Book Reviews: A Witch in Love (Bk2) and A Witch Alone (Bk3) by Ruth Warburton (Winter Trilogy)

Below is an extract from the blurb to book 1 in the series, A Witch in Winter.  Please see below links to read the blurbs for book 2 and book 3 (so as not to contain spoilers in this post)
 
 Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Published:    Book 2, 5th July 2012 - Book 3, 7th Feb 2013
Publisher:  Hodder
Goodreads :  Book 2  Click here - Book 3  Click here
Series:  Book 2 and 3, Winter Trilogy
Source: Review Copies from Publisher
Review:   6 out of 10


As these are book 2 and 3 in the series, there are parts of these stories that I will not mention here as I do not want to spoil the story for those who have not read the trilogy yet.

What I loved about these books...
With the second and third book, I really enjoyed the mystery part of this story, trying to find out more secrets from the past and present and also trying to figure out who is behind certain things that are happening now which Anna has to face.  

What I was not so fond of with these books...
Although I did really enjoy this trilogy, by the time I came to the second and third book the series kind of became a bit 'same old same old'.  The predictability that was in the first book (which I liked) was still there in the second and third book and I did wish that at some point in the story there was going to be something that I was not expecting but that didn't happen.  Anna was a character that I really enjoyed in book 1 and still enjoyed following through book 2 and 3 although she has this tendency to be quite naive and easily led when I would have loved her character to have been stronger in some ways.

In summary...
This is a really good no frills trilogy.  Predictable but has great elements of mystery and action with a hint of history mixed in.

Waiting on Wednesday - Spellcaster by Claudia Gray

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

 

Expected Release Date:  5th March 2013
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

 When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realizes there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.

Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them. Shimmering with magic and mystery, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray’s new novel is sure to draw fans of the Hex Hall and Caster Chronicles series, and fans of the hit CW TV show The Secret Circle.

Dusty Reads: The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins

Dusty Reads is a Tuesday meme that I found at Ya-aholic.com and was originally started at Xpressoreads.com. 

This is a meme where I intend to showcase a book that has been on my shelf for a while and haven’t got to yet.  If you have read this or have heard of this book, I would love to hear your comments on whether you  like it or not, or have heard great things about it.

This week, my  Dusty Read is:

 What makes a wife a lover?For Kate, the spark went out of her marriage long ago but her husband doesn't seem to notice. Their role as parents consumes their lives so they need to rekindle the romance they once shared.

What makes a woman a mother?
For Jo, a high-powered career has led her to believe that she doesn't have a single maternal instinct. When an orphan unexpectedly enters her life, she is forced to confront her own unhappy childhood and the walls it has built around her heart.

What makes a man the love of your life?
For Sarah, home is the steamy jungles of Africa while the man of her dreams waits in the air-conditioned confines of Los Angeles. Her longing for this man from the past is blinding her to a new love standing right in front of her.

What these women all have in common is a friend with a generous soul, an irrepressible spirit- and a serious illness. In her final letters, Rachel raises one last question: What makes a friend live in our hearts forever?

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
    

Author Interview: C L Stone

With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone.

When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends.

Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another?

Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy.

The Academy, ever vigilant.

1. If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?

I'd love to work with Janet Evanovich. I find her hilarious and I think working along side her would be a whole lot of fun. Imagine coming up with another random car explosion or spending hours of time talking about Joe and Ranger. Sexy!

2. What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?

I have a computer desk set up in the dining room the other half and I turned into office space. I keep random, inspiring pictures up on the desktop to keep me motivated to write.

Depending what I'm writing, I am usually very obsessed with it. Right now I've been obsessed with the boys of the Academy series, so even when I should be editing or writing something different, I'm always drifting back to the books.

I work from home already, so I pop right out of bed and I'll review what I wrote the previous day, just a couple of pages back. When I'm caught up, I can write around 5000 words a day, and up to 10k or more if I've got the time.

 

3. What is the hardest part of the writing for you?

For me, I don't like to stop working on new material. The hardest part is rewriting and formatting when I want to be writing the next book. Part of my creative process and what I love about writing is discovering what's going to happen next. Even if I already know or planned what I wanted to write, having the words down on paper brings the whole story to life.

4. When and why did you first start writing?

I started writing poetry when I was 16 to impress a boy I liked. It never worked out with the boy but the writing stuck. I jumped from poetry to novels right away, because I loved long stories and discovering new places. I wrote my first novel in three weeks. That was almost ten years ago. I've had a lot of practice since then.

  

5. How did you come up with the idea for the book your book?

It's actually my own personal fantasy. I find it much easier to write when it is one of my secret day dreams that I'm thinking about. I love obsessions and stories come out much easier when I'm writing about something I'm currently obsessed with. 

 

6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?

I've loved reading since I was little. I used to inhale VC Andrews and Christopher Pike books as a teenager. Now I read a lot of Kelly Armstrong, Garth Nix and lots of romance, mystery, and suspense titles. I'm currently reading through Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series.

7. Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

You know that super secret fantasy you day dream about in your head at night that you'd be mortified if your parents or your friends ever found out? Write that. Writing it out takes it to a whole different level and you'll be amazed at the speed you'll get through a book and get to that finished product. When you love it, others will too. 

Book link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Academy-Introductions-Series-ebook/dp/B00ASPRPXM/

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Introductions-Volume-1-C-Stone/dp/1481814915/

Tumblr: http://aclstone.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLStoneX

Book Haul/In My Mailbox - 24th Feb 2013

The Happy Bookaholic Tag

 


The questions
1. What do you love about buying new books?
2. How often do you buy new books?
3. Bookstore or online book shopping - which do you prefer?
4. Do you have a favourite bookstore?
5. Do you preorder books?
6. Do you have a monthly book buying limit?
7. Book buying bans - are they something for you?
8. Hoy big is your wishlist?
9. Which three books (from you wish list or preorders, or ... ) would you like to own NOW?
10. Whom do you tag?

Book Review: A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.




Published:    5th January 2012
Publisher:  Hodder
Goodreads :  Click here
Series:  Book 1, Winter Trilogy
Source:  Bought
Review:   8 out of 10


What I loved about this book...
The minute I saw the word witch on the front of the cover, I knew I had to read this book.   I love love love witch books.  First, just want to make a brief mention about the beautiful cover.  What really drew me into the cover and the book was the creepy looking house on the left hand side and the lightning striking it, now that is screaming out to me to be a witch house if ever I saw one!  Match the house with the striking blue and the serious look on the woman's face, the cover seems really cold and I immediately felt like she had been shut out of the house or something.  

I really enjoyed the sense of mystery this book has to offer.  Firstly, there is the mystery of why Anna did not know she was a witch and what would happen next in terms of coming into her powers.  Who would want to stop Anna from finding out who she was.  Secondly, there is the mystery surrounding the town of Winter and who lives in it.  Some people may not be who they say they were and I was very much suspicious of most characters reading this story. 

Although this next point may possibly have been put in the 'not so fond of section', as I was reading through the story I was glad that it was a part of it.  I did find the story to be very predictable and found that very little surprised me in the story.  Normally, I would put this as a 'something I did not like about the story' but with this story in particular, I found the predictability to be some form of comfort.  As I practically knew what was happening next, I could sit back and enjoy the details of the story and concentrate on the characters and their motives etc and I really did enjoy that. 

What I was not so fond of in this book...
The romance part of the story was a bit puzzling for me.  Right from the beginning, it appeared to be a bit of an instant love thing happening and put that together with the love spell Anna put on Seth, it made the whole 'romance' part of the story throughout this book a little bit unbelievable (not completely but there was always a question in the mind as to whether it was real or not).

Summary
A very good start to the trilogy.  Great action, suspense and mystery surrounding Anna and the town of Winter.  I am looking forward to finding out how the story continues.  


Best wishes

Debs 

 

Author Interview: Theresa M Jones

Theresa M Jones is just a regular small town, Texas girl. When she isn't at work at a local Medical Equipment provider,you can find her at home with her husband and two beautiful (and rambunctious) kiddos.

In her spare time- as if there ever was such a thing as "spare time" - she reads and reviews books on her book blog, and writes paranormal romance novels.

POWER (The Descendent Trilogy #1) is her debut New Adult (Mature YA) Paranormal Romance novel.

Here is the BLURB:

Thousands of years after the battle between the angels, when Lucifer was defeated by Michael in the Heavens, the war is still being fought on Earth by the humans who have their Power, the Angel’s Power. 

 Allison Stevens is a 21 year old single mother who gets thrown into the middle of this battle when Damien, the Leader of the Rising, decides to hunt her down and kill her because he fears she is the descendant prophesied to save the world. 

David, a member of the Order, takes Allison under his wing in order to show her the ropes, and hopefully groom her into being the one they have been waiting for. The only problem is that they start to grow more attached than a teacher/student relationship should allow.

But that isn’t all. Damien wants to open the Seven Seals and bring about the apocalypse and it’s up to Allison to not only save herself and her family, but save the world, all while trying to keep her heart from breaking.

 No problem… right?

 POWER is the first book in a New Adult (Mature YA) Paranormal Romance Trilogy and is the debut novel for author Theresa M Jones

     

   

     
   

 

 
 
     

1.  If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?

I have SO many favourite authors, so I don’t know how I could narrow it down to one. Really I would be honoured to work with ANY other author. 

2.  What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?

A typical working day is: Get up at 6, get the kids up and dressed before I take them to school. Then I go to work at a local medical equipment supplier. Come home, eat dinner. I have to squeeze writing in where I can! Usually after the kids are in bed! 

3.  What is the hardest part of the writing for you?

The hardest part is finding time. Writing is easy, but sometimes its killer to be able to FIND the time to do it. Then the revising and editing is never too fun! (and when you revise and have to cut some-thats really hard)

4.  When and why did you first start writing?

I think I wrote my first book in 3rd grade, when I filled up an entire spiral notebook. But I started seriously writing when I was about 20 or so. 

5.  How did you come up with the idea for the book your book?

I don’t know how I first came up with the idea. Honestly a lot of the Main character is me... single, young, unwed. And I just dreamed of something more happening to me. That’s where Allison came up. But I have always had a ton of stories in my head!

6.  Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?

I am an avid reading and have a book blog where I review the books I read! I normally stick to anything paranormal, fantasy, romance, or YA. those would be my Go-To genres. Right now I just finished reading Beta by Rachel Cohn, and I’ve just started The Secret of Ella and Michal by Jessica Sorensen.

7.  Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

Don’t give up!! Just make it happen! 

Author Links:

Twitter- @MrsTheresaJones

 Goodreads: Author Theresa Jones

 Blog: Keepin Up with the Joneses In the Book World

 And Facebook: TheresaMJones