Spellbound by Samantha Combs

 

Rating: 4 Stars
 

Title:  Spellbound

Author:  Samantha Combs

Publisher: Astraea Press

      Cover Art: Elaina Lee

Genre:  Young Adult Paranormal

Length: 233 Pages

Summary:

Logan Daniels has always led a sheltered life in sleepy, predictable Lancaster, New Hampshire. But when beautiful Serena suddenly appears at school one day, his comfortable existence becomes anything but as he finds himself falling in love with her. There’s something special about Serena Starr. He realizes what it is when he sees her unleash her spells. Soon, a mysterious and foreboding presence settles over his placid home.

Logan and Serena find themselves battling darkness and evil with an ominous mission: it wants Serena and will stop at nothing to have her. Tearing apart Logan’s town, threatening his friends, even causing harm to his family, the demon will spread its doom over every facet of Logan’s once placid life. Logan matures in ways he could never have imagined as he struggles to protect those he loves, including Serena. But he can't do it alone.

Serena hails from a long line of able and powerful women who will aide in the battle and perhaps settle a score of their own. The strength of the coven and Serena's love will be behind him, but ultimately this is Logan’s fight to win. But, will he? 

Review:

I usually try to write my reviews in a way that I don't need to give spoiler warnings, but I think with this one I'm going to need to. Not that I plan on giving away anything huge, but comments here and there might be a bit more revealing than I usually like to be. So on that note.....


SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING     SPOILER WARNING 





This book is different and unique for the Young Adult story - or even, really, for any genre. It is filled with action, romance, mystery, suspense, magic and even a demon or two - all some of my favorite things. It's a fun read that kept me engrossed in the story just to see what was going to happen next.

The author did a great job with the characters in this story and making them sound like teenagers. Having two teenage boys myself, I could (at times) see my kids and their friends behaving like the kids in Spellbound, especially Logan's friend, Dave. The plot has been developed very well and even the history has been well thought out and developed.

Serena came across as that beautiful high school girl that most other girls are prepared to hate, but she was very nice and extremely likeable. She had this odd mix of sweetly vulnerable mixed with fierce and strong. She is also very loyal to her family and those she cares about.

Logan is the typical teenage boy who is into sports and popular at his school. He is a genuinely nice guy and everybody seems to love him.

The book is written in first person and the point of view switches in each chapter from Logan to Serena. I wasn't too sure how I felt about this, and I'm still unsure. On one hand, it was nice to see what each character saw/thought/felt/etc. I did find myself wishing we were in the other point of view at times, just to see how they felt about something. On the other hand, it could also become confusing at times. Especially considering that not only were you switching point of view but also gender. I've never read another book that did this, so it was definitely unique!

The pacing, when there is action, is done very well, though it does tend to lag a bit towards the middle. It picks back up again but there are parts that I felt could have been removed and it would have kept the story moving along more smoothly. On the flip side of that, some things I felt moved too quickly. The intensity of the relationship between Serena and Logan seemed to happen overnight, Logan's acceptance of the fact that Serena and her family are witches and Logan's acceptance of Serena being able to read his mind (which, let's be honest, I think would freak anybody out if you suddenly found your boy/girlfriend inside your head), just to give a few examples. I could list more.

The magic involved in this story was fantastic. I loved the scene in the backyard, when all the coven sisters were preparing for the fight about to come, and you got to see a little of which each individual could do. I completely loved the magic and I found myself wishing I knew more about some of the coven sisters. I could see this becoming a series in the future, not necessarily with Serena and Logan, but instead with the coven sisters getting their own time in the spotlight.

I'm not a big fan of the cover. I love the colors but I find it misleading. To me, with the sea in the background, it almost looks like it should be about mermaids or something. And I'm really not sure why there is a beach on the cover. I don't remember the beach being mentioned in the book and if it was, it was very brief.

All in all, this was a great read. I really enjoyed it and will definitely continue to read the series. This is a great addition to the Young Adult genre.

Kindle:




Paperback:

Deal With The Devil (Part Two) by J. Gunnar Grey

Rating: 5 Stars 

Title:  Deal With The Devil (Part 2)

Author:  J. Gunnar Grey

Publisher: Astraea Press

      Cover Art: Elaina Lee

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Length: 206 Pages

Summary:

Wehrmacht Major Faust has a dangerous secret: he likes England. But it’s May 1940 and his Panzers are blasting the British Army off Dunkirk’s beach, so he keeps his mouth shut even though it hurts. When the Waffen SS try to murder their English prisoners of war, Faust helps the POWs escape. Now it’s treason, with his neck on the line.

Then a friend gets him drunk, straps him into a parachute, and throws him out over Oxford during a bombing run. He’s quickly caught. Because he helped type the battle plan for the invasion of England, Faust cannot allow himself to be broken in interrogation. Two German armies depend on it. But every time he escapes, someone rapes and murders a woman and the English are looking for someone to hang. He’s risking disaster if he stays, someone else’s life if he runs, and execution by the Gestapo if he makes it home.

Major Stoner, professor turned British intelligence officer, sees three possibilities. Faust perhaps was joyriding in that bomber, as he claims. Or he’s on a reconnaissance mission for the German invasion. Or he’s a spy. Stoner must break Faust to learn the truth, no matter how it strains his old heart. He must save England, and his granddaughter.

Their battlefield is confined to a desktop. Only one of them can win. Someone must break. Someone must make a Deal with the Devil.


Review: 

If you haven't read my review of Deal with the Devil, Part One, you can read it here. 

To be honest, there's not a lot that I can add to the review of Part Two about the quality or style of writing. It is still, very obviously, extremely well written and well researched. The characters, once again, grabbed me and drew me in. The suspense still kept me on the edge of my seat. The intellect behind the verbal sparring of Faust and Stoner is still intriguing and mind boggling, especially if you think about all the consequences and things that need to be considered before they utter a single word to each other. The growing interest between Faust and Jennifer, Stoner's granddaughter, becomes more and more interesting throughout the book.

The suspense builds as the story continues to unfold. The question of who is committing the murders continues to plague the small community culminating in a fast paced, action packed series of events with twists and turns galore. The two detectives made me think of the famous duo of Holmes and Watson and made me smile. I was, naturally, trying to solve the mystery before I learned who it was through the book along with our two detectives. Usually, in most books and movies, I can figure out who it is before the big reveal. This one kept me guessing all the way through!

I definitely enjoyed my trip back to the world war two era, which surprises me since it's not an era I have ever really been interested in. I love books where I can learn things that I didn't know before and these two books certainly accomplished that. They kept me entertained, on the edge of my seat and trying to figure out what was going to happen before it happened. If you enjoy these types of books, I would definitely encourage you to check them out. 


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Paperback:

Royal Opposites by Lori Crawford

 

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
 

Title:  Royal Opposites

Author:  Lori Crawford

Publisher: Astraea Press

      Cover Art: Elaina Lee

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Length: 193 Pages

Summary: 
 
What can a coupon queen possibly have in common with a Crown Prince? Everything.

After being accused of attempting to rob a bank that was actually trying to rob them – legally – a coupon queen goes on the run with a Crown Prince who’d been living in the U.S. anonymously for the past year. Armed with only her coupon binder, the two flee the area in an effort to meet up with his royal head of security for protection. But first, they must elude the two very determined bank guards who will let nothing stop them from retrieving the damning video of the bank incident from the couple. 


Review: 

I hesitate to describe a book as "cute", but that is the first word that comes to mind with Royal Opposites. It is a cute, fun read.  It really is. There are definitely parts of it that aren't "cute" but for some reason, that's the word I want to use. Maybe because some of the concepts used in this book are different than what I've seen before. A coupon queen and a prince? Really not the pairing you expect - at all. And when the situation calls for Joan (the main female) to teach Tom (the main male) how to use coupons to survive, the reactions are hilarious.

Joan is a down to earth, just trying to get by, hard working woman. She does what she has to do to survive and be responsible for (what she perceives to be) mistakes that she's made. That alone was nice to see, given some of the attitudes you see these days in society. To be honest, I kind of wish Joan was real and I knew her so that she could teach me her methods of extreme couponing! I could live with knowing how to go to the grocery store and get four hundred dollars worth of groceries for twenty bucks.

Tom seems to be just a regular, white collar, sort of guy - who just happens to be a crown prince. He is a genuinely nice guy that has his country and his people's best interest at heart. He has also been enjoying his last year of freedom, incognito, before he takes over the running of his country.

Circumstances throw the two of them together in a situation that quickly escalates in suspense and danger. Suddenly, they are find their fates are intertwined and they are on the run together. The relationship between Joan and Tom is different. Funny, intense and not at all what you would expect the other to fall for, given their backgrounds. They have each been noticing the other for several months, but neither of them have acted on it, nor did either of them have any intention of doing so. Now, however, in such close quarters with each other they are both thinking about it. Hard.

There was a couple of things that I felt would be improbable if this was real life but hey, this is fiction and what's more fun about writing or reading fiction than making the improbable probable? It wasn't so far out as to be unrealistic and it was written in such a way that makes it believable. I loved that they are a bi-racial couple and that it didn't have an impact on anything. I also totally love both characters. Well written, fast paced, fun, interesting and different - this story is well worth the read and the author has made it on to my "watch" list.

eBook:




Paperback:

Amazon Copyright Laws?

A couple of weeks ago I was going through my spam folder and found an interesting email from a stranger. To my knowledge, I have no idea who this person is or how legitimate this information is but it is causing me a little concern and making me wonder.

I don't want to reprint the information from the email, obviously, without permission but the gist of it is this:

• Through research that she has done while writing another book, and discussions that she has had with various people around the Amazon world, she has discovered that Amazon can and does remove reviews without notice or explanation.

• Amazon retains total and irrevocable ownership of every review that anybody posts on their site.

My standard practice with my own reviews is to write them here on my site, then copy and paste them to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Goodreads. I don't necessarily always have time to write a second (or third, etc.) review to post elsewhere.

This concerns me. This will impact how many reviews I can keep up with and the way I write them. Has anyone else heard anything regarding this? Please let me know.

Deal With The Devil (Part One) by J. Gunnar Grey

Rating: 5 Stars
 

Title:  Deal With The Devil (Part 1)

Author:  J. Gunnar Grey

Publisher: Astraea Press

      Cover Art: Elaina Lee

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Length: 286 Pages


Summary: 

Wehrmacht Major Faust has a dangerous secret: he likes England. But it’s May 1940 and his Panzers are blasting the British Army off Dunkirk’s beach, so he keeps his mouth shut even though it hurts. When the Waffen SS try to murder their English prisoners of war, Faust helps the POWs escape. Now it’s treason, with his neck on the line.

Then a friend gets him drunk, straps him into a parachute, and throws him out over Oxford during a bombing run. He’s quickly caught. Because he helped type the battle plan for the invasion of England, Faust cannot allow himself to be broken in interrogation. Two German armies depend on it. But every time he escapes, someone rapes and murders a woman and the English are looking for someone to hang. He’s risking disaster if he stays, someone else’s life if he runs, and execution by the Gestapo if he makes it home.

Major Stoner, professor turned British intelligence officer, sees three possibilities. Faust perhaps was joyriding in that bomber, as he claims. Or he’s on a reconnaissance mission for the German invasion. Or he’s a spy. Stoner must break Faust to learn the truth, no matter how it strains his old heart. He must save England, and his granddaughter.

Their battlefield is confined to a desktop. Only one of them can win. Someone must break. Someone must make a Deal with the Devil.


Review:  

If you were to come into my house and look at my bookshelves, you would find exactly one historical fiction. It's one that I bought as a teenager because it was based on the true life story of a young girl kidnapped by Comanche Indians in the 1800's and adopted into their tribe. Needless to say that historical fiction, even though I love history, doesn't seem to be a genre that I typically read. And the world war two era...even less so. You will find nothing from that era on my bookshelves. If I'm being honest, I was actually dreading reading these books a little. I didn't think they would hold my interest. Boy, was I ever wrong!

Faust, the captured German soldier, must run the gambit between not committing treason and giving the British enough to save his own neck from being stretched during the interrogation sessions he has with Major Stoner. The problem is, he happens to like the British. He likes England, their customs, their refinement and, in particular, he likes his interrogator and his oldest granddaughter.

He is wounded and not dealing with a completely clear head. He is afraid that he is going to slip up, or maybe that he already has. After convincing himself that he is required to at least attempt escape, he takes his every opportunity to do so. That opens the door to other problems presenting themselves. Each time he attempts escape, he not only re-injures himself, but a young girl is also brutally murdered. Naturally, he is the prime suspect. And the first victim is someone close to the situation, making his predicament that much more precarious than it already was.

The amount of research that had to go into this novel astounds me. It's easy to tell just by reading it how well researched it is, even without your own knowledge of the era. The knowledge accumulated, and passed on, is simply amazing. The twists and turns in the plot are well thought out and well executed. The head games the two lead characters play with each other is fun to follow but also enough to make you stop and think. You can never be completely sure if the word play is based on animosity, respect, a means to an end for their country or the fact that they genuinely like each other and are enjoying, just a little bit, being pitted against one another. And usually, you're left trying to keep up and figure things out yourself. It definitely keeps you guessing.

For most people, thoughts of World War II engenders thoughts of Nazi's and concentration camps. This is not so with this book. Obviously, these things are going to be mentioned but it's not at all what you might imagine. Then, just as you are deeply engrossed in the story...it ends! Luckily for us, part two is already out so you won't have to wait to see what happens.

Part puzzle, part head game, part mystery and part suspense, this book kept me entertained for hours. I love puzzles. Definitely an author that is going on my "must read" list. I loved it and immediately started reading part two.


Kindle version:




Paperback:

Matching Wits with Venus by Therese Gilardi

Rating: 3 Stars

Title: Matching Wits With Venus

Author:Therese Gilardi

Publisher: Astraea Press

      Cover Art: Elaina Lee

Genre:  Women's Fiction (alternate reality?)

Length: 304 Pages


Summary: 

For centuries, Cupid has longed to be more than Venus’s arrow boy. When he’s sent to eliminate “Happily Ever After by Amelia”, the matchmaking business threatening Venus’s status as the goddess of love, Cupid decides to steal Amelia’s methods and make his own matches. While spying on Amelia, Cupid accidentally shoots himself with his magical arrow and falls in love with her. But bereaved Amelia doesn’t believe in the existence of Roman gods, and she’s certainly not looking for romance. She’s too busy perfecting the patented personality profile that’s made her Hollywood’s favorite matchmaker. Disguising himself as a mortal financial advisor, Cupid manages to break through Amelia’s guarded exterior. As their passion deepens so does Cupid’s guilt about deceiving Amelia. Cupid’s interference with Amelia’s life causes her business to falter, leads to a sterile spring that threatens the animal kingdom and shatters the longstanding peace between the Roman and Greek gods. With the fate of the natural and under worlds at stake, Cupid must decide whether to reveal his true identity and risk losing the chance to live happily ever after with Amelia.Disguising himself as a mortal financial advisor, Cupid manages to break through Amelia’s guarded exterior. As their passion deepens so does Cupid’s guilt about deceiving Amelia. Cupid’s interference with Amelia’s life causes her business to falter, leads to a sterile spring that threatens the animal kingdom and shatters the longstanding peace between the Roman and Greek gods. With the fate of the natural and under worlds at stake, Cupid must decide whether to reveal his true identity and risk losing the chance to live happily ever after with Amelia. 

Review:  

I have to be honest here - I realize that I'm going against the common opinion with this book. I've read other reviews and I know that most people seemed to really like this book. I was given this book months ago to review, so this review is well past due, but when I started reading it, I only got about 2/3 of the way through it and had to put it down. I kept thinking I would come back to it and try reading it again, but I just haven't been able to make myself do it. I'm solidly in the middle with this review. There were things I liked about this book and things that I didn't like.

The concept is interesting and original. There are several Greek Gods and Goddesses that play a central role to the story and it's interesting and fun to see how the author chooses to portray them. And therein lies one of the biggest problems for me: I didn't like the main characters very well. I didn't get attached to them and I wasn't invested in what happened to them.

Amelia, our heroine, runs her own business, playing matchmaker to the millionaires. She does her job very well and it's amusing to see how the celebrities are portrayed. (Note: No known celebrities are mentioned) She is also very nice to some of the local "colorful" people, which is nice to see. But she is also judgmental and comes across as shrewish - to me.

Colin/Cupid is likeable in some respects, but in other respects he drove me nuts because of his childish/immature behavior with his mother. On one hand it's funny, that this Greek God can be ruled by his mother so completely to the point where he is sneaking off like a teenager trying to get away with something. On the other hand, he is quite literally hundreds of years old and I was often left thinking "grow up! Grow some backbone!" And the role of his best friend, Inuus, in this book confuses me. I couldn't decide if he was Cupid's best friend (which you would think would merit some loyalty) or if he is Cupid's mother's errand boy.

There are other characters in the book, that are central to the plot, that I really did enjoy. Jennie, Amelia's assistant, is a spunky character that I loved. Also, Amelia's mother -  she is hilarious in that perfect Hollywood Diva wannabe way and very believable. Justin, the homeless man that Amelia helps, is an interesting character as well.

There were instances in the book that made me almost feel like this should have been given an "alternate reality" type of tag. When Justin sits down at the curb, in the middle of Hollywood and thinks to himself (in essence) "I don't hear any birds singing. Wow, Cupid must have really messed up spring," and the first conclusion that anybody in the near vicinity jumps to when something bad has happened is that the Gods must be angry - this is not my world. Even in Hollywood. 

I do remember running into some grammar issues, but it's been a while since I read the book, and I didn't make note of pages or instances, so I just want to make a small mention of that. 

This author has some very fun ideas, and a sense of humor. I would definitely not be against checking her out in the future at all. This book apparently didn't do it for me. And there's nothing wrong with that. Not every book is going to appeal to every single person the same way. Absolutely check it out for yourself. You may love it!


Kindle: 





Paperback: 

Reunion by Jeff Bennington

My Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Title: Reunion

Author: Jeff Bennington

Genre: Supernatural Thriller

Length: 194 Pages

Summary:

Twenty years after surviving a school shooting, Tanner Khan and his fellow classmates reluctantly agree to hold a reunion. Although they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, they come back to their hometown and reunite in the defunct school building. Old flames are rekindled, fears are ignited and their lives are about to explode in a whirlwind of memories, haunted by the spirit of David Ray, the troubled teen who killed many of their classmates.

Once inside the old school, they discover that a dark entity has joined them. It has come to collect a debt, long overdue and someone has to pay. Will Tanner and his classmates overcome their fears and put the pieces of their lives back together, or will they be consumed by their worst nightmare? Find out in this groundbreaking suspense thriller that is frightening and powerfully moving.

Review: 

Reunion is an interesting take on something that happens in society all too often - school shootings. At least that's the basis for everything else that happens in the story. Taking such a controversial subject and writing a story about it is what writers do. Sadly, they don't always do it very well...but Mr. Bennington has done an excellent job with this topic. He is respectful, and takes the time at the beginning of the book to pay a small tribute to other victims and survivors of such horrific events. The majority of this book, however, is not about the shooting itself, but what happens to the survivors as they go on with their lives.

I started this book on a whim, in between other books. I figured I'd just start it and see what it was because I was kind of in the mood for a thriller. I started it on a break from work, not really having any intention at that time to continue reading it right away. This author does such a fantastic job of immediately grabbing you, that I had a really hard time putting it down to go back to work. Throughout the evening I continued to read it every chance I got, including sitting at my desk reading a couple of pages here and there while I worked. My plans to only check it out went right out the window and I read it start to finish that same day.

The first few chapters are the lead up to the school shooting, showing most of our cast of characters as young, high school students. After the shooting, we flash forward about twenty years as they prepare for a reunion of the event that changed their lives forever and to honor the victims. Mr. Bennington did an excellent job with the tension in the first chapters - well, throughout the book, really, but with the first few chapters, especially. He made you care about these kids he was showing you in a very short time and by the time the unimaginable happened you were cringing in the your seat. 

The author also does a very good job with handling the number of characters he is dealing with. As a writer, it can be hard to give that many main characters separate, distinct enough personalities that they stand out from each other, but he did well. It was interesting to see how these kids that we met in the first chapters had grown up, the impact that the violence had on their lives and what they became. It was also interesting to see how the underlying high school stereotypes shaped who they became as well.

On the surface, this is a tension filled, haunting, suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages well into the night. Beneath all of that though, this book really shows a problem that is becoming an epidemic in this country. That problem is bullying at school and the lack of compassion that a lot of kids have for each other, and the circumstances that some of their fellow classmates have to live with.

There's an interesting twist at the end - definitely not what I was expecting. Roles are reversed, quite adeptly, and by the end I was rooting for the one guy throughout the book that seemed like a jerk. I had also stopped rooting for the guy that seemed like the "good guy" throughout the book. Over all, very well written. If you are in the mood for a suspenseful, creepy read then this one is well worth checking out.

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Paperback: