Tag: fiction

Books, great reads, Reviews

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

debra

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Hey everybody,

The Blurb:  Swallow, Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, Daughter. Stay alive.

The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky. My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free. But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?

My thoughts: I loved this story. This is the first book by this author I have read and I want to read more from her. This story is her first venture into the world of fantasy, I understand, and I think she did a great job. I found this book because it was this month’s book in the online book club I belong to.

Lark is a 5 year old girl when her mother is killed in front of her and her voice is gone. She is rejected by her father, yet she grows into a loving, caring person. Tiras is the king of Jeru with a secret. This book contains fantasy, magic in a mysterious world, betrayal and interesting characters, a council of lords that helps to provide additional angst to the story. The story also has a medieval feel to it. The author has spun her world building wonderfully. I have heard good things about this author so I plan to try some of her other writings.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, funny, great reads, Reviews, Romance

“Dear Heart, I Hate You” by: J. Sterling

Les

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Hi guys!!
First, let me thank you all for 10,000 views!!!! I am so excited. Never in a million years, when Karen and I started this, did I believe anyone would actually read our thoughts and opinions, let alone 10,000 views.
Ok, now down to business!!!
I decided to be nice today and let you read the actual book description.
When a self-professed workaholic Jules meets Cal Donovan in a bar one night, her world shifts. The heart she thought was dead inside her chest is instantly brought to life by just one look… one touch… and a pair of deliciously sexy lips.

She thought she was fine being single. She thought she was fine being alone. She thought work was all she needed.

And then she met him.

And he f*****g ruined everything.
My opinion? Well, my opinion is that this book made me laugh, made me frustrated, and also a little angry. So yeah, it’s a well rounded book.
Ok, so, Jules is at a realtor convention and meets Cal, an investment banker. They are both attracted to each other and then after talking for a while they move upstairs. Whoa!! Put on the brakes, this girl has some class. ( She also may be crazy, stupid, because he sounds so hot.) Nope, not getting lucky tonight, Cal. They then spend the next few days together after her convention day meetings. She meets his brother and they have a great time. Now, it’s time for her to fly home. Oh, did I mention that he lives in Boston and she lives in Malibu? Yep.
So, now we have a long distance thing going on, which they both think is better for them, since they are both workaholics.
Ok, so this is where I get frustrated. I work all the time, I don’t want a relationship right now, maybe I should stop texting her. Does she understand that this isn’t going anywhere? Am I sending mixed signals? Blah, blah, blah. YES!!! Yes, Cal you are, since you text Jules every morning and call her every night. You are basically in a relationship. These two are sharing their entire lives every day with each other. I know married people who talk less than these two.
Anyway, Cal visits, Jules hooks him up with some great connections in his business, then lets her colleague finalize a deal for her because he is town. So what does Cal do? Flips his shit, because she gave up work for him.
He can’t take it. He doesn’t want her doing that. He wouldn’t do that for her.

Now the angry part:

Cal just drops off the face of the Earth. He totally stops calling, texting, or returning calls. He is now a douchebag. Now, we all know I like jerks, but I do not like scared little sissy jerks. Obviously, I am still angry at him.
Then of course he realizes he made a huge mistake and has to fix it. So, he flies to Malibu.
Jules has some choice words for him when he shows up at her work. Ha! She is awesome!

Well, you know the drill you will have to read it to see what happens. Don’t you just love me?
So all in all I really enjoyed this story. It was my little break from anything paranormal. I have to say though that this makes me miss my paranormal men, my jerks, my strong men.
Go read it. I am sure you will like it.
Peace ✌,

Les

Books, fantasy, great reads, indie author, scifi, Urban Fantasy

The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker

Karen

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The book is free right now on Amazon, I’m just going to go ahead and start with giving you a link

Though it has been a little while since I read this series I can tell you that I love this book. In fact Lindsay was one of the first indie authors I ever read so when I saw her book was free on Amazon right now I had to share it with everyone. Let me give you the blurb as well:

Don’t miss out on the best-selling Emperor’s Edge series (2013 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee).

The adventure starts here…

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire’s most notorious assassin, is in town. He’s tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills… or someone wants her dead.

I enjoyed this book and I hope you do as well!

Books, fantasy, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance, scifi, Urban Fantasy

Blood Shadows by Lindsay Pryor

Karen

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I recently picked up this book because I always participate in the Vampire Book Club’s Alpha Showdown and Kane, the main male lead in this series, killed all my favorites. I later found out that the author added a link from her website so all her fans would go and vote, now normally I’m down with this kinda stuff but clearly they knew none of the other competitors (mostly UF and PNR powerhouses like Kate Daniels, Barrons, Vlad, Charles Cornick, etc) and never voted on anything else. In fact it got kind of ridiculous with us regulars attempting to keep in our favorites and us just getting crushed by people who asked things like who’s Kate??? I shudder. I tell you this because I think I didn’t go into this book with the best mindset but it did have two things going for it (1) the cover is smoking hot (2) I got it for $1 on Amazon. Now you know where I’m at mentally here is the official blurb:

For vengeance – would you trust a vampire?

For justice – could you betray your family?

For love – are you ready to question everything you believe in?

Gifted with the ability to read the shadows of ‘third species’ beings, Caitlin Parish is the Vampire Control Unit’s most powerful agent. Despite that, her mission to hunt down Kane Malloy – a master vampire – comes with a death wish. Many have tried, but few have survived.

For Caitlin, tracking Kane is about more than just professional reputation. With her parents both mysteriously killed 7 years apart to the day, Caitlin knows that without Kane’s help she is next.

She has four days to make a deal with the wicked, the irresistible, the treacherous Kane Malloy. The vampire who despises everything she stands for.

Or die.

I’m going to warn you right now, this review contains spoilers and lots of bitching. I severely disliked this book so if you loved it, stop here. If you don’t want any further information on the story, please stop here. If you think you may like it in the future for the love of all that is holy…STOP HERE!!! You’ve been warned..

 

 

Let’s talked about the first half, now stop me if this starts to sound familiar at any point. Ready?

Caitlin is a vampire hunter with a grudge who thinks she can take down any vampire. I mean she hates them because of family issues so she has something to prove, and the little power she has she uses to hunt them. Kane is a master with a mess of power and skill. She goes after him, gets in way over her head, thinks shes captured him when in reality he ends up capturing her. Then Cat and Bones..errr I mean Caitlin and Kane end up having sex. Yeah. It was like a bad copy but all wrong somehow.

But this is the part that made me hate this book. She starts to talk about how her heart is falling for him…blah blah blah I mean the real mushy stuff girls just can’t resist. Oh her soul practically belongs to him (literally) and she just can’t help her heart. Oooooh and Kane this all powerful vampire just can’t control himself around her! you get the picture. During all this she somehow escapes, calls for back up and runs into some shifters guy. He tells her that her father, stepdad and ex boyfriend participated in the rape and murder of Kane’s sister. She doesn’t believe it. Kane, whom she’s falling in love with, tells her and he’s a liar. Her stepdad and ex boyfriend capture Kane, admit the truth and they are torturing him..here is the kicker, what does she do? As for his forgiveness? Nope! She won’t release him from the torture unless he promises to not hurt the douche bags that participated in the RAPE AND MURDER of his sister, help her escape some monster, and let her boss the puppet master of all this go. Oh and when he doesn’t agree immediately!?! She threatens him, the guy she loves and her heart aches for, yeah she’s gonna read his soul even though he’s begging her not to and is too weak to resist. You know from all the torture her family and friends have inflicted on him. But she’s not sure if she can trust him. What a peach. This makes me absolutely love her and want to read more about her. Listen she can say a million times her heart aches for Kane and his sister, but as far as I  concerned her actions say she’s a self centered bitch. Sorry, don’t like her. Not. One. Bit.

The sick part is I think I would like Kane if he wasn’t constantly fawning over Caitlin. Ugh I’m so done.