Day 11 of the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

     Today I'm going to cover not only my update for the day but my findings for today's challenge: A Scavenger hunt! Fun, fun! Princessica of Books posted this challenge. Here are my findings for it...

Day 10 of the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

     I finished two books and reached one of my goals! Woot! YAY ME! I am now back on track for my 2015 reading challenge. Now to stay that way :-s

Day 9 of the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

Waiting For Nick by Nora Roberts
Book 5 in The Stanislaskis: Those Wild Ukrainians series
251pp
I give it 4 stars!

It was cute, plenty of laugh out loud humor and very little garbage drama usually found in romances.

View all my reviews

Total Books Finished: 11
Total Pages Read: 1949

Day 8 of the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

     Yeah, I know, I didn't update yesterday, but I had nothing to update as Sunday ended up being a very slow day for reading and I didn't finish any books at all. But I am back on track and finished a paranormal fantasy that every time I'd see it on my Kindle would think "Ooh, I wanna read that soon!"

Day 6 of the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

A Little Bit of Déjà Vu by Laurie Kellogg
Book 1 of Redemption series
Genre: Romance
246pp
I give it 4 stars!

Excellent, and only ONE eye roll!

Jack Templar Monster Hunter - Featured Author Review

Jack Templar Monster Hunter by Jeff Gunhus The Templar Chronicles #1 Genres: Fantasy, Children,    Action Adventure

     Jack comes from a long line of monster hunters. Unfortunately, he is unaware of this fact as he is an orphan and doesn't remember his parents at all. There is even more bad news for Jack, on the eve of his 14th birthday he learns that monsters will come crawling out of the woodwork with one goal in mind: targeting the powerful monster hunter. But they don't want to kill him, oh no, that would be too easy. They want to torture him until he begs to die and be put out of his misery.

Night Terror by Jeff Gunhus - Book Review

Night Terror by Jeff Gunhus Book 2 Night Chill Series Genres: Thriller, Horror, Paranormal

     It is ten years later and the local newspaper marks the anniversary with a memorial article of those lost in what the town views as a simple cave in. Not only are emotions and memories stirred up within the family of those lost and affected by what really happened in the underground caves, but we find that an evil paranormal entity has just been waiting for Sarah to grow stronger and is now stirring as well.

Killer Within by Jeff Gunhus - Featured Author Book Review

Killer Within by Jeff Gunhus Genres: Suspense, Thriller

     Arnie Milhouse is a wimp. Brow beaten by his wife and resigned to a dead end job, Arnie has accepted his mediocre role in life with little resistance. Until one day when Arnie has a life changing experience, which wasn't necessarily a change for the better.

Night Chill by Jeff Gunhus - Featured Author Book Review

Night Chill by Jeff Gunhus Book 1 in Night Chill series Genres: Horror, Paranormal,    Suspense, Fantasy

     I see a lot of book synopses that claim works by lesser known authors are King-like or that their writing style is similar to Koontz. I always take these with a grain of salt. But in this case, it is very true. The plot was so deeply layered and well thought out I was half expecting a scene where someone spots Pennywise while driving through Derry, or of someone eating a bologna and Bermuda onion sandwich (has anyone else noticed King's character's obsession with this sandwich?), or that Jack was committed to Juniper Hill Asylum because this book does have that amazing degree of creepiness that Stephen King has perfected. Then again, there IS a yellow lab, which reminds me of the golden retriever which Koontz often has traipsing through his plots.

Vic: Never Give up - Serial Sunday Review

Vic: Never Give Up by Jerry Gill Book 3 Vic Challenger Series Genres: Action Adventure, Romance,    Historical Romance, Fantasy

     Vic Challenger returns for another adventure in her quest to find Nu, the son of Nu. This time Vic and her friend Lin are headed to Scotland and London in search of an artist that Vic believes to be the reincarnation of Nu. Expecting a nice, quiet, fun vacation; the pair of adventurers stumble upon slave traders, strange beasts, and much more danger than they had anticipated. But never fear, for these super women are more than up to the challenge.

Killer Date by Kathy Clark - Book Review

Killer Date by Kathy Clark Book 2 in Scandals series Genres: Action, Thriller, Suspense,     Romance

     Your typical sleazy private detective. Reno Marks, former resident of Las Vegas, has had more than his share of women and one night stands and seems proud of that fact. When Jenny Caldwell walks into the office of Scandals Investigation Agency, Reno accepts her case, free of charge, simply so he can get to know her better. But there is more to Reno than meets the eye, even more than Reno thought possible. Jenny may be petite but she is a woman of strong character that draws Reno in. He finds that he respects her as much as he yearns to feel her curves against him, and this fact alone amazes him.

No Words Alone - Review

No Words Alone by Autumn Dawn First book in series Genres: Science Fiction, Romance,   Fantasy

     This novel is the perfect example of why I avoid reading the first book of a series. I loved it and I want to read more. Science fiction is predominently a man's genre, written by men for men, full of geeky high tech text that can make my eyes glaze over when I don't understand it. I have always enjoyed the concept of space travel though and marveled at the main stream egocentric idea that the earth is the only planet in the entire universe capable of sustaining any form of life.

     Xera is stranded on a planet that contains hungry hostile native creatures. She is in the company of her shipmates and the crew of an enemy alien race that also crash landed on the planet. As the only woman, she doesn't trust either group of men further than she can throw them.

     Author Autumn Dawn has taken two genres which are not my normal first choice to read and combined them to make this very original romantic story within a science fiction setting. The alien nation that resides within the Scorpio constellation is seen as savages by the human population but on closer inspection have some very gentle and caring customs within their society. Outsiders, however, are another story.

     Autumn Dawn also succeeds in avoiding a couple of pitfalls that many authors fall into that annoys the heck out of me: The "he loves me, he loves me not" scenario, and the cliffhanger. In spite of some editing issues, it is a great read that I highly recommend and that I moved into the folder on my kindle reserved for series books that I want to read more books of.

Playmates by Jess C Scott - Fun Read Friday Review

Playmates Book 1 - Wilde Twins series by Jess C. Scott Genre: Psychological Thriller

     Author Scott produces a promising beginning to her Wilde Twins series where fraternal twins are a grisly brother sister team of serial killers. In this first book she begins by introducing us to them as children. We see how Tania goes from a normal 9 year old girl to a teen with little or no empathy, especially for those that seem to have a better life than she does.

     *SPOILER ALERT* nope not going to give away the conclusion of the story. I couldn't if I wanted to since there was no conclusion, just a cliff for me to dangle off of. For those readers who enjoy cliff hangers, you're going to love this one. Personally, I feel jipped. When I invest my time to read a book and don't get some closure, some sense that the book has ended, even if there is a sequel there should be some sense of a conclusion to this book before the next one begins. Ok, off my soap box about my biggest pet peeve and moving on...

     The characters are incredibly well developed. Their actions and reactions are realistic and gives insight to the reader as to how and why the twins develop exactly as they do psychologically and allows us to sympathize with Tania even if we do not condone her actions.

     This installation of the series definitely piques one's interest to follow the Wilde twins lives to see where fate takes them next.

I give it 4 stars!

Wraithsong by EJ Squires - Book Review

Wraithsong by EJ Squires Desirable Creatures Series Book I Genre:Paranormal, Fantasy,    Young Adult, Romance

     17yo Sonia has always known that she was different but it isn't until her senior year of high school that she learns exactly how much. Her mother has the uncanny ability to control people and Sonia has inherited this ability, but with it takes a lot of responsibility and consequences when used unwisely.

Destiny: Illusions by Daniel Rafferty - Book review

Destiny: Illusions - The Crime Of Our Ancestors by Daniel Rafferty Book 1 in series Genres: Science Fiction, Action Adventure

     Is there intelligent life on other planets? If so, how would those of us on earth react to such knowledge? Would we panic and assume they were hostile and become hostile ourselves? Would the aliens just become yet another culture subject to racial hate by the close minded people who already have such attitudes? Could we learn to live in harmony and trust without fear of differences? These questions make some wonderful food for thought. Author Daniel Raffety provides us with a scenario where aliens have come forth in peace and a friendly alliance is made. Both races benefit from shared technology and a seemingly strong bond is formed between the two planets. But when Earth falls victim to an attack from space will our underlying tendencies to distrust outsiders lead to a full scale intergalactic war?

RIP (Rest in Peace) by Bob Kat - Serial Sunday Review

RIP (Rest in Peace by Bob Kat CUL8R #4 Genres: Mystery, Young Adult,    Romance, Paranormal, Science Fiction

     Four high school teens; Kelly, Scott, Austin, and Zoey; find adventure using an invention that they have named the Spirit Radio. Kelly's aunt's historical house had been the resting place of this technological marvel that had been created by Thomas Edison and lost for years. With some modern tweaking by Scott, the group's technogeek, the radio now picks up voices of spirits which the group travel through time and space to try to help the spirits' ability to rest in peace.

Seeker by Jerome Gilden - Fun Read Friday Book Review

Seeker by Jerome Gilden Timeline Series #2 Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

     Jerry Daniels is back for this sequel to the original book Tracers. He is a bit older, wiser and much more powerful. It required massive amounts of damage to have killed off the entire Royal family and Jerry is determined to find out how and why, hopefully before those behind it decide to unleash their power onto the mortals of the world.

Vic: Mongol - Serial Sunday Book Review

Vic: Mongol by Jerry Gill Second book in series Genres: Action Adventure,    Fantasy

     Vic Challenger is back for another exciting adventure. Set in the 1920's, a time when women were expected to only yearn for marriage and babies, Victoria Custer breaks the mold and sets her own standards. A courageous sharp shot who is just at home hunting a wolf and skinning it herself as she is playing with her guide's cute little twin girls.

Tracers by Jerome Gilden - Book Review

Tracers Timeline Series #1 by Jerome Gilden Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

     Imagine being a normal average teenager in high school, until one day you come home from school to find your home ransacked and your adoptive parents missing without a trace. This situation takes the phrase "without a trace" to new extremes as there aren't even any records left to show that his parents ever even existed. Since he was 17, he was allowed to live on his own without guardians. He made it through high school graduation without any further bizarre incidents. Until suddenly he finds himself in the future with no idea of how he got there. He learns that not only is he descended from a race of super-beings but he is of Royal blood and is a very powerful Tracer.

Section 51 - Serial Sunday Book Review

Section 51 by V.G. Harrison Book 1 in Project Solstice series Genres: Science Fiction, Paranormal

     This book is a great combination of science fiction and paranormal. Ava Frost is a triplet who shares an empathic connection with both of her brothers. When she suddenly feels no connection to her closest brother, has trouble reaching him on the phone, and receives a bad vibe from him when she does speak with him she decides to pay a surprise visit to investigate. What she finds puts conspiracy theories to shame. Not only has the government tried to cover up the death of her brother, but they are genetically engineering what they hope to be an unstoppable army.