Book Review - Dark Magic by James Swain

Peter Warlock is a magician with a dark secret. Every night, he amazes audiences at his private theater in New York, where he performs feats that boggle the imagination. But his day job is just a cover for his otherworldly pursuits: Peter is a member of an underground group of psychics who gaze into the future to help prevent crimes. 

No one, not even his live-in girlfriend, knows the truth about Peter—until the séance when he foresees an unspeakable act of violence that will devastate the city. As Peter and his friends rush to prevent tragedy, Peter discovers that a shadowy cult of evil psychics, the Order of Astrum, know all about his abilities. They are hunting him and his fellow psychics down, one by one, determined to silence them forever. 

Goodreads




My Review:    6/10

I was very intrigued about this book when I read the blurb.  Magicians and secrets, that's my kind of story.  If I was to describe what type of story this is, I would have to say that it is more of a magical mystery story.  You have a great combination of a group of magicians who seem to be able to predict what is going to happen in the future and are able to 'tip off' the local police just in time.  Its only when Peter predicts something far worse than he has ever seen before that he realises that he needs to do something.  There is a mysterious character lurking around and Peter needs to stop him before many people will die  If I have to be honest, I did not warm very much to Peter's girlfriend Lisa  very much who seemed to me to be thinking of herself more than Peter in certain situations.

This was a very interesting good-v-bad story with some really great twists and turns that did keep my interest onto what is going to happen next but, for me, I did feel the story was very predictable.  I felt this story was more about Peter's journey into finding the truth about his predictions and the truth about himself. 

Best wishes


Debs

Bookshelf Tour - The Final Part Hardback Books

Best wishes 

Debs :-)

Bookshelf Tour (More Misc Books) - 23rd June 2012

One more video to come soon.......

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Interview with Chrissie Manby - Author of What I Did on my Holidays

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

Hmmm. This is a tricky one. There are certainly writers whose magic touch I would love to have all over my manuscript: people like my heroine Anne Tyler or Ann Patchett. But I have collaborated with other writers in the past and have to tell you I'm not good at it. I'm far happier working alone. That way I set the pace and get my own way with the story.

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

I have no typical working day. I work whenever I can find the space and time since I always seem to be on the move or have a house full of waifs and strays sleeping in my office. I have even been known to work in an aisle in the supermarket (thank god for Blackberry) and I am writing this in the back of a disgusting cigarette-scented mini-cab on my way to the station.

 What is the hardest part of the writing for you?

Always the middle. It's easy to come up with a beginning and an ending. Stringing the journey between them out for 100,000 words is something else.

When and why did you first start writing?

I published my first short story as a fourteen year old. My English teacher encouraged me to send some of my work to Just Seventeen and they bought it. I didn't actually think that hard about it. I'd written the stories for my English GCSE coursework. Back then I wanted to be a fashion designer.

How did you come up with the idea for the book ‘What I did on my holidays’?

The central idea of WIDOMH (the heroine pretends to be on holiday in Majorca while hiding in her flat) is an extension of the old ruse of pretending to be the office when you're actually in the changing room at TopShop. With mobiles and laptops you can work from anywhere without anyone having to know where you really are. So why not pretend to be somewhere exotic?

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

I read all the time. Right now, I am reading Adam Nevill's latest, Last Days, about an evil cult that commits Manson-style atrocities. He is a brilliant story-teller but you definitely have to read him in daylight. While I was reading his 'Apartment 16', I kept having to put the book down, leave the house and calm down in a cafe full of people.

 Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?

Just keep putting the words down until you have a whole novel. Aspiring writers often seem to get bogged down with editing and re-editing their own opening chapters. Finishing the whole book makes you a much more interesting prospect for agents, editors etc.

Goodreads page here

Publisher:  Hodder and Stoughton
Release Date:  21st June 2012
Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA
Author Website:  http://www.chrismanby.co.uk/

Sophie Sturgeon can't wait for her annual summer holiday. Not only will it be a week away from work, it will be a chance to reconnect with her boyfriend Callum.

So this upcoming trip to Majorca is a big deal. Sophie's spent a lot of time getting ready. She's bought a new wardrobe. She's been waxed to within an inch of her life. She's determined she and Callum will have the best time ever.

Then Callum dumps her, the night before they're due to leave. In a show of bravery and independence, Sophie says she'll go to Majorca alone - but in fact, she hides in her London flat. But when her friends, family, and even Callum seem so surprised and delighted at her single girl courage, Sophie decides to go all out and recreate the ultimate 'fake break' . . . with hilarious results.

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - What I Did on my Holidays by Chrissie Manby

Sophie Sturgeon can't wait for her annual summer holiday. Not only will it be a week away from work, it will be a chance to reconnect with her boyfriend Callum.

So this upcoming trip to Majorca is a big deal. Sophie's spent a lot of time getting ready. She's bought a new wardrobe. She's been waxed to within an inch of her life. She's determined she and Callum will have the best time ever.

Then Callum dumps her, the night before they're due to leave. In a show of bravery and independence, Sophie says she'll go to Majorca alone - but in fact, she hides in her London flat. But when her friends, family, and even Callum seem so surprised and delighted at her single girl courage, Sophie decides to go all out and recreate the ultimate 'fake break' . . . with hilarious results.

 Goodreads page here

Publisher:  Hodder and Stoughton
Release Date:  21st June 2012
Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA
Author Website:  http://www.chrismanby.co.uk/

My Review:   10/10

If you are looking for a great holiday read, one that will make you smile, laugh and cry (sometimes on their own and sometimes all at once), this is the one you need to pick up this summer.  I had such fun reading this book.

I immediately warmed to the character of Sophie.  At the beginning of the story, she struck me as someone who cared what other people thought of her and, despite being paired up with what I found to be a pretty annoying colleague, she knew how to 'handle' her office relationship with the colleague and with others.  When she is dumped by Callum (in a way that was completely cruel and the things he revealed I really was shocked about and definitely showed his true colours), I completely understood why she couldn't have gone on holiday on my own.   If I was in the same situation, I would have to admit that I would probably do the same thing.

The one thing that really shone out to me as the best part of this novel, I cannot completely reveal as do not want to spoil the story for anyone but has to do with Sophie staying at home and the close bond and friendship she discovers with someone throughout her holiday at home.  To me, that was the most moving part of the story.  There is also a great scene including Sophie's backyard and a lot of sand that made me laugh so much...

This is an absolutely fantastic summer read not to be missed...  If you enjoy reading books by the likes of Sophie Kinsella, I would definitely recommend you give this one a go....

Best wishes

Debs

Waiting on Wednesday - Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

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

 

Expected Release Date:   3rd July 2012 (not long now...)
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member.

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever?


Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.  

Goodreads page here
Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date:  22nd March 2011
Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA 

My Review:   10/10
(video review at bottom of post)

There's something about a Sarah Addison Allen book that screams magic, oozing magic from each page.  Many of you may know that I also co-host a You Tube Channel called Brewing Tea Bag (channel can be found here) and this is the book we have chosen to read in the month of June.   As a very good girl, I started this at the beginning of the month and I could not put it down.  It is now halfway through the month and I have already finished it.  At 273 pages, I did wish that it could have been longer but, as they say, quality not quantity and this book is full of plenty of magical quality.  

Willa and Paxton would have to be my favourite characters in this story, following each of their stories, especially how they interacted with each other and discovering the secrets that they uncover.  The story centres on the Blue Ridge Madam that for many years has been left to ruins.  Once a beautiful family home owned and lived in by Willa's family many years ago, disaster struck and it was left abandoned.  Paxton decides to renovate the Madam but little does she know she is going to be uncovering truths that were thought long forgotten. 

This story is so rich with family history and secrets that I just could not put it down.  There are also some great romantic elements in this story as well.  I absolutely loved this book and would very highly recommend it...

Video Review




Book Trailer

Best wishes

Debs

Bookshelf Tour (Misc and Chick Lit Books) - 18th June 2012

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker

The author of the "New York Times"-bestselling "The Little Giant of Aberdeen County" returns with a magic-tinged tale of dreams, family secrets, and betrayals on a New England salt farm.

In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire--heartbroken over her high school sweetheart--who marries him.

Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen: her husband's pregnant mistress. Suddenly, alliances change, old loves return, and new battle lines are drawn. What the Gilly sisters learn about each other, the land around them, and the power of the salt, will not only change each of their lives forever, it will also alter Gilly history for good.

Goodreads page here

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Release Date:  14th March 2012
Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

My Review:   10/10

The Gilly Salt family are outsiders in the town running a salt farm, salt which seems to have a magical quality to them which seems to be casting a spell on the town.  Each year the town holds a bonfire where a member of the Gilly family throws salt into and it predicts the future for the town for the following year.  Blue means the town is going to prosper.  Yellow means change is in the air.  Black means something horrible is on the horizon. 

Jo Gilly is the oldest sister who is very responsible and takes care of the family and the business.  Claire, on the other hand, really does not want to be there and does everything in her power to leave her family and the farm behind, despite whose feelings she hurts.  This story is very much about the interaction between the Gilly Salt Sisters and unearthing family secrets that could either tear them further apart or bring them closer together.

This is such a great family drama I have to admit that I found it very hard to put down.  I just had to find out what was going to happen next and what family secrets would be unearthed.  What made the story more enjoyable was the flash backs to the past that gives a bigger picture of what the Gilly sisters have to face.  If you like a good family drama, I would highly recommend this one.

Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Burn Mark by Laura Powell

Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition—the witches’ mortal enemy—and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside.

And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae—the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . .

Goodreads page here

Publisher:  Bloomsbury

Release Date:  19th June 2012 

Purchase it at:  Amazon UK /  Amazon USA

My Review:    9/10

All I had to hear was the word 'witches' and I knew I was definitely wanting to read this book as soon as possible.  I absolutely love witch stories and this one definitely did not disappoint.  Immediately I was catapulted into a world where witches were second rate citizens below humans.  In this new world, you have witches and humans without powers are split up into different communities and very much keep to themselves.  If you are a witch, you have a 'devil's mark', which I can probably best describe as a birth mark but more distinguishable. 

Glory was born into the witch community and very much wants to be a witch but unfortunately her powers have not shown up yet, despite the fact that she very much wants them to).  She is in a tough situation though because there is a hierarchy in the witch community, which a member of her extended family heads (just like a mob family) and if she does come into her powers, that member of the family will want to use her powers for his own purpose, not for good.  

Lucas was born and raised in the human community.  He comes from a very very very long line of witch hunters and there are certainly expectations.  When Lucas develops the devil's mark, he cannot hide it for long and he is soon recruited by his father.

There is a lot of build up and introduction to characters at the beginning of this book, which I thought was great as it helped me fully understand this new world and really get stuck into it.  Although this story was very predictable, for me this story was more about the journey of Glory and Lucas, what was happening to them and the secrets they would discover along the way. I believe this may be the first in a series so I am definitely looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Best wishes

Debs

Bookshelf Tour - YA Bookshelves Part Two (13th Jun...Bo

Waiting on Wednesday - Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

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

 

Expected Release Date:   13th September 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.


A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly

When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy, sizzling-hot Ian. At first it's exhilarating--Vee and Ian's fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they're directed to a secret location with five other players for the Grand Prize round. Suddenly they're playing all or nothing, with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?






Best wishes

Debs :-)

Bookshelf Tour - YA Bookshelves Part One (12th June 2012)

OVERVIEW

YA BOOKSHELVES PART ONE

Book Review - Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World.

 And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. 

Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop talking to him?

Check out the Goodreads page here. 
Release Date - 24th May 2012

8/10

My Review 
(video review at end of post)

 'The Adorkable Manifesto

1. We have nothing to declare but our dorkiness. 
2. Jumble sales are our shopping malls. 
3. Better to make cookies than be a cookie-cutter.
4. Suffering doesn't necessarily improve you but it does give you something to blog about.
5. Experiment with Photoshop, hair dye, nail polish and cupcake flavours but never drugs. 
6. Don't follow leaders, be one.
7. Necessity is the mother of customisation.
8. Puppies make everything better.
9. Quiet girls rarely make history.
10. Never shield your oddness, but wear your oddness like a shield'

                                                                                    Quote from First Page of Adorkable

What a great start to a book.  I could very easily follow each of these rules....

At the beginning of the book, we see Jeane standing up for what she believes in and stays true to herself and her beliefs.  We also see her very lonely with her parents having split up; her mother is abroad teaching meditation and her father also abroad owning a bar.  Although her sister did live with her, she had to go away for medical training so Jeane is very much living under her own bubble.  

I liked the banter between Jeane and Michael, having found out that their boyfriend/girlfriend have been seeing each other behind their backs.  I believe they say that opposites attract and Michael and Jeane are definitely opposites.  I liked their interaction with each other and, as time goes on, what effect they have on each other.  The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of both Jeane and Michael and it is definitely very entertaining to read about both sides of the story.   

Before I finish the review, there is one other quote that I would like to share here, taken from page 27 of Adorkable, which I just absolutely love.

'...I double-clicked on Firefox, then on Tweetdeck, and connected by iPhone to my computer so I could upload the pictures I'd taken that afternoon.
     My fingers flew over the keys as I wrote my first tweet of the evening.  The I hit return and within ten seconds someone had replied.

     And, just like that, I wasn't alone anymore.'

Best wishes

Debs :-)

 

Waiting on Wednesday - Origin by Jessia Khoury

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

 

Expected Release Date:   4th September 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home—and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin—a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Book Review - The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland

Elizabeth Margaret--better known as Em--has always known what her life would contain: an internship at her father's firm, a degree from Harvard, and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is, it's not what she wants. So when she gets the opportunity to get away and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em learns that her family has some pretty significant secrets. And then there's Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can't resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels that for the first time ever, she is really living life on her own terms.

Add to your books on Goodreads here.

Released - 10th May 2012

  
My Review  



Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

"To understand what it meant to be a Hathaway, you'd first have to see Aurelia."

For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm.

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land, or the memories.

Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name. Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family... and her own part in their mottled history.

"Our farm was like the world when people still thought it was flat. And when you left it, it was as if you had simply sailed too far and fallen off the surface into the void."

You can find the Goodreads page here.

My Review (if you would like to see the video review, please see end of post)


A very interesting read.  Right from the word go, I knew that something BIG had happened at Aurelia farm and I knew that I had to find out what was going on.   What happened on this farm so make all but one the family members leave?  

This story splits into two.  First you have Meredith who had been contacted by the family's lawyer saying that her cousin had died, left the farm in ruin and are looking for a family member who is willing to sort out the debts (of which there are quite a few) and the family's personal belongings.  Up until now, not one of the family members have been either contactable or willing to take on this task.  Through a struggle of will, Meredith decides that she has to go back to Aurelia to sort this out.  The second half of this story is set in the past, right when Lavinia was married to the doctor in the village where Aurelia is set.  We follow Lavinia's story as she meets her new future husband and moves to Aurelia.  


I have to admit there were times in the story where the split between the past and the present was not very clear and it did take me a few minutes when that switch happened to figure out what time period I was in. 

Although it appeared from the start that the main character of this story could have been Meredith Pincetti, to me the main character was Lavinia Hathaway.  A very strong character who knows what she wants and knows how to get it, irrespective of who she hurts on her way.  

A very enjoyable read, a bit confusing with the story split but a great family drama...

Best wishes


Debs :-)

Waiting on Wednesday - Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

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

 

Expected Release Date:   4th September 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his soul

Best wishes 

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill

Every charm bracelet tells a story and Holly O'Neill knows this better than most. Years ago, at a difficult time in her life, a silver bracelet in a pretty wrapped box was delivered anonymously to her, a single charm attached. Some time later, another mysterious charm appeared, and the same thing happened many times over the years. Each charm proved to be significant in her life, as if her unnamed benefactor understood she needed some kind of talisman to help her through challenging times. 

Since then, she has added her own charms - special reminders of the most important events in her life. Her bracelet makes memories tangible - spelling out the nuances of cherished moments through the shorthand of each tiny charm. For this reason, Holly's charm bracelet is her most prized possession. 

So when one day, she stumbles across a bracelet that somebody else has lost, she recognises a lifetime spelt out through the very different charms, and knows she must try to reunite it with its owner. In order to try and track this person down, she uses each charm to help discover more about them. But as Holly gradually begins to piece together the details of this person's life, her quest leads her somewhere she never expected.

Check out the Goodreads page here. 

10/10

My Review

(video review at the end of the post)

Wow, Melissa Hill has done it again.  This was an absolutely fantastically amazing book!  The writing was beautiful, the story was beautiful, the cover was beautiful.....  I could go on....   Although this story is based around Christmas time, it is a story that could be read any time of the year...

There are some really great relationships in this story.  There is the relationship between Holly and her son (the father not really being in the picture very much).  Its obvious right from the start that they have a very strong relationship and when Holly sets out to try and find a home for the charm bracelet she finds, her son is right there wanting to help and supporting her.   There are a couple of other really amazingly beautiful relationships in this story that I will not talk about here as I don't want to spoil the story....

There are two main characters in this story.  On the one hand you have Holly (described above) and on the other hand you have Greg who we see at the start as a stock broker coming to the end of his tether.  He quits suddenly as he realises that there is more to life and wants to take up photography, which is a hobby that he has loved since he was a kid.  His girlfriend is not so supportive.

And OH MY GOSH the ending was so beautiful I cried...  Twice.... and a third time with the completely unexpected ending...   I love love loved this story ......

 

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble

A bestseller in the UK, THE READING GROUP is about a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books, and how their lives become intertwined, both with the books they read and with each other's lives.

What starts out as a good idea born from a glass of wine and the need to socialize, turns into much more. Over the span of a year, Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly and Susan -- five women of different ages, backgrounds and contrasting dilemmas -- transform themselves through the shared community of a book group.

Their reading group becomes a forum for each of the women's views, expressed initially by the book they're reading and increasingly openly as the bonds of friendship cement. As the months pass, these women's lives become more and more intertwined.

In the THE READING GROUP, Nobel reveals the many complicated paths in life we all face as well as the power and importance of friendship.

Chck out the Goodreads page here

My Review

(video review at the bottom of the post)

If you were looking for a book to sit by the beach and read, something relaxing and not too complicated, this is the perfect read for you.  I absolutely loved this story.  Despite the fact that there were quite a few characters to keep on top of, it was not too demanding on concentration.  I have to admit that I read this periodically throughout the period of a month so it did take me a few minutes to catch up with what the characters were doing.

Instead of chapters for this book, it is split up into months, January to December, and list what book they are reading each month (for more details on what book and what month, please see the video below).  I would have to say that there were a couple of books in that reading list that was on my wish list to read but the conversations in the story did spoil what was going to happen so I will put those to the back burner for a little bit until I forget!  I would recommend that if there were any books in the list of books they read in the Reading Group that you are going to read soon or want to read, you read those first and then read this one so as the plots are not spoiled.  

Even though this story is headed The Reading Group, I would have to say that this story is more about the characters who attend the Reading Group and their lives outside the group and it is when they all come together that they kind of take stock of what is happening in their lives.  Following each of the characters stories is really like a roller coaster of emotion including not being able to have children, affairs, children, pregnancy, Alzheimers etc... 

I loved this story and would recommend it to all those of you who like a bit of dramatic chick lit to read.

10 out of 10

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

You can find the Goodreads page here

My Review   
(for a more detailed review, please see the video at the bottom of this blog)


Well, this book surprised me so much.  Here I was thinking that this was going to be some kind of supernatural/paranormal YA school romance story and even though I was maybe right about the romance but the story took a very unexpected turn and I loved it!


This story is split into several different points of view but not like every other chapter is another character, the view point change seems to happen at certain points of the story.  For example, Charliana has gone to a club with a friend and meets a character called Xander.  Once Charliana has left, the viewpoint changes to Xander to see what he made of the evening.

What a fantastic book....   

Best wishes

Debs :-)


 

Book Haul/IMM - 26th May 2012

Hiya!  Here are the books I received this time....

Best wishes

Debs :-)

BooK Review - Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

A romantic and empowering book about bullying

Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

Check it out on Goodreads here. 

Release Date - 31st May 2012

7/10

This story was completely not what I expected it to be.  Just looking at the cover alone, it looks like a nice YA romance that I could relax to.  Putting the cover aside, this was a very emotional book to read.

Noelle is bullied at school and at home.  The most emotional part for me to read was the relationship Noelle has with her mother.  As a result of her mother getting pregnant straight after leaving High School, her mother believes that Noelle has ruined her life and doesn't let Noelle forget that fact.  What was every more shocking was that to be able to have money for her future, Noelle decides to get a job and put savings in the bank and, unfortunately, as she was not yet an adult, she had to get her mother to co-sign to open the bank account.  When Noelle went to check her bank account, she found out that her mother had taken all the funds in there  and was not even sorry for doing it.  

Its obvious that Noelle wants to get out of the situation she was in and I liked how the chapters counted down the number of days she had left until she could leave.  There are a couple of potential love interests, including Julian but I felt the power of the story was more on Noelle's day to day life trying to stay under the radar, both at home and at school.  

This story is a very powerful story more about focusing on the journey Noelle has to take while being bullied.  Although there is a bit of romance in the story, the main focus was on the bullying.  This one was a tough one for me to read because the content was quite heavy but it is definately a story that makes you stop and take notice.

Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .

ANGEL EYES

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

Check out the Goodreads page here.

Release Date:  29th May 2012 

9/10

My Review 

There are two types of YA paranormal stories that I always love; witch stories and angel stories and the minute I saw the title and read the blurb, I knew I had to read this one!

We start off seeing Brielle returning to her home town after being in the city.  It is obvious that something bad had happened and that is why she left the city and that is something we find out all about later on in the story.   We then have Jake, the new guy at school, who seems to take a shine to Brielle but there's something about him that's different.  I really enjoyed the romantic element of the story between Brielle and Jake.

This story is slow paced and the change in view points in this story from the various characters made this story very enjoyable and addictive to keep reading.  It also has some really great action scenes nearer the end.  I definitely could not put it down.  I must also mention that near the end, this story does deal with some hard hitting issues that were a bit shocking and unexpected). 

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Book Review - Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Summer is the best part of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from the last two—that this year's Fourth of July festival won't see one of their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying desperately to pretend nothing's wrong.

And they're not the only ones hiding something.

Clare, a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people's pasts when she touches their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year's Fourth of July victim, Clare sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.

In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?

Check it out on Goodreads here.

My Review

OK, so I have to admit that when I first read the blurb for this book I thought it could go one of two ways; either it is going to be a detective mystery type story that is taken seriously or it could be comedic.  I am so that that it ended up being more the detective mystery type of story. 

The idea of having premonitions through the touch of clothes is something that I had not come across before so this story was new for me.  A very interesting idea that all the clothes you wear can tell a story of what was happening at the time you were wearing it.  Oh dear, if my clothes could talk lol!!

What I enjoyed about this story the most was the mystery surrounding the two girls who went missing/murdered.  When Clare stumbles across the denim jacket that could tell her all about what happened to one girl, it scares her so much that she hides the jacket in the closet.  I did find it a little frustrating that she knew that the jacket could tell her more about a missing girl but kept it hidden in the closet for so long.  

Things are definitely more than what they seem in this story.  There is a little bit of romance in this story but not a huge amount.  For me, this story was predictable but the journey of the story was very enjoyable.

6 out of 10

Best wishes

Debs :-)

Waiting on Wednesday - Erasing Time by C J Hill

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

 

Expected Release Date:   28th August 2012
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)


Goodreads link is here.

In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.

When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.

The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.

Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in