Book Review: PARADISE 21 by Aubrie Dionne

Our very own and very talented Aubrie Dionne has a new book out. It's Paradise 21, book one of the New Dawn series published by Entangled Publishing. It's science fiction romance and a fantastic read! Go get your copy today. *grins*

Title: Paradise 21

Series: A New Dawn, Book #1

Author: Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (August 2011)

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher

To Purchase: Amazon  B&N

Description: Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind's last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where mankind can begin anew- a planet that won't be reached in Aries' lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe,she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers rumors about pirates - humans who have escaped her before its demise - are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possess the freedom Aries' envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet's native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

Review: In Aubrie Dionne’s Paradise 21, the chance for freedom resides where the heart is.

Aries is a Lifer, residing on the New Dawn and bound by whatever fate test scores and a computer cook up for her. Longing for a life of her own, she escapes to Sahara 354, a land of eternal day, sandworms, lizard-people, and a smoking hot space pirate named Striker. When her betrothed-to-be lands on the planet in search for her, Aries may have to give up her long-lost freedom for the man she loves.

Paradise 21 is beautifully written. Each word sings on the page and lends importance to the plot, setting, and characters. Ms. Dionne brings to life new worlds from cold, deep space to the desert planet and its strange inhabitants. We feel the heat and the isolation within the universe. As a science fiction novel, Paradise 21 explodes with action-packed drama; as a romance novel, it oozes with sweet romance. The strongest part of this novel resides within the characters. They are flawed and wonderful. Their issues and how they overcome them moves the plot forward. There is never a dull moment! Each character shows growth in who they are, although some characters never change, like people. Ms. Dionne yanks the reader into the worlds she creates and doesn’t let them up for air until the last page. Best of all, Paradise 21 reminds us freedom is sacred, sacrifice involves love, and every creature is important.

Aubrie Dionne’s Paradise 21 catapults me into outer space where anything is possible, but most of all love, and I love this novel and highly recommend it.

Book Review: CREEP by Jennifer Hillier

Title: Creep

Author: Jennifer Hillier

Publisher: Gallery (July 5, 2011)

Format: Hardback

Source: Purchased from Amazon

To Purchase: Amazon

Description: If he can’t have her . . .

Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away.

. . . no one else can.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancé discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

Review: Jennifer Hillier’s Creep is a chilling must-read.

Dr. Sheila Tao made a huge mistake when she had an affair with her grad student Ethan Wolfe. Now she is breaking off the affair for her engagement with an investment banker. As the wedding date grows closer, Ethan’s plans development into a horrifying twist that might not only ruin Sheila’s career and engagement but also her life.

Creep may be Hillier’s debut novel, but she mastered the art of the thriller. The scenes are so realistic and don’t gloss over any facts. The flawed characters push the plot forward. Everyone has secrets and faults, and Hillier creates wonderful shades of gray. The sprinkling of bread-crumb clues still leave the reader guessing up to the surprising conclusion. The pace is action-packed with never a dull moment. A word of advice though: don’t start this book unless you plan to keep reading until the last page. Creep sticks with you, will follow you around, and just might kidnap your dreams. I loved it!

If you are a fan of Chelsea Cain’s Beauty Killer series like I am, then you’ll love Jennifer Hillier’s Creep. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for book two.

Book Review: CINDERS by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Title: Cinders

Author: Michelle Davidson Argyle

Format: eBook

Source: Purchased (Amazon Kindle)

To Purchase: Amazon Paperback   Amazon Kindle Edition

Description: Cinderella's happily-ever-after isn't turning out the way she expected. With her fairy godmother imprisoned in the castle and a mysterious stranger haunting her dreams, Cinderella is on her own to discover true love untainted by magic.

Review: Michelle Davidson Argyle expands upon the fairytale’s happily-ever-after—or not—in her take on Cinderella in Cinders.

Cinderella has her prince and everything her heart desired, or so she thought. A mysterious stranger haunts her dreams, the kingdom is in trouble under her parents-in-law’s iron-gripped rule, and her prince is sweet, but she ponders whether or not he loves her or if it is just the spell that fuels his desire. She must find her own magic and what her heart truly desires or she might lose everything she holds dear.

Michelle Davidson Argyle’s Cinders is not your Disney’s Cinderella. Argyle weaves a tale of dark beauty where there is no happily ever after, but dreams can still come true. An ancient, mysterious feel embodies this novella. Fairies, elves, and sprites sprinkle through the pages. Pure magic embodies Cinderella, but areas of gray rule. Cinders is almost tragic. Argyle’s prose entrances the reader, and I’m not sure the spell is quite broken yet after finishing this novella. Cinderella is real, flawed, yet beautiful. I loved how Argyle took me through her “ever after” version.

Cinders is what fairytales should be. 

Michelle will only be offering Cinders for a limited time, since it is part of a new novella trilogy coming out in 2013. She's also offering it for $.99, so now is a perfect time to buy and read this novella!

Book Review: TEMPEST RISING by Tracy Deebs

Title: Tempest Rising

Author: Tracy Deebs

Format: Paperback

Source: ARC

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers, A division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc. (May 10, 2011)

To Purchase: Amazon 

Book Description: Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves at her California coastline home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest's mom, gone since Tempest was eleven, abandoned the family for a reason: to return to the sea where she had been born. Yes, Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will also have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean. Even though Tempest loves her life and family, the pull of the water is becoming increasingly insistent. So too is her attraction to Kai, a mysterious and gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally enter the fantastical underwater world, full of mermaids, sea witches, and even her mother, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—one that hangs the entire ocean's population in the balance.

Review: Tracy Deebs' Tempest Rising entwines the normal with the extraordinary, the magical and mythical with reality.

Tempest seems like your normal teenage surfer girl. She'd do anything to catch the next wave, but she's more than ordinary. She's half mermaid, and her seventeenth birthday will come to a choice that revolves around Tempest's two worlds. She's made her decision, or so she thinks, but there is something about those pesky best-laid plans…

Deebs has crafted a mature yet teenage voice. I find it refreshing that Tempest doesn't want her mermaid heritage. She craves normalcy, but even she realizes no one always gets what they want. Deebs creates real and fantastical situations for her characters. The descriptions of the undersea world burst with color, beauty, and cold danger lurking in the deep depths. I loved the mythological creatures mingled with the ones we know today. Mermaids, selkies, and sea witches are believable with the sharks, octopuses, and fish. Images of a dark the Little Mermaid float to the surface. If you are looking for a paranormal romance not of the norm, I highly recommend Tempest Rising. I hope there will be another book in the works.  

I am also giving away a copy of Tracy Deebs' Tempest Rising on my Book Reviews blog. All you have to do is click here and leave a comment. The winner will be announced on Friday. 

Book Review: The Hunger Games

After being so highly recommended, I finally got around to reading this and...

I loved it!

Here's my review:

In this post apolocalyptic fantasy, The United States has fallen and from the rubble rises Panem, a Capitol City controling 12 districts using fear tactics and control of food. Each year, two representatives from each district compete in a tournament to the death called The Hunger Games. When 16 year old Katniss's younger sister is selected, she goes in her place. She must battle the other contestants for her life if she ever wants to return home again.

Engrossing, brutal, and strangley realistic at times, this book kept me reading to the last page. The violence surpried me, this is not a book for the faint hearted. Yes, contestants die brutal deaths. Underneath all the violence and desperation is a mysterious love story where you don't know if either one's affections are real, or part of the game.

The characters are interestingly three dimenisonal, with some being not good or bad, but falling inbetween. Katniss doesn't know who to trust, or who will stab her in the back.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, as well as watching the movie!

Book Review: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis

Publisher: Razorbill (Imprint of Penguin Publishing)

To Purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Across-the-Universe-ebook/dp/B00475ARSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=merchant-items&qid=1300122216&sr=1-1

Book Description: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review: Beth Revis’s Across the Universe weaves intrigue, science, mystery, and lies within the atmosphere of the Godspeed. Amy may be nonessential cargo, but she is a driving force of change in a place where the crazies are really sane and the normals are really crazy. Elder must decipher the lies and find the truth within and without. The beginning is horrifying, but then the reader learns piece by piece that the start is mild compared. A perfect society the Godspeed is not. The characters are relatable. The story is heart-wrenching. Even when the reader thinks everything is figured out, it’s not. Ms. Revis tells this raw tale of what could be. She clearly researched well. She encloses the reader within the story and doesn’t let them out, even at the end. I had a hard time putting it down until I finished it. Across the Universe is everything a novel should be. To use one of Ms. Revis’s words, it is “frexing” awesome. 

 

Beth's book has influenced me to write even more. I loved getting lost in her world, and I want to write a book that does the same for another reader as hers did for me. I can't wait until the next one!

Book Review: Luna

A novel that taught me how it feels to be a female trapped in a male’s body.

Regan has a secret sister, Luna, who only comes out by the light on the moon. Regan tries to live an ordinary teen life, but this secret she carries weighs her down, and she feels as if she can never be normal. But she loves her brother, Liam, too much to cast him aside.

Reading Luna, my heart went out to both Regan and Liam, and I truly understood for the first time what it’s like to be a transgender: it’s hell. Because of their close minded parents, Liam is forced to live a lie. This talented, brilliant young man has closed himself off to the world so much, he’s contemplated suicide. Why do we force people into stereotypes? Why can’t we accept them for who they truly are?

Luna is filled with heartache, but it’s also a ray of hope. I would have liked to see more about Regan’s budding relationship with her boyfriend, but Luna’s story eclipsed all that. The book ends suddenly leaving you with the feeling that everything is up in the air. It’s a realistic end, and what would be expected of such a deep and truthful novel.

Book Review: If I Stay

If I Stay

By Gayle Forman

A terrible car accident strips Mia of her family. Lying in a coma, she is the last one left, and must decide whether to stay and deal with her fractured life, or follow her parents and her brother to what lies beyond.

Although I didn’t like this book as much as other YA post death or near death books (such as Everafter), I still found it to be poignant and meaningful, stressing family as some of the most important relationships you have in your life. Too many teens nowadays hate their parents or distance themselves from them, and this book will make them realize what they are missing.

Mia is a cellist bound for Julliard, and I loved the musical aspect of this book. Although Forman isn’t a classical musician herself, Mia’s world is exactly what a classical musician would experience, and I was impressed with her observations. I wasn’t so interested in the rock band side of things, but I know it was necessary to develop the bond between her and her boyfriend, and I bet teens will love it.

The only problem I had was so much “telling”. Since Mia is only an observer in her world, she tells us everything from chapter to chapter, reliving past events half the time, and introducing us to all of her relatives and what they do. A lot of backstory is hard to read through. Some people may like learning all about her extended family, though. It proves she still has family left.

Book Review: The Everafter

An emotionally touching exploration of a life ended too short, but lived so very much.

Maddie is like any other 17 year old, except she's in the Everafter; she's dead. Worse yet, she doesn't remember how she dies, and this truth keeps her from going to what awaits her beyond. All she can see are lost objects from her past, and each one brings her to a different memory in her life. Only through these memories can she figure out how she died, and who's at fault.

A true mystery lies at the heart of this novel, and it's only through the well written characters will you find the truth about Maddie's death. Even at the end, I had the wrong person in mind.

What I liked best about Everafter is the appreciation it gave me for the little moments in my own life. I looked back on all the little things I've lost and the memories that each object would bring. My favorite scene is when Maddie is shopping for baby clothes with her pregnant sister. She's so proud to be an Aunt, and reassures her sister that she'll be a good mother. I love this scene. It's these relationships that make a life, not whether you get a 4.0 in school.

Everafter is excellently written, thought provoking, and emotionally intense. I recommend it to anyone that has trouble being truly present in the small moments of their life.

Book Review: THE LAST HUNTER: DESCENT by Jeremy Robinson

The Last Hunter: Descent by Jeremy Robinson was the last book I finished in 2010. When I counted all the books I read, it turned out to be 32 books. It's a lot lower count than I normally do, so I hope this year to bring that count up to at least 50 books. I enjoyed this book so much, and I can't wait until the sequel comes out!

Title: The Last Hunter: Descent

Series: The Antarktos Saga (Book One)

Author: Jeremy Robinson

To Purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Hunter-Descent-Antarktos-ebook/dp/B004D4YNUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1294063347&sr=8-1

Book Blurb: I've been told that the entire continent of Antarctica groaned at the moment of my birth. The howl tore across glaciers, over mountains and deep into the ice. Everyone says so. Except for my father; all he heard was Mother's sobs. Not of pain, but of joy, so he says. Other than that, the only verifiable fact about the day was I was born is that an iceberg the size of Los Angeles broke free from the ice shelf a few miles off the coast. Again, some would have me believe the fracture took place as I entered the world. But all that really matters, according to my parents, is that I, Solomon Ull Vincent, the first child born on Antarctica—the first and only Antarctican—was born on September 2^nd, 1974.

If only someone could have warned me that, upon my return to the continent of my birth thirteen years later, I would be kidnapped, subjected to tortures beyond comprehension and forced to fight…and kill. If only someone had hinted that I'd wind up struggling to survive in a subterranean world full of ancient warriors, strange creatures and supernatural powers.

Had I been warned I might have lived a normal life. The human race might have remained safe. And the fate of the world might not rest on my shoulders. Had I been warned….

This is my story—the tale of Solomon Ull Vincent—The Last Hunter.

Review: Jeremy Robinson's THE LAST HUNTER: DESCENT is a coming-of-age novel full of terror, a mysterious yet forbidding continent, and self-discovery at all costs. Solomon Ull Vincent never was a normal thirteen-year-old boy, since he's a genius with a perfect memory and the first child born on Antarctica. When he returns to his home continent, he begins his transformation into Ull, the hunter. Mr. Robinson weaves this epic saga with mysticism, mythology, and the prehistoric. Solomon's descent below the ice reminds me a little of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. The breaking of Solomon into Ull is philosophical of human nature, and he must be broken to find his true self, and Solomon realizes the greatest gift of humanity is forgiveness. Robinson creates this fantastical yet realistic world and a great novel for young adults and adults, and I can't wait to read book two.

Rare Thursday Post - Book Review of A Bitch Named Karma by Stephanie Haefner

This book I just finished was a fun read. Had to post about it today! Here's my review:






Review of A Bitch Named Karma by Stephanie Haefner

When Stephanie Haefner posted on her blog she was offering review copies of A Bitch Named Karma, I had to have the book based on the title alone. I don’t usually read chick lit, but found myself thoroughly enjoying this one.

The book’s about chick lit writer Lexi Marshall as she faces her alter-ego persona Karma, who she thinks is the embodiment of all the horrible things she made happen to her characters in her books. I don’t want to give too much away, but Lexi has a ton of bad things happen to her. So they seem bad at the time…

I loved the writing style in this book. The voice was fresh and engaging and there were a lot of humorous parts. I found it really interesting how the text would occasionally be broken up into a paragraph of italics throughout the book. It seems like that would be distracting, but it was rather engaging.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a well-paced chick lit book with fun characters and interactions. Good job, Ms. Haefner!

Book Review: Seasons of Fantasy series by Aubrie Dionne

SEASONS OF FANTASY SERIES by Aubrie Dionne

I began reading this series by our own Aubrie Dionne with Autumn Crone and went through the seasons chronologically. The Seasons of Fantasy series is fantasy romance, and love is a key theme. These short stories are heartwarming, and I enjoyed every one of them.

Title: Autumn Crone

Series: Seasons of Fantasy

Author: Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing

Link to Purchase: http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Autumn

Book Blurb: Cursed by her own pride and greed, Crawna has lived a lonely life of seclusion, apart from her love. In a visit to the marketplace, she overhears a young woman about to make the same mistake. Can Crawna convince her of her folly?

Review: Aubrie Dionne's Autumn Crone tells the fairytale of Crawna, a woman so prideful she gives up love over wealth. Crawna realizes her mistake and does everything in her power to stop it from happening to another young woman. Lyrical prose and beautiful imagery fill Autumn Crone. Most important of all, the story teaches the lesson that actions have consequences and even a heart of stone can melt.

Title: Winter Queen

Series: Seasons of Fantasy

Author: Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing

Link to Purchase: http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Winter

Book Blurb: The Snow Queen has haunted the northern lands for generations using the temptation of a fabled paradise to lure men to their deaths. Can Barrow Tiln, a local farmer’s son melt her heart and set her free, or will she freeze his body and steal his soul?

Review: In Aubrie Dionne's Winter Queen, a child's love of a fairytale comes alive when he becomes a young man. Ms. Dionne's poetic prose melts the coldest of hearts. The winter imagery is chilling and vivid, but Winter Queen teaches spring will come, if you only open your heart to it.

Title: Spring Maiden

Series: Seasons of Fantasy

Author: Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing

Link to Purchase: http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Spring

Book Blurb: Fleeing an arranged marriage, Elana Fallwater trespasses into a ring of toadstools and is spellbound. She becomes the Spring Maiden, eternally roaming the budding woods in a trance. Warren Cutter, an expert huntsman, has been tracking her for years and has stumbled into her clearing. Will he shoot an arrow through her heart, or will she enchant him in her glade?  

Review: Aubrie Dionne's Spring Maiden explores the land of Spring and its eternal youth. Spring entrances Elana, and she grasps tight on its budding branches. Yet, it is love and reason that reminds her spring, too, must come to an end. Ms. Dionne once again writes with sincerity and beauty in Spring Maiden.

Title: Summer Sprite

Series: Seasons of Fantasy

Author: Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing

Link to Purchase: http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Summer

Book Blurb: As a love fairy, Kira Flutter has been pairing couples up for centuries. She meets her match when a dashing young sailor arrives at her doorstep asking for his heart's desire. Will she grant him his wish, and usher him into the arms of another? Or will she fall in love and claim him for herself.

Review: Opposites don't always attract in Aubrie Dionne's Summer Sprite. Kira, a love sprite, enjoys meddling in others' love affairs, but when her own soul mate appears, she doesn't know what to do. With images of the salty sea and beach breezes, Summer Sprite is a true delight. Since my favorite season is spring, I was surprised to find this story of Ms. Dionne's Season of Fantasy series to be my favorite.