Author Archives: rachelauthorbarnard

Book Review: The Seeker’s Keys (The Treemakers, #3) by Christina L. Rozelle

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

The Seeker’s Keys (The Treemakers, #3) by Christina L. Rozelle

A Dystopian/Sci-Fi Adventure Novel published by A Spark in the Dark Press (12/03/16)

Summary:

Joy Montgomery, along with her band of children, are nearly at their journey’s end. All they need to do is find a set of keys to unlock the wall and get to paradise, but one man stands in their way: Lord Daumier. Will the clues left behind by Joy’s father: Zephyr the Magnificent, be enough to find the keys or will Daumier beat them to the punch and destroy everything that is good in the world?

Keywords:

Children, Orphans, Survival, Death, Exploration, Dystopian World, Polluted Air, Evil Intentions, AI, Motherliness, Help, Underground, Paradise, Fighting, Strength, Resilience, Spirit, Refuge, Power-Hungry, Keys, the Wall

My Review:

After a long break from reading books one and two, this book was a bit difficult to settle into  as there were numerous characters that I couldn’t quite remember and past events that were distant memories, but I slowly got back into the book as the plot was strong and led the book. Relationships between characters, though numerous, were reiterated and expanded upon. Because there were so many subplots carried over from the previous books in the trilogy, this third and last book was longer in order to resolve all of them. Every plot line was resolved by the end in some way or another! What a feat!

I loved the little details of all the places in this world and very much enjoyed that Rozelle’s world was multi-dimensional and multi-faceted. Her dystopian didn’t center on one measly place, but focused on jungles and cities and ships and tunnels and basements and labs and many, many more locations. Her world felt like an entire world, above-ground and below.

This book featured multiple POV and though I enjoyed getting a well rounded story (as not all the characters were together all the time), I sometimes got lost in who was narrating the story. I appreciated that the multiple POV was used to move the plot along, but I didn’t feel like it added to each separate character that much. Many of the characters blended together and I wished there hadn’t been so many. This was one of the reasons I set the book down so many times and it took me a long time to finish.

The only other detail I would have changed was to have less moments of preaching/uplifting speeches from one character to another or from the narrator to the reader. It felt like I was in an advertisement for the book at some points and I glossed over most of these parts.

All in all it was a great series with an interesting dystopian story that was fully fleshed out.

This novel was published by A Spark in the Dark Press on December 3rd, 2016 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.75

Links for more information:

Goodreads

 

2016 Physical Activity – Dance/Volleyball/Running/Bootcamp

by in Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , ,

2015 Physical Activity Blog Post Breakdown

How do you work out?

This year I did volleyball, pole dancing classes, the Thriller Dance for the second year, stretch and flex classes, pole silks, hoop classes, acro yoga, Boudoir classes, a pilates class, and bootcamp.

Pole Dancing Stats:

  1. I took 109 classes this year at 7 different pole studios (some were during my writer retreat/vacation in St. Pete, FL)
  2. I spent $2252.25 on all my pole and flex classes for the year (that’s $20.66 per class!)
  3. I took 7 advanced spin classes
  4. I took 49 Inversions classes
  5. I took 30 stretch classes
  6. The classes ranged in price from $10-$32 each
  7. I spent 201 hours in all of the classes combined and 160 hours in pole-only classes

My favorite photos:

20160731_pole_pics_kandacehouse-1 20160305_spinderelladarkenedroom_lovesiik_polepixy-4 20160731_pole_pics_kandacehouse-7 20160710_spinderella_acroyoga_week1-5 20160915_boatdate_donutbutt-5

Volleyball Stats:

  • I went to volleyball (outdoor in Bellevue Downtown Park) 8 times this year

Running Stats:

  • I ran 2.5 total miles
  • I ran a mile in 11:02 at the fastest

Boot-camp Stats:

  • I went to 10 Boot-camp classes, starting November and love the instructor and the other bootcampers!

15317780_10210899100024173_2452515428181361820_n 15590431_10211028296414002_2804847792975109675_n

The Thriller!

  • I only had time to go to one workshop prior to the Flashmob!
  • Check out the Youtube video HERE

e2af3c29-5532-42da-8188-ef61bd1b3340

Fitness stats:

  • I did 5 pull-ups/chin-ups
  • I can do 20 push-ups in a row
  • I ran a mile in 11:02
  • I can hand over hand climb to the top of the pole
  • I can touch my toes

All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Mighty-O Donuts

Seattle, WA

My Live Video Review on Youtube is HERE

20161213_081824 20161213_080337_hdr

 1400 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 547-0335

Mightyo.com

20161213_080758

Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “Maple Bar”
Signature shop donut: Perhaps the French Toast
Most popular US donut: glazed (cake donut)
2nd most popular US donut: Boston Creme (Not Available)
Donut Hole: Not Available

20161213_081207

What I tried:

Glazed, lemon poppy seed, maple bar, French toast, peppermint, chocolate raspberry

~$13.40

20161213_081216

What to expect:

This corner store is next to easy street parking and has high ceilings and a high counter. The donuts are displayed like a fancy catering event’s dessert table. All the donuts are beautifully frosted and not heavy in their cake filling.

20161213_081751

My favorite:

I liked the peppermint the best, but I think I would have liked any donut with their chocolate cake interior. The frosting is perfectly balanced with the amount of cake and isn’t overwhelmingly sweet, but fully flavored.

Book Review: Chasing Memories (Tala Prophecy Book 1) by Tia Silverthorne Bach

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Chasing Memories (Tala Prophecy Book 1) by Tia Silverthorne Bach

A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Novel published by Tia Silverthorne Bach (6/5/13)

Summary:

After an attack on her family while camping, Reagan is still trying to recover weeks later. With her brother gone and her own physical recovery, it’s hard for her to even think about normal. Reagan didn’t at first remember much from the attack, but slowly her nightmares of that night flesh out into dreams that might tell her what really happened, unless it’s all in her head.

Keywords:

Paranormal, Attack, Camping, Friendship, Teen Sex, Teen Drinking, Dreams, Nightmares, Psychiatrist, Healing, Scars, PTSD, School, Romance, Werewolf, Witches, Wiccan, Family Strain

My Review:

I really liked how complete Reagan felt as a character. Her complete backstory and personality were fleshed out and I really felt like I understood her as a person. However, this fullness appears to take away from the plot. A plot that is not apparent throughout the entire book. Also, I never quite knew what Reagan wanted, what her goal was.

Some of the storylines were simply dropped by the end of the novel and the promise of more books in the series doesn’t make me want to read on, it makes me wish I hadn’t picked up this incomplete book in the first place.

Unlike Reagan, her friends didn’t feel very fleshed out and felt more like buffers to the story, just adding padding.

The romance element with Rafe was way too instalove and left me feeling anxious for Reagan’s lack of consent or control with that relationship.

This novel was published by Tia Silverthorne Bach on June 5th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.75

Links for more information:

Tia Silverthorne Bach’s Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Book Review: Evolution (Evolution Series Book 1) by Kelly Carrero

by in Book Review and tagged , ,

Evolution (Evolution Series Book 1) by Kelly Carrero

A YA Sci-Fi Novel published by Amazon Digital Services LLC (04/29/12)

Summary:

Jade is your average 17-year old high schooler with the hot boyfriend and good grades. She is perfectly normal, that is, until she gets into a serious car accident and magically heals in front of her own eyes. What is this super power and what’s going on? Jade’s boyfriend, Aiden, is more than meets the eye and together they will have to figure out what happened to Jade’s best friend when she disappears.

Keywords:

High School, Super Power, Female Protagonist, The Special One, Seventeen, Kidnapping, Australia, Relationship, Broken Home, Reveal, Secrets

My Review:

If you want a fast easy read with the female special chosen one, a bit of romance, and continuous action, then this is your novel. This book featured a nice blend of action and mystery but was altogether too short for me to fully get into the plot or the characters. The book kept me intrigued and kept me turning pages, but the plot was a little too much like all the other Chosen One tropes with a teen superhero that has evolved – suddenly – beyond normal human capacity. In essence, despite the action, the book was a bit boring because it presented nothing new.

The main character, Jade, was frustrating because she couldn’t guess what was laid plainly for the reader.

A lot of the world building was left out of the novel. What do the characters look like? I didn’t even realize we were in Australia, other than the spelling of “sceptical” multiple times to indicate we weren’t in North America. This book and its world building could have benefitted from being longer and taking more time to go into depth into the si-fi/fantasy element and the background/personalities of the characters. The ending also left something to be desired. Overall it was a fun read, but I won’t be reading any more from this author.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services LLC on April 29th, 2012 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.50

Links for more information:

Kelly Carrero’s Website and Blog

Goodreads

Book Review: Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza

by in Book Review and tagged , , , ,

Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza

A Contemporary Romance Novel published by Wet Coast Media, LLC (5/30/14)

Summary:

Nothing is going on in Dot’s life. After atteneding her mother’s fourth wedding and meeting the image consultant Kennedy J, who promises to do her for free, Dot takes the plunge. A strict exercise and diet as well as hypnotism regime turns into weight loss and plastic surgery and an entire wardrobe and personal makeover. After her transformation is complete, Dot meets Jmiller and they date. Everything seems to be going well, until John introduces Dot to his best friend, who happens to also be Dot’s former high school bully.

Keywords:

Bridesmaid, Plastic Surgery, Self-Confidence, Nutrition, Diet, Exercise, Cynicism, Boyfriend, Tragedy, Bully, Transformation, Technology, QA, Weight Loss, Extreme Makeover

My Review:

I love makeover stories; however, for a woman to put herself through hell and back just to be ‘attractive’ according to societal standards does grate on the back of my mind. But this story was told as if it was reality and I’m sure there are plenty of women who feel society’s pressure to be pretty and thin and who do something about it, maybe not as extreme as Dot to achieve her end result. I really did like how her transformation was complete and encompassed good living style according to nutrition and exercise and putting effort into her wardrobe.

The twist near the end caught me by surprise. No spoilers! But this twist made me pull back from liking the book as well as I was up until that point. It was a disappointing turn.

This book was humorous and Dot’s perspective was told realistically and with all the details I would want with a character such as herself. I also really appreciated the full experience of going through Dot’s transformation and I understood how hard and painful all the steps were according to her story, fictional though it was.

This novel was published by Wet Coast Media, LLC on May 30th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

Links for more information:

Goodreads

NaNo November 16: It’s Over, Did I Win?

by in For the Love of Donuts, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 3 Comments

winner

A few final November statistics for you!

  • There are 19 business days in November which equals 152 total working hours in an average 9-5 job. I worked 213.5 hours in November between my two jobs (and that’s 26.2 8-hour days!)
  • I wrote 20 days out of the month
  • I read 3 books (Krampus audiobook, Beauty and the Bridesmaid eBook, and Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress print book). I’m still in the middle of reading Ishmael print book, The Seeker’s Keys Ebook, and Second Glance audiobook)
  • I had 5 events, 4 were author-related sales events (Small Business Saturday with the Neverending Bookshop, Oddmall in Everett which was 2 days, Bard & Starlet with FreeValley Publishing, and a one day popup Oddmall show)
  • I went to 10 write-ins

Here is page one of the first draft!

pag1

Book Review: Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress (The Redvale Zombie Prom Series) (Volume 1) by G. G. Silverman

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress (The Redvale Zombie Prom Series) (Volume 1) by G. G. Silverman

A YA Humor/Fantasy Novel published by G.G. Silverman (09/5/14)

Summary:

Clarissa Hargrove wants to go to prom. Not to dance and participate in one of the most iconic teenager events, but to protest, because prom is for conformists. Clarissa drags along her best friend Cokie and they set up their bullhorns and picket signs outside the school. Good thing they didn’t go into the gym to dance because as the night progresses, almost everyone turns into zombies and Clarissa and Cokie must round up the survivors and escape the maze of death their school has turned into!

Keywords:

Zombies, High School Prom, Alternative to Prom, Vegan, Protest, Escape, Death, Dying, Gore, Guns, One Night

My Review:

Clarissa is an edgy character. She swears. She’s a vegan. She doesn’t go to prom, she protests prom. Clarissa is an interesting character you can get behind because she has a mission and nothing will stand in her way. She has conviction in spades. Her best friend Cokie is a muted version of Clarissa, until she opens up and tells her friend and the readers who she really is and what she really wants, which was way cool!
This was a fast read with a steady pace full of action and adrenaline. I never thought our main characters were going to get eaten and some of the plot twists were a bit fast for my liking, but overall I enjoyed this book. I liked the writing style and how the author, through her main character Clarissa, viewed prom, teenagers, zombies, culture, friendship, and bravery.

This novel was published by G.G. Silverman on September 5th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

G. G. Silverman’s website

Goodreads

Twitter

Small Business Saturday and a Bout of Food Poisoning at 5AM

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events and tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

I started the day strong at St. James Espresso in Kirkland with the Elsewhere NaNoWriMo meetup and had a pecan sticky bun (but don’t worry I didn’t eat the pecans, just the good part). I got a couple thousand words in!

20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-2

Off to the Small Business Saturday event at the Neverending Bookshop in Bothell for a joint author event with debut author Lori Summerville and her debut fantasy novel, “Fall Through.”

20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-1

20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-3

Then Paul took us out to lunch across the street at the lovely Alexa’s Cafe! I’d never been and couldn’t help but get one of their peculiar looking cinnamon rolls and it was THE BEST EVER! My curry chicken sandwich on a croissant was also quite delicious.

20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-6

On the way to Paul’s gig at Tab’s in Kenmore, I stopped in at my favorite local donut shop, Daddy’s and tried out one of the seasonal combos!

20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-4 20161126_1smallbusinesssaturday-5

After eating leftover Thai food and two snacks and two drinks at Tab’s I finished the day with mild food poisoning at 5AM…