Tag: emotional read

Books, great reads, Reviews

Cover Reveal: Dirty by Kylie Scott

Karen

I was so excited to see this I couldn’t help but reblog, thanks Somewhere Lost In Books!

Somewhere Lost In Books

Cover Reveal:

Dirty

dirty kylie

Are you ready to get Dirty?  

Dirty is Book One in Kylie Scott’s Dive Bar Series releasing April 5th!

Pre-order your copy of DIRTY here:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1Q7LCyb

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1OYc53N

Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/1MetF1F

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1Mez6t6

Blurb

When Vaughn returned to his childhood home, the last thing he expected was to find a brokenhearted bride in his shower. Or the complete drama and chaos that came with her.

Lydia doesn’t know what to do. Finding out the love of your life is having an affair on your wedding day is bad enough. Finding out it’s with his best man, is another all together. Trying to escape it all, she runs…and finds herself in the arms of a handsome ex-musician turned bartender. But can a broke musician with a dubious future really be the Mr Perfect Lydia was looking for?

About the Author:Kylie…

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Books, great reads, Reviews

Needing Moore Trilogy by Julie A. Richman

debra

Hey everyone,

This is a longer than normal review—I couldn’t decide what to leave out!!

I think this trilogy is possibly the best story I have read this year.  If you have not read it, you owe it to yourself to try it.

Two friendly warnings upfront:

  1. The story takes all three books to tell.  Books 1 and 2 are cliffhangers!! Be forewarned.
  2. This story has a lot of emotional upheaval in it, especially as it relates to the character of Mia.  Emotions, both good and bad, are very strong in this story.

Now, for a brief synopsis.  Schooner (I love this name) and Mia meet in college.  They are soul mates and know it.  Through a misunderstanding, the characters’ immaturity in knowing how to straighten out misunderstandings, and some devious behavior on the part of another character, they are torn apart and their lives take very different paths.  Twenty-four years later, they find each other again and are determined to be together.  The story starts present day and their lives are told largely in flashback, so to speak.  We learn what happened in college and their respective lives apart while they are re-discovering their relationship and figuring out how to make things work.  I laughed and cried throughout this story.  The moments of humor, largely due to a secondary character, are so very important, especially in contrast to the moments of total heartbreaking sadness that occurs as the story unfolds (see warning #2 above).

What I thought made this story so strong:

  1. The characters.  Obviously, Schooner and Mia are front and center.  They are well-developed throughout the story and we fall in love with them for who they were and who they become.  Mia in my opinion is a very strong female who is not afraid to tell Schooner what she thinks when he needs to hear it. Schooner is a wonderful character.  Also, all the secondary characters are completely essential to the story.  They all play an important role in the story of Mia and Schooner’s lives.  There are not any extra characters who just take up space.
  2. The story itself.  I don’t think the author uses any extra “filler” materials.  Everything that happens in the story (especially in Mia’s life) is important to how Schooner and Mia matured and developed as characters.  Life happens (the good, the bad, and the very ugly).  The author wasn’t just using up pages in the books.

This story is an emotional roller-coaster, but a ride well worth taking.  Do yourself a favor and if you decide to read it, go ahead and get all three books—you will need them.D

Happy reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones

Karen

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Reyes, Reyes, Reyes. I’ve been dying for a book from his POV and it’s finally here. Let me give you the scoop.

Official Blurb: All his life, Reyes Alexander Farrow has suffered the torments of the damned. Only one thing has given him hope: the woman who radiates a light that no mortals can see; a light that only the departed can see…

Told from his point of view, BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN chronicles the first time Reyes ever encountered Charley, and how their relationship has been the one thing that can either save him or doom him.

One thing to keep in mind is this is a book from Reyes point of view. No catchy chapter starters, no funny lines, and no crazy death defiling antics. Well he does defy death often but regardless this book has a much deeper, darker undertone than the series does. If you’ve read the past Charley Davidson books you’ll understand that Reyes past is horrific and he’s not the rainbows and sunshine half of their relationship. So prepare yourselves, this is the mind of Reyes, from the beginning, it’s not all happy thoughts.

My opinion? I loved it. Reyes has always been one of those characters that I want more of. More info, more time, more anything. Plus we have only had glimpses into his mind before so having a whole novella from just his POV was great. I also enjoyed the fact that Darynda didn’t try to make it light or funny, Reyes is a dark character with a dark past, his book shouldn’t be light. The story itself was great, if you follow the series a lot if it is information you already have, but seeing it through his eyes makes it that much more impactful.

Reyes is still the sexy, broken, stubborn character he’s always been, this just makes me love him more. Read it! But if you are not familiar with the series start with First Grave on the Right, it will make you understand him even better.

 

 

Books, great reads, indie author, Reviews, scifi

The Unspoken Agreement

Karen

I have always felt there was an unspoken agreement between an author and us readers when we purchase a book and frankly lately I think the rules have been out the window. So I’m curious, is it just me that feels this way, having these expectations of my writers? Do I need to adjust to a new way of writing? Or are some books just not playing by the rules? Allow me to explain.

When I buy a book it’s like the author and I have made a contract. A simple one, I will give money to your seller and you will deliver a story. I don’t have to like it but it must follow the guidelines of all stories. Sound simple? Apparently not. This is how I view a story: A beginning, if it’s the first time we are meeting everyone with character and world building when appropriate. Then a middle, this is where your plot comes to life, the climax of the story as it is, whether it’s bad guys seemingly defeating good guys, or a big fight, big reveals, this is when we get the meat of the story. The all important end, the big finish, where you frankly actually finish the book. No cliffhangers (I will discuss this), no unrelated twists, just bring it home. Make it complete.

What I feel like has been a trend in some writing lately…

The Cliffhanger. Why do authors do this? Especially with book one? I have yet to meet a reader that loves this, so why do it? Is it because you just couldn’t think of an ending? Is it because you want me to be forced to buy your next book (doesn’t work with me, you cliff hang I abandon)? Or is it because you knew from the beginning that you would write three books so it doesn’t matter to you? Well that sucks. Let me tell you there are many extremely successful series out there that have 8,10,20 books and you know what, no cliffhangers! Every book is a complete story by itself. We feel satisfied when we read it, like an episode on tv.

The Plot. Ever read the back of a book, then read the book and the blurb has nothing to do with the story? I bought the book because this is what you told me the story is about. Can’t always blame the publisher, indies are also committing this crime, it’s kind of like false advertising. See this whale??? Sorry we are sending you home with a guppy. I might have been interested in your original story, I like guppies, but it’s just not going to sit right with me the whole time cause all I can think about is that whale. Blurbs should match the story and the plot should follow that. Having a plot is good too, some now don’t even have a plot.

The beginning. World and character building are paramount. In fact too often characters are left with no personality, shallow as it were, and books can fall very flat. But some authors swing too far the other way making whole books out of world and character building. That’s great if I already have book 2 and 3 but if this is all I have, then I don’t have a story, just a really long resume. And 200 pages of that gets boring. I know a lot of authors say they are setting up the next book, but I’m not buying, you got to sell this book to me, not the next one.

So the big question is, are my expectations to great?