Killing Time by Ingrid Nickelsen

August 13, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Killing Time

(For Better or for Worse #2)

Published 26^th April 2015 by Untold Press

I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review. Thank you Ingrid!

Death is the ultimate heartbreak. Evangeline never expected it to break hers after she died. No one should have to choose between their husband and their first love, but it is that choice that shatters her spirit.

She makes her choice, choosing not to transition, and finds that death can be vengeful too.

The world of the dead is far more complex that she ever knew, and facing the consequences of her actions might be the hardest obstacle yet, Fighting to survive in a world she doesn’t understand, she seeks the help of the wanderers. Time is running out as winter grips the land and her companions help her search for Will. Perhaps, if she keeps her eyes open and believes in her love enough, she will make her way back to him before the Hunters find her first.

Unexpected reunions, impossible choices, and long-hidden secrets will fill her journey with joy and sadness. It is Hunting season and Evangeline will have to fight for those she loves while remembering that cheating death always has a price.

Told from a dual perspective, Killing Time brings the For Better or for Worse series to a heart-stopping continuation in every sense of the word.

I’m writing this review over a month after reading the book, as I’ve been on holidays, but I can remember exactly how I felt and what I said the moment I finished this book.

I felt super hyped up and I said “I can’t wait to read next one”.

Unlike the first book that was just told in Eve’s point of view, we get duel POV with the addition of Will. I really enjoyed being inside Will’s head.

We get a lot of drama early on with Eve forced to join a group of wanders after running off from her transition ceremony. Eve’s choice not to transition caused all sorts of trouble and we start to get a sense of how much when Brielle and Will are captured and thrown in prison by the Midnight Hunters.

There are a fair few twists and turns along the way with newly introduced characters and some previous ones popping back up. Some really big “Oh Snap” moments happen thanks to a certain big deal new character.

We get more magical visions, this time it seems that Eve and Will are transported to some sort of parallel world. While there some emotional bombs are dropped on us all for good measure.

Things get really interesting as we start learning about the Seekers and the Midnight Hunters; their powers and their plans for Will.

This book is definitely more in depth emotionally. We find out more about the characters back stories, making the whole story a more engaging and enjoyable read. I got goosebumps meeting the seekers and witnessing the twisted truth they tell Eve about her and Will’s connection.

The last 150 pages are an intense whirlwind. And that epilogue! Bring on the third and final book. I am expecting the final book to be an epic show down.

Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Ingrid Nickelsen Ingrid is a French girl, college student, and dreamer. She currently resides in Paris, where she spends most of her time going to museums and the movies.
Despite the romantic atmosphere in Montmartre, or even the fancy cafés in the Champs Elysées, she would easily trade it all for a nice walk in the woods with her schnauzer, Golden. She’s always craving adventures, and finds that books are the cheapest way to travel to far-away lands. She’s inwardly convinced that words have the power to heal the worst blisters on our hearts, or at least can make us forget about them for a little while. And sometimes, it’s just enough to face another crazy day.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

June 21, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 2 Comments

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Published: 22nd June 2015 by Harper Collins

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me an ARC and the opportunity to read and review this book.

With a harrowing poetic voice, this contemporary page-turner is perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, Julie Berry’s All The Truth That’s in Me, and the works of Ellen Hopkins.

The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust.

And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it’s clear that Minnow knows something—but she’s not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow By is a hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith—and the power of having faith in oneself.

This book has received so many raving reviews and so many “loved it” reviews from fellow book bloggers that I follow. I can understand how someone could be so WOW’d by this book. The writing is beautiful, easy to read /understand and flows at a perfect pace. The action arches and curves to keep you tearing through the pages till the end.

It’s hard to believe that this is Stephanie Oakes Debut! It is her debut people and in my eyes it is flawless. I’ve already added her next book to my TBR even though it won’t be out until next year.

Cults disgust me. Anyone who hides behind religion and lies degusts me. In fact any person who can hurt another living thing and enjoy it, degusts me. Even so I think this book is brilliant. It made me keep reading even though I hated the topic matter. I either wanted to slap sense into the characters or see them run them over with an army tank. Ok, I wanted the Prophet to be run over by an Army tank, the rest I wanted them to wake up to themselves, stupid sheep.

I liked Minnow from the start, but I loved her once she woke up and started to rebel.

My only complaint is that I wanted more closure at the end. I wanted to know that the innocent got a happy ending and the others got what they deserved – even if that is unrealistic.

I generally read books to escape the horrible world we live in. This book spotlights the horrible world we live it, but I am glad I read it. I think anyone 13+ could read this and get something out of it.

I’m going to share what I am sure is going to become one of my favorite book quotes. I’ll give you a little lead in so it makes sense. Warning the work fuck is used, but there is very little swearing in the book considering she ends up in juvenile hall.

* * * * * * *

“FUUUUUCK!” She screams.

“A MILLION TIMES FUCK!” I scream with her.

“What on God’s sacred green Earth is going on?” Benny calls from the skyway. She approaches the bars, her arms crossed.

“Nothing,” Angel and I sat in unison…

“Fuck,” I Whisper.

“Fuck,” she whispers back, a smile creeping onto her face. And, inside that smile is the knowledge that some things are just too sad, too screwed up. Sometimes there’s nothing for it but shouting “Fuck” with your best friend at the top of your lungs.

* * * * * * *

I think that sums up life; something’s are just too sad, too screwed up. I’ve been known to scream profanities at the sky, sometimes there is nothing else we can do to release the pain.

Stephanie Oakes is a teacher and YA author from Washington State.

THE ARSONIST, her second YA mystery is scheduled for publication in fall 2016.

Website – http://www.stephanieoakesbooks.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/stephanieeoakes

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/543716.Stephanie_Oakes

Tumblr – http://stephanieoakes.tumblr.com/

Starfire #1 by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

June 16, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Starfire 2015 #1

By (Authors) Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and (Illustrator) Emanuela Lupacchino.

27 full colour pages, Published June 2015 by DC Comics

SHE’S AN ALIEN WARRIOR TRYING TO FIND PEACE…

AND WILL FIGHT ANYONE OR ANYTHING TO GE IT!

ARE YOU READY?

The first though I had when I finished this was “That was adorable. I want more.”

So Starfire aka Kori was a princes on her own planet, but was outlawed when some nasties took it over and entrapped her sister – I’m sure this will all come back to haunt Kori later in the series. For now Kori is struggling to fit in on earth, cue taking a shower naked out in the open and misunderstanding men’s meanings about giving her a place to stay for the night, but luckily she has the help of a cop named Stella.

Starfire is funny, sexy and a treat for the eyes. The pages are in full colour and those colours are bright and beautiful.

This feels like it’s going to be a super quirky, full on girl power, bad guy busting series of awesomeness. It’s from the writers of HARLEY QUINN so all of the above is to be expected. I’m ready, bring on more Starfire. Five Stars.

What DC says about Starfire:

A princess who became a slave. A slave who became a warrior. A warrior who became one of the world’s greatest super heroes.

Betrayed by her own sister and forced into slavery, Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran experienced torture, exploitation and experimentation at the hands of others—but instead of it breaking her, it only made her stronger. Breaking free and fleeing to Earth, she discovered a world filled with heroes, people who fought for the oppressed, who used their powers and abilities to save those in need. And it was then that Koriand’r made a decision that changed her place in life forever. She decided to become the super hero known as Starfire.

Like all Tamaraneans, Starfire’s alien physiology allows her to absorb ultraviolet radiation and convert it to energy in order to fly. However, due to the experiments conducted on her during her imprisonment, she can also channel and project that same energy as destructive blasts.

Despite the hardships she experienced early in her life, Starfire remains a courageous and dedicated hero, who despises seeing anyone else experience the pain she went through herself. She is incredibly loyal and optimistic and lives to see and experience everything the universe has to offer.

Now I didn’t see it as Kori’s sister betraying her, I saw it as she didn’t have a choice. But as I said I’m sure that’ll all come up again later in the series and there is probably more to it then we got in this first issue.

Amanda Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/54926.Amanda_Conner

Jimmy Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/54927.Jimmy_Palmiotti

Jimmy Twitter – https://twitter.com/jpalmiotti

DC Starfire – http://www.dccomics.com/comics/starfire-2015

#1 available NOW. #2 available 8th July.

#3 available 12th August. #4 available 9th September.

Live Life Sunny Side Up by Jeremyville

June 6, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Published Date: 14^th July 2015 by Andrews McMeel Publishing

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Be Patient, Don’t Let the Haters In, Live in the Light, and Build Your Own Rainbow—these and many more inspiring reminders from Jeremy Ville fill the pages of Live Life Sunny Side Up.

To break out of a creative funk, artist and designer Jeremyville began pairing positive affirmations with simple, yet thought-provoking drawings and posting them online under his “Community Service Announcements” project. The response was overwhelming, and the result is a library of 800 images in just a few years. Live Life Sunny Side Up collects 100 of the most inspiring CSAs guaranteed to bring you out of a funk even on your worst days. This collection of simple and cheerful messages is perfect to give to a friend or keep on your nightstand for those days when you need a quick pick-me-up or a reminder to “Live Free Range Instead.”When I hear the term “Self-Help” I think of a repetitive preachy text book full of pages and pages of junk that while wonderful on paper is useless in the real world – not that I’ve read that many, so shame on me, I guess! If more of them are like this book I would happily give them a go.

SO this book is categorised as a “self-Help” book, but don’t let that put you off. This book collects Jeremyville’s all-time favourites of his “Community Service Announcements”. The illustrations are bright, colourful and cuter then a baby elephant. The messages are simple but powerful and relevant. It is watermelon flavoured bubble-gum sweet and it will make you smile. It might even make you think to call your mother once in a while.

I would love to have TRUST IN YOUR IDEAS AND JUMP and OWN YOUR STRANGENESS as big posters on my wall at home, however I don’t think my husband would be into it.

While I wasn’t blown away, I did enjoy reading It.

Jeremyville is a New York based artist, product designer and author. His art is about simple, thought provoking messages told in an instantly recognisable style.

Jeremyville grew up by the ocean at Bondi Beach in Sydney Australia, and started his art career drawing at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, while completing his Architecture Degree from Sydney University, and editing the student newspaper Honi Soit. It was amidst this education in print at the age of 19, that he first discovered the power of simple writing, and the impact that an iconic image can have in helping to change the world.

Jeremyville draws daily in his sketchbook and shares his Community Service Announcements through his social media, with messages of environmental action, social change, inner growth and positive daily actions.

Website – http://www.jeremyville.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JeremyvilleDaily

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Jeremyville

Instagram – https://instagram.com/Jeremyville/

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/MrJeremyville/videos

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9873838.Jeremy_Ville

The Feral Child by Che Golden

June 4, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 1 Comment

The Feral Child (Feral Child Trilogy #1) by Che Golden

Published in 2012 by Quercus UK

266 Pages

“Gripping, mystical and adventurous, young readers will be as hooked as Maddy was the minute she set foot inside that creepy as hell old castle,” Irish World said of The Feral Child.

Maddy, an orphan, is sick of her Irish town, and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own.

When the boy returns to steal her neighbor Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself.

Che Golden has created a gripping adventure that interweaves Maddy’s modern Irish experience with the vivid fantasy of the region’s ancient folklore. Readers will enjoy the frank and bold heroine of Maddy, and will be dazzled by The Feral Child‘s evocative rendering of Irish folklore and richly imagined alternate worlds.

Going off the synopsis I thought I was going to love this book, but sadly I wasn’t as enchanted as I expected to be – Never the less it was a sweet fast paced easy read. The fae in this story are not sparkly wish granting flower hugging sweetie pies and therefore probably more believable.

After losing both her parents Maddy, the 10 year old protagonist, ends up living in Ireland with her elderly grandparents. Maddy has two cousins that join her on her adventures; Roisin was lovely, but Danny wasn’t very realistic – little boys do not have changes of heart that quickly. And that malicious Aunt hell bent on taking Maddy away from her grandparents, owww I couldn’t stand her.

Maddy is angry at the world and everyone in it (understandably) and the fae target her because of the great anger and pain she harbours inside. The pain she holds inside her nearly gets her killed in the magical realm, twice! I think this story holds an important lesson to be learnt for the Middle Grade audience it was written for. And I doubt that any faults I found with the stories rushed character development would even be noticed by that target audience. Ten year old me would have eaten this up thinking it was the most fantastical thing ever!

The highlight of the book for me was Maddy’s adorable dog George, he added humour to the story and Maddy realising her deep love for her Grandparents.

While I found that some parts of the story were far too rushed, overall the book was enjoyable and there were some really wonderful parts in the story that made reading it worthwhile.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

May 17, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 2 Comments

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Published April 14th 2011 by Dutton Adult

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

I am seriously fan girl-ing right now, I just went and followed all Rowell’s social medias so I could stalk her, umm I mean see what book she has coming out next.

I was in love with this book by the first few pages. I think this is the fastest I’ve ever devoured a book. I got the book that morning and read it all that day. That’s a new record for me. (i’m writing this review two days later). I came up for air, once, to put up a Goodreads update – Page 48: Loving this book and thinking “why have I not read any Rainbow Rowell until now”.

I finished the book late-ish Friday night – Page 322: Love Love Loved this book. I’m jumping up and down and smiling, LOVED IT – review to come 🙂. I only open it it intending to have a look and reading it later when I was on holidays. Just the first few pages had me hooked and I didn’t go to bed until I’d finished it. I loved Rowell’s writing, her humour, snappy dialogue and devour-able prose.

The Main Characters: Lincoln O’Neill, Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder; I love them all and they are now my imaginary best friends 😛 what I wouldn’t give to have a working friendship like Beth and Jennifer’s. The characters are all 28 (my age) and it’s nice to see other people not having there s**t together. It’s a funny, heart-warming story that feels real. My favorite books usually involve magic, mythological or paranormal creatures, but Rowell’s left me feeling happier than any book has in a long time. I was smiling like I’d just won the lotto when I finished the last page.

The story swaps between Lincoln “page shots” of Beth and Jennifer’s emails and Lincoln in the 3^rd person. The story is set back in 1999/2000, the whole point being that people didn’t have iPhones etc. back then so we see the two female leads converse using inter office email. Then there is the poor smuck Lincoln that has to monitor those inter office emails. At this time 1999/2000 I was in high school and they did monitor your computer use, I know this because I got in trouble off the librarian once for some “inappropriate” story I was writing.

The girls are immediately like-able. But for me Lincoln became the star of the show. He was lonely and stuck in a rut. He hated his dead end job that made him feel like a perverse nut job. Now I can see why some people mightn’t like this, they might write Lincoln off as a creepy loser. But I love how we get to watch him grow, watch him try to be a better person and succeed. He gets out of his rut, he gets his s**t together and he gets the girl, the right girl! Go Lincoln Go!

I love Lincoln, yeah so what if he fell for Beth while reading her emails –Ah hello, he gave Jennifer his MacDonald’s while he changed her flat tyre in a storm, super hero! – Beth did some Lincoln stalking as well, so meh, all’s fair in love and war. I did some house drive by stalking when I was younger LOL and he married me, my husband the silly man.

So Five Stars. I’m going to leave it at that because if I try to tell you anymore about the story I’ll give it all away.

Rainbow Rowell writes books.

Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline).

Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On.).

But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.

Website – http://www.rainbowrowell.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rainbow.rowell.author

Instagram – https://instagram.com/rainbowrowellbooks/

Tumblr – http://rainbowrowell.tumblr.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell

GRONK by Katie Cook

May 10, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Gronk: A monster’s tale is an all-ages weekly comic that follows Gronk, a little green monster that has shunned monster life. she finds a home with Dale, a young nerd-lady who teaches Gronk the ways of her world.

Now the Internet’s favorite little green monster is a lovely, full color book! A book that will look great hanging from a magazine rack in your bathroom or as a nice glossy coaster for your favorite frosty beverage.

“Gronk is a young monster who has turned her back on the ways of monster-dom (mostly because she was just too darn adorable to be scary). She finds the human world fascinating and is curious about everything…”

Adorable characters, beautiful bright illustrations, a cute and funny story with some fandom references thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed reading Gronk; it is a quick fun read that I can see myself reading again. I’ve even gone and subscribed to Katie’s website so I can keep up with Gronk’s activities as she tries to make a home with her human, cat and extremely over weight dog.

I won my copy in a bundle (that I am making my way through) from Diamond Comics :-).

Katie cook is a comic book artist and illustrator. She’s worked on licenses ranging from star wars to marvel comics to lord of the rings to fraggle rock and more. cartooning is all she’s ever wanted to do with her life (besides her ambition to be a muppet or a robot as a child). Katie’s art as well as a lengthy history of her work can be found at www.katiecandraw.com Katie’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/katiecandraw

I saw these two pictures on Katie’s website and just had to share them: Harry Potter, Cute Cartoon Cats AND DR WHO!!! I love this woman!!!

The Field Trip by R.A. Andrade

May 5, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

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The Field Trip by R.A. Andrade

Published: May 1st 2015 by Selladore Press, 272 Pages

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

An adventure mixed with a touch of fantasy. Add a twist of love.

Although clumsy with women, botany professor Ross Barton possesses the quality of fearlessness when confronting danger. Relieved to be escaping routine school work and a bad relationship for a field research trip, a strange woman and danger are the last of his expectations.

Jay, an awkward young woman unwilling to disclose her past, begins a solitary hike into the forest with a pet concealed in a box. She claims the pet is a cat.

Rumors are spreading about odd lights in the night skies of New England.

A flight instructor reports that the government quarantined an area of Vermont woods.

All trails intersect on The Field Trip.

I’ve struggled writing this review, while there were some good qualities in this book; I just didn’t connect with it.

Ross: Professor of Botany Ross Barton is 35, terrified of woman and single. He is sweet, naive, gullible and later on in the story bizarrely develops into an action hero.

The story starts off alternating between following Ross and a group of unnamed men in white lab coats at an unnamed facility. Ross is easily likable and the mysterious white coats are interesting, driving the story forward.

We meet Jay via a run-in Ross has with her while getting supplies for his trip. It’s not long after Ross starts his trip that the two story lines meet up and we are just following Ross through.

Jay: I guessed Jay Jay and Oswald’s secret earlier on and at first I really liked Jay’s character, she was aloof, aggressive and mysteries. The emotional turn around she does just felt too fast and rushed. I would have liked to see Ross and Jay’s relationship build more before blooming.

Oswald: Funny, twisted, sarcastic, but far too intelligent to be believable as a pet on any planet.

I could never tell where the story was going and that unpredictability was at times frustrating, but also one of the books better qualities, as more often than not you can guess what’s going to happen in a story.

The ending was a little hard to swallow. I liked that Jay was back. I was over the moon that Oswald was back. But no one asked Marsha what she wanted – It felt like body snatching and didn’t sit well with me.

I feel bad giving it only Two (It was ok) Stars, but I can’t bring myself to give it Three (I Liked It) Stars. I would be willing to read more work by R.A. Andrade, as the story wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.

Ron writes from a small community in Michigan, sometimes at three in the morning when ideas wake him from sleep. He was born and raised in New England, sometimes drawing on those childhood and teen experiences for his novels. Driven to write, his goal is simply to entertain by bringing you the unexpected.

Website – http://www.raandrade.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10531683.R_A_Andrade

Stake-Out (Paranormal Detectives Book One) by Lily Luchesi

April 27, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 5 Comments

Detective Danny Mancini is on a case, following a murder suspect. When he catches him, he finds out that the perp isn’t even human: he’s a 200 year old rogue vampire!

The department doesn’t believe him, and puts him on early retirement, despite his many years of service to the Chicago Police Department, which sends him into a downward spiral.

Two years later, Danny gets an invitation from the beautiful, young and very attractive Detective Angelica Cross to join a secret branch of the FBI to help her track down Vincent, the wayward vamp.

But renegade werewolves, meddling immortal witches and Danny’s strange visions of a life lived a century ago with Angelica make things more difficult than it should be.From the beginning it is easy to care about Danny – A detective doing his job and doing it well, who witnesses’ something unbelievable. And of course no one believes him; he is pushed out of the CPD, labelled as crazy and unfit for work. Danny is barely surviving, living on bottle after bottle of booze when along comes Angelica Cross and the PID (The secret paranormal investigation department of the FBI). A Vamplet, Angelica is the daughter of a human male and a vampire female. Angelica is sexy, strong and determined to catch the bad guys. Though the whole book Danny struggles, he’s had so much thrown at him and never really recovers. I hope that in the next or third book his life can come together for him. At the very end of the epilogue, I felt like there was hope of that, as he’d realised his mistakes.

Even though it was easy to guess Angelica Cross’s big secret early on, I loved that Danny didn’t. There are all sorts’ twists and turns along the way, some expected, some not. The story was fast paced, action packed, entertaining and emotional. I was swept up in Danny and Angelica’s world.

In this the first book, we meet two villains, but only one of them dealt with, leaving what could be an epic show down between Angelica and the powerful and malicious witch Fiona Gullifoyle.

I am really looking forward to the next installment. Bring It On.

My favourite parts:

The flash backs to Danny’s previous life, I loved the whole epilogue (even read it twice).

The vampiric history lesson Angelica gives Danny – Fascinating.

All the little snippets of song lyrics that accompany each chapter break – It is a really lovely, quirky touch. The emotion in the song lyrics matched the chapters perfectly each time.

Lily Luchesi is a young author/poet born in Chicago, Illinois, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things “dark”. At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle by the time she was twelve, and, as her family has always been what they now call “Gothic”, she doesn’t believe she shall ever change. She is also a hopeless romantic and avid music-lover, and will always associate vampires with love, blood and rock and roll. Her interest in poetry came around the same time as when she was given a book of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete work. She then realized that she had been writing her own poetry since she could hold a pen, and just had not known the correct terms. She finished her first manuscript at the age of fourteen, and now, at twenty-one, has two contributing credits in anthologies and the debut novel, Stake-Out.

Twitter – www.twitter.com/LilyLuchesi

Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/LilyLuchesi

Facebook Profile – www.facebook.com/lilyluchesibooks

Instagram – www.instagram.com/lilyluchesi

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7369101.Lily_Luchesi

Prev post with Lily discussing the writing off Stake-Out http://wp.me/p431Gp-my

Fast and Loose by Nicholas J. Johnson

April 27, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Fast and Loose by Nicholas J. Johnson

Published: 1st July 2015

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Joel Fitch used to be a con artist.

That is, until his scam paid off but his life went belly up. Now, two years later, at the ripe old age of 22, Joel has a mattress full of cash and no idea what comes next. The movies never tell you what to do after you’ve walked into the sunset.

Besides, Joel’s past is catching up with him. One of the victims from his con artist days has hunted him down. Far from exacting revenge, though, he wants Joel’s help. Danny Hemming is a TV journalist on television’s trashiest current-affairs program and he’s looking for someone to give him the inside scoop on the latest scams. And he’s not taking no for an answer.

Once again, Joel finds himself in over his head as he enters the murky world of tabloid television. Blackmailed into helping Hemming uncover and expose the country’s biggest swindlers, Joel is making more enemies than ever.

I liked this book and the fact that I enjoyed it even though it wasn’t filled with forbidden or unrequited love, fantastical creatures or other worlds, like the books I normally read, for me shows how good a story teller Mr Johnson is.

The main characters; Joel Fitch a 22 year old millionaire ex-con-man and Danny Hemming TV “Journalist” with his eyes on the top producers’ job – Neither character is really all that like-able, but they don’t need to be. This book is fast paced, easy to read and flows well. It is set in Sydney, so it’s just down the road from me (kinda). I found it interesting taking a peek into a criminal world that goes on every day under all our noses. Now I’m not stupid, I know this stuff goes on, but obviously not everyone does as the Con-men out there are still thriving.

I mainly read stories that let me escape the world we live in – this story is the world we live in!! Even though I wasn’t glued to the pages, it was well worth the read and I’m looking forward to reading more from Mr Johnston.

Nicholas J. Johnson knows scams.

After decades of rubbing shoulders with fraudsters and liars, he now works as a performer, writer and consultant, educating the public about the tricks of the con artist’s trade.

His live shows have featured at corporate events, schools and private events simultaneously entertaining and educating audiences about con artists and scams.

As an expert on fraud and deception he has appeared on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Kid’s WB, Today, Radio National, Triple J and more. He has consulted with everyone from magician David Blaine to Circus Oz.

A critically acclaimed comedian, Nicholas has performed at Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and the Melbourne Comedy Festival where he was nominated for the Golden Gibbo award for best independent comedy.

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/NicholasJJohnson

Website – http://www.conman.com.au/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/countlustig

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/TrickyNick79

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/honestconman