Summer Reads Blog Tour

June 6, 20142 Comments

Summer is the perfect time to catch up on all the reading you’ve been meaning to do but just haven’t made time for. After all, what could be more relaxing than kicking back in a hammock with an ice-cold glass of lemonade and a shiny new book?

But there are so many books out there – how do you choose?

That’s where we come in! My friend and fellow author, Lisa L. Wiedmeier, has put together a 13-week blog tour to recommend a bunch of great books. In her own words:

I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself!! Sam, Carrie and I wanted to provide for you, my avid readers, a way to not only meet new authors, but also books you might not have seen or heard about. A way to expand your reading list for the summer.

Over the next 13 weeks…

Chasing Azrael

June 3, 20146 Comments

Hello! Me again. I’ve finished two books quite close together, so I’m back with another review for you. Today, let’s take a look at Chasing Azrael by Hazel Butler, archaeologist, artist, and fellow member of the Alliance of Worldbuilders. From Amazon:

When Andee Tilbrook’s husband died, her preoccupation with death turned to obsession. Thanks to her unique ability to commune with the dead, her husband remains all too close, yet never close enough. Mired in grief, she clings to James’s spirit, slowly losing touch with the world, her friends, and any desire to continue living.

But when her friend Josh becomes the target of Natalya, a jealous, capricious and violent Russian beauty, Andee somehow finds the strength to free herself from her misery long enough to help him. They soon discover that Natalya is wanted by the police for her involvement in a series of grisly murders, and Andee is dragged into the inquiry by the same man who investigated her own husband’s death.

Torn between new feelings for Josh, and fear that he might be involved in the murders that seem to threaten anyone who comes close, Andee must face the realities of her life, her past, and her very nature-and do it all in time to save her own life.

I could not put this book down. I stayed up past the witching hour…

Review time!

June 2, 201410 Comments

I’ve been reading again the last few weeks, something I really should do more of. I used to always have my nose in a book, but now trying to find time to escape into another world so completely when there are so many other demands on my time is just exhausting. I really do need to make more of an effort, though, because reading more (and widely) is one of the best, easiest, and most entertaining ways to improve my own writing.

With that in mind, behold the glory that is City of the Sun by Juliana Maio. This fantastic book is set in Cairo during WWII, which is one of my favorite periods to study, the Holocaust in particular. I love reading accounts of what it was like living under Nazi rule because it’s so different from what I know, and it terrifies me to think that people can be so horrible to each other.

But this book is a work of fiction; while real people appear in it, and similar events did take place, the author used them for her own purposes. From Goodreads:

Ambitious American journalist Mickey Connolly has come to Cairo to report on the true state of the war. Facing expulsion by the British for not playing by their rules, he accepts a deal from the U.S. embassy that allows him to remain in the country. His covert mission: to infiltrate the city’s thriving Jewish community and locate a refugee nuclear scientist who could be key to America’s new weapons program. But Mickey is not the only one looking for the elusive scientist. A Nazi spy is also desperate to find him–and the race is on. Into this mix an enigmatic young woman appears, a refugee herself. Her fate becomes intertwined with Mickey’s, giving rise to a story of passion, entangled commitments, and half-truths.

Once I started this story, I couldn’t put it down. Well, okay, I could, obviously, or it wouldn’t have taken me so long to finish it, but when I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about it. Mickey and Maya wouldn’t leave me alone; they demanded I finish reading to see what happened. The romance was captivating, and the tension just kept ratcheting up the further I read. I noted some parallels between what happened in the Middle East 70-odd years ago and what is happening there today, which made the story all the more intriguing.

If you like historical fiction, and you like a good love story, and you’re looking for a thrill, then check out City of the Sun. It’s got all of that and more!

Author Interview with Juliana Maio and Giveaway

The Summer Reads Blog Tour!

June 2, 2014September 10, 20147 Comments

For the next thirteen weeks, I’ll be participating in Lisa L. Wiedmeier’s Summer Reads Blog Tour. It’s going to be lots of fun! There will be book recommendations and prizes and author talk…It’s a tour made of win!

As the posts go up, I’ll be reblogging them and adding the links to this post, but be sure to head over to Lisa’s blog, too, because she’s got a Rafflecopter event of epic proportions going on. She’s got books! She’s got swag! She’s got a one-hour Skype session!

But you can’t win if you don’t read these posts. So, without further ado, the links to the posts lie below!

Week One – Lisa L. Wiedmeier
Week Two – Sam Dogra
Week Three – Carrie Fetzer
Week Four – Will Macmillan Jones
Week Five – Andrea Baker
Week Six – Tricia Drammeh
Week Seven – Sammy HK Smith
Week Eight – Kay Kauffman
Week Nine – Michel Prince
Week Ten – AFE Smith
Week Eleven – Sophie E. Tallis
Weeks Twelve and Thirteen – Lisa’s Reflections

Movie night!

May 28, 201411 Comments

MNO_OfficialPoster_High That’s right, last night I got to go to a movie. With my husband! A real, actual date! It was awesome!

Our local theater does a membership drive each year, where for $30 you can buy a pass to see movies for free on Monday nights. If you spend $60, you get to see them on Mondays or Tuesdays. We opted for the two-night pass, and it’s been wonderful. The movies at our local theater aren’t overly expensive anyway, but it’s still nice to support local business this way. Anyway, we went to see Moms’ Night Out, and it was easily the funniest movie I’ve seen in ages.

From IMDb:

All Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and fun – a long-needed moms’ night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation, and food not served in a bag, they need their husbands to watch the kids for a few hours … what could go wrong?

A wobbly review

April 2, 201415 Comments

I’m a bit late with this review. But, you see, I was waiting for my kids to finish reading the book so they could help with my review, and they’re slow. Or busy. Sometimes it’s hard to tell at our house, as 90% of the time, we’re all running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

Meanwhile, I read this in three days.

According to the author’s website, Snort and Wobbles started as a joke. I remember fondly its debut on authonomy and am quite pleased to see it finally in print. But what’s it about? Here, take a peek at the blurb:

Dragons are not real. Everyone tells you that. So what do you do when you are eight years old and meet a dragon living at the bottom of your garden? You have the adventure of your life!

When Wobbles and her family move into their new home…

Review time!

February 7, 2014February 7, 2014Leave a comment

Today I’m reviewing Bad Bishop by Irene Soldatos. But first, the blurb:

August A.D. 1120
Dijon. A headless corpse is found in a room with shuttered windows and the door locked from the inside. The man’s name was Salonius and he was the Duke. His young heir’s grasp on the throne is precarious, yet a new alliance is made to safeguard his position.

November A.D. 1120
Barcelona. Alexander, the Prince, learns that the emperor Enmerkar is looking to add Barcelona to his territories.

January A.D. 1121
London. Julian, the Governor, finds that Enmerkar has turned his hungry gaze toward England.

April A.D. 1121
York. Medb, the Queen, discovers that Enmerkar hungers for the whole Isle.

Many now recognize the threat posed by Enmerkar’s continued expansion, so a game of politics begins…

Review time!

December 23, 2013June 4, 20143 Comments

Well, I’ve finished reading another book, and this one was really good. Kindar’s Cure by Michelle Hauck takes place in the kingdom of Anost, and follows Kindar, second daughter of Empress Eugenie Stefanous, as she seeks out a cure for the disease that is slowly robbing her of life:

Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.

A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.

With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.

Spoiler alert! This was a fantastic story.

The long-awaited mystery review

December 5, 2013Leave a comment

itsaom Today I’m taking a look at In the Shadows by Susan Finlay. I met her through Facebook and when news of her impending release was announced, I pledged my time to a review. But first, the blurb:

There is a stranger amongst the residents of the cave-riddled village of Reynier, France. Suspicious, they believe there’s only one reason Maurelle Dupre would be lurking in their small village – she’s a gypsy, a thief. But a former Chicago detective turned mystery author, Dave Martin, who happens to be visiting his French grandmother, isn’t so sure about the beautiful stranger when happenstance causes them to meet. He wonders why she seems so frightened and distrustful. He knows he shouldn’t get involved. The last time he trusted a woman in distress, the consequences resulted in the loss of his detective’s shield and his wife. But, as always, the detective in him can’t seem to leave well enough alone.

However, what Dave couldn’t know is how persuading Maurelle to reveal herself will ultimately unveil something far worse than mere theft.

In the Shadows is a story of trust, belonging, and murder.

I’d like to start by saying that I don’t read a whole lot of mysteries. I probably have a few in my massive TBR pile, but I think the last book I read that could properly be called a mystery is Mary Higgins Clark‘s Where Are the Children?. It’s not that I don’t like a good mystery – I do. It’s just not a genre I’ve read widely. Also, this review may contain mild spoilers. Read further at your own risk.

Hungover

November 12, 201325 Comments

Cover of The Hunger Games

Yep, I am suffering a massive book hangover after my all-weekend reading spree. I still can’t believe that I stayed up all night reading Mockingjay, but it was just too hard to put down. After seeing the movie, I was actually a bit indifferent about reading the books. The movie left me with the impression they were leaving a lot out, but I was only mildly curious to find out what had been cut. I managed about twenty pages or so in the first sitting, but once I picked up The Hunger Games Friday afternoon and sat down to have a good (uninterrupted) read, I found I couldn’t stop.

Since I saw the movie before I read the books, my mental image of what things looked like in the first book was pretty much what I’d already seen. And every time Haymitch spoke up, I heard Woody Harrelson’s voice dripping sarcasm which, frankly, I thought was great. I’m not sure anyone else could have played him better. Same for Donald Sutherland as President Snow – he makes such a good villain!

Read no further if you’ve not already read the books. Spoilers abound. Sort of.