Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Grace Awakening

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Grace Awakening
Grace Awakening by Shawn L. Bird
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Just another band geek in a plaid shirt to pass in the halls. Until the music started.

Grace is in grade 10 when she meets Ben Butler, who is two years older than her and convinced he’s loved her forever. After they meet, Grace is the target of mysterious attempts on her life, has frequent trips to the hospital to have some secret medicine, and overhears her mother talking to her aunt about her in a strange fashion. Her parents and even her friends seem torn between liking and disliking Ben, but ultimately Grace decides for herself if she loves him or not.

While filled with Greek mythology references and mysterious attacks, not much happens in this book other than Grace deciding she loves Ben. Much like Grace, the reader is left confused, wondering what is going on and who this girl is in the fight between the gods. Things are set in motion that we never see the resolution to, presumably because they are in book two.

Grace Awakening sets the stage for the (ultimate) conclusion in the war between the gods that want to save Grace and the ones that want her dead. Full of music and poetry, the characters are all painted differently with realistic qualities, yet leaves the reader asking, “Who -is- Grace?”

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Review: Flidderbugs

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Flidderbugs
Flidderbugs by Jonathan Gould
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because everybody knows that the leaves on the Krephiloff Tree had three points. But they also had four points too.

Kriffle of the Triplifer tribe is preparing to take over his father’s position as leader of their tribe. He struggles to get to the Fleedenhall due to all the leaves clogging up his home. Leaves in his broth, leaves burying him at night while he sleeps, leaves everywhere! Kriffle knows he must win this debate and get elected so that his side of the Tree can use the Shears.

Kriffle knows the leaves on his side of the Tree have three points. In his frustration, he drags his protesting rival, Fargeeta of the Quadrigon tribe, over to his side of the tree. Fargeeta then takes him to her side, showing him the impossible: four-pointed leaves! But even after he finds out that the other side’s leaves have four points, he has a hard time getting anyone to listen to him, and so Kriffle and Fargeeta vow to get to the root of the issue.

Don’t let this cute story fool you – there’s much more going on under the surface. Gould does a wonderful job creating these characters that even children will love, and their parents can dig deeper for satirical layers reminiscent of Dr. Seuss – with less rhymes.

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Contest Feb 12th-15th

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Starting today, Win With eBooks is holding a contest for a Kindle Fire and Amazon gift cards. During the event, there are almost 20 ebooks available for a discounted price. There are some GREAT ebooks here for just $.99, PLUS you get a chance to win other prizes! If you’re still not convinced, check out my review of Rook for a sample of the quality works you can get!

Win a Kindle Fire and Amazon Gift Card

How? Easy peasy. Head on over to winwithebooks.com or the Facebook fanpage and follow the directions on the Rafflecopter. Check back daily for 50 extra chances to win.no purchase necessary

Congratulations to Chris from Ohio who won the Kindle Fire in December!

Review: Leftover Shorts

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Leftover Shorts
Leftover Shorts by Amy Neftzger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

No one saw the soft, white missile.

Leftover Shorts contains three very different short stories, all three of which are told with a different underlying theme.

The Marshmallow War was my favorite, extolling the experienced old-timer over the hardheaded, long-winded new-bloods. The “Fang of Five,” long-time researchers at Merryman Marshmallow Corporation, organize themselves to take on the department head and newer members of the development team. In the end, market shares were up over 500% and team members were down 4 people, including Mr. Department Head. Richly told, you may never look at a pink marshmallow the same way again.

Peripheral Witches deals with the tricks our minds can play on us if we let them. Miriam declares that fairy tales are bogus and is then haunted by witches for the rest of the afternoon. While entertaining, I feel this was the weakest of the three stories, though still well-written.

Parson’s Song is the last in the book. It tells the tale of Billy Parson, violin player and robber, who is born on the wrong side of midnight into a superstitious town. Filled with quick snapshots of poor Billy’s life and death, it was also loosely based on the legend of MacPherson’s Lament.

If you’re looking for some quick, entertaining reads, Leftover Shorts is the dish to pick up.

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Review: Rook

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Rook
Rook by J.C. Andrijeski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The clouds enveloped my mind, leaving nothing but silence.

Allie Taylor has spend 28 years thinking she was human and, despite being adopted, leading a normal life. She holds down a job as a waitress, working with her best friend, Cass, and has a good relationship with her brother, Jon. Even though she takes care of her mother ever since her father died, her life was more mundane than anything. Except for the drawings and images that she can’t get out of her mind. And the Mono Man, who she finds out is Revik, who has started to follow her around. And the beating she gives her ex, that she didn’t even know she was capable of…

Allie’s world, though similar to our own on the surface, hides a deep secret – the seers. A race of beings with mental powers so powerful that most are enslaved, the seers are feared by the mere humans – including Allie, even after she finds out she’s one of them. Now, she must fight for not only her life and that of her family, but also of the entire human race.

Andrijeski spins a marvelous tale, filled with action, excitement, good guys vs. bad guys, magic and beautiful prose. Allie’s world is familiar yet not, and her process of accepting who and what she is – with help from Revik, prostitutes, her brother and others – is a fascinating journey sure to please.

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Review: Falling

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Falling
Falling by L.C. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not a stalker, I swear I’m not a stalker.

Reid has a secret. After her parents died in a car crash, she gained the ability to jump into people’s bodies. With some, it’s for fun. With others, it’s this strange pull towards them that she can’t resist. And the hardest to resist is Keller.

Even though she feels the pull from Keller, she is still drawn to him. For the first time, she is the envy of the boarding school she goes to because Keller is hers. Until she falls into him and he finds out her secret the hard way.

Falling follows Reid as she comes to terms with how she feels about Keller and how he comes to terms with her ability. While I wish there was more on what caused the falling to happen, and why Reid inherited the ability, the story was engaging and quick-paced, leading the reader right along with Reid for the ride. I would also be interested to see what happens afterwards, since Keller and Reid are planning to attend the same college. Will her ability persist, or was she simply waiting to “fall” for Keller?

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Review: Finding My Escape

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Finding My Escape
Finding My Escape by Fran Veal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Hannah’s life starts falling apart when she walks in on the double homicide of her parents. Taken in by her aunt, Hannah suppresses the memories of that night, chasing them from her mind as she runs the mountain trails. But, even though she just wants to forget, her mind won’t let her.

She begins dreaming of a place, another dimension. And then there’s Josh, the really handsome boy in her dreams. Josh shows her how to navigate her dreams and protects her from the Others. Encouraging her to remember, Josh gives Hannah the nudge to finally remember what happened that night, and she goes searching for clues in her waking hours.

Luckily, Hannah has Matt, her best friend, to help her through the start of the school year and piece together the puzzle of that night. But as they get closer to the truth, the killer gets closer to finding Hannah, both in her dreams and in the real world.

Gripping and fast-paced, Finding My Escape races along as Hannah and Matt figure out the mystery of her parents murder with the killer on her heels. While I did predict what was happening, watching Hannah and Matt figure out all the pieces, including what they mean to each other, was an enjoyable escape.

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Review: Made Up

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Made Up
Made Up by Emma Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Besides, you know how it is – it’s your choice whether to believe everything you read or not.”

Katia sets off across the ocean to follow her dream – to be a makeup artist – when an assistant position falls in her lap. Excited, nervous, and determined to do a good job, Katia leaves her past troubles behind her. But her demons come back into play as she finds herself falling for the star of the show, Owen, and trying to help her sister out of a deep depression.

Suddenly, surviving her demon boss isn’t the only thing on Katia’s mind. She figures time and space will put things into perspective. But her perspective is skewed by her past relationship, her ongoing family issues, and what the media, and others, say about Owen.

Is she ready to take a chance on him being true, or is she still too scarred?

Complex and “real,” this delightful tale follows Katia as she comes to terms with her past, reconstructs her life, and journeys towards happiness. Her past is slowly brought into play, teasing the reader along to find out just what did happen to her to make her the way she is. As her relationship with Owen blooms, she learns to believe in herself and not in everything she reads.

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Review: Waiting On Hope

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Waiting On Hope
Waiting On Hope by T.M. Souders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lexie left her home in rural Ohio to come to Pittsburgh to find a better life. Afraid that her life was playing itself out before her eyes, she needed to get away and find herself. Now, ten years later, events unfold that send her running back to that small Ohio farm she once called home.

Forced to rekindle relationships she had once left behind, Lexie is met with a combination of joy, trepidation and anger. The broken shell that was Lexie must find a way to cope with her rape, her pregnancy and feelings for her former fiance, Elliot, whom she had left all those years ago yet never stopped loving.

The story is told using four different yet strong perspectives. The reader is brought along as Lexie struggles to regain control over her life while keeping her rape a secret from some characters for much of the story. As Elliot comes back into her life, she thrives a little more each day, though still struggles with her feelings. They both realize that they never stopped loving each other, and Lexie makes peace with her old self and her new self, creating a happy Lexie content on being with Elliot and raising their daughter, Hope.

A touching, heart-wrenching story about love lost, emotional torture and recovery, Waiting On Hope overcomes adversity and shows the true resilience of the human spirit.

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Review: A Little Push

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A Little Push
A Little Push by Jennifer Steen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nothing is going right for Jess today. The mother of three is simply trying to get her oldest to school when her van doesn’t start. Upon calling her husband to come take him to school, Jess learns that he’s been let go from his job 2 days short of getting benefits and severance pay. To top if off, because of this news Jess is now unable to make her trip back home to see her dying father.

Just when everything seems impossible, the silver lining shines out in one of the smallest characters in the book – Micah, her oldest son. He reminds her that her family is there to support her through all these bumps in the road and that they would be ok.

Short and sweet, A Little Push reminds the reader of what is important – family. These ‘tiny, little blessings’ that are with us every day, even when we don’t slow down enough to see them. Steen’s characters are easy to relate to and full of life and feeling, rolled into a tight story that, while short, is captivating.

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