Book Review: Fate’s Past by Jason Huebinger

Fate’s Past by Jason Huebinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fate’s Past is a suspenseful, heart-pounding supernatural horror novel that kept me guessing until the end. Once I picked it up, I didn’t want to put it down!

The story was very well developed, and the characters were interesting and relatable. I honestly felt like I would react the exact same way as Carrie and Cameron if I were in their situation.

Huebinger’s descriptions were remarkable; I was able to get a clear picture in my mind’s eye of everything that was happening. Fate’s Past not only has amazing suspense, but the action scenes were well-paced, keeping my eyes glued to my screen. I genuinely couldn’t get enough!

The ending surprised me. It was absolutely fitting with the build-up, concluding in a spectacular way. I would definitely recommend this book! Well done, Jason Huebinger!

I was given an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review, but I’ve already pre-ordered my own copy.

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Being Thankful

Good evening, my amazing blog readers! I’m so sorry that I’ve been absent of late. It occurred to me recently that I’d been in the middle of my current WIP (To Woo A Troublesome Spy) for over a year now (Ah! Yes. Since the beginning of last March) and I’ve decided to dedicate a good portion of my time to working on actually completing it. I’m making some progress, which his wonderful! It just means that I haven’t been blogging much. Sorry about that!

The purpose of this post is to just take a moment to say how touched, honoured, humbled, and completely and utterly grateful I am to have such an amazing support network in my life. Today I felt the need to discuss something that’s been troubling me, and right away I was surrounded by the love and encouragement of my husband, my mom, my kids, my seriously spectacular publisher, my RWA group, and my friends.

For hours I’ve been speechless and teary-eyed. You all have no idea just how much you mean to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I feel like I’m the luckiest lady alive!

Thank you for reading and Happy Friday!

Book Review: 122 Rules by Deek Rhew

122 Rules by Deek Rhew
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Deek Rhew is a master when it comes to humour. Not only is this a great mystery, thriller/suspense novel, but Rhew adds his own flavour of levity that had me laughing throughout.

This was an effortless read. The engrossing plot kept me eagerly reading until the end. Rhew created a cleverly-written and well-timed novel. I genuinely can’t wait until I get to read the next in the series!

Kudos, Deek Rhew, on a spectacular book!

I received an ARC from the publisher, but I’ve already pre-ordered my own finished copy.

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Book Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’d been warring with myself on whether or not I should write this review. I don’t like to write negative reviews, generally. It’s evident, however, that I’m not alone in my opinion, for these SFF fans/reviewers seem to be divided when it comes to the Southern Reach trilogy. Some give it rave reviews, and others feel as I do: a little cheated.

I have to give the author credit, the language and general writing was superb. What fell apart for me, however, was the style and story. The entire novel was written as diary entries, which makes my “show, don’t tell” instinct twitch. I will grant, that there were some good points, but the drawn-out descriptions were filled with what I felt was unnecessary information. I would have liked to get some more emotion out of the protagonist and more dialogue out of everyone.

The suspense just wasn’t there for me. It felt like there was no urgency, no immediate danger. It is possible that this is because these are all diary entries, and I knew that the main character survives at least to write the entries. If it was written in-the-moment I might have been more invested, unfortunately, this just fell short for me.

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Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After all the hype over this novel I honestly thought it would be an amazing read. I am rather disappointed. I saw the ending coming a mile away, but I’d held out the hope that I would be surprised by something different happening.

The characters were all unlikeable. I find it very difficult to become emotionally invested in a book when I can’t relate to–or at least root for–the protagonist.

I’m giving this three stars because while I didn’t like the story or the characters, the writing was great. The language, the descriptions, scene-setting, and twisted inner thought processes of each character were very well executed.

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Book Review – The Juliet by Laura Ellen Scott

The Juliet by Laura Ellen Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I’ve got to start off by saying that I truly admire Laura Ellen Scott’s ability to create such a detailed and inter-woven plot. I am in awe! Not only was the story told in such a remarkable way, but also, the flow of her sentences and fantastic imagery made this a smooth and enjoyable read.

Laura Ellen Scott’s characters are spectacular. They popped from the pages and came to life; I could swear that even the narrative voice in my mind changed with each character.

I absolutely loved this book! Kudos to Laura!

*I received an ARC copy from the publisher, but I’ve already pre-ordered my own copy!

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It’s Release Day!

I’m very pleased — and outrageously excited — to announce that as of today, I am officially a published author for Pandamoon Publishing! Today is release day for my debut novel, Love’s Misadventure, the first in the Mason Siblings series!

This is a dream come true! I’m so very lucky to have such tremendous support from my friends, family, and my amazing Panda family with Pandamoon. You all are wonderful!

I’ve already got some great reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. I’m flattered! Thank you all so much!

Cover Reveal for Love’s Misadventure!

Good afternoon, everyone!  Today is a very special day for me! The book cover for my debut historical romance novel from Pandamoon Publishing has officially been released to the public!

Love’s Misadventure is the first book in the Mason Siblings series, and is due to be released on March 15, 2016. Only a few days from now!

Here’s the cover:

 

A blurb about Love’s Misadventure:

Miss Annabel Bradley refuses to accept life as a spinster. Her many years of pouring greedily over gothic novels has put her head in the clouds; dreaming and hoping for the love she reads about. She has always held a tendre for her best friend, Lane Mason, seventh Earl of Devon, but she does not want to jeopardize their friendship by telling him about those indecent dreams of hers. Anna, therefore, makes a life-changing decision; she is going to accept the proposal of the next suitor to ask!

Lane Mason is an average aristocrat; absorbed in life in general, and content with his status in society. Amid a frequently occurring moment of self-loathing, Lane shockingly discovers his feelings for Anna. Now armed with the awareness of his love for Anna, Lane decides to perpetrate a devilishly clever scheme. He will pay actors to abduct the two of them in order to give Anna an adventure like the ones she reads in her treasured books.

Lane’s plans go awry, however, when they are kidnapped in truth.

 

Thank you all so much for reading! I’m so excited that I get to share this with you! Happy Thursday!

Book Review – Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Phoebe and James are an absolutely wonderful couple. Phoebe’s personality is light, open, and entirely refreshing, while James is solicitous and surprisingly eloquent with descriptions. The two together make for a great read. Their conversations are entertaining, and the spark between them is enjoyable. There isn’t a single thing about Phoebe and James that I could critique, besides maybe the age difference, but that’s a non-issue in my mind.

I quite liked seeing the other Maiden Lane characters again. I’d been anticipating Phoebe and Trevillion’s books, and I’m thrilled that they ended up together.

I wasn’t particularly fond of either Eve Dinwoody or Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery, as they came off more like anti-heroes, not future main characters of their own romance novels. But, as this review isn’t for their books, I didn’t take my opinion of them into account while giving my rating here.

Overall, this was a spectacular read for me!

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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith and Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The novelty wore off pretty quickly with this one. I’m a big fan of Jane Austen, and while the addition of zombies seemed humorous, it fell short of exciting. Honestly, I’d hoped that there would be more casualties. Maybe Lydia, Kitty, Wickham, or Mrs. Bennett would be eaten or turned.

I’d seen it written in another review, and I have to agree, that the “ninjification” of the characters is utterly ridiculous. While I do believe that after 50 years of this odd plague, the Regency-era folks should possess some sort of fighting skill, to send your children abroad to train under ninja masters is overly strange. At one point Elizabeth claims to have withstood standing on her head for six days in one particular training exercise; I have to admit, I laughed aloud at how preposterous that was.

Elizabeth, herself, seemed far too changed from her original character. In P&P&Z she felt intolerant and wrathful, ready to murder Mr. Darcy for not wanting to dance with her. Ultimately, she read more like a petulant teenager, than the mature and loveable twenty-something that would use her cutting words to make her point in the original P&P.

I truly believe that in this rare circumstance the P&P&Z movie will prove more interesting than the book.

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