REVIEW: Dirty Angel by Barbara Elsborg

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Blurb

Dying Sucks

Particularly when you discover there really is a hell. Aden thinks there’s no way he can avoid going down, but when an angel and demon can’t agree over his fate, Aden is given one more month to gain redemption. He doubts he can find a way to become a better man in so short a time. But it’s worth a try, right?

Living sucks

Particularly when you can’t shake free of an obsessive ex. Brody might be managing to hold down his job as a vet, but his personal life is a mess. If he doesn’t pull himself together soon, he’s going to be sliding downhill too fast to stop.

One wet night, on a dark country lane, two worlds collide and destinies change forever.

Review

RATING:

I couldn’t be happier to have won an ARC of this book thru the Shh... Summer Buzz Book Event on Goodreads.

For a first Barbara read, it was definitely a winnerJ

Aden has been handed a unique opportunity to redeem himself. When his fate couldn’t be decided after his death, he was sent down again to the world of the living to prove (or disprove) things to the people who will decide his ultimate destination. For someone who felt like there’s nothing redeemable about him, turns out there may be some hope, thanks to meeting Brody.

Brody has been trying to move forward and make something of his life after someone messed up his mind. For someone who’s floundering, turns out there may be a shot to a better future, thanks to “running into” Aden.

I love the self-deprecating and dry humor that both Aden and Brody possess. It definitely added levity but it also made things more heartrending in my head. There are a lot of potential triggers in this book, so be warned. The things they went thru, they were vile and despicable. My heart broke for these 2. Curiously enough, as dark as their pasts were, it felt more sad than gloomy. Even more curious is the hopefulness despite the darkness. I think that’s Barbara ability to convey the strength of the MCs even when the MCs themselves don’t acknowledge it. Isn’t that what inner strength is all about? And I think Barbara’s words were chosen carefully enough that what could have easily led to cheese-dom just felt real and sincere.

Their union is smokin’ hot, but even hotter, I thought, were their kisses. There is so much emotion expressed in such a tiny act… le sigh...

I guess there’s a reason why I’ve been keeping an eye for a while now on Barbara’s books. Well, I mean, I guess I see now why a lot of friends on Goodreads are fans of her work. I think I am now tooJ

Thanks for dropping by!

~Leftie

REVIEW: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by J.K.Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Blurb

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

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Review

RATING:

So, were you able to get your hands on your copy and finished reading it?

This book was a quick read, mainly being it written as the script of the play now showing in London. Thus, most of the events that would have taken chapters to describe in a novel were written succinctly and very fast-paced. (I find it hilarious that people didn't know this before buying the book! Wuttt?!?! It was clearly stated in the description that it's the SCRIPT!)



Did I love the book? Yes and no.


Yes, because the story was great. There was a lot of action, a lot of funny moments (mostly with Ron) and a lot of poignant ones as well. Yes....certain parts made me cry. I didn't think a Harry Potter book could still touch me the same way as reading the original seven books did, but I think this just shows how this script lived up to the whole spirit of Harry Potter universe. The ending of Part One: brilliant!



No, for the reasons that it was quick read. I would have loved for The Cursed Child to be an actual full-blown book, filled with details and description of the characters and the events. It could have been a 5000-page book...fans would've been happy! Being bound by the short time line of a play, there really was no chance to fully delve into the main characters Albus and Scorpius, and show in great details the shenanigans they got into. This book is what the HP movies are for me: a great interpretation but not the complete package. (Don't get me wrong. I loved the movies, but we all know that many aspects of the books were omitted in films due to time constraints.)

I do understand how lucky we are as HP fans to even have this book, and indeed, I am grateful for that. Alas, it saddens me that this is truly the end for Harry and his gang, as JK Rowling stated she is done with Harry Potter after this:'( I will be re-reading these books as long as I can, to hold on to the magical world of Hogwarts and Harry, Ron and Hermione.


-Rightie

REVIEW: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

RATING: 

Not gonna lie...I've been out of the loop when it comes to Young-Adult (YA) novels. I blame the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. As much as I loved that trilogy, the ending of that third really did bring my reading of that genre into a halt... sigh...

Anyhoo, it wasn't until recently that I got interested in reading YA again. My sister-in-law has been recommending Cinder to me for the longest time, so I bought it and have had the book for more than a year. It wasn't only until recently that I had the chance to finally read it, and guess what? I basically bought the rest of the series after about reading half of Cinder in one day.

The Lunar Chronicles begins with Cinder, followed by Scarlet, Cress and then Winter as the final book.  Each book is an interpretation of a fairy tale:

Cinder: Cinderella

Scarlet: Little Red Riding Hood

Cress: Rapunzel

Winter: Snow White

Marissa Meyer's take on these tales, and how she tied everything together is seriously one of the most creative takes I've seen or read in a long time.

Each book just got better and better, and the ending is just right...there is a definite end but not too sappy. 

I feel a bit of a disservice trying to sum up how much I love these books into one blog post, but I don't think a number of them would be enough to convey how much I really did enjoy all the books! There is just the right amount of action, love story and suspense to keep the reader interested.

The first book, Lunar, deals with the main heroine of the series: Cinder, a part-human, part-cyborg girl living with her legal guardian Adri and her two daughters. Cinder, because of what she has to accomplish, ends up being connected with Scarlett (second book), Cress (third book) and Winter (fourth book). The way their stories intertwined, considering they are all based on fairy tale stories, really is quite brilliant. Very imaginative and yet plausible enough that you won't think, "Whu? No way!"

Of course, romance plays a large part in all the books. However, unlike in many fairy tales where it's the prince who saves the girl in distress, it is the strength, courage and wit and of the female characters that saves the day.

Marissa Meyer has really written a great YA series in Lunar Chronicles, and I highly recommend all the four books.

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

~Rightie

BOOK TOUR: Specimen by Shay Savage

A soldier, a doctor, and a stark white laboratory full of lies.

Specimen by Shay Savage is NOW LIVE!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1SvKxVI

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1SLBgHp

Blurb

I awaken in a laboratory.

I don’t know who I am.

I’m inexplicably drawn to the doctor who cares for me. She tells me I’ve been altered, that I’m stronger and faster, that I’ll be a key component in a war between corporations. She says I volunteered for this. She says I volunteered to be transformed, but I have no way of knowing if what she says is true.

Something isn’t right. My memories have been taken, wiped clean, but dreams begin to slip into my conscious mind. I can’t let anyone know when that happens, or they’ll remove my memories again. Somewhere inside of me, I know I need to remember something important.

I’m fighting a war I don’t understand, and the one woman I rely on can’t be trusted.

Excerpt

(Warning: Graphic words/language)

“That’s why I can’t stop thinking about f*cking you.”

Her eyes widen, and she quickly looks away from me. She stands and starts to pull her hand away, but I push myself off the bed and grasp her arm before she can go anywhere. Our bodies touch, and I reach one arm around her back and pull her tightly against me.

I cup her face with my hand and run my thumb across her lips. Her scent is all over me now, and I want to experience her with my tongue. Would her taste resemble her scent or complement it? I have to know.

Pulling her closer, I press my open mouth to hers. Her body stills, and she grips my shoulder with one hand as the other presses against my chest. Her mouth is warm. I can feel her breath as my tongue slides inside. Her taste is indefinable, smooth like sweet liquor I can’t recall ever tasting.

There is a shift inside of her. It can’t be seen or heard, but I can smell it and taste it. The smell of her skin becomes darker, thicker. I feel her flex her fingers on my shoulder as she tilts her head to allow me to deepen the kiss.

How would her scent change if I were inside of her? What sounds would she make when she comes? Would she muffle her cries or be loud enough for all those watching us to hear? How would it feel to come inside of her? What sounds would I make?

I don’t even know if I’m a virgin.

Reaching behind her, I shove whatever is on the side table to the floor, lift Riley up, and set her down on the edge. I grip her hips and pull her against my stomach. The table is too high. I can’t f*ck her from this angle. I break the kiss, lift her effortlessly, turn, and drop her ass to the edge of the bed.

“Sten, stop!”

I freeze my actions. My entire body tightens, and my d!ck throbs in my shorts.

It’s too much. I need this. I need her.

I don’t move.

“You have to let go of me.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and withdraw my hands only enough to release her. I keep them close enough to still feel the heat from her body and detect the shift of air when she moves. She uses her hands to push herself backward on the bed, away from me.

The muscles in my legs shake. I’m so wound up, and I can’t let it go. The tension becomes painful and the need for release so prevalent, I can no longer think. I grip the edge of the bed until my knuckles turn white. As soon as she pulls her legs back and pushes herself off the edge of the bed, on the side opposite me, I grab the bed and throw it, smashing it into the mirror.

I glare at my reflection, and the strange dark eyes glare back at me. The unfamiliar lips are curled up in a snarl, and the unkempt beard creates a frightening image. Everything about the man looking back at me is alien.

Didn’t I just shave last night?

Blurb

RATING:

If you're like me, a fan of action films with a heart and not just blowing up stuff, then you'll like this, for sure. For me, this was like a mashup of Jason Bourne, Rebecca Zanetti's Sin Brothers series and Laurann Dohner's New Species series, with a slight touch of Margaret Atwood. How's that for starter, eh?

There is so much action here that once you find your groove, you wouldn't want to stop. And I loved every minute of it!

Sten is a product of a lab and responsible for his welfare is Riley. And seeing that this is from Sten's POV (male POV that Shay does so well, if I might add), you see things happen from the ground up. You have access to all of Sten's thoughts, doubts and all, including his inexplicable pull towards Riley. As you learn more, you start questioning things the way Sten did. And as you learn more, you feel much for Sten, learning about his past, and seeing what he's gone thru presently.

Riley is one h I had a hard time connecting with. I suppose I'm not as easily convinced as Sten, but I get it, she's also a product of the information fed to her. And by the end, I know she did her best.

I love seeing the heat b/w Sten and Riley from Sten's POV. It was heartfelt and passionate, basal and emotional all at once. And all the action sequences just spoke to the 12 y/o boy stuck inside me. I know it's weird to put those 2 sentences right after another, but in my head it totally makes sense:p

And now that ending! All I can say is that seeing that this is Shay, it's almost expected that it's so unexpected. It really boils down to "are you the half-full or half-empty kind of person?"...

Gah!!

About the Author:

Shay Savage lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her family and a variety of household pets. She is an accomplished public speaker, and holds the rank of Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmasters International. When not writing, she enjoys science fiction movies, masquerading as a zombie, is a HUGE Star Wars fan, and member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers. When the geek fun runs out, she also loves soccer in any and all forms - especially the Columbus Crew, Arsenal and Bayern Munich. Savage holds a degree in psychology, and she brings a lot of that knowledge into the characters within her stories.

Stalk Shay Here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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~Leftie

Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

RATING: 4 napkins

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark. (courtesy of Goodreads.com)

(courtesy of Goodreads)

(Originally posted on Goodreads)

My only exposure to Mr. Gaiman's work, embarrassingly enough, is from the 2 movies that were made from his books; Stardust, which as far as I can glean, is only a Disney version of the book but I did end up liking, and Coraline, which I did like as well. Whether it's a good thing that this is a first Gaiman read for me or not, I'm not really sure. All I know is that I enjoyed this a lot for the vivid story-telling. And this may not make complete sense, but I almost likened the experience to watching the movie, Big Fish, a movie I truly enjoyed. 

It's such a simple story, and yet, not really. It's a childhood story from a memory of an older man. It's a mixture of reality and fantasy (or is it?). The viewpoint of the main character's 7-year old self is older for his age in some regards but then again, it's appropriate in some, keeping in mind this coming from the memory of an older version of the main character.

"What you remembered? Probably. More or less. Different people remember things differently, and you'll not get any two people to remember anything the same, whether they were there or not. You stand two of you lot next to each other, and you could be continents away for all it means anything."

I'm not even sure if there were lessons to be learned, if not learned at all, but I don't think that was the point of the story (or is it? hmmm...). All I know is that I was engrossed with the story the whole time...

"Adults follow paths. Children explore..." 


-Leftie