Book Review: Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

This murder mystery is a sad tale that merges real life mysteries from the past with the present. Most of the magical twists and turns are nothing more than personal secrets bottled up like a volcano and presented with beautifully written descriptors.

I enjoyed this short book. It immediately pulled me in and moves along at an even keel. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance novels, murder mysteries, or stories about people discovering their genealogy.

Written by: Carol Goodman

Narrated by: Jen Taylor

A Big Thanks to Craig Halloran

This post is going to be short, but should entice you to stay tuned. Craig Halloran and I connected recently thanks to an introduction from Brian Rathbone.

Craig generously provided me with copies of his series, The Chronicles of Dragon. I've already finished the first book of seven (books 8-10 coming soon). I'm steadily on pace to finish the rest of the series in the next couple weeks, but I'm a little afraid the beautiful weather has been distracting me from writing. So, this is an advanced thank you to Craig and heads up to anyone who reads this blog: I will be reviewing all seven of Craig's books, doing a give away, and an author interview very soon.

Until then, happy reading.

Diary: A BIG Thank You to Brian Rathbone

Thank You, Author Brian Rathbone

Brian found me on Twitter shortly after I started posting my book blog posts on social media. We hit it off as online friends. He's funny, I'm nerdy, and well I thought he was so interesting that I had to check out his site. I love indie authors and fantasy books so I figured I'd enjoy his work, so far I was definitely right. After following the link from his Twitter profile, I noticed a few things where broken on his site and walked him through fixing him. In the long run, a lot more things broke and we reconnected. That led to a whole new website. I'm proud to present BrianRathbone.com. It still has a ways to go but is leaps and bounds ahead in design, analytics, among other nerdy things.

Kiro's Emily (Book 10 of Rosemary Beach Series) by Abbi Glines

BOOK REVIEW: Kiro's Emily

Book 10, Novella, Rosemary Beach Series

Book Author: Abbi Glines

"Innocence Meets Hard Core Musicians"

Overall

Performance

Story

Recommended Age: Adult, Young Adult

Genre: Drama, Fiction, Love, Romance, Sex, Women's Literature,

Characters: Musician

Book Type: Audio, Novella

This book is a lot like the Notebook in some ways. A bit rushed at the end, full of cutesy romance and innocent quips.

The ending, for me, was unexpected. I found this book delightful. It's a bad boy meets good girl romance. At the beginning of the story Emily, the main character, is off on an adventure with her risque cousin. Her cousin is sleeping her way to and through a band that they are following around the country. Emily refuses to follow the status quo and sleep around, but somehow strikes up an unusual friendship along the way that leads to romance. Tragedy strikes towards the end, but in some ways works out as an epic love tale. The book has some pretty heart wrenching moments, and other moments where you wonder why anyone would act so foolishly.

I recommend this book as a romantic read, but gave it only four stars because it could have had more depth and the ending seemed rushed.

About Book Review Rating and Awards

What are the Stars?

Books may be rated 1-5 stars. 1 star being the lowest possible rating and 5 stars being the highest. Books that have not been read do not have a rating.

Every book review may have an overall rating, a performance rating, and a story rating. The overall rating takes into account both the story and performance. The Performance rates the narrator, if the book was reviewed as an audible book. The story rating is for the book overall.

Books are not graded by spelling or grammatical errors, although poor performance or books that are hard to read may factor in layout. If something stands out, this will generally be mentioned in the review.

Products only have an overall score. Additional ratings may be added later for product and business reviews.

The Starts look like this:

Overall

Performance

Story

At any time, you can click on the stars to see a list of books, products, or businesses with a similar rating.

BOOK REVIEW: Echo: Soul Seekers, Book 2 UNABRIDGED by Alyson Noël

Echo

Book 2 of Soul Seekers

by Alyson Noël

"Enchanting and Sad"

Overall

Performance

Story

This book has some very lovable and hate-able characters. I love the native american influences and magical intrigue. This book doesn't seem to end the series, just wish I'd know that first, so I could have waited before starting a series with no ending. I'm a little shocked and confused by it. The is a teenage magic love mystery.

BOOK REVIEW: Passion, Betrayal, and Killer Highlights UNABRIDGED by Kyra Davis

"Not My TYPICAL PURCHASE.. But still.. Not Bad"

Overall

Performance

Story

I originally got this book because I adore Gabra Zackman. She is an amazing narrator. In this book she gives herself an east coast accent that I was not expecting since I got the book without listening to a sample. Plus I'm not normally into murder mysteries but Gabra made this book for me.

BOOK REVIEW: Playing with Fire: Silver Dragons, Book 1 UNABRIDGED by Katie MacAlister

Playing with Fire

"Interesting start caught me enough to read the 2nd"

• Overall

  Performance

  Story

  If you could sum up Playing with Fire in three words, what would they be?

  Dragons, Fantasy, and Drama. (Technically that is 4 words, but it reads better that way)

  
  

  Who was your favorite character and why?

  The main character was intriguing. She falls in love with Gabriel Tauhou, a wyvern or type of dragon, that takes her on quite the adventure. She has special abilities and he's been waiting for her forever it seems. They get pretty steamy in the book, get it, steamy, you know because he is a wyvern. Anyway she's beautiful, smart, and a strong female lead.

  

  
  

Book Review: THE WINTER WITCH by Paula Brackston

"Mayhem, Witch Trials, and Magic in an Unpredictable Tale"

Overall

Performance

Story

The Winter Witch is set back in a time when people where suspicious but not necessarily on witch hunts. It seems they suspect but don't immediately kill in this book. This is a battle for love, life, and an understanding of hard times mixed with magic in unusual ways. There is sorrow in this book, happiness, and mayhem in ways that only this time could convey.

If you enjoy this book you may also enjoy: Books by Deborah Geary, Witch Child, Born Wicked, Star Cursed, books by Gail Carriger, Thirteenth Child, and Shadow and Bone.

BOOK REVIEW: Storm Glass UNABRIDGED by Maria V. Snyder

"Love the Author, Confused by the Narrator Switch"

Overall

Performance

Story

Summary:

Keep in mind, I have over 250 books in my audible library alone. I have listened and read many more books than that. So I am comparing this author, story, and narrator to EVERYTHING in my past experience.

The narrator is above average. I wouldn't award her a prize for this reading, but I would recommend her to you. She has become one of my favorite narrators.

The story is engaging. It could have gone further, but was well written. Maria is an engaging author. By the end of the story, you may even want to look up the author and narrator to see similar books they have produced.

BOOK REVIEW: The One (A Selection Series Book) by Kiera Cass

Original Review December 12, 2014

Originally updated January, 26, 2015

Follow up to Review February 14,2015

The One

December 12, 2014

January 26, 2015 (updated review)

Overall

Performance

Story

This is part of a series. "The One" is a compelling drama. Think futuristic version of "The Bachelor" that's what this is. It's a young adult fictional love story.

The book has a hardened King, a hopeful set of wannabe princesses, and a possessive set of suitors. America is the main character, she is obtuse, exhausting, secretive, rude, an idealist, and full of head games. Her secrets have secrets. It's annoying.

The main character is always trying to do the right thing at the expense of logic, reason, or strategy. From the first book to this one I don't know whether to root for her, the rebels, or her love interests. Every book expands on the characters and flushes out their various secrets.

Cold Magic (series) by Kate Elliott

BOOK REVIEW: Cold Magic UNABRIDGED

Spiritwalker Trilogy

Author: Kate Elliott Narrator: Charlotte Parry

"Mystery Magic with a Heavy Accent"

Overall

Performance

Story

The story is whimsical and easy to like but I don't think I would have finished it if I had read the print version. The author gives every character except the main one (Kathren) long old roman names that would be hard to identify with (especially since they are never nick named or shorted).