Sunday, April 29, 2012

Vigilant by Michelle Hart





Alliance I-Marshal Weber hauls Yadira to her home planet and infiltrates the human-trafficking ring controlling her. But he finds himself unbearably attracted to his witness. A gift for detecting deception reveals she’s the next victim of a criminal industry.

Descending into shadowy worlds of slavery, Yadira endures a dark angel stalking her dreams and watches the quiet I-Marshal become dangerous in her defense. Everything about him moves her…except the memory of seeing him execute the most important man in her life. Shouldn’t she take vengeance? Delusions of a heavenly guardian affect her mind.

Slavers and demons plan to snatch her from Weber’s custody while he is uncovering connections, and Weber won’t hesitate to execute the guilty surrounding Yadira. Who but a son of fire can save her from fiends harboring hardcore fantasies of harming her?


I really would like to see how Weber and Yadira get away from the demons and slavers, but I just don’t have the patience to finish this book.  It’s way too wordy and the dialog is beyond stilted.  Maybe someday I’ll go back to this book, but for now I have other things to do and a TBR list of better-written books.

The story is a good one, but like so many other authors who publish independently, it suffers from the lack of good editing.  With some hand-holding and guidance this could have been a good book.  I went back and finished it, and I found the ending satisfying.




Length:  109,838 Words

Price:  $5.50


You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their royalties from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Take One at Bedtime by Jenny Twist


 
Nobody ever goes upstairs in Margaret's house. So what is making the strange thumping noises up there? And why is there a toy rabbit under the kitchen table?

Margaret's Ghost is just one of a collection of short stories consisting mainly of horror and science fiction, ranging from a classic gothic tale – Jack Trevellyn – to the Wyndhamesque Victim of Fortune, and the modern Waiting for Daddy, with its spine-chilling twist.

There is also the occasional excursion into romance with A Castle in Spain and Jess's Girl.

But most of these tales take you to a place which is not quite as it seems.

It's bedtime now. Time to go upstairs. Time to take a look. Just one look.

WARNING: Do not exceed the stated dose.


I confess.  I’m an addict.  Most nights I exceeded the prescribed dosage because I just couldn’t put the darned Kindle down.  I’m not normally a horror fan, but I do like suspense with a good twist at the end.  Hitchcock and Rod Serling would be duly impressed by these tales and I could see them showing up on either master’s television program.  Further praise I cannot give.

So, go ahead—take one at bedtime.  I dare you.


Length:  108 Pages

Price:  E-Book $5.99
            Print:  $12.51


You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Veiled Virtues by Jan Fischer Wade



When Paige Stewart left America to house-sit in England, her only thoughts were to get away from her controlling mother and to have fun. Little did she know that her working holiday would turn into a battle between good and evil, or that she would be the epicenter of that battle. She certainly didn’t expect to be swept off her feet by a modern-day English knight. But when blood appeared on her keyboard and she discovered her childhood scars bleeding, her holiday took a turn for the eerie and dangerous, and when she ventured into the metaphysical shop run by Nathaniel Brightmore, she found much more than tarot cards and crystals.


This book is listed as a Young Adult title, but it has enough suspense to engage the adult mystery reader, as well.  The only problem I had with it is that it left me with unanswered questions.  Fortunately, it’s part of a series, but now I have to wait for the next books to come out to find out what the secret meeting room and laboratory in her grandfather’s home were for.  Why does the dark Brotherhood of Cerberus think they’re “entitled” to Paige?  Why did her mother move to America and claim her own father was dead?  I greatly enjoyed this book and now I have to buy the next one to continue Paige’s story.

Length:  227 Pages

Price:  $5.95


You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Beach Party Girls by Vanessa Rose Lee


Welcome to Miami. The city lights up at night and parties are endless. Meet the Beach Party Girls. Kim Bailey and Stephanie Cole enjoy living a fast-paced, glamorous lifestyle.

One day, an event changes their lives. What will they do to get by? Join the fun-loving Beach Party Girls and their adventures!


If you like programs like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” or “The OC,” you will probably enjoy this book.  I, however, worked for a living the better part of thirty years.  It took me eleven years to earn my bachelors degree working full time and going to school.  Some of those years, I swear the only time I slept was on the El between work, school and home.  I did one of those semesters in a wheelchair with a broken ankle.  I've also been homeless and currently live with my daughter because I cannot afford both my car and my own apartment.  So the characters never engaged me.   

They live rent-free in a penthouse condo owned by one girl's farther and get cushy jobs planning fashion shows when Daddy has a temporary financial set-back.  Should I spoil the ending?  I guess not.

I read the book on Kindle and it was a mess in terms of editing and formatting, but the author assures me the paperback copy is clean and she doesn’t know why it got so messed up when she converted to Kindle.  I gave her some conversion tips so your copy may be cleaner than mine.

I’m being judgmental when I say I wouldn’t recommend this book.  It all depends on your perspective.  If you enjoy the exploits of wealthy, spoiled people, you’ll like this book.  If you avoid that stuff like the plague, this book is not for you.  I have a doozey of a dream house and it would be nice to win the lottery or better yet have all my books on the New York Times Bestseller list and be able to build it.  I prefer the latter because I’m used to earning what I get. Either way—if I were a millionaire, I’d still probably shop at Wal-Mart most of the time.


Length:  110 Pages

Price:  $4.99

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Loser’s Keepers by M. S. Spencer


  
Dagne Lonegan, aka Dear Philomena, advice dispenser extraordinaire, hoped that spending a year on the Eastern Shore island of Chincoteague to write her novel would clear her sinuses, if not her heart, of any feelings for Jack Andrews, erstwhile lover and long-time jerk.  It’s just her luck that her first week on the island she’s in the right place at the right time to be involved with a murder.  Only she doesn’t know it.

Unfortunately, the murderer doesn’t know she doesn’t know.  Strange and dangerous things begin happening to her, interfering with her new romance with Tom Ellis, the handsome manager of the National Wildlife Refuge.  Complications ensue when her Jack arrives to take charge of the murder investigation.

Will Dagne stick with the tall, cool glass of a Ranger or fall back into the arms of her first tempestuous passion?


Dagne is definitely caught in a conundrum.  Stuff’s been happening to her ever since she arrived on Chincoteague.  Mostly at first she writes it off as coincidence, bad luck.  Then when Jack shows up investigating her father, she wonders if it has anything to do with the package he asked her to drop off on her way there.  She’s too busy drooling over the tall, handsome wildlife ranger and trying to fight back her feelings for Jack, with on-line commentary from her very French mother.

As I’ve said before, erotica is not my first love, but this book was written tastefully and flowed quite nicely.  It pulled me in from the very beginning and kept me immersed throughout.  In fact, I’ve become a fan of Ms. Spencer and when I read her bio, I was quite impressed with her resume, even if she did spend all of her time in Chicago on the South Side.  At least the University of Chicago’s the good part.  I spent a few weeks on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake when my ex-husband worked an outage at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.  (When you’re married to a rent-a-tech you do get around.)  It truly is a whole other world over there.  Let M. S. Spencer take you to it.  I highly recommend her point of view.

Length:  227 Pages

Price:  $5.50


You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if this book costs $5.50 at Secret Cravings and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.20.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.66.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.