Book Review: The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa B. Sheinmel
My rating: 4 of 5 hearts

Review:

I received this book through the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. At first, I was somewhat skeptical about this one. I wasn’t sure that a book based on a YouTube series was going to be any good. However, after viewing reviews from some of my favorite authors (Wes Craven and R.L. Stein) I decided to give it a go. I’ve got to say that I’m so happy that I decided to read this book. It was great! The plot was well developed and there were virtually no grammatical or spelling errors. While I don’t agree with the reviews that this book was scary, it was definitely filled with thrills and suspense. The use of more descriptive language would have evoked more raw fear. Still, it was most definitely creepy. As each scene unfolded the general feeling of creepiness grew. The character development was perfect.

Book Review: Shadow Shadow

Shadow Shadow

by V.B. Marlowe
My rating: 4 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Harley receives a mysterious gift on her sixteenth birthday--a shadow box. The box gives her the power to trade someone to the shadows, meaning they will disappear and cease to exist. Harley can't imagine doing such a horrible thing and is warned that using the box comes at a price. Unfortunately, not using the box can be even more costly. Harley must make this life-altering decision as she discovers frightening revelations about the town she calls home

Review:

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I thought this book was awesome. I literally devoured it. The cover art is beautifully sinister. It evoked a sense of impending dread and darkness. Beyond that, both the plot and writing style were great!

I was hooked from the first bit of prose. The situations that occurred were captivating. Can you imagine getting such a heavy gift/burden at such a young age? Being able to make anyone who crossed you disappear into oblivion? As a teenaged misfit, I would have probably disappeared half the town. There were a few moments that were mildly predictable, but for the most part I was left guessing. The story is told from the perspective of two very different female characters. The author handled the switch been the characters’ voices very well.

Book Review: The Clockwork Heart

The Clockwork Heart

by Lilliana Rose
My rating: 2 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Haunted by a past lover and left with scars so deep Libby gave up her life as an explorer, she spends her days trying to avoid bad memories by training ruthlessly with Helen, the woman she hired to teach her self-defense. Helen is beautiful, appealing, and could be what Libby needs to climb out of her past once and for all.

Until the past returns and threatens to destroy Libby, and all that she holds dear, once and for all...

Review:

I received this book through the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book both for its subject matter and its simplicity. Sadly, the book cover was all I liked.

I hate it when I finish a book and can’t express how I feel about it. This is one of those books. I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t like it either. It wasn’t so much the story content as the author’s writing style. The sentences were short and the felt clipped. It also could use some more editing love. My displeasure doesn’t stop there though. The book as a whole is a bit boring. Although the story was about an adventurer and was packed with combat training and a horrific sadistic kidnapping it was still dry. The genre was not clearly defined, I never got “Steampunk” from any of the text until a car chase near the end of the book.

Childhood Innocence

Adults are obsolete children...
- Dr. Seuss

As a mom of 3 I love taking pictures of my little ones … but what mom doesn’t. Children have a way of interacting with the world in a carefree fashion that we, as adults, have long lost. Nothing can match the excitement and wonder of viewing something for the first time. Capturing my children allows me to experience those feelings again. The following are some of my favorites.

My Littles

Who I Am

Window Watching

Happiness

Book Review: Vector

Vector

by Vaun Murphrey
My rating: 4 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Homecomings usually involve burgers, fries and apple pies; but that's not on the menu for Cassandra and Silver. They're launched into assassination attempts, bar brawls, and relationship drama just in the first 24 hours. Can they protect everyone they love from all comers before it explodes in their face? Find out in VECTOR, Book Three of the Weaver Series

Review:

In short, I loved this book. Not being familiar with this series, I was lost in the first half of this book. However, the author does bridge enough of the gaps to answer the most important questions my mind created. This created a sort of truce between me and the characters’ history. Once I felt like I was caught up on the back story, I thoroughly enjoyed this installation.

Book Review: 2020 Season 1 The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series

2020 Season 1 (Episodes 1-6)

by Paul Moxham
My rating: 3 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Who thought that January 1, 2020 would be the start of the end?

Not Logan Pollock. He only had one thought on his mind on that fateful morning, and that involved his bride to be, but in one instant, in one second, all that changed as he, along with everyone else, witnessed something so horrific and terrifying that life would never be the same ever again.....

Review:

I originally gave this book a 4 heart rating. However, I had a horrible time writing a review for it. I've finally figured out why. I don’t think I liked the story as much as I thought I did. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but there’s no other way to say it. I found that I was unable to really get “into” the story until about 50% of the way through. Once I did get into it, I was absolutely hooked. I couldn't put down the book.

Episode 1 starts off with a bang (literally) and the action doesn’t stop from there. The plot had some predictable moments but was, for the most part, engaging. My biggest issue is that the likelihood of any of the presented situations actually occurring was zero; the outcomes were even less credible. The book is separated into 2 arcs which follow the paths of brothers, Logan and Kenneth, 3 weeks after an alien invasion. One is a love/rescue story and the other a Nike/race to the bittersweet victory story. Both arcs were full of gaps that never get filled. I feel like there is a great story at the core of this book that’s begging to be told; I don’t think that the desire was truly fulfilled in this work. Aside from my various plot issues, the writing style wasn’t bad. There were quite a few grammatical errors, but not enough to detract from the core story… well, once I got into it.

I saw many reviews where character development in this book was deemed shallow. I disagree with that. I thought the characters were well developed, they were just shallow (and some, not likable) people. It sort of mirrors life, not everyone is a complex human being. I did, however, find fault with the development of the aliens. There’s a huge (picture Grand Canyon) plot twist around the aliens that’s thrown at us and never fully explained. Once that was uncovered, I felt that the aliens were just way too weak. The chase scenes and gun fights between the aliens and the humans felt like comic relief as in Mars Attacks. Even their weakness (considering the planet they decided to attack) was comical.

I think I’ve settled into a 3 heart rating for this book. I will definitely have to be picky when recommending this book. If you’re new to this genre, then this may be the book for you. For hard-core fans of post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction, this is not the book for you.

See me on GoodReads

Book Review: To Catch A Wolf

To Catch a Wolf

by Lynn Red
My rating: 2 of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Isabel Taylor was more than a little frustrated when she answered a very vague job ad to be the personal assistant of a mayor in a town she didn't know existed. That was two years ago. Curvy, tough and with more than a little bit of a naughty streak, Izzy has long since gotten used to the weirdness of everyday life in Jamesburg... but she's fallen hard for Erik's rough charm....

Review:

Phew, I can't believe I actually made it through this book. At about 12% I had already given up on there actually being a coherent story line. Since I haven't read a book of this genre since high school (by way of Harlequin) I wasn't really sure what to expect and gave it a chance. Luckily, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge so I stuck it out to the end.

This book turned out to be another of the, what I call, glutton for punishment books. I haven't read a book this bad since Glamour. The primary difference between the two being that the latter was mainly plagued by editing issues. Nothing detracts more from an already failing story than a string of missing and misspelled words. To Catch a Wolf, suffered from much more than just a need for heavy editing. The plot in this book was predictable and not well developed. Although this was a fantasy novel many of the situations were highly unbelievable. I'm new to the world of shape-shifter books, however, I was always under the impression that once a wolf mate, his selected is his mate for life. In this book, Erik, the leading male character speaks of past "mates". This detracted from the main goal in the story. Why is it important that he hasn't made Isabel (Izzy) his mate if she's just one in a string? Granted, great effort is made trying to convince us that past mates were just booty calls and Izzy is the real thing... I didn't get that. It felt like the underlying storyline was just there to fill in the gaps between the steamy sex scenes. The lack of development on the storyline was seconded by a distressing lack of character development.