Book Review - Chasing Memories

Happy Friday! Wow, what an awesome last couple of weeks. Today, I'm bringing you another book review. I know how excited you are to hear about new authors and new books. This goes in hand with my Indie Fever, 2013, reading challenge. I've committed to reading 4-8 Indie books this year. I think I'm up to six so far. I finished The White Aura by Felicia Tatum a week or so ago; so, come on back Monday to see my review of that one.

Okay, okay, I'll move along here. Before I delve into my review, I'll give you a word or two about Chasing Memories (The Tala Prophecies - Book One) by Tia Silverthorne Bach.

Synopsis:
There isn't another way; not now. The others are coming. I can't let them have you...

Seventeen-year-old Reagan has a problem: She can't remember what happened the night her brother was taken. Now, the dreams haunting her from the incident are becoming more intense by the day. All the while, the lines between what's real and what's a product of her paranormal-obsessed mind are becoming blurred.

Is she losing her mind or has she just stepped into a world she thought only existed in books?

Caught in a web of worried parents, competing boys, Wiccan relatives, protective amulets, and psychiatrist babble, Reagan must determine the truth before it's too late.

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Length: 296 printed pages
You can pick up a Kindle copy for just $3.99 on Amazon or, you can grab a print copy (take a look inside, dears) for just $9.99 on Amazon.

I was the editor for Chasing Memories so, naturally, I've read it. I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the book and dove in; but what I got was a pleasant surprise. There was mystery, action, family drama, and paranormal activity that left me wondering what was really going on until the last page. Without dragging it out further, I give you my review!

From a reader's perspective:
Reagan is a typical teenager who forced me to care about what was happening to her. There were so many times I wanted to slap her because of the things she was doing; but, on the same note, there were times I wanted to slap her mother, too. That's when I know I've gotten hold of a great book. I loved how the supporting cast of characters came to life on the page, how well I could see Colorado in my mind's eye (I've never been there, but now I feel like I have), and how accurate the descriptions of Georgia were. When I got to the last page, the surprise ending left me wanting more. It's a good thing there's a sequel in the works! Tia also didn't bog me down with descriptions. There were just enough so I saw it, but it left a little to my imagination.

From an editor's perspective:
Well, now, this is a tough one. Because I was the editor, I see no reason for any errors to be present. Not only did I edit, we had a third set of eyes do the proofreading. If you find any glaring errors in this book, I beg you to apply to join our editing team.

My rating:
+ 1 star for giving me teen angst that worked.
+ 1 star for making me love the characters.
+ 1 star for the perfect amount of descriptive text.
+ 1 star for the surprise twist in the end.
+ 1 star for the lack of errors in the writing.

Overall, 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend this book if you love YA or werewolf stories!

Now, for a surprise! If you'd like to win a printed copy of Chasing Memories, here's your chance! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - The Disappearing Girl

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, a treat for you all. I'm participating in the Indie Fever 2013 reading challenge and have committed to read and review no less than eight Indie books this year. So far, I've done about four. But that's not all the books I've read, just the ones I've written reviews on up to this point. My plan for the next few days is to rectify that situation. For the first book, I bring you The Disappearing Girl by Heather Topham Wood. Enjoy!

Synopsis:

Kayla Marlowe is slowly vanishing…

Last year, Kayla’s world imploded. Her beloved father died, leaving her alone with a narcissistic mother who is quick to criticize her daughter’s appearance. During her winter break from college, Kayla’s dangerous obsession with losing weight begins.

Kayla feels like her world changes for the better overnight. Being skinny seems to be the key to the happiness she has desperately been seeking. Her mother and friends shower her with compliments, telling her how fantastic she looks. Kayla is starving, but no one knows it.

Cameron Bennett explodes into Kayla’s life. He’s sexy and kind—he has every quality she has been looking for in a guy. As Cameron grows closer to Kayla and learns of how far she’s willing to go to stay thin, he becomes desperate to save her.

Kayla’s struggles with anorexia and bulimia reach a breaking point and she is forced to confront her body image issues in order to survive. She wonders if Cameron could be the one to help heal her from the pain of her past.

New Adult Contemporary-Ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.

You can pick up a copy today for free; but after that it goes to $2.99. Grab it on Amazon!

Now, for my review:
Author Heather Topham Wood has done a great job of bringing attention to something so many people struggle with in life. It's a difficult thing to live with and a terrifying disease to read about. Let's get to the meat and potatoes.
From a reader's perspective:
I found myself drawn in and feeling what Kayla was going through as she struggled with her life and the disease that threatens to ruin her. Being able to identify with a character is something every reader strives for. I not only identified with Kayla, I was cheering for her recovery, angry with her mother, and cried when the ball finally dropped on the whole situation. Not to be left out, the secondary characters like Cameron, Kayla's best friend, Brittany, and Kayla's sister, Lila, were all well developed. Brittany being in the picture helped show how your best friend can disappear before your very eyes and you never know how bad it really is. This story is captivating and will leave you emotionally wrought.
From an editor's perspective:
I'm always rough on the books I read because I'm an editor. I find things most wouldn't. This book is very well written. There are no plot holes, scene jumps, or inconsistencies. There were a couple of places where a pronoun or two would've behooved the flow, but that's minor.
Rating:
+1 Star for making me cringe and allowing me to feel the character
+1 Star for excellent character development (even the secondary ones)
+1 Star for bridging such a taboo subject in such a way that it made sense
+1 Star for being a great story I could really sink my teeth into
+.5 Star for really great editing

Overall, 4.5 out of 5 stars. Since there are no half stars, I round up when posting to review sites. This is a highly recommended read.

Pick up your copy on Amazon today! Come on back tomorrow for my review of Chasing Memories.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review Taken Before her very Eyes by Wade Faubert

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! What a lovely day I have for you today! I'm not only announcing the winners of the rafflecopter drawing, but also bringing you a book review. So, if you won, let me say a big CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you do the happy dance.

Without further ado, here's the widget with the winners:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congrats to: Angel, Alana, and Jennifer! Angel and Alana have both won digital copies of The Bird and Jennifer has won a printed, signed copy, a bookmark, and a mini-magnet! I'll be in touch to find out how to get you all your prizes sometime today. Thanks for participating!

If you really wanted a copy of this book and didn't win here, there's still time to enter the Goodreads giveaway! Two signed, printed copies are up for grabs over there, as well!

Now for the review! This is for the Indie Fever 2013 reading challenge.

I picked up a sample of Taken - Before her very Eyes because of a Goodreads event announcing the publication hosted by the author, Wade Faubert. After reading it, I found myself wanting more. Over to Amazon I went to purchase the rest. I finally got a chance to delve back in and this is my review.

From a reader's perspective:
I loved the main character, Summer Demure (she was anything but). She seemed real to me and was written in such a way that I felt I knew exactly what she was going through. Pacing in the book was great and I moved through it in just a few days. I got confused at a point in the storyline where the kidnapper tells Summer he was the one that did the horrible things to her that occured in the beginning but she keeps referring to the man in jail as the one she was scared of. That revelation also kinda screwed the ending and left me a tad confused. I would like to have had a more open end with the real bad guy being swallowed up by the water instead of what happened but that didn't take away from my experience at all. World building was good and I felt I had a good sense of the town in Canada where she was.

From an editor's perspective:
Punctuation was all over the place. Pronouns need some major work.
Words were confused on occasion: rogue not rouge. Storyline needed to be kept straight. These things did throw me out of the story now and then but weren't so bad I ever had to stop reading.

Now, my rating:
1 star for a truly believable main character I rooted for.
1 star for a hair-raising story that kept me engaged.
1 star for making me want to read more.
- 1 star for the major oops in the storyline.
- 1 star for the grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
3 out of 5 stars. A very good, quick read that has a ton of potential to be amazing.

Not to appear in my review elsewhere:
I love that cover! It goes so well with the story inside the pages. My one tweak would be to make the author's name bigger. There's plenty of room and it gets a wee bit lost in the thumbnail. Other than that, all I can say is, "WOW! Well done!"

If you think you'd like to read this book, you can pick up a copy over on Amazon for $2.99.
Give his Facebook page a like: Author Wade Faubert
Check out his site: Wade Faubert
Or follow him over on Twitter: @WadeFaubert

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - Underneath by Michael Cargill

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm giving you an Indie Fever post. My second indie review of the year. Sit back and enjoy!

Indie Fever is dedicated to readers of indie books and to indie authors. I signed up to review at least eight indie books this year. It's a great idea and a wonderful cause! Here's the link: Indie Fever

Underneath won a review on my December 12 Days of Christmas indie author contest. The author hooked me right in with his pitch and I promptly bought the book which I read in just a few days. I give you my review.

From a reader's perspective:
To be frank, Underneath's main character, Hugh, scared the bejesus out of me. But he was so compelling I just had to keep reading. His odd thought process oftentimes gave me chills and made me wonder how many people like Hugh I'd passed by in my lifetime and never noticed. One of the supporting characters, Clare, was also well done, and I found myself identifying with her quickly. She has gumption and drive; both are qualities I admire a lot. The pacing was great and I flew through the book without realizing how much I'd read. I got a few surprises when the same exact words showed up at different times, and it thrilled and delighted me. Something else I liked was the author being from the UK. I learned some new words!!

From an editor's perspective:
I'd like to see a little more refinement of sentence construction and punctuation usage. I can overlook it if there are just a few but this book had a number of them. Short, choppy sentences left me stumbling over the words on more than one occasion. Plotline was bang on. I got the feeling this book was intended to be third person omniscient but it came off as third person limited with head hopping because one chapter would be about Hugh and another about Clare with snippets of other peoples' thoughts or feelings. I really only needed to see the story from two perspectives: Hugh's and Clare's. Quips now and then about random peoples' thoughts or feelings left me dangling (not in a good way). I think more character development of Hugh and Clare could've come from making this one small change.

Now, for my rating:
1 star for a terrifying main character.
1 star for rounding out the two characters I loved as much as was done.
1 star for bringing me to the UK and teaching me; as well as the surprises.
- 1 star for writing style (this is person by person so you may like it. I didn't).
- 1 star for including too many characters' thoughts and for punctuation blips.
3 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading if you like to be just a hair horrified at what could be going on in someone's mind.

You can find the book on Amazon here: Underneath for $3.30.

As far as the cover goes, I really like this one and feel it gives a good idea of what's going on in the story. One small tweak that could make it better is centering all the type. A general rule of design is to either left flush, right flush, or center everything if you do it once. Consistency is key! It could use some kerning as well but that's just aesthetics from a typography nerd.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

2013 Reading Challenge: Indie Fever!

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! If you've been around before, you know I've asked indie authors to pitch their books to me for a read and review. I've decided to make it part of the 2013 Reading Challenge. Below, I'll list the books I chose with links and dates that I'll do the posts/reviews for each winner. This contest on my blog happened back in December and I ran across some great indie books that I'd love to help promote.

If you'd like to join the challenge, click the image below and follow the instructions to join the linky list. I'm signing up as an Amateur with a promise to read 8 INDIE books this year. I may read more but this is what's on the table right now. Without further ado, I give you the link and the list!

Kate Baggott - Love From Planet Wine Cooler Amazon link $4.99
This review will go live on or before January 28th, 2013.

Andrea Buginsky - The Chosen Amazon link $0.99
This review will go live on or before February 18, 2013.

Michael Cargill - Underneath Amazon link $3.30
This review will go live on or before March 11, 2013.

Eric Dulin - Condemned (Deus Ex Machina Series) Amazon link $2.99
This review will go live on or before March 25, 2013.

Deborah Armstrong - Forever Love Amazon link $3.49
This review will go live on or before April 22, 2013.

Ginney Etherton - Looping in Limbo (Lainey Tidwell Series) Amazon link $2.99
This review will go live on or before May 20, 2013.

Angela Graff - The Awakening Amazon link $2.99
This review will go live on or before June 10, 2013.

Leonardo Noto - Intrusive Memory Amazon link $4.99
This review will go live on or before July 1, 2013.

I know that seems like a huge gap between reviews but I'm leaving myself some breathing room (I have a couple of indie books not listed here that I may get to in between these AND I have some others from the contest I think I'd like to read). Like it says: On or before. I may have them all done by mid-April but I don't want to make promises I can't keep and I have a rigorous publishing schedule set for myself this year. I wrote a lot of partials last year I intend to finish and I must wrap up the Mystic series with a bang sometime in 2013. 

Go grab some samples of the above works and give them a read. You won't be sorry.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo