Saturday, January 16, 2010
In My Mailbox (13)
Hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren
BookMooch:
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Into The Cold Fire (Book 2) by Lynne Ewing
Review:
Random by Craig Robertson
Impact by Douglas Preston
Searching for Tina Turner by Jacqueline E Luckett
The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley
Denise's Daily Dozen by Denise Austin
Friday, January 15, 2010
Review: Seduced by a Rogue by Amanda Scott
Seduced by a Rogue by Amanda Scott
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Forever (January 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446541346
ISBN-13: 978-0446541343
3/5
Synopsis: A fair-haired beauty at 19, Lady Mairi is heiress apparent to her father Lord Dunwythie's rich barony. He has carefully taught her how to manage their estates, but a feud between his clan and the Maxwell clan is brewing as the two families edge toward a clan war - their dispute over money owed. Mairi's father believes he owes nothing, and of course Mairi sides with him.
Review: Wow what an unusual treat this was for me as I honestly dont really like historical romances! The storyline was awesome with Lord Dunwythie supposedly owing money to the Maxwell Clan but did not feel as though he should which ends up with his daughter getting kidnapped and ultimately falling in love with her captor.
I did have a few brief moments thru-out where the dialogue confused me because I was not familiar with it. As I said I am not all that familiar with historicals so am not sure if it was just me or if in fact the usual dialog. Once I figured out what the words meant the story flowed well and the characterization was very nicely layed out.
Review Copy Provided by Publisher.
You can read the first chapter of Seduced By A Rogue on Amanda's Website.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Gringa in a Strange Land by Linda Dahl
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Robert Reed Publishers; 1 edition (January 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934759392
ISBN-13: 978-1934759394
Rating: 2/5
Synopsis: Gringa in a Strange Land brings back the 'counterculture' of the early 70's, an exhilarating and confusing time for so many young people then. Erica Mason, an American woman living in Mexico, is torn between working to become an artist and the lure of the drug culture. Set mostly in the colonial city of Merida in the Yucatan peninsula, the story then moves among Mayan ruins, laid-back beaches and the cities of Belize and Oaxaca. A host of bohemian expats and Mexicans, and the complex character of Mexico itself, infuse this portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-young-American, that culminates in an unexpected resolution.
Review: Sadly this was just not a book for me. It didn't have enough action in it for me and was basically centered around a woman, Erica, who has sex with multiple men and stays high while struggling to be an artist in a foreign land.
On the plus side I did enjoy the way Linda captured the essence of Mexico and its inhabitants and she puts great detail on her characters and settings.
Review Copy Provided by Author
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Teaser Tuesdays
Grab your current read. Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Book: Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri
Teaser: This was not the same woman I'd caressed with my oil-soaked fingertips just hours earlier. She'd become a soulless shell with a thick, blood-encrusted gash that ran from ear to ear, and numerous puncture wounds marring her barred chest.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Review: Crossing the Bridge by Michael Baron
Crossing the Bridge by Michael Baron
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Story Plant, The (January 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981956815
ISBN-13: 978-0981956817
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: Hugh Penders has been stuck in neutral for nearly a decade since his brother Chase died in a car accident. He carries with him two secrets that he has never been able to share with anyone: that he believes he might have been able to prevent the accident, and that he was deeply in love with Chase's girlfriend, Iris.
Review: This was a heartwarming story of love, loss, renewal, and forgiveness. I really enjoyed reading Iris and Hugh's story and felt the writing just flowed perfectly off the pages. I have never really liked books that keep jumping back and forth from one time period to another because it gets confusing but Mr.Baron has done a remarkable job of making the transition work in this book.
I recommend this book to anybody that is searching for something a little more than just your ordinary love story.
Review Copy Provided by Publisher/Author
Guest Post: Michael Baron
Though I’ve just published my second novel, Crossing the Bridge, I have been publishing nonfiction books for more than a decade now. Michael Baron is a name I chose for my fiction because it is so different from my nonfiction that I didn’t want to confuse my readers (that last statement is admittedly a bit presumptuous. Some of my books have been national bestsellers, but to say that I have “readers” might be gilding the lily a bit).
Before I became a writer, I was a very dedicated reader. “Of course,” you might say. Certainly, it seems natural that those who choose to write would come to this because of how much they love to read. I’ve met several writers, though, who read very little. In fact, since I’ve become a professional writer, I read significantly less than I once did. Much of this is simply because I’m tired of looking at words after a full day of work. In addition, I find it nearly impossible to read something now without thinking about how I would have written it. Until I turned to fiction, I could read novels without experiencing this; however, that’s no longer the case.
Still, I remember the passion I felt for reading with great fondness. I started reading when I was three years old. This led, a couple of years later to a number of parent protests in my kindergarten classroom because my teacher had me reading to the rest of the class and the parents didn’t like my showing up their children. (I only learned about this years later from my mother; I was just doing what the teacher told me to do and would have been just as happy to sit quietly at my desk.) I think attaching to reading at such a formative age made it integral to my life. Words were disproportionately important to me. I studied them to see if they would reveal new meaning. When my friends were joining rock bands and picking up guitars, I wanted to be a lyricist.
Interestingly, what intrigued me the most about words was what you could do with them. While I was a dedicated “book guy,” I think my fascination with the sound and meaning of words meant that I was always destined to be more of a writer than a reader. But I think all of us that love words -- writing them, reading them, or both -- feel a certain smugness toward nonreaders. It’s as though we’ve been welcomed into the coolest club and they weren’t. I truly believe that readers get to feel the world at a different level. How could anyone not want to be a part of that?
Before I became a writer, I was a very dedicated reader. “Of course,” you might say. Certainly, it seems natural that those who choose to write would come to this because of how much they love to read. I’ve met several writers, though, who read very little. In fact, since I’ve become a professional writer, I read significantly less than I once did. Much of this is simply because I’m tired of looking at words after a full day of work. In addition, I find it nearly impossible to read something now without thinking about how I would have written it. Until I turned to fiction, I could read novels without experiencing this; however, that’s no longer the case.
Still, I remember the passion I felt for reading with great fondness. I started reading when I was three years old. This led, a couple of years later to a number of parent protests in my kindergarten classroom because my teacher had me reading to the rest of the class and the parents didn’t like my showing up their children. (I only learned about this years later from my mother; I was just doing what the teacher told me to do and would have been just as happy to sit quietly at my desk.) I think attaching to reading at such a formative age made it integral to my life. Words were disproportionately important to me. I studied them to see if they would reveal new meaning. When my friends were joining rock bands and picking up guitars, I wanted to be a lyricist.
Interestingly, what intrigued me the most about words was what you could do with them. While I was a dedicated “book guy,” I think my fascination with the sound and meaning of words meant that I was always destined to be more of a writer than a reader. But I think all of us that love words -- writing them, reading them, or both -- feel a certain smugness toward nonreaders. It’s as though we’ve been welcomed into the coolest club and they weren’t. I truly believe that readers get to feel the world at a different level. How could anyone not want to be a part of that?
Review: Nailed by Jennifer Laurens
Nailed by Jennifer Laurens
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing (November 10, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933963867
ISBN-13: 978-1933963860
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: One girl. Two guys. Who says three's a crowd? When Mandy takes an unusual summer job-in construction-she has to prove she's just one of the guys. But she gets more than she bargains for being the only girl on the job. The mixture of hot guys, sunscreen, raw wood and testosterone proves to be an elixir she can't protect her heart from. Brooding Boston and flirty AJ find themselves looking at Mandy as more than just a girl who holds a hammer. Mandy soon finds herself not only lost in a whirlwind of a male-dominated world, but also the center of an inadvertently "constructed" love triangle. Mandy must choose between two guys who want her heart. But what's a girl to do when she wants them both?
Review: Love triangles are always interesting to read or watch on tv and this one was no different. This was a really fun book but sometimes I felt there is no way a girl could be as dense as Mandy was making herself out to be.
On one hand she comes across as a little spoiled brat, a daddys girl that only has to threaten hollering to daddy to get her way but then on the other hand she is the compassionate friend and hard worker trying to prove herself.
I recommend this to anybody that wants a fun light read.
Review Copy Provided by Author.
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing (November 10, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933963867
ISBN-13: 978-1933963860
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: One girl. Two guys. Who says three's a crowd? When Mandy takes an unusual summer job-in construction-she has to prove she's just one of the guys. But she gets more than she bargains for being the only girl on the job. The mixture of hot guys, sunscreen, raw wood and testosterone proves to be an elixir she can't protect her heart from. Brooding Boston and flirty AJ find themselves looking at Mandy as more than just a girl who holds a hammer. Mandy soon finds herself not only lost in a whirlwind of a male-dominated world, but also the center of an inadvertently "constructed" love triangle. Mandy must choose between two guys who want her heart. But what's a girl to do when she wants them both?
Review: Love triangles are always interesting to read or watch on tv and this one was no different. This was a really fun book but sometimes I felt there is no way a girl could be as dense as Mandy was making herself out to be.
On one hand she comes across as a little spoiled brat, a daddys girl that only has to threaten hollering to daddy to get her way but then on the other hand she is the compassionate friend and hard worker trying to prove herself.
I recommend this to anybody that wants a fun light read.
Review Copy Provided by Author.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Review: Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Amistad (January 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006170654X
ISBN-13: 978-0061706547
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat is particularly nice in the summer when the Southern humidity is too much to bear. The main building, with its luxurious finishes, is loftier than the white cottages that flank it, but then again, the smaller structures are better positioned to catch any breeze that may come off the pond. And they provide more privacy, which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret.
Review: This is a fabulous debut novel and although it's a work of fiction, some of the places
mentioned were real. I can only imagine the amount of research that went into this book but my
hats off to Dolen for making it such an awesome read while mixing in the history and southern
aspects.
The story mainly revolves around Lizzie and her friends and the ordeals they go thru as slaves.
Dolen weaves their life onto the page in a way so that you can almost hear there talks and feel
as a shadow on their bedroom wall when their masters come in the middle of the night sometimes
impregnating them and later selling off their offspring or worse.
I'm not sure if this book will be the first of a series or a stand alone but I would totally enjoy
reading what happens to Lizzie's children. Ya'll this was another one of those books that I got in
the mail peeked at read a page or two and we ended up having sandwiches for supper because I didn't
wanna quit reading til the end! Yes! It's that awesome!
Review Copy Provided by Author.
Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s fiction and essays The Kenyon Review, African American Review, PMS: PoemMemoirStory, North Carolina Literary Review, Richard Wright Newsletter, and SLI: Studies in Literary Imagination. She is a 2009 finalist for the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Award. A graduate of Harvard and a former University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Dolen splits her time between Seattle and Washington, DC. She is a faculty member of the University of Puget Sound where she teaches Creative Writing. Wench is her first book of fiction. You can visit Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s website at http://www.dolenperkinsvaldez.com/, her blog at http://www.dolen.blogspot.com/ or connect with her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dolen.
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