Showing posts with label five star. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Review: The Tournament of Ruses by Kate Stradling

Book Blurb:

Flora Dalton wants nothing more than a quiet life in the countryside of Lenore, but her father's promotion to the Parliament of Lords has uprooted her and planted her smack in the middle of a mess. Not only must she adjust to a new home, a new city, and a new circle of friends, but she also gets to endure a whole country gone mad with excitement: the Eternal Prince of Lenore—their famed and fabled protector—has decided at long last to take a consort! Rumor says he's going to marry the Prime Minister's daughter, Viola Moreland, but the lords have petitioned him to consider each of their daughters in turn, and that includes poor Flora. Against her wishes she must navigate a sea of scheming females in a laughable tournament of feminine graces, even as deathly shadows encroach upon her doorstep. For while most everyone is fixated on the Eternal Prince's love life, something much more sinister is afoot in Lenore, and Flora happens to be at the very heart of it.

Author Bio:

Kate Stradling received her BA and MA in English. She is a language-structure junkie. She works as a freelance technical and developmental editor and has published five novels in the fantasy spectrum. Her sixth novel, The Legendary Inge, framed on the Old English epic Beowulf, will be released in Summer 2016. She is a native of Mesa, Arizona.

You can find this fabulous author here:
Website: http://katestradling.com/books/
Twitter: @katestradling
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Stradling/e/B00J7Y9RMC/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

My Review:

I actually won this book back in February, at the ANWA Conference. In all the hustle and bustle of coming home, it some how got lost in the disaster I call home. On Friday I happened upon it, and snagged it as my boys hauled me out of the house for a fishing trip.
This book is instantly engaging, as it takes you into world that feels slightly regency era, but more so incredibly unique. As the reader you will instantly feel bad for poor Flora as she suffers through this life that is nothing like she'd ever wanted for herself. Then when magic is introduced... hold onto your socks ladies and gentlemen! There are so many fantastic twist and unexpected turns, I could barely put the book down! As it is, it only took me about 12 hours to devour the entire thing.
There is a book that comes before this one, called Kingdom of Ruses, but as the author so kindly informs us in the preface, you do NOT need to read it before diving into this one. I completely agree that while it's a sequel it also works FABULOUSLY as a stand alone. I want to read the first book, purely because of how much I adored Author Kate Stradling's world that she has created.
The only thing I can say, is I wish that this amazing book had an equally amazing cover. I'd never expected such a dynamic, magical book to be encased in something so simple.
Regardless, I give this book an easy 5 STARS!!!

I highly recommend you grab a copy today!!!

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tournament-Ruses-Kate-Stradling/dp/1500161055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430752959&sr=8-1&keywords=kate+stradling

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot

I was not gifted a copy of this book, nor was my review requested by the author. I just happened upon it, and fell absolutely in love, so I felt the need to share it with you!

*All book information and author info has been copied from Amazon.*

Her future stretched out like the clear blue Texas sky.
But a storm is coming.
Leaving the past behind in Philadelphia, mail-order bride Sarah Dobbs arrives in San Antonio ready to greet her groom--a man she has never met but whose letters, her paper roses, have won her heart from afar. But there is a problem--Austin Canfield is dead, and Sarah cannot go back East.
As Sarah tries to reconcile herself to a future that is drastically changed, Austin's brother Clay wants nothing more than to shake the Texas dust from his boots, but first he must find his brother's killer. And then there's Sarah.
Something is blooming out in the vast Texas landscape that neither Clay nor Sarah is ready to admit, and the promise of redemption blows like a gentle breeze through the prairie grasses.
Book 1 of the Texas Dreams series, Paper Roses will sweep you away with a tale of love, loss, and tantalizing possibilities.
Amanda Cabot is an accomplished author under various pen names. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, the co-founder of its New Jersey chapter, and an avid traveler.

Author Bio:

With both parents avid readers, it's no surprise that Amanda Cabot learned to read at an early age. From there it was only a small step to deciding to become a writer. Of course, deciding and becoming are two different things, as she soon discovered. Fortunately for the world, her first attempts at fiction, which included a play for her fifth grade class entitled "All About Thermometers," were not published, but she did meet her goal of selling a novel by her thirtieth birthday. Since then she's sold more than thirty novels under a variety of pseudonyms. When she's not writing, Amanda enjoys sewing, cooking and - of course - reading.

For sale here on AMAZON

Review:

I actually purchased this book a couple years ago. Read it and was left with a fabulous book hangover. Back then I'd never thought of writing reviews, but having just re-read it, I couldn't help but hope that the author will someday see my review and know what a fantastic job she did with this book. It's a beautiful story of forgiveness, overcoming the most heart wrenching of challenges, and giving over your troubles to your Heavenly Father. The characters are beautiful people that instantly have your heart wrapped around their fingers, and you turning pages to watch them grow spiritually. A fabulous read that I can't wait to share with my friends and family. Fabulous job!!!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

BLOG BLITZ: More Than A Review by Donna Feyen

I am so excited to have Donna Feyen and her amazing blog site visiting my blog today!

Donna is the host of WWW.MORETHANAREVIEW.COM where she reviews tons and tons of books!

It's a great resource for checking out those books you've been wondering about and deciding if they are worth the read!

Or before you purchase!

Meet The Founder

A bit about Donna Feyen:

More Than A Review (MTAR) founder, Donna Feyen, is an avid reader, a “stalker” (a.k.a. devoted fan) of popular band Third Day, and loves to scrapbook in both the traditional and digital styles using Creative Memories tools. She loves Beth Moore bible studies, has worked at the same company for 27+ years, and loves to travel! Some of her bucket list items include: visiting Hawaii, another trip to Germany (where her husband was born), and riding their motorcycle down interstate 1 in California. Donna lives in Northwest Arkansas with her husband and her 3 beautiful black labs.

Where did the vision for MTAR come from:

Donna started MTAR after reading several books that fell short of their “traditional” reviews and included more graphic content than she was expecting to read. These disappointments and the inability to research the content of a book before purchase, led Donna to the purpose and vision behind MTAR.

After discussing her ideas with friends and family, Donna began to develop the science behind creating a website that would provide in-depth book reviews while also including a detailed “grading” system to provide readers upfront knowledge about the content of books they choose to read.

How readers can become involved:

Currently, MTAR allows anyone to write book reviews once they have registered via the MTAR homepage login screen. Our hopes are that requiring a reviewer to register prior to posting a review will deter individuals who may cause havoc on the site. Should we miss someone, there is a “report abuse” button that any reviewer may click if they identify someone who is abusing the privilege of posting a book review.

What we do:

MTAR provides a platform for books to be reviewed by overall content and by four specific content categories.
MTAR provides the ability to search for books based on specific content levels and genre.
MTAR also provides book recommendations based on a registered users preferred content level.

In the coming months, we will add author interviews, excerpts from new releases, and a newsletter to provide additional noteworthy information for each genre represented in the titles found on MTAR.

To my amazing prayer warriors:

I believe that God puts people in our lives to help guide and mentor us along the path of life. The MTAR project has been no different! Thank you to my sister and my parents for their encouragement and continued support. To my mentor who was there when I was ready to give up and somehow managed to convince this hard-headed girl to enter her idea into a Start Up Cup competition, thank you does not seem nearly enough! To my great friends who spent the day with me entering in book reviews, I remember that day like it was yesterday and it was what fully jumpstarted me, thank you!

To ALL of my prayer warriors, you can move mountains!!!

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Loving the Book is hosting an event in her honor here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/304306413107315

Come Follow Along!

Also, there are some exciting prizes to win below, Including all of these AND MORE: