Fae Spark #review #amreading

Feb15

Fae Spark 

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Synopsis
Eero is a fae man that is ready to choose his companion to have his children. In this world, fae choose human women to bear their children. This is an enviable position for most women because having a fae child means that they will be taken care of and be able to live in luxury the rest of their lives. Fae men usually choose their consort based on looks alone, but Eero also wants someone who he believes will genuinely love and care for their children.
Liana is a human woman and the chosen consort of Eero. She does not want to be chosen by any fae to be a consort. Mainly she believes that she is not the skin tone or body shape that could attract any fae man.

Opinion
The story started really strong and I was drawn into the world that the author created. But (and you know I am about to let the other shoe drop now) Liana was a tremendously stubborn woman. It was draining.

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She signed the contract to accept Eero and be his consort, but then she spends the majority of the book resisting him. She knew she thought he was attractive, but she acted like she had to fight the impulse at every turn.

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I could tell that she had low self-esteem because she did not believe that someone who looked like her could attract someone who looked like him. There were some mentions of her skin tone and body size as if she had a complex because of her looks. Eero thought they belonged together, but I felt that she did not deserve him.

Do not get me wrong, I am all for the big brown girl to get the hunky hotty.

However, in this case, it was infuriating to me that she would repeatedly be overly negative to him when he was trying to get her to understand why he thought there was a connection. How much disses can one guy take? If she could only get it through her thick head that he was not with her just to have a baby!

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TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
If the story had stopped after the first few chapters, I would have said unequivocally BUY. But with the rest of the story, you might find it as tiresome as I did. I kept reading because I was hoping it would get better. There were some interesting side plot lines that peaked my interest, but I am not sure it was enough to make up for Liana’s bad attitude.

Book details
Series: Mates of the Fae
Publisher: Hard Candies Publishing; 2 edition (May 5, 2016)
Publication Date: May 5, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

 

The Secret Life of Bees #bestseller #historicalnovel #fiction #bookclubpick

Feb10

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

3heart
Synopsis
Lily is searching for answers about her mother who died in a tragic accident when she was a toddler. Following a violent incident with her nanny Rosaleen and some racist men in their town, Lily and Rosaleen travel Tiburon, South Carolina. This town might be a clue to helping Lily find out who her mother really was.

The family that they stay with are 3 black beekeeper sisters. Here, they find shelter and Lily is able to search for the answers that she has had her whole life.

Opinion
The writing and imagery was good, but I could not fully enjoy the coming-of-age story because I was on edge hoping that these black women would not be lynched for having the humanity to be hospitable to a white girl. Given that racists at that time committed some very violent acts with impunity, I was not sure which way the author was taking the story.

In the beginning chapters, Rosaleen was put in the hospital because of a confrontation. I have two thoughts on that whole incident as well because I feel that was the catalyst for the Lily moving and taking Rosaleen with her.

  1. There is NO WAY that a black woman at that time would do what Rosaleen did, knowing full well that those men would try to kill her.
  2. If a black woman of that era had done what Rosaleen did and if the sheriff allowed them to beat her while in jail, I doubt that they would have taken her to the hospital. They would have beaten her to death.

I read this book because it was picked by a member of my book club. I hesitate to read books from this time period because usually the issue of the racial discord is glossed over in such a way that tries to make it seem like things were not really all that bad. Essentially, the white people were privileged to do whatever they pleased, and for the most part, they did not question the division and inequality of races. It was accepted as that is how society was and there was no need to change it (which is still a problem BTW). The black people were wise enough to counsel and support the white person in their care, while being content with their lot in life to be subservient.

Therein lies one of the main reasons I have issue with people saying that they wished they could be back in the “good old days”.

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But that is a post for another time…

All things considered, if you want to pretend that the ugliness of racial prejudice did not happen, the story is a heartwarming tale. If you or someone you know was negatively affected by the racially motivated domestic terrorism in the South during the 50s and 60s, you might be bitter like I was.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
I say BORROW, but there is a large population of readers that say BUY.

Book Details
Print Length: 333 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0143124323
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1st edition (January 28, 2003)
Publication Date: January 28, 2003
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC

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COVER REVEAL The Last Call by RB Hilliard #romanticsuspense

Feb3
Title: The Last Call
Series: MMG Series No. V
Author: RB Hilliard
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Release Date: February 28, 2017

 

Welcome to The Last Call.

Where Max and Ellie finally get their end game and Gage and Piper reap the benefits from not letting go. 

Welcome to The Last Call.

Where Dillon and Isabella realize what one more time really means and Kurt and Joss are flipped right side up.

Welcome to The Last Call.

Where Cas and Sarah figure out how to keep it simple and Harry and Polly take a chance on love.

Welcome to The Last Call.

Where friends come together as family and family means everything.

Welcome to The Last Call.

Where new beginnings are just around the corner…


RB Hilliard lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and two children. Her love of the written word led her to pursue a degree in English and later a career as an academic language therapist. In 2012 she took a break from teaching and began writing her first novel, His End Game. Hilliard has published five books in her MMG Series, as well as Utterly Forgettable, a romantic comedy and Fractured Beat, the first in her Meltdown Series.


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When the Butterflies Come by Rosemary Ness Bitner #thrillerRomance #KindleUnlimited

Feb3

Title: When the Butterflies Come
Series: Rosemary’s Butterflies #2
Author: Rosemary Ness Bitner
Genre: Crime Thriller Romance
Release Date: March 3, 2017
Cover: Carrie at Cheeky Covers

An angry David plunges into insanity, forcing his twisted world view upon his new protégé as his old enemy seeks final revenge. Taking on all comers in the fight of his life he closely guards his dark secrets.

Barbara loves Bob, but why do Marty and David conspire to keep them apart? It can’t be the business that drives David, so what is it? What unmasks this bizarre evil genius?

People disappear. Hush money changes hands. Secret keys hide secret files behind secret doors. Suddenly thrust into a life or death situation, Barbara creates a clever plan to hunt down a key piece of evidence.

A quiet night is shattered by her dead mother’s voice. A priest who can’t possibly know her makes a mysterious appearance and stirs her to act. Can she risk her family’s trust and money to go away with her man? If they reach the Cedar River, will she have the strength to ford its raging current?

Erotic, thrilling, and deeply probative into the debauched thoughts of a ghoulish psychopath, When the Butterflies Come will haunt you, take your emotions for a roller coaster ride and make you an unshakable believer in true love and the magical spirits of butterflies.

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I’m reclusive by choice. I live near the edge of a wilderness area and my best friends are the forest animals. I love watching them go about their lives. I like to disappear into the wild for several days or a week at a time to get my best ideas and do my thinking. I have one house pet, a big tabby cat named Bud.

MY INTERESTS

My interests are varied. I’m fascinated by peoples’ varied personalities and forever curious about how different people came to behave the way they do and think the way they do. I like to write about things where I believe I can tell a story that sheds a fresh perspective on a possibly misplaced common perception, or when I can perceive something about the future that, for reasons I do not fully understand myself, I can develop a story around and use that story to project what will happen. I try to feel what my characters feel in my stories. In fact, sometimes I cry when I write about sad things, and sometimes I cry happy cries when I write about things that relieve a character from stresses or something bad. I also feel a terrible sadness for my bad boy and bad girl characters because they can’t help themselves from being bad. When my characters fall in love, I try to put into their minds the same feelings I think I would have if I were them.
MY INSPIRATION
It’s hard to explain what inspires me to write. It’s more because I enjoy doing it than anything else. I get to thinking about someone I knew or read about or heard about and then a story takes form. Some mornings when I wake up there are thoughts about one or more of my characters swirling through my mind and I hurry to write those thoughts down because they are the very best outlets to express the story. Somehow they bubble up from the sub-conscious. Likely the mind is more miraculous than any of us realize. Writing is a way for me to give to others by releasing my feelings. I’m always hopeful that my work will help someone gain a perspective they didn’t have before or someone will better understand a person they couldn’t understand before.
PURR

In the evenings I like to write my first drafts in pencil by an oil lamp. There’s something special about thought processes that take place when I’m alone with my lamp, my pencil, the wonderful silence and Bud. He loves to walk on my draft paper or lie down and stretch himself out on it. That’s his goofy way of telling me he needs my attention. Then I hold him close to me like he’s a little baby and give him gentle hug rubs until he purrs. That’s how I know he’s happy and feeling healthy. He has a great purr. He goes “purr, purr, purr, purr purr.” The rubs help him slip into another world, cat dream world I guess. My place gets a little untidy when I’m immersed in writing but it’s always clean, except for when Bud leaves a fur ball someplace. He can’t help himself when he does that. He’s a cat!

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Claimed by the Cyborg #cyborgromance @CaraBristol #whattoread #bookaddict 

Feb3

Claimed by the cyborg

4heartSynopsis
March fell for Jules when she was an alien exchange student visiting earth. She left all of a sudden and March has never forgotten her.

In the intervening years, he has become a cyborg. Now March’s job brings him to Xenia and he wants to see if he can find Jules to at least get closure to understand why she left him years ago.

Julieta is in line to be the next Xenian emperor and falling in love with a Terran man March was not part of the plan.

Years later, she still regrets leaving March, but she is determined to sacrifice her happiness for her people. Then March is on her planet and all her resolve is gone.

Opinion

FTC disclosure: I voluntarily read an advanced reader’s copy of this book

This book was the most romantic cyborg book I have ever read. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but once you read it, you will understand. I feel like it needs it’s own soundtrack. Descriptive language painted such a detailed picture, my emotions were fully involved.

First of all, I loved March. He was not ashamed to admit that he had fallen in love and the analytical part of his brain wanted to understand what went wrong and why did she leave.

“He still dreamed of her and awakened each morning breath to find her gone.”

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When March finds Jules and realizes who she is, he is determined to be an honorable man and do what would be best for everyone else.

He was not weak or indecisive, however, he calculated the implications of their union and decided to sacrifice his happiness in order to ensure the stability of her nation. He was going to let her go for the greater benefit of her world. He could not in good conscience ask her to give up being emperor in order to be with him.
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What he did not factor into his equation was that Jules was feeling just as strongly about him.

“One beckoning smile from Jules… rendered him powerless to resist temptation“

Before I even began reading the book, I did not like Jules because she left March and I was in love with March from the beginning. As the story progresses, I could understand why she left years ago and the predicament in which she found herself. I can say that she redeemed herself and I felt that she was worthy to be with March.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?

BUY. I have been recommending this book ever since I read it. I loved it that much. I can best describe this book as sweet but not sappy.

Book details

Series: Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance (5 Book Series)
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Print Length: 158 pages

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