Thursday, June 28, 2012

Title: Oh Cherry Ripe
Author: Claudy Conn
Page count:
Genre: historical romance
My rating: 5/5
Publisher:BC Publications
Published: February 23rd 2012
Summary: Cherry Elton was beside herself! Her own mother had arranged a marriage for her to a man she had never even met. She had no choice but to run away.
Sky Westbrooke had no wish to marry, but his mischievous siblings sorely needed a firm maternal hand. Yet, how could he court his unseen bride, when into his employ had come the most remarkable, enchanting governess?
And Cherry, playing at being a governess was smitten by the handsome, cavalier Lord Westbrooke. His stolen kisses left her breathless—yet, he was betrothed to another. Whatever was a love struck governess to do?(

My Thoughts: I needed a quick easy read the other night and Oh Cherry Ripe was in my “Need Read” File on the kindle. I’ve been needing to read this for a while, but got distracted like most book reviewers do.... Dang this was awesome! I couldn't put it down and stayed up through the night to finish it.

The Review: The characters were amazing and the chance of them meeting like this and falling in love was almost a fairy tale ending and set up. Cherry (Cheryl) was the female character of Oh Cherry Ripe, she disagreed with the way women were viewed in london during this time period. Sky is the man who needed compassion from the starts. Together the two characters create a bang that shake their universe. Claudy Conn threads another love story in ways that make it fun to read.
The children were another important factor in all this. Francine and Felix were the wins, the children that made Cherry want to stay. Freddy is the simple character with some baggage and comical tendencies that reminded me of younger James, once he was introduced. Sadly, Mary was not in the story, so I will have to imagine what she is like.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Jami Montgomery Interview

So now we have a interview from the wonderful Jami. Hope you enjoy and want to go check out her book Knights End by the end of reading this.

We are currently working on a blog hop so keep your eyes peeled.

1) When did you decide that writing was your thing?

Honestly, writing is something that I’ve always done. I learned to read at a really young age because my sister was in kindergarten and learning, so I learned with her. But “See Spot Run” and “Sam chases Jane” were so pointless to me because I was already at a higher reading level when I got into school, so I started making up my own stories. From there it just blossomed until I was devouring every book I could find and writing my own.

2) Why did you go with self publishing your book?

Historical fiction is a very tight niche. It’s not one of those genres that is constantly gaining new fans, but rather one that has the same group of people that read the books. I mean, they get new fans sometimes, sure. But not like paranormal or young adult does. Right when I finished writing Knight’s End, I jumped into writing Nineteen. And when I finished Nineteen, I started to query with it. It’s really hard to be someone with no writing credit trying to publish a book traditionally. It’s nothing on you, really. It all depends on the agents, the publishers. They get to decide whether your story is good enough or not.
After months of trying (and failing) to find and agent for Nineteen, I started working on Knight’s End again, editing it as much as I could, changing some of the story up and just generally making it “read worthy.” Then I found a good self-publishing site and worked with a cover maker (who is also my best friend) to get a cover I could use and voila! Knight’s End was published.

3) Who were/are the people that helped you the most with your writing?

I honestly believe that the people I met and befriended on inkpop helped my writing immensely. They were never afraid to be harsh, but their harsh reviews helped me so much. I grew a lot while on that site. I wrote the beginning of Knight’s End four different times before finding one that really fit my book, and it’s all because of reviews I got on inkpop. And now, the friends I’ve made there keep me writing and don’t let me give up. They encourage me and help me still. I wouldn’t be anyone without them.

4) Which one of your characters did you find the funnest to write? Did you find any of them hard to write?

In Knight’s End, I absolutely love Ernst. He’s not a huge part of the first book, but he’s big later. I just love everything about him. He’s proud but not arrogant, funny (though that’s hard to see in the first book) and just cares about his family more than anything. I feel like he’s one of those characters that you really have to think about to understand, and no one will ever know him as well as I do.
Hard to write? Probably Aston or Richie. Richie plays a huge role in later books too, though he’s a side character in Knight’s End. He’s a young boy working in the palace, and you don’t get to see him much. It’s hard to write from the perspective of someone so young. And Aston because I knew things about him that readers don’t know until the end of the book, and it was hard for me to get him right while thinking about later pieces of the story. But I think he turned out pretty well.

5) What are challenges you faced while writing?

I think my biggest challenge writing Knight’s End was getting the time period right. I mean, the research is the hardest part of historical writing. You have to use the right words to describe things (like breeches instead of pants of jeans, and blouse or tunic instead of shirts) and the dialogue has to be a bit tighter. But that’s what makes it believable in the end, so I can’t really complain.

6) Who would you consider your writing mentor?

My writing mentor would have to be Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her story is so amazing, and she overcame so much to get where she is. She’s a true icon of the “dreams come true” slogan, and I absolutely love her writing. I love that she never gave up and she got where she needed to be, and I love to think that someday I’ll be able to do the same and inspire other people to go for their dreams and not give up.

7) Outlines – they are a thing many authors use, but there are many that don’t use them. Do you use outlines while you write?

I actually don’t use outlines. I always have a clear picture in my head of how the book will end, but from beginning to end I really don’t have any clue what will happen. I let the characters surprise me and see where they take me.

8) Do you experience writer’s block? How do you handle it?

I think every writer experiences writer’s block at some point in their careers. I usually work on something different for a while if my current project isn’t cooperating. I started writing Knight’s End two years ago, got stuck on it, wrote another book, and then came back to KE. The entire storyline changed when I came back to it, and it worked out for the better. While writing Nineteen, I started a lot of side projects. I now have about twenty seven books started on my computer. Whenever I get stuck, I go to one of those for a while.

9) What are you currently working on?

Right now I am writing a ghost story called Otherworldly. It’s about a boy named Robbie who died and ends up in a place called Otherworld and his girlfriend, Johanna, who he leaves behind when he dies. One day, Robbie wakes up and gets pulled out of Otherworld and back to Earth…as a ghost. Something happens that makes him momentarily human, and Johanna sees him. Thus their adventure starts. There’s a secret, deadly organization, murder, ghosts, and lots more in this book, and I am really excited about it. Maybe I’ll post a preview on my author page soon to get some thoughts. It’s really different from anything I’ve written before, so we’ll see how it goes.

10) Which paranormal creature would you least like and most like to become?

I don’t think I would want to be a vampire. They’ve become so clichéd and overdone. And I really don’t like werewolves, so definitely neither of those. Most like to become? Probably one of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters. I mean, the way they come into being totally sucks, but once you’re there… I think it would be cool.

Find her book on amazon at; http://www.amazon.com/Jami-Montgomery/e/B007SXRKPK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Eternal Breath of Darkness

Title: Eternal Breath of Darkness
Author: Candice Stauffer
Page count:
Genre: romance
My rating: 4/5
Publisher:
Published: september 30, 2011
Summary:Will Caylee’s salvation come from the solitude of the cold, dark grave or from the the sinful delights of surrendering her body and soul to the seduction of a wickedly sexy, dark and dangerous powerful immortal?

From the beginning of time, Haden’s kind has to stop the deadliest forces of darkness from destroying mankind. He has never feared defeat until now. He would sacrifice anyting, even his life to protect Caylee. But despite possessing the dragon’s fierce nature and power, there’s little hope he’ll save her from a lust-crazed vampire that a rogue demon is aiding. Instead of completing the ancient ritual that’ll give his eternal breath to her and bind their souls together for eternity, will Haden be forced to kill Caylee to prevent her from suffering a never-ending thirst for blood?

My Thoughts: The first part of the book is setting up of the characters, the plot, the everything. It was a slow start but.... Once everything was set up the story really started. After 40% I was forced to keep reading because it drew me in. The characters that cracked me up were Joesph and Mia. They were genois creations.

The Review: First off the characters. Haden was a little over protective at the start, but by the end he was much easier to understand. Caylee was very very very fun to see how she progressed. From silent scared women that can't speak up, too loud giggly person. Yeah she was one of those characters you needed her to get help on the issues. Then the way she pushed in the other couples, that was a good add in, and it didn't take over the book since the main couple were Haden and Caylee.
The setting: I wasn't to vastly to keep up with. Whoooo! Then when a new place was entered it was easy to get into the area and know what was happening and where

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Shadows

Title: Shadows
Author: Emma Miles
Page count: 620
Genre:
My rating: 4/5
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Published: January 23, 2012
Summary: An orphan in the City of Slums, Tobias dreams of freedom and the stories of his Grandmother; but every fairytale has its darkside and every hero its nemesis. Whilst dreams can come true, so can nightmares. One bright light stands between him and the shadows; Artheiwyn, warrior-scout of a long vanished people. Whilst admired by some she is shunned by others; for no female should learn the magic of the Wind Elves.

My Thoughts: So shadows went really slow for the first 400 pages or so.. It was a good slow though because the characters and plot needed to be set up. If you loved the Eragon books then you’ll love this. I found Shadows a good read. Thanks Emma Miles for letting me read this. :)

The Review: Lot’s and lot’s of characters, some leave while other stay and join.Tobias of course is one of the main characters of course.He is a little behind to the other characters since he never lived this lifestyle behind locked up in a city. In the end he starts becoming a strong character who I await to see mature even more. Artheiwyn she was one of my favorite characters in the book. She is the female that stands out and fights among her people. I love that even as most people disagree with her choice she fights and stands up for her choice. Ellenion well he is the prince. The Character you really wouldn't think had anything useful about him. In the end my thoughts were higher about him than what I thought they’d be. Then the dragons who doesn’t like dragons?
The setting: Well they were everywhere, never staying in one place for too long. Keeping the scenery fresh and new. The changes of setting was one of the things I liked the most about this book.I believe this helped the characters develop and become easier to understand and accept.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Title: The Chosen One (The Man of My Dreams #3)
Author: Gladys Quintal
Page count:
Genre: Paranormal romance
My rating: 5/5
Publisher: Createspace
Published: June 30th, 2012
Summary: Trying to exist undetected in a human world with a human family, is hard enough when you are a vampire - but finding out your son is the fabled Chosen One, makes things even more difficult.
Will Alexi's love be enough to protect his precious child from the powers that be? Or will he be condemned to live out eternity alone..

My Thoughts:

Another wonderful ending, not as cliffhanger as the other have been, but still it leaves you wanting more. I was still shocked until the end and my reaction was... Whoa! Didn’t see that coming. Then this is just me. I loved the chapters every ten percent. My reading habits are weird, I know, I know.

The Review:
The story has added to the shock factor. Now not only vampires and witches are in the plot, but ghost, demon children, and a certain dark figure. I never saw that coming and I was freaking shocked! We get to continue with all of the other characters from the first and second book, new, old, young. All are easily likable.
So the story takes place in similar places not going around to many, so that is easy to remember. Nothing hard to remember and not too much jumping around.
Now I love how the book starts off right where it ended in the previous.
I love how Chloe becomes a family member in such a short period of time. :)

Friday, June 15, 2012

Savage To Savvy

Title: Savage To Savvy
Author: Kate Rigby
Page count: 185
Genre: Twisted scientific ideas
My rating: 4/5
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Published: November 19th 2011
Summary: Psychology graduate, Heidi Harper is appointed to work with Albanian-born Professor Mala, pioneer of a new project to rehabilitate dog-reared feral child, Nicki. The Professor’s son, Rudi, is Project Manager of the Laurels where Nicki and other children with ‘multiple deficits’ reside.
Heidi is soon asking questions about Nicki’s previous feral existence. Her suspicions are further aroused at the Professor’s soirée one evening by a drunken outburst from Rob Ivory – ex employee of the Professor who claims he sabotaged the experiment and taught Nicki language. On the same evening, she also discovers some disused laboratories behind the Professor’s house. Heidi goes digging further, and finds Nicki was part of a Forbidden Experiment. Heidi’s mission soon takes on sinister overtones and as the truth outs, the lives of all concerned begin to unravel.
Savage To Savvy is a psychological thriller following the structure of an academic paper: Abstract, Introduction, Method & Results, Discussion, Conclusions.

The Review;
So first off the book does start out slowly, as it was being set up for the first 20% mainly. I do admit I wasn’t pulled into the story until all the explaining stuff was mainly done. If she hadn't set the book up though then the images wouldn't have been so clear. Some characters are set up to appear mean and cruel while others get their evil later on in the story.
The twist and turns that happen through the story are not what you are going to expect. Why did Nicki grow up the way she did? Was the question that came to mind the most while reading this. By the end I was annoyed or mad at most of the characters. Only Heidi and Nicki remained on my more preferred side.
Next the ending. You will not see it coming, I swear. What I thought would happen was far off because I couldn’t believe what happened. It was abrupt at points, but that is what gave it the feeling of how it was supposed to. “following the structure of an academic paper: Abstract, Introduction, Method & Results, Discussion, Conclusions.” I love how it was different from the regular styles I normally read, it was easy to understand and not over my head.
Well for a book in a genre I normally don’t read as much. It turned out that I liked it enough for four stars. I think anyone could feel something towards Nicki if they were to rad this.

Where to find the book;
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13101182-savage-to-savvy
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com-Linky

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Giveaway Time.

Well here the giveaway we’ve been talking about for the last couple weeks.

The giveaway bundles:

#1 Romance bundle;

The Man of My Dreams by Gladys Quintal

Wind Swept Narrows: #2 Cassidy, Abby & Mia by Karen Nichols

(in PDF - ePub or HTML formats)

Breanna by Karen Nichols (in PDF - ePub or HTML formats)

#2 Young adult;

bookmarks

ecopy of Devastation by Shandy L Kurth

#3 Swag

Main entry - just leave your email to contact you. Make sure you say which bundle you want the most and which you want the least.
Ways you can enter. Share it on twitter, facebook, your blog, etc. and get a entry each time. (+1 point for each and the link is required)
Follow the Blog and facebook page. Link in case you don’t know; http://www.facebook.com/elfscornerofeverything (+1 entry leave username)
Follow us on twitter. @elfs_corner (+1 leave your username)

The authors; Like their page and thank them them for their donations.
Gladys-Quintal; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gladys-Quintal/293506287341938
Shandy L Kurth; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Shandy-L-Kurth/112882395460694
Check out this launch party going on as well; http://www.facebook.com/events/388963211140755/ . Leave a link of you commenting on the event.

The giveaway will end on July, ??.

Monday, June 4, 2012

The Realm Between Heaven and Hell

Author Statement:
I was 25 years old before I figured out what I wanted to be when I grow up. I am not sure why it took me so long to take my love for writing seriously. After all, I have been at it for as long as I can remember. I remember the day I received my first journal and how great it felt to have someone finally understand me! I have a desk full of binders and folders packed with the beginnings of stories, ideas and tidbits. Writing is who I am. I guess the idea of doing what you love was a foreign concept
to me, but not anymore! ~Jessi

Now a excerpt;

Dawn sat up straight and looked around. She knew she was no longer alone. Then she saw him, standing with his back to her in the moonlight that shone through a gaping hole in the trees. Dawn was startled but still not afraid. The wind began to rustle through the trees, causing a beautiful cloud of pastel leaves and petals to float about her. The leaves fell so thick that Dawn could no longer see the man. She became mesmerized by the falling petals; never in her life had she had the privilege to witness a scene this strikingly beautiful. She forgot the man, she forgot how to fear. Dawn stood perfectly still in the gentle storm of leaves that rained down around her. The wind died down and the last of the leaves began to silently fall to the ground, like snow on Christmas. The forest bed had been covered in a thick blanket of fallen petals. One brushed her cheek and another landed on her bare shoulder. Without looking, she brushed it off and began to wonder whether the man she saw was real or if she had still been dreaming. She took a step back and lost her footing on a root of the apple tree. In that instant, a hand reached out from behind and saved her from her fall. She spun around, nearly falling again, holding fast to the hand that saved her. Dawn found herself staring into darkness. She could barely make out a silhouette of a face in the shadow of the tree. Dawn took little steps back, and the man who held her hand took those same steps forward. As his face came out of the shadows, Dawn held her breath.

A more handsome face she had never seen. He was a good bit taller than her. His hair was long and dreadlocked, and his skin was brown like sugar. But it was his eyes that caught her attention: his dark coal eyes. The two stood there, staring into each other’s eyes, not saying a word. Dawn didn’t know what to say, and it seemed that her mysterious man didn’t either. So there they stood in silence, holding hands.

Title: The Realm Between Heaven and Hell

Author: J. S. Turner
Page count: 192
Genre: young adultish, afterlife
My rating: 4/5
Publisher: Pylon Publishing
Published: December 4th 2011
Summary: On earth, life for Dawn Chitoe had been cruel. Although she was strong in her faith, her future looked grim. She found her blessings to be painfully short and too few in between. Until one day, a beautiful baby boy, Josiah, miraculously came into her world. Just when Dawn felt her troubles had vanished, she found herself the victim of a brutal murder. With Josiah cradled in her arms, she embarked on an adventure through the realm between Heaven and Hell. Along the way she finds friends, love, and the truth about religion and faith.

The Review: So this story could be suitable for people for ages 12 and up. Truthfully it could have a younger crowd if the could stand a little violence. The characters were easy enough to like and Dawn was only in denile for a little while. That itself made the book easier and more interesting to read. If she had just excepted that she was dead then it would have been little unbelievable.

The take she took on angels, demons, and everything in between was.... interesting. Twisting around who she made us believe were the bad guys turn into the a little better guys. (Go with it.) Still the ending was something I was not expecting. It left me going What! and no way. A good cliff hanger was the idea. Now it leaves me wanting more.

Giveaway Rules:

There will be an overall blog tour giveaway. To enter the giveaway all you have to do 3 simple things: 1) go “Like” the book’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/therealmbetween, 2) Leave a comment on this blog post. The more blogs you visit and comment on the more entries you get. 3) Share the giveaway by posting “ Check out the blog tour going on for The Realm Between Heaven & Hell http://www.facebook.com/therealmbetween and enter to win a Signed Copy.”

One winner will get a SIGNED COPY of “The Realm Between Heaven & Hell”. Good Luck and Thank you for participating.

It can be purchased at;

Amazon in Paperback Amazon in paper back

Barnes & Noble in paperback

Blog Tour Stops

Friday, May 25, 2012 wendysbookcase.wordpress.com

Saturday, May 26, 2012 www.fictionalcandy.com

Sunday, May 27, 2012 thecoverbybrittany.blogspot.com

Monday, May 28, 2012 tamariasoana.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 www.heartofawolf.com

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 thereforyoumelissa.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 31, 2012 http://satinsbookishcorner.blogspot.co.uk