The Vampire Within, By Johi Jenkins

Happy May! Is everyone ready for summer yet? It's hiding just around the corner, maybe closer than we think. Us Texans can definitely feel it already. Springs here are very short, but I can't wait to get out in the pool!

As nice as today is, I dropped by the ol' blog to poke around a bit, leave a juicy review, and remind my giveaway winners to make sure they check the email they signed up with to claim their free copy of After! Not all the coupons I sent out have been claimed yet, so here's a list of winners once again. If you're on this list and haven't already, CHECK YOUR EMAIL! You have a free book in there collecting dust!

• Taylor Hess
• Jones Dodson
• Vicky Wallette
• Shannon Modrak
• Wanda Ritter

Now that we have that out of the way, lets jump into the review.

Once again, I'm behind on getting these posted. I actually finished The Vampire Within by Johi Jenkins what seems like months ago. It's sad that I can read a book before I can post a review. Or, in this case, three books. Yeah. You heard right. I'm three books behind and closing in on finishing the fourth.

So, anyway. Let's get to it. 

The Vampire Within is the third novel in the Thirst Within series, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Definitely a guilty pleasure for me since I don't typically read this genre, but after I finished the book (way too fast, I might add) I ended up on a book bender trying to find another story of the same calibre. I had no luck, so if anyone has any suggestions of a good supernatural romance (maybe throw in some angels) then I'm all ears. 

When I first started this book, there was a part of me that really wanted to know how the story would end, and another part of me that really wanted the story to keep going. By the time I reached the end of the book, it was evident that the story was going to continue. However, I did not expect the cliffhanger that followed. Dammit. I'm going to be dying until the next book is released.

Here's a little history on this book series. It starts out with Thirst Within and follows up with the prequel, Corben's Thirst. If you are unfamiliar with the series, it is a true series and you will need to start with book one so that you can get to know the main cast. By the time you get to book three, you'll be so enthralled with the characters, you're not going to want to let them go. I can't really go into the plot of The Vampire Within without spoiling Thirst, so I think I'll just leave you with all my glowing accolades. 

Not sure which one is my favorite of the three books, but I just can’t wait to read more from the series. Remember, I'm still on the hunt for a good angel mythology book!

And yes, I'm very excited for the Preacher debut on AMC here in a couple weeks. Read those graphic novels over a decade ago and really enjoyed them. Can't wait to see what AMC, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have in store for us.

Aside from that, work on Dreamland - Part Two is right on schedule. I'm thinking I'll be hitting about 10 chapters for this installment, and I've already got 7 of them written. It's moving right along!

Happy reading, everyone!

Warbreaker, By Brandon Sanderson

Yay! Very happy to throw the first review of the year out there. I'm already off to a good start.

So, as a Sanderson book started last year, finished last year, and started this year, I think I need to add him to my ever-growing list of favorite authors. Once I find an author I really like, I tend to binge read a lot of their books, and with the discovery of the Cosmere, I pretty much had a whole year of catching up. I believe Warbreaker was the last Cosmere novel that I had left to read.

What's the Cosmere you ask? To put it simply, it's a universe Sanderson has created that a lot of his books take place in. They do not cross storylines, although IIRC, I read somewhere that one day they will, but for now, they are all separate stories that don't even take place on the same planet. There is a reading order to them, I believe, which I totally ignored. I didn't even know what the Cosmere was when I picked up Stormlight Archives: Way of Kings, which probably should have been the last book I read instead of the first. Reason is, there IS a crossover with a character (not storyline) that may have been more thrilling to read had I read Warbreaker first.

C'est la vie.

But I'm over it. That being said, I'll probably reread some of the more important scenes from Stormlight Archives eventually, just to refresh my memory on that one certain character since I know so much more about them now.

So, on we go. Review time. I'm going to start with the bad since it's a small nitpicky part. I did my normal half read/half listen of the book, and even though the narrator of Warbreaker was pretty decent, I was totally not in love with the Bill & Ted voice he attached to one of the characters. It was over done, imo, and forced me to the text during that character's scenes. Some people might like it, though, so that was just me. Like I said, a nitpicky detail.

As far as the book itself? Well, Warbreaker was AWESOME! Oh man, total 5 stars. One of the best "Sanderson Avalanches" I've read so far, and I think one of my favorite Sanderson books altogether, just under Stormlight and Shadows of Self.

If you've ever read a Sanderson book, Warbreaker is going to feel quite familiar starting out. The story starts slow, wrapping you up in the world building while you get to know the characters and the magic system. This system deals with 'breaths' and characters awakening objects to do their bidding. The political intrigue in the book was very captivating, and he does an excellent job of just giving enough information to draw you in and misdirect you... several times. It was beautiful!

Technically speaking, I don't feel that there were any loose ends left open that weren't obviously intentional, and honestly (fan girl that I am) I can't put my fingers on any flaws that I think should have been done differently, (like I did with Elantris). It's just remarkable storytelling and one of Sanderson's best.

Another reason why I absolutely loved reading this book was what Sanderson offered to the other writers out there. The full book is posted on his website, chapter by chapter, with annotations (much like a director's commentary) at the end of every chapter. Even as a writer myself, I can't come up with the words to convey how amazing this is for those of us struggling to better ourselves. Reading another writer's process and thoughts on a scene at this level is a tremendous help to how I view my own writing, and even confirmation for some techniques I already use. Granted, I am nowhere near Sanderson's level and might never be, but we never stop learning. Ever, and I appreciate what Sanderson has done with his book. You can find the book and his annotations here.

Because of this, Warbreaker wasn't just a book for me, it was an event in my life and career that I can always look back on.

As glowing as this review is, keep in mind that it's high fantasy, and that genre doesn't appeal to everyone. However, if you're already a Sanderson fan, or even Salvatore or Jordan, this is an absolute must read!

His Brother's Wife, by Mary Ellen Boyd

Happy hello from the middle of the holiday season! We've almost done it! One more year down. (insert spectacular firework display here.)

Everyone feeling festive now? Good! Just have to keep that spirit going for a few more days.

I've read a lot of books this year that I haven't gone back and reviewed, (shame on me) but today I'd like to take a moment to blog about His Brother's Wife, by Mary Ellen Boyd. This book was a little different for me, as it was outside my normal selected genre, so it took a bit for me to get through it. I'm normally all about the big explosive, magical battles in fantasy, or the creepy crawly things hiding under my bed in horror. This book had neither of those things. It was simple a really nice story.

I don't want to give the impression that this book was inferior in anyway to what I typically read. It was just very different and I'm glad I took the time with it that I did. I am not a historian, so I can't really vouch for the accuracy or the details of the time period the book was set in, but I found it fascinating. One thing I'm really grateful to the author for, is that she did not try to force the dialog into old fashioned speech. It was simple, modern speech that was consistent, and did not take away from the story. I've read some historical books that tried old english dialog, and when it fails, it totally breaks the story rhythm and pulls me out of the book. That was not an issue here.

I really felt for the main characters, especially Hannah. Her situation was so sad and dire at the beginning of the book. The mystery is spun out slowly and is well paced. The resolution at the end of the book was satisfying and watching Hannah's character blossom was rewarding as well.

I downloaded the book from Audible, and it was narrated by the lovely Pamela Lorence, who did a wonderful job bringing Hannah to life.

Solid romance with a little bit of mystery, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Now, what have I been up to lately since NaNo? Well, still NaNo. I currently have a manuscript of over 100k words from my NaNo this year, a smashing cover ready to go, and still probably another 50k words left to finish up the story. I originally thought it would be done by the end of December, but I also didn't think I would need so many words. Hitting my goal of 100k words was accomplished, but now I have to adjust my time line to account for the rest of the story! So lets say January. Three months to write, three months to edit, allocate that same time frame for The Phoenix Curse, and that means you'll see both The Walk and Dreamland - Part Two next year!

The more I write, the more comfortable I am with assessing my capabilities and my limitations. If I can't finish first draft of The Walk by the end of January, I'll have to turn my attention to Dreamland. Getting the next installment of The Phoenix Curse out next year still remains my top priority. I'm looking at another September/October release for that one. Hold me to it!

The end of 2015 is just a few days away. Whatever your plans my be come Thursday night, remember to have lots of fun and stay safe!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Mastic, by Eli Constant

So this post should have been up yesterday. I had intended to write it, but there was one scene I was toying with that I thought I was so close to being finished with. I told myself I would give my blog a little lovin' as soon as that scene was done. If I let myself get distracted, it would never be finished. I've been struggling with it for four days now!

And I did it. I finally finished it, but I never actually got around to the blog. Sorry about that! 

I'm here now, and today we're going to talk about Mastic, by Eli Constant.

This book was an original, dark fantasy. (my favorite genre.) Lots of mystery involving a type of supernatural being that I've never read about before. In fact, I would actually love to explore the lore behind them... or him, as it was very intriguing.

The story set up was great, and although there were some parts that made me wonder why we were being told about certain things, it all came back around in the end. There didn't seem to be anything left open ended, (ya know, except that one thing that was intentionally left open ended that makes me hope for a second book.) 

One part was a little confusing when half the book was 3rd person and then switched to 1st person for a good portion, then back to 3rd person again. I was listening to the book on audible, so I'm not sure if there was something actually written in the book that made this make more sense, but it did throw me off at first.

Speaking of audible, Pamela Lawrence did an excellent job narrating the book. Her character voices were consistent to where I knew who was speaking before the dialog tags were read. She can really put emotion into the characters too, make you feel for their situation.

Overall, I think it was a decent read and the book is really well reviewed. If you're looking for something with a little romance (not graphic) and an original story, you might want to give this a try. Wasn't my favorite book from Constant, (I loved Dead Trees) but still a good book. Also, the cover art is beautiful. 

Now, that gets me caught up a little bit. I'm still two reviews behind and halfway through another book! Weee!! So hard to keep up.

In Dreamland news, I'm super happy with how the rewrites are going this time around. Hard not to start trying to polish, but I had a lot of cleaning up to do with the first couple of chapters. At least half of that is done now. I still have a lot of work to go, but I'm excited! I never feel this good when facing edits, so this is an improvement! 

Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson

Can you actually read this?

BAM! Five Stars! That was a no brainer for me. Any book that keeps me up until 3am because I Can't. Stop. Reading, gets a top-notch review from me. Don't believe me? Check out my fitbit captured stats the night I finished Hero of Ages.

I'm crazy addicted to reading, guys. Totally obsessive compulsive, and I LOVE IT!

So, back to Mistborn. This will be a review on the first three books in the series, The Final Empire, Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages, since it's all one continuous story. I half read, half listened to the books. Michael Kramer once again narrates, but this time he also does the female POV's. Although I missed Kate Reading, Kramer does an excellent job as always. His character accents helped bring the story to life and were pretty consistent all the way through. There was also one character whose voice deepened by the third book, which I thought was an very good portrayal of growth, because... well.. that character had seen some shit by then. It was a nice touch.

The series is more of an urban fantasy, and is set in a world that was conquered by the Lord Ruler one thousand years in the past. There are Noblemen (the Lord Ruler's followers) and the Skaa (the slaves punished by the Lord Ruler for not following him.) Pretty simple set up.

The Lord Ruler is a very mysterious entity and Sanderson did a fascinating job with his slow unveiling of this particular big bad. The Lord Ruler is seen as a god, his powers in Allomancy (the worlds magic system) far greater than any of the Noblemen that follow him. The Skaa have little to no hope in achieving freedom until our antagonist, Vin, joins up with a Skaa thieving crew intent on the impossible task of overthrowing the Lord Ruler.

The three books mostly follow Vin, who is only sixteen when we first meet her, but the books span a few  years and she grows into a competent young woman by the end. Although some of the reveals were pretty heavy handed, I'll admit that Sanderson really had me wondering how he was going to wrap everything up. Not one possible ending that I thought up was even close to what happened, and that night spent reading until the wee hours of the morning was truly worth it. Tears were shed. I was so caught up in this world that I had to take a short hiatus before I started my next book.

Which is Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf. Can I get a WHAT WHAT from the Drizzt fans out there? Oh, yeah! (I'm already halfway through... Did I mention I'm behind on reviews? NEway...)

So Camp NaNoWrimo is starting tomorrow, and I've entered in the estimated 25k words I have left to write for the first draft. That should be an easy goal to hit, so a release by the end of this year is looking highly likely! Are you Phoenix fans excited yet? If you weren't aware, you can find the prologue online over here. Just a little taste of where this next installment is heading... at least for one of our loveable Phoenix, anyway.

Well, that's all I have for today! Have a great week and happy reading, as always!

The Darkness Of The Womb, By Richard B. Knight

Here we are at another wonderful Tuesday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!

Yeah.... nevermind. I'm not this cheerful in the morning. Honestly, it's dangerous to talk to me before 10am. I am not fully functional. There's a good chance I could have forgotten to brush my hair before I left the house. For best results for all parties involved, contact me after noon.

We should probably just move on to the review, whadaya say?

Recently, I finished another indie book, Darkness of the Womb, by Richard B. Knight. This is the first book by a very promising new author and one to keep an eye on.

Darkness of the Womb is a good mix of fantasy and horror, and it's the good kind of horror. Psychological. The story is about an unborn child who doesn't want to be born. He is on a mission to abort himself and the story details the journey of his parents as they try to save him. Human traits are personified as antagonists and unlikely heroes, each one identified with signature colors that result in a very vivid story.

Although the structure of the story felt weak in some places, it was still an enthralling read. Knight did an excellent job with his characters and I found myself invested in the side characters as much as the main. I would call it a dark fairy-tale, and it receives a solid 4 stars from me. I enjoyed the book so much, I will probably be grabbing his second novel as well.

When I finished Darkness of the Womb, I jumped into Mistborn... Man... what a wild ride that was. That will probably be my next review.

Aside from all the maniacal reading I've been doing lately, I've put in a lot of work on the consolidation of After and I'm pleased to announce that the paperback and e-book are available now! With a brand new cover! If you've already purchased all three books, the consolidated book doesn't offer any new content, although it might be a bit cleaner as far as editing goes. It does however, have the first teaser chapter of Dreamland at the back.

Oh my!

No need to rush out(over?) and buy it just for the teaser. I have a brand new page up for Dreamland updates alone, and you can find it there. You'll also notice I've finally added a timeline for publication as well as some interesting stats. That date isn't set in stone as of yet, but I do plan to be finished with the first manuscript by the end of April. Things have been going so well with the writing lately, I don't want to say anything else or I'll jinx myself!

Read up and enjoy!

And try to survive until Friday!

The Maze Runner, By James Dashner

I am BACK! Woohoo!

Finally, the day job weekend conversions are OVER and I can get back to normal again. Well, I've already started that, actually, I just haven't made it over to the blog for a while. It seemed somewhat pointless since I didn't have anything to talk about but boring day job conversion weekends. No one wants to hear about those, my poor husband least of all. At least he was there to suffer through these trials with me...

Speaking of trials (cough) I did manage to finish The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, books 2 and 3 in The Maze Runner series. I read The Maze Runner sometime last year, but only reviewed it on Amazon... or Audible... I can't remember which. Way to be on top of my game, eh?

Anyway, The Maze Runner as a series gets a solid four stars from me. I really enjoyed the set up of the first book, but something seemed to happen with the second. I'm not sure what exactly, the book was good and there was non-stop action, but I felt a disconnect from some of the established characters. However, some new characters are introduced in book two that quickly became my favorites. I enjoyed The Death Cure as much as I enjoyed the first book.

*** Minor Spoiler Below ***

I've read some reviews that revealed a lot of people didn't like how book three ended. Some stated there was too much information left out, but I felt we got the perfect amount. No, we never end up finding out what motivated Thomas prior to joining the Gladers, but do we really need too? That wasn't our Thomas. Our Thomas started the moment he woke up in the box and we were with him from then on. The mystery that still lingers about his past was not something that I was missing from the story. Also, the whole tie up at the end with WCKD was brilliant.

I really want to say more, especially concerning Newt's storyline, but since the movies are being made, I'll keep that to myself. Those that have read the books will probably understand where I'm going with this.

In conclusion, I found this to be a very entertaining YA novel/series. I even recommended it to my daugher, who blew through the three books at top speed. I think she finished The Death Cure in one day. Whew!

Now on to other things, like what's going on with The Phoenix Curse right now?

Well, all three parts of After are now available for digital download across Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple, Scribd, Oyster and a few others.

After - Part Three's paperback proof is in the mail now... WOOWOO!! Keep you're fingers crossed on that one, because I spent two weeks fighting with the cover for that before it got accepted. Oy, why does it have to be so difficult? Let's hope the cover is perfect when I get it, so I can hit that publish button right away.

Next on the paperback/hardcover list of things that are happening, After, the complete book one, will also have a wide release soon. I'm only waiting on one thing to get started on the formatting... The teaser chapter for Dreamland that is already in the hands of my beta reader!

Can I get a HELLZ YEAH??

Not to worry, (if you're the worrying type.) You won't have to run out to buy the full book to get the teaser. That will be posted on my blog as soon as I get it back. Yes, I'm anxiously awaiting that too.

And lastly (I like that word), some juicy tidbits on Dreamland. Mmmhmm. The book is shaping up to have about 9 chapters. I'm halfway through writing chapter 4, and plan on a spring break marathon to see how much closer I can get to number 9 this month. You might be seeing Dreamland - Part One by the end of the year! That's currently my goal, but if I can get it out to you prior to that, I will.

And that's all I have for now.

Except for this... The dress is white and gold.

The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson

Man... so what the hell just happened?

I guess I'll start at the beginning of my latest mind-boggling journey. As I've posted before, I finally decided to get over my worries of a different author taking over The Wheel of Time and finish reading the series. I'm so glad I did, because the final three books were an epic roller coaster of emotions that I'm not likely to forget anytime soon. The books were brilliant!

So, since I enjoyed the writing style so much, I started  The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive by +Brandon Sanderson. The book started slow with a lot of juicy backstory-tidbits along the way, and I listened to it here and there. (Side note, Kate Reading and Michael Kramer narrate the books and they are AWESOME!!) The books are friggen HUGE though... like if you actually had a hardback copy, you could use it as a weapon huge.

But, anyway... Being huge and getting to know new characters in an epic adventure was a slow process for me. I refuse to lie and say that I fell in love with the books on the first page, because I didn't. The first POV's that are introduced are not the main characters, they're snippets into perspectives to add a bit of backstory and mystery. By the time I did get to one of the main characters, I wasn't sure how long I would be in their perspective... and then we jumped to another perspective... and then another... and then there were interludes.

Hrm...

Okay, so after all is said and done, I understand. I've even gone so far as to re-read these 'one-off' perspectives now that I've finished both books, because I understand, but man was I so hella confused and lost during the first half of book one that it put me off reading for a while. I'm not one to abandon a book, but if I was, I might have walked away from The Way of Kings... and it would have been a colossal mistake.

Then I hit the second half and Oh. My. God. Everything came together and shit started going DOWN.

At that point, obsessive mode got turned on, and I devoured the rest of The Way of Kings and hit Words of Radiance with a passion. Sanderson has securely made his way into the select few that I call my favorite authors. These books are amazeballs, full of brilliant imagery, solid characters and a vast world that feels real.

As soon as I finished Words of Radiance, I did what I normally do (don't judge me) and started searching message boards and reddit for discussion and theories on what I might have missed, as well as when book three is expected to release. I never imagined what I would find...

The... Cosmere? What the hell is that?

MORE BOOKS!! YES!!! So, Stormlight Archive is just one series of books set in the same universe, and there are a ton more words to read before book three comes out. So excite! My husband has already finished Mistborn, which I'll start soonish after I wrap up some other obligations.

Oh... um.. speaking of. I have some Phoenix Curse news, woot woot! It's probably not what you're looking for, but After is being released to multiple platforms this month. In fact, part one is already available at Smashwords.com and is currently FREE for the month of February. Grab it if you haven't yet!

Part two and part three will follow, and part three will finally have it's paperback debut! Keep you're eyes open for those.

One last thing, D.R.J. Publishing is also hosted Thief for free for the month of February at Smashwords, because... ya know.. romance and stuff. Hopefully Amazon will follow suite soon, but they currently still have the cost listed at $.99. Someone should probably send an email. *ahem*

So there is my very wordy, image free post, because I'm too lazy to add images today. Been sick since last Friday so please forgive me! Will be back soon with a review of The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure!

Corben's Thirst - By Johi Jenkins

I was recently gifted an ARC of Corben's Thirst from +Johi Jenkins, and it was absolutely delicious! For those of you that are into The Thirst Within series, you won't be disappointed with this one.

I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying this book is about Corben's past, and how he came to be who and what he is. I can't express enough how very, very interested I was to learn more about Charlotte, and this novella pretty much answered most of those questions, although the big ones are still hanging out there. As this mostly takes place in the past, there isn't a lot revealed about the Tori/Charlotte mystery, nor the effect it has on Corben and Thierry

There was, however, quite the twist at the end that left me ready for the next book. I'm not sure if Johi has a publication date ready yet for Corben's Thirst, but here's a link to her blog and facebook. Also, here's her author page for good measure.

And now I'm waiting as patiently as possible for the 2nd installment of Thirst. And Resurgence. I also loved that book.

The next on my list to read is The Lost Centurion, by +Monica La Porta , and my audible is glued to The Way of Kings, by +Brandon Sanderson. Gotta get some variety in there.

As for project list, I'm putting the final touches on Thief, so if anyone wants an ARC, please shoot me an email at drjpublishing@gmail.com. (Remember this is romance!) It will be ready before Christmas, and I have a few copies to spread around.

After that, Dreamland. Expect a teaser early next year!

Dead Trees - By Eli Constant

My mind is wandering down crazy paths today! I'm so close to finishing the editing for my alter ego's novella, and all I want to do is write the prologue for Dreamland. I have it all sketched out, and I'm eager to jump in! Maybe I"ll get that started today once I hit my editing goals. Sounds like a plan to me!

So, recently I was gifted the audio book Dead Tress by +Pamela Lorence. She saw my review on That Ghoul Ava, and highly recommended +Eli Constant's book. Pamela also does the narration for Dead Trees and it is superb!

Dead Trees was definitely not what I expected from an apocalyptic story. It opens six months after the disintegration of society, although we do get bits and pieces of information that fill in what happen during that time. Most of the book is told in Elise's POV, but there are a few scenes that aren't, and I'll call those guest POV's because it's not the norm. This is Elise's story.

As a mother, I related to Elise on a lot of levels. Not the kick-ass warrior part, but the mommy part. (I've already faced the fact that I would be a goner in the first 48 hours of an apocalypse if Buffy or the Winchesters don't come save me,) Elise is smart and willing to do what it takes to not only protect herself, but her two daughters. Now, as a mother, as soon as I found out she had a toddler in the car, my stress level shot through the roof. There were some very tense scenes that I ended up sitting in my car after the drive home just to listen to them. I had to know what happened!

The monsters in this book, or maybe I should say beasties, were so well done that I actually had nightmares about them. Yay for my over active imagination!

Pamela Lorence did an awesome job bringing Elise to life, and there were a few times I actually teared up while listening. I immediately bought book 2 for my kindle once I finished, which I've already started. Let me tell ya, book 2 starts out super creepy. It might take me a little while to get through this one since I have to find the time to read, but maybe I can catch some downtime this weekend. It is the calm before the NaNoWriMo storm.

So there's my Dead Trees review, and an audible review of a full five stars will accompany it. I may take the rest of the week off blogging while I wrap up the novella. Unless something else exciting comes up, I will catch you guys next week!

Next on a very special That Ghoul Ava - T.W. Brown

Got my coffee, got my music, got my dreams of going full-time author... I think I'm set.

Yesterday was an excellent, and I mean excellent editing day! I think it may have been a record because I finished up three scenes. However, this is a stand alone novella, and much different than trying to keep track of all the characters and plot lines for The Phoenix Curse. Hopefully I'm learning though. At the pace I'm going, the romance novella Thief should be sent to my editor before the end of the month, and then Katlynn Rose will be born! Dat exciting!

Also, romance with a happy ending is such a refreshing change of pace than the desolation of humanity and death.

Kinda like the difference between That Ghoul Ava and the Dead series by +Todd Brown (I totally just figured out how to do that, BTW.) Dead is a very dark, very gritty, very curl-up-in-a-fetal-position-and-cry set of books, while That Ghoul Ava is the polar opposite. Ava is fun and funny, a light read full of comedy and references. Glorious, glorious references that make me feel a part of something bigger. Man, do I love it when I get a reference.

Anyway, Next on a very special That Ghoul Ava was just as great as the preceding novels. It was a bit more serious that the others, but still managed to make me laugh out loud in parts. Ava (and the reader) gets to learn a little bit more about the history of ghouldom and just how awesome Ava could become, but everything isn't all flowers and butterflies. Ava is forced to make a life(unlife)-impacting decision with some pretty serious consequences either way. I can not wait for the next book! Hell, I was so excited for this one, I couldn't wait for the audio book to come out, so I snagged the e-book.

The mythology and lore is excellent in this series, and I really need someone out there to make a dedicated beastiary for Ava's world. Seriously, if you enjoy some light-hearted, supernatural fun, grab Ava's first adventure and give it a shot. It's reasonably priced, and well worth the time/money invested to see if you like it.

And there is my un-spoilory review. Do we like unspoilory reviews, or should I start going straight up... "OMG THIS HAPPENED AND I WAS LIKE WOW, AND THEN THIS HAPPENED AND IT WAS ALL... WOAH DUDE!!!" ?

I don't know. I'll think on. I hate getting spoiled to things, so I want to spare people that. I was a full season behind on the Walking Dead and I still haven't finished Breaking Bad, so for a while there, I was tip-toeing through reddit and Facebook like it was a minefield. Still got spoiled.

For now though, it's time to get some egg-rolls, listen to another chapter of Dead Trees, and enjoy the upcoming weekend, free from the 8 to 5 workday problems. Enjoy your word of the day, cuz that's what I'm going to be doing alllllllll weekend!

re·lax·a·tion

rēˌlakˈseiSH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   the state of being free from tension and anxiety.

Rise of the King - R.A. Salvatore

So, one of my most-beloved stories just released another book on September 30th, Rise of the King by R.A. Salvatore. Highly anticipated!!

The stories of the Companions of the Hall, and pretty much every other character Salvatore has created in this world, are tots my favsies. And I'm talking of ALL my favsies. Yes, I love A Song of Ice and Fire, and Wheel of Time, but nothing has touched my heart like Drizzt Do'Urden, and the wide cast of characters that has passed through his life. If you follow my blog, you're probably well aware of that fact since I tend to gush every time there's a new release.

Well, gushing might be somewhat limited today at least.

Now, a couple months ago, I blogged about how I felt about the e-book pricing war. (If you care to read it, it's here.) And in that post, I stated there were very few e-books that I would spend over $10 on. At the time I wrote that post, Drizzt came to mind, as well as Winds of Winter. Those might have been the only ones I would have broke the bank on.

Turns out I was wrong. I was very surprised to find that on the day of release, the kindle version of Rise of the King was still set at $15.49!

Nope!

Call me cheap, whatever, but nope. The hardcover is only $2 more, and I'm much more willing to pay a higher price for a physical copy, but an e-book? And I love my Drizzt, I really do, but I'm also aware that the price has to drop eventually. So I looked at the page with disappointment, ranted with my husband a little bit (because he loves Drizzt stories as much as I do) and we both decided we would wait.

Until I remembered I had audible credits... (insert cheesy grin here)

So instead of reading an over priced e-book, I got to listen to the talented Victor Bevine narrate yet another stellar performance. He does such a wonderful job that I know which character is speaking without having to be told, and he makes the action scenes so intense! If you like fantasy/audio books, I recommend grabbing Homeland or The Crystal Shard. I don't see how anyone could be disappointed in the stories and performance.

And now the spoiler free review.

It was... okay. The book wasn't bad by any means, and there were some very stand-out action scenes that I enjoyed, but this book was pretty much all set-up. A slew of new characters get introduced, and we find out where everyone is, and what's going on, but not much beyond that. It's actually what I would expect from a mid-series book, so now I'm dying for the next release!

If you love Drizzt and Co., this is definitely a must read, but if you are riding the fandom fence (and it kills me to say this) a thorough synopsis might do just as well for you. And a diagram. Hell, I think I need a diagram of all the new names being tossed around. And a map. Anyone got a map?

Not the best review I've ever given. If I could ever get back onto Goodreads, I will leave my spoilery review there, but unfortunately, with the little time I have, Goodreads is one of the things that fell behind. I'll be back there someday, I promise.

Next review will be on the new Ava book, and then Dead Trees! See? I'm trying.

I've also got my NaNoWriMo month all planned out, and the edits for my novella are coming along nicely, for me anyway. I still struggle with that. I may have started an origin story for one of the Phoenix Curse characters and... well... first drafts come along A LOT quicker than editing.

Anyone want a little more background on Seth??

So much to do and so little time... And Dreamland is simmering on the burner.

I better get to it!

That Ghoul Ava - By T.W. Brown

Do you guys want to know how many books I've read this year? 27.

Do you know how many reviews I've gotten up on my blog? One.

I'm ashamed. Some of those books have been indie novels too. I try to make it a point to always always leave reviews for indie novels, and I have failed miserably this year. I am going to strive (hards) to do better.

That being said, I have left reviews for a handful of books on Audible and Amazon, they just never made it to my blog. I still have a very long, drawn out post in my drafts for The Dark Tower series that I poke with a stick every now and then, and ideas for The Wheel of Time, which I just finished this year. I will say that Sanderson did a wonderful job finishing up Jordan's work. The Last Battle totally blew my mind, and I will always remember the night I finished it. Many tears were shed, and there are scenes that I'll remember forever.

But on to an actual review! Oh. My. Goodness!

Little over a months ago, (geez, has it been that long?) Mr. Brown graciously gave me the audible versions of the three That Ghoul Ava books in exchange for a review on Audible. As soon as I got the books downloaded, I proceeded to devour them.

Ava instantly grabbed me. The books are light-hearted and well written, and both the narrators did an excellent job. I got a kick out of all the chapter titles, as well as the buttload of references strung through all the books. I caught at least one Buffy reference, and I think there was a Dexter ref in there too? And WHAT'S WRONG WITH JOURNEY???

Anyway...

There were several scenes that actually made me laugh out loud, which is somewhat rare for the type of books I generally read, so this was a much appreciated change of pace. The plot for all three books were solid and true to the core of the story. There wasn't a lot of extra, unneeded fluff, and there was just enough mystery to keep you wondering what was going to happen next.

But what did I absolutely love about these books? Ya know, besides Ava...

The mythology! Man, am I a sucker for a twist on the standard mythology of supernatural beings. Ava's universe has something new and different for them all. Vampires (dead sexy), ghouls (OP!), zombies (delicious... what?), fairies (bitches) ... There's something new for all of them. Oh, and goblins. Yucky!

These books are good fun, and I highly recommend them if you want a hearty laugh. Like I said in my audible review, they're like a supernatural Nancy Drew for adults.

I know the fourth book is out, and I don't think I can wait for the audible release! I might have to fit that one in before Rise of the King comes out on Tuesday.

Also, the cover art is absolutely fabulous!

        

This concludes my spoiler free review for That Ghoul Ava. Yay! I finished a review! Time for a cookie.

Oh! And for those of you who may have missed it, After - Part Three is on the way. Release date is set for September 30th! Weee!

Odium (The Dead Saga) - By Claire C. Riley

Happy Friday! North Texas finally recovered from the cold and it's a beautiful day! To bad the rain is coming in tomorrow, so gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

  

Today, I'd like to talk about Odium (The Dead Saga). This was written by a fellow indie, Claire C. Riley, and it's a good read, specially if you have a craving for the more main stream zombies. It's written in first person, present tense, with Nina as our voice and main character. This is actually not my favorite style to read, but the book still drew me in once I got into the rhythm. I didn't catch many grammatical or formatting errors, so Claire and her editor are doing a great job there, AND the cover art is beautiful.

Overall the story was good and the relationships between the characters developed nicely. I don't know why, but I'm always a sucker for the stories of what happened to each individual during the crisis or the turn, and I really enjoyed those sections.

I only gave the book 4 stars because I was sometimes confused by who Nina was supposed to be. The character seemed to waiver a little bit from when the book first started out until she finally found her flow about half-way through. Even though that development part was a little shaky, it shouldn't stop anyone from picking this book up, especially those that love some good old-fashioned zombie fic.

Claire C. Riley is definitely on my watch list now!

Ready Player One - By Ernest Cline

Yay! Happy Tuesday! So glad to be back and ready to write. Once again I apologize for how brief my last update was, so I am hoping that this makes up for it.

I do want to mention again how I rate my reviews. I really don't care about the occasional typos or grammatical errors every now and then. We all have them, so that is no reason to knock a star off a rating. If the errors are every other sentence, then it might be a problem but, otherwise, I tend to overlook those.

Also, if I choose to read a book outside my typical genre, I'm not going to knock a book because a horror was too horrific, or a romance was too heavy on the romance. That's not being fair to the author. It seems that this should go without saying but I still see this very thing happening in reviews quite often. I don't understand why people do this. Just seems so silly and only hurts the author.

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline

Now on to the review!

I actually read Ready Player One last month, or... June. I forgot it's already August. I just lost so much time last month due to vacation, Tradeshow, and getting sick. It was a crazy July. I'm glad things look to be getting back to normal.

Again, the review.

When I first started reading Ready Player One, I was so sure that it was going to get a 5 star rating from me. The book started off excellent, had an excellent premise, was written from a gamer's perspective for a gamer, was full of wonderful 80's references and I absolutely loved it.

However, it wasn't without it's flaws and I ended up only giving the book 4 stars. The issue that I struggled with was the massive information dumps. There were parts where the pace of the book was slowed down to a crawl while we got some 80s history, but I was really craving some action by that point.

Aside from that, it was wonderful. The book is set in a dystopia world where people plug in to a virtual reality called the OASIS on a daily basis to work, go to school and, of course, have fun. The main character gets involved in the game of a lifetime that's centered around finding the Easter egg of all Easter eggs. It was a great ride.

I was not aware of this when I was reading the book but there are Easter eggs within the book for the reader to find. I didn't even pick up on them. I do know that Will Wheaton voiced the audio book and I'm seriously considering buying it from Audible. Maybe I can catch some of those Easter eggs while I listen.

So there is the review that I've needed to write for a while. The next one will probably be on The Companions since that released today and I'm going to battle my reading addition just to get my word count in.

Ahh, it's so good to be back!

Resurgence, by Johi Jenkins

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope everyone's week has started off well.

I have two books I need to review. Ready Player One that I finished a few weeks ago and Resurgence that I just finished yesterday. I decided to go with what was fresh in my brain (I'm sure the post title gave that away) and I'll catch Ready Player One next week.

So, on to the good stuff.

Resurgence, by Johi Jenkins

Resurgence is the first novel by Johi Jenkins and right up my alley for my monthly indie-book pick. First off, it was not what I expected at all when I first cracked open the ole' kindle. Perhaps it was the cover that had me thinking of something more seraphic but that's my own fault. I am a total sucker for angel books but we'll break into that some other time.

I guess I should start off by saying how I felt when I read the final words. The book kinda blew my mind.

I'm normal not very indulgent in the romance genre so this was a very nice change of pace. The epic love shared between Brielle and James was wonderful to read about. The connection they have with each other is very strong (that's putting it mildly) and pretty much leaves the reader basking in the glow of their love.

But is it just a love story? No, and this is where the 5 stars come in. I've never come across a book with this type of premise before and I found it very intriguing and engaging. As you know from my previous reviews, I generally don't like stories surrounding time travel due to all the plot holes, but the time travel concept in this book was an amazing theory and I enjoyed reading about it as the mystery surrounding it unfolded. The reveal at the end was simply beautiful.

Supernatural powers manifested throughout the book and the reader gets to see through the eyes of Brielle as she first figures out she has abilities, then how she deals with it as she is able to control them as they get stronger.

I thought the side characters were well written and very defined, and the main plot came around full circle to be resolved nicely at the end. I would definitely like to see a second book set in this world because I just wasn't ready to let it go.

So if you love a good romance to go along with your paranormal fix, I recommend giving this book a shot. As of this review, Johi currently has it on sale for $.99. Well worth it.

Johi Jenkins has her own blog. You can find her here.

**From information on Johi's blog, she will be revealing a new cover for Resurgence soon. This post will be updated at that time.

Forever Road, By Catie Rhodes

First off, happy fathers day to all those wonderful dads out there! We just got back from an excellent lunch and I am STUFFED!

Now, before I start the review, I want to say just how much I love reading indie books. They follow a different format, a different set of rules (or no rules at all!) than what we've come to expect from a traditional publisher. Sometimes, it's a very refreshing change of pace.

Most of the indie books I have picked up lately have been backed by a handful of very good reviews. Now here is my request on behalf of all the indie authors out there. If you read a book that you like/love, PLEASE post a review. You have no idea how much this means to them/us.

Generally when I read a book, if the story hasn't gripped me by about 100 pages in, I start to lose interest. I find it a chore to finish, if I finish at all.

Forever Road,
by Catie Rhodes

I was thrilled to find that was far from the case with Forever Road. This book pretty much had its claws in me right off the bat. The story is told from the first person perspective of Peri Jean Mace, a tom-boy who has had a rough life and just so happens to be able to see ghosts. She is an excellent character that I genuinely like and believe in.

I do love supernatural/paranormal stories, which is what caught my eye about the book. The interesting thing, though, was that it didn't revolve around the spiritual world 100%. The mystery in the book was so well played out, there were times I would totally forget I was reading a paranormal book. I was just so enthralled by what was going to happen next and the who-dun-it aspect that I forgot about the ghosts!

Along with Peri, there is a great background cast to flesh out the world. The book is full of very lively and believable characters. It's action packed and heartfelt. By the end, I had laughed and cried, and now I can't wait for the next installment.

Catie has a very unique writing style, and I got a kick out of her expressions several times throughout the book. If you like ghosts stories or a good mystery, I 100% recommend this book. I save my 5 star reviews for the books I really love, and this one gets a full 5 stars!

Catie Rhodes has her own blog and webpage. You can find here here.

~ ~ ~ ~

Also, if you have been waiting for After - Part 1 to become a free download on Amazon, I am happy to report that you can grab it anytime now! I fully intend to always offer the first installment of The Phoenix Curse for free, and I'm pacing the releases so that I can keep ahead on the writing front as much as possible. 

So far, so good! Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Choices - A Time Travel Novella, By Cate Dean

After the rush of excitement of finally publishing my first book, I decided to sit down and curl up with a story I could get absorbed in. I picked up Choices - a Time Travel Novella, by Cate Dean.

I love the cover art.

I first discovered Cate Dean while reading Tales From The Mist. The Messenger was one of her short stories published within the anthology, and it was a gripping tale that stuck with me. Although I enjoyed Choices, I think I still like The Messenger better.

That being said, Choices was exactly what I wanted to read. I've never much cared for stories with time travel, but this one didn't dwell on the intricacies that generally revolve around the subject, so likewise wasn't bogged down by loop holes that come with it. Instead, we jumped right into the action, following our damaged heroine, Maura, as her journey was forced upon her.

I know some reviewers have said that they wished to have more detail in this story, and wished it was longer, but I think it worked okay as is. It's true, there isn't a lot of detail or back-story when you get started, but by the end, Cate has sprinkled all the answers through-out the book by our insight into Maura's thoughts, and nearly everything we original questioned has been answered.

There is A LOT of action packed into this little book, and sometimes I found myself wincing at Maura's pain and rubbing my own leg. It was a very fast ride, and a worthwhile read if this is the type of book you go for. As I said before, this generally isn't the genre I'm inclined to read, and it will not linger with me as The Messenger did, but I still enjoyed it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Now, on to The Phoenix Curse news. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, but the second I got everything wrapped up with the publication, I was ready to jump right into Part Two. Crazy! I had to force myself to get some other things done!

I've finally found the need to add 'tabs' to my blog. If you'll notice the 'Books' tab has a link to all the places that you can find Part One, and I have declared that Part Two will be available in the fall. Also, I have been working on the cover art for Part Two. This is exactly what I envisioned in my mind, and I'm pretty much blown away that I was able to actually get that out of my brain and into Paint.net. I'm still working on the brightness levels so you can tell what you're looking at in the thumbnail, but I really dig what it looks like when the picture is blown up! I'll probably still work on it a bit more before I'm ready to publish, but here is the preliminary artwork.

Now that I'll soon by diving into the Part Two edits, I ALSO have all of Part One of Dreamland fully
outlined, and am once again pleased with the story progression.

For those of you that have been following along, and read my acknowledgements in Part One, then you all already know how big a part my husband has played in this. Even though he is my beta-reader and editor, he still refuses to let me spoil him! So he's reading the story for the first time as he edits, and he's urging me to get my rewrites done so he knows what happens! This is great incentive for me to keep trudging on.

For all my fans out there, thank you so much for the wonderful, encouraging comments. Those, too, mean so much to me! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The Last Threshold, By R. A. Salvatore

Before I get into the 'review', a quick, happy update on After. All rewrites are now done! I am just going through one final read through as I format to fit the Smashwords specifications, and then Part 1 will be uploaded!

I am also working on the cover for CreateSpace and formatting for Amazon. I DO plan to enroll in the KDP program with Amazon, which means I will have to remove the Part 1 novella from Smashwords. If Smashwords is your preferred reading format, I apologize for the move, but I feel this is best for me at this time, and the marketing the KDP program can give me. All I can say is grab the format from Smashwords as quickly as possible.

Also, the book will be a free download while on Smashwords, as well as after I move it to Amazon.

I did suffer a minor hiccup Friday night, which perturbed me to the point that I shut off my computer and picked up a book. A small storm was blowing through, and we suffered a brown out after I had been working on my 'From the Author' for about an hour. Yes, I have my auto-save set up, and this is normally why I use Yarny or Evernote to write with, but I had JUST copied out of Notepad to clear formatting, and pasted it into Word.

*FLASH* Aanndd, it's gone.

I know it's not the worst thing that could have happened. I've lost full chapters before, but for anyone that's written anything, it's still very annoying. Especially since I've been chewing on my author's note for quite awhile now. The funny thing is, I know no one ever reads those! So, with an eye-roll to that minor annoyance, I move on.

My Copy

That night, I picked up The Last Threshold, the 4th and last book in R. A. Salvatore's Neverwinter Saga. I was only a quarter way into the book since I had been reading it on the plane the week before, but as soon as I got into it, I did what I normally do when I read books. I couldn't put it down and I finished it yesterday afternoon.

And when I say I can't put these books down, it is quite literal. Even though I have a signed copy from Salvatore himself, that precious copy is put away in a safe place, and I was reading it on my kindle app on my phone. So I'm reading it as I'm walking around the house, walking to the car, and in the passenger seat as my husband drives. This quirk I have annoys him, but he tolerates it. After all... it's Drizzt Do'Urden we're talking about here.

It will be difficult for me to review this book for those unfamiliar with the series. Salvatore has written quite a few books in the Forgotten Realms D&D world, and I have to look at is as just one part of the whole.

Is it the best book he's ever written? No.
Is it a must read for the Drizzt fans out there? Yes, yes, yes, absolutely yes!

The relationship I have with this series of books is quite unique for me and any other book series I've ever read. To keep it short, my husband was the one who introduced me to the books shortly after we had gotten together. During road trips, we would take turns reading the books to each other, and then would discuss them at length afterwards. Our shared love for the books brought me closer to the characters.

At first, my husband was several books ahead of me in the series, so when I finished the Ghost King, I couldn't let him know. I was devastated and wasn't able to talk about it for a few days. Now I have finished The Last Threshold before him, in fact we were pulling into a parking space yesterday to pick up our pizza when I finished the last word.

I clicked off the phone and threw it into my lap.

He turned to me, saying something about the pizza, saw the tears and just turned to get out of the car. I heard him say "crap" as he shut the door.

Based on my reaction, he is now scared to read the book. Now I have no one to talk to about it! I'm sure he'll pick it up soon. He's still helping me with the final edits on After, so I'll give him a pass on The Last Threshold for awhile.

I do need to update my Shelfari, but here are the books I have in line to read next.

Choices - A Time Travel Novella, by Cate Dean
Forever Road, by Catie Rhodes
Breaking The Devil's Heart, by H.A. Goodman

And I eventually plan to get around to reading the Dead series by TW Brown. I have read his Zomblog series, and really enjoyed it. I just fear that as soon as I start a series, I'm going to get lost in it for weeks and nothing productive will get done!

My next post should be the announcement that After - Part 1  is live on Smashwords. Not long to wait now!

Shara and the Haunted Village, by Jeffery Getzin

I just finished this little novella last night and have to say it was an enjoyable read. I give this book a solid 3 1/2 stars.

Shara and the Haunted Village

The reasons I liked it;

• It's a quick read with a nice fast paced adventure.
• It's very reminiscent of a D&D scenario campaign. I've read a lot of D&D books and I enjoy them, although I know not everyone does. To me, it always feels like you're part of the adventure.
• The story had a nice, neat ending - the kind of ending you would expect for a story like this, and I found it gratifying and clever.
• The demon gets a full 5 stars, and she's reason enough to read the book if you enjoy a good fantasy novel. IMO, she was the star of the show.

The reason this book didn't get a higher rating.

• There were some scenes/errors in the book that pulled me out of the story, making it hard to get 100% absorbed.
• The main male lead reminded me of a certain rogue leader of Bregan D'aearth, and he never really broke out as his own character until towards the very end. (Edit: See Jeffery's comment below! Very interesting.)

Now, the issues that pulled me out of the story I believe could be fixed with a bit more polishing. That would make this a stellar fantasy read that I would recommend to anyone. As it stands now, I know some people don't have a high tolerance for these types of errors, and I would be afraid to recommend this and then have the reader be turned off from the author. 

That being said, is this book worth polishing when the author could be working on new novels? I would say no, it's fine the way it stands now, and precious time could be devoted to writing new adventures. 

As for myself, I would gladly pick up another book from this author, particularly one that would revolve around Shara again. I could see her going on another adventure, one even further from home, and she has a ton of potential character growth.

Jeffery Getzin has his own webpage. You can find him here.

~ ~ ~ ~

NOW, on to a little Dreamland blurb. I know I skipped writing last week in favor of a much needed break, but I picked it up again this week and I got to finally introduce two main characters for book 2 to Joss. It's so exciting and I loved finally seeing them take shape in the words. They're exactly who I had rumbling around in my mind for these past few months.

Editing is also still going well. No hiccups or delays to report there. Nothing exciting either! Editing is so hard, but I'm done whining about it for the night. I'm satisfied with what I accomplished today, and I'm ready to start the weekend. Yay!