Tag: contemporary

Books, great reads, Reviews

Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster

debra

Ms. Foster is one of my favorite go-to authors.  I love her writing.  You see her characters as real people that you just can’t help but grow to care about.

We finally have the story for Armie and Rissy and Ms. Foster does not disappoint! Fighting Dirty is the fourth and final installment of her Ultimate Series.  This series follows the lives of several fighters in the SBC, a fictional ultimate fighting company. In many series, I think there is one character that seems to capture the imagination and affection of the readers and all of us wait for that character’s book.  In Ms. Foster’s Ultimate Series that character is Armie.   I, along with a lot of her readers, have been fascinated by Armie from the very beginning. We have seen small snippets of their story throughout the prior books in this series.  He is a character with a dark secret in his past, an uninhibited outlook on physical relationships and he absolutely has a heart of gold towards people he cares about.  He has been in love with Rissy for years, yet he never admitted it and never pursued her due to his belief that he wasn’t the right man for her.  Rissy is the little sister of Cannon Colter (the hero from No Limits), Armie’s best friend who has stood by him through everything—including Armie’s past.  That alone made Rissy off limits for him.  Coupled with the fact that Rissy is a “good girl” in Armie’s book, he knows that they will never have a future.  What he did not count on was Rissy herself and her views on things.  Rissy loves Armie just as he is and accepts him for who he is.  I was glad that Armie shared his secret with Rissy early on and I thought her acceptance of Armie was a well-written scene.  Rissy is a strong female lead and a great match for Armie.  There is also a suspense plotline ranging from a bank robbery where Armie saves everyone to an attack on one of the characters just to keep things  interesting.

I loved this story.  Both Armie and Rissy are great characters and the chemistry between them is smokin’ hot yet there is also a sense of sweetness about them.  You actually root for these characters to make it.  This story also has some nice humor in it.  I also enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books  in this book. I have always enjoyed Ms. Foster’s dialogue in her stories.  The dialogue is believable and well-written.  I hate to see this series end but am always looking forward to the next series she writes.

I received an ARC of Fighting Dirty in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

 

Books, indie author, Out of the Box Blogs

Do $$$ Effect How We Rate?

Karen

I just finished Time Heist by Anthony Vicino. It’s been on my TBR for awhile, and I got it on sale for $0.99 so it was a steal. I like Anthony’s writing, sometimes a bit overelaborate, I’ll give you an example at one point the helicopter thingy (not his words) is crashing and the windshield cracks. This is what Tom the main character thinks Asphyxiation on account of too much air felt too paradoxical a way to die. Though, in the end, I suppose breathing eventually does us all. I was thinking what would have summed it up better? Oh shit. But that’s me, not a writer. And there are times when the clarity of Anthony’s writing is just stunning to me. Tom is addicted to a drug called Quick Sliver. There is a moment when he is detoxing in the middle of the, well everything honestly, and he really doesn’t have time for it (yeah that’s a pun, time) so his partner gives him a hit. It’s then he thinks this...I pitied the living. The dead were my idols. This drug was my god. I read that and thought Anthony you talented s.o.b.

But that’s not what I’m really talking about, what I do want to know is this, I gave this book 4 stars because for $1 it was quite good. In fact if I liked the ending I would have given it 5 stars and written glowing reviews to high heaven everywhere I could think of. But what if the book cost $7 or $8? Now if the ending was different I would have gone with 4 stars, but if not 2-3 stars. And that got me thinking, should my reviews have price factored in? Is that fair, especially if your dealing with a published author who has no control over the price? I do it because I think I was always raised that, the more you pay for it, the higher standard it must adhere to. But is this a proper additude to have in my book reviewing? I’m feel like it’s almost unconscious for me but I’m curious to hear others thoughts on the matter.

Books, great reads, Reviews

The Shadow Prison: The Ninth Chosen  by: K.A. Parkinson

Les

I am trying to figure out where to start. I really liked this book. But in the beginning I was on information overload, and still clueless. I’m learning all these new terms, words, people, creatures, and rules. But I don’t know why I’m learning this yet.

So the world is on the brink of war, but not between countries, but between the light and the dark (good and evil), there are chosen ones selected to protect humans and the light against the dark, and then the ninth one is chosen. The ninth is suppose to fulfill a prophecy. They are suppose to save the world from the dark. But, the ninth being chosen is a good and bad thing, he is superior so he can save the world, but him being chosen means the war is on the horizon. Macy & Tolen have a guardian named Bastian as well. He is there to protect, guide and teach them.  There is a lot of action in this book, as well as rudeness, love, betrayal, pain, and loss. There are all sorts of creatures in this story, you have different evil creatures that most people would consider demons, fairy types, watchers, along with people with different powers. The powers usually are something to do with the elements earth, wind, fire, and water. However, a select few have different powers. Macy does get on my nerves sometimes, because she is always pushing people away, and Tolen gets on my nerves too because he does dumb stuff and sometimes acts like a girl.

While they are learning to survive together, they also have to figure out their destiny and what part they are suppose to play in this war.

This book is written from different points of view. (Side note: I feel like I have been hitting the jackpot lately with this. Even the book I am currently reading is like this.) Anyway, I thought I wouldn’t like it and I almost put it down. I then thought about it and I wasn’t giving it a fair chance. So I carried on and I found myself enjoying the book. I was enjoying figuring out the mysteries before the characters did.

So, give it a chance, you will be surprised.

Peace,

Les

Books, great reads, Reviews

Somebody Killed His Editor by Josh Lanyon

debra

Hey everybody,

Somebody Killed His Editor is a murder mystery by Josh Lanyon.  This is the first book I have read by this author and I found this book by way of an online book club I am in.  It is this month’s selection.  The detective is Christopher Holmes, a mystery writer whose sales are declining.  His agent told him to attend a small writer’s conference where the main speaker will be his editor.  He absolutely does not want to go, but he concedes to her request.  His agent has also told him to drop a new story idea to his editor that he does not have in his head yet in order to keep writing. Upon arrival, he finds a murdered body at the Lodge and is a leading suspect.  The next day, he finds another dead body! The search is on for the killer and the reason why.  Christopher is assisted by J.X. Moriarity, a writer who is an ex-cop.

What I liked about this book:  First, I love a good murder mystery and this one kept me interested.  It is a good little “whodunit”.  What surprised me most was the humor in the story, largely due to Christopher. This character’s internal banter is refreshing, at times self-deprecating, but quite humorous.  I do not expect to laugh during a murder mystery, but I did in this book.  There is a subplot of a romance between Christopher and J.X., but the author develops it slowly.  I thought the writing was tight in this book and the pacing of the story felt right. I believe I will be reading more by this author.

I was not crazy about the titling of the book and I thought the cover art was a bit too “cheesy”, but just put all that stuff aside and enjoy the story which is the most important thing anyway.  Pick it up—I think you will like it.

Happy Reading,

Debra