Bentwhistle The Dragon In A Threat From The Past
Bentwhistle the Dragon in A Threat from the Past by Paul Cude4 Stars
Bentwhistle the Dragon is an excellently written dragon fantasy novel. The dragons live along side humans in their human form and are there to protect us, but hidden beneath the earth is another world where they can be in their true form. The dragon world created was very visual and it is clear the author spent a lot of time creating this world in great detail.
It was easy to lose myself in the story from the start, my curiosity was piqued with the slaying of the dragon and the knight who had defeated him. At one point during the telling of the ‘real’ story of George and the Dragon, I was so engrossed that I lost track of time and burnt dinner…Okay truth be told I often burn dinner, cooking isn’t my forté, but this time it was the books fault! I haven’t read a story quite like this before and it was good to have a fresh take on an idea and read something totally new.
One downside I found to the book was it’s length, it was very long winded and parts dragged out and seemed bogged down with too much mundane waffle and description. I’m an impatient reader who likes to get to the point quickly, I like to visualise the surroundings in my stories but don’t like to be pulled from the action by those descriptions for too long, I felt like that happened on some occasions here.
This is an ideal story for fantasy readers of all ages, older children, YA and adult, male and female alike and I would recommend it to all lovers of the genre.
Copy supplied for review
Afternoon Delights
5 Stars
‘Afternoon Delights’ is a compilation of short sexy stories from various different great authors. Perfect for lunchtime fillers each narrative is ideal fodder for a reader on the go.
L P Dover surprises us with a Fedex guy who has a very special delivery with a twist and Elizabeth Kirke shares a taster of two of her Semester Aboard Characters in a hot and steamy M/M office break. Karen Swart’s hero, Jacob saves the day when he leads his men into a camp filled with civilians and finds his wife amongst the captives. And Caleb and Liv both agree their hook up will just be a holiday fling…or will it? Read Kimberly Larson’s ‘Our Little Secret’ to find out. If cheating husbands or arranged marriages take your fancy then Elise Marion and Emily Fogle have the perfect story for you. And be sure to check out Elizabeth Marx’ ‘What happens in Vegas’ to find out how Tricia manipulates the situation when she agrees to work with Fletch and offers services which she doesn’t normally provide.
A great read.
Illusions Begin
Illusions Begin by N L Greene4 Stars
Well this was a story I didn’t expect! Totally different to anything I’ve ever read before, I was fully engrossed and taken on a magical journey from the very first page.
When Becky experienced her first magic show as a child she was fascinated and became almost obsessed with the need to solve every trick, discover how each illusion worked and even make up a few of her own. Sadly her parents didn’t share her enthusiasm causing Becky to enjoy and practice in secret. The older she got the more interested she became, but this was not a pastime that suited her social standing nor was it expected of someone in her profession.
Becky’s life had been pre-planned for her, from her career in law, to the man she would marry, and up until now, not wanting to disappoint her parents, she went along with their wishes. It wasn’t until a mystery man appeared in her life that she really began to question herself, should she continue on the path her parents have set out for her, or should she follow her heart into the unknown and see where it takes her?
Illusions Begin is a paranormal romance but with a difference. It doesn’t follow your typical paranormal pattern and we have not one possible love interest, but two, both of which are worthy candidates. Also thrown in the mix is the undesirable ex with his smarmy attitude and face you want to punch, and I found the combination thrilling. I enjoy being surprised and not knowing where a story will take me, and this book ticked all the boxes on that front, it was exciting, and fresh.
Copy supplied for review
Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire4 Stars
I think I picked this book up just at the right time, it gave me everything I was looking for and I sailed through it in one day. The relationship between Travis and Pidge was not a healthy one but I still enjoyed the journey with the comfort of knowing that it was only in book land, and not a real life relationship, because that would be just scary!
Travis was the ultimate bad boy and he did appeal to me, though his violent tendencies outside the ring were a worry. Thinking it acceptable to punch anyone and everyone with no control over his temper would definitely be a turn off if he was flesh and blood, but, well in fantasy land lots of things can be forgiven and for me his attractiveness out shone those bad bits!
I would have liked to see more from both their pasts, just so I could perhaps understand them a little better. We were told bits about Abby’s father but I would have liked to know more and I really didn’t read anything about Travis’ past that would account for his adult behaviour. In all even though the plot was full and fast paced it felt lacking in the deeper nitty gritty things that would have made the story better.
I still really enjoyed it though and am looking forward to reading Walking Disaster and hopefully finding out a little more about what makes Travis tick.
Beautiful Bastard
Okay, so I am guilty of being a really big Twilight fan, and on the back of that I spent many an afternoon reading Twific and did fall in love with MOTU (AKA FSoG to those few who don’t know!!) so when I started to read Beautiful bastard I did so while looking to find the feeling I got on reading both those series’ for the first time. I didn’t however realise at that point that this was another piece of FanFic that managed to sprout wings and find a publishing deal…. Not that I mind FanFic being published, hey HUGE Fifty fan here, and I really don’t want to jump on the angry train of this debate and the moral and legal issues surrounding the publishing of what is not deemed ‘original’ material. Personally I don’t feel that fanfic, although based on previously developed characters, isn’t original, I see no similarities between Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey, or between Harry Potter and City of Bones, so really can’t see how the stories themselves cannot be deemed as original. Anyway all that aside its fanfic roots is not the reason this book didn’t work for me.
I just did not find Mr. Ryan appealing, his arrogant attitude was plain rude and his penchant for collecting worn knickers was just a little nasty to me. Its original title ‘The Office’ was more fitting, because no matter how good looking Ben was his personality would make him UGLY, though yep, the man is a Bastard (with a capital B) but the OFFICE sex was just monotonous. Where was his respect for the girl, couldn’t he at least take her to lunch in a hotel room and do the dirty between the sheets occasionally?
I didn’t find a story, was there one? Educated girl goes to work for asshole boss, they hate each other but can’t keep off each others genitals. They have lots of mediocre sex with a large amount of ripped knickers and no one, including me can understand the attraction. They do fall in love after they fall out, but that just changes the sex from hate sex to make up sex and either way it bored me and did not a story make. I’m so disappointed I had such high hopes for this one.
Betrayal: The Priestess Trilogy
Betrayal by Melissa Sasina4 Stars
The time has come for Shiovra to travel to Dun Fiain to marry Lord Culann’s son, a man she has never met, to hopefully bring peace between the clans. The journey was not without incident, Fomorii fog separated the group allowing Shiovra to be attacked by Cumhea, and Odhran to be critically injured trying to rescue her. Saved by a stranger named Morgan, Shiovra discovered markings on Odhran’s back which gave doubt to his true identity, leaving Shiovra confused about her feelings, and with a decision to make about her upcoming wedding.
Although it is well over a year since I read book one of the series, Defiance, I was quickly able to get back into the story. It did take me a little time to recall who was who, which characters belong to what clan, and who were the good guys so to speak, this was just because of the unusual names, but I always struggle with names chosen by fantasy writers! I’m a sucker for a love story and really enjoyed those parts of the plot. Odhran has been added to my list of favourite book men, his feelings for Shiovra and his protectiveness of her was dreamy.
I really enjoy Melissa’s easy writing style and her stories, though not totally unique as they follow the ‘Fantasy pattern’ of female lead character who has to go on a journey fighting along the way etc, they are still entertaining and manage to elicit a variety of emotions from the reader.
Copy supplied for review
Starchild: The City of Souls
Starchild: The City of Souls by Vacen Taylor4 Stars
Carrying on from book one Mai, Long, Akra and Sarib continue on the next leg of their journey to the valley of a thousand thoughts. Each chapter carries it’s own mini adventure keeping the story fast paced and flowing well enough to keep the target audience engaged. Suitable for both boys and girls The City of Souls is an exciting action packed story with interesting characters and a cute little lizard named Barka.
My only concern is that younger children or less able readers may struggle with the pronunciation of some of the character and place names and I often wonder why writers of fantasy feel the need to bombard their readers with these odd words!
This is exactly the type of book I would have chosen as the story for bedtime reading when my girls were younger, the chapters are a good length and the story would stimulate their imagination to take them into a land of wonderful dreams.
Copy supplied for review
Copied
Copied by S M Anderson3 Stars
Xan and BETA23 are both clones, same DNA but grown in different environments resulting in very different people. The DNA is owned by the government and used to build an army but somehow Xan, who was supposed to be disposed of, was adopted on the black market and spent his childhood living as a normal boy. When the mix up is discovered BETA23 is sent to terminate him, with the help of friends Xan learns the truth about his past and goes out to capture BETA23 and find a way to keep the ‘clone’ company off his back forever.
I found the storyline to be a little unnerving because with how twisted the governments of this world are these days it isn’t so farfetched that DNA could end up being a copyrighted government property! I felt so sorry for Xan, to believe you are a person with normal human rights only to find out that you are infact a discarded clone that the authorities want to terminate. The nature vs nurture was very interesting. I am fascinated by this subject anyway, personally I tend to lean more to the side of nature, though after reading this my opinion isn’t so firm anymore.
Copied is not the best written book I have read. I feel it could gain from having a complete overhaul by both content and copy editors to bring it up to standard. The plot is written in simple terms, is quite sloppy in parts and needs tightening to give it the best chance of success in today’s saturated market.
Copy supplied for review
Redemption: Blood and Honor, #3 (Volume 3)
Redemption (Blood and Honor #3) by Dana Delamar5 Stars
Filled with secrets and lies, betrayal and mistrust, Redemption is at times a heart-wrenching story. Following Antonio and Bianca on their journey of rediscovering each other, but never being quite sure if each can forgive the other for past acts best forgotten, was all consuming for me and I couldn’t pull myself away from the book.
Over the past few years since the introduction of e-readers the market has been flooded with independently/self published works, and for a couple of years these books have been my main source of reading material. Sadly I have begun to accept, as the norm, what on the whole, is substandard published work. Simply written books with unimaginative plots, poor sentence structure, and hundreds of pages that are riddled with misused and misspelled words. Reading this book has made me realise just how short changed I have been by the majority (not all) of the books I have been reading of late.
When reading the Blood and Honor series I forget that this work is not traditionally published. The sequence of events is so intricately weaved and well thought out that it must have been years in the planning to keep straight. The expansive cast each have their part to play with a well formed history to reinforce their value in the script, a script that in my opinion would be worthy of Coppola’s direction. Though ‘mobster’ books are not my genre of choice I did enjoy Jackie Collins’ 1980’s Lucky Santangelo series and would happily group the Blood and Honor series in the same category for its authenticity and attention to detail.
This book is by no means perfect, I was disappointed to find some of those annoying little typo’s in here too, but cannot in my heart of hearts penalise the book by reducing my rating by even half a star. When I compare the quality of the writing, the complexity of the plot and the development of the characters in this series to other books I have awarded 4 or even 4.5 stars to, this one is clearly worthy of a much higher rating than many of them. Not only do I look forward to reading more in the series I am also really excited and can hardly wait.
Copy supplied for review
non friction
Non Friction by Morgan Parker3 Stars
Morgan’s 12 year marriage has ended and he decides to write a trashy novel and independently publish it, just for something to do. Pleased that he sold over 5000 copies in its first month on sale and that he received fan-mail, Morgan decides to write another book… now that he’s a real author or is that a writer? One description bugs him but I can’t remember which!
There is a lot of humour in this book, and parts of it made me laugh but there were also other parts I just didn’t find funny that I think were supposed to be. I suppose for whatever reason, be it nationality or taste I just don’t have the same sense of humour as this author, I’m not on his wave length.
I love romance, I like to have a touch of it in every book I read or I don’t really enjoy it, so I was hoping for great things here. Unfortunately this book didn’t do it for me. It has nothing to do with the writing style the editing or anything like that, it was mainly the story and the characters that I didn’t enjoy. The ex wife was a grumpy cow but apart from seeing her bad side we didn’t really learn why she was like that, Emma was nice on the outside but at times I thought she was leading him on and she got on my nerves. Then Morgan himself, well I found him creepy if I’m honest! All in all I didn’t find them likable or easy to connect with.
I would possibly read Morgan Parkers work again, just to see if it is just ‘Non Friction’ that I didn’t get along with or if it is Morgan Parker’s (the author) way of thinking that I don’t suit.
Copy supplied for review
Found in You (Lost and Found Series) (Volume 1)
Found In You by K L Ruse3 Stars
Five years after leaving her home town, pregnant and alone, Camryn returns with her son, Gavin, to live in her childhood home, as is the dying wish of her mother. Settling into a routine Camryn meets Cole, her neighbour and Gavins surfing instructor, and soon she finds herself falling for the man even though a relationship is the last thing on her mind. It isn’t long before Gavin’s absentee father, Todd learns they are back in town and says he wants to be a part of their sons life.
Camryn and Cole both had demons from their past keeping them from being able to connect with each other fully, and matters weren’t helped by Todd, who tried to wrangle his way back into Camryn’s life by using their son. My feelings towards Camryn fluctuated, at first I thought she was strong, bringing up her son without his father… though she had a really good support network with friends and her mum, then I got irritated by how she handles certain situations.
Found In You is your typical contemporary romance and I normally enjoy this genre enormously. I don’t know if it was just my mood or if this book really was heavily laden with cheese. In parts I was groaning at the sickly sweet comments and thoughts of the characters.
Though I found K L Ruse’s writing style comfortable and easy to read there really was too much fluff in here, even for me… Like I said perhaps I was just in the wrong mood for it.
Copy supplied for review
The Voice
The Voice by Jennifer Anne Davis4 Stars
The Voice is a really emotional story that follows Audrey, a 17-year-old girl who is kidnapped and held captive, being raped and abused for weeks by her uncle. The story picks up as she is rescued and is more about her recovery and her preparation for the trial than the actual kidnap. After Audrey is rescued she really struggles to fit back into her normal life so decides to go away and stay with her aunt. Slowly but surely she begins to start living again. Going to school, and making friends are the first steps to her recovery.
The book had a realism to it that made me believe in the story. I felt for Audrey and the suffering she endured during, and after her ordeal. I wanted things to get better for her and I was glad that she had ‘The Voice’ to help her through the rough times. I’ve always been fascinated by the connection twins seem to have and when Justin and Caleb were introduced I wasn’t shocked or put off by the fact that they could read each other so well, however once the story progressed and certain things came to light I was reminded this was just a book, and it wasn’t real.
Jennifer Davis is a talented writer, she included just the right amount of description to pull the reader in but not too much to bog the story down. She covered a very difficult subject in a sensitive way and created credible characters with believable emotions. I loved the book.
Copy supplied for review
The Home Front (The Automata Wars #1)
2.5 StarsSoldiers are fighting on the front line and at home the rich are trying to ignore that life is changing. They use new technologies and carry on as normal. The lower classes turn to politicians and to nameless gods for help.
What the soldiers think is a safe place, is anything but. A war is raging at home, the enemy has infiltrated all aspects of life and they intend to destroy from within.
The prologue paints a very vivid picture pulling you in immediately. We see the soldiers fighting something that is not human and they seem to be winning. The story then takes us back to the homeland. A picture of normality at first but it quickly develops into something else. It took some time to get use to the layout of the book. There are no indents, just a line space before a new paragraph and each chapter was big, there are only 6 chapters. I did like the little interlude from General Porton-Symmons, giving us information about the fight .
The characters were well defined, including the bad guys such as Mr Black. The scenes of violence are well written and paint a dramatic picture. The situations the characters find themselves in at times are complicated and it takes a little thinking about. There are numerous twists that will keep you guessing and wanting to read on.
I have only delved into Steampunk a couple of times and although the idea of Victorian values and advanced technology doesn’t faze me I have not found the genre to my liking, as of yet. This of course is a personal opinion and there are a great many genres that I don’t read but probably should.
Copy supplied for review
Knight (An Impossible Novel)
Knight (An Impossible Novel) by Julia Sykes5 Stars
Knight is an extremely powerful and emotional story about a woman kidnapped by a dominant and broken into submission. Beaten tortured and forced to take heroin until she knows herself only as ‘Slave’, the girl is finally saved by FBI agent Smith James. Confused and scared she believes this to be a test, knowing nothing other than to follow orders the only way Smith can help the girl is to take on the role of her new master. With patience, care and love she finally begins to remember the woman she was before and start the difficult journey to begin living again.
Though horrifying in the beginning this was a really touching book, filled with hope and promise for things to work out, it tore at my heartstrings. Julia Sykes did an amazing job at communicating the emotions of these characters to me and I was totally invested in them, wishing things were better.
Julia’s books are not for everyone, they usually contain BDSM and scenes of violence, often touching on sexual abuse. They should only be read by adults not disturbed by this type of content.
Copy supplied for review
Soul Keeper (The Abrasax Chronicles)
Daniel Mickle has the ability to pen a great tale, his writing is fluid and the story is fast paced. Soul Keeper is a well written crisp book with a varied and interesting vocabulary. Some if the ideas are really unique and those parts of the story I found exciting. Though the premise is nothing like Harry Potter I couldn’t help but compare certain aspects of this story to that. Fire Place travel, fancy named broom used for sports, a powerful evil wizard whose name cannot be spoken by the White Witch and more besides! The story itself does not follow Harry Potter but I wish there weren’t so many similarities to it once the kids found out they were magical and went to train at the school, it took the edge off my enjoyment of the book.
Escape
Escape by Kenya Wright3 Stars
Escape is a short paranormal erotic romance and an interesting introduction into ‘The Vampire King’ trilogy. Brie is one of a number of women with special blood that allows them to birth vampire children, the women are called Dominas and are kept by the king in his castle under guard until their services are required by him. Brie has been living in the castle for two years and after she witnesses the slaughter of male children bearing the mark she decides she can’t risk the lives of her own babies so makes arrangements to escape.
I was a little unsure of the main characters and whether or not I really liked them, they both made some questionable decisions that had me wondering about their integrity. I couldn’t really see Brie as a heroine for sacrificing herself to save the young girls in her village when her priority as a mother should have been her own children. I could see why, when she went back and saw they had moved on without her and were settled with a new mother figure, coupled with the danger her presence would put them in, that to walk away from them again was really the only thing she could do.
Now Samuel, well initially I thought ‘wow what a hero, the perfect man’ etc but then when we discovered he had lied to Brie and was taking her in completely the opposite direction to home, just so he could be with her, that did it for me, I just thought ‘what a jerk’, and went right off him!
It is going to be interesting to see where Kenya takes this pair, to see if they can redeem themselves with me and earn back my respect, you never know it might happen!
Copy supplied for review