Waiting on Wednesday: Hollow by Richard Denney

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: 

Description:


Welcome to the House of Hollow. 


In a dystopian future, sixteen-year-old Leah Munro has been sold to a rich woman in a crippling mansion. Soon Leah discovers that there is something mysterious going on around the home, and with the help of three other girls, she attempts to uncover what is truly happening... what lies beyond all of the plexiglass windows and the hideous screams in the middle of the night? Leah will soon find out.


Coming out on August 14, 2012


Why?

1. Is it just me, or does this sound like one of the classics by Bronte, Dickens, or Dickinson?  
2. The name Hollow.  Is it the house?  Is it the people?  Is it the future in general?  Curious
3. Sounds like a mystery.  And though, I'm not a big mystery person, it does sound attention grabbing.  

What are you waiting for?  

Happy Reading!


Cana

ARC Review: Redemption by Veronique Launier

Description:

Guillaume: For five hundred years I’ve existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I’ve watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl’s power...

Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There’s something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more questions—about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy... and an unearthly magic threatening our city.

My Review:

Redemption by Veronique Launier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is lovely little story is about Aude (pronounce like “Ode”) and Guilliame.  Set in Montreal, Canada and mixed in with French and Native Indian magic, this story keeps you going as you try to figure out who Aude is, what Guilliame is actually thinking, and who is in need of actual redemption. 

Told in Aude’s and Guilliame’s points of view, it was clearly labled (YAY!) to help prevent confusion about whose POV I was reading.  I learned that I like Guilliame’s POV better than Aude’s, probably because Guilliame’s is only guilt ridden (and a bit angst-y) while Aude’s is a bit more “Am I going crazy like my mom?  I must, I must!”  Not a big fan of Am I/Aren’t I going crazy club. 

I think the story is ok, but it becomes a better story once you reach the halfway point.  Partly because the whole “I’m crazy” is off the table, but also because you finally are starting to see some deeper development in the main characters.  They are no longer just focused in, but are now focusing outside of themselves towards each other. 

I loved the whole mythology of gargoyles being used in this book.  I know, it is cliché, but it could have just been as easily vampires, werewolves or fairies.  But instead, to give a little shakeup for the YA category, Ms. Launier goes left field and gives us a YA book about gargoyles.  I loved it!  It definitely was a refreshing break to prior said supernaturals. 

I also really enjoyed how Ms. Launier included Native Indian mythology and the blending of two cultures. 

The only thing I really had a problem with was how the story kept going after it could have ended.  One big climax is always good.  When you get closer to 3, it is a bit of overkill.  Maybe it could have ended with “Terra Cotta”, and left the extra stuff for the next books.  Oh well, it still wasn’t bad. 

Overall, this is a good story, and I do recommend this book.  I do look forward to reading more by Ms. Launier.

Happy Reading!


Cana

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

Description:


She's a mortal with dark powers...

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...

He's the Prince of Night...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.


My Review:

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We have all read a book that has you lock yourself in your bedroom with enough food, drink and other items that you can find no reason to leave the room and stop reading.  Then you read it in 24 hours, and you love it so much, that you want to cry, scream, and throw things when it ends. And this was exactly one of those books.

Vlad, who honestly is one of my favorite vampires, has always seemed dark, violent, and just plan delicious.  I had gotten familiar with him from the other Night Huntress books, so I already knew that he seemed to be an interesting vampire.  But this book makes him so much more.  Delicious is still on the list, but you can’t help but want to take this centuries-old vampire, have your way with him, and help him with whatever issues he carries with him.  I loved his possessiveness and his protectiveness.  He also has a wonderfully dark sense of humor which I found very entertaining.

Leila was a great character, and I think it is appropriate to get to know her in this book.  She is guilt ridden, and has powers that she feels like she has no control over.  She tries hiding from the world, but quickly the world comes looking for her.  Her feelings toward Vlad are great, but better yet is how she accepts him (generally) for how he is.  I did enjoy a new twist on the paranormal with Leila’s powers.  Not only can she act like an electric power source, but can also see a person’s deepest darkest sin with just a touch of her right hand.  Worse yet, she can also learn a person’s past, present, and future if she sorts through it. 

I did get a bit frustrated with Leila’s stubbornness.  She delayed her getting with Vlad (stupid girl!), and then she made a point after they got together to avoid Vlad because she didn’t like something he did to protect her and others under his command. 

I think this was a great book to not only get to know Vlad better.  I think it was great to get introduced to a new villain.  I like how nothing at the end was completely resolved.  There was a lot more coming that we hopefully will get to see in the next book. 

I enjoyed that we had a quick appearance from Mencheres, Kira, Cat, and Bones.  I think that it was a nice way to hand over the reins to this new series in the Night Huntress world.  I also enjoyed getting to know new vampires that we hadn’t had a chance to in the other books.  Marty, Shrapnel, and Maximus were all great vampires to get to know, and you almost want to see what might happen with Maximus have feelings for Leila. 

Overall, I loved this book, and I highly recommend reading it!  And now I must wait until 2013 for the next one to come out!  L, can you please make it 2013?

Happy Reading!


Cana

Waiting on Wednesday: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: 

Description:


Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head. 


But all that changes when the Lynburns return. 


The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?


Coming out on September 11, 2012


Why?

1. Imaginary friends?  Of course, I can't but love this idea.  I love imaginary friends.
2. Makes me wonder, is this a story of vampires, demons, fae... Really curious!
3. I love the name of the town!  Sorry-in-the-Vale.  Makes it sound very gothic :P
4. What a beautiful cover.  I love silhouettes, and better yet, it reminds me of the old school fairy tale covers. 

What are you waiting for?

Happy Reading!


Cana

Bewitching Book Tour: Her Loving Husband’s Curse By Meredith Allard

Description:

How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Author:

Meredith Allard is the Executive Editor of The Copperfield Review,  an award-winning literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from California State University, Northridge. She has taught writing to students aged 10 to 60, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction workshops at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers Conference. Her writing has appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review,  Moondance, Wild Mind,Muse Apprentice Guild, The Maxwell Digest, CarbLite, Writer’s Weekly, and ViewsHound. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Links:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Amazon—Her Dear & Loving Husband

Amazon—Her Loving Husband’s Curse

Smashwords

BN—Her Dear & Loving Husband

BN—Her Loving Husband’s Curse

The Copperfield Review

My Review:

Her Loving Husband's Curse by Meredith Allard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel picks up a year after the first novel.  James and Sarah continue to live life, making up for 300 years of being apart.  Their family is even completed when Grace, their re-incarnated child, finally joins them by adoption.  Everything seems to be going perfectly, except for the reporter is still out there trying to “out” vampires. 

I loved Geoffrey so much.  I know, I know, irritating vampire, the maker of James, but he is too funny.  His constant nickname for Sarah “puny human” makes me giggle, because in my head it is said with the perfect amount of love for her and disdain for her being human all mixed up together.  I also enjoy Geoffrey living in the 21^st century, but not knowing names and uses of certain modern technology.  It is like he is living in a cave when he calls a blackberry a “bumbleberry” and an iPod and “iPig”.  I laughed through the whole conversation.  I think there were clues to who Geoffrey actually is in this book, and I’m dying to find out!  I think that Geoffrey will be a great character to get to know better.

Sarah is a great character, as she has grown a lot in the last year.  She has almost completely come to accept her past life as well as her current one.  She is stronger because of it and is ready to face almost any challenge.

James is a bit angsty, which makes it harder to connect to him.  What with his guilt about the past 300 years, and for being a vampire.  Actually, that seems to be his biggest regret.  But in the end, his courage is what makes this book great.  Because we all have to get over our regrets to become the person we need to be.

This book is definitely darker than the first book in this trilogy.  With the discussion of human rights with the Trail of Tears and the parallel occurrences of rights for vampires, you can be sure that this book is going to make you think.  It makes you think about our country’s history, about whether we actually have changed as humans in response to people/creatures that are different from us. 

I had a hard time when the television segments were written.  There was no real distinction to let you know that you are reading a television show the characters are watching or if the characters are thinking.  Also, the journal entries are a bit confusing.  They are separated out by italics, but there is no date, and we only have the assumption that James is the one who has written these journal entries.  All of this could have been made clearer with appropriate labels and font distinctions. 

Overall, this is a great book.  I’m really looking forward to reading the next book (2013 can’t come fast enough!).  I highly recommend it!

Other Books:

Her Dear & Loving Husband

By Meredith Allard

James Wentworth has a secret. He lives quietly in Salem, Massachusetts, making few ties with anyone. One night his private world is turned upside down when he meets Sarah Alexander, a dead ringer for his wife, Elizabeth. Though it has been years since Elizabeth's death, James cannot move on. 

Sarah also has a secret. She is haunted by nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and every night she is awakened by visions of hangings, being arrested, and dying in jail. Despite the obstacles of their secrets, James and Sarah fall in love. As James comes to terms with his feelings for Sarah, he must dodge accusations from a reporter desperate to prove that James is not who, or what, he seems to be. Soon James and Sarah piece their stories together and discover a mystery that may bind them in ways they never imagined. Will James make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Sarah and prevent a new hunt from bringing hysteria to Salem again? 

Part historical fiction, part romance, part paranormal fantasy, Her Dear & Loving Husband is a story for anyone who believes that true love never dies.


Click here to see the review for this book.

Happy Reading!


Cana

ARC Review: The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

Description:

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she's lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack's help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she's faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice--and not just her own.

My Review:

The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a beautiful blending of Celtic mythology, Germanic/Norse mythology Shakespeare and Ms. Longs own ideas about how it would all work.  With heroines, mysterious fae, and truly evil Queen, this interesting fairy tale is sure to make you question and learn more about the mythologies that built this story.  Overall, it was a good book, so lets me share why.

Jenny was an interesting character.  At first, I wasn’t sure I liked her.  Actually, I was pretty annoyed with her most of the book.  She is so blooming innocent, and at 19 it is a little hard for me to take in that anyone could be that innocent after all that she saw as a child when her brother was kidnapped, let alone that she continues to be this innocent after all that happened to her in the Realm.  I mean, come on! 

Jack was a great character, a doomed hero, or so it seems.  His life split in two parts, and you wonder if he is good or bad, or so plain neutral that you can’t peg him.  The only thing that you wonder is if he will get his wish, the only wish he ever wishes.  The history of the Greenman in comparison to Jack was a great play on Celtic tradition.  And as a fan of the Greenman, I truly loved seeing Ms. Long’s ideas play out.

I loved the ending.  It was a little bit predictable, but I absolutely loved it.  It gave a beautiful ending to a good book. 

Now, not everything was perfect.  It was a little hard sometimes to get when she is switching mythologies.  In the Realm, it is all primarily Celtic mythology, with the spattering of Shakespeare, but suddenly in the Realm, she will use a term that is from the Germanic mythology.  And when she switches to a primarily Germanic mythology it catches you off guard.  Her explanation in the book that it was a different place, different magic didn’t give you a heads up about the change, and for a little bit I was thinking “What?”  On top of that, a lot of the split between mythologies become a division of “good” and “bad”, and even that is debatable. 

Overall, this is a good book, and I did enjoy it.  I recommend this for anyone, at any age. 

Happy Reading!


Cana

Waiting on Wednesday: Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: 

Description:

Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide. 


Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lost its greatest playwright. 


Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.


Coming out on August 14, 2012


Why?

1. I love Shakespeare!  Yep, and I love it in Elizabethan English!  I know, I'm so weird.  
2. I love time traveling, and who wouldn't?  
3. Great premise for this story.  I think that it might be a bit refreshing to other YA books going around right now.  

Happy Reading!


Cana