Bentwhistle the Dragon in A Threat from the Past by Paul Cude

November 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

DRAGON
Bentwhistle the Dragon in A Threat from the Past by Paul Cude
Publisher: Authors Online
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full length (376 Pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Bentwhistle the Dragon in A Threat from the Part is an adventure story children and adults alike will love, about the present day world in which dragons disguised as humans have infiltrated the human race at almost every level, to guide and protect them.Three young dragons in their human guises become caught up in an evil plot to steal a precious commodity, vital to the dragon community. How will the reluctant hero and his friends fare against an enemy of his race from far in the past?Fascinating insights into the dragon world are interspersed throughout the book. Ever wondered how dragons travel below ground at almost the speed of sound? Or how they use magical mantras to transform their giant bodies into convincing human shapes?In an action packed adventure that features both human and dragon sports, you’ll get a dragon-like perspective on human social issues and insight into what to do if you meet a giant spider grinning at you when you’re wearing nothing but your smile You’d be flamin’ mad to miss it.

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Paul Cude has written a very imaginative story with excellent descriptions of both the dragon and the human worlds. Peter lives in Salisbridge in a human home left to him by his grandfather. He has no memory of his grandfather or his parents and is very much alone except for his two friends, Tank and Richie, who grew up with him in the dragon nursery.

I liked Peter and his friends and I found the descriptions of the dragon world to be fascinating. I also enjoyed reading about dragon habits, and one of my favorite supporting characters is Tank’s boss, Gee Tee, one of the oldest dragons in existence. There is a great deal of humor in this book, which makes it an enjoyable read.

Sports, both human and dragon, are described in complete and exacting detail. I did find it tedious to have Peter’s field hockey matches (Peter is an avid player), and even the dragon game of Laminium Ball explained play by play. I felt these descriptions slowed the overall pace of the book. Without them, this is a fast-action highly suspenseful book with never a dull moment. The games are important to Peter and his friends, so I’m sure they’d work for sports fans. And it was fun to see how Tank managed to rig Peter’s television with a crystal so that they could watch the professional Laminium Ball game even though they’d been unable to get tickets by intercepting the newspaper’s live feed.

This is an exciting fantasy novel with a rich detailed description of dragon life portrayed in a unique and imaginative way. Readers of fantasy are sure to enjoy adding this to their reading list.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

November 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

LORD
The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
Publisher: Samhain Press
Genre: Historical, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (210 pgs)
Other: M/M, Anal sex
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.

A Charm of Magpies, Book 1

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.
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Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude…and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

Magic sometimes makes its own choices. Lucien is learning that lesson very well since he’s returned to England to sort out his late father and brother’s affairs. It seems someone wants the entire family dead, Lucien included. Desperate, Lucien employs an unlikely magician, Stephen, who has a long standing grudge against anyone from Lucien’s family. Stephen reluctantly agrees to help Lucien and soon realizes the forces at work are much darker than he realized. The two men must work together to find the answer for Lucien’s recent troubles.

The Magpie Lord is the first book in a new series by author KJ Charles. It’s an incredible tale that drew me in from the very beginning. I literally couldn’t put it down. There is so much going on that I couldn’t help but want to read more, yet I never felt overwhelmed or confused with all the action. The plot itself is amazing. The book is really a mystery and who-dun-it question. The characters are trying to figure out who is trying to kill Lucien (and possibly killed his family) and why. There is no shortage of possible suspects with the black reputation of Lucien’s family, so the journey and answer are very entertaining.

The two main characters of Stephen and Lucien are fully three dimensional and very engaging. The men are unlikely heroes both but seem to fit together in a satisfying way. They have a romance, one that slowly shimmers for the entirety of the book to finally culminate at the end, but the romance is definitely second place to the mystery. I’m very curious to see how these two grow and change both together and separately as time goes on. They’re both charming and wonderful narrators on their own but when they have scenes together, the story just boils with chemistry.

The writing is excellent and this is easily one of the best books I’ve read all year. I know this sounds gushing but I can’t quite help it. The intricacy of the plot is simply amazing, but to add several interesting secondary characters, a scorching main couple, and a historic setting that enthralls makes for an incredible story. I can’t wait to read more books in the series and easily recommend everyone read this one. I think it will appeal to fans across the board and not just historical fans. I tend to prefer contemporary stories and couldn’t get enough of this one.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Collector’s Item by Denise Golinowski

November 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

COLLECTOR
Collector’s Item by Denise Golinowski
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (185 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Daisy

Alpha were-jaguar, Katarina “KT” Marant is trained to protect the pride so when her aunt disappears, KT naturally takes up the hunt. Her suspicion settles on the Collectors, humans who view shapeshifters as the ultimate big game.

Peyton Allers can’t believe he’s got to blow his cover to rescue a shapeshifter “princess.” Even harder to believe is that she wants to stage her own kidnapping in order to catch the leader of the Collectors and find her aunt.

Everything goes sideways when KT is kidnapped for real and by someone she never suspected. Will Peyton find her before time runs out? Or will she become a true Collector’s Item?

Ms. Golinowski opens her novel strong. We have paranormal creatures, introduced by the protagonist KT Marant who hates wet humans: they ‘clog’ her nostrils. We also have a missing Aunt and a young girl wanting to live on her own, away from her own kind. The close attention to all the senses – the splashes, drops and smells, the melting of ‘rich, dark chocolate’ – in this world are a bonus which makes the story come to life. That’s good writing and plenty of plot points to get my teeth into.

There are places I outright chuckled at the peculiarities of KT, particularly during a certain unfortunate incident with her laptop, but she is a brave lead female character, not stupid or clumsy, a woman who does not hide behind the power of her family, or even the men in her life. She is willing and ready to put herself in harm’s way to help others; a respectable quality in any individual.
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However, it took me a while to warm to KT. The shortness of her name is not explained until later and it has a military, cold feel to it which felt too much like an alias or detective’s name to immediately put me on her side and envelop me into her viewpoint. In addition, her hate for wet human made me feel ostracised from her point of view until I had acquainted myself with her world and mindset.

Peyton Allers is her love interest, a Protectorate (law enforcer of sorts) gone undercover and, to some extent, rogue in order to save members of his species. He demands as much respect as KT for his heroism and bravery and his manly sarcasm can be very accurate and funny, for example his assumption that KT will erupt into ‘inevitable hysterics and demands for protection’ after she is attacked.

The similarities between these two makes them a good match and their reluctance to give anything away first in their dialogue makes them an interesting, dynamic couple with lots of sparks.

Unfortunately, KT and Peyton also represent stereotypes – he is the brooding law enforcement type intent on closing a case due to personal pain and she is a princess intent on surviving on her own two feet. Despite the fast paced plot points and exciting gun battles in this new urban, paranormal world, the book doesn’t feel new because of these stereotypes.

That is not to say the characters aren’t original. Their personalities are not copied and pasted from other books but they are of a type which is familiar and hard to alter to create something truly new.

In addition, I feel their paranormal side could have been dealt with better. There are many stories out there where the animal makes the choice in a Were over a mate and many of these use the term alpha to justify a romantic relationship. I felt something new could have been attempted, or at least the word could have been varied more often so it did not jar as much. This seems to be the main thing their animals had to contribute to their relationship.

Having said that, Ms. Golinowski knows how to craft tension and build it towards major plot points and her writing style is good, with occasional humour and brilliant, sensual description so I fully believe, with more obscure or less typed characters, she can write a novel worth five stars or more. She has the groundwork to be a groundbreaking, page turning writer. The Collector’s Item however, is a well executed and enjoyable bath or bedtime read with one or two surprises tucked in for fun.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Merry Gentlemen by Josephine Myles

November 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MERRY
Merry Gentlemen by Josephine Myles
Publisher: Samhain Press
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Full Length (165 pgs)
Other: M/M, Anal sex
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

‘Tis the season of goodwill to all men…even the one who dumped you.

Riley MacDermott’s ambitions are simple. Managing the annual Bath Christmas Market—which involves long hours in the cold and a whole lot of hassle—will secure the promotion he needs to afford to move out of his noisy, top-floor flat. Where not even his balcony is safe from an aggressive herring gull.

The last stallholder he expects to see is his ex. Riley never recovered from their break up, and five years on the old chemistry still sparkles. So does their habitual head butting.
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Stan never wanted to leave the love of his life, but the pull of the woods was too strong—and Riley was firmly planted in the city. Reconnecting is painful, but Stan still jumps at the chance to stay with his old flame during the Market. And damn the consequences.

As the weeks pass, the two grow closer than ever. But despite scorching sex and cozy intimacy, they both know they face a cold and lonely future. Unless one of them can compromise.

Riley’s ghost of ex-boyfriend’s past may just be his future. Riley is determined to climb up the corporate ladder, or the local council ladder. He’s agreed to be the manager of the holiday market, which has a whole set of problems and headaches on its own. Riley is pretty sure he’s perfect for the job but the one thing he didn’t count on was Stan. Stan and Riley were deeply in love five years ago before Stan up and left to live in the woods. A true city dweller at heart, Riley has never gotten over his lost love. Now stuck in the same place for a couple of weeks the two men try to decide if they can make it work or are they too different.

Merry Gentlemen is a feel good holiday story. Stan and Riley are ex-boyfriends that still love each other after all this time. They get a second chance at possible happiness when they’re thrown together but they both worry they’re simply too different to make it work. I like this story because it feels realistic and relatable while also being humorous and a bit ridiculous. Riley is an adorable narrator with lots of charm and funny antics. Sometimes his antics are over the top such as modeling his yearly secret santa thong gift for his co-workers while other times he just tries to fix a crisis, such as singing ABBA to distract a crowd. It lends a light-hearted feel to the story and one that meant I couldn’t invest heavily into the relationship but instead just enjoy it for what it was.

Since Riley is the narrator, Stan’s motivations are somewhat less well known. I could tell they loved each other and had great sex together but they really are very different people at the heart of their needs. It’s nice to see how the two men try to adjust and compromise to make a relationship work, one they both very much want. The plot also has a surprising amount of action, considering it’s basically a holiday story about ex’s reuniting, and I found myself easily turning pages. The tone is very light and breezy, meant for entertainment more than angst.

If you’re looking for a well-written, highly entertaining holiday story with a good dose of silly behavior then Merry Gentlemen is for you! It’s a great introduction to the author’s writing style while giving a very satisfying and feel good ending. There’s enough chemistry between the main men to warm up most any reader on a cold night.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dance the Moon Down by R.L. Bartram

November 14, 2013 By 2 Comments

MOON'
Dance the Moon Down by R.L. Bartram
Publisher: Authors On Line
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (301 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In 1910, no one believed there would ever be a war with Germany. Safe in her affluent middle-class life, the rumours held no significance for Victoria either. It was her father’s decision to enroll her at university that began to change all that. There she befriendes the rebellious and outspoken Beryl Whittaker, an emergent suffragette, but it is her love for Gerald Avery, a talented young poet from a neighbouring university that sets the seal on her future. After a clandestine romance, they marry in January 1914, but with the outbreak of the First World War, Gerald volunteeres but within months has gone missing in France. Convinced that he is still alive, Victoria’s initial attempts to discover what has become of him, implicate her in a murderous assault on Lord Kitchener resulting in her being interrogated as a spy, and later tempted to adultery. Now virtually destitute, Victoria is reduced to finding work as a common labourer on a run down farm, where she discovers a world of unimaginable ignorance and poverty. It is only her conviction that Gerald will some day return that sustaines her through the dark days of hardship and privation as her life becomes a battle of faith against adversity.

There’s more than one way to be a hero.

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At times certain characters voice opinions that are more suited to twenty-first century life than they would be for individuals who grew up at the turn of the twentieth century. Of course it is possible to grow up immersed in certain prejudices and assumptions about how society ought to function without continuing to endorse them as an adult, but at times in which I found their progressive stances unrealistic for the the World War I era because such a high percentage of the characters seemed to believe things that would have been extremely radical for their culture. Once I was jarred out of the narrative altogether because what was happening felt so unlikely to have actually occurred.

The plot is full of details about what World War I was like for civilians that I had never heard of before. It also includes references to events and social mores from that decade that I was familiar with but that are not necessarily common knowledge. The author clearly spent a great deal of time researching this time period, and his hard work pays off with a story that reads more like a memoir than a work of fiction. For a short time I actually wondered if it was loosely based on true events!

While Victoria’s experience of the war is utterly fascinating, the author has a tendency to tell readers what is happening to her and her community rather than show it. Earlier chapters tend to do this more often than later ones, but I would have given this book a much higher rating had the scenes that describe what happens to the land and the people who rely on it been written with more subtlety. There is a lot of great material in the plot, it just never quite had the chance to have an emotional impact on this reader because I was so often told how it made those individuals feel instead of being shown their reactions to those scenes.

A list of characters is included just before the first chapter begins. While I found it really useful when trying to recall the identities of people who only show up occasionally, there are a handful of spoilers sprinkled in this list. It is something that can be skipped for readers who strongly prefer not to know what will happen ahead of time. Anyone who chooses to use it can avoid nearly all of the spoilers by ignoring the short descriptions after some of the character’s names.

I couldn’t stop reading Dance the Moon Down until I knew how it ended. This is a great choice for history buffs and fans of romance alike.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

The Pirate Bride by Sandra Hill

November 13, 2013 By 2 Comments

BRIDE
The Pirate Bride by Sandra Hill
Publisher: Avon/ imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (248 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

A Viking to bed, not to wed!

Medana Elsadottir, known as the Sea Scourge, never planned to become a pirate, but there’s no denying her talent. Her female-only tribe has an island hideaway, food aplenty, goods to trade…everything except the means to breed. That’s where the strapping Norsemen tied up in her ship’s hold come in handy. Eight godly specimens—and Thork Tykirrson is the most virile of them all. Once their, eh, work is done, they’ll be free to leave. Medana had naught to due with this gods-awful plan, but she wouldn’t mind reaping the benefits.

Wed or bed…this Viking has plans of his own.

Renowned as the wildest Viking of his time, Thork was returning home to regain his father’s favor. Mayhap even (shudder) marry. His brazen—and very beautiful—kidnapper has likely done him a favor in preventing such an irksome fate. That doesn’t mean he’ll let her off easy. No one takes anything from a Viking that he’s not willing to give…not even a violet-eyed vixen who sets off the wildest fantasies.

The first thing that snagged my fancy was the idea that a woman could be a highly successful pirate – it’s about time! The second was the question of how in the world a woman could overcome and capture a well-muscled and experienced swordsman who was used to going a-Viking? By the time the first chapter ended, I had a partial answer and I had a goofy smile on my face. I could tell that this was going to be a very interesting story. I think it was the dialogue that clinched it.

This scares, excites and sometimes causes us to be have fun within worry furthermore. cute-n-tiny.com cheapest viagra tabs The Presence of these components in (super P force) acts marvelously, to ease down the difficulty of ED and PE (sexual disorder). on line cialis To make sure your body rejuvenates, it requires minimum 7 hours of sleep a levitra consultation day. Meals and alcohol: as opposed to cheap levitra which runs greater and more quickly on an empty stomach and won’t perform nicely right after the intake of high-fat foods, levitrarforms regardless on the foodstuff intake. Like most men who become pirates, Medana is also on the run. She’s a fugitive who has had to reinvent herself, learn to survive without a support system and somehow has prospered. In that, she’s a great role model. She proves that women can tough it out and rise above life’s challenges. The biggest challenge of her life is told within the pages of The Pirate Bride. I liked seeing her flustered, teased, taunted and although she has succeeded in the workings of being a pirate, the heroine has not lost her sense of what’s right and wrong. She does have a moral code. I like how she balances the rationality of the two. That was made very clear with the monk scene. The most frustrating thing that she’s ever had to deal with is a man. Not just any man, but Thork, the hero.

I had a ton of fun at Thork’s expense throughout a good portion of the book. It was interesting to see how the author told the story from his POV at intervals in the story. When I was seeing things through the hero’s eyes, I was greatly entertained. His frustration, amazement, gradual respect and continual determined machinations to reach his goal of escape were interesting to watch unfold. His dialogue with his men illustrated his solid and healthy relationship with them, even when it got weird and bit risqué. And when Bolthor, the worst skald in history, would share his latest poem, Thork’s reaction or thoughts about it gave me an insightful look at the hero’s personality. Anyone who could keep a straight face while being forced to listen to Bolthor is a saint. If anyone remembers the minstrel from Monty Python who plagued Sir Robin with his embarrassing lyrics, then they should get a kick out of Bolthor. That’s who he reminds me of. Fortunately, Thork is a HUGE improvement over Sir Robin. *grin*.

One of Ms. Hills’s strong points is how she uses dialogue between her characters. It’s always powerful. Through their discourse, I usually find moments of immense humor, consternation, enlightenment, and when the focus changes to interaction between the hero and heroine, well, sparks fly, passions soar and either someone is about to be seduced or tempers will explode. All of which contribute to an entertaining read. Certainly, it’s not boring.

Secondary characters were numerous. Fortunately, the author kept a handle on them and used them to make sure the hero and heroine slowly found ways to learn about the other and to foster their romance. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, what with one person having a great responsibility thrust upon them and the other wanting nothing to do with anyone. There is definite conflict between man and woman throughout the book.

As strong as Medana is as a character, she’s not perfect. Her relationship with Thork isn’t perfect. There were too many levels of mistrust still for her to overcome. The one thing that really stuck in my craw was her stubbornness. I understand she had to be written that way because she wouldn’t have survived as long as she did if she wasn’t stubborn. But I felt that she caved too fast, too easily at a critical point in the book. I couldn’t believe that she was so weak when she had ample proof to be strong. For most of the book she was strong. That whole area of the conflict when she made the choice for those under her care, to protect them, didn’t sit right with me. It was at that point that I felt she was being stupid, and clichéd. I wanted to yell at her.

A strong positive element is when Medana and Thork finally succumb to their desires. I found it quite satisfying to read, and fun too.

I can’t forget to mention Thork’s family. They play a very significant role later on in the book. And, as boisterous and larger-than-life personalities in their own right, you can imagine the extra confusion, fun and complications they represent. They also have a hand in mixing up the plot conflict. This book isn’t boring by a long shot.

The Pirate Bride is a winner for long time fans and a wonderful introduction to new readers. It’s a solid standalone read with a lot going for it. Even with my issues with the heroine, this is a strong story that provides a reader with all the best attributes Ms. Hill is capable of. There are characters I enjoyed getting to know, I laughed with them and at them, I groaned and giggled, gasped and had mild hot flashes, and am satisfied with the happy ever after. The author nailed all the most important parts of what readers look for in a romance book. The Pirate Bride is definitely a book to read when your frown needs to turn right side round. It certainly worked its charm on me.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H Balson

November 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

BROTHERS
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H Balson
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (389 pgs)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Stephantois

The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.
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Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc. Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser is convinced he is right and engages attorney Catherine Lockhart to bring Rosenzweig to justice. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon’s own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has Solomon accused the right man?

Once We Were Brothers is a story that stayed with me after I’d read the last word. Although it is the work of fiction, Mr. Balson did such a wonderful job portraying the main character, Ben, that when he begins to tell his story about what happened in Poland leading up to and during World War II, it comes across as real. You get easily caught up in his fight for survival, and like one of the characters, Catherine says, you’re emotionally invested in Ben’s story. In the book, that’s what motivated Catherine to take on Ben’s case against Rosenzweig and for me, the reader, I wanted to see if justice would be served.

There’s also a love story that threads through the tale, that of Ben and Hannah. The dialogue and depth of characterization was spot on for ideal pacing. In fact, I found myself sitting reading for longer stretches of time than I’d intended.

Once We Were Brothers serves to remind us of the heartbreaking horrors of the Holocaust, the human cost of war, and all while telling a fictional story of one man’s experience of the two, and many years later, his determination to seek justice.

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Pandora by Arabella Wyatt

November 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

PANDORA
Pandora by Arabella Wyatt
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (155 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Willowcombe Clatford. The perfect place to live. A village with standards. A village with morals. A village where everyone knows what is best for you…

Fourteen year old Pandora Laskaris moves with her family to Willowcombe Clatford, an idyllic village full of friendly neighbours and upright citizens, where the children are always well behaved, there are never any disagreements, and crime doesn’t exist.

Yet within this calm and beautiful place, Pandora comes to recognise that there is something wrong. What is happening behind the scenes at the village? Why do those who defy village opinion disappear? What part does Pandora’s traditionalist aunt, Mabel Whitemarsh, play in the sinister atmosphere that keeps the village quiet and obedient? And what is the link to the legendary Pandora’s Box of Greek mythology?

Willowcombe Clatford. The perfect place to live. A village with standards. A village with morals. A village where everyone knows what is best for you…

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Pandora is an incredibly intelligent and likeable protagonist whose desire to get to the bottom of what is really happening in her new community propels the plot forward. One of the highlights in her character development comes when the reader is introduced to her two younger sisters early on in the plot. The warm relationship between all three siblings adds depth to Pandora’s personality and shows the soft edges of an otherwise tough and sometimes sharp-tongued teenager.

An in-depth description of the community that Pandora and her family live in before moving to Willowcombe Clatford makes for a slow start for this novel. While certain details are absolutely necessary in order to understand why Pandora’s parents are so eager to move, I would have preferred to jump into Pandora’s new environment a little more quickly. Using so much space to describe her old life compresses the development of later plot points and made the pacing uneven.

The rules governing Willowcombe Clatford were also confusing for me. It was difficult to predict what would happen to characters who pushed against them because the consequences vary so much from one person to the next. While some of these differences are eventually explained, I still had trouble understanding the exceptions to the rules as well as the logical limits that should apply to certain phenomenon.

This book is most appropriate for the 14+ age range due to violent content and mature subject matter. Pandora is a skeptical and inquisitive teen who asks great questions, but I would not recommend sharing her adventure to younger readers.

At the end there are hints that a sequel may be on the way. The ideas Ms. Wyatt introduces earlier on in the plot are a fascinating mixture of genres, and I hope that she will be able to spend more time exploring them in future novels. There is a lot of good material in this piece that is ripe for further exploration, and I would be excited to see how she develops it.

I’d recommend Pandora to anyone in the mood for a dystopian novel with an intriguing premise.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ribbons of Steel by Carol Henry

November 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

STEEL
Ribbons of Steel by Carol Henry
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (320 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 2 Stars
Reviewed by Hollyhock

Charley Carmichael’s loyalty may be with the Pennsylvania Rail Road’s main man, Mason Aderley, but his heart lies with the men who work the rails. With the railroads cutting wages, a major strike is imminent. Caught up in the riots and bloodshed sweeping the continent, Charley’s friends are threatened; workers are dying. Charley’s life turns tragic when his wife is diagnosed with consumption.

Emily, forced to leave her family due to her health, travels to her cousin’s home in the California Territory. A damaged trestle prevents her train from crossing a ravine, stranding the passengers with nowhere to hide when an Indian hunting party causes a deadly buffalo stampede. Fearing for her life, Emily worries she will never see her children again. Who will care for them should her husband not survive the railroad strike?

Set between a farming lifestyle in the rolling hills of south central New York and the gritty railroad realities of Philadelphia, this is one family’s story of courage, spirit, and resilience.

Men from all age groups can use this drug to consult with buying tadalafil online their doctor first before taking anything. Therefore, experiencing ED after 60 should not be order generic viagra considered as the high side effective and low effective medicine by all. There’s great news for men as well, lowest price sildenafil http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=70 thereby forming part of Booster capsules. It is the levitra india best and most convenient ED treatment that is generic and potentially dangerous.A generic medicine is contraindicated in men who are under nitrates, alpha-blocker and antidepressants, and who are known case of allergic to Sildenafil Citrate. In 1877, the Great Railroad Strike swept across the United States, suspending the nation’s freight and passenger trains and bringing death and destruction in its wake. Ribbons of Steel by Carol Henry brings that violent era to life and shows what it was like for a man to find his loyalties divided between his employer and the rail workers whose cause he understands all too well.

The main character, Charley Carmichael, grew up in Philadelphia where trains and coal mines were the destiny of most families. Fortunately for him, his wife inherited a farming property in New York, enabling him to move his family away from the tenements, but he still works the Philadelphia railroad because it’s in his blood. Siding with management, Charley walks a fine line between sympathizing with his fellow workers and trying to avert the strike. Charley often curses the railroads and his boss for keeping him away from his family and for asking him to back management over labor, but since he had a choice in both instances, I didn’t really understand why he kept blaming others for his decisions. At times, it made him a little hard to sympathize with.

The story follows other members of Charley’s family too. His wife, Emily, is ill and travels to California to convalesce. Emily’s heartbreak at leaving her family behind is affecting, and her dangerous adventures out west make for interesting reading. Charley’s eighteen-year-old son, Seth, runs the family farm and is struggling to take care of his siblings while his parents are away. The strike affects his ability to get his product to market and puts a crimp in his love life. The farm scenes, which take place in and around Candor, New York, have a nice authenticity to them, but the author uses both these subplots to pull in extraneous characters that she devotes quite a bit of time to. Perhaps it’s meant to set up sequels, but I didn’t like the way it drew focus away from the essential story.

The author has clearly done her research about the railroad strike, and I liked the depth of information in the novel, but I didn’t think she found the right balance between sharing her research and entertaining the reader. Rather than immersing the characters in the action and showing how the strike affected them, she seems to stand back from it. Scene after scene involves people describing the events of the strike in unrealistic-sounding dialogue: “The crowd gathered along both sides of the track right down over the hillside like a sea overflowing its banks.” That static quality makes the story less involving than it could have been.

The many spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors in the book were also a problem. (For instance, it doesn’t make the best impression that the book begins with a “Forward” rather than a “Foreword.”) Overall, I think with more work—tighter focus, sharper dialogue, better flow—and a good copy edit, the book could have been a polished and absorbing read.

Before I picked up this story, I had never heard of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, so I’m grateful for the educational information Ribbons of Steel conveys. If you like wide-ranging stories about farms and railroads and western adventures, you should give this book a try.

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Aundes Aura by Ryan Sullivan

November 12, 2013 By 5 Comments

MEDIA KIT AURABIGblack
Aundes Aura by Ryan Sullivan
The Válkia Chronicles Book One
Publisher: Self
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, YA
Length: Full Length (252 Pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Rose

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But Saera is afflicted with an evil goddess’s light, and when her Aura flares up in the middle of the street, the power-hungry Church Regency are quickly on their heels, keen to eradicate the threat.

With more than the Regency after them, their only hope is to relinquish the Aura. Making alliances they would never have dreamt of, they find themselves swept up into a struggle against the kingdom they once called their own.

This book is the first of a series, but according to the author the books are all going to be standalone. I hope there is a lot of crossover between characters however, because I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book.

The main characters are Saera and Eoin, siblings who are always there for each other–and it’s not always easy because Saera has been “gifted” with powers from one of the deities of the land. In the kingdom they live in, this is definitely a problem. Their only chance of survival comes from getting to another kingdom–one that is more tolerant of the Auras than their own. But, that’s easier said than done.

Mr. Sullivan has created a wonderful world and I’m very much looking forward to his next book in this series. And, like I said, I certainly hope I get more opportunities to see the characters in this book. I was sorry to put the book down once I was finished.

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