Review of A Sliver of Shadow by Allison Pang

Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Abby Sinclair #2
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Format Read: Paperback
Buying Links:  Amazon    The Book Depository    Barnes & Noble

*May contain spoilers*

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Just when her new life as a TouchStone — a mortal bound to help OtherFolk cross between Faery and human worlds — seems to be settling down, Abby Sinclair is left in charge when the Protectorate, Moira, leaves for the Faery Court. And when the Protectorate’s away…let’s just say things spiral out of control when a spell on Abby backfires and the Faery Queen declares the Doors between their worlds officially closed.

The results are disastrous for both sides: OtherFolk trapped in the mortal world are beginning to fade, while Faerie is on the brink of war with the daemons of Hell. Along with her brooding elven prince Talivar and sexy incubus Brystion, Abby ventures to the CrossRoads in an attempt to override the Queen’s magic. But nothing in this beautiful, dangerous realm will compare to the discoveries she’s making about her past, her destiny, and what she will sacrifice for those she loves.


Reviewed By: Bea

*May contain spoilers*



Bea's Thoughts:

I loved this book! It was so good and I liked it better than the first book. This one had everything: intriguing plotting, deep characterization, mysteries, lots of action, world building, humor, romance, sex, political intrigue.

Abby has grown since the last book: developed more confidence though she's still not very confident, has more maturity, and a new-found respect for her position as KeyStone. She's learning more about the Faery from Moira and learning how to use her Dreaming powers from Sonja. Not everything is going well for her; she and Brystion are still on the outs and her friendship with Charlie is strained. She also still finds herself being used as a pawn by members of the Faery, something that Brystion objects to when he does make an appearance. Still, Abby doesn't hesitate to step in and help and shows herself loyal to her friends and willing to do what she thinks is right, no matter the cost to herself.  The ending had me going "EEEK!" and is a bit of a cliff hanger. Happily, the next book is out at the end of October, so not too long to wait.

One thing I was less than thrilled to see was the introduction of a love triangle. Brystion and Abby still have feelings for each other, even though they aren't seeing each other. Then Abby and Talivar, who was introduced at the end of A Brush of Darkness, get involved. Brystion can't resist staking his claim and he and Talivar get competitive. I like Talivar; he's quiet, fierce, loyal, insecure about his looks, kind, tender, vulnerable, and moral. Pang handled it fairly well, there's not too much angst, but I hope there will be a resolution in the next book. Love triangle tropes are among my least favorite tropes and often a sure way to turn me off.

While the story moves along at a fast pace, Pang doesn't skip on characterization, plot or world building. The Queen of Faery is bug nuts but there's a reason and Abby sets out to help her which will in turn help all of the Faery, including Moira and Talivar. Maurice is back in this book and he's as twisted and nasty as he was in book one. I loved learning more about the OtherFolk, their relationships with each other and the pecking order. There are many twists and turns and even Phineas, the wisecracking, horny mini unicorn, is not what he seems.

If you enjoy urban fantasy, the fae, werewolves, demons and angels (yes, Pang makes all these different elements work together.) then you need to read this book, but read book one first. It's a must.

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

End of Summer Giveaway!

I need to clear out my shelves, again, so I have a mix of books I reviewed and books I didn't review up for grabs. There are 4 sets of books, you can enter for one, two, or all three but there will be three different winners. If you win one set, you won't win another one.

You don't need to be a follower, though it's always appreciated if you are.

Giveaway ends at 11:59PM EST on September 7th.

I'll ship within North America: US, CA & Mexico.

The books up for grabs are:

Set #1

Two finished copies  of  mysteries, Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood, a romantic suspense, and a psychological thriller, Broken Harbor by Tana French. There are also two ARCs of books now available in stores: One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf, a psychological mystery and an anthology of romantic suspense short stories, Love Is Murder: Thriller 3

Set #2

Two general fiction books with a romantic subplot: Say You'll Be Mine by Julia Amante and Anne of Hollywood by Carol Wolper. Also,two general fiction releases that I was sent and decided not to read (just not my style, going by the blurbs): Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona and The Black Isle by Sandi Tan. (just released Aug. 7th)

Set #3

Some older romances, including two Harlequin series books: A Cold Creek Secret by RaeAnne Thayne and Enticed By His Forgotten Lover by Maya Banks. There's also a signed copy of historical romance Superstition's Desire by Lisa M Campbell and an erotic PNR, Wicked Harvest, by Anitra Lynn McLeod. That one is also signed, to someone named Jessica.

Remember, you can enter all or just some. Good luck!

Review of Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

Publisher: Dutton Adult
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon    Barnes & Noble     The Book Depository

Book blurb (from goodreads):

In the new contemporary romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood, a detective and a lawyer are falling in love— and making a federal case out of it.
 
When FBI agent Grayson Kincaid first encounters Olivia MacKenzie, she makes quite an impression.

The beautiful, tough, young attorney has stumbled into the middle of an FBI sting operation and has reduced it to chaos. Months of surveillance and careful planning down the drain, Kincaid’s partner is furious and lets Olivia know that she’s ticked off the wrong guy. After all, he’s FBI.

 Olivia isn’t intimidated by his partner’s bullying because she’s something even scarier . . . she’s IRS.

And working for the IRS isn’t for the faint of heart. She’s on the trail of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, one that threatens to ruin the lives of naive and unsuspecting victims, and one she has personal reasons to be angry about. But after she asks questions of the wrong people, her life is suddenly endangered. She’s accustomed to fighting for the underdog but being vulnerable herself is a very different story. Smart enough to know when to call for reinforcements, she contacts Grayson Kincaid.

Together they make an excellent team to fight corruption but Olivia is also fighting the immediate and intense attraction she feels for Agent Kincaid, and that may be a battle she is bound to lose.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I wanted to like this book, I've liked most of the books I've read by Garwood, but this one was a disappointment. It got off to a fast start, after the prologue (more on that in a bit) then slowed down to a crawl. It was filled with subplots, most of which were unnecessary and one was utterly predictable; it was drawn out and could easily have been been cut by one fourth to one third. There were things brought up that were then dropped; for instance, in the prologue, we meet Olivia as a young teen when she's hospitalized with what we're led to believe, but never told, is cancer. She meets other girls who become her best friends, one of whom has the aforementioned predictable subplot. It was obvious from the beginning what was going and who was to blame. It wasn't obvious why it was there in the book at all; I do wonder if we might not see one or more of the other girls get a book of their own. Garwood also does a lot of telling, not showing in this book; I don't recall her doing that in previous books.

A friend of mine and I were talking about the book on facebook and she had this to say, among other things:

So much telling and so little showing. The illnesses could've been played up more. It's like it was vital in the beginning, but then totally disappeared only to show up again at the end. And it was never clear what type of illness it was. And why did only the heroine's blood help? And not anyone else's? That was a dropped plot point.

And speaking of illnesses, I'm going to get cranky and nitpicky so feel free to skip this paragraph. So, as an adult, Olivia has asthma, a common illness and one which I have. That's probably why I'm so cranky, because, hey, I actually know about the topic! Garwood seemingly does not. How hard would it have been to do some research? Odds are good she knows someone with asthma, she could have asked for their help; she could have gone to any of the numerous websites about asthma, including the American Lung Foundation. Hey, why didn't her copy editor or fact checker do that? There is no excuse for the inaccuracies. For example, Olivia frequently uses her rescue inhaler but there's no mention of any maintenance meds or treatment plan; you can not control asthma if all you do is use a rescue med when you have trouble breathing. If her asthma is as bad as Garwood portrays, then her doctor would have her on a treatment plan. Also,how does Kincaid get his hands on one of her rescue inhalers? He tells her that he now carries one of hers at all times because she forgets (Oh so stupid but I know peeps who do this; I don't get it) but those are prescription so how did he get it? We're told that she didn't even know he had it so she didn't give it to him. And so on. I did like that a main character had a health problem that wasn't actually vital to the plot; many books don't do that which isn't realistic. People have health issues, whether it's high blood pressure, asthma or cancer. But the portrayal was inaccurate and Garwodd couldn't seem to decide if the asthma should be important to the story or not. It was another inconsistent plot point. /end rant.

And speaking of illnesses, Garwood makes a big deal out of Olivia's reluctance to be in a serious relationship due to her childhood illness and her belief that it may return. Now, with some illnesses, a return could be a legitimate concern, but since Garwood chose to be stingy with details about the illness we don't know if it's a legitimate concern. Now, I don't mean that someone couldn't have that fear, regardless of the likelihood of a recurrence; fear is not always rational. BUT, it never felt like a real fear on Olivia's part but something the author manufactured as an excuse to keep the lovers apart.

On that note, the romance felt weak; there was no passion, no depth and it happened very quickly. Plus this makes the second book recently I've read where an FBI agent disregarded procedure to get involved with a woman who was either a victim or a suspect. Hello! Not appropriate. I've read some books where that happened but the author made the romance believable and I could buy into it, despite it's inappropriateness.

There's also a subplot involving the reaction of Olivia's family to her childhood illness that continues into her adulthood and it didn't feel believable either, but manufactured solely to make certain events happen. I know that some people view illness as a weakness but this was over the top and all too convenient for the story's purposes.

Overall, this book was, as my friend said, and I agree, "a hot mess".

I received a hardcover from the publisher for review.

Frustrated: Lung Update

Flickr Image by Rafael Edwards

 
So yesterday I was ranting and raving on twitter and facebook. I got a call from the research nurse whose been my contact for the lung surgery study; she informed the company who is sponsoring the study about my reactions to the first procedure: the asthma exacerbation and the pneumonia. They called her back and said that because of the pneumonia, they want a minimum of six weeks between procedures to be sure that my body is healed and able to handle the next procedure. So I had to call work and give them the update and call the person who has been my ride (If I drive myself, I have to be admitted overnight.) I have a very tentative date of September 25th for the next procedure. I'm not holding my breath. :P

I understand the company's concern, and I too want to be as healthy as possible for the next procedure. Which is part of why I'm frustrated. Not only is the wait aggravating, and the constant re-scheduling a nuisance for my employer, but it's the beginning of ragweed season where I live. Ragweed is a major allergen for me and every September, about halfway through the month, I get a sinus infection and an asthma flare. I have no reason to believe that this September will be any different. Of course, when that does happen, you know it will postpone things yet again. At this rate, we'll be into 2013 before I have all three procedures.

I also have to keep changing my blog calendar to accommodate all of the changes. I had deliberately kept the summer light as I knew I'd be having the procedures and wasn't sure how I'd react to them. Now I have to look at my fall schedule, see what I can get done ahead of time, and keep blog tours, etc. to a minimum. I don't want to have to cancel reviews and events at the last minute due to health reasons like I did last November when I ended up in the hospital. I am glad I already decided to scale back my Banned Book Week celebration this year; it runs September 28th through October 6th this year.

So yesterday, I was in a pissy mood for much of the day, and had to go offline for a bit and de-stress. My cat and a good non-review book helped. I'm better today and determined to see this through.

The lung section on the right, the severe asthma one? That's me. I'm hoping that when all of the procedures are done, my lungs will be the moderate one. That's still not great, but the best I can hope for with current medical knowledge and procedures.

Blog Tour Review of Shadow of Deceit by Mal Olson

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Release Date: February 17, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon    Barnes & Noble    OmniLit.com

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Can an FBI agent obsessed with redemption and a grieving widow desperate to clear her husband's name learn to believe in love again?

Shannon Riedel faces down danger when a gunman breaks into her office claiming her dead husband swindled him. When FBI agent Tony Crazaniak arrives to investigate, sexual heat sizzles. The ex-Delta Force operative's massive presence and dark eyes trigger an attraction the young widow finds unnerving.

 When Crazaniak convinces Shannon she needs his protection, they partner to unearth secrets her husband left behind--secrets involving a Tanzanian mine that yields perfect blue diamonds coveted by dealers around the world--secrets connected to a terrorist leader Crazaniak has vowed to take down.

With danger surrounding them, two emotionally wounded souls bond, but can they put their demons to rest and trust in love? Can they survive long enough to find out?


Teaser:

But when he looked into her eyes, he saw sincerity and compassion. Loyalty. She's innocent. She couldn't see that her boss might be using her to get his hands on the diamond mine. And if she trusted a player like de Rios, how in the hell was Tony going to convince her that her own husband had been playing dirty?

Not that Tony had any damning evidence against Tyler or de Rios. He was going on pure Crazaniak instinct. Gut instinct.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I enjoy romantic suspense and I liked the blurb for this one so I decided to give it a try. It got off to a fast start, with a masked gunman invading her office. The pace stays fast for a while then slows down, then picks up again. Olson deftly changes the pace, slowing things down for the romantic scenes and then picking up again when she switches back to the mystery.

I could feel Shannon's pain concerning her husband's death and her reluctance to move on afterward.  I did think the relationship between her and Tony moved a bit fast and he was awfully quick to give in to lust and forget about his responsibilities and duties, though the actual sex doesn't occur until latish in the story.

The story itself was a mix of twists and turns and predictability but it moved quickly, was a fast read, has enjoyable characters, and was enjoyable to read. I really liked that Shannon was so devoted to her cat and the cat even played a part in the story towards the end. Touches like that add believability to a story, and hey, I'm a crazy cat lady! lol

Overall, not a perfect story but an enjoyable one.

I received a PDF from Sizzling PR for review.

Review of Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Buying Links:   Amazon     The Book Depository     Barnes & Noble

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment...

 When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

 After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity…

Teaser:

The bag dropped suddenly to the ground when the breeze shifted. There was something eerie about it, that was certain. But was it magic? Jack had told me that I'd been seeing magic my whole life, but had been told not to talk about it. In effect, I'd been trained not to see, not to believe.

The bag skittered along the ground. Like some kind of strange, urban animal, it scooted behind the corner of the building, out of sight. 

I decided there was definitely something creepy and weird about all this. I would keep an open mind.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I've read Hallaway before and didn't really enjoy it; her humor didn't appeal to me. But I liked the sound of this book, a sort of CSI/X-Files but with overt paranormal elements. I'm glad I decided to read it, I enjoyed it. The pacing was clunky at times and there were times that I wished Hallaway wouldn't dribble out info like it was going extinct but overall, it was enjoyable.

Alex has recently moved to South Dakota and on a dare, ran for the position of coroner, and to her surprise, won. In the past she's had mental problems and now she's trying to start over. But it turns out those "mental" problems were really Alex seeing magical beings. When Alex first encounters magic in Pierre, she's afraid she's losing it again. Even meeting other magic practitioners doesn't convince her at first but she comes to believe and begins to explore her own magical ability. There's a caste system for magic users and to her dismay, Alex is distinctly in the lowest, allegedly inferior, caste.

It's an intriguing world, with characters who are likable and an interesting magic system. The mysteries are meh, and the Precinct police seemed incompetent at times but Hallaway made that latter part of the story and accounts for it. There are some twists and turns, a few predictable events, but Hallaway writes an engaging story. On her website she mentions that this may be the start of a new series. I hope so, I'd enjoy reading more about these characters and seeing how she pulls off a magical community in such a small town.


I received both an ARC and a finished copy from the publisher for review. The review is based on the finished copy.

Give Away & Spotlight on "Immigration & Adaptation" by Haskell Edwards

Today it's my pleasure to share some information about a very timely new book on immigration and adapting to a new culture. The author, Haskell G. Edwards, Director of Ministry, has vast professional experience for more than forty years as pastor, administrator, family therapist, and director of a family therapy center. His extensive experience gained from working with immigrant families in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic setting, as well as his own personal journey and genuinely encouraging approach, positions him not only to help immigrant families adapt to new surroundings, but grow stronger together in their journey.

He has successfully held immigrant seminars, workshops, and lectures throughout North America. Now a retired pastor, he continues to help immigrant families of a wide cultural heritage transition into their new homeland.

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Book Blurb (from author):

Adaptation is a must. But how does one go about doing this? It takes great planning, finances, and courage to leave one's homeland; but then finding support and comfort or anything of familiarity in a new land presents a whole new set of challenges. The stress is overwhelming. How do you gain the happiness and success you dreamed of attaining in the new land?

Immigration and Adaptation is here to help you navigate through these challenges. With the information herein, immigrants coming to North America will be prepared to identify and resolve social, family, and personal challenges with confidence. Mr. Edwards' vast professional experience with diverse immigrant families, as well as his own personal journey and genuinely encouraging approach, not only help immigrant families adapt to new surroundings, but grow stronger together in their journey.

This book includes:
- A family wellness test
- Step-by-step guidelines
- Real-life examples
- Inspirational stories
- Family, parenting, and spousal exercises
- Illustrations
- Single-parenting advice

Immigration and Adaptation also includes tips on: building self-confidence, resolving conflicts, tuning communication skills, networking and building social supports, budgeting, parenting, enhancing spousal relationships, helping teenagers adjust, communicating effectively, and more.

IMMIGRATION AND ADAPTATION
By:  Haskell G. Edwards, D. Min.
Publisher: Langdon Street Press
ISBN: 9781936782239 
Genre: NONFICTION, SELF HELP, CURRENT EVENTS
Format: EBOOK, PAPERBACK
Length: 272 pages
Release Date: September 15, 2011
Author Website
Immigration and Adaptation blog tour site
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook
Buying Links:   Amazon      Books-A-Million      Ebook PDF

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Thanks to the blog tour company, Tribute Books, I have one paperback copy to give away to one US resident. Enter below by leaving a comment about why you want to read this book. The giveaway will run through 11:59PM EST on the 27th of August.

Please read my Giveaway Policy.

Blog Hop Discussion: What Do You Look For You In A Review?

Nat at Reading Romances is hosting another discussion blog hop, this time around the topic of reviews. All of the participants will discuss what they look for in a review: Whether you're writing or reading one, there are certain things you always look for. What are those? What do you think are the most important elements you think the reviewer should include? What would you like see more? Less? What is the role of a review? How important is it? 

So, what do I as a reader look for? There are 4 basic types of information that I want:

1. Is the story well written? For instance, are there plot holes, inconsistencies, grammatical issues, are the characters believable? Is the plot banal but the writer has a gift for language or story telling? Does it hold your interest or does it start off slowly then grab you? Is there an excess of details? A dearth of details? Is it original? A well done take on a old theme?
2. A brief recap or synopsis of the story. However, the recap should not be the bulk of the review. I have no use for reviews that are 90% recap and 10% review. Use examples from the story to illustrate points or show off the author's writing, sure, that's excellent. But if your "review" is mostly story recap, I won't be back.
3. What worked and didn't work for the reviewer and why? What did they love? What did they hate? It may be that what worked for the reviewer pushes one of my buttons and vice versa.
4. And, because it's one on my pet peeves, how well done is the copy editing and proof reading? If it's done well, with no problems or only minor ones, then I don't expect to see it mentioned in the review. But it constantly amazes me when I read a book with huge editing and proof reading issues yet when I look at reviews, there's no mention. I've read books where I have had to untangle and rewrite sentences, or whole paragraphs, to make sense of them and yet, there is NO MENTION in the review. I am not your beta reader nor should I have to untangle your mangled spelling and grammar to understand a sentence. As you can see, I get very cranky. There's a reason I work as a copy editor. :D

Those are the main things I look for. I also enjoy some humor in a review, even some mild snark, but no meanness and no attacks on the author. I also like to know why a reviewer chose a book but it's not essential. One of my personal criteria for a good book, at least the genre ones, is whether or not I'd read it again. However, not everyone enjoys re-reading so while I like to see a reviewer mention if they'd re-read it, I don't need it. Also, I don't want spoilers; unless, it's a book I probably won't read, then I don't care. In general though, I avoid blogs if their reviews typically contain spoilers. I don't do spoilers usually in my own reviews; when I do, it's to illustrate a point, or it may be a book in a series and discussing it would spoil an earlier book. In those cases, I'll post a spoiler warning so readers can decide to continue reading or skip that review.

Now the role of a review. Well, at it's most basic it's a critique of the book; the writing, the story, etc. But reviews are no longer limited to print sources such as newspapers and magazines. These days, we have blogs, goodreads, twitter, facebook, tumblr, etc. They are more casual and have immediate impact. To an extent, these have both replaced and complemented the traditional personal recommendations that we used to get from friends and family. Now, we have extended our circle of friends to include all these online resources. So, some reviews are "I really liked this. The story is fun and character X is hawt." while others are more critical and some read like traditional print "serious" reviews. So, a review is an opinion as well as a critique. If four bloggers/reviewers whose opinions I trust tell me to stay away from a book, don't waste my time; I'm going to listen and pass on that book. I may share that info with others who ask me about that book. Because these opinions and critiques are online, they have the potential to reach thousands of readers and they remain available for as long as that blog or site is online. That affects the buzz around a book, and even the sales. So, a review can share information about a book, praise a book, trash a book, sell a book or steer away a potential buyer. It's a recommendation, a critique, a sharing of information, a sales tool. It's a way for a reader to learn about a book, to gather information and decide if they want to invest their time, money or both in reading it.

How about you? What do you look for? What are your must-haves and what are the things you'd like to see but don't require? What do you think is the role of reviews?