Tag: contemporary

Books, great reads, indie author, Reviews, scifi

Sins of the Father by Anthony Vicino

Karen

About two weeks ago I posted a review on another one of Anthony’s books Parallel. Needless to say I was not happy with the end. So Anthony messaged me and our conversation went like this:

Kar how could you write a review like that on your blog! I’m one of the few people who actually liked something you wrote, think you could throw a little of the love back, sheesh! Here! If you’re going to be so cruel why don’t you just start taking my books!

Sorry, that’s a total lie, he was a completely professional and was really nice. I imagine if I was an author that’s what I would think every time I saw a bad review, of course I’d never say it. Really, I promise. To top off the fact that he seems to be genuinely nice (see I told you most authors are) he was also kind enough to send me this novella so I could give his writing another chance. So that’s how Sins of the Father came into my possession. And let me tell you, this one is a winner.

Background first. The story is about Ricky who is a man is his forties locked in a mental institute for killing his grandmother when he was a child but he can’t remember why. Problem? He thinks he’s still 9 years old and is suppressing the truth. So can the doctors unlock his memories and make him whole again? And will he be able to survive?

This is a completely different story than the first one I read from Vicino, more of a mental mind game scifi than a multi dimensional multi world scifi, but I can appreciate both. I found myself unable to put this book down, constantly curious as too what was coming next in the story. This book really forced me to feel with the characters, which is hard for me, making the end even more impactful. If you want a taste of Vicino’s writing this was a great, quick read. I plan on picking up his full length book, Time Heist, to see if the trend can continue.

Thank you Anthony, redemption successful.

Books, Reviews

Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh

Karen

I have been reading Nalini for years so when Netgalley offered me a copy of this book for an honest review I almost fell out of my chair, but I looked at it like any other.

This was my favorite of the Rock Kiss series. The book opens with a big emotional situation and it’s like a car wreck, I knew I was going to be bad but couldn’t stop. That was the hook, and at this point I had to know how she was going to build this story. Then you had the push and pull where you wanted to protect Kit, because of what Noah did, but at the same time you wanted to help Noach because he was so broken and the best way to help Noah according to him in the book? Kit. I don’t know if I agreed with him, but like Fox said who am I to say what he should do to fix himself. I was completely immersed, couldn’t put the book down, and felt like the story was well paced, well put, and written to perfection. The romance I felt was one of the best parts, not hurried so we would have a build up with the characters. I enjoyed that it took a little longer and they didn’t jump into bed right after they saw each other again. Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

This book will be available on October 6th.

Out of the Box Blogs

The Big Review

Karen

I have three books to review and I’m officially stuck. Easy you think, right? Not really. One I loved, one I hated and I falls right in the middle. What’s the big deal? Allow me to explain. You see any good review I read always does the following: (1)provides a clear opinion on a book (2) with a understanding of the story ,(3) without any spoilers. Sounds easy? It’s not. Problem one, when I love a book I want to go on and on about every character and how they were integral parts of the story, how they affected the plot and the outcome. Damn broke rule number three. Okay but isn’t that why goodreads made that great little spoilers button? Sure, but I don’t have one of those. So cut out the important parts, keep the integrity of the story so readers understand, oh yeah and make sure everyone knows it was kick ass. Lots of exclamations points only get you so far!!! Sorry saying this was awesome over and over just doesn’t cut it anymore..

So what about the bad reviews? Same rules but now your actually criticizing some ones writing, and potentially convincing others not to read it. I have always held to the belief that I should be honest, but there is a line between honest and mean, and you never want to cross it. This is especially hard with small indie writers, while I don’t mind offering critique, basically telling someone I generally disliked there book can be harder than you think when someone has 5 reviews total on there page. And then on the other hand, if they are a well loved author, prepare for the backlash. I can still remember my first one star, it was a Y.A. author that was popular, whoa watch out! After I started getting some negative thumbs down I was pissed, I had worked hard on that honest review and it seemed that some people were just not liking it because they loved the author (and hadn’t even read the book, hey I loved them too but this book was not up to par) not because it was a badly written review. But then I did a total readjust on my attitude, I had to remember, I just said something bad about an author they liked, hey that’s they’re way of expression too. I always now make it a point to read all types of reviews and try to concentrate on how people are expressing themselves. It takes a lot of courage sometimes to say bad things.

The in between. Ugh this is the hardest to write. Sure I can go to amazon and goodreads and throw up three stars, but write a comment? This is where I struggle. But I recently read something an author wrote and I’m taking it to heart, they pointed out that reviews with good and bad points in them are the best kind because you learn the most from them. So I’m working on going back and writing an actual review, pointing out what I liked and disliked WITHOUT SPOILERS (so bad at that) so people can make up they’re own minds.

I know this isn’t an official review, but sometimes you gotta vent.

Out of the Box Blogs

Confessions of a former Tom Cat by Daisy Prescott

Les

This is an amazing Story! I loved it! The characters are written well and they are believable as real people. Tom and Idaho are awesome.

Ok, so this is a very funny story about Tom a tomcat (playboy) who has no plans to settle down, and only does one night. While he is upfront about it, he can be a jerk and the girls still eat it up (like me, I love jerks). Enter Idaho, who is engaged to a douche bag and has always been one of the guys. Then it gets interesting and crazy. This book had me laughing literally out loud. I am glad I took a chance on this book, that was recommended to me. This is one of those rare finds with characters you believe they are real, and you are right there with them. Go read this book! Take a chance on this one, you won’t regret it.

So, if you read any of my other posts, you know I will never go into great detail, because I want you to experience the book through your own perspective, not mine.