Thursday, April 4, 2013

Ice Country Release!




Ice Country (The Country Saga #2)
by David Estes.

Book Synopsis

Dazz, a hard-edged, fun-loving Icer, likes fighting, particularly while at his favorite watering hole. However, while recovering from a particularly bad break up, his decision to engage in a brutal pubroom brawl leads to a series of events that thrust him into a dark and mysterious scandal involving King Goff, the ice country ruler.
When his seven-year-old sister is abducted in the dark of night, Dazz pledges to do whatever it takes to get her back, embarking on a quest that threatens to rip apart the very fabric that's barely holding his shattered family together.
Along the way he meets a group of unlikely allies in the form of a travelling group of fire country natives. Can Dazz, when joined with his best friend, Buff, and new tan-skinned friends, defeat the King and his guards before it's too late for his sister?
​

My Review:

     In this installation of David Estes' Country Series we meet Dazz and Buff, two residents of Ice Country that do their best to raise themselves, managing to be as responsible as you can expect 17 year olds to be when left to their own devices. The boys find themselves set upon a journey where they learn responsibility, leadership, teamwork, and just how badly their society is corrupted.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Life Blood - Featured Author Review

book cover art for Life Blood by Thomas Hoover Life Blood
by Thomas Hoover
Genres: Mystery, Thriller

     Morgan James is producing a movie on adoption. The red tape, the pit falls, the suspense, disappointment, and sometimes the reward of finally having a child to call your own. This is a topic that is close to her heart that she has experience in, as she has personally run the gamut of fertility tests and pharmaceuticals in her own quest for a baby. She stumbles across a woman who adopted a beautiful baby within 3 months, she'd had to pay a hefty price but the red tape and paperwork had been minimal. During her research into this new source of adoption, Morgan finds much more than she was looking for.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Thomas Hoover - Featured Author April 2013

picture of author Thomas Hoover

Thomas Hoover

Main genres:
  Mystery & Thriller, Nonfiction

     I don't really have much of a system for choosing a featured author. I have a list of authors which I have four or more books on my "to read" list. Many of these authors are scheduled on their birth month when possible. When I found that I had no author scheduled for this month I went searching on Amazon and found Thomas Hoover. The synopsis of his books sound interesting and what I have read of his work so far is very entertaining. Most of his ebooks are free on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and his website.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Monthly Picks for April 2013

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter yesterday and don't fall victim to too many practical jokes today. I'm going to make this short and sweet as I'm already late getting this post up. The free ebooks from Amazon that I intend to read this month:

book cover art for Bubba and the Dead Woman by  C.L. Bevill
Mystery
The Seventh Seal by J. Thorn
Science Fiction
book cover art of Bonded by Nicky Charles
Paranormal Romance
book cover art for The Right Wrong Number by Barbara Delinsky
Romance

Sunday, March 31, 2013

As Mad as a March Hare

     I often wonder about phrase origins. I figured that I would look at the saying "as mad as a March hare" today in honor of both the Easter bunny's visit today and the fact that Easter has fallen in March this year, something that doesn't happen very often.

     Rabbits and hares are infamous for multiplying, and I'm not referring to their math skills. As March is the beginning of the mating season that lasts several months for these critters, they tend to be highly excitable and sometimes downright violent. This phrase has been in use since at least the 16th century and was used frequently enough in speech that it was included in John Heywood's collection of proverbs in 1546.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

War of the Worlds - Featured Author Book Review

book cover art for War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells War of the Worlds
by H.G. Wells
Genres: Classic, Historical Fiction, Horror,
   Science Fiction

     War of the Worlds was originally written in 1898 during a time when aliens was not a common every day theme in entertainment. This classic novel tells of the panic and destruction when aliens from Mars invade earth, wanting to take it over for their own use. The horror component is fairly soft core compared to today's standards, but in its day, it was one of the first books published depicting a conflict between earth and invading extraterrestrials. Told as a first person narrative by an unnamed survivor, he also tells us of his brother's experiences during the invasion.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Promise - Pick of the Month Book Review

Book cover art for Promise by Kristie Cook Promise
Soul Savers #1
by Kristie Cook
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal,
   Romance, Young Adult

     This book started out really good. The main female character was strong, independent, willfull and had the ability to just keep plodding on, no matter what life threw at her. As a college freshman she was writing her first novel - an adaptation of a strange otherworldly dream or possibly real situation that she encountered.

     The book was hard to put down as I craved to know what would happen next and just what type of paranormal creatures Alexis and her mom were - because they obviously are not completely human. Then, IT happens. Alexis falls in love and immediately becomes clingy, needy, whiny, and annoying. The numerous declarations of love are sickeningly sweet and made me roll my eyes. Then let's throw in a "he loves me, he loves me not" scenario just "for fun".