Two Quick Reviews | Fanged Princess, Elisabeth Wheatley and Cross Country Christmas, Tiffany King

Fanged Princess by Elisabeth Wheatley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fast and furious adventure, with a backdrop of family loyalty and an equal measure of family betrayal. Protecting those whom you care about, no matter the cost or risky consequence, is the underlying theme. The story is basically a "high-speed-chase" from state to state as the protagonists fight to outrun the punishment for breaking with what is considered the norm in the world of this colourful vampire suspense.


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Cross Country Christmas - The 12 NA's of Christmas by Tiffany King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice romantic Christmas read. Despite the hiccups of the journey our two main characters must make across country, hiccups which are many and variously scary and funny - it has all the elements of a fast and snug storyline told around a fireplace on Christmas Eve. Just the right kind of book for an easy and thoroughly enjoyable Christmas feel-good toddy.


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5 Minutes

 

 

Now available in paperback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Description:

 

Amy is a mute child with a powerful gift and a certainty that the future has been cancelled. Marielle is a beautiful revolutionary with a passion for mechanical men. Lydia is a five-thousand year-old ghost with a hunger for vengeance. And Earth has only got five minutes—REAL TIME—to live. Across twisted Time dimensions (and a universe with a flower garden) battles, schemes and twists unravel. This story is a satiric Science-Fiction drama, proudly exhibiting absolutely no respect whatsoever for politicians.

It describes the events which lead up to Earth’s death; a catastrophic annihilation, but a peculiar one, amost trivial. Because it unfolded in the most bizarre way, and no-one actually cared.

Only a bottle-blonde pop star could possibly bring it back to life.

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Review | Jordyn, Tiffany King

Jordyn by Tiffany King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Mystery, suspense, romance, and a whole lot of adventure:


Jordyn is a fighting machine. With no memory of her earlier life, with a rigorous training routine, her life is all about fighting.

But what she wants is a little less aggravation and a little more normalcy. As much as she enjoys her duties – despatching Daemons with her honed skills – there’s a big lacking in her life which requires a good deal more attention from some good-looking boy and a good deal less attention from dark forces.

The reference to her guardianship – via Krista and Mark – is tidily explained as a link back to the Saving Angels Series. So even if you read this book as a standalone, you can easily pick up the back references… and if you’ve read the series from which this book is a spin-off, the author’s exposition is neatly slotted in as a reminder.

…So all we need now is a boy to capture her interest…

Enter Emrys, the definition of a ‘Bad Guy’ – whose occupation as a Soul Trader is highly disapproved of by those who care about Jordyn. Nevertheless, there’s something magnetic about him that Jordyn finds hard to resist. You’ve got to read through the teasing prompts of the storyline patiently to see whether the guy gets the girl or whether the guy gets kicked on his back by an angry Jordyn.

And that’s what a lot of the story is about… Jordyn’s anger at having an empty past, and her frustration at having an uncertain future in a world of special-skill individuals, a world in which she is unsure just quite where she’s supposed to fit in.

There’s a liberal quota of secrets and misdirections to keep you puzzling throughout. A great cast of supporting characters from the original series. And a new discovery of a previously unknown skill which Jordyn uses to escape the pressures and, at times, overwhelming responsibilities that have been pressed upon her. Aside from being a great paranormal/romance, this is also a fascinating adventure. And, of course, it finishes with a clever hook to lead you onto the next book in the series. Recommended.


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Review | Just Evil, Vickie McKeehan

Just Evil by Vickie McKeehan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Description:

For forty years the double murder of an elderly couple in the Hollywood Hills remained unsolved and all but forgotten. No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect. Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?


My review:

Cleverly-plotted mystery/suspense:

A roller-coaster of mystery, suspense, and intrigue. Just Evil is littered with secrets and devious events, all backdropped by a methodical serial killer’s secret agenda to brutally punish the powerful family whose power and control have reigned uncontested for 4 decades.

Kit is a vulnerable young woman, and the target of too many antagonists – and that includes the police themselves. Relying on her support-network of friends and her lover, Jake, she is constantly fighting to survive in a world complicated with the circuitous plotting of the dreadful Boyd family… and the legacy of a brutal and abusive mother.

The story has a all of the elements of a good mystery suspense: intrigue, duplicity, lies, teasing secrets, love, passion and all things sexy. This is an involved story of love and evil, passion and mistrust. A great introduction to a series which shows that money may not buy happiness but it certainly can buy influence. … And for every family’s illicit gain, somebody must pay for it. Recommended.

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Review | Near Death, Richard C. Hale

Near Death by Richard C. Hale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads description:

For Jake Townsend, the loss was shattering. And every night for the past two years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The moonless night. The piercing screams. The horrific crash. The night his wife was taken from him. The last time he saw her alive. Everyone tells him to move on. But for Jake, there can be no closure. A message appears in his dreams--a warning he is reluctant to heed. The omens ignored, Jake finds himself caught between the desire to see his beloved wife again and disrupting the delicate balance of life and death. The technology he developed has shown him the path, and others will do anything to use it, but at what price? He must choose, and the consequences may ultimately shatter his world.


My review:

Supernatural thriller - tense and teasing:

After losing his wife in a road accident, Jake is left with the torture of loss and grief, and the mystery of his wife’s final words.

He creates ANDEE, an innovative and somewhat frightening computer which enables him to watch and experience the mysterious elements of what he calls NDEs – Near Death Experiences. He pursues this research and dangerous work because he wants – NEEDS – to talk to his dead wife. But this is a goal that costs him subservience to his military sponsors (whose devious plans are beyond menacing), the discovery of things perhaps better left unknown, and the safety of those he most needs and cares about.

Interspersed with a nicely depicted romance following his meeting with Madison, this is a complex story of life after death, and the possibilities of the afterlife. It poses very clever hypotheses about what happens to us in our final moments of mortal existence.

This is a very intelligently written story, involving complex science fictional propositions with cleverly illustrated technical detailing. It is also a story with a stark warning label: be careful what you mess with…the consequences can be dangerously ominous.

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Review | Promise You won't Tell?, John Locke

Promise You won't Tell? by John Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads description:

“I think something might have happened to me Saturday night. Something bad.”

Private Investigator Dani Ripper’s client list is nuttier than the Looney Tunes conga line, but she diligently solves one crazy case after another, waiting for a game-changer. Enter Riley Freeman, 17-year-old honor student. Saturday afternoon Riley quietly placed a little strawberry sticker on her private area and pretended it was a tattoo. She didn’t tell anyone about it. That night she went to a slumber party that featured drinking and boys. Riley fell asleep, woke up the next day with no reason to think anything happened…Until Monday, at school, when a classmate called her Strawberry. Coincidence or crime? Dani agrees to investigate. And the roller coaster ride begins.


My Review:

Fast and funny mystery:

This is one of those speed-read books, as the plot drives forward with a furious intensity. Stephen King once said [paraphrasing] `anything that isn't plot I throw overboard'....and this excellent comedy/mystery couldn't be better described.

The mystery (while not styled like a King book - just to make that clear) is cleverly interwoven and (another simile) is in the best tradition of an Agatha Christie Whodunnit. So many guessing games running through my head about what happened in this quite simple but exhilarating plotline. But as the story opens up, I found myself thinking I had it all figured out, only to find I was nowhere close!

The narrative is stripped down bare - no wasted dragging detail and no fussy foreshadowing - along with a snappy dialogue between characters, and within the main character's commentary.

Danni Ripper is a fascinating woman, funny and intelligent. Her mission in this case is to find out what happened to a drunk teenage girl at a house party, whilst having to wrestle with those powers-that-be who would bury secrets.

The ending had a 'wicked' twist, leaving me surprised and smiling. Loved it!

Great read. Just what I needed. I am now definitely a fan of the enigmatic private detective, Danni Ripper.

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Review | Out of the Shadow, J.S. Winn

Out of the Shadow by J.S. Winn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads description:

Out of the Shadow tells the story of two women drawn together in the present to uncover a crime from the past. Having survived a rape and her husband's murder, all Becca Rosen wants to do is move on with her life, but how can she when she's being stalked by a psychopath with an attitude---and an agenda. The police are no help because they're convinced, with her history of mental illness, Becca has faked the rape to get away with her husband's murder. On top of that, Becca has begun to have flashbacks and nightmares of childhood abuse, possibly at the hands of the rapist. Not knowing where to turn, and feeling like she might go crazy again, Becca hires Psychologist, Sarah Abrams, to help her unearth who's behind the crimes of the past...and the present. Three men come into Becca's life around the same time. While each of these men has his charms, Becca can't be certain whether any one of them is the real killer. Or could it be someone else? Together Becca and Sarah start on a course of hypnotherapy to discover the abuser's identity. Will their work reveal the real killer before it's too late, or will Becca once again fall prey to this demented criminal?


My Review

Fascinating guessing-game mystery:

A brutal tragedy launches this story into a frightening predator and prey mystery, which gradually uncovers a tale of terrible childhood memories.

Becca Rosen is the victim of a heinous crime, but targeted by the police as the perpetrator, and vilified rather than protected. The key element of the story is Repressed Memory Syndrome, diagrammed by Sarah Abrams throughout a lecture she’s giving, in which she details the abuse and terror that Becca endured.

Complicated by three men – none of whom Becca fully trusts – her life becomes a question of who can she trust and who must she fear. There’s a questionable uncle, a suspicious but attentive new suitor, a control freak mother, an apparently good man whom she leans on for friendship and moral support, and a stalker chasing her through her past and present.

An excellent mystery with a dark element, Out Of The Shadow is well told, detailed, and emotional. Edge of the seat stuff with timely placed red-herrings and the neat twist that…the only person who can really solve this puzzle is the victim herself.

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Review | The Holly Nather Trilogy, Sara Daniell

The Holly Nather Trilogy by Sara Daniell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads description:

Holly is just your typical college student. She goes to classes during the day and spends her nights either hanging out with friends or wasting an embarrassing amount of time on social networking. Her life is ordinary, nothing interesting or extravagant. That is - until she meets Luke. This enigmatic and on-the-verge-of-stalker guy brings excitement into her dull, routine life, introducing her to a world outside of her own...A world of magic...A world called Terre. As the saying goes: "With knowledge comes power" and with power comes danger. Holly is quickly and unexpectedly throw into a life of chaos, a life that she believed to only exist in science fiction films. Visions of this day have finally come into play, secrets have been told, and choices must be made. (This e-book includes All 3 books in the trilogy, plus Brody's Short Story & Luke's Vision Journal.)


My Review

A clever fantasy series:

It begins as a seemingly simple boy-meets-girl…or rather stalker-meets-girl, but develops into a rich story of otherworldly mysteries, secrets, duplicitous scheming – and power plays.

Holly is pursued by good-looking Luke who seems like a weird kind of guy at first, but she’s inexplicably drawn to him nevertheless. There is something mysterious and intriguing about him, and all that Holly thinks she knows, she doesn’t. There is so much to discover, and in this trilogy she is taken through a terrifying adventure in which she is hunted, demeaned, and targeted by villainous characters from the world of Terre.

Luke fights against the arranged marriage which two powerful families have contrived for him, and – following his visions – sets himself to the task of protecting the girl of his dreams and the girl of his true desire.

The story is like a high speed car chase as Holly and Luke run from the hunters. Magic abounds; power-struggles are cleverly depicted in the backdrop, and there’s a whole lot of action and surprise as Holly must discover her own hidden powers and save herself and her new love.

Good read, lively-paced, and recommended for those who enjoy a speedy adventure packed with fantasy and romance.


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Review | Stained, Ella James

Stained by Ella James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Intricate fantasy epic:

Julia’s young life has been an endurance test, until, finally, she is happily taken from an orphanage to a loving family home. She at last knows happiness – the elusive state she has always sought – until she returns home to find her adoptive parents’ home destroyed by an evil entity. Fleeing from the death and destruction, she takes refuge in an abandoned warehouse. But her temporary safety is viciously interrupted by the same creature that destroyed her home. Enter Cayne, a powerful hunter from another realm who saves her from this creature, but pays dearly for it in the battle. Samyaza, the king of Nephilim, flees…leaving Julia to try and help the mortally injured Cayne. Her healing powers bring this young man back from the brink of death… and then the adventure kicks into overdrive.

On the run from Samyaza, the beast determined to kill Julia, she and Cayne flee. Using his mystical powers, he is bound to protect Julia, but he isn’t prepared to tell her why she is being hunted. Cayne is a frustratingly secretive and stoic individual, and Julia fights at every twist and turn to get him to open up and tell her why they are being hunted, and why he is determined to kill any Nephilim that cross their path. She also fights to mute her growing attraction to Cayne, confused by rapid events and confused by her own undeniable feelings.

This story is like a high-speed car chase, all action and tension, in which the two race across the country to avoid the attackers – but also to find Samyaza so that Cayne can try and defeat him. It’s a speedy adventure, with secrets gradually revealed, which keeps you guessing at every new chapter why Julia is the target and Cayne her protector.

If you like mystery, romance, and a wealth of fantasy adventure, this one is definitely for your TBR list. Recommended.

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New Blog Introduction...

A quick hello...

This new spot will be mostly for reviews.... but will inevitably contain some random musings. (I can't help that, I love the sound of my own keyboard). I'm also looking to start some interviews next year.

As to the reviews, for reference each book I review is posted to Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and this blog of course :)

As to the random musings, I can't promise sanity but I will endeavour to try and make some sense of whatever rambles are chuntering in my head.

And finally, I'll also be using this blog for promotions - not just my own stuff, of course, but books I've really enjoyed and whose authors I've connected with one way or another.

I've got a lot of writing to get on with throughout summer, so the blog will probably be slow to start, but will pick up speed later in the year.

Thanks to anyone who pays this any attention - all readers and followers much appreciated.

Gareth