Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Consumed by love

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Consumed by love
Consumed by love by Pavarti K. Tyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

However, evil is like water; it seeps into all the cracks until it’s overflowing from within.

Hugo and Bree lead a simple yet happy life, until Hugo’s father died. Since then, Hugo can’t stay focused and began wasting away, not hungry for anything his wife cooked anymore. Bree is desperate to save her love, willing to do whatever it takes to restore him to himself. But love isn’t enough to satisfy what he’s become.

This story is mixed with Indian lore, citing the “old ways” as how his father and family lived, those ways that he broke away. The lore brings an air of realism to the tale, lending strength to the characters who are already alive on their own. In this character-driven piece, the simple language and narrative interludes flesh out the short tale into something gripping.

Love is complicated. Some people will do anything to maintain it. Consumed by Love takes that sacrifice to a new level, mixing the “erotic connection between food and lust” in this well-crafted piece.

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Something Wicked Comes!

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Welcome to my book giveaway for Something Wicked Comes! Thanks to Rainy for putting this together.

It’s the perfect season to highlight books that go bump in the night or transform into something dark. And with that in mind, I’ve chosen to give away a book from one of my favorite authors: Patricia Briggs! Continue reading Something Wicked Comes! →

FMB Blog Tour: For His Eyes Only

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Welcome to my stop on the FMB Blog Tour for For His Eyes Only. Be sure to check out my review and read below for an excerpt of this thriller.

 

Title: For His Eyes Only

Author: T. C. Archer

Genre: Action, Adventure, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense, Thriller

Publisher: Set

Ebook

Words: 79,000

Purchase: Amazon |

Book Description

Jesse Evans is the most wanted woman in the world. She must prove she didn’t sell out the elite Special Ops team she sent into a Columbian village to rescue a little girl, or her sister dies. Only one man can save them both. But he isn’t who Jesse thinks he is. Continue reading FMB Blog Tour: For His Eyes Only →

Review: For His Eyes Only

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For His Eyes Only
For His Eyes Only by T.C. Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She had the impression he had reverted to some Cro-Magnon man, who believed he would take care of her. There was a first time for everything.

Jesse Evans is wanted for selling out her elite Special Ops teammates. Only problem is, she didn’t do it. Now, to get her life back together and keep her only family safe, she has to find out who did sell them out–and make someone believe her.

Throughout the book, the reader–and Jesse–makes guesses about Cole, the man sent to kill her but who ends up helping her… or so she thinks. The action has just enough pauses between it to let readers catch their breath before picking right back up, and man, can Jesse pack a punch. The tender moments are well-done and well-placed, allowing the reader insight into both Jesse and Cole’s character. The attraction between the two, while almost cliche, was done in such a gentlemanly fashion (if such can be said about a man trying to kill you) that it worked well.

Full of twists and identity questions, this fast-paced thriller packs a mean punch and keeps readers guessing.

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Review: Demon Gates

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Demon Gates
Demon Gates by Robert Day
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I bid thee farewell, and advise thee that the paths of the future are never what they seem.

Valdieron, son of a local horse breeder, has his world swept out from under him when trolls attack his village. Setting out on his own, he meets up with some companions and travels and sets off to fulfill his destiny.

The characterization and attention to details was very well done. Even the horse’s personality was depicted in a way that the reader could “see.” The backstory of the demons and Masters showed the level of details of the world that the author created.

While the characters were interesting and the overall plot engaging, somewhere about halfway through the story Val (and even the head demon) seemed to get sidetracked. And while this is probably due to this being the first of a series, it took away some of the urgency that the beginning had built up.

A good beginning to a dark fantasy series, Demon Gate holds the promise of an epic adventure just waiting to happen.

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Review: Xor: The Shape of Darkness

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Xor: The Shape of Darkness
Xor: The Shape of Darkness by Moshe Sipper
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m a boy named Lewis Nash and today is my twelfth birthday.

Upon waking up on his twelfth birthday, Lewis discovers that he can Shape. Before he can really figure out what to do with this new ability, he is whisked away to Xor with a very important mission – saving the planet from the Realm Pirates. With the help of a few new friends, Lewis sets out to do just that.

The reader is thrown into Lewis’s world, abruptly leaving his “home” to a new planet more advanced than Earth, with Artificial Persons, interactive computers, holographs, werewolves, and magic. It seems like a conglomeration of everything tossed into one book, and since Xor isn’t very well-developed, it is hard to see how these all fit together.

The pacing is varied, with some fast sections at the beginning but most of the book being too slow. Lewis asks a lot of questions – which I would assume of a young person – but the questions he asks are either not necessary, not relevant, or not answered. The plot also gets sidetracked at several points, going of on tangents of minimal importance.

The writing itself is simple – perhaps too much so, though it could be good for a younger reader. While Lewis is twelve and should act appropriately, some of the ideas he struggles with seems to imply he is much younger. The repetitive narrative can wear on the reader, causing a lack of interest in what could be a very interesting story.

Hidden within Xor is a growing up story about a young boy forced to face fantastical things and to overcome the sadness inside of himself.

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Review: Tales From The Dew Drop Inne

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Tales From The Dew Drop Inne
Tales From The Dew Drop Inne by Kenneth Weene
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“I guess you could say I’m from The Dew Drop Inne. There’s one in every town.”

Set in a local bar and narrated by Calvin, this collection of stories depicts the lives of those who hang on to the bottom rung of life’s social ladder. From strippers to musicians to veterans, the desperate often-drunk people that inhabit the bar and call it “home” are clinging to what little family they have – all the regulars at the bar.

Within these pages are colorful tales of people that could be anywhere. The life they lead is illuminated, showing companionship, competitiveness, and compassion mixed in with the drunken mishaps. Through the collection, the reader watches the characters take shape, though sometimes can still not relate to said characters due to their lot in life.

Tales From The Dew Drop Inne takes a bunch of characters that everyone knows (but doesn’t) and portrays them in a setting many are familiar with to some extent. The slice-of-life collection deals with characters and issues that are considered “beneath” many but shows the goodness that is still present in these run-down people.

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Review: Ashes

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Ashes
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Then she shut the door and locked it and left him there.

After being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, Alex leaves on a hiking trip to deal with her personal demons and say good-bye to her parents. That’s when it happens: the pulse. Electronic devices no longer work and folks are either dead or have a strange craving for flesh. Set on survival, Alex does what she must to avoid the Changed and save her improvised family.

This book is broken into two parts, and they couldn’t be more different. The first part is a fast-paced, well-written account of how Alex, Ellie, and Tom meet, encounter the Changed, and plan to survive. The characters are well done, engaging the reader to cheer for their survival. It is an easy – if mature in some parts – read.

The second half of the book is a total departure from the first half. Not only is Alex alone again, but there are no more Changed until the very last chapter – no more action. The reader is left wondering what happened to the other characters (which I presume will be dealt with in the sequel) and tossed into a town, meeting new characters and departing from the Alex from the first part – even she questions where the old her has gone. This part is frustrating, though no less intriguing if only to find out where it is going.

Ashes takes teen dystopia to a gruesome level, though leaving the reader questioning the swift change in the middle of the book. Regardless, it is a fast read, with a lot of action in the first part and hopefully a lot of answers in the sequel.

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Review: The Rising Moon

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The Rising Moon
The Rising Moon by Nilsa Rodriguez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s amazing how quickly your life can change.

Lia is a quiet girl. She keeps to herself, pushing people away because she’s cursed to lose everyone she loves. Until she meets Ryan and he refuses to be pushed away. Together, they try to figure out the mystery surrounding Lia and her curse and uncover a lot more hiding in the shadows than Lia ever expected.

As Lia finds out more about herself and her background, she almost blindly accepts the new pieces of her world, though she is given a lot of hard evidence. Ryan was a very interesting character that played a big part in the novel at the beginning but almost faded out towards the end when other characters were introduced. The lack of emotional depth hindered the story, though that could be fixed along with the grammatical errors.

While the idea and concept behind the story was very interesting, the telling of it needed a little polish. There were points that seemed to contradict themselves or were just confusing. There was not a good enough line drawn between Lia’s nature and that of those around her — the reader is told she’s a shifter and an immortal werewolf, but the two don’t sound like they could be the same. The love angle seemed forced, though the idea that a werewolf would love a vampire is interesting.

The Rising Moon is a dark, twisted take on tales of shifters, werewolves, and vampires. While the ethnic side could have been more enriching, the story’s potential drove it forward until the final battle.

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Review: Into The Desert Wilds

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Into The Desert Wilds
Into The Desert Wilds by Jim Galford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Freedom has its own confines, but you need to find them within yourself.

Estin and his family have survived the war in Altis, having been transported by the mists more than a thousand miles to the desert surrounding Corraith. Just when they thought they could start their lives over, disaster once again strikes the wildling family.

Continuing where In Wilder Lands ended, readers are treated not only to the returned narration of Estin, but also the fresh voice of Oria. Trying to find her place in this world where there is no pack and thus no need for a leader of one, Oria struggles to give meaning in her life.

The desert is a stark contrast to the wildling’s lush homeland, and as they struggle to adapt, they meet a variety of people and wildlings that alter the path they would have traveled. Most notably is Phaesys, a fennec fox wildling that captures and captivates Oria. The relationship between the two young wildlings grows throughout the book and is just as complicated as Estin and Feanne’s relationship.

The fierce protective nature and the need to fight to prove yourself that readers saw in Feanne is passed on to Oria, helping to shape the adult she will become. Estin’s knack for finding trouble is also present, and Oria seems to have inherited that as well. As the wildlings prepare once again to fight the Turessian intent on seeing Estin and his family destroyed, it will take all of these skill and more to put a stop to him and save their new home.

Just as in the first novel, here is no lack of humor, love, or confrontation in this sequel. Or tears, at least at the end. Blended into the struggle to survive and adapt is a complex story with many themes: growing up, learning to love, thinking for yourself instead of blindly doing what you’re told is right, and fighting for your beliefs, freedom, and most importantly, your family.

Galford’s has done it again, creating a beautiful, magical land different from Altis yet still filled with so many vivid details and complex personalities that the reader can’t help but follow in the character’s dusty footprints. Anyone looking for an epic fantasy should not pass this book by.

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