Archive for April, 2012

What Tickles Your Funny Bone?

Posted: April 24, 2012 in Paranormal or fantasy
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Title: Enchantment, Book 1

Author: Charlotte Abel

A YA Paranormal Romance

 

You know that saying about something tickling your funny bone? Most people’s funny bones are on their elbow. Mine is in my heart and that is where this story tickled me.

Channie grew up in a community of witches in the Ozarks. When children are born the parents bestow upon them a magic name and bind it to them. Channies older sisters name is Abundance, Abby for short. When she gets pregnant and has triplets you can see how her name fits. Prudence is her mothers name and as you get to know her you will see that it suits her just fine.  Her father has a problem with gambling. He can’t hang on to his money and maybe that is because his magic name is Money. When his gambling problems endanger the family they have to run for their lives, winding up in Louiseville, Colorado.

Now. Let me tell you about Channie. Enchantment is her magic name and now that she has turned 16, her body has blossomed. In Louiseville she must hide the fact that she is a witch since everyone there is an Empty, slang for MD or Medically Disabled. They don’t know that witches are real. The boys at her school can’t shield themselves from Channie and her magic draws them like bees to honey. This is new and exciting for Channie and a cause of great concern for her parents.

They decide that the only way to protect Channie is to change her magic name. She is very upset and begs them not to. Her father tells her, “We made the mistake of naming your sister Abundance, and look what happened to her.” Her argument that it doesn’t mean she will get pregnant like her sister did falls on deaf ears. They’ve made up their minds.

My first spontaneous outburst of laughter was at Channies response when she learned her new magic name. “What?No! You can’t name me Chastity – not when our last name is Belks.”

Her new name comes with a curse. Any boy who gets too close to her gets zapped. This becomes a problem when she meets Josh. As their friendship grows into attraction, Channie is forced to tell him her secret in order to protect him from the curse. After several electrifying episodes Josh comes to believe her. They put their heads together, trying to come up with a way around it. This is what lands them in a pickle.

Channie is the girl I wished I could have been when growing up. She is strong-willed and confident, with plenty of sass, and Josh has stolen my heart. That grin of his! He is loyal and self-aware and never wavers in his affection towards Channie.

The whole time I was reading, I was rereading parts of it out loud to my mother. She is down here visiting for the summer and I am using her as a sounding board for my reviews. We were both chuckling and, at times, laughing out loud as I read to her. The book had me so excited that I told my sister about it also and she is now demanding that I tell her the ending. We were all wet-eyed from laughing about the IFB’s and had plenty of snickers throughout the day when one of us would say, “Those IFB’s!”

This is a delightful journey, filled with humor, drama and plenty of action. The pacing is smooth and the sexual content is handled delicately, suitable for young adults. I am still aglow about this book and I want everyone to read it and feel like I do. You too will fall in love with Channie and Josh. My fingers are itching and I am off to start reading Taken, Book 2 of this story. I’ll be back later to tell you all about it!

I gave this 5 Heart Filled STARS. The highest rating I could give.

Some praise for Enchantment

“If you crave excitement and danger with your romance and can’t get enough of Stephenie Meyer, Suzanne Collins, or Cassandra Clare, make room for Enchantment.”

“Every girl wants their prince charming to be just like Josh. It made me cry and laugh and gasp … a make your heart warm and tingle kind of love story!”

About the author

Charlotte Abel was born and raised in Oklahoma. She spent many happy summers visiting relatives in Arkansas. She now lives in Colorado with her husband Pete, and loves hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and skiing in the Rocky Mountains, but will always have a special fondness for the Ozarks. Visit her at www.TheChannieSeries.com

I Want More, Please

Posted: April 21, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Title: So Wonderful as Want

Author: Joyce DeBacco

 

This book was hard to review without including spoilers, so here it is, and no, there are no spoilers.

The story begins in 1911, in Caloosa, Florida, and takes place over 20 years.

Sitting on the pier with her cousin Virginia, watching the storm clouds gather, Dinah dreams of getting out. She wants to marry a gentleman and move into town. Anything is better than living out here in the back of beyond. The skies open up and they make a dash for shelter, joined  by a young man who  follows them out of the rain. Virginia is smitten with Zach, the handsome blue-eyed river rat, while Dinah gives him the cold shoulder.

I fell in love with Joyce’s writing. It is so descriptive. Here is a little taste.

The brief afternoon storm drifted out to the Gulf, and the sun returned to glorify the earth. Hissing and steaming, the thirsty soil drank greedily of the life-giving moisture, while the air, a heady combination of sun-baked earth and wildflowers, packed a one-two punch to anyone who dared take its lushness for granted.

Back to the story. Zach is just passing through but events occur that keep him in Caloosa. As he is heading out of town he hears shouting on the river and discovers two men and a young boy in danger of drowning. he manages to get all three to dry land, but only one survives. The two victims are Dinah’s father and younger brother,the survivor is her uncle.

Having lost her mother at an early age, Dinah is now alone. With nothing to keep her there, she decides to head out with Zach, but her Aunt Clara has other plans and convinces her to stay.

Zach decides to settle in Caloosa and moves into Dinah’s spare room in exchange for helping with repairs and such. He tries his hand at several jobs but nothing fits and he decides to look up an old aquaintance for help in getting into college. He is accepted into college  and so begins his journey.

Meanwhile, back in Caloosa, a tinker comes calling on Dinah and he is selling more than his wares.

Months later Zach returns to discover Dinah is pregnant and her Aunt Clara believes he is the father. This is where the saga really takes off.

I felt many things for Dinah. She never holds back and gives as good as she gets. As Zach puts it, “That girl can flatten a man’s ego faster than a ton of bricks.” At times I wanted to hate her and other times I wanted to shake her and slap some sense into her.

Zach made me laugh. The back and forth between him and Dinah is hilarious. From Zach, “To tell the truth Dinah, my life would be rather dull without you to complicate it.” Growing up with three sisters, he knows how to get a rise out of  her.

Joyce writes with such feeling and her knowledge of the south and the era is evident in her words. My emotions ranged from laughter, to sorrow, to frustration and even anger. I followed Dinah’s journey over the course of 20 years. There was never a dull moment and I would be happy to read more. I would like to know what happens to Dinah over the next 20 years. I feel she is just getting started.

Having really enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a genuine taste of life and adventure. I gave it 4 STARS.

Here are a few excerpts that tugged at my heart.

The baby wrapped his chubby arms around her neck, wrinkled his button nose, and laughed, revealing six tiny teeth the size of seed pearls.

She wanted more of the world; all he wanted was her.

 

About Joyce Debacco

After reading women’s fiction for many years, Joyce knew she wanted to create stories of her own. As the mother of four grown daughters, she’s familiar with the problems women face finding love, raising children, and stepping back when necessary. All of her books place an emphasis on love and family dynamics. She is happiest when she’s secluded in her office creating new worlds and people to populate them. When she’s not taxing her brain with plot, structure, and grammar, she likes to sew, particularly quilts. When she really wants to rest her brain, she sprawls out in front of the TV and tries not to fall asleep. Please visit her website, http://www.joycedebacco.com for information about all of her books.

Take the Dark Passage

Posted: April 15, 2012 in fiction, Paranormal or fantasy, reviews
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Title: Dark Passage “Chosen” 

Author: M.L. Woolley 

Every now and then I read a book that catches me by surprise. Expecting a haunted house story, I instead discovered a tale about the human struggle to find our place in this world. This story is told from multiple points of view which made it fun and easy to understand.

The story centers around an old Victorian house in Olalla, on the Dark Passage of the Puget Sound.

Bill has come to Olalla looking for inspiration about a book. He is drawn to an estate sale at an old house and for reasons unknown to him he feels compelled to buy it. It has a sense of familiarity to him. Before he can complete renovations he has an accident which puts him in a coma.  While unconcious, he sees a woman in a tunnel beckoning him.

Desperate  to escape the frequent, violent attacks of her abusive husband, Jen accepts an offer from her friend Peter to rent an old house. The strange man from her dreams, the one she loves in this other reality, has given her the confidence to leave her abusive relationship and take her life back. She senses something special about the house, something otherwordly, but is unsure if it is evil or good. There is something or someone watching her.

Strange forces have drawn Bill and Jen together through their dreams. They will need each other as they slowly come to understand what the house is and where their place is in the coming events.

There are many characters that have important roles in this story of darkness and light.

Bill’s cousin Lisa has been corrupted by something evil and commits unspeakable acts in her hunger for fortune. You will loathe her.

David is ensnared by Lisa’s manipulations and blindly follows her wishes, ignoring an inner voice that warns him not to.

Jen’s best friend Ivy gets drawn into the mystery of the house and discovers she has a very important part to play in the times ahead. She really endeared herself to me. the guilt she has carried around for years over the death of her brother and sister has led her to pick all the wrong men.

Peter has been friends with Bill since childhood and is his guardian in more ways than one while he lies in a coma. He begins to receive messages from Bill, but that is impossible. Bill is still in a coma.

John’s life spins out of control after Jen leaves him and, in his madness, dark forces control him for their own purposes.

I could write so much more about this book but then I would be telling too much. Now that the stage has been set and I have come to know the characters, I am ready to dive into the Guardians, the second book. Due to be released soon, you can read a little bit about it at the end of Dark Passages.

I am now hooked and the author has reeled me in.

A resounding 5 Stars for Dark Passages.

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DIVERGENT, Need I say more?

Posted: April 7, 2012 in Dystopian, Uncategorized
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Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Source: Bought for my pleasure

My Review

 

When reading a book I do not cheat and read ahead or peek at the ending. I had a difficult time not skipping ahead with Divergent. I could not read it fast enough and had to make myself slow down and absorb the story.

Imagine yourself at sixteen having to choose the course of your destiny. Today is the Choosing Day and Beatrice(Tris) has to choose which of the five factions she will join. She must make the right choice because there is no going back.

This story brought up many questions as I read it. Could we survive in a world where a person’s natural instincts separate them into individual factions? Would our lives be better if we lived only with other like-minded people, or would human nature take over and one faction come to believe that theirs is the only right one? Would being separated save us or destroy us?

This story flowed so smoothly that I was unaware of even being pulled into it. The characters and scenarios were so real that when I reached the end I felt like I had woken up. I wanted to go back to sleep and pick up where I left off.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of Insurgent in May, the next book in this series. I recommend this book to dystopian fans and anyone looking for action and adventure.

 

My rating: 5 STARS

Not Your Typical Small Town

Posted: April 1, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Title: A small Case of Murder (A Joshua Thornton Mystery)

Author: Lauren Carr

Source: Net Galley

 

Recently widowed Joshua Thornton, a retired Navy Jag Commander, has packed up his 5 children and the family dog, returning home after almost 20 years to open his own legal practice.

Chester, West Virginia is like most small towns, where everybody knows each others business. That all changes when Joshua’s children discover an old, unopened letter dated on the day of his parents death 30 years ago. Joshua’s curiosity about the contents of the letter opens up a can worms and the bodies start to pile up.

Chester may be a small town, but this becomes a huge investigation with mysterious car accidents, drug overdoses, a missing body and flying bullets. This book has it all.

With plenty of build up and a well developed cast of characters, Lauren Carr has written a great who-dun-it. She gives you a huge wrap-up and just when you think it is over, she delivers an ending reminiscent of Perry Mason.

I wanted to stand up and cheer, and I will be rushing to get her next book in the series.

 

I gave this book 4 stars.

 

For more about the author and her books:

http://mysterylady.net/

http://fromthewritersstudio.blogspot.com