amanda Hocking
Author Bio: 
I live in Minnesota, and I write young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy mostly. The My Blood Approves series is about vampires in Minneapolis, and its available now. I also wrote the Trylle Trilogy, which is a paranormal romance without vampires, shifters, mermaids, fae, angels, dragons, ghosts, or ninjas.

My latest book is Hollowland - a zombie urban fantasy set in the dystopian near future. It's a bit more violent and gritter than my other books, but there is still romance. Mostly though, Remy kicks a lot of butt.

I also enjoy Red Bull, Jim Henson, Batman, Jane Austen, Star Wars legos, and I absolutely hate long walks on the beach out of my intense fear/hatred of wet sand

My favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Alan Moore, and J. D. Salinger, but I don't write anything like them. I have an obsession with River Phoenix, and I've seen Silence of the Lambs more than any other movie, even The Dark Knight. If I were trapped on a deserted island, the one thing I'd take with me would be a boat capable for taking me home.

I'm also the guitarist in a band called the Fraggin Aardvarks, and even though its even twice as cool as it sounds, we haven't had a practice in like two years, so I'm not sure that technically we are still a band. But we never broke up, and it's an awesome thing to tell people, so I'm sticking with it. (We even had a synethesizer!)

Here are some ways you can talk to me:

Other Reviews: 
A Dream of Books
Icey Books
Book Hounds

Monday, August 5, 2013

Book Review - Bristol House - Beverly Swerling

Bristol House
Title: Bristol House 

Author: Beverly Swerling 

Review: On the surface this book was hitting all the things I like.  You have a wandering academic in England tracking down some small piece of history, only to get involved with some shadow organization and a much larger conspiracy.  So working through and against time can she piece together the clues and codes left by our historical heroes and save the day?  And if that wasn’t enough it had a nice romance layered on top of the whole thing.  What is not to love? 

Well unfortunately at no point did this book ever take hold of me and compel me to keep reading.  Instead I found I would go days in-between readings and couldn’t muster the excitement to dive back in.  I wasn’t really interested in the characters and the plot was a little too overblown.  Now overblown plots are to be expected in this sort of literature , but usually the author will make it seem a little more real in spite of it. 

Then we had the unrealistic stacking of coincidences like she gets hired by a wealthy business man to track down his pet historical interest.  Then just about the first person she meets (and future love interest) just happens to be a journalist with a major desire to prove said business man is out to destroy the world.  And this was just a chance meeting.  The book carries on like this with a lot of the double C’s (convenient coincidences); it is riddled with them. 

At the end of the day the story had a good heart and you could see where it wanted to go.  I would love to see how this author does after getting a few more thrillers under her belt so she could avoid all the clichés of the genre she fell for this time through.  A good outline of a story but not terribly well executed. 

Publisher: Viking 
ISBN: 978-0-670-02593-0 
Copyright: 2013 
Pages: 398 
Quick Review: 3 stars out of 5 
Why I Read It: Had a history mystery feel to it in the description (think Dan Brown) 
Where I Obtained the Book: Sent to me by the publisher for review. 

Synopsis: In the tradition of Kate Mosse, a swiftly-paced mystery that stretches from modern London to Tudor England 

In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He’s also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House. 

In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of religious persecution, Dom Justin, a Carthusian monk, and a goldsmith known as the Jew of Holborn must navigate a shadowy world of intrigue involving Thomas Cromwell, Jewish treasure, and sexual secrets. Their struggles shed light on the mysteries Annie and Geoff aim to puzzle out—at their own peril. 

This riveting dual-period narrative seamlessly blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid historical fiction. Beverly Swerling, widely acclaimed for her City of Dreams series, delivers a bewitching and epic story of a historian and a monk, half a millennium apart, whose destinies are on a collision course. 
Beverly Swerling

Author Biography:   I’m told that a number of critics who have said kind things about my books, have been less kind about the very brief bio on my book jackets. First, don’t blame Simon & Schuster; it’s my fault. Publishers use the data supplied by the author for this kind of thing, and I didn’t supply much. I guess because it seems that almost everything needs a long explanation. Which is probably me being egotistical. What do you care, right? You buy my books to be entertained (and very grateful I am), you don’t give two hoots about me.

But there are those picky critics…
Here then is a somewhat less abbreviated version.

I grew up in the Boston suburb of Revere, and while I won’t tell you when, I will say that it was very different from what it is today. The beach was, as it still is, one of the natural wonders of the state of Massachusetts, but the front was NOT lined with condo high-rises. It was a boardwalk with stands selling fried clams (Massachusetts has the world’s best fried clams – made from the Ipswich soft shells, they remain what I’d choose for my last meal on this earth) and French fries and soft ice cream that we called frozen custard. Plus there were all kinds of gambling games of the sort found at any fairground – pitch ‘til you win, folks! – and a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster and a tunnel of love.

Another feature of Revere back then was that it was almost entirely either Jewish or Italian (my own family is a mixture of both) and because the town had a dog track – Wonderland - and a horse track – Suffolk Downs – there was a lot of what is politely called off-track betting. Which wasn’t legal then, and for all I know still is not. Nonetheless, any number of family members rented rooms to bookies – the chief requirement being that these gentlemen of the turf had to be able to see one or the other of the tote boards with binoculars, (a world without cell phones, remember) and know how much they were liable to pay out, which in turn affected what odds they could offer on the next race.

I went from that upstanding childhood to a small Catholic girls college in the Midwest, then a job in New York as a file clerk to support my writing – all non-fiction at first – until I was able to earn my way as a free lance journalist.
For a time after that I lived in Europe.
Where I got married for a brief and unpleasant period, then came home and wrote more non-fiction. And got married again.
And went back to Europe.
And started writing fiction, and – hallelujah! – selling it.
And came back to New York with my by now long time husband, and began writing City of Dreams…
Which just about catches you up. Except for the bits I’ve left out.

And, oh yes, one other important part of my life and my work: On that so brief bio on the S&S book jacket it mentions that I’m a consultant. Many people have asked me what kind.

Happens that my husband – who has his own website at www.agentresearch.com – runs the world’s number one consultancy for authors looking for new (or sometimes a first) agents. It’s called Agent Research and Evaluation, Inc. and I do some work for some of his clients. I also occasionally mentor new writers – and some who are not so new. What they all have in common is a passion for what they’re writing, so working with them gives me great joy, and most have found it helpful. (Admittedly not all. I set the bar high.) Some of what I have to share about the hows and the whys of this wonderful but very tough business of writing can be found at The Business of Writing page. At other parts of the site you’ll find more about my books, including excerpts from some not yet published work, such as City of Glory, which continues the story of the Turners and the Devreys of City of Dreams. City of Glory will be out in January. We’ve also put up an excerpt from the next book in that series, still little more than a gleam in my eye.

Other Reviews: 
 Teri Harmon
West Metro Mommy Reads
Bookshelf Bombshell

Friday, August 2, 2013

Book Feature - The Spirit of Lost Angels - Liza Perrat

Spirit of Lost Angels
Title:  The Spirit of Lost Angels

Author:  Liza Perrat

Publisher:  Published June 2nd 2012 by Perrat Publishing
ISBN:  9782954168104
Pages:  378

Synopsis:  Her mother executed for witchcraft, her father dead at the hand of a noble, Victoire Charpentier vows to rise above her poor peasant roots.

Forced to leave her village of Lucie-sur-Vionne for domestic work in Paris, Victoire suffers gruesome abuse under the ancien régime. Can she muster the bravery and skill to join the revolutionary force gripping France, and overthrow the corrupt, diabolical aristocracy?

Spirit of Lost Angels traces the journey of a bone angel talisman passed down through generations. The women of L’Auberge des Anges face tragedy and betrayal in a world where their gift can be their curse.

Amidst the tumult of revolutionary France, this is a story of courage, hope and love.
 Liza Perrat
Author Bio:  Liza grew up in Wollongong, Australia, where she worked as a general nurse and midwife for fifteen years.

When she met her French husband on a Bangkok bus, she moved to France, where she has been living with her husband and three children for twenty years. She works part-time as a French-English medical translator.

Since completing a Creative Writing course ten years ago, several of her short stories have won awards, notably the Writers Bureau annual competition of 2004 and her stories have been published widely in anthologies and small press magazines. Her articles on French culture and tradition have been published in international magazines such as France Magazine and France Today.

She has completed four novels and one short-story collection, and is represented by Judith Murdoch of the Judith Murdoch Literary Agency.

Spirit of Lost Angels is the first in a historical series set against a backdrop of rural France.

Book Information:

Spirit of Lost Angels is on three “Best of 2012” lists:

Spirit of Lost Angels has been nominated in two categories for the 2013 EFestival of Words Awards:


Spirit of Lost Angels is one of the books from the author’s collective: Triskele Books (www.triskelebooks.co.uk)


Other Reviews:  

Disclaimer for all reviews sent by the publisher, publicist or author for review.

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