Adult fiction

To Love A Thief Julie Anne Long Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Sometimes I get really strong urges to read romance novels, particularly after coming off of a YA bender, I mean I like reading about teenagers but too much and they drive me up the wall. So then I feel like I absolutely need a change of pace and end up reading a romance novel. I landed on To Love A Thief by Julie Anne Long a few months ago because I wanted to read a book that I already had on my Kindle but I wanted a historical romance that would feel different from other regency romances — and thus I picked up To Love A Thief. Instead of a shy spinster or you know total society ladies, the main character of this book is actually a thief and so because it’s different my interest was immediately peaked.

To Love A Thief Julie Anne Long Book Review

Lily Masters lives in the slums of London with her sickly younger sister. To get by, she picks pockets and also has a bit of a silver tongue. One day, however, she picks the wrong pocket. To avoid a prison sentence, she agrees to pose as a rich lady for Gideon so that Gideon can make this woman he wants to marry totally jealous. And so, Lily is given lessons in how to be upper class and because she’s so good looking with a beautiful voice, takes the upper crust by storm. The two begin to develop feelings for each other, but must fight it because they are in different social classes and once Gideon has his engagement, they both go back to being strangers. And so, based on the genre and the summary chances are you can hazard a guess as to what happens next.

Y’all, To Love A Thief is awesome because Lily is quite the saucy lady. She’s always got a smart ass comment for Gideon and really keeps him on his toes. Plus, she’s the type of person who loves a good story. And honestly, if she was in real life I am 100% sure I’d love to have a bottle of wine with her because she comes across as incredibly interesting. While she starts out the book kind of crass, you can’t help but like her after seeing how much Lily gives to keep her and her sister afloat. It’s quite touching.

Gideon, the hero, is a total stick in the mud. Like, he’s of the noble class but he’s also kind of broke and so he practices as a barrister. Yet, he has some hidden depths as well. Like, he’s totally into poetry even though he’d never admit it. Anyways, he is all about the rules of class and society being followed and it takes Lily to teach him how to smile and have fun. Lily is the one who makes him happy, obviously, but he knows that he really should marry this lady who is tall and loaded and the queen bee. Of all the characters, Gideon changes the most and I quite liked his arc.

If you’re looking for steamy historical romance, pick up To Love A Thief. Like, there’s grown up scenes a plenty but it’s not so overwhelming as to be squicky. I really like Julie Anne Long has mastered character development with her writing style. I was super invested in Lily and Gideon and may have shed some anger tears because I am a glass case and all. I’d say that To Love A Thief is a solid read for fans of historical romance who are tired of typical upper crust leading ladies whose only worry is propriety and being a spinster. Seriously, Lily plus Gideon forever!

Disclosure: Purchased my copy for my Kindle

Other reviews of To Love A Thief by Julie Anne Long:

Phyl’s Quilts And Books – “The fairy tale feel and entertaining voice made it an enjoyable read.”

Taking Chances Molly McAdams Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Fuck this book. Seriously, fuck this book. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE THAT IN A REVIEW YOU GUYS, and finally after reading the worst book EVER I finally have the chance to do so. Now, I am going to go in depth on spoilers of Taking Chances by Molly McAdams, but not until a few paragraphs down and I will warn you of spoilers to come with giant letters. You guys, if I wasn’t reading Taking Chances on a $200 device, I would have chucked it across the room, I was so angry with this poorly written, poorly characterized book. Further, the values within kind of go against all of more core beliefs and while I won’t dislike you or think less of you if you’re down for those things, for me I was just like no, not okay not cool.

Taking Chances Molly McAdams Book Cover

Okay, you guys this review is going to be full of swears because I am so angry and I am not talented enough to express that anger without swears and sometimes nothing gets the point across better for me than a well placed fuck. OKAY SO. Taking Chances opens with main character Harper getting ready to leave home — a military base where she lives with her father and a lot of Marines for college across the country in San Diego. Harper calls her dad Sir. This is a super big deal. Anyways, she flys out to college where she meets her roommate Breanna who decides to give Harper a makeover and they become best friends. After the makeover montage, Harper goes with Breanna to a party at her brother’s house. At the party all the guys lose their shit over Harper because she’s so hot and funny and we know this because we get to read all about her outfit. THEN! There’s this guy there who is like the most gorgeous guy Harper has ever seen, his name is Chase. However he’s a total manwhore. And so they don’t date and she proceeds to slut shame any girl who goes near Chase. THEN a few days later she meets another guy who is even more gorgeous that Chase, named Brandon and he fights underground. Brandon becomes Harper’s boyfriend but she’s still attracted to Chase. That’s the plot for 50% of the book. Then something bad happens. Then the book drags for the rest of it. And don’t you worry, I will detail my problems with this awful book.

Okay you guys, I don’t get why dudes constantly lose their shit over Harper. She’s so basic and boring, but apparently really hot. And funny. And just so cool and so amazing. We’re consistently told how amazing she is, but not shown it. Instead, I saw a petulant brat who was too self-involved for me to really care about her. I mean, we didn’t even learn what her major in college was or what she liked doing besides hooking up and shopping and eating and drinking. She’s really boring and I just don’t get why three guys within the book were so into her that it practically comes down to brass knuckles.

As for the guys, I totally got it with Chase because they had that he’s so tattooed and bad and needs to be reformed sort of relationship. But honestly, if Chase is the dude on the cover on the left with that awful hair dye job, I do not get it. He looks trashy from behind. But he’s also a total asshole to Harper most of the time, which ugh. No, not hot. THEN. There is Brandon who is pretty much a cardboard cut out stand in. He’s so nice and sweet and perfect and just YAWN. SNOOZE. I mean, there’s some drama but it’s so obviously manufactured. And I just still cannot figure out for the life of me what the big deal is.

ALSO! Because this isn’t a spoiler but I need to rant about this too — there were only two girl characters who were ‘good’. Every other female character within Harper and Breanna’s age group were ‘sluts’ or ‘tramps’ or ‘basewhores’. Like for real? I get that Harper is like the Virgin Madonna, but why does every other girl with sexual experience who just want to hook up have to be a whore? Like, that slut shaming is so stupid. I wish there were more solid girl friendships within the book instead of just between Harper and her roommate, and even then none of their conversations pass the Bedchel test.

The writing style is pretty awful you guys. I think at this point with over 700 reviews at my belt and a goodreads average rating of 4.02, you guys know me and you know that when I read a book I don’t set out to hate it. Especially if it has a setting and a cover I’m interested in. I read books with an open mind. I don’t walk in with a vendetta. And I say this to you, the writing is awful in this book. We barely scratch the surface with characterization. The dialogue is cheesy and awful peppered with babe BABE BABY BABE and I’m all ugh gag me. My notes on this book in my kindle were two ‘fuck this shit’ and ‘girl head for the hills’ because there’s no natural progression or development, just like two pages and then it’s love. I mean, I know people constantly give Twilight shit for being instalove, but at least there was SOME sort of swoon and attraction with glances and hand touching. With this, I just felt nothing. I will say, I was kind of okay with the plotting, but that’s mainly because I needed to know what was going to happen next. HOWEVER, much of the plot is drawn out and convoluted and instead of really exploring an event and the emotions and repercussions and reactions, it’s over in a blink and we’re onto the next trauma of the moment.

NOW TO GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS AND SPOILERS AND MY ISSUES SO STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE COMPLETELY SPOILED BUT I NEED TO PUT ALL OF THIS OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU MIGHT BE FEELING THE SAME THING AND YOU ARE NOT ALONE

You guys. I have made my peace with love triangles, I may not absolutely be head over heels for them, but if they are well done, at this point I’m resigned to them being a fixture in the books I read. I expect the point of the triangle to make a choice, not have the choice made for them. You guys, Taking Chances has the most bullshit plot twist and look away like I said above if you don’t want to be spoiled. But okay, so fucking Harper cheats on Brandon just twice with Chase and has sex without protection and OF COURSE she gets pregnant. Of fricken course. Because as we all know, if you have sex you will get pregnant and you will die, only she doesn’t die. Instead, Chase does. And oh my god I was so PISSED. I literally yelled at this book. I thought it was such a huge fucking cop out. Instead of having to force airhead Harper to decide between the guys, she kills off Chase in a car accident and it’s glossed over and by 70% we basically forget all about Chase and she’s pretty much over it. I hate this you guys. I hate when authors take the easy way out because they can’t make up their fricken mind or a decision. I had this same exact feeling with the book ending of My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. I thought that was a cop out too. Sorry, but you don’t set up this big huge choice for the main character to make and then take away that agency by killing off one of the options. No, that’s just awful and poor plotting/writing.

Also, stupid cardboard Brandon doesn’t even seem all that upset by the cheating. Nope, instead not even TWO MONTHS after Chase is cold in the ground, he goes back out with Harper. And AND Chase’s family is cool with this, in fact they encourage it. AND Brandon just forgives her like that and she doesn’t have to do a thing to earn his trust back. Hold the phone you guys just HOLD THE PHONE. If some guy ever cheated on me, it would take much more than a few pretty words to get my trust back. Straight up, there’s something wrong with the relationship when someone strays and time to leave that relationship and not get back together. So, ugh. I was just shaking my head so hard it was about to fall off.

Can I also just say, how hard is the concept of birth control? Like, almost every girl I went to college with was on it. Is that a NY thing? Is it a NY thing where the RAs leave baskets of condoms in the hallway and where we had a vending machine for them? Is this something that only my part of the nation does? Am I the weird one in this situation here? Like, I literally do not understand why it’s so difficult to understand that if you don’t use protection you might end up pregnant. I know that doesn’t happen all the time — not everyone who has unprotected sex ends up pregnant (THANK GOD). But seriously? Like didn’t we all get the banana and the condom lesson in high school or did I just go to a really liberal school? I just do not get it. I know that I personally am not the most level headed person, but honestly even I know that hey ya might want to wrap your tool ESPECIALLY if you called the guy a walking STD at one point, oh my goddddd.

Further, last night I was thinking about my review of this book and what I would say and I had an epiphany. I realized one of the things I hate about this book is that it’s view of the world and relationships is diametrically the opposite of my personal core beliefs and values. You see, at the end of the book Harper is married at 19, drops out of college and has another baby on the way. Are you kidding me? Is this the message we want to send to girls who read this book? What happened to being a strong independent woman who can take care of herself? No. This is like some 1950s shit and I can’t stand it. I don’t know, maybe it’s different here in NY, but I just can’t ever see taking that route. Basically the whole message I got overall was that it’s cool to get pregnant young because if it’s the right guy he’ll take care of you and you won’t even have to work. Fricken UGHHHHHHH. The end of the book it’s basically mentioned that the two girls Breanna and Harper won’t have to work because their husbands will make enough money. Girls this is gross to me. Like, get a job and be financially independent. What if your man dies in an accident? What if the marriage doesn’t work out? Then she has no back up plan and is basically qualified for few jobs. I mean, hello in this economy it’s like a bachelor’s degree is the equivalent of a high school degree and you really need your master’s for something that pays well and I’m just so disgusted that she decides not to finish college and not get a job. I get that her husband at 22 can magically support her because he owns a gym or whatever, but still this just made me so angry. I guess I just feel that in 2013, as women we should be able to support ourselves rather than be fully dependent upon another person.

I also just kind of felt like it was the purpose of women to get married and have babies. And that’s not why I read or choose to read New Adult. I like to read New Adult because it deals with things I can relate to — namely college and just starting a career or struggling. I don’t read New Adult for things like pregnancies and mortgages because most people I know in their early 20s are not worrying about those things. I mean, maybe I just run with a more educated crowd? But this is not my experience at all.

In all conscience, I can’t recommend Taking Chances to you if you are anything like me. If you like strong independent women as main characters, you won’t find that here. If you like swoons and a slow burn and banter, you are out of luck. If you like writing where you highlight every other page, this is not the book. However, if you like a long drawn out, train wreck of a soap opera, then you’ll love Taking Chances.

Disclosure: Received for review, but what the heck I’ll buy the 99 cent copy so I don’t feel awful about this review which is the most negative review I’ve ever written.

Other reviews of Taking Chances by Molly McAdams:

Dear Author – “ non stop eye rolling what the f__ck reactions of everyone that circles the orbit that is Harper.”

The Book Scoop – “By the end of the book, I was reading it so that I could close the book and put these characters out of my head.”

My Secret Romance Book Reviews – “definitely an emotional story and not one that I regret reading.”

Touch Of Power Maria V. Snyder Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

OH THANK GOODNESS YOU GUYS! Seriously, I am so so glad I decided to read Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder as my first book of 2013 as I found it to be highly satisfying and a good note to start the year on. Also? It has been WAY too long since I’ve read a Maria V. Snyder book. I KNOW. Awful right? Plus, it’s kind of cool to start the year with a book I purchased rather than one I’ve received for review. And I imagine some of you might disagree but I think it sets a nice little precedent. Anyways. Touch Of Power was romantic and had plagues and a fierce main character with a big heart and I know you all are like okay you plague loving weirdo, but for serious, I gobbled this noise up.

Touch Of Power Maria V Snyder Book Cover

Touch Of Power takes place in a land known as the Fifteen Realms. These realms have been decimated in population because of an incurable plague. The survivors blame a group of magic holders known as Healers for the plague because they believe the Healers started the plague. Avry is a healer and has been on the run for three years. All of the other healers she either hasn’t heard from or are dead. You see, there’s a bounty on the healers for 20 gold pieces which is a huge deal because everyone is poor. Anyways, Avry cannot resist healing a little kid and rather than be thankful, the townspeople turn on her. She’s saved though at the last minute by Kerrick who then proceeds to kidnap her in hopes she will heal someone. And that’s JUST THE BEGINNING. Y’all, things get real in Touch Of Power.

Avry was my sort of main character. She’s not quite stubborn, but she’s headstrong. She is very determined to make her own choices and won’t let anyone take her agency away from her. Unlike, Yelena from Poison Study, she doesn’t carry around a dark past, well at least in comparison. Anyways, Avry totally does have her problems, but I ended up really liking her because she comes across as warm and open and someone who genuinely cares about others.

Just as I can ramble for a long paragraph about Valek, I can ramble a little about Kerrick. He’s the leader of this small band of dudes and saves Avry from certain death because he knows she is a healer. Anyways, the two totally butt heads at first. I actually started off strongly disliking Kerrick because he does something VERY awful, but I guess I don’t know, my mind changed. He started to come across as someone who was very loyal and that mattered to me. Plus, he’s the type that doesn’t let emotion show — the STOIC type and I’m just going to say I am so glad to read a book with the love interest not getting all emo and upset over the stupidest things like another book I just finished that I won’t muck up this review with.

I have to say, I would have liked a bigger and better map in my copy. I bought the Kindle Fire version of Touch Of Power, but the map was so small and I couldn’t read the names of the places or zoom in. I know, that’s a silly complaint but I’m one of those readers who LOVES a good map. What I did love about the world building was the magic system. There are various types of magic users that correlate with the elements and also with life and death. I liked that each element has a draw back. Also, not everyone is able to use magic. FURTHER! There are various guilds for the different magics and people are apprentices and whatnot. AND OMG! There’s a disease and it’s incurable, and I mentioned that in the top paragraph, but if you’re like me and love a good plague it just bears repeating that you should read this book.

If you read for the romance, note Touch Of Power is not quite as swoonworthy as Poison Study, but I think that it’s more romantic than the Inside Out books. The romance is one of those slow burns enjoy the journey sort of romances. What I mean by this is, if you’ve ever read a YA or adult book with romance before you can obviously tell who is going to get together — it’s just a matter of getting to that destination. AND SO! It does take Avry a bit of time to get to the destination, but as trust is built and gained, that is the part that I LOVE reading, the sort of slow build slow burn swoons.

Unfortunately, I was not entirely in love with the writing style. I didn’t feel the need to highlight or quote anything in Touch Of Power. It’s not like one of those books with delicious prose. HOWEVER, the pacing is quite good. I wasn’t like ugh we’re still in this realm, stop staring and the trees and pick up the damn pace. Nope. Instead, I was content with where the book was going. So, I liked the plotting and the characterization, but I thought the writing was kind of basic.

I actually really enjoyed Maria V. Snyder’s Touch Of Power and was pleased with where the book went and how the plot played out. I whipped through this book in no time as well because I found the disease and the political struggle between the different realms very compelling, not to mention the slow burns ALL OF THEM.

Disclosure: Purchased Copy when it was a $1.99 Kindle Daily Deal

Other reviews of Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder:

Giraffe Days – “Snyder’s writing continues to grow in confidence and style.”

The Book Rat – “an engaging story with rootforable characters”

The Book Swarm – “a great start to a new series”

Books by Maria V. Snyder:

Poison Study
Magic Study
Inside Out
Outside In

The Twelve Justin Cronin Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

You know how sometimes it can feel like you are reading a book for pretty much forever because it’s a book that is SUPER long and outside of your usual genre of choice? That feeling totally happened to me while I was reading The Twelve by Justin Cronin, sequel to The Passage which I actually really enjoyed and read within a matter of days instead of months. Unfortunately, The Twelve did not quite compel or immediately hook me the same way that The Passage did. I was just not that into The Twelve.

The Twelve Justin Cronin Book Cover

Justin Cronin’s sequel opens just as the virus is getting off the ground. Instead of revisiting the characters from the end of The Passage we meet a whole new cast of characters. Most of the beginning of the book I was wondering what was going on with Amy, Peter and Alicia. The new characters are comprised of a war veteran, a teenage girl and her brother and a bus driver named Danny among others. These characters are the survivors after the virals have killed or infected most of the people around them, and so they are in desperate search of a safe haven and civilization. Eventually we do come back to the characters from The Passage, but The Twelve sort of takes a convoluted path to get back to Amy, Peter and Alicia, among others.

I was not at all attached to the new characters in the beginning of The Twelve. We get a brief amount of time with the characters and the chapters alternate between quite a large amount of people. I felt like I never got to intimately know Danny, the bus driver or April the teenage girl and what made them tick as characters. I did, however, enjoy the development once we got back to Peter and Alicia. Alicia is probably the most interesting character as she struggles with her humanity. She endures the worst possible thing for a person to go through and it changes her. It makes her tragic and vulnerable, yet her strength is still there. Even Amy gets to change quite a bit and the result is fantastic. She really comes into her own and it is definitely a game changer as far as the storyline goes.

I thought the world building in The Twelve improved upon that of The Passage – I mean, it was consistent, but added to the richness of the horrifying world Cronin has created. We get to see the worst and the very best of humanity in Cronin’s viral-filled world. We have the contrast of two societies — one society that is run by civility and order and equality. The other society is in thrall to viral overlords. It’s quite an interesting contrast, especially when the two societies overlap. I also enjoyed seeing how the virals adapted because of their dwindling food supply. It was quite an interesting touch.

The Twelve starts off a bit slow, the first 200 pages took me months to get through, honestly. I never really felt compelled or a pull toward finishing the book. However, once the book starts it’s cresendo and we really get down to the action I was unable to set it down. I found myself engrossed and repulsed. There are some very disturbing, very violent scenes. If you don’t have the stomach for it, that’s fine but I just wanted to put out there that The Twelve might make some people uncomfortable. Personally, I thought it was an interesting depiction of how brutal the world has turned in the wake of suck your blood instead of romancing you vampires taking over.

Personally, what prevented me from really loving The Twelve was all of the sexual violence. I know, I know grown up books have sexual violence. And I am not here to say yes, censor books. I just want to say that I thought it was kind of gratuitous. Like, it made me sick to my stomach and I skimmed through those parts because they honestly really bothered me.

Anyways, I did like the end of The Twelve and would have liked it to just resolve right there. However, there are threads left tangled, so it’s pretty obvious there’s going to be a third book. The ending though, does resolve quite a bit and it would have been a nice logical place to end. Alas, I know I’ll pick up book three but I’m not exactly on edge for it or anything.

Disclosure: Received for review via Amazon Vine.

Other reviews of The Twelve by Justin Cronin:

The Book Smugglers – “Sometimes, expectations can be a bitch.”

Coffee And A Book Chick – “I had this eerie and remote sense of detachment”

Kimba The Caffeineated Reader - “The characters in this trilogy have been superbly fleshed out.”

Other books by Justin Cronin:

The Passage

Mistletoe & Margaritas Shannon Stacey Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

As it is December, I feel it is my duty to spread Christmas cheer by writing reviews for all the nearby holiday books. Y’all, I am so excited that I can buy Christmas books and not be ashamed because they are out of season. Now, Mistletoe & Margaritas by Shannon Stacey is an audiobook novella that I obtained for free on Audible because they were doing a Christmas in July promotion where members got to choose a free Christmas-themed listen. Obviously, I went for Mistletoe & Margaritas because hello, CUTE cover and omgADORBS romance! Plus, it was a super low risk way to try out Shannon Stacey, an author I’ve been more than curious about. Y’all, this was an awesome listen during the Dewey 24 Hour Marathon!

Mistletoe & Margaritias Shannon Stacey Book Cover

Claire Rutledge lost her husband two years ago, and by lost I mean, he pretty much died. But, she’s still a romantic. She still believes love is possible. She starts having these sexy dreams which she takes as a sign that it’s time to get laid and move on from her loss. Justin McCormick has been in love with Claire for pretty much FOREVER, only his best friend kind of married her first. Yet, there’s a chemistry between Claire and Justin and you guys it totally comes to a crescendo at this holiday party and you can bet there’s some sexytimes so you need to put headphones on during those parts or make sure you are listening around people who don’t mind those parts.

Friends, Mistletoe & Margaritas had one of my favorite types of romance tropes — fighting the undeniable attraction. Like, Justin does not want to hook up with Claire or anything because hello, she’s his dead best friend’s widow. Still, he can’t deny his attraction. And Claire, well she also fights it at first but nothing can stop their magnetism to each other. AND OMG IT IS SWOONWORTHY. Plus, the sexytimes are not awful, but like I said if you are listening to this you need to wear headphones.

If you’ve got a relatively short commute and looking for a low commitment audiobook, I highly recommend the audio version of the Mistletoe & Margaritas novella. Legit, it only takes 2 hours and 4 minutes to listen to in whole. It is narrated by MacLeod Andrews who has a rather pleasant, soothing voice. He narrates in an unvoiced fashion — which means that there aren’t voices for all of the characters, but it’s fine because it doesn’t sound creepy or awkward when he does the voice of Claire. It’s just a guy telling a story and is easy to listen to. I was never taken out of the story by weird falsetto or anything. THANK GOODNESS. So yeah, looking for a quick holiday listen? THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE WILL FULFILL THAT NEED. Also? If you are nervous about sexytimes, perhaps this is not the read for you.

Disclosure: Obtained on Audible for free during their Christmas in July Promotion

Other reviews of Mistletoe & Margaritas by Shannon Stacey:

The Allure Of Books – “fantastic with characterization all around”

Legion Brandon Sanderson Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Novellas totally do not get enough love here on Good Books & Good Wine and that kind of sucks because novellas are awesome. They are quick to read and usually unencumbered by bogged down prose, but straight to the point and the action. Like, in a novella you truly do have to cut the crap in order to tell a tightly focused story. When Allison at The Allure Of Books pointed Legion by Brandon Sanderson out to me and mentioned it was a free download on Audible.com, I immediately hopped over and snapped it up because I have loved every single book that I’ve read by Brandon Sanderson, so I figured I would enjoy this one too. Y’all, the audiobook of Legion by Brandon Sanderson was superb Dewey Readathon listening.

Legion’s plot is kind of hard for me to explain but, here goes. Okay, so main character Stephen Leeds has this bizarre disorder where he hallucinates various personalities and people who have mastery of certain skills. These people are called aspects and they help Leeds solve cases. Leeds and his hallucinations are on the search for Balubal Razon, this missing guy who invented a camera that is magic and has the power to change human history, so finding him is kind of a big deal. The novella starts out in Leeds’ mansion in America, but my favorite bits are when they are on a plane bound for Jerusalem. It’s a fairly intelligent read that asks some big questions.

I enjoyed Legion. Granted, I did find some bits of it confusing, but I think that had this been a driving listen for me, rather than a readathon listen, then I might not have been so confused. As always, I thought Sanderson’s writing was top notch and not boring. The imagination involved and the detail that went into each of the characters — Stephen Leeds as well as his aspects were astounding. Not only does Legion have a cool plot, but it also has fascinating, multi-faceted characters. Typical Sanderson though, and I definitely mean that in the best possible way.

The audiobook version of Legion is produced by Dragonsteel Entertainment. It is narrated by Oliver Wyman who is quite competent and does a wonderful job providing different voices for each of the aspects. I imagine that I would not mind listening to a full book narrated by Wyman. The duration is only 2 hours and 8 minutes, so this audiobook is definitely not a waste of time, nor does it feel like it takes FOREVER to get through. I’d definitely recommend downloading this audio, and at the cost of free until 12/31/12, why not?

Disclosure: This was a freebie on Audible

Other reviews of Legion by Brandon Sanderson:

Fyrefly’s Book Blog – “a solid, thought-provoking story”

Reading And Running – “I liked seeing him write in a different genre”

Alice Bliss Laura Harrington Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

One of my favorite things about reading is getting so sucked into a reality completely different from my own, even if the reality has a contemporary setting. Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington is about a reality that I am fortunate enough to not have experienced, but one that I feel is all too common for many families these days. Friends, I was a tad bit nervous before starting Alice Bliss because it is an adult book, however, it was immensely readable and quite the emotional experience. I’d definitely recommend this experience.

Alice Bliss is a 15 year old girl who lives in a small town in upstate NY near Rochester. Her parents are madly in love. Her little sister Ellie is annoying in the way that all little sisters are annoying. When her father, Matt, is called up from the army reserves to serve over in Iraq, Alice and her family are beside themselves, and so the rest of Laura Harrington’s book deals with adjusting to life in Matt’s absence and dealing with the fear and the worry.

What I especially loved about Alice Bliss was actually Alice as a character. She’s got faults yes, but not so much that it overwhelms her essence. Girl is going through a rough patch, ya know? Anyways, we really get an in depth look at how Alice deals, as she’s the title character. We see her coming of age and how hard she tries to hold the family together — from making dinner to taking on extra chores. We see Alice have a bit of an emotional breakdown as she wears Matt’s shirt day after day after day as a sort of talisman. We see Alice experience a bit of swoon and first love and ugh, you guys I LOVED IT. I think that many of you will be able to relate to what Alice is going through, even if this book is a bit outside the norm of regular YA.

Laura Harrington’s Alice Bliss really resonated with me emotionally. I mean, lol I was reading it in the morning at my desk while easing into my shift and would tear up and start sniffling. Luckily no one asked me what was wrong because no one was here yet. But there are characters who are kind of unlikely champions or unlikely heroes, but ended up being my very favorites, like Alice’s Uncle Eddie who teaches her to drive using fancy cars and is solidly there for his family. Or Gram, who owns The Bird Sisters Cafe and does small, simple things to help the family through. It wasn’t the big reveals or the large events that got me, but the small moments in between that choked me right up. Honestly, it’s cliche to say but Alice Bliss definitely struck an emotional cord with me.

Friends, I really do recommend Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington although it might be out of your usual age genre. Like, if you are like me, chances are you read a whole LOT of contemporary YA but maybe don’t get to ‘adult’ books all that often. Or maybe you believe that the YA/adult distinction is just packaging — not always the case, but this time, I do think that Alice Bliss could either go on the adult shelf or the YA shelf and be at home. If you like books that will get you emotional, want to know what it’s like to be part of a family left behind while a loved one is called up to fight abroad, or love evocative writing that reaches in and just speaks to you, then yes you need to drop your life and read Alice Bliss.

Disclosure: Received for review for a blog tour that I am a day late posting for! SIGH!

Other reviews of Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington:

Reading Teen – “left me in tears when I turned the last page”

Books And Movies – “I believe Alice’s story is an important one”

Thanks to Penguin, I have a paperback copy to give away to one lucky person living in the US. Just leave a comment on this review and you’ll be entered. I’ll draw a winner on November 1st!

Where You Are Review Tammara Webber

by Allison L

A Forewarning From Allison:
There will be SPOILERS in this review!
If you have not read Between The Lines, read ahead at your own risk!
Or just click this LINK!

When we last saw the cast of School Pride, filming had wrapped up and they were beginning to go their separate ways. Now they are back, prepping for the red carpet release of the movie, and they are filled with more drama than ever before! Where You Are by Tammara Webber picks up right where Between The Lines left off flashing back to Graham and Emma’s surprising reunion in New York City. And guess what, it’s in Graham’s point of view! There are actually four points of view in this story: Emma’s, Graham’s, Reid’s, and Brooke’s; and they are all very interconnected. Emma and Graham are now together and trying to figure out how to work through a long distance relationship. Even with the distance, they are very happy together, and Brooke is very unhappy about this. She wants Graham for herself; and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen … even teaming up with her ex Reid! Together Brooke and Reid pull out all the stops to break up Emma and Graham; but do they succeed? Or do they get caught the act?

Let me just say that Graham and Emma are seriously adorable together. I loved their skype sessons, and all their little moments together during the promotional tour. I even loved their little insecurities and their ability to get jealous over the littlest things. Graham is an absolute sweetheart to Emma. He really does struggle with his increased jealousness and protectiveness of her, and how it went against everything he was ever raised to be because of his mother and his sisters. Since he was young, the females in his family always reminded him that a man does not have to act jealous or proclaim ownership over a woman in order to make her his. If anything, that actually makes him unworthy of her. I loved reading all about this! I also enjoyed reading about Emma as she re-entered the world that she’s planning on giving up as after the movie premiers, her plan is retire from acting, and go to college, and lead a more “normal” life. It was interesting to watch her realize that she was making the right decision by walking away. Also, her innocence was the perfect blend with Graham’s sweetness. I really did love them together.

Of course, if you want to have a little bit of drama you have to have more than just sweet and innocent characters. And believe me, Where You Are packs the drama even more so than Between The Lines, and I loved all of it. Brooke and Reid both have the role of manipulative schemers down to a science, and the schemes that they came up with really did play off the fears and the misconceptions within Graham and Emma’s young relationship. Their manipulations help reveal the vulnerability in Graham, and the true nativity in Emma as well as previously unseen characteristics in Brooke and Reid. Of course not all these characteristics were good to see but, I did feel that you did gain an understanding as to why they were doing what they were doing. Both Reid and Brooke have many flaws but this does not make them nonredeemable characters to me. Even after everything they did, I’ll admit I still want them to be able to have their happy endings too.

I have to give Tammara Webber credit for knowing exactly how to write complex characters and drama that will keep me invested till the very end. Her writing style is very fluid and understandable even as she just keeps the twists and turns coming. I never know exactly what to expect from her stories, and I love it! I’m very happy to hear that she has been signed by Penguin for her book Easy which is currently on my to-be-read list but first I think I need to continue on with my Between The Lines series love and dive into book number three: Good For You. I seriously cannot wait. Bring on the Reid arrogance and charm … and I imagine some drama too!

Disclosure: Purchased for my Nook

Other Reviews of Where You Are by Tammara Webber

Rather Be Reading: “Reconnecting with these characters was definitely a treat.”

Vicariously: “You won’t be disappointed that you read this story.”

LovLivLifeReviews: “Reid and Brook are not my favorite set of people..”

The Traitor’s Daughter Paula Brandon Book Review

by April (Books&Wine)

Going from reading YA books to adult books can go either one of two ways: A) OH MY GOSH WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING or B) do ALL adult books meander like this?! Unfortunately, The Traitor’s Daughter by Paula Brandon was a book that didn’t exactly have me clamoring and proclaiming about how much I had been missing out on. I had been expecting magic, intrigue, romance and plagues, but wound up with a whole lot of wading to get to that point. Unfortunately, The Traitor’s Daughter, while fantastic in concept, doesn’t quite have the snappiness to it that I’ve come to expect with YA or the compulsive MUST FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT that I get with a lot of adult epic fantasy.

The Traitor’s Daughter by Paula Brandon is about a world in turmoil. Set in a land called the Veiled Isles, humans live with an amphibious race called the Sishmindri. Society is extremely stratified, with the Taerleezis at the top, serving as overlords to the Faerlornish, who once had glory. There is a magic called The Source which is about to reverse polarity and cause the Veiled Isles to be uninhabitable for humans. The change in the Source causes a plague where the dead rise. The only way to fix it is for seven arcanists from the seven magical families to overcome their rivalries and work together as a team to stop the shifting of the Source. On a more micro level, there is a fierce hatred that boils throughout the Isles towards Aureste Belandor, whom some call the Kneeser. Aureste wrested power a long time ago from distant relatives and now leads the Belander family. Unfortunately, for his daughter Jianna, this serves as a catalyst for the rebels to abduct her. The Traitor’s Daughter explores Jianna’s time as a hostage among the rebels and how she comes to understand the rebel cause.

The world Paula Brandon builds is a bit confusing to follow. There’s towns and wilderness. There is magic, through the Source, that only certain members of the Seven families are allowed to use. The Sishmindris are treated as slaves, yet there isn’t exactly explanation as to why. It is a world where marriages are arranged. The people are ruled by a governor, yet members of the Seven families experience prominence as well. The technology includes gun powder, yet they also use swords. It’s a bit hard to place the world, because while bits are familiar — carriages for example, others such as the use of mental arcane magic are unique. As a reader, I had trouble picturing the world within The Traitor’s Daughter.

Despite reservations with the world building, the characters within The Traitor’s Daughter are interesting and multifaceted. Jianna, one of the main characters, begins as rather spoiled and naive, thinking her family name will open every single door for her. She refuses to acknowledge that her father might not be perfect. As the story progresses, Jianna’s character develops. While she is put into awful circumstances, she learns self reliance. Jianna discovers a talent for healing and helping in the sick room. She learns to think beyond the story her father has told her. I thought Jianna made for a compelling protagonist, and was disappointed whenever the point of view left her.

There is a lot of violent action within The Traitor’s Daughter which is sure to either attract or turn people off. Some of the scenes, particularly those surrounding Jianna’s capture are a bit stomach turning. Yet, the action just serves to highlight how gritty the world of the Veiled Isles is. There are a lot of fight scenes within The Traitor’s Daughter as well as scenes depicting torture and violence against women. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to pass on this.

The Traitor’s Daughter is a meandering sort of book. Bits feel very convoluted and it takes a bit of time to get through. If you are an impatient reader, you might not like this book. The writing made me feel as though I was being held at arm’s length from truly diving in, as a reader. There were a few stretches that I found boring, yet I was compelled to finish because I was curious about Jianna’s fate, and the synopsis mentioned a romance. There is a romance, but it’s barely there. It’s not exactly front and center. If you are a person who judges books based on the cover, don’t read The Traitor’s Daughter expecting to get swept up in an epic romance.

My reaction to The Traitor’s Daughter by Paula Brandon is that it is an okay book. It is not outstanding. It is not awful. I found myself compelled by the characters, but confused by the world. I would have liked more plague and less exploration of minutiae. I came into the book expecting to be swept away by magic and romance and intrigue, but find myself feeling rather lukewarm in the end. If you are a reader who is patient and doesn’t mind a micro exploration of bigger themes, then you will enjoy The Tratior’s Daughter.

Disclosure: Received for review via Amazon Vine.

Other reviews of The Traitor’s Daughter by Paula Brandon:

Fantasy Book Critic – “The novel has a detached – and quite dark on occasion – style that worked very well”

My Bookish Ways – “ I was riveted with The Traitor’s Daughter”

Wickedly Bookish – “The whimsy of this book caught me right away”

Swordspoint Ellen Kushner Audiobook Review

by April (Books&Wine)

I’m kind of on the fence about Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. On the one hand, it breaks pretty new ground TO me in that a gay relationship is front and center in the book. On the other hand, the audiobook starts off pretty well done and interesting with all the different voices reading, but then I just found the sound effects to be a little too much. Yet, as far as being a comedy of manners, I think that Swordspoint succeeds, at least during the parts that I didn’t tune out.

Set in Riverside, Swordspoint is not your typical fantasy book. There is no war. There is no evil force waiting to be defeated. Instead, Ellen Kushner’s book is all about the machinations of the nobles. You see, people work their problems and issues out by dueling. Well, the nobles hire swordmasters to duel for them. Richard St. Vier is the best of all the swords masters. One day, he wins a duel and kills another dude, but instead of people being pumped up over it, they are totally pissed off. So then, Richard’s lover Alec gets kidnapped by Lord Horn as a result and so Richard has to do something to get Alec back. Thus lies the crux of Swordspoint.

I kind of feel like I am not as well read as I think I am, because I have NEVER read an adult fantasy before with gay main characters and I totally need to correct that. The cool thing is that even though this was written in the 80s, Richard St. Vier and Alec just happen to be gay. Like, being gay is not their entire personality but a facet. I liked that they were pretty realized characters with strengths and weaknesses and interests. St. Vier is never the stereotypical gay man and I LOVE that. Who knew such an old book could be so progressive? I did like the romance, although hahaha I was listening to Swordspoint at work when it started to get a little heated, and that was a bit embarrassing, but I get embarrassed when ANY audiobook I listen to takes a sexy turn and I’m in my office and not in the privacy of my car or gym.

Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint is tightly paced. Sure, there is SOME meandering, but it’s interesting meandering, ya know? Like if you dig Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer and like reading about polite society, then you’ll dig it. You won’t be like ahhhh I AM SO BORED. At least, I was never all like AHHH I AM SO BORED WITH THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR CONVENTIONS. I was like, whoo-hoo what happens when people stop being polite and start getting REAL. So, yeah interest levels may vary.

I’ve definitely got FEELINGS about the audiobook. It’s one of those ‘A Neil Gaiman Production‘ audiobooks, meaning that the production quality is pretty high. The cast is stellar. Ellen Kushner is the main narrator. Then for each of the characters there is a different narrator. The other narrators are Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan, and Simon Jones. The only narrator that I recognized was Katherine Kellgren and I have to say, she really excelled at her parts. As for the other narrators, I thought they did a fabulous job portraying the snooty nobles.

However, there were also sound effects. At first, I was like oh these are SO cool, I love this. But then, they just really took me out of the story and much like TV, I started to tune it out automatically. Like, there’s a few scenes with a cat and every time the cat was mentioned there was this meowing effect but it was SO annoying. I thought it was a little gimmicky. Swordspoint is 10 hours and 54 minutes unabridged. Granted, I still have book 2, The Privilege Of The Sword in my audible wishlist, but that’s because Felicia Day is one of the narrators and I CANNOT RESIST.

Disclosure: Purchased copy

Other reviews of Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner:

This Fleeting Dream – “really enjoyable, and beautifully written”

The Review Diaries – “for all my complaints, it is a brilliant book, and engaging world”

Nerf Reader – “a good book if you enjoy stories of political intrigue or duels. No interest in fantasy needed.”