Books, fantasy, great reads, paranormal romance, Reviews, Romance, scifi, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

August Releases

In my first year of blogging I use to put out a list of the books I was looking forward to for the next month and I kinda just stopped..well I miss it! So here is my picks for August, some that I’ve per-ordered already and some that I will wait patiently to get from the library.

Magic_Triumphs.indd

I need this book now!!!!

It’s funny that Les just talked about not reading the end of a series because this is the last book in the Kate Daniels series and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Ilona Andrews is in my top three for writers and Kate Daniels has consistently been one of my favorite series for years. This book drops on August 28th, but I will be up August 27th to start this. I wish I could take a sick day in advance.

Bec

This book I ordered the second Bec McMaster informed me that I could. I love her steampunk world and her writing and this spinoff of the London Steampunk series is just as amazing. This is an auto read for me and will download onto my kindle on the 14th of August.

rebel

This one is tricky. I’m attracted to the premise of this one but many (I mean quite a few) of my goodread reviewers that read things I like got ARC’s of this and didn’t enjoy it. Hmmm…I’m still curious but I think I will wait patiently for this one from my local library. Gorgeous cover though…

How about you, is there any book you can’t wait for that is coming out in August? I love a great recommendation so let me know!

Books, funny, great reads, indie author, Kissing booth, Movies, Out of the Box Blogs, Romance

The Kissing Booth the movie and the book by: Beth Reekles

Original Book Cover                              Movie Cover

Hey everyone! I just watched the movie The Kissing Booth on Netflix. I realized it was based on the book by Beth Reekles. I have a story about this book, so I thought I would share.

I used to read a lot of stories on WattPad. If you’re not familiar with WattPad, it is an app where people share their stories, and others can read them. They are normally unfinished stories that are updated every week or so. So every week you get a new chapter, and you give feed back on what you liked or didn’t like. I actually found a lot of great stories on there, and every so often I pop back in the app to see what is new.

I found the story ” The Kissing Booth” one day, I think it had maybe 2 chapters done at the time, and it grabbed my attention. So every time I would get a notification that it had been updated, I would drop what I was doing , or reading and read my new chapter. I was really into this book. I liked the characters and also story line.

Fast Forward and Beth makes an announcement that she has an offer and will be publishing her story. This is kind of a close knit group that have been growing with the characters and the story, so we are hella excited for her! I love supporting new and indie authors, so as soon as it came out I bought the paperback. Funniest thing: I never read the paperback! I was always afraid that they may have edited out some of my favorite parts.

All of a sudden Harper Sloan (another author) makes a post about watching the movie The Kissing Booth. I am like, WAIT!!! It’s a movie now? I got super excited and swore I would watch it. But lets be honest, I work in tourism and this is busy season, and I have a company to run. (For anyone who didn’t know Kar and I are both in tourism, and both run companies, hence why we fall off the grid sometimes)  Meanwhile, my daughter is watching a movie on her phone in the car, and I ask what she is watching. She replies, “The Kissing Booth, and it is really good”. So, tonight I cooked dinner and kicked everyone out of my family room, including the husband, (not a family room tonight! It’s my room) and I watched the movie.

I LOVED IT!! It stayed pretty true to what I remember from the book. I mean it was published in 2012, so I read the original draft before that, so I don’t remember every detail. I have added it to my list on Netflix, so I can watch it again and again. My daughter has watched it 3 times already, so look at me being cool, and now she is reading the book! I love it when I can get her to read books I have read and we can talk about them.

Has anyone read the book and seen the movie as well? What are your thoughts? Should I read the published book? I am still scared of that one.

 

Peace,

Les

Books, funny, great reads, indie author, Reviews, Romance

“Unconscious Hearts (Hearts of Vegas Book 1)” by: Harper Sloan

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Hi Everyone! I have been it such a reading rut. I finally found a book that held my attention. This is my first book by this author, but won’t be my last. Let’s get this party started!

Blurb:

Ari Daniels didn’t count on her whole world tumbling down around her in a mess of shredded promises, broken love, and unbelievable heartbreak. Alone and stricken with grief, she shouldered the blame and eventually closed her heart off, refusing to open it for another. After all, anytime she tried, guilt and regret were waiting in the wings to remind her how painful it was.

A bet and one steamy night with a stranger force Ari to confront all she’s been hiding behind. She tries to move on, but he refuses to stand down, wanting what she is terrified to give—herself. This man may very well destroy her in the end, especially when it’s clear he has his own demons.

What happens when two broken souls come together, finally allowing themselves to believe in the beauty of love … only to have to fight harder than ever to keep it?

 

Okay! So I feel like I should first tell you that this is a series, however each book is another set of characters story. NO CLIFFHANGER HERE! Thank you Harper! If you don’t know Harper Sloan, you need to look her up, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and snap chat. She is hilarious and amazing. She also has an amazing cat Kevin, who has his own instagram page, and is an outlet for her humor. I have followed her for a while before I actually bought a book. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I was having such a hard time finding a book that called to me, but I read this in one day.

This may sound surprising to any of you how read my reviews all the time, I like Ari, the main girl character! I know what is the world coming to! So, Ari is a girl with a devastating past and is content to be alone for the rest of her life. She owns a high end thrift shop, and works with her best friend Piper (who I also love). Ari, who’s real name is Paris, is estranged from her sister London, and her sister likes to call Ari and make her life a little harder.

Just when Ari has come to terms with being alone with only Piper and her business in her life, in walks Thorn. Thorn is a huge, tattooed, hot bad boy that needs to get rid of some high end items left to him in a will. He invites Ari to the house he was left and all the hundreds of items he wants to sell really fast. Only, Thorn sees Ari and has to have her, so he makes a deal. She will beg him within 30 seconds to take her, or she can take all the items for free. Let me just say, This is a Hugh bet, like a $4 million dollar bet. To say he is cocky is an understatement. And it just gets better from there.

They are both trying to stay away from attachments, and relationships, but both feel something immediately. They are drawn to each other, but the big question is whether or not they can convince themselves and each other to take the chance. Will it work when they want to run, or because of their past, will they fall back into old habits. Will they listen when someone tells them they deserve happiness, or believe that they still don’t because of their past? You know I am not going to tell you, you will have to read it to find out if they make it.

Finally, just when I thought this was just a love story, she throws in some serious action and a total “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?” moment that you don’t see coming.

Ahhhhh yes! My favorite part, it is written in both Ari, Thorn, and a mystery persons point of view. I love multiple point of views. Everyone says its because I am nosey by nature.

If you are modest and don’t like vulgar language, find another book. This is an erotic romance, and trust me it delivers. This is a steamy book, and is very descriptive. I don’t feel like it was done in a distasteful way, or took away from the story. Sometimes I feel like it is forced in some stories, however I didn’t feel that way at all in this book.

I have to say a congratulations to this author, she has officially written a story where I didn’t absolutely hate the lead girl, or the important characters. I can’t remember a book, since my last Darynda Jones book, or Jeanine Frost books, that this has happened. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised since Harper is a great girl herself.

I would read this book again, I have since bought another of Harper Sloan’s book. I am sure it won’t be my last. I can’t wait.

You should definitely give this a chance, and read it. I can’t see how you would be disappointed!

 

Peace,

Les

Books, fantasy, great reads, indie author, Out of the Box Blogs, paranormal romance, Romance, scifi, steampunk, Urban Fantasy

Questions on Multiple Series

How many series can an author successfully write at one time before the series start to suffer?  When do you know it is time to let a series go?

These are questions I have been pondering for some time and I am interested in opinions that you guys may offer, especially anyone who may be an author. Please understand I am not an author so I approach this only from a reader’s viewpoint.

Can an author successfully give multiple series the attention each deserves without any of them suffering?  I have been reading an author for many years, but this author is now writing five series—the fifth series just started with book one a week ago.  I really enjoyed this book and will write my review very soon.  The series I started with is now nearing release of book number 30.  Personally, I feel this series needed to be ended some time ago, but we now have new characters whom will undoubtedly have books written for them and the overall story arc is still not finished.  It is the series that will never end!!  I also have to wonder, in the author’s defense—how much of this is the author and their muse and how much of it is the publisher continually trying to capitalize on an author’s popularity.

I read several authors who have multiple series, and it is normal for those authors in my experience to release one book a year in the series.  When we are talking about  3 or more series, how can that possibly happen?  Therefore, we are probably looking at over a year between books.   One of my favorite authors generally writes one series at a time and we get a book usually every 6 months and then they start another series.  Granted, these series usually contain 4 to 5 books.  However, the series is completed and then we get to start another one.  With the author who is on book 30, I could literally be in my mid 60s before it finishes and I am already 53!! Some of the recent books have disappointed me with much repetition—hence question 2—when do you know it is time to let go?  I have many years invested in this series and I want to see the end, but I’m tired and don’t receive the level of enjoyment that I used to.

Have any of you faced a similar dilemma and how did you decide?  Looking forward to your thoughts.