Sunday, July 29, 2012

Season of The Shadow by Bobbi Groover




It was a time of chivalry and grace but also a time of turmoil in antebellum America. Fletcher Stedman is the crown prince of Virginia's famous Seabrook Plantation. The handsome rakehell is a man of dreams with headstrong passions and an ingenious mind. Suddenly his dreams are shattered and his life ripped from him by a jealous cousin, and Fletcher is put to the test fighting for his life and his sanity.Kyndee Brock always dreams of marrying her handsome Fletcher--her kindred spirit and dearest love. One day, however, Fletcher mysteriously disappears. Kyndee must spend the next decade defying fate, following her heart to reunite them and recapture the love that they had been denied.



I must be getting senile.  I apologize to Ms. Gover for the review I wrote last week, at least partly.  I read these books backward.  Fletcher Steadman and Drake Sommerset are friends.  The Steadmans play a major role toward the end of Inn at Little Bend.  When I read Season of the Shadow, I forgot about their role in the second book.  Therefore, I’m revising my estimate of this book.  It does have engaging characters, excitement, and page-burning intensity.  And it is well worth reading.  If you have not read anything by Bobbi Groover, I suggest you read Season of the Shadow, and then read Inn at Little Bend.  The beginnings are still somewhat similar so I'm giving this book four roses, but there is enough difference between the two plots to make both books worth your while.

I look forward to the third book in Ms. Groover’s Crisfield, Virginia trilogy when both couples are plunged into the fury of the Civil War.

Length:  504 Pages
Price E-Book:  $5.38
Paperback:  $15.95

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Set Up by Cheryl B. Dale


 
Three divorces should teach a man something, but hotel heir Cal McIntyre can't figure out what. Then a flashy redhead—the kind he adores—shows up. Since he's off women, he reluctantly takes a bet to seduce her. One more hook-up won't matter. Especially with this temptress.

But Amanda’s hair is dyed and she’s not about to be seduced. Her younger sister gambled with an heirloom engagement ring, and Cal won. If Amanda has to drug him to retrieve the ring and save her sister's marriage, so be it.

She doesn't count on Cal's kisses awakening a long-banished sexuality. Lucky for her, he passes out before she gets carried away. She escapes with the ring and virtue intact. Now to forget him.

But Cal tracks her down. And tells her he bought the ring. From her sister. Worse, someone stole diamonds worth millions after she knocked him out. Cal wasn’t the only one set up.

There must be an explanation, but her sister can't give it; she's vanished. Now Amanda must help Cal find her sister or go to jail. She's determined to protect her sister, and he's determined to recover his diamonds. Sparks are about to fly.


I hate roller coasters—unless they’re in books.  Give me a plot that grabs me by the seat of my pants and keeps me on the edge of my chair.  People it with three-dimensional characters, like the playboy who’s really a talented public relations man.  He does it in his sleep, but most of his family discounts him and no one listens to his ideas, so he keeps them to himself.  Or the gambling sister who has a developmental disorder and doesn’t realize what she’s doing is wrong.  Or the big sister who has been raising her, and protecting her, and raising her, and…  Take me from Houston to Atlanta to Las Vegas to Cancun.  Let me figure out who dunnit.  No—it wasn’t the butler—but of course, there is a butler.  Yup.  I hate roller coasters at amusement parks.  I love them in books.  And Set Up has a great one!

Length:  258 Pages
Prices—E-Book:  $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.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Maven Fairy Godmother by Charlotte Henley Babb


Maven's new dream job—fairy godmother—presents more problems than she expects when she learns that Faery is on the verge of collapse, and the person who is training her isn't giving her the facts—and may be out to kill her. Will she be able to make all the fractured fairy tales fit together into a happy ending, or will she be eaten by a troll?


When I saw the title of this book, I thought this book would be about a Jewish mother type (no offense—we have them, too) who was used to interfering in other people’s lives and somehow became a fairy godmother.  I didn’t expect Maven to be an out-of-work teacher living in her car who wasn’t quite sure what she was doing when she was recruited to save both Faery and Mundane.  It made the book even more fun than I expected.  Maven stumbles through the book never quite sure what she’s doing, but following her gut and her “Bump of Direction” with help from a hissy, disturbing familiar.  Or is it help?  Maybe.

In her bio at the back of the book, Ms. Babb quotes Lazarus Long, a character created by Robert A. Heinlein:  “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”  Here, here!  While I don’t exactly see the Old Man in fae, he did admire good writing and this is good writing.  So you need to read this book at least twice.  She also cited Terry Pratchett as a favorite author.  To that, I say—Granny Weatherwax would have a good cackle over this one.  And so will you.

Length:  279 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 author, “to review,” etc., 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.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Burning Seal by Jenna Storm



Detective Danni Keegan is plunged into a dark, demonic world where survival depends on deciphering the connection between ritual killings, and a demon terrorizing her for a “gift” she wasn’t even aware she possessed. She must unravel her dreams of another woman who lived during ancient times and battled a bloodthirsty demon—the same demon who now hunts Danni. The loss of her body and soul looms imminent as her only chance to destroy the demon depends on changing her new partner’s convictions. He is a sinfully sexy man, who exudes power and self-assurance with the ease of breathing and has an iron-willed determination not to believe in the paranormal.



 The Burning Seal is not the kind of book I normally read, because the horror genre gives me nightmares if it’s well done. Thanks, Ms. Storm.  I believe I won this book by commenting on a blog.  Why do I read everything I win?  Oh yeah—I’m a compulsive reader.  I wonder if there’s a 12 Step group for that.

At any rate, if you don’t get nightmares from well-written books about demons and murder, I highly recommend The Burning Seal.  If you do, I suggest you don’t leave comments for Ms. Storm on her blog tour.  Send her e-mails instead.  ;-D

Length:  350 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.