Blog Tour & Book Review / Power Play by Tiffany Snow

THIS KIND OF BUSINESS CAN ONLY BE PERSONALSage Reese lives for her job. More precisely, she lives for her debonair boss, Parker Andersen. Sage handles everything for Parker, even as she fantasizes about the one thing that isn't in her job description: him. But when a high-stakes account crosses the line from shady to deadly, a tough cop starts giving Sage the attention she wishes Parker would . . .

Detective Dean Ryker couldn't be more different from Parker. While Parker wears expensive suits like a second skin and drives a BMW, Ryker's uniform is leather jackets and jeans . . . and his ride of choice is a Harley. While Parker's sexiness is a reserved, slow burn, Ryker is completely upfront about what-and who-he's after. And Sage tops his list.

Now, as Ryker digs deeper into the dark side of Parker's business, Sage finds herself caught between two men: the one she's always wanted-and the one who makes her feel wanted like never before . . .

Published:     20th July 2015
Publisher:  Piatkus
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Risky Business Series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

What I loved about this book...    This was a really fun read for me.  I don't usually pick up this style of story but the description intrigued me.  What made this book good for me was the fact that it had a lot of twists and turns. I actually few right throughthis book in one sitting becauseI was so into the story and wanted to know what would happen at the end.  It helped that the pace of this story was fast; if it had been slow it probably would have taken me a lot longer to read it.    I always like books with secrets or characters with secrets and two of the main characters in this series, namely Riker and Pyker, who have a past that is obvious from the beginning but what was not so obvious was what happened between them...

What I was not so fond of with this book...  Honestly, the love triangle aspect of this story was not my favourite part.  You have Sage who is 'torn' between Ryker and Parker - one seemingly being a 'good guy' and one being a 'bad guy'.  I would loved to have seen something that was a bit more original than the typical good guy/bad guy story line.

Book Review / Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Below is the description for book 1 in the Uglies series.  For the description of Pretties, please click on the Goodreads link below.

Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellant Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.


But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. 

The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Published:     1st November 2007
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 3, Uglies
Source:  Owned

OMG, I am just loving this series!  I can't believe it has taken me so long to read it.  Well this one was definitely a lot more action packed than the first two.  There's a lot of conflict and a lot of problems to be solved.  It was definitely a lot of fun following Tally around in this one.  Even more of this world has opened up secrets and I understand more about this world than ever before.  Just when I thought it could not get any more interesting, it does!  One thing I am intrigued about is what is going to happen in book 4.  Where it finishes in this book I am left wondering what could happen next!  Its been a while since I have been this addicted to a series I know I am going to have a massive book hangover after finishing this series... 

Book Review / Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Below is the description for book 1 in the Uglies series.  For the description of Pretties, please click on the Goodreads link below.

Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellant Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.


But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. 

The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Published:     1st November 2007
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Uglies
Source:  Owned

This series just gets better and better.  I am marathoning this series and the time between finishing book 1 (Uglies) to starting this one was about a couple of hours.  I wrote my review for book 1 and then delved straight into the next one.  I just couldn't wait!  This book two has the same feel as the first book with all its fun, futuristic and action packed goodness but this book takes the story up a notch.  Obviously as this is book 2 I cannot go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil the story for those who have not read the first book in the series but let's just say that there are added complications in this story and a little more revealed about this world that made me love this story so much more!  Now I need to move on to book 3 right now, I just can't wait any longer! lol!

Book Review / Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. 

And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-- and it isn't very pretty. 

The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever...



Published:     8th February 2005
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Uglies
Source:  Owned Copy

This series has literally been sitting on my bookshelves for years.  I bought this series of another reviewer at the time who was getting rid of the and that must have been about four or five years ago now.  Its one of those series that I am really interested in reading but never actually get around to it. As this year I am in the process of 'reorganising' my bookshelves, getting rid of those I have read and not quite liked and reading the ones I actually have on my shelf, this is a series I decided to pick up now and I am so glad that I did.

What I liked about this the most was that it was not complicated.  What you saw (or read in this case)  is what you got.  I loved it.  You have this world that is divided up into uglies (those who have not had the 'pretty' operation yet which they get when they are 16) and pretties.  There are other characters but I won't go into them here as that would spoil the story...  We follow the story of Tally who is an ugly.  Her best friend is older than her and has already crossed over to the pretty side.  We see Tally make a new friend who leads her astray and from then on its like one thing after another with a few twists and turns along the way.  I loved this story for what it is - fun, futuristic and action packet.  I can't wait to start the next one - which I am going to do right now lol!

Blog Tour / Secrets of The Royal Wedding Chapel

Immersed in the world of weddings and romance, Lily Lavender grew up believing in brides, grooms and happily-ever-afters. A direct descendent of the British royals, it seemed her destiny and royal birthright to someday assume a position as wedding coordinator in their family-owned wedding chapel business. But when her mother Mimi’s third marriage eventually fails, Lily’s dreams of her own happily-ever-after quickly fade. She’s no longer interested in a life of assisting brides walk down the aisle into a life of disillusionment and possible divorce. Lily turns her back on The Royal Wedding Chapel and leaves Las Vegas to fashion a life of her own.

Years later, Lily—now a single mom—discovers her teenage daughter has run off to Las Vegas, lured by Mimi to help run the chapel. Determined to save her daughter from the broken dreams of Sin City and the nonsensical world of which family fairy tales are made, Lily returns to Las Vegas. But nothing prepares Lily for the royal drama which awaits her… or the sins and secrets she stumbles across that threaten to close the chapel and ruin her family forever.

THE AUTHOR

KATHLEEN IRENE PATERKA is an Amazon bestselling author of numerous women’s fiction novels. 

Her popular James Bay series includes Fatty Patty, Home Fires, Lotto Lucy, and For I Have Sinned, while her recent women’s fiction novel The Other Wife is set in Chicago. Secrets of the Royal Wedding Chapel, a Las Vegas tale of romance and royalty, will be released by Booktrope Publishing in October 2015. 

Kathleen lives in Northern Michigan with her husband Steve, where she is busy working on her next James Bay novel.

Website: http://kathleenirenepaterka.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathleenIrenePaterka

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KPaterka

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5826393.Kathleen_Irene_Paterka

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kathleenpaterka/

Blog: http://kathleenirenepaterka.com/blog/

Contact: http://kathleenirenepaterka.com/contact/

Newsletter: http://goo.gl/ueDK1S

Book Review / These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Set in gilded age New York, These Shallow Graves follows the story of Josephine Montfort, an American aristocrat. Jo lives a life of old-money ease. Not much is expected of her other than to look good and marry well. But when her father dies due to an accidental gunshot, the gilding on Jo’s world starts to tarnish. 

With the help of a handsome and brash reporter, and a young medical student who moonlights in the city morgue, Jo uncovers the truth behind her father’s death and learns that if you’re going to bury the past, you’d better bury it deep.


Josephine Montfort is from one of New York's oldest, most respected, and wealthiest families. Like most well-off girls of the Gilded Age, her future looks set - after a finishing school education, she will be favourably married off to a handsome gentleman, after which she'll want for nothing. 

But Jo has other dreams and desires that make her long for a very different kind of future. She wants a more meaningful and exciting life: she wants to be an investigative journalist like her heroine Nellie Bly. But when Jo's father is found dead in his study after an alleged accident, her life becomes far more exciting than even Jo would wish. Unable to accept that her father could have been so careless, she begins to investigate his death with the help of a young reporter, Eddie Gallagher. It quickly becomes clear he was murdered, and in their race against time to discover the culprit and his motive, Jo and Eddie find themselves not only battling dark characters on the violent and gritty streets of New York, but also their growing feelings for each other.

Published:     27th October 2015
Publisher:  Random House
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

What I liked about this book...  Jennifer Donnelly is one of those authors who  I have been meaning to pick up one of her books for a while now and hadn't.  I am so glad that I started with this one.  I loved it.  This story is so rich with description that reading it made me feel like I was right there in that story and in that time period.  Although this was one of those ones where I guessed what was happening before it happened, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.  My favourite character has to be the main character, Jo.   She is one of those characters who is suposed to act a certain way, as ladies do in that time period (seen but not heard) but goes completely against that and does what she thinks is right.  What's even better is that she stays true to that believe all throughout the book even if it puts her in danger. You have got a great combination of good and bad characters in this book along with the added mystery of what happened to her father and a couple of other mysteries too along the way. 

What I was not fond of with this book...  I would have loved for there to have been a few more surprises, twists or turns in the story.  A lot of the story I pretty much guessed what was going to happen next (but that didn't make me like the story any less) so I would have liked to have a couple of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. 






 

Book Review / The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

A year after her husband’s sudden death, ceramic artist Tilda Fordwells finally moves into the secluded Welsh cottage that was to be their new home. She hopes that the tranquil surroundings will help ease her grief, and lessen her disturbing visions of Mat’s death. Instead, the lake in the valley below her cottage seems to spark something dormant in her – a sensitivity, and a power of some sort. Animals are drawn to her, electricity shorts out when she’s near, and strangest of all, she sees a new vision; a boatful of ancient people approaching her across the water.

On this same lake in Celtic times lived Seren, a witch and shaman. She was respected but feared, kept separate from the community for her strange looks. When a vision came to her of the Prince amid a nest of vipers she warned of betrayal from one of his own. Prince Brynach both loved and revered her, but could not believe someone close to him wished him harm, even as the danger grew.

In her own time, Tilda’s grief begins to fade beside her newfound powers and a fresh love. When she explores the lake’s ancient magic and her own she discovers Seren, the woman in her vision of the boat. Their two lives strangely mirror each others, suggesting a strong connection between the women. As Tilda comes under threat from a dark power, one reminiscent of Seren’s prophecy, she must rely on Seren and ancient magic if death and disaster are not to shatter her life once more.

Published:      21st April 2015
Publisher:  Thomas Dunne Books
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here 
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

I really enjoyed this story but have to be honest and say that it wasn't the first time I tried to read it.   About two or three weeks ago I started to read this and just wasn't feeling that connection.  The story and the character just weren't connecting with me and I just couldn't get into the story.  So, I put it down but I knew that I really liked the sound of the story.  The reason I put it down the first time I put it down to just the mood I was in on that particular day; I probably just wasn't in the mood to read that type of story.  I did read a good 50 or 60 pages before I put it down.  So, knowing that I really liked the idea of the story I decided to give it another try.  I never like to give up on a book that I am interested in unless I have a really bad reaction to it.  I am so glad that I gave this another try.  I really enjoyed following Tilda.  She is such a headstrong person just forced into a world that I thought she was not ready for.  The ending for me was the best part.  Although I pretty much guessed what was going to happen I still enjoyed taking that journey (the second time around that is!).

What I liked the most was the 'oldy worldy' feel of the world.  The writing was so well done that I could just imagine myself in that world and at that time.  Although I am not sure of the era this is set but I got the impression that its more old world like mixed with a bit of magic.

(From Goodreads)  Paula Brackston (aka PJ Brackston)is the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter, The Winter Witch, and The Midnight Witch(2014).

Paula has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and is a Visiting Lecturer for the University of Wales, Newport. In 2007 Paula was short listed in the Creme de la Crime search for new writers. In 2010 her book 'Nutters' (writing as PJ Davy) was short listed for the Mind Book Award, and she was selected by the BBC under their New Welsh Writers scheme.

Paula lives in Wales with her partner and their two children.

Book Review / Sky Lantern by Matt MIkalatos

Matt Mikalatos offers a poignant and compassionate look at a father’s relationship with his children, the healing power of a small act of kindness, and the certainty that even death can’t stop love in a deeply moving memoir inspired by a sky lantern with a scribbled note and the journey to find the child who wrote it.

Love you, Daddy. Miss you so much. Steph.

Steph scribbled those words on a sky lantern before sending it off to her father in heaven who had passed away from cancer. Halfway across the country, Steph’s lantern landed in Matt Mikalatos’s yard.

As a father of three daughters, Matt could not let Steph’s note go unanswered, so he posted an open letter to her on his blog. Matt never could have expected the viral response to his letter that led him on a journey to find Steph—and to bring healing to thousands of others in desperate need of the loving words of a father.

Filled with paternal wisdom and reflections on the relationship between a father­ and their child, Sky Lantern shows how the miraculous events that followed Matt finding the sky lantern in his yard—and the widespread and lasting impact his letter had—prove that the bond between a parent and their child is everlasting.

Published:     17th November 2015
Publisher:  Howard Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

What I loved about this book...
The fact that this is a memoir rather than a story made this book so much better than if it had been a novel.  It brought an obvious realness to the story that made what happen so much more special.  I am very much a believer in fate.  Everything happens for a reason.  That sky lantern was meant to fall where it did and be found by Matt.  For me the best part of this was the letters near the end of the story that Matt writes.  They are truly emotional and very moving.  This story definitely reaffirms family relationships and in particular the relationship between a father and a daughter.  I have kept this review intentionally short as I didn't want to go too in depth with this story as the lesser known the better.  I didn't even read the description when I started reading to be honest and I think that helped my reading experience. 

Book Review / Has to be Love by Jolene Perry

Years ago, Clara survived a vicious bear attack. She's used to getting sympathetic looks around town, but meeting strangers is a different story. 

Yet her dreams go far beyond Knik, Alaska, and now she's got a secret that's both thrilling and terrifying--an acceptance letter from Columbia University. But it turns out her scars aren't as fixable as she hoped, and when her boyfriend begins to press for a forever commitment, she has second thoughts about New York. 

Then Rhodes, a student teacher in her English class, forces her to acknowledge her writing talent, and everything becomes even more confusing--especially with the feelings she's starting to have about him. 

Now all Clara wants to do is hide from the tough choices she has to make. When her world comes crashing down around her, Clara has to confront her problems and find her way to a decision. 

Will she choose the life of her dreams or the life that someone she loves has chosen? Which choice is scarier?

Published:     1st September 2015
Publisher:  AW Teen
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

What I liked about this story...    The story of Clara was what made me want to read this book.  You have a character that has been hurt (bothy physically by the bear attack and mentally from the aftermath) and I was very interested to follow her story, rooting for her to get better and start her life.  After she got the university acceptance it was interesting to see her reaction to that. 

What I didn't like with this story...    I am afraid to say that for me this book was one of those that I was intrigued enough by the story and the characters to want to finish but there were many moments where I nearly did not finish this at all.  I found Clara to be very weak and although that was expected at the beginning I had hoped that she would become a lot stronger as the story went on but the story really concentrated on a love triangle between Clara, Rhodes and her boyfriend and I just couldn't form any attachments to the characters which I wished I could have done.