Sunday, 2 August 2015

Book Review (489): Armada - Ernest Cline


Armada

Publication: 14th July 2015
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Pages: 368
Genre: Science-Fiction
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon + Barnes & Noble
Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. 

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.
My Thoughts.
Armada was a book that wasn't on my radar at all until I was offered the chance to review it, that's not to say I've never heard of Ernest Cline, his book Ready Player One is extremely popular and a book that I hope to get around to purchasing and reading at some point, what had me excited about Armada was the concept, while I'm not a big science-fiction fan nor a video gamer there was just something that drew me in to the idea, and I'm so happy to say that I loved this book!

Everything in this book worked from the action packed storyline that kept me on my toes as I anxiously made my way to the end and the pop references scattered throughout of video games, movies and tv shows, I found myself going with the flow and even forgetting at times that I was reading a story that was science-fiction based, Ernest has a way of having the reader lose themselves in the story so much that a genre you're not really familiar with or a big fan of becomes truly exciting and hard to put down.

Armada was a story that I couldn't really find a fault with, I perhaps would have liked a different result at the end, no spoilers but everyone who has read this book will probably know what I'm talking about, but in saying that I know why it was written that way, why I guess it had to happen that way, that's not to say I'm happy with the decision at all, but that's just me being sentimental.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because of Ernest I may expand my reading preferences and give other science-fiction books a go, I do know that I will definitely be getting to Ready Player One A.S.A.P, if Armada is anything to go by I'm going to love that book too, this book made for a very pleasurable reading experience after a bad reading slump.

Highly recommended/

I give this 5/5 stars.


ERNEST CLINE 
has worked as a short-order cook,
fish gutter, plasma donor,
elitist video store clerk, and tech support drone.
His primary occupation, however,
has always been geeking out,
and he eventually threw aside those other promising career paths
to express his love of pop culture full-time as a spoken word artist and screenwriter.
His 2009 film Fanboys, much to his surprise, became a cult phenomenon.
These days Ernie lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, their daughter,
and a large collection of classic video games.

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015

(ARC) Book Review (488): The Bourbon Kings (The Bourbon Kings #1) - J.R Ward


The Bourbon Kings (The Bourbon Kings #1)

by 
Amazon • Barnes & Noble  
I have to start by saying that J.R Ward (the Warden) is one of my all time favorite authors ever, her Black Dagger Brotherhood series is in my top five series that I love, so I will basically read anything that she releases, so to say that I was excited to receive a ARC of The Bourbon Kings was an understatement.

With the books she's most famous for paranormal based, I was beyond intrigued to see how she'd go with a contemporary series set in Kentucky based around the Bradford family who are the elite in the bourbon business, but all is not what it seems the Bradford's while in public have the persona of a perfect and happy family, behind closed doors is a different story, the Father is a tyrant who rules his household with an iron fist, with a wife who spends her days in bed in a drug induced stupor and four kids who despise him, this family is full of hate, deceit, blackmail and betrayal.

Filled with drama, intense storylines and a cavalcade of twists and turns that will be sure to keep you glued to the pages, J.R Ward has crafted another series of what I'm sure is going to be a best seller, there is nothing it seems she can't do, with an ending that will leave you desperate for more and for a copy of book two, the anxious wait is on to continue on with the Bradford family.

I really enjoyed this book, and while for me it didn't reach the heights of my beloved Black Dagger Brotherhood, there is still plenty here to love, a very promising start to an all new series.

I give this 4/5 stars.


J.R. Ward is a #1 New York Times and USAToday Best Selling author of erotic paranormal romance and she also writes contempary romance as Jessica Bird. She lives in the south with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot. Visit the JRWard Facebook page for more on the Brotherhood or email her at jrw@jrward.com. J.R. Ward reads all mail, but due to the volume she is not always able to respond-although she appreciates all the kindness and support!

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Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Book Review (487): Manwhore+1 (Manwhore #1) - Katy Evans


Manwhore +1 (Manwhore #2)

Publication: 7th July 2015
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 336
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Appropriate: Adult
Buy It: AMAZON / B&N 
Billionaire playboy? Check. 
Ruthless businessman? Check. 
Absolutely sinful? Check.

Malcolm Saint was an assignment. A story. A beautiful, difficult man I was supposed to uncover for a racy exposé.

I intended to reveal him, his secrets, his lifestyle—not let him reveal me. But my head was overtaken by my heart and suddenly nothing could stop me from falling. I fell for him, and I fell hard. 

Malcolm Saint is absolute Sin, and I've become a hopeless Sinner.

Now that the assignment is over, Saint wants something from me--something unexpected--and I want this wicked playboy's heart. But how can I prove to the man who trusts no one that I’m worthy of becoming his plus one?
My Thoughts.
Manwhore+1 is a book that I've been highly anticipating after falling in love with the first book Manwhore, that and the cruel cliffhanger we were left with had me extremely eager to get my hands on a copy and discover just what happens next.

Katy knows how to write enigmatic characters, none more so than Malcolm Kyle Preston Logan Saint, the billionaire playboy that can have whoever and whatever he wants, and that was once Rachel Livingston until he discovered she was with him only for a story for Edge magazine, but Rachel inadvertently fell in love with Malcolm and would do anything to get their relationship back, thus the story of Manwhore+1 and building up the trust between them again that she destroyed.

Malcolm is a character that has a commanding presence, you can't help but grasp at any little bit of information you can glean from and about him, he makes this story what it is hot, steamy and addictive.

I adore this series, I await with baited breath the novella coming out towards the end of the year which will wind up Malcolm and Rachel's story, as excited as I am to read it I will be sad to have to say goodbye to these wonderfully written and fleshed out characters.

The Manwhore series is high up there on my favorites list, Katy has written a story that will absorb you from the get go.

Highly recommended.

I give this 5/5 stars.

ABOUT KATY EVANS

katy evans
About Katy Evans: Katy Evans is married and lives with her husband and their two children plus three lazy dogs in South Texas. Some of her favorite pastimes are hiking, reading, baking, and spending time with her friends and family. She is the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The REAL series: REAL, MINE, REMY, ROGUE, and RIPPED.
Website • Twitter • Facebook

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Monday, 13 July 2015

Book Review (486): Toxic - Kim Karr


Toxic

Amazon | Book Depository
Kim Karr is one of those authors who never leaves me disappointed, no matter what she writes I have adored and loved each and every book of hers I've picked up, Kim has a way of writing stories and characters that will leave an impression long after you've turned the last page.

Toxic is a story that will grip you from the get go, a story of true love, second chances, misunderstandings, deceit and jealousy, add to that the sexy and gorgeous Jeremy McQueen and you have yourself one red hot, steamy read!

Kudos for the epilogue, I always enjoy a book so much more when the reader gets a taste of what the characters are up too in the future.

From the gorgeous cover to the more than appropriate title, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the tumultuous relationship between Jeremy and Phoebe, Toxic is by far my favorite book of Kim's one that will be hard to top.

If there is only one Kim Karr book you pick up, make sure it's this one, you won't be disappointed!

I give this a huge 5/5 stars.

About the Author...



I live in Florida with my husband and four kids. I've always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, I wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. I went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise my family. I currently work part-time with my husband and full-time embracing one of my biggest passions—writing.

I wear a lot of hats! Writer, book-lover, wife, soccer-mom, taxi driver, and the all around go-to person of the family. However, I always find time to read. One of my favorite family outings use to be taking my kids to the bookstore or the library. Today, my oldest child is in college and my twins are juniors so they no longer go with me on these outings. And although I don't need to go to the actual store anymore because I have the greatest device ever invented—a Kindle, I still do. There's nothing like a paperback. So now my four year old and I make dates out of going to the bookstore--it's time I love and cherish.

I like to believe in soulmates, kindred spirits, true friends, and Happily-Ever-Afters. I love to drink champagne, listen to music, and hopes to always stay young at heart. <3


https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimKarrhttp://www.twitter.com/authorkimkarrhttp://www.authorkimkarr.com/https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6644044.Kim_Karr



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Monday, 6 July 2015

Book Review (485): Letters To Zell - Camille Griep


Letters to Zell

Publication: 1st July 2015
Publisher: 47North
Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon
Everything is going according to story for CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), and Rory (Sleeping Beauty)—until the day that Zell (Rapunzel) decides to leave Grimmland and pursue her life. Now, Zell’s best friends are left to wonder whether their own passions are worth risking their predetermined “happily ever afters,” regardless of the consequences. CeCi wonders whether she should become a professional chef, sharp-tongued and quick-witted Bianca wants to escape an engagement to her platonic friend, and Rory will do anything to make her boorish husband love her. But as Bianca’s wedding approaches, can they escape their fates—and is there enough wine in all of the Realm to help them?

In this hilarious modern interpretation of the fairy-tale stories we all know and love, Letters to Zell explores what happens when women abandon the stories they didn’t write for themselves and go completely off script to follow their dreams.
My Thoughts.
I've always been a big fan of fairytale retellings, especially when they're done really well and with a little something extra to let it stand out, and that's what you get with Letters To Zell.

Zell (Rapunzel) has left Grimmland to run a Unicorn Reserve with her husband and kids, and this is where the different takes on these famous fairytales begin, the stories of CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White) and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) are told through letters to Zell.

Things aren't as great as we would be led to believe after all the happily ever afters, CeCi is under pressure to produce an heir, neither her nor her husband Edmund (Prince Charming) wants kids, and there's also her dream of becoming a chef, she also has her Stepmother and Stepsisters still living with her.

Bianca doesn't want to be Queen, isn't in love with her future husband and would rather live in the 'Outside' (our world) where on a visit with CeCi and Rory met Rachel whom she has developed feelings for, the problem she has is she must complete her story otherwise her world will cease to be.

Then we have Rory who is unhappy with her life, after her true first love was banished from Grimmland she got stuck with Henry, a serial cheater, and while Rory sort of has a clue about his extramarital affairs she turns a blind eye, desperate for a child of her own.

Through the story CeCi, Bianca and Rory will take matters into their own hands and create their own happily ever afters, their own endings, and the lives they've always wanted, except for one who will find that her life hasn't improved through no fault of her own.

Letters To Zell is at times humorous, adventurous and entertaining especially because of a certain Snow White, an antithesis of the character we're used to reading about, a swearing, finger flipping, bisexual who has no problem telling anyone and everyone exactly how it is.

Certainly nothing you would expect here from a retelling, but that's what makes it so different and exciting to read.

One of the best fairytale retellings I've ever read, and I've read quite a few.

If you're in the mood for something so unexpected from these characters then be sure to pick this book up, it's highly delightful.

I give this 4/5 stars.

About

Camille Griep lives just north of Seattle camillegriepheadshots-033with her partner, Adam, and their dog Dutch(ess). Born in Billings, Montana, she moved to Southern California to attend Claremont McKenna College, graduating with a dual degree in Biology and Literature.
She wrote her way through corporate careers in marketing, commercial real estate, and financial analysis before taking an sabbatical to devote more time to her craft in 2011.
She has since sold short fiction and creative nonfiction to dozens of online and print magazines. She is the editor of Easy Street and is a senior editor at The Lascaux Review. She is a 2012 graduate of Viable Paradise, a residential workshop for speculative fiction novelists.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015

Book Review (484): The Stellow Project - Shari Becker


The Stellow Project

Pages: 305
Genre: Science-Fiction
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
The Stellow Project is a story that will keep you on your toes as you try to work out the mystery and secrecy surrounding Lilah, her sister Flori, their parents, the reasons behind Lilah's bad health and her parents past scientific experiments and projects.

After a deadly storm hits Manhattan with no warning, Lilah and Flori make their way to the family's cabin where their Dad is going to meet them, but days go by and their Dad doesn't show up, while watching the news they discover that he's wanted by the FBI for eco-terrorism, to make matters worse the medication that Lilah has to take every day without fail runs out, and that's when the story really takes off.

Lilah will discover things about her parents that will question everything she believed and thought she knew about them, and the reason for their Mom's disappearance years ago.

While the story was intense, suspenseful, with shocks and twists throughout, I wish the ending was more explanatory than it was, it left a lot of unanswered questions and there doesn't seem to be a sequel on the horizon, although I'd be definitely be sure to pick one up if there was, I'd just like the story and the loose ends to be wrapped up more, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed every page, reading it in one day, one of those books you don't won't to put down.

All in all a great concept executed extremely well, highly recommended.

I give this 4/5 stars.


Shari Becker

Shari Becker was born in Montreal, Quebec, and was raised speaking both English and French. As a child, she spent her summers in the Adirondack Mountains catching fireflies, minnows, and toads. She has an MA from New York University and has worked for Nickelodeon, for Disney-owned companies, and even for an Emmy Award-winning puppeteer. She is the author of two picture books, including MAXWELL’S MOUNTAIN, a Junior Library Guild Selection and Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book. She now lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband, their two daughters, and their dog. She loves lakes, but despises the bridges that run over them.

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(ARC) Book Review (483): I Want You To Want Me (Rock Star Romance #2) - Erika Kelly


I Want You to Want Me (Rock Star Romance #2)

Publication: 7th July 2015
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Appropriate: Adult
Buy It: Amazon Barnes & Noble
From the award-winning author of You Really Got Me comes the next romance in her red-hot Rock Star Romance series, about a rocker who lives for his music—and loves with all his heart.

Derek Valencia finally has the success he’s worked so hard for. His band is touring its debut album and great reviews are rolling in. But when pictures of him tossing naked groupies off a balcony go viral, it’s damage-control time. He’s assigned a “babysitter” whose sole job is to keep him out of trouble.

Violet Davis swore she’d never work in the music industry again, but being a minder for a rock star will earn her enough to pay off the mortgage on her wildflower farm. And for a girl brought up in the foster care system, owning her own home means more to her than anything.

Though at first the two bang heads, the rocker and the farm girl soon grow close and realize that they make sweet music together. But can a girl who craves the stability of life on a farm really make it work with a man whose life is spent on the road with his band?
My Thoughts.
I Want You To Want Me is the second book in the Rock Star Romance series, this is Blue Fire's bassist Derek's book, paired up with Violet who is brought in to be the band's 'minder/sober companion' while they're on tour to direct their energy after shows to other things besides drugs, booze and random hook-up's.

Violet is very professional in her job with the set of rules she follows, the top one being not getting physically or emotionally involved with her clients, growing up in foster care has always led Violet to believe that she has no emotions or feelings, that kids that have no physical contact like hugs for example like she did will grow up unable to be in a proper relationship and so has closed herself off to the idea of loving someone or in return being loved.

Derek on the other hand has grown up with two parents who left him feeling ignored and unloved, the only person he really trusts is his sister Emmie, with his famous musician Father making derogatory remarks about him to the press whenever he can, Derek is determined to succeed and prove to his Dad and everyone one how successful he and his band are actually becoming.

With the intense attraction between the two of them, can they finally give a relationship a go or will Violet's misgivings drive a wedge between any potential romance they may have now or in the future.

Erika's second installment has everything you want in a contemporary romance, love conflict, extremely likeable characters and a great plot, I look forward to book three and discovering which member of the band will find love next.

I give this 4/5 stars.

erikakelly
Award-winning author Erika Kelly has been spinning romantic tales all her life—she just didn’t know it. Raised on the classics, she didn’t discover romantic fiction until later in life. From that moment on, she’s been devouring the genre and has found her true voice as an author. Over three decades she’s written poems, screenplays, plays, short stories, and all kinds of women’s fiction novels. Married to the love of her life and raising four children, she’s lived in two countries and seven states, but give her pen and paper, a stack of good books, and a steaming mug of vanilla chai latte and she can make her home anywhere.
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads



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