Monday, October 27, 2014

Awaking - Madeline Freeman

This book is a hard one
to review.
I really enjoyed it.
But there were times I got frustrated.
It's almost like there was something missing.
Something lacking.
I loved the characters
and the storyline,
I even felt the pace was great.
But something...
something was missing. 

Morgan Abbey is about to begin
her senior year. 
She has always had the ability
to read palms. 
She's even started a little side business.
A few weeks into the end of summer,
she meets a stranger who tells her
she's The One.
He also claims to know her mother
who disappeared 10 years ago.

Morgan is suddenly thrown into a world
she never knew existed.
She learns she is a part of a secret society,
called The Veneret
who have special powers.
They now live in hiding and she's viewed as the One
to save them.

I liked Morgan. 
She's an outcast,
her father was arrested for killing her mother.
Her mother disappeared,
no body was ever found.
She discovers her hobby as a psychic 
isn't just fun and games,
that she has a talent.
She also discovers she's developing new powers.

There's a love triangle,
of sorts.
First we meet Corbin.
Morgan's best friend has a serious crush on him.
Morgan attempts a reading on him
and suddenly opens him up to powers.
Then there's the barista, Lucas.
Again,
after a reading, 
he learns he has powers too.
And let's not forget Kellen.
The mysterious stranger who introduces Morgan
and her friends to the Veneret.
But is he a decent guy?
Or the villain? 
























Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Shadows - Megan Chance

I love going on vacation
with a Kindle full of books.
We were away this past week
and had no internet network.
I grabbed my iPad to find something to read.
But without internet,
I couldn't check what some of the books
were about.
That meant taking a risk.
And this turned out to be a great one!

The Fianna are a legendary group 
of ancient Irish warriors.
They have been asleep for over 2,000 years
but have now been summoned to help
the Irish fight the British.
Yet, they do not know who summoned them
and start to look for the veleda.

Patrick Devlin,
is a New Yorker of Irish descendant.
Having spent the last 3 years in Ireland
trying to help the cause,
he comes back determined to call the Fianna
for help.
He's passionate about Ireland
and Grace.

Grace Knox is about to turn 17.
Her family,
once wealthy,
have lost everything.
If she married a rich man,
her family can be saved. 
Grace's grandmother has told her the folktales
of the Fianna and Fomorians.
But she believes it's just stories.

Suddenly,
Grace finds herself in the middle of a battle.
The ancient tribes of Fianna and Fomorians
need her as the veleda.
She is also torn between Patrick
and Diarmid,
a Fianna,
whom she finds herself drawn too.

I've always loved mythology.
But have never looked at Irish myths.
I think it's high time I do!






Breeders - Ashley Quigley

In Breeders
we meet Ariet.
She lives in a new world.
One isolated from disease and war.
Her daily life,
follows a simple routine.
Each morning,
everyone has a brief medical examination.
One day,
what seems like a routine medical exam
everything is thrown upside down.

Ariet is drugged
and taken away from her family.
She is told she is the carrier of a unique gene
and therefor she is to become a breeder.
Her family will be told she died of an illness.
Ariet learns,
that not only is she a breeder
but her mate has been chosen for her.
She is given a few weeks to get to know her mate,
and then she is expected to start the breeding.
However, 
if the child does not carry the desired gene,
her pregnancy
and possibly her herself 
will be terminated. 

The concept of the book was fabulous
however,
it felt rushed.
Her relationship with Mason
doesn't really develop.
Do they have feelings for one another
or not?
We learn his parents were terminated
but never learn why.
At the end,
Mason's friend Thor
meets his grandfather.
And then we're at the epilogue.
Really?
Just cut us off like that?

So I don't know.
Did I love the book?
No.
But I did enjoy it.
That counts,
right?








Sixth Grave on the Edge - Darynda Jones

Oh Charley!
How I love you!
Sixth Grave on the Edge
has our favourite Grimm Reaper 
on a new adventure. 
She has a dead naked man
riding in her car. 
(He's a departed.)
She's learning,
or trying to learn,
more about Mr Wong,
the departed hanging out in the corner of her living room.
Her newest client wants her to help get his soul back.
Yes his soul.
He sold it to a demon,
but now wants it back.
Which means she now has to deal
with this demon
tricking people out of their souls.
Oh, 
and then there's the scared girl
who was abused.
Charley wants to find out what happened.

Yes Charley has her plate full.
On top of all this,
she has Reyes' proposal to answer,
she's looking into the 'kidnapping' of him 
as a child.
Oh, she's also conspired with Cookie
to make her uncle jealous.

And in the end,
well,
in the end,
Charley leaves us with an 
OMG!!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Immortal - J.R. Ward

And another series comes to an end.

Immortal is the final installment in 
The Fallen Angels series.
And what an ending it was.
I'll admit,
I cried a little at the end.

So far, 
Jim, our fallen angel
is loosing to
Devina, our evil devil,
2:3.
He would have been up one,
but he exchanged a win in a previous book.
So now, 
there are 2 souls left.
If Devina wins the next round,
Hell wins.
But who is this soul?
Will Jim be focused?
He lost the last round,
as he could not focus on the "game".
His mind was focused on Sissy.
Even Nigel was disappointed in him.

Immortal begins with Jim deciding he needs to get
Nigel back.
He decides he must enter Purgatory.
The first half of the book 
you wonder who the soul is.
We all know Jim will be the last soul.
Jim spends the first half of the book
getting Nigel back,
working out his feelings for Sissy
and controlling his anger against Devina.

And even after he wins,
he's too focused on winning
and beating Devina
to realise there is another soul in play.

But really,
it's the last book with Jim.
Did you ever have any doubt he'd win?

This Makes Me Happy


Every once in awhile,
you see something that really makes you happy.
You know,
you can't stop smiling,
and every time you think about it,
you smile.
You know those things,
right?

Well, 
this is one of those things
that makes me happy.

So I had to share. 


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Writer's Workshop - Books

October is National Book Month, 
tell us about the best book you've read so far this year. 

For the last couple of years,
I've challenged myself to read a certain number of books.
The challenge, 
and keeping track of the books
are all on Goodreads. 
So for MamaKat's prompt,
I decided to take a look at the 
26 books I've read so far.

Now really,
I'm suppose to choose the best
book from these?
Yikes!
Not sure if I can.

The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
is a children's book
that I could not put down. 



Phoenix by Dawn Rae Miller,
was the end of an amazing YA trilogy.
And this one did not disappoint. 



Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
is the last book I read.
It's one I probably would never had read
had it not been recommended.
And I loved it!



I was chatting with a mate the other day,
commenting how I had a lot of reading to do
as it appears all the authors have chosen
October as the month
to release their new book.
In case you're looking for something to read
here are some great ones to look out for.









Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Baking Cakes in Kigali - Gaile Parkin

OMG! I loved this book!

Angel Tungaraza is a Tanzanian.
She now lives in Kigali, Rwanda
with her husband
and their 5 grandchildren.
In Angel's kitchen,
she bakes cakes
and listens to the stories of her clients.

A mate of mine recommended this book.
She loved it.
I loved it.
And then I noticed on Goodreads
that not many people loved it
as much as we did.
And that got me thinking
about the different reasons
I found the book endearing.
It was the stories
that Angle shared.
I found myself laughing out loud
at different parts.
And one reason I laughed so much
were these are things I could see happening here
in Dar.

Here, listen to the following story.
A baby is named Goodenough.
When asked why,
the reply is simply
"They really wanted a boy.
But a girl is good enough."
How many of you are shocked?
How many of you laughed?
How many of you can't stop laughing?
I'm the third.
Even now I'm still laughing!