Category Archives: Reviews

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Have you heard? Sean Hayden’s new YA novel is out!

I might be a little prejudiced, but this is one of his best stories so far. Full of his trademark wit and humor, My Soul to Keep is his first young adult novel (and first of the Rise of the Fallen series!). Of course it slips into the paranormal genre as well and we get an added bonus of some romance! There are some wonderful tender scenes that had me sniffling. The characters will keep you laughing through an action packed, twisted plot.

Don’t miss this one my friends!

(PS. Likes, shares, tweets, fb’s always appreciated! If you’d like Sean to drop by your blog/website drop me a note!)

My Soul To Keep by Sean Hayden

YA Paranormal Romance novel

Published: May 5 2012  Available at Amazon for 3.99

Ever have one of those bad ideas just pop into your head? You know the ones. They seem like a great idea at the time, but if you had stopped to think about it a moment…

I’m talking about those ideas where you just seize the moment and do what your heart tells you to. Then, after the dust settles and you get bandaged up, your parents say, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“But, Dad, I wasn’t!”

I had one of those moments.

I guess if you want to be technical, I had a whole chain of those moments leading up to the big bang moment. The problem was I didn’t have anyone standing around saying, “What the hell were you thinking?”

The moral of this story?

There are several.

First, stores don’t sell black candles for a reason. They’re bad news. If you happen to come across one in the mall that sells questionable items…walk away. Trust me on this one. Black candles are bad.

Second, always know what you want out of life. Coasting along, not caring about anything will get you into trouble. Maybe more than you can handle.

Lastly, if someone offers to grant you your fondest wish, wish for something you really, truly want. Wish for something that will make the world a better place or you a better person. Never ever wish to be a monster…

Visit Sean at his website www.seanhayden.org  twitter @shaydenfl

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Book Review: A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

A Sound Among the TreesA Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

A house shrouded in time.
A line of women with a heritage of loss.

As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that Susannah’s ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.

When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband’s home, it isn’t long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.

With Adelaide’s richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wasn’t quite what I expected, I was thinking there would be more paranormal than there was. However I quickly became sucked into the wonderfully written story with its fascinating characters and beautiful surroundings. I definitely recommend to anyone.

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Book Review: 5 Stars to Totally Buzzed by Gale Borger

Totally Buzzed (A Miller Sisters Mystery, #1)Totally Buzzed by Gale Borger

Trouble seems to follow Buzz Miller, and this time it finds her outside the town of White Bass Lake, Wisconsin, where the dead body of a neighbor woman turns up stashed under her mother’s house! The retired detective is reluctantly roped into finding out “who dunnit.” In order to snag the bad guy, Buzz, along with her Biology teacher sister Mag, “The Maggot” Miller, have only to find the murderer by following the trail of a dead horse, uncovering the illegal importation of rare plants, breaking up an international drug trafficking ring, uncovering a designer drug lab, and avoid being bumped off by the bad guys. Simple enough, right? That is, until her mom’s wacky “Geriatric S.W.A.T. Team” cronies turn the crime scene into a neighborhood barbeque and Buzz’s 160 pound Newfoundland chews up most of her initial investigation! After a shoot out at the Not-So-OK-Corral, Buzz has to explain to Sheriff Green why his only solid suspect was now pushing up daisies while lying dead in the petunias!

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My entire life has been spent between the covers of fantasy and sci fi novels.Though I’ve read a few mysteries, I’ve never read one that got me laughing as hard as this one did. I read it from cover to cover in one night and not only could i not put it down, I couldn’t stop laughing. I had no idea mystery novels could be so much fun. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!

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Book Review: Senior Year Bites by J.A. Campbell

Senior Year BitesSenior Year Bites by J.A. Campbell

Senior year is supposed to be fun: boys, dances and graduation.

It’s significantly harder to enjoy it when you’re dead.

Truth or Dare is supposed to be fun too. It’s not even close to dangerous, so playing at Steph’s house didn’t seem like a bad idea. My dare? Spend the rest of the night in the graveyard next to her house. It was only a couple of hours until false dawn, my proscribed return time, so no big deal right? Right.

I survived the attack, but it took me a few days to figure out what was going on. I mean vampires might stalk pop culture, but they’re just myths. Yeah. Not so much.

School is a lot more difficult when you’re a nocturnal creature of the night. I was managing, but I couldn’t keep it hidden from my friends for long. After I managed to accidentally save one of our cheerleaders from her drunk and ill-intentioned boyfriend. Steph decided that we should be cool, like superheroes, and fight crime.

Only I’m a vampire, not a hero, and we live in a sleepy New England town, so crime’s a little harder to come by. At least it is until a serial killer moves into the area. He’s got the authorities stumped, but then again, the cops don’t have a teenage, blood-sucking, non-hero on their team.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

High school can be bad enough, but what if you’re turned into a vampire too? I loved this novel, sort of a manual on how to deal with suddenly becoming a vampire in high school. How do you cope? What about your family and friends. Wonderful story on how to turn a bad situation into a good one. Vampires can be heroes too. Definitely recommend.

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Book Review: Ghost Town by Rachel Caine 5 stars!

Ghost Town (The Morganville Vampires, #9)Ghost Town by Rachel Caine

While developing a new system to maintain the town’s defenses, genius student Claire Danvers discovers a way to use the vampires’ powers to keep outsiders from spreading news of Morganville’s “unique” situation.

But when people in town start forgetting who they are-including the vampires-Claire has to figure out how to pull the plug on her experiment before she forgets how to save herself…and Morganville.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I read it in one day, staying up late to finish.

Even though I haven’t read the first 8 I was still able to follow along the story easily. I was never lost, at the most I just thought–oh there’s more to that I should go back and read the others. :)

Great characters, fast moving plot and extremely well written. Absolutely LOVE the wacky character Myrnin!!

I definitely recommend this to anyone, check out the series or read this as a stand alone.

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Book Review:First Chosen by M. Todd Gallowglas

First Chosen (Tears of Rage)First Chosen by M. Todd Gallowglas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars. I love this book and it ended way to quickly! An intriguing world and mythology. The characters were excellent. The fight scenes are fantastic (I wish I could write fight scenes like that!) Happy to hear this is part of a series and I would definitely recommend as a great epic fantasy read.
The missing half a star is me wishing there was a bit more connection to the main characters. The characters themselves were great, however I love to see more of how they are feeling, more emotion. The introduction into the world was a bit confusing (not written so-just everything was new and it was a little hard to keep track!) Don’t let this deter you from reading, things get zipping along and settled into your head very quickly.
Awesome book. Be sure to check it out!

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Book Review: Eel’s Reverence by Marian Allen

Eel's ReverenceEel’s Reverence by Marian Allen

When elderly priest of Micah, “Aunt” Libby, goes on a Final Wandering, she’s accosted and then befriended by an amphibious mugger. The area known as The Eel is infested with worse than minor criminals–it’s under the thumbs of a coalition of greedy, brutal priests. Aunt Libby is a frail barrier to stand between peace and violence, and the worst violence may not come from her enemies…but from her friends

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mermayds and humans oh my!

A great story with conflict, peace vs violence and an excellent look into human (and not so human) character.

Love Marian’s writing style and voice. If you haven’t checked out her new book Force of Habit you better go read it too!

Price $2.99

Read about it and sample it.

Buy it on Amazon for Kindle.

Buy it at Barnes & Noble for Nook.

Buy it at OmniLit for all electronic formats.

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Book Review: No Alibi by Jenny Hilborne

No AlibiNo Alibi by Jenny Hilborne

Isabelle Kingsley didn’t think her husband would ever cheat. Her husband didn’t think she would ever find out. Now he is missing, and his mistress is dead. Suspected of killing her, Isabelle turns to her best friend, only to discover another betrayal. Is there no one she can trust?

Homicide cop, John Doucette, is on the case. Something about Isabelle unnerves him. Could she be innocent? If she is, how did the murder weapon come to be in her possession? Someone from her past connects them; someone that Doucette does not want to face.

Doucette must set aside his personal feelings and fears to work through the tangled web of deceit before the case goes cold and a killer goes free.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another amazing story by Jenny Hilborne! I’m normally a fantasy reader but this story had enough of everything else to keep me hooked and turning the pages (despite the lack of elves LOL)

If you love a good mystery, with even a touch of romance thrown in too, be sure to read this one! Loved the characters and setting. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing right til the end! Be sure to check out her first book Madness and Murder too. You’ll be hooked!

Available for 2.99 at Amazon

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Book Review: Second Chance by Sean and Connor Hayden

Second Chance (The Magnificent Steam Carnival of Professor Pelusian Minus)Second Chance by Sean and Connor Hayden
Professor Pelusian Minus has moved the carnival to Chicago. Using the twins, he plans to replace all of the carnival workers with a clockwork force designed and built by the young brother and sister. The twins know it is wrong and they stall as long as possible in hopes of escaping from the professor and the carnival that has been their home for most of their lives.

Things seem to be getting better as the twins make a new friend. If only everything was as it seemed. Paige’s life is still in danger and they have not found the one thing that could save her. Is there plan to get even with Professor minus too outrageous? Things take a turn for the worse as a horrible accident befalls them and an old friend comes to their rescue!

Follow along as outsiders start to wonder about The Flying Twins. Will the US Marshal Vance Tucker find them before it’s too late? Will the twins find a way to free Paige from her deadly device? Will Minus’ evil plans come really happen? You’ll have to read to find out.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another amazing story by the Haydens!
I’ve been reading this series to my boys, 7 & 9, and they are just loving it. It’s so wonderful to find a story for young boys…and girls. Yes, I’m enjoying this series so much I’ve skipped ahead to finish both installments when the kids weren’t looking. Even though it is written for young teens, those older and younger will enjoy the very well written story, characters and plot. Full of humor and very engaging I recommend it to anyone no matter their gender or age. Though the story has a satisfying ending in its own right, I can’t wait to see what happens with the twins!
Available for 0.99 at [OmniLit][Kindle][KindleUK][Nook][Smashwords]
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