Reviews

The Unseen

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The Unseen by Katherine Webb

A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings’ lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.

Quickly finding a place for herself in the underbelly of local society, Cat secretly plots her escape. Meanwhile, Robin, a young man of considerable magnetic charm and beauty, soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. Sweltering in the oppressive summer heat, the peaceful rectory turns into a hotbed of dangerous ambition, forbidden love, and jealousy—a potent mixture of emotions that ultimately leads to murder 

*** The synopsis does not mention any of the 2011 characters; it only refers to the historical 1911 ones, Cat, Hetty, Robin & Albert. The synopsis gives a hint at the things that Leah (2011 character) uncovers.***

The Book starts of in 2011 when the body of a WWI soldier is found near Ypres, in Belgium. Leah is a freelance writer and her ex Ryan works for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he contacts Leah thinking she might be interested in the no named soldier for a story.

With the dead soldier, there are two extremely well preserved letters. Leah is intrigued immediately. After reading, the letters she wants learn as much as possible about the dead soldier and get as far away from Ryan as possible. This sets her off researching the Canning’s of Cold Ash Holt, where the letters were sent from and starting the whole story in motion.

It took me a bit to settle into the 1911 to 2011 jump the story kept doing, but enviably I was drawn in and it turned out to be a real page turner. I was rather angry at the book when my favourite character was murdered, I knew it was going to happen, I pleaded with the book that it would not, then was shocked by how it was done. I loved the 1911 world, and at first thought, I would have been happier to be reading the whole novel in that time. In the end I ended up growing to really like Leah.

So my fave 1911 character is killed off (and I am still giving the book 5 stars), at least my fave 2011 character gets a happy ending.

The Devil Made Me Do It

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The Devil Made Me Do It (Book 2)

The Devil Made Me Do It (Book 2) by Shawna Romkey
Goodreads Synopsis:

The demons strike back!

Lily is working with the angels to stifle the last of the demon outbreaks and to figure out how to stop the Silence of God, so life can get back to boring normality. But all hell breaks loose when she’s stolen from school and brought face to face with the devil himself. Lily has to find her way back home to Luc, crack the prophecy that breaks the curse silencing God, and figure out how she and Luc can ever really be together. But Lucifer has other plans for her that don’t include her ever getting out of Hell intact.

Goodreads: average 4.70 stars
My Thoughts:
Stressful!!! there was a few times I nearly skipped to the end to read the last page to see how it ended – but I stuck it out and got landed with a cliffhanger 😦 lol.
I found the 2nd book in the speak of the devil saga to be a fast paced, drama filled, devil hating, god loving teenage fest. Now I’m not overly religious and while I say god loving, I don’t mean it in a bad way. I love a battle between good and evil and this book as it in bucket loads. I did prefer the first book as it had the added romance of Lily and Luc coming together, where as they are separated for the majority of this second book.
Also there were some moments when I wanted to jump into the pages and smack Lilith around the head, shake her and SCREAM in her face LET LILY GOOOO!!!!
I’m really stressed with the mass of things I’ve got going on in my life at the moment and hence this is one of the few books I’ve read this month, so it’s a testament to Ms Romkey for grabbing and holding my attention and getting me to care so greatly about her characters.

So I Married a Werewolf

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So I Married a Werewolf (Seattle Wolf Pack #3) by Kristin Miller

* * * * *

Carter Griffin, enforcing officer for the Seattle Wolf Pack, has a problem. He’s been offered the promotion of his dreams…if he can find a wife to prove he’s over his playboy ways. But Carter’s already walked the matrimonial road and bought the stinkin’ T-shirt. Besides, a werewolf only gets one fated mate. Been there, done that.

All werewolf dog trainer Faith Hamilton wants to do is earn enough green stuff to put her younger brother through college. Okay, okay, so she also totally wants Carter, her sexy next-door neighbor, to look at her as more than a friend. It’s too bad size 12 and plain isn’t his type. At all.

The two friends strike a deal to help one another out. They must face a variety of challenges from a psycho ex-girlfriend to a Yorkie with a shoe fetish…and that pesky problem of only having one-fated mate in a lifetime. Will a relationship ruin their friendship…or spark a love neither anticipated?

* * * * *

Let me first just say that this is the first book I’ve ever read my Kristin Miller and straight after finishing it I went out and bought another one of her paranormal romances! – Be it about dragons instead of werewolves – So I think that speaks for its self as to how impressed by her I was.

The book reads as a lovely sweet romance – girl (Faith) wants guy (Carter) who doesn’t see her as anything more than a friend, then he finally wakes up to himself but is too scared to do anything about it for fear of ruining the friendship – I was really enjoying reading it but got a shock when at about 67% through the book we get a steamy love scene between the pair. I wasn’t shocked that they hooked up as the story was building to that, but it’s obvious I don’t read many romances that aren’t considered YA, as you don’t come across such descriptive sex scenes in the material written for a younger audience, haha Well Darrrr, of cause not. Never the less It was a delicious and enjoyable addition to the already fun story that really propelled the desire to finish the book. At around the 85% mark Carter turned into a raving manic jerk-face and nearly ruined the whole book for me. I was saying to myself “Fuck him Faith you deserve better, leave that asshole for dust” but he redeemed himself via having an epiphany as to how much of an arse-wipe he had been.

And they lived happily ever after. I love happy endings. Books need to have happy ending because in reality things don’t play out the same way and all us girls that have been heartbroken need a happily ever after world to escape to.

Vaempires: Zombie Rising

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Vaempires: Zombie Rising (The Evolutionary War #2)
by Thomas Winship

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The tale of the Evolutionary War resumes in Væmpires: Zombie Rising.

Væmpires have taken control of twelve major cities. Their leader, Vielyn, seeks the atomic weapons that will bring the rest of the world to its knees.

Vampire forces are reeling. As Linq and Ray race to the royal estate to rendezvous with Cassandra and Daniel, the princess is captured and Daniel falls.

With the fate of world shifting to their teenage shoulders, Linq and Ray must deal with tremendous losses while battling a most unexpected—and undeadly—new foe.

 * * *

The Story starts within Vaempires: The Evolutionary War.
I really liked reading what was happening with Linq and Ray at the different points in the story.
In the first book, it was Daniel and Cassie’s heads through which we saw the world. Now don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed it that way, but it was a nice change and I think it added more depth to be in Linq’s mind (a refresher comes later when we get to cross back to Cassie’s any way).

My only qualm with this fast paced and exciting book is that it ended. It leaves us reeling with desire to find out what happens next. Please Mr Winship tell me that the final instalment will be out soon or at least another novella side story or prequel to tide me over.

http://www.vaempires.com

 

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CHASING THE DEMON

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CHASING THE DEMON
(Book 2 of The ‘Gateway’ series)
By Louise G. White

Chasing the Demon cover

Synopsis:

The system has been changing, the Agency flaunts its cruel practises and the balance of the realms is disrupted. Ethan’s enforcers are already stretched to the limits with policing the realms, and things get worse when partnerships develop between the worst of the Demon realms.

Meanwhile on Empustat, Carolyn has spent an entire year being pampered and ‘reconditioned’, her memories wiped and replaced to produce a limited and vapid Princess. Under the constraints of the Chief, she is no longer the feared and mythical destroyer. Carolyn lives a life of privilege, expected to marry her father’s second in command and produce heirs for the realm. Her friend Mario, in contrast, has suffered hardship and humiliation at the hands of the Lilim Guard – A chance encounter between the pair is surely a step towards Carolyn’s awakening.

The disabled gateway has frustrated the team’s efforts to reach Carolyn, and Ethan can barely suffer Note’s presence, but both mage and demon share the same goals. Hope rekindles by way of an unexpected source which leads to the team embarking on a plan so daring that that their survival hangs in the balance. With old and new friends from the realms, bias and loyalties will be challenged as the fight for order truly begins.

My thoughts:

Oh why did it end, I just wanted to keep reading.

I’m really am at a loss as what to write, as anything I write won’t do this book justice…………….

Louise is an amazing writer, she depicts these other worlds so well that I feel as if I am there, it’s as if they are real. Her vivid descriptions really are a delight. The way it jumped between the characters really pushed the pace of the story along, I couldn’t put it down. All the things I loved about the first book were amplified and grown on.

In this the second instalment of the Gateway series we get our old favourites from the first book with the injection of a few new characters that really spice things up and add humour to it all. Louise offers us up; Romance, Friendship, Loyalty, Action, Adventure, Good versus Evil and Multiple Worlds to tickle our fancy. I loved the ending as it leads to so many possibilities, even Ethan’s in with a chance (I hope).

I’m not going to say anything else as I don’t want to give the story away – It’s awesome – GO READ IT.

If you haven’t read the first one:
THE CALLING 
(Book 1 of The ‘Gateway’ series)
By Louise G. White

the calling

Synopsis:
On the run and hiding from the suits, Carolyn’s life is far from straightforward. After her mother and brother go missing in a most extraordinary way, (through a hole to another world which appears in the kitchen wall!), she is determined to track them down and bring them home. But life is never that easy! Rescued and protected by a group of unusual and likeminded people, Carolyn hones her magic and fighting skills. Whilst answering a call to retrieve a human from another world she is faced with a quick decision and ends up bringing a demon back with her. Little did she know what effect this demon would have on her. As each day passes her strengths grow and her magic develops to assist her in her quest to track down her family, but there are decisions to make that will affect the rest of her life..

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In Your Dreams by John Swan

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In Your Dreams e book prop 1

‘‘In a time before ours, when the universe was much younger, a great civilization lived upon the surface of an infant world not much different than our own. It was tucked away on our same distant arm of the galaxy, with its twin moons shining unblemished in the night sky, and its surface full of spirits both great and small.’’

John Swan has created an intense and intriguing world that I was immediately drawn into. He builds the world of Aldaya with such detail that you feel as if you are really there, but most important of all he gives us leading characters that we can love, that have soul, that feel real and whose journey we want to be apart of – and some gnarly bad guys as well.

When I was only up to page 91, I did a status update on Goodreads that read, “Loving this book so far. Nothing better than a young girl going on an adventure to find herself with her pet cat (ok it’s more complex than that lol) but I’m loving Mim as a main character.” – And yes it developed into much MUCH more than that.

So here, we have a young adult fantasy novel written for ages 13 and up. It is so refreshingly, there is no pointless horror or vulgarity of a sexual nature, so totally safe to let your Teens read as well as yourself.

A bit about the story: Aldaya, a once grand and peaceful planet that is now succumbing to a dark all-consuming evil.

Enter High Lord Éolan (male), Steward of the City of Nausica, council member and spouse to the Premier-elect (who is also male) – Give yourself a pat on the back Mr Swan for being oh so brave to have a Gay man as one of the leading characters. I am going to stop there and tell you to CALM DOWN remember what I said about “no vulgarity and totally safe to let your Teens read’’ Yeah exactly! It is all PG13. Anyway back to the oh so fine Eolan; The story really kicks into gear with us experiencing Eolan having a recurring dream of a beautiful pale blonde teenage girl with vibrant purple eyes.

Enter Mim; Mim is the Girl in the dreams and her simple life is about to become a whole lot less so. She is fifteen and lives in the rotting town of Slaidburn. Min is an orphan who works her fingers to the bone just to get enough to pay her board at a half-way house and feed herself and her cat.

Enter the gnarly bad guys; Morra Losis, the demon woman and her two right hand men/demons raise all sorts of hell the night they come into Slaidburn. Morra is a creature of pure evil and after coming across Mim will stop at nothing to have her.

This then sends Mim on a dangerous journey that spirals out of control, but leads her to Eolan.

Mim goes on the run trying to make her way to the Charis Vale, where she hopes she will be safe and able to get the help she needs to figure out the strange power that grows inside of her. Lord Éolan is at the same time on his way there and a series of events force them together. The story then races off and you will not be able to put it down.

I won’t go into any more detail as I don’t want to ruin it and I want you to experience it yourself – But I will say it leaves us with a Major Cliff-hanger and you’ll be longing for the next installment to be released as I am.

Five out of Five starts for the first time Author Mr John Swan.

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Luv from Dog by Murray Ball

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Romances come and go. But when a man suffers the scorn of a scented seductress, the pain of parting, the ache of a lonely heart, when he’s bursting with shame, humiliation and jealousy, where can he turn? To his best friend, of course: his dog.

luv from dog

 

‘Luv from Dog’ is a selection of Murray Ball’s 1975 – 1990 Footrot Flats cartoon strips and standalone images all dealing with love and lust. It is a light and humours read that I really enjoyed. You cannot help but fall in love with “Dog” and wish him success in chasing away that She Devil Cheeky Hobson.dog heart

There is not much more I can say really – 5 out of 5 stars for an iconic comic and the Man, Mr Bell behind the DOG.go on

Longbourn by Jo Baker

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FYI: I lost two bookmarks while trying to read this book, one my son chewed into pieces and the second he hid god knows where!

 

Longbourn by Jo Baker Goodreads Synopsis:

• Pride and Prejudice was only half the story •

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.

In this irresistibly imagined below stairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.

Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own.

My Thoughts:

I loved the line “If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them”.

I loved Mrs Hill, Sarah and Polly and Felt for them. The twist concerning James’s parentage did not sit right with me and just felt wrong. However, ignoring that I was able to enjoy the story and Bar Mr Bennet, I was happy with Bakers take on the characters and they felt Austen approvable to me.

I really enjoyed reading the servants take on the Bennet’s and their dramas. I found it interesting, I had never really thought about who washed and cooked and the entire goings on in the background of Pride and Prejudice as I was always too caught up with Mr Darcy.

The love story: Sarah an orphan taken and raised my Mrs Hill as a housemaid at Longbourn and who gets worked ragged and ends up understandably fed up with her life. James comes along and gets himself a job as footmen and that is when things start to get interesting. Like I said before if you ignore the premises of James parentage his back-story as a on the run disgraced solder is fascinating.

Even though Sarah and James end up together and happy, I felt like the ending was not good enough. All the characters get happy-ish endings; I just felt that James and Sarah deserved more. I mean hell if you are going to go all out and say Mr Bennet had a Love child with his housekeeper Mrs Hill at least have him come clean about it in the end, as then James not Mr Collins would inherit the Longbourn estate and Sarah and James could live happily ever after, safe and sound!

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars,  because this Mr Bennet was not the Mr Bennet that I know and love.

REV GIRL by Leigh Hutton

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REV GIRL (The Go Girls Chronicles, #1) by Leigh Hutton

Wow I truly loved this book. Flat out Five stars. Now I’ve got the hard task of explaining to you all how truly awesome this book is and making you fall in love with it so you’ll go out and buy it.

Here it goes >>

rev girl

 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Inspired by a true story

It’s hard to be the new girl, but it’s even harder being the new girl who races dirt bikes . . .

Ever since her parents forced her to move from Canada to Silvertown, Colorado, Clover Kassedy hasn’t fit in. So how do you deal when everyone hates you?

Focusing all her energy on racing her motorcycle did it for a while, but now that Clover’s managed to find a bestie and a boyfriend, the pressure on the sixteen-year-old is worse than ever.

She’s determined to get to the World Championships, where she could finally meet her idol – an Australian, the World Champion – and have a shot at becoming a professional dirt bike racer. But with her super- competitive dad, workaholic mother and relentless bullies at races and at high school, Clover is struggling to make her dreams a reality.

Will it be her scheming ex-best-friend who shatters her world? Or will she let her ‘perfect’ boyfriend – the guy who has finally made her feel like she belongs in their school and their town – stop her from becoming an international racing star?

My Thoughts:          

I loved it. The way Leigh explains the thoughts and feelings Clover goes through during races you can tell that she has been there and done it. It feels real. The story is full of passion and excitement, a real page turner. You can’t help but fall in love with Clover and want her to succeed on her journey.

There are laugh out loud lines throughout the book.

Ernie and Shazza’s dad, John Watson, hit it off like a pair of escaped convicts who just stumbled upon a burlesque bar.

Girls all around her were dropping like Louis Vuitton handbags at a ‘$50 for Everything Sale’.

And there are some truly beautiful inspiring lines as well.

Being dead isn’t just lying in the dirt, your eyes rolled back in your head. You die inside when you give up on what you truly love. On yourself. Find who you are and hold onto it.

I love the in-depth speech Clover gave in the story. It was heartfelt and true. It resonated with me down to my core. I wish that at seventeen I’d known myself as well as Clover comes to. It took me twenty six years and postnatal depression after the birth of my son for me to find myself, to love myself, to have the courage to start working towards my dreams, as I am now.

I think it should be mandatory for teenage girls to read this story. There is something every one of them can relate to, regardless if they’re not into Motor Bikes or Extreme Sports. Being a teenager is hard and it sucks, but unless you can learn to love yourself life just gets harder.

This book has everything; Romance, Action Adventure and tones of Girl Power.

I love that Leigh has managed through this book to teach us a lesson about pride, power, love, loss, peer pressure, friendship, bullying and life changing decisions and have us ENJOY IT!

A brilliant start to what I’m sure will be a brilliant series.

And now from Leigh’s website www.leighuttonbooks.com a bit about the Go Girl Chronicles:go girls

 

The Go Girls Chronicles

An exciting new blockbuster series for the reader craving action, adventure and romance, these empowering coming of age novels will entertain, inspire and tug at the heartstrings. Stories are set among the worlds of horse show jumping, motocross, surfing, racing cars, snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX, rodeo riding and more . . .

REV GIRL, out May 24th, 2014!

JUMP GIRL, coming early-2015!

SURF GIRL, to follow . . .

Initiate (The Unfinished Song #1) by Tara Maya

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Synopsis:

The initiation ceremony is the gateway to ultimate power…or death. A DETERMINED GIRL Dindi can’t do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi’s clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan… AN EXILED WARRIOR Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn’t commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don’t kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father’s wars and his mother’s curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her… assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

My thoughts:

Oh clever, cheeky Tara Maya giving us the first part of a twelve part series for free so we fall in love with it and buy the rest (only up to book six is published at the moment).

If Faeries (Fairies) or, secret societies and dancing aren’t your thing, don’t bother with this book. But if you want to be swept up in a beautiful but brutal world of fancy, love, betrayal and magic, then head on over to Smashwords and download a copy. It’s free for goodness sake why not!!! If you don’t like it you haven’t wasted anything other than a little bit of time and you do like it you might have just found yourself a new favourite fancy world and many hours or reading pleasure with this series.

For the most part this book is set up for the series, so a lot of information is packed in. It does seem to me that this will be an epic series. I dare say the next book will be even better as I seems to have been set up to be full of danger and action.

At the end of this book Tara’s included the first chapter of the second book ‘’Taboo’’ as if we needed more incentive to go out and buy the second anyway LOL. Well I’m off to Smashwords to Purchase the next book “Taboo” and add it to my *2 read list* and see if this adventure is all it’s cracked up to be.

For More information check out >>>>>

@taramayastales

http://taramayastales.blogspot.com.au/p/the-unfinished-song-series.html