Author Archives: rachelauthorbarnard

Book Review: Keeping Score by Jami Deise

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Keeping Score by Jami Deise

A Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (01/13/14)

Summary:

“Select baseball’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.” (p. 163).

For Sam’s mother, Shannon, it’s all about getting him the opportunities to excel. If that means Sam gets more pitching practice and coaching time and is better than many of the other baseball mom’s kids, then all the better. Summer is fast approaching and Sam wants to try out for travel baseball. Both Sam and his mother will discover that there’s more competition off the field than on it and that baseball has its own set of politics and unfairness. All Sam wants to do is play, but what does Shannon really want? What is she willing to do and to let go of for her son?

Keywords:

Sports Mom, Parenting, Sports, Baseball, Team Spirit, Helicopter Parents, Select Baseball, Travel Baseball, Summer, 9-year old, Mother, Divorced Mom, Coaches, Coaching, Try-outs, Baseball Politics, Gossip, Competitive

My Review:

Even though I don’t have kids and have never played baseball, I could relate to the mother in this book. She had her ups and downs. She was harried and busy. Sometimes she didn’t even have time to properly eat or sleep. The way she complains about anything that went wrong was hilarious and always in perspective of her son’s happiness. She was an endearing, yet flawed, character.

There were some great one line zingers in this book. Like, “Sometimes relationships you think are friendships turn out to be tools only to get you through the week.” (Page 222) and, “At least with sports, the competition was direct and the winners and losers obvious.” (Page 235).

Keeping Score was like Ready Player One and its constant over-the-head 80’s pop and game references but with technical baseball terms and lingo. Much of this went over my head and I focused in on the story and the relationships between the characters. The technical baseball terms and phrases did not detract from the story being told.

This book is for mothers everywhere, especially anyone who knows anything about baseball. Also for those who want to know precisely what it’s like to be a sports mom or anyone who wants to read a fast-paced fun book about mothers, baseball, and the highly competitive nature of parenting.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services January 13th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jamie Deise’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Big Business: And How I Learned To Love The Financial Crisis by Frank Nunez

by in Book Review and tagged ,

Big Business: And How I Learned To Love The Financial Crisis by Frank Nunez

A Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (12/29/15)

Summary:

“You can’t question how the machinery works. If it works in your favor, why question it?” (Kindle Locations 1624-1625).

Philip Dunbar has not a care in the world. He’s about to graduate, but he doesn’t yet have a job. In the next couple of months he will realize how tough it is to get a job in this economy. After finally lucking out and getting a job, Philip will realize it’s not all sunshine and roses and even working hard sometimes gets you nowhere. So why work hard? Philip will continue to get lucky, even though he hasn’t been serious about his sales or his efforts at work. Even after climbing up the job ladder, Philip will come to realize that prospects from the top or not all that different from those at the bottom.

Keywords:

Business, Banking, Financials, Dating, Slacker, Lazy, Woman Chaser, Shallow, male POV, CEO, Job Chain, Getting a Job, Bad Jobs, Employment, Wall Street, Financial Collapse, Ponzi Scheme, New York City

My Review:

I loved the start of the chapter quotes. They were quick to orient the reader and bring in the outer world into this narrow viewed story of Philip Dunbar and how the financial crisis of 2008 affected him. As much as I disliked Philip Dunbar, I also couldn’t help but want to know how his story would end. Throughout the story, Philip grew and became a much more likeable fellow than he started. He even had some redeeming moments.

This story was told from Philip Dunbar’s point of view and it was like reading “dude” lit. The plot meandered but the story was fascinating.

The pacing was a bit choppy. The scenes were a bit choppy. Philip Dunbar’s perspective was rather choppy. There were a lot of missing visuals, a lot of the scenes read like in they were a screenplay. Many dialogue tags were withheld. Much of the action was summed up by the narrator instead of shown through the scene. There were fewer details than summations.

Some of the humor felt awkward, but the narrator’s voice was entertaining and approachable.

There were also enough instances of typos/grammar errors to bring my attention away from Philip to focus on the mechanics of the novel.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services December 29th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 3.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Frank Nunez’s website

Book Review: Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) by Jen Wylie

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) by Jen Wylie

A Low Fantasy/Fiction Novel published by Untold Press (09/07/14)

Summary:

“There was nothing quite like the rush of a good fight.” (Kindle Location 15776).
“…what you see isn’t always the truth.” (Kindle Locations 15859-15860).

After dropping Prince off in Rivenward to heal and potentially never to see again, Aro’s next move is to see about the Were King, get ready to help the Fey, and find a nice place to stay for the winter. What Aro realizes is that the Were King is more upset at them for forming a Pack and that staying holed up for the winter in another town will bring all sorts of other problems for her.

Keywords:

Fighting, War, Tension, Female Protagonist, Tragedy, Romance, Love, Friendship, Loyalty, Family, Travel, Escape, Protection, Lies, Danger, Death, Grief, Training, Addiction, Killer

My Review:

As a series, there were small things I didn’t care for, like Aro’s instant love and devotion to Kei, how she kept dying and being brought back to life, and the constant travel in book two. I still thought this was an excellent series (thus far) and I loved the emotion the author brought to the stories and characters. There were so many excellent and well done things to like. For example, Aro herself was a wonderfully crafted character who grew and changed in every book. The story developed throughout and the plot was well conceived as a whole and within each book. The story, Aro’s story, was mesmerizing. I wanted and still want more from her and her story. The inter-character relationships and dialogue was also quite well done and realistic.

The pacing in this third book was just as well done as in book one. There was a good blend of action, tension, and fighting with buildup, learning, travel, and character interaction.

I absolutely loved Roan and was so pleased that the author added him in organically and tied him back to previous information. Roan was multifaceted, just like Aro and her pack members.

The fantasy in this book continues to be relevant, not over the top, and well integrated into the plot and story. I very much look forward to book four in the Broken Ones series by Jen Wylie.

This novel was published by Untold Press September 7th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jen Wylie’s Website

Twitter

Seattle Specific Saturdays: I Heart Books Event in Renton, WA Saturday, February 13: 3 PM – 10 PM

by in Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, Seattle Specific Saturdays and tagged , , , , , , ,

From the Facebook event page:

12193795_1672014796344768_173824569437013271_n

We’re back! And this time we have even more fun and excitement than we did before. Join Jeffrey Cook, Lee French, A.J. Downey, Bibi Rizer and more for a book selling event that will not only make you look good for your sweetheart, but will help show the love to an organization that helps abused kids!

That’s right, this time I ♥ Books is doubling as the launch party for Biker Chicks! An anthology of hot MC romance where the women are in charge.

All proceeds from the sales of any of the Biker Chicks anthology goes directly in support of the Lake Washington Chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse in support of their mission to help the littlest victims. B.A.C.A. is a non-profit organization that provides victim support and services to children who have been the victim of abuse be it in a domestic capacity or otherwise.

So join us, the day before Valentine’s Day to score your copy of Biker Chicks before anyone else, and to maybe, just mayyyybe, score some points with *your* other half. 😉

We can’t wait to see you there!

Book Review: Broken Prince (The Broken Ones Book 2) by Jen Wylie

by in Book Review and tagged , ,

Broken Prince (The Broken Ones Book 2) by Jen Wylie

A Low Fantasy/Fiction Novel published by Untold Press (01/16/14)

Summary:

“Whatever would happen, would happen. She couldn’t change anything.” (Kindle Location 5765).
“I… Sometimes I can do things I shouldn’t be able to.” (Kindle Locations 5570-5571).

After deciding to take Prince back to his home and holing up in a small town over the winter, Aro, Bo, Cain, Prince, and Kei are back on the road. Stopping in a town to re-supply they are under siege again. Getting separated in the escape from the city, Aro finds a new friend to add to her family, but time is running out for Prince and Aro will stop at nothing to save him. She will go so far as to anger the King of the Were and upset the Elves. Aro’s one goal is to get Prince back to Rivenward and the healing safety of his own realm. Or will she be blinded by her own feelings for Prince?

Keywords:

Fighting, War, Tension, Female Protagonist, Tragedy, Romance, Love, Friendship, Loyalty, Family, Travel, Escape, Protection, Lies, Danger, Death, Grief, Training, Travel

My Review:

The opening of this second book in the series parallels that of book one, but the stakes are much higher. There are more characters in Aro’s family and though her brothers were family to her in book one, the reader understands how important all the characters are in the start of Broken Prince. There is more for Aro to lose, more to break her down.

The pacing of book two was not as enticing as the pacing in book one. Book two was more focused on Aro’s pack traveling toward the Elven realm and the confusion that Aro, Prince, and Kei’s emotions caused during that journey. The pacing became somewhat stagnant and not as varied as the first book though the story and the ticking time bomb with Prince held my attention. The question of Aro’s happiness and Prince making up his mind kept the reader focused and kept up the tension throughout this second book.

The overall plot grew within this book, building up the tension with the “prophecy” and Damon had more of a role (interfering Dragos!). The author played with prophecy, fate and free will as well as control versus helplessness. Aro was much more in control and much more helpless to things outside her control than ever before! Aro has grown as a character even more in this book, rising to ever increasing challenges. She was also fighting more against her own anger than despair at helplessness. But the recurrence of the environment and outside forces against Aro became rather repetitive.

This novel was published by Untold Press January 16th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jen Wylie’s Website

Twitter