everyone deserves a happily-ever-after
07 May 2013 1 Comment
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, e-books, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
09 Apr 2013 5 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, Charlaine Harris, Christina Hamlett, Dead Reckoning, e-books, Phantom, Phantom of the Opera, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading, Sookie Stackhouse, Susan Kay, The Enchanter
Let’s talk books!
Dead Reckoning
Why I picked it up: That Man brought this home for me. I have the rest of the series, have read and loved the majority of the series, but hadn’t been in a rush to pick this one up.
What I liked: The quirkiness of Sookie is always fun. There’s the expected danger and love and paranormal drama. Once I sat down with it, I flew through the pages.
What I disliked: It’s feeling tired. Perhaps Ms. Harris should have ended the series a few books ago. The thing that got me were the inconsistencies, continuity issues. However, someone just coming to the series, or reading this as a stand alone, wouldn’t pick up on them.
The Enchanter
Why I picked it up: Someone, quite awhile ago now, raved about this book. It’s out of print now, so I’ve been searching for it off and on since hearing about it. I managed to land a retired library copy a few months ago.
What I like: We’ve got Merlin in “present” day (book was published in 1990) as the illusionist Kyle Falconer. We have Catherine, a reporter, who’s strangely drawn to Falconer. And wrapped around their story is the Arthurian myth. I’m enjoying Catherine. I’m not far enough into the story to see if we have Falconer’s POV.
What I dislike: There’s a bit of an omnipresence to the narration and it occasionally pulls me from the story.
Phantom
Why I picked this up: Um…I’m involved in a love affair with the Phantom of the Opera. And I have no intentions of giving it up!
What I expect to like: “None of us can choose where we will love.” ~ Erik. The Phantom’s POV! It appears the entire story is told in first person. The book is broken down into parts and we open with Erik’s mother’s POV.
What I expect to dislike: I’m not sure. I’ve never read anything by Ms. Kay before so don’t know what to expect.
05 Mar 2013 4 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, e-books, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
05 Feb 2013 8 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: April White, books, Coyote Con, Daughters of the Glen, e-books, Healing the Highlander, Immortal Descendants, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Dart, Marking Time, Melanie Macek, Melissa Mayhue, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading, When Love Waits
Let’s talk books!
Why I picked it up: I’m not sure where I first saw mention of this book but a week or so ago I saw it listed for free on Amazon. Bonus, it’s a time-travel story.
What I liked: Everything. LOL, seriously, I don’t give books 5 stars often or easily but this one definitely deserves it. The main character, Saira, is fully developed and engaging. The world and the historical elements are well done, even gripping. We follow Saira as she searches for her mother and learn about Saira’s past as she learns it. Billed as young adult, MC is 17, this tale is packed with paranormal, urban fantasy, time-travel, and suspense.
What I disliked: The next book isn’t out yet, LOL.
Run, don’t walk, and pick this one up. At 2.99 for the Kindle version, this 400+ page story is a page turner you won’t regret picking up.
Why I picked it up: I love Melissa Mayhue’s Daughters of the Glen series. I’d fallen behind in picking up the books, this is a hard copy series for me, because I’ve been caught up in e-books lately.
What I like: I really enjoy Mayhue’s voice. I like the world and characters and the Fae elements. And Scotland doesn’t hurt. 
A lot of the books in this series involve time-travel (a favorite of mine) and this one has that feel, though I’m not far enough into it to be sure it actually is a time-travel tale.
What I dislike: Nada. Mayhue is a must buy author for me.
Why I picked this up: This author was brought to my attention during Coyote Con, perhaps even this particular series, and I was able to get the first three books at a second-hand store. Score. (Book 2: Kushiel’s Chosen
What I expect to like: These are deliciously thick books, 600-900 page paperbacks, so I expect an epic tale. I also expect I’ll be reading these awhile, LOL.
What I expect to dislike: This is a completely new author for me so I have no idea at this point, unless the length of these books ends up working against the story.
You may have noticed I had this down last time. I found it hard to start, so have read other books, but can’t say whether that’s due to the story or not.
which actually released January 19th but I just picked up.UPDATE: Check out this fun character post with the hero from When Love Waits!
01 Jan 2013 12 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, e-books, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
04 Dec 2012 2 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: Beneath the Secrets, books, Children of Time, Coyote Con, Crossroads in Time, Dangerous Secrets, Daughter of Time, e-books, Facebook, Footsteps in Time, Hot Secrets, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Avatar, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Dart, Lisa Renee Jones, Llywelyn, Prince of Time, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading, Sarah Woodbury, Winds of Time
Let’s talk books!
Why I picked it up: I saw this offered for free, probably on Facebook, and it sounded interesting enough to pick up. (Book 2: Dangerous Secrets
What I liked: I enjoyed the characters and world. Jones did a good job keeping me guessing who the bad guy was though I wasn’t completely surprised at the reveal. I was able to suspend belief and go with the love story. If the free price tag was an incentive to buy the other two books, the story succeeded.
What I disliked: Format errors. Sigh. But that’s the price of e-books. There were also a few editing errors that made me grit my teeth but weren’t big enough to pull me from the story.
Why I picked it up: Free is always a good word. However, what happened is that BFF and I were talking about time-travel romance stories which made me realize it had been awhile since I read a new one. Thus started a search for a new, to me, author. I happened upon this one.
What I like: Llywelyn. Seriously, I’ve always been fascinated by this medieval Welsh ruler. I enjoyed the time-travel ride and the dynamic between a modern-day woman and Llywelyn. I haven’t noticed any glaring historical oops either which tells me Woodbury did her research and wove it into her tale well. I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of this series.
What I dislike: This is a bit of a spoiler…the heroine is just out of an abusive marriage when she gets sucked back in time. To medieval Wales no less. Abuse was common place from all accounts I’ve read, yet the heroine rarely seems worried she’ll fall into the same predicament. And, as someone pointed out to me in my own writing, the Welsh the heroine understands from her Welsh born mother would not be the Welsh Llywelyn spoke. Not even the French they converse in. But I’ll go with it for the sake of the story
This is actually the prequel to the After Cilmeri series, here are links to the rest:
Why I picked this up: This author was brought to my attention during Coyote Con, perhaps even this particular series, and I was able to get the first three books at a second-hand store. Score. (Book 2: Kushiel’s Chosen
What I expect to like: These are deliciously thick books, 600-900 page paperbacks, so I expect an epic tale. I also expect I’ll be reading these awhile, LOL.
What I expect to dislike: This is a completely new author for me so I have no idea at this point, unless the length of these books ends up working against the story.
06 Nov 2012 8 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, e-books, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
02 Oct 2012 4 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: Angela Brown, Angela Wallace, books, Diana Murdock, Dry Spell, e-books, Earth Tones, Elemental Magic, Eve Berlin, Neverlove, Pleasure's Edge, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading, Souled
Let’s talk books!
Why I picked it up: Someone recommended her to me and I was able to pick up this one on sale.
What I liked: This was smokin’ hot. The hero and heroine were extremely comfortable with their sexuality. Yet what started out as research for the heroine turned into an exploration toward self-discovery. Both the heroine and the hero have to make a leap of faith and Berlin does it well. Both characters felt fully developed and real. Berlin’s voice is wonderful and I’ll definitely be picking up more of her work.
What I disliked: I found it a little unbelievable that both main characters were authors, who’d quite their day jobs, and neither was a ‘starving artist.’
Earth Tones (Elemental Magic #3)
Why I picked it up: Um…elements I fell in love with this series after reading Elemental Magic
What I like: We finally get to see Nita and Keenan’s story after being teased with hints throughout books one and two. All three books stand alone with just enough backstory to keep the reader grounded. I really enjoyed Nita. She was dedicated without being over the top and her leap of faith felt true to the character and the situation.
What I dislike: Nothing glares at me. I think this story wraps up the trilogy nicely.
Why I picked this up: A number of blogging friends recommended it.
What I expect to like: The premise of a 17 year-old “inviting” another soul to share his body intrigues me. And from the sample, I expect to enjoy Murdock’s voice.
What I expect to dislike: With all the rave reviews I’ve seen for this one, I expect there won’t be any.
13 Sep 2012 10 Comments
in Books, Tuesday Book Talk Tags: Angela Wallace, authors, books, Dry Spell, e-books, Earth Tones, Elemental Magic, Fantasia Frog Designs, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
If you’ve hung around here much you know I have a soft spot for the elements. This series by Angela hits all my buttons…in a great way And I’m thrilled to help Angela reveal her latest cover in the Elemental Magic series!
To catch up with the series:
Book One: Elemental Magic
Book Two: Dry Spell
Cover design by Tara at
Fantasia Frog Designs
Earth Tones
Elemental Magic Book ThreeNita Young doesn’t know if she has a future with college sweetheart Keenan Donovan—two star-crossed lovers of opposing elements—but she invites him up to Alaska to see if Earth and Water can rekindle their old flame.
When a series of wild animal attacks strike the inhabitants of Yakutat, Nita has to put her romantic plans on hold. Mangled bodies are turning up, and a mysterious black panther has been spotted in the woods. Fur, scales, and a venomous bite suggest the cat is supernatural in origin—and evidence indicates that someone not only summoned it, but is using it to target those Nita cares about. It’s the perfect murder weapon: no fingerprints, no evidence. And in a town this small, the killer is someone she knows.
Nita’s strength will be put to the test as she faces losing her friends, her town, and the man she loves.
Earth Tones is releasing October 20th. To add it to your Goodreads lists click here
~ * ~
Bio:
Angela Wallace has been penning adventures ever since she was sucked through a magical portal as a child. What she saw and whom she met gave birth to exciting and complex fantasy worlds where defying the laws of physics was a bonus. She has since come back down to earth, only to discover this mortal realm has magic of its own. Now she is quite at home in the world of urban fantasy, though believes that love, faith, and hope are of a stronger magic than fire wielding and sorcery. She loves gun-toting good boys, and could have been a cop in another life except real blood makes her queasy. She’ll have to stick to solving supernatural mysteries. Language is her pleasure, whether it’s weaving words on a page or lassoing linguistics into translations as a sign language interpreter. Angela is currently working on her next book.
Follow Angela on her Blog, on Facebook or Twitter, or sign up for her Newsletter.
11 Sep 2012 10 Comments
in Tuesday Book Talk Tags: authors, books, e-books, Raelyn Barclay, readers, reading
