Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Ice Country (The Country Saga) by David Estes

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Ice Country (The Country Saga) by David Estes

A YA Sci-fi/Dystopian Novel published by David Estes (03/29/2013)

 

Summary:

“To fight or not to fight? Why is it that I constantly have to make this decision over and over again?” (Kindle Locations 1578-1579).

Ice Country is the winter version of Fire Country. There are mountains and forests and snow for days. Ice Country is home to the Icies and the main character Dazz. He lived a normal life, getting into bar fights at Fro-Yo’s, hanging out with his best bud Buff, being told off by his brother Wes, disappointed in his drug-dependent mother, and living for one of his sister Jolie’s smiles. But Dazz gets into one bar fight too many and is kicked out of his second home. Desperate to make the money to pay back Fro-Yo’s for the damages, Dazz and Buff head to the local gambling den. It seems like anything Dazz does cannot end well. When they’re offered employment to help pay off debts, Dazz and Buff jump at the chance. Their employer is not who he seems and the job is exactly what it looks like. Then Jolie goes missing in the night, taken right in front of Dazz’s nose and he will stop at nothing to find her and bring her home. In the middle of his investigation into her kidnapping and during the increasing curiosity that has become his job, Dazz meets the most unlikely allies from the Fire Country. There are bigger things afoot than just the abduction of Jolie, and Dazz is determined to pick himself up and do the right thing now.

Keywords:

 Cold, Survival, Fighting, Disease, Death, Post-Apocalyptic, Convoluted Truth, Friendship, Romance, Love, Family, Curiosity, Allies, Fire Country, Revenge, Murder, Corrupted Leadership, Trust, Strength

My Review:

Dazz seems, at first, like a lowlife good for nothing seeking-out-trouble young bad boy. He gets into bar fights with little to no provocation. He aims high in the girlfriend realm without really falling in love. He has no money and no job and spends all day at the local bar. This is what life is like in the Brown Disctrict, where the poor have less opportunities and many vices. Even Dazz’s brother Wes is only barely getting by. Dazz comes to life as a character to look up to when he is given morally charged choices. He is bound by his family and his love for his sister and wants to protect her, but he is also compelled to protect the weak and innocent. He is a good person stuck in a bad situation, a rut of life in the poorer district. He is a true underdog and grows up to his potential with the story.

Skye from the Fire Country Book one of the Country Saga Series comes into this story with her fierceness and determination. She is more developed and more cool than ever in Ice Country. As Dazz puts it so eloquently, “Skye’s not the type to wait around for heroes to rescue her. She is the hero.” (Kindle Locations 4100-4101). When you need a fighter who won’t back down and can take a punch like any bar-fighter, Skye’s your man (I mean woman). Isn’t that cool to have such a kick-butt female!

Estes brings in more of the characters from book one, interweaving the sinister plot they were discovering in book one into a whole mess of a situation that gets bigger and bigger in this second book. Seina, Circ, and Feve are all back for more.

Dazz is the main character and all events are told from his perspective. He’s a fun, intelligent, and interesting narrator and does the story proud in his telling. I can’t wait for book three, Water & Storm Country.

This novel was published by David Estes 03/29/2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 5.0

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

David Estes’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Fire Country (The Country Saga) by David Estes

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Fire Country (The Country Saga) by David Estes

A YA Sci-fi/Dystopian Novel published by David Estes (01/23/2013)

 

Summary:

‘“The Call is an important and magnificent event for us, the Heaters, the people of fire country. It is near and dear to my heart. It is a chance to say to all that threaten us, we will not be defeated! We will carry on, replenish our flock! We are not afraid!” A cheer rises up, but it’s deep and heavy— a man’s cheer. When I look ’round most of the women are silent.’ (Kindle Locations 3710-3712).

Siena will turn 16 shortly and her world will change. At seven her body could reproduce. At 16 she will be matched with her Call and produce a baby. At 19 and 22 she will be re-matched and reproduce twice more. At 32 she will probably die. That is the life for a girl in the Heater Tribe out in Fire Country. As a Pre-Bearer, Sie’s life is mapped out, but what if she has a choice? Her friend Lara knows something. Sie doesn’t want to have to break off her friendship with Circ to be a Call, to do her duty.

When the time comes to make a decision, what will Siena choose? She doesn’t know the complete truth, but she will try her hardest to find the answers to the ever-increasing questions surrounding the Heaters and her father, the Head Greynote.

 

Keywords:

 Tribe, Survival, Desert, Fire, Disease, Death, Fighting, Short Life Expectancy, Post-Apocalyptic, Convoluted Truth, Friendship, Romance, Love, Family, Curiosity, Duty, Obedience

 

My Review:

Siena is Scrawny and Circ is Smoky and together they are the best of friends. Sie lives for Circ and will do anything, even something completely stupid, to try to save her friend. She can’t imagine what life will be like after the Call, when she’s been matched with another random Heater in order to bear children and keep the Heater tribe alive. She can’t imagine it and it never enters the readers mind that it is a real possibility. Something has to happen. Her life and the story would be over if she was the obedient daughter who followed all the rules.

Siena is not one to follow rules without question. She is always seeking out the truth. She may be the scrawniest in the village, but she is tough where it counts. She is brave when it counts. She doesn’t think of only herself when those she loves are in danger. She is a character that fights, that doesn’t back down, that can take a hit. She is a true heroine. Yet, she still gets battered and bruised. She is still knocked around by her father, the town bullies, and her own two left feet. She is far from perfect, but she is someone to look up to nonetheless.

The intense friendship between Siena and Circ blossoms just like the romance between Adele and Tristan in the Dweller Saga. David Estes has a way of bringing two people together and showing their intense feelings and love for each other. There is nothing in Sie’s way in her love for Circ, except her realization that Circ is more than just a friend for her. If it were possible, she might choose him as her Call. Society and her father have other plans, though, and in the Heater world Sie and Circ can never and would never be matched.

I absolutely loved this first novel and will be consuming the entire Country Saga series by David Estes for more daring heroines, dashing heroes, sinister leaders, engaging love and friendships, and everything that Estes is able to do in his books that is so very captivating.

 

This novel was published by David Estes 01/23/2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 5.0

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

David Estes’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Silent Circle (Volume 1) by Cassandra Larsen

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Silent Circle (Volume 1) by Cassandra Larsen

A YA Fantasy/Paranormal Novel published by Cassandra Larsen (08/21/2014)

 

Summary:

“We can‘t change what we are, but we can practice to get more control over what we do.” (Page 126)

Emerson is your average teenage girl. She’s got a hot boyfriend. She has a few good friends. She goes to the local high school, dressing like everyone else, partying like everyone else. On her seventeenth birthday, however, everything changes when she gains her powers. Em can’t believe that she’s a witch, but after some of her awesome abilities are revealed, she realizes there’s something going on that even her mother never told her about. That’s because her mom died when she was fourteen, before she had a chance to explain to Em who she really was. Em’s life is further complicated when her boyfriend Sebastian catches her with the local quiet boy Caiden, but hey, it’s not what you think!

 

Keywords:

Witches, Spells, Rivalry, Friendship, Loyalty, Mistakes, Teenage Drinking, Parties, Gossip, Secrets, Revenge, Death, Teen Drama, Strength, Running from Problems, Teen Issues,

 

My Review:

I like how Em is portrayed as a very normal and down to earth teen girl, albeit with her own troubles and chips on her shoulder, but those make her interesting and mysterious. Em is part of her own ‘it’ crowd but not the most popular. She’s not the model student or the model popular. She’s interesting but not really different from the norm. She fits in, until her 17th birthday when everything changes.

Larsen keeps up the intrigue throughout the book, hinting and foreshadowing that greater things are afoot and will be revealed in time. Em has just found out she’s a witch and less than a week later is having to make choices she’d never thought she’d have to make and letting people help her when she’s decided that she is self-sufficient and independent. It’s difficult for her to learn to accept the help and community of being a part of something.

I like how Em already has a boyfriend and the entire book is not a sappy falling in love romance. It’s about Em and how she has to fight to figure out what she believes in and figure out what is the truth and how she fits into this new world of witches and powers beyond belief.

The teens are realistic to a fault. You grow to love them while at the same time despising them for acting like teenagers! Rowdy drinking, bad decisions, and forgetting how they affect other people. Definitely teenage behavior. They are snarky and sarcastic and blow up in anger over little things, but they will also surprise you with their fortitude and their willingness to try. Em may have anger issues, but she is motivated to learn to control herself. That is a character trait that is really one to look up to, how many of us can say that?

The hint of a relationship between Em and Caiden, like all the gossip wants to point out, is just barely there and I hope it develops more in book two, but alas we also like Sebastian and don’t want to see him drop off! I’m interested to see how Larsen will develop the relationships and romance in the second book.

This novel was published by Cassandra Larsen 08/21/2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Facebook

Book Review: September Rain: Book 2 Savor The Days Series by A. R. Rivera

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September Rain: Book 2 Savor The Days Series by A. R. Rivera

A Suspense/Contemporary Romance Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (05/05/15)

 

Summary:

“Because I knew that the small stuff is what destroys a person. Only with Angel, nothing was ever small. Even the littlest things were mountains in her mind. She would sweat everything and the more her troubles piled up, the more I felt the need to drive them away because just watching Angel try to deal with stress was painful.” – Avery (Kindle Locations 3011-3014).

Angel Patel is in jail for something that her best friend Avery did, even if she’s indirectly at fault. It has been six years and Angel has slowly come to terms with being behind bars, because she blames herself for what happened. During another one of her case reviews, the story and the fascinating twist will come to light that may even surprise Angel herself.

Angel was in love with the singer of Analog Controller. He was older than her, but they were meant for each other. Angel’s life was never easy before falling in love and still has its bumps in the road. Growing up in foster homes and knowing the ugly truth of how she got there causes Angel to reach out and she grasps hold of Avery. They become friends and protectors of one another, but Avery will eventually be the bad seed that leads to both of their current situations: incarceration.

 

Keywords:

Romance, Love, Sex, Band, Music, Musicians, Best Friends, Foster Home, Bad Mother, Incarceration, Jail, Mental Grief, Talent, Crimes, Following Your Heart, Young Love

 

My Review:

The author’s descriptions, though they were narrated in the author’s playback as information to the reader and not live action, were very well articulated and quite vivid. For example, “The whole place smelled like the smoke machine was set to kill—a fog of cat litter and ammonia that burned my retinas.” (Kindle Locations 522-523). I really enjoyed the writer’s way of describing the world, even if it wasn’t coming live, similar to the setup in if I stay by Gayle Forman.

Since most of the action is told in flashback/playback format, much of the focus of the narration is on internalizations and thoughts and regrets and remorse, the characters thinking back to the “events.” Even so, most of the story is centered on the characters themselves more so than the events that happened and the descriptions of the events. The story is made up of Angel and Avery, with Jake and a few others thrown in. It is centered on these two girls and their intertwining stories. Rivera also employs perspective switches between Avery and Angel, separated by chapter and it’s neat to get both point of views in the story.

Interestingly enough, though both gals are in jail, you want to sympathize with one and blame the other, you just don’t know which one is guilty yet. As the story progresses and the girls reveal more about themselves and what happened, you feel both more sorry for them and you like them less for what they did and how they reacted.

The story gets a bit hot and steamy at points so be warned.

Everything was elongated and took its time. The ending was filled with high tension but smoothly brought out in multiple spurts to finish with all questions answered and everything about Angel concluded. The only mystery: Jake

If you liked “if I stay” by Gayle Foreman and the dramatic buildup without too much present day action, then you’ll love September Rain.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services on May 5th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

A. R. Rivera’s Blog

Book Review: Evolution: HEX (The Evolution Series Book 3) by S.A. Huchton

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Evolution: HEX (The Evolution Series Book 3) by S.A. Huchton

A Sci-Fi/Fantasy/New Adult Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (07/05/14)

 

Summary:

“The line between enemy and ally wasn’t a line at all; it was a fuzzy, ever-shifting radius of complexity and situational dependency. (Page 34).

In this final installment in the Evolution Series, Candace must once again be strong in her convictions and in her abilities and relationships to get through tough times and save the day. She was kidnapped at the end of Book Two and now is imprisoned in enemy territory. Not everything she has been told about Hex and Dr. Ferdinand are true, but is everything she knows and has been told about the ANGEL project and the SAGES true as well? It will take Candace all her strength to fight this one last battle and to figure out who the enemy really is.

 

Keywords:

Genetic Manipulation, Superheroes, Comic Books, Books, Tough, instability, romance, love, hormones, leader, kick-butt female, sex, fighting, training, good guys, testing, banter

My Review:

I love it when a third book in a trilogy comes with enough resolution to leave the reader satisfied with the overall story, but also contains its own plot within the grander plot. Huchton delivers on both fronts. There was a grand climax and a thorough resolution with a surprise ending that, when looking back, was all but inevitable due to events in this third book.

Huchton’s plot throughout this series was a bit lumpy in pace in that the first book was like a standalone novel and the second novel continued many subplots, but the overarching series plot was introduced indirectly in the second book and fully revealed in this final book. The big picture was at last revealed in the final book and leaves both Candace and the reader wondering what is the truth and who is the enemy?

Questions of morals and enemy lines blurring make for the most interesting plot complications in the Evolution Series, and especially in this third book.

The relationship between Jackson and Candace takes a deep hit and the emotional suspense is so hard to take. Huchton really knows how to write a heart throbbing romance with deeply emotional characters who really feel for each other and their love is palpable and rich.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on July 5th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

 

Links for more information:

Starla Huchton’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Evolution: SAGE (The Evolution Series Book 2) by S.A. Huchton

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Evolution: SAGE (The Evolution Series Book 2) by S.A. Huchton

A Sci-Fi/Fantasy/New Adult Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (05/04/14)

 

Summary:

“If you don’t give people a chance to be better, they never will be.” (Page 375).

Evolution Sage picks up right where Evolution Angel leaves off, with a depressed and devastated Candace for what happened and what she did to Adrian. For weeks she gives up on everything, purposeless and wracked with guilt. It isn’t until Jackson makes a comment to her about moving on or giving up and she is given a new purpose by the facility that she is finally ready to move ahead with her life. A new threat lies on the horizon and this enemy has been around for a long time, just now making their move. It is up to the ANGELS to get ready for this new, stronger enemy and they will turn to a higher level of experimentation to improve their already super hero super powers, but what will the consequences be this time?

 

Keywords:

Genetic Manipulation, Superheroes, Comic Books, Books, Tough, instability, romance, love, hormones, leader, kick-butt female, sex, fighting, training, good guys, testing, banter, Hard Decisions

My Review:

The more I read, the more I fall in love with the characters. I absolutely adore and look up to Candace. She’s not afraid to say that she’s wrong or being too anything: too hard, too harsh, or too emotional. She has the ability to self-analyze and adapt. She harnesses her ability and hones her skills, discovers new things about herself and her abilities. When SAGE begins, a new level of herself is opened up and she explores even more new possibilities for her weapon even as she’s haunted by the power she used on Adrian in Evolution Angel.

Jackson. Swoon. He was the bad boy attitude problem, snarky comment, easily angered boy from Evolution Angel. Now that Adrian is no longer in the picture he gets to have his day. All along I’m sure Starla had great plans for Jackson, she was just biding her time and building him up as a person. Jackson is the real romantic fantasy. He is flawed and angry. He has a past that is terrible and hangs over his personality. He cares for Candace, but tries to hide his feelings for her. He is rude at times, but is extremely polite when he needs to be a gentleman. He is also insanely good looking and every time Candace gets too close to him,  she can feel him and knows that she wants him.

The relationship between Jackson and Candace gets its day in book two of the Evolution Series and it’s a wonder to behold. Starla built up this relationship from the first time they saw each other, when they hated one another. “I’ve hated you for a long time. I hated you for making me want someone. I hated you for being with Adrian. I hated you for what you dissolved into after he was gone. I couldn’t stand it, Candace. No one thought I was worth helping, and I believed it. And then you helped me, for no other reason except that you could. You caught me in almost every lie I’ve ever told you. You challenge everything I say. You took everything I thought was true and turned it upside down.” (Pages 249-250).

Jackson and Candace are so emotionally charged when they’re together, so destructive, so powerful, and I could go on and on. The best romances are the ones that happen within a story that already has a powerful plot.

Starla has built a powerful, mesmerizing plot full of characters that are emotionally appealing and fascinating to watch. Candace is tough and rational, but also very prone to feeling sad or weak when everything is against her. She is so real, even as she can control a person through her connection to the water in their veins. I love how she stands by her convictions and sticks to her morals when making decisions and weighing the pros and cons before making a tough decision.
My only critique for this book was that the ending is abrupt and right in the middle of action. Thank goodness book three is already available.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on May 4th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

 

Links for more information:

Starla Huchton’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Evolution: Angel (The Evolution) (Volume 1) by S.A. Huchton

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Evolution: Angel (The Evolution) (Volume 1) by S.A. Huchton

A Sci-Fi/Fantasy/New Adult Novel published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (02/25/14)

 

Summary:

“Knowing what came with great power and experiencing that weight was so vastly different you couldn’t even see the other side of the chasm between them. (Page 241).”

From the very first moment that Candace Bristol and her cousin Gabe saw the ANGELs in action, they knew they wanted to join the project and become two of the world’s superheroes. Fast forward four years when Gabe is already in training and Candace has just sent in her application. Not everyone gets accepted and not everyone can make it because it takes special genetics and a special comportment to be able to make it as an ANGEL.

When Candace is accepted, she is elated and she knows that there will be more going on than she has researched about the ANGELs. When she gets to the training grounds she is overwhelmed by some of the aspects of the project, but she steps up as a leader.

 

Keywords:

Genetic Manipulation, Superheroes, Comic Books, Books, Tough, instability, romance, love, hormones, leader, kick-butt female, sex, fighting, training, good guys, testing, banter

My Review:

Every girl wants a comic book hero to look up to and wish to have their powers. What we get are an assortment of men with superpowers and women who look pretty in skintight clothes with lame powers. What Huchton does in her superhero series is give us a real kick-butt female with real superpowers. Huchton has diverse characters that look and act different and have unique personalities.

Candace is a strong Alpha personality. She’s very curious, very go getter, very nothing gets in her way. She’s an open, up front person who does what she wants to do, says what she thinks, and doesn’t let anyone get her down. She is already a super hero inside. She sees the good in people and makes sure they don’t get away with their nonsense when they’re up to no good.

Adrian is the unassuming librarian with the sexy baritone voice. There was something in his past that gives him a chip on his shoulder and he has trouble thinking he is worth the love and effort of others.

Gabe is Candace’s older cousin and comic relief in the story. They continuously banter and at first Gabe tries to look out for her, but she is too independent and stubborn to let that fly. She would rather fall on her own, then be helped along.

Jackson is the troubled bad boy with an attitude problem. Does he secretly have a thing for Candace? Not going to tell you! “I think he could possibly be motivated to work with others on a team. While he’s abrasive and not a little trying on my patience, I don’t think he’s unsympathetic to others and he knows not to cross certain boundaries. If he’s here at all, it’s because it was his choice, isn’t it?”) (Page 86).

There’s also Ella, Candace’s friend and fellow trainee, True from the first wave of ANGELS, and Hector, etc. There was such a range of characters to get to know and love.

I thought the raging hormones bit was overplayed, but it did add a sense of hilarity, brusqueness, and urgency to the ANGEL’s actions.

The ending was so emotional and so devastating and left me itching for book two. Starla Huchton is a genius and a beautiful story-crafter and this series is a great one to read.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. on Feburary 25th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 5.00

 

Links for more information:

Starla Huchton’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Broken and Burned (The Sacred Hearts MC Book 2) by AJ Downey

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Broken and Burned (The Sacred Hearts MC Book  2) by AJ Downey

A Romance Novel published by Second Circle Press (09/08/14)

Summary:

 Everett is having the worst day. She was late for work and got a warning, burnt her finger while making coffee at work, thinks she’s going to fail her statistics class at school, is barely making ends meet paying bills, and now her car breaks down. Evy barely makes it into the mechanics and has to leave the car overnight and her boyfriend isn’t picking up the phone. After the hunky mechanic Draven “Dray” gives her a lift to her apartment, her world falls further apart. She walks in on her boyfriend in the act of cheating. Her world crumbling, Dray steps in to help her, but this damsel in distress is not as weak as she might appear to be. Dray was not always a valiant gentleman who feels compelled to help any less fortunate damsel he meets. He has his own sordid past. This is a relationship built on the healing powers of romance.

Keywords:

Romance, abuse, power, struggle, survival, motorcyle, club, friendship, loyalty, family, different, gruff, POV change, Irish, best friends, bad days, sexual content

My Review:

Broken and Burned, The second book in the Sacred Hearts MC Series was quite different from the first book (Shattered and Scarred). Though AJ Downey used another character from the MC, the story was wildly different. I thought it was quite clever for Downey to utilize characters from the first book that she had already given such personalities in Shattered and Scarred. I love the fact that this second story has such a great connection to book one, while being its own great story and potentially a standalone read. It’s as if, by telling the stories of Ethan “Trigger” in book one and the gal he finds on the side of the road and Draven “Dray” in book two and the gal he finds broken down at his mechanic shop, that Downey is creating the world of the MC. Eventually we will get everyone’s stories and pull more characters into the MC’s world.

Downey’s characters are so full of life and alive. Each character has a very specific backstory and such detailed characteristics and details that the characters must be alive, they seem so real. Both Dray and Evy are intensely and intimately real to me and I love them. They are unique and have their own interesting personality quirks. I feel like I would know how each would think and act in situations. I also know, without a doubt, what each one looks like.

I would like to mention how fantastic Downey’s character names are. Everett: named for the place she was born and the confusion in her father’s mind. Draven: carries his mother’s last name as his first name. How neat are those names and the stories that go along with them? Again, like book one, Downey utilizes POV switching between Dray and Evy seamlessly to tell their combined story and their personal stories.

This novel was published by Second Circle Press on September 8th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Goodreads

Facebook

Book Review: Green-Eyed Pursuit by Victoria Bastedo

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Green-Eyed Pursuit by Victoria Bastedo

A YA Mystery novel published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (05/04/2015)

Summary:

“Sometimes a thing has more value if it doesn’t come easily. And if you know your father before you know his history, you’ll have to judge him by his face and actions rather than by the trouble associated with his name.” (Kindle Locations 141-143).

Lucien, after discovering a letter written by his late mother detailing the existence of a father he never knew about, journeys to Seahaven with his best friend Rutherford and their schoolteacher Miss Pansy. After a 6 hour coach ride, they search all over town trying to find Amani Peale, Lucien’s father. They plan on matching eyes from father to son to prove parentage as both have startling green eyes. Eventually, the three are able to find Amani, but that is not all they discover in Seahaven. Lucien’s mother left the port town for good reason, to protect her son from the dark cloud of evil that surrounded Amani. There were those in the family and town who wanted to take over Amani’s inheritance and before Lucien was born, thugs roughed up Amani and framed him for murder. For 17 years Amani lay in wait, expecting the rogue to make a misstep so that Amani’s name could be cleared for good. Lucien gets caught up in Amani’s past as they work to create a new future together as father and son.

 

Keywords:

1905, Sea town, schoolteacher, absent father, inheritance, green-eyes, chase, family, love, loyalty, setup, suspense, stubbornness

 

My Review:

I adore Bastedo’s characters. She gives us a diverse assortment of them. You have Amani Peale, the estranged father who didn’t know he had a son and is valiantly trying to clear his name whilst building up his own fortunes outside of the family inheritance. Bremen is his loyal and trusty right hand man. Lucien is the boy who discovers he has a father as a near-adult and sets out to find him. Rutherford is his best friend. Miss Pansy is the schoolteacher who mothers them all. Beamish is the misunderstood upward-crawling family member whose opinions of Amani are less than nice. Finally, there is Clinger: the presumptuous bully from the docks. Bastedo’s characters are all very different in their personalities and their actions, although she has set some similarities between Amani and his son Lucien and between Bremen and Rutherford, the two buddies.

 

Though Bastedo sets her story in 1905, the writing style is lively if a bit dry. Her characters are stoic and don’t always admit to how they’re feeling. For Lucien, it’s his stubbornness that holds him back and keeps him from letting his feelings free. He lost his mother after all and doesn’t care to be mothered, subconsciously pushing away Miss Pansy’s attempts to care for him because she is in a way replacing the role of his late mother. Lucien is a fun character. Every time he is given new information that involves him and his future, he shows his aptitude for business and summarizing family legalities. His lengths at remaining stoic are hilarious, though he does display emotions when they are called for.

 

Though the writing and setting were somewhat dry to begin with and the action was slow to get the ball rolling, the story naturally found its stride and the secrets kept pouring out until the very end. I believe the slow to action start is quite appropriate for the setting of the story as 1905 was such a different time. Halfway through though, you won’t be able to put the book down as the drama accelerates and the action gets too exciting to let go.

 

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 05/04/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 4.50

 

Links for more information:

On the web

SnoValley blog

Victoria Bastedo blog

Book Review: Girls Can’t Be Knights by Lee French

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Girls Can’t Be Knights by Lee French

A Fantasy Novel published by Myrddin Publishing (06/12/15)

 

Summary:

“There’s no law that says a girl can’t be a Knight.” (Page 250).

Claire doesn’t let bullies get her down, she fights back. On school grounds fighting is cause for suspension, but that didn’t stop her from beating up the bully. She will probably be known for beating up a guy, but she won’t know because she’s not allowed to go back to school until her suspension is over. In the meantime, Claire is suddenly a target of all the neighborhood animals and at her wits end when a cat tries to claw off her face Justin arrives. He is a Knight. Literally. A knight. But he’s happily married with children, still, he must protect Claire from forces she never knew existed.

Keywords:

 Spirit Knight, Fantasy, POV Change, Fighting, Responsibility, Unsafe, Group Home, Fire, Orphan, Adoption, Strange Things, Horse, Trust, Hope, Death, Memories, Problems

My Review:

The juxtaposition of Justin’s viewpoint and thoughts and Claire’s perspective and thoughts gives the book a rich variety in flavor as the two characters are very different. Justin is a young father of two girls. He only learned to be a father through a mentor and sometimes doesn’t always understand Claire. He wants to protect Claire and doesn’t mind killing Ur-phasms, hitting innocent people over the head, or stealing hats. Claire, on the other hand, doesn’t think too hard before taking action, is out to protect herself even when she isn’t always able, and follows the law until it would lead to her harm. She also doesn’t always understand Justin.

Claire fights at school and sticks up for herself, even when it gets her in trouble, yet when she’s faced with real problems and life or death fights, she wishes her knight would save her. After the first few times when he doesn’t immediately come to save her, she realizes she still must rely on herself to get out of the sticky situation, but still, her plans don’t always work out. Finally the knight saves her, but through her struggles to figure out what really happened to her father and what the heck a Spirit Knight is, she will learn that she actually can save herself.

Kids bully Claire at school. Adults tell her what to do and what not to do. The system dictates where she lives and who she lives with. And everyone who knows about the Knights tells her that Girls Can’t Be Knights. Every time. Sometimes they say it incredulously, because it’s never happened before while sometimes they say it disdainfully because they can’t comprehend a change in the familiar, a girl knight. Claire is convinced that she can be a knight and is glad to have been chosen. It gives her life a purpose.

Overall the story was interesting and fun to read while speeding along at a rapid pace. The concepts French introduced were intriguing and I loved her play on gender. If there is a second book I would love to see more on how the only girl who is a knight fits into a world of male knights.

This novel was published by Myrddin Publishing on June 12th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

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