Review of Abby Finds Her Calling by Naomi King

Publisher: New American Library
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Series: Home At Cedar Creek #1

Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from the author's website):

The first in a warm-hearted new series featuring two Amish families and their community in Cedar Creek, Missouri.

The Lambright family’s eldest daughter, Abby, runs her own sewing shop. There, she mends the town’s clothes and their torn relationships. But the town maidel has sworn off any suitors of her own because of her unrequited love for James Graber, who is about to marry her younger sister, Zanna…

On the wedding day, Zanna is nowhere to be found, breaking James’ heart. Zanna has brought shame to her family, but there’s more in store for them when they discover how far she has fallen. Long-buried secrets come to light, and they test the bonds of the Cedar Creek community. Abby is at the center of it all, trying to maintain everyone’s happiness. But will she ever find her own?

Teaser:

Emma released her to hang the new dress on a peg where it wouldn't get wrinkled. She ran her fingers over the fabric...a new dress, the matching V-shaped cape, and a crisp white apron, as well. The expression on her face made James realize how perfectly Abby had pleased his sister. Emma had so little time to sew, and was so used to putting Mamm and Dat's-and his-needs before her own, he couldn't recall the last time she'd worn something new.

 And wasn't that on of the things Abby Lambright did best? She quietly watched, and waited for just the right time to share her love and her talents...

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

Recently, Amish romances have become a very popular, and best selling, sub-genre of romance. While I typically stay away from religious themed romances, I do enjoy, on occasion, a "clean" romance, minus all of the sex. Hey, even an avowed smut hound such as myself needs a break now and then. Lynn Kurland is my favorite author of clean romances. The blurb for this sounded intriguing, and I was curious about this new variety of romance, so I gave it a try.

First off, I liked how respectful King is to the Amish way of life and her acknowledgement in the story that the Amish are no more cookie cutter, or problem free, than any other segment of American society. Moreover, faith does not mean that there's a lack of doubt or that you automatically do the right thing. Living the way you have chosen, whatever path that may be, has challenges big and small and we see that clearly in this story. There's doubt, fear, anger, pettiness, gossip, etc. But, all of the characters strive, in their own way, to overcome these challenges and live by the code, or Ordnung, of their faith. Some, such as Abby, are stronger than others, but all are imperfect.

Imperfection, is in fact, integral to the story. James' fiance, Zanna, who is Abby's younger sister, has made some mistakes and on her wedding day, shocks her family and the Cedar Creek community. The repercussions of her actions resound throughout the story and effect every one. The story is told primarily from the perspective of three characters: James, Zanna, and Abby, with most of the time being spent with the latter two. I would have liked a little more time spent in James's head as I felt I knew him the least.

You might wonder if an inspirational story would be overly sweet and this one came close, but King manages to avoid that pitfall. Although billed as a romance, it also lives up to it's name: Abby does indeed find her purpose in life. In addition, there's a main romance, the ending of a romance, the start of another romance (that's book two) and an unrequited romance. Also woven in are Abby's and Zanna's relationships with each other and the rest of their immediate family, James's relationship with his family, and their relationships within the larger community of Cedar Creek. It's a lot to work in and I'd have liked more time spent on the main romance (can't really say more without spoilers) but overall, I enjoyed it. The characters are likable and real, the stories are relevant and fascinating, and I enjoyed learning more about the Amish in general and the Amish of this particular community.(You can read more about this in Naomi's guest post.)

I received a paperback for review from the publisher.

Spotlight On: Every Time I Think Of You by Camryn Rhys

 

Please welcome romance author Camryn Rhys to the Nook today. Her new novel, "Every Time I Think Of You", came out on February 13th, just in time for Valentine's Day. Camryn grew up on the border of Canada and the US, and still hasn’t decided which country to call home. She splits her time between the Alberta and Montana Rocky Mountains, with friends and family in both beautiful locations. After running her own restaurant for several years and acquiring advanced degrees in writing, foodie romance seemed the only logical option. When she’s not watching the Food Network, she’s reading a romance novel, or if absolutely necessary, working as a consultant. Someone has to put really excellent food on the table.

Book Blurb (from the author):

Madison Bishop’s fantasy man, Drew Wingate, doesn’t know she exists. Unfortunately, when he does recognize her curvy hotness, he’s in the midst of a celibacy challenge; the outcome of which could make or break his career. He’s not allowed to talk about the challenge until it’s complete, but Madison is just so delectable, and so … willing. But when Madison takes his reticence as some kind of game-playing, she wonders if she’s been all wrong about the man of her dreams.

Every Time I Think Of You

By: Camryn Rhys

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books

ASIN: B0078IKOIK

Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE

Format: kindle

Length: 139 KB

Release Date: February 13, 2012

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 EXCERPT **18+** 

 

Madison Bishop placed the still-warm vibrator on the vanity and stared at her naked reflection with a dry smile. “Congratulations, honey. You’ve just popped your own cherry.”

She thought that sentence would be funnier if she said it out loud. It wasn’t.

“How does it feel not to be a virgin anymore?” Madison cranked the hot water in the bathtub to full blast and watched the steam curl toward her.

“It feels great, Bob,” she mimicked, touching the tip of the pink silicone that had just been inside her. Even with the smooth echo of the bathroom, her voice sounded flat. “And now I’m going to Disney World.” When the bath was full, she climbed in, pressed the jets button, and let them go to work on her aching body.

The vibrator had been a gift, as had the body wash, though not from the same friend. And the lingerie had come from a different friend. The lube from another.

Okay, ladies, I get the message.

 

The water didn’t remain hot for long, so she rinsed off more quickly than she wanted to and curled into her plush, purple towel. She’d gotten into bed half an hour ago, apparently with her virginity intact. And now, she was climbing back in, still wrapped in a slightly soggy bath towel, her cherry gone, vibrator still in her hand. She’d expected to feel different. Other than a little soreness at the point of impact, she felt exactly the same.

Cleaner from the bath. Still hungry. And a little sore inside, in places the vibrator couldn’t reach.

It was a talented little machine, but not that talented.

Spotlight On: The One by Cheryl Robinson

Today we're featuring a new romance, "The One" by Cheryl Robinson, which was inspired by reality tv and shows such as "The Bachelorette". Cheryl was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and resides in Ocala, Florida. She has a bachelor of science degree from Wayne State University. The One is her eighth novel. Her passion for writing was sparked while taking a fiction writing course as a college elective. She began her literary career by self-publishing two novels before acquiring a literary agent and then a publishing deal with New American Library (an imprint of the Penguin Group) who published six of Cheryl’s eight novels. She is currently writing her ninth novel, Like Mom. 

Book Blurb (from author): 

 

A fateful encounter with a savvy young producer lands aspiring writer Olena Day the role of America's bachelorette on the new reality show The One. There are just two problems: Olena despises reality TV, and technically she's not single. What could she possibly hope to gain? A book deal? But Olena's made it clear; she won't resort to the stereotypical antics often portrayed by women on reality TV. But ratings rule and the producers have plans of their own to assure the show's success even if it means exposing some of Olena's long-held and most embarrassing secrets.

Jason Nix is a former NFL superstar turned TV sports commentator. He's been dating Olena off and on for almost a year. Financially, he's set for life, but he isn't happy. When Olena's preoccupation with reality show stardom puts their relationship on the rocks, he meets a young woman from Dallas who captivates him in ways no other woman has. There's something about the makeup-free, Bible-toting Texan that Jason can't seem to get enough of, and soon makes him wonder whether she's too good to be true, or if the real problem is she's not Olena.

Step behind the scenes of the highly competitive and unique world of reality dating shows, in this relationship-driven page-turner that keeps delivering surprises.

The One

By: Cheryl Robinson 

Publisher: Rose Colored Books

ISBN: 9780984711000

Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE

Format: paperback, kindle

Length: 352 pages, 843 KB

Release Date: January 31, 2012

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There will be a live chat with the author on Saturday March 31st. Click here to RSVP, and to join the chat once it's live. Click here to read a blog post with more details about the chat. If you leave a comment on that post or or on this post or on both posts, you'll be entered to win a $50 Amazon GC from the author. **corrected drawing details**

Review of Black Howl by Christina Henry

Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Series: Black Wings #3
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository


Book Blurb (from book cover):

Something is wrong with the souls of Chicago's dead. Ghosts are walking the streets, and Maddy's boss wants her to figure out why. At the same time, the pact that Maddy unwittingly made with the local werewolves comes back to bite her when their alpha is kidnapped. As Lucifer's heir, she should be able to discover who-or what-is responsible for both occurrences, but the fallen haven't been too happy with her since she agreed to harbor Gabriel's half brother, Samiel. 

And while work is bad enough, Maddy has a plethora of personal problems, too. Now that Gabriel has been assigned as her thrall, their relationship has hit an impasse. At least her sleazy ex-fiance, Nathaniel, is out of the picture-or so she thinks...

Teaser:

When it was over, all the demons were gone.

I fainted.

I woke up in Gabriel's arms, everyone huddled around me at the edge of the forest.

"What?" I croaked. My throat was very dry. I felt like I hadn't felt in a long time-like my magic had run out, and that it would take a good long time for it to come back. 

"You fell out of the sky," Beezle said. "For some reason, everyone's concerned."

"I can get up," I said to Gabriel.

"I am not sure that you should," he replied.

"Well, we all know how Maddy feels about what she should do," Beezle said.

I pushed to my feet and immediately stumbled. My legs felt like jelly.

"You see how well she listens," Beezle said.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the first book, "Black Wings", in this series; it wasn't great but it was good and I looked forward to more. I somehow missed the second book, but happily that wasn't a problem with this book. Henry worked in information about the second book, without doing an info dump, so that I had no trouble keeping up.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. I did like the continued world building, the relationships between Maddy and her friends as well as those with her enemies, and the twists and turns in the story. Maddy is loyal, stubborn, and not one to back down from a fight; which leads to what I didn't like.

Maddy is impulsive, careless, reckless, and ridiculously contrary (see teaser above for an example). She doesn't stop to think and has a teenagers attitude about rules - she thinks that they don't apply to her, unless they're in her favor and then she's all about her wants, her rights, her needs. There were times when I didn't like her very much, she was so childish and careless. Yet, she's fiercely loyal and keeps her word, despite the cost to herself (or others). She's a mix of vices and virtues, and a bit of a contradiction at times, which makes her human, so well done there, Ms Henry.

What really bothered me were the cliches and stereotypes, which were plentiful: 1) Reckless, know it all heroine, check; 2) love triangle, check; 3) mega-powerful and powers still increasing heroine, check; 4) magic can fix anything, do anything, check; 5) lack of female friendships but every male (or so it seems) is drawn to her and can't get enough, check. You get the picture.

Henry has an original world, interesting characters, and a good mix of political intrigue, mythology, religion, action, humor, and romance, but then undermines it all with the cliches. The ending, wow, I didn't see that coming. If Henry stays true to the ending and doesn't backtrack or magically fix it, well, it and an earlier story twist, will make for a fascinating and eventful change in Maddy's world. I will definitely read the next book, in hopes that Henry can pull it off.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Spotlight On: The Shoppe of Spells by Shanon Grey

Today we have the pleasure of featuring a new PNR, "The Shoppe of Spells", by Shanon Grey.

Shanon weaves romance and suspense with threads of the paranormal. THE SHOPPE OF SPELLS is the first in her series, THE GATEKEEPERS, about the quaint town of Ruthorford, Georgia and its very special inhabitants. PENNYROYAL CHRISTMAS ~A Ruthorford Holiday Story~ is out in e-format as well. MEADOW’S KEEP is due to be released this spring. Under contract with Crossroads Publishing House, her books are available in e-format and print at most booksellers.

Shanon spent her life on coasts, both the beautiful Atlantic and the balmy Gulf. Hurricane Katrina taught her the fragility of life and the strength of friendship, family, and starting over.

She just found out that her son salvaged notes and pages of her original novel, Capricorn’s Child, which she thought has been destroyed with everything else. (Ironically, a neighbor found her marriage certificate in a tree.) She plans to resurrect her original novel one day.

She currently lives in Coweta County, Georgia, trading the familiarity of the coast for the lush beauty and wonder of the mountains, where her husband fulfilled her lifelong dream—to live in a cottage in the woods, where inspiration abounds.

 

Book Blurb (from author):

The Gatekeepers Series, Book One

When is a whole more than the sum of its parts? When it has ties to the quaint little town of Ruthorford, Georgia—as Morgan Briscoe discovers when a cryptic message threatens to change her life forever.

Morgan’s relatively normal life is turned on its ear when she learns not only that she is adopted, but her birth parents are dead and she now holds half-interest in a business with their ward, Dorian Drake, who, despite his riveting good looks, can barely conceal his hostility toward his new partner.

Morgan discovers that she is more than she seems and together she and Dorian have the ability to control a portal to another dimension. Unable to contain their growing attraction, Morgan and Dorian dance around their desires and her burgeoning abilities, until danger forces them to face their destiny.

The Shoppe of Spells

By: Shanon Grey 

ISBN: 9780615571621

Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE, URBAN FANTASY

Format: paperback, ebook, kindle

Length: 320 pages

Release Date: November 23, 2011

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EXCERPT 

 

Morgan lay motionless, listening, struggling to define what woke her. A faint hum, almost imperceptible, thrummed through her body, battling the very rhythm of her being. There was something familiar about it. Was that hum from a smoke alarm going off in the distance?

The air crackled around her.

She released the breath she’d been holding and opened her eyes. Damp curls clung to her neck as she shifted up on her elbow and scanned the room. Streaks of light spiked beneath the closed bedroom door—the only light penetrating the room’s inky blackness.

Panic seeped into her sleep-fogged brain. Fire! She threw back the covers, felt a slight tingle as something brushed against her leg, and watched a faint violet outline disappear into the darkness. Thank God, her cat was in the room with her. Morgan swung her legs over the edge of the bed, felt the soft carpet under her toes and tried to remember all the rules about fire as she rushed closer to the spikes of light snaking toward her feet.

She reached out and patted at the door with her fingertips. The wood was cool to the touch. Her heart hammered as she watched the sparking light sizzle across her feet. Not hot, exactly…more…electric. Her mouth went dry. She forced her hand around the doorknob and, not getting a shock, turned it and pulled the door toward her.

Blinding white light, like that from a welder’s torch, filled the doorway, forcing her to shield her eyes.

“It’s okay,” a deep voice cajoled, “I’ve got you. Close your eyes and let me guide you.”

Squinting, she looked down and saw a strong hand reach through the light toward her. She eased her hand forward to meet his. As their fingers touched, a sudden flash of violet, followed by a bolt of energy exploded between them, thrusting her backward—into nothingness.

Her arms flailed, her hands grasped, seizing empty space.

Morgan screamed—a soundless howl, as her breath was sucked into the void.

She tumbled backward, plummeting into a black abyss.

With a jolt, she sat up in bed, drenched in sweat.

Review of Spirits Rising by Krista D Ball

 

Publisher: Krista D Ball

Release Date: January 3, 2012

Series: Spirit Caller

Buying Links: Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Smashwords

Book Blurb (from authors website):

Rachel Mills has one wish in life: for the spirit world to shut up and leave her alone. She thought her move to a remote fishing village in Northern Newfoundland would help.

 

Population: Twenty. What could go wrong?

Instead of peace, however, she relocates to a land of superstition, the air alive with the presence of others.

When a local teenager accidentally summons the spirits of the area, including those from a thousand-year-old Viking settlement, all supernatural breaks loose. As the spirits stalk her and each other, Rachel finds herself in over her head. With the help of Mrs. Saunders, her 93-year-old neighbour, Rachel has to put aside her own prejudices long enough to send the spirits back to rest, or risk being caught in the midst of a spirit war.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

Rachel has the ability to sense ghosts and spirits. Sometimes they bother her, sometimes they don't, but she's always aware of them. She makes no secret of her ability but doesn't advertise it either. In the village she moved to recently, she's made a few friends, but also at least one enemy: someone has been posting fliers on her front door, denouncing her as a witch and a devil worshipper.

Rachel is the protagonist of this story but not the hero. She doesn't have special powers, but she does have knowledge and it's that knowledge that helps save the day. Getting rid of the spirits who are rampaging in the village, thanks to a foolish teenager, takes almost the entire village. Rachel is surprised, and grateful, at how much support she receives. At times while reading the story, I felt like I had missed a book and started the series in the middle. I would have liked more back story, more world building. I never got Rachel's attraction to Jeremy or why she wanted to kick him out of her life. The way she acted, it seemed as if he had done something to her, but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

The characters were well written and Mrs Saunders was a hoot, I hope we see more of her. The story has  a Newfoundland feel to it or so I assume since I've never been. But it didn't feel like it could have been set anywhere and the details added to the story. Rachel is not perfect, she has flaws and her first attempt to get rid of the spirits is unsuccessful. I like that she's not a kick ass or powerful heroine, but more normal and realistic. She has a strong moral code and a willingness to work hard, though asking for and accepting help can be difficult for her. She's just a nice, normal girl. It's a good start to the series and I'm looking forward to the next one.

I received a Kindle book from the author for review.