Category: book review

“… Let them have everything – health, food, a place to live, entertainment. They are and remain unhappy and low-spirited for the demon waits and waits…” – Friedrich Nietzsche

About Aaru: Halls of Hel

Rose is a Veda. In Elysian Industries’ virtual paradise of Aaru, that means she’s practically a goddess. She is immortal. She is powerful. A limitless paradise is hers and her friends’ to command. They are free from sickness and pain, old age and death. She should be ecstatic over her prestige and privilege, but the gilded utopia has lost its luster. In a reality where anything can be hers with a thought, and Rose can master any skill instantly with nothing but her imagination, to what can she still aspire? She has all of eternity to fill, but what will her purpose be? Rose adores her sweet, Latin boyfriend, Franco. She loves wiling away endless immaculate days with her friends, but shouldn’t there be more to life than mere play?

Rose is dogged by deep concern for her little sister, Koren, the Elysian Industries spokes-model and reality star back in the “Before” world. Though Koren is wealthy, famous, and idolized by millions of adoring fans, her life is spinning out of control. Her parents’ marriage is on the rocks, and the boyfriend of her dreams, Jonas Perry, seems suddenly indifferent. Koren finds her celebrity increasingly isolating, her grueling work schedule exhausting, and the constant scrutiny of her personal life unwelcomed and intrusive. To top it all off, she has regular nightmares about the death of her friend, Kiku, and the still-at-large Magic Man who nearly stole away her everything.

Koren and Rose have more to fear from this quarter than they know. Magic Man’s obsession with the teenage idol has not lessened, and he is far from defeated. With vital aid from an unexpected source, his nefarious schemes to make Koren his own and to hack the Aaru mainframe are on track and moving forward. Unless the sisters can thwart his sinister designs, everyone and everything the girls hold dear could be destroyed.

My Thoughts

This second installment of the Aaru Cycle (find my other review here) is intense and full of suspense – you can not stop turning the pages as you have to know what is happening next.

Rose is now immortal and living in the world of Aaru (while not necessary, you should really read book one first to learn more about the history of the world and how it came to be), she is free of the disease that plagued her in life and free of pain, worry and fear. She can create things into existent with her mind and she has finally found true love in Franco. The only drawback? She is struggling to learn to live with a purpose. Why is she there? What does she give back to society? How will she continue to learn and grow? She is given the blessing of Arch Veda for protecting the world from the horrors of Magic Man but even then is this enough to satisfy her needs and wants?

Her sister, Koren, is plagued by nightmares of the ordeal she endured at the hands of Magic Man not to mention the fame and family fights that seem to follow her. She misses her sister and struggles in a world while watching her sister live in presumed happiness. We begin to see not only her but others question why would they continue on in a world of pain when a world of happiness is so close by?

Tied into this is a strange new character throughout the novel who seems to contain parts of both Rose, Koren and her creator. In the beginning, I was not quite sure who she was and how she tied into the story but as the plot evolved you became well aware of who she was and how she was tied into Rose, Koren and Magic Man.

This was an exciting, well written novel. You are given just enough at each stage of the book to keep the plot moving but not enough to spoil the story. Your heart goes out to Rose and Koren but oddly enough also to our new character, Hel, who isn’t quite as evil as you are led to expect. She is a product of her creator but has elements of warmth and love, just not quite sure how to show it. We are left with a hanger that makes you excited for the next book in this series. A definite must read!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

David Meredith is a writer and educator originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tennessee. He received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. On and off, he spent nearly a decade, from 1999-2010 teaching English in Northern Japan, but currently lives with his wife and three children in the Nashville Area where he continues to write and teach English.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In Maybe for You, she’s never had a no-strings fling. He’s never had anything else. But maybe this time will be an exception?

About Maybe for You: A Whiskey and Weddings Novel

After a year of mourning her fiancé, Alexis Parker has worked hard to rediscover what she wants out of life. Fresh out of the military and back stateside, her brother offers her a marketing job at the Stag Distillery. Ready for a new challenge, Alexis agrees to accompany her new co-worker Jake Cooper on a Stag cross-country promotional tour. He may have an infamous playboy reputation, but Alexis is surprised to find out that there is more to him than meets the eye. And she likes what she sees.

Jake promised Alexis’s brother that he’d be an absolute gentleman. Of course, that was before he and Alexis hit the road, and they both agree that what Alexis’s big brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him. The plan: to keep their fling confined to the RV, and everything will go back to normal once they head home. Things progress in ways neither of them could have imagined, and Jake realizes that he and Alexis make a perfect mix. Can he convince her that he’s ready to shake things up and give true love a shot in Maybe for You?

My Thoughts

In Maybe for You, we have two very different individuals – Alexis, a widow reeling from the her husband’s death – the man she thought she would spend her whole life with and Jake, a man who never had any plans on settling down with anyone.

Alexis is still very much in pain over the loss of her husband throughout the story. She feels that there are not too many people she can confide in with her pain and emotions but one person surprises her – Jake. Jake never seemed to be one high on emotions and talking but he becomes her confidante and sometimes counsellor. He helps her see the positive in every moment without ever dismissing her feelings, her love and her past with her husband. He allows her the room she needs to heal without protecting her from the world and holding her back from accomplishing her goals. She still feels hindered by all the plans she had made with her husband and feels lost with what her next steps should be – should she move back home like they had planned and get a normal 9-5 job or should she start a new and build her career?

Somewhere along the way, these two discover that there is so much more to each other than meets the eye. Alexis realizes Jake uses the playboy/joker image to hide a lot of hurt and pain from his childhood and Jake sees Alexis as more than just his friend and co-owner’s little sister. They try to keep their relationship at just a small fling level but both come to realize that they feel a lot more than just a casual fling. What is the struggle then? Neither is ready to let go of the past, nor have the strength to deal with the future together. Can they learn to talk it out, to work towards a future and can they tell the people who mean the most to them about this new relationship without destroying those relationships? Maybe for You is an excellent read that you will not want to put down!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

Nicole McLaughlin wrote her first full length book (6 pages) about the birth of her baby sister, when she was eight years old. She only finished it because her mother bribed her with a Rick Astley cassette tape. Sad, but true. Now her characters are what keep her writing and her subject matter has gotten a little bit deeper and a lot more romantic. She resides in a small town outside of Kansas City with her husband and three sons. When she isn’t writing, she’s a wedding and portrait photographer, loves to cook, and watch historical dramas or documentaries. She is the author of the Man Enough novel All I Ask and the Whiskey and Wedding series.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In Second Chance at Two Love Lane, sometimes love is waiting in the second act.

About Second Chance at Two Love Lane

In her professional career, Ella Mancini plays matchmaker at Two Love Lane but, in her personal life, she takes the stage at the Dock Street Theatre. Now she has a chance at a new role in a Hollywood movie that happens to be filming in Charleston―one that features a big-name actress, Samantha Drake. Long ago, Ella passed up a major audition while awaiting a marriage proposal. Not only didn’t she get the role; she never got the ring, either. Instead, her boyfriend Hank went on to become a huge filmstar…leaving her, and all her dreams, behind.

But now Hank’s back in Charleston, cast as the male lead in the same movie Ella’s in. In spite of the dramatic tension off-screen, he and Ella try to stay cool onset. But when their old feelings start to heat up―at the same time leading-lady Samantha tries to play cupid―all bets are off. How can Hank convince Ella, after all this time, that she’s the one he really wants to be with in real life―and that some happy, rom-com endings really can come true?

My Thoughts

A second chance at love and forgiveness? We find this and more in this lovely story based on the wonderful characters from Two Love Lane.

The ladies at Two Love Lane are matchmakers and have made a strong business selling love and creating lasting relationships. Each one has had their own personal history with love and pain. In this novel, we learn more about Ella. Ella once wanted to make it huge on the big screen, she loved to act and her promise to her Father was to never give up on these dreams. She lived with a lot of regret after not only giving up on this dream for love but having that same person turn around and leave her for a dream acting job.

While Ella tries hard to pretend that she doesn’t live with this pain, it has hurt her deeply. When the man who broke her heart appears again in her life, she is not quite sure what to do. Hank helps her to score a part in his movie and begins to try to mend the distance between the two.

Hank made it huge after leaving Ella – he has it all, except for love. Ella was that love of his life. He wants to mend the bridges between them and start the road to healing. Like so many of us, he just doesn’t know how to.

Second Chance at Two Love Lane is a beautiful, well written, witty novel of forgiveness, healing and taking a leap of faith. It isn’t easy to admit fault, to ask for forgiveness but this is what they must do if they want a chance of love in the future. We watch as they stumble, almost give up, cry and laugh as they begin to repair all the damage from the past. This is a truly lovely book from start to finish.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Kieran Kramer is a former journalist and English teacher who lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her family. She’s a game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer.

Kieran is the author of the House of Brady novels, including Say Yes to the Duke and The Earl is Mine.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

“To the sea, to the sea, who or what waits here for me?” – A West Coast Summer

About A West Coast Summer

Pairing fourteen of Carol Evans’s wonderful watercolours with a lilting rhyming story by Caroline Woodward, A West Coast Summer tells a story of a timeless, idyllic season where “Sea salt in the air floats everywhere / and cedars smell so sweet beside the shore.”

Children race bikes along sand flats, search under logs and in tide pools for tiny creatures, jig at the dock for herring, dance at a totem raising ceremony, pick berries, make memories and leave footprints in the sand.

Evans’s illustrations capture the jubilation of children exploring the seashore, inspiring young readers to take their own journey to the sea to discover who or what waits for them in the Pacific Northwest―and learn that the best memories are those shared with family and friends.

Our Thoughts

A West Coast Summer is a visually stunning story of all that is perfect about summer. Spending the days exploring, fishing, dancing, making memories and more with family and friends.

First I have to take a moment to acknowledge the illustrations – these are water colours and they are so beautifully painted with attention to details, that a few times I had to look closer as I thought they were a photograph. I do water colours in my spare time (although I have found with my second child and both in soccer, my own time is out the window) and I found myself running my hands along the pages admiring the beauty. They really help to bring the story to life, you can feel the excitement, salt water in the air and the excitement and joy pop out of the pages.

The Pacific Northwest is a special community that embraces their culture and environment. The story acknowledges every angle of their way of life and makes you want to plan your next vacation for your family out there. I want my children to be children and enjoy the things that I loved as a child –  fishing, exploring and just being a kid (which can be hard to do in our urban area in the middle of Canada). The story and illustrations help you to imagine and feel the excitement of the children as they go fishing, jump in the water, hiking, dance with friends and so much more. You can picture yourself and your children there enjoying each and every moment.

A West Coast Summer will be the perfect gift for a young child and addition to your home library as you celebrate these last few days of summer in reflection.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Illustrator

Carol Evans’s work has achieved international acclaim as part of many group exhibitions and private collections worldwide. Her art has been published in West Coast: Homeland of Mist (SummerWild Productions, 1992), Releasing the Light (Raincoast Books, 1997), and the bestselling The Shores We Call Home (Harbour Publishing, 2010). She lives on Saltspring Island, BC, with husband Bryn King.

About the Author

Caroline Woodward is the author of multiple children’s books. She has also written books for books, including Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper. She lives and works as a light keeper near Tofino, BC with husband Jeff George.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.