Tempestuous (Wonderous Strange #3)

Title: Tempestuous (Wonderous Strange #3)
Author: Lesley Livingston
Publisher: Harper Teen
ISBN: 0061740063
Available: December 2010
Source: Star Book Tours

Book Blurb:
"I don't love Sonny Flannery."


That's the lie Kelley Winslow told to protect the boy she loves from a power he doesn't know he possesses. Devastated, Sonny retreats—to a haven for Lost Fae that's hidden deep underneath New York City.

But Kelley's not about to let things end in heartbreak. To get Sonny back, she's got to find out who's after his magick—and how to use her own. She's got to uncover who's recruiting Janus Guards to murderously hunt innocent Faerie. She's got to help rebuild the shattered theater company she called family. And she's got to do it all without getting dangerously distracted by the Fennrys Wolf, whose legendary heart of stone seems to melt whenever he's around Kelley.

The intrigue and romance that began with Wondrous strange and Darklight come to a stormy head in Tempestuous, the breathtaking conclusion to Lesley Livingston's ravishing urban Faerie trilogy.

My Take:
This is the last book of the trilogy that finds everyone learning just what their powers are in the Fae land and on earth. There is a lot going on in this book, from war and alliances being made and broken, choices that aren't right...well kind of sounds like an episode of The Survivor. But, if you the reader are like me...books are so much better than tv and the events that happen are pretty unpredictable that make me want to hit Kelley and Sonny at times.
This is another quick read that made me want more, but alas this is the last book of the series...or is it? Read it...but if you haven't read the first two....you many find yourself VERY lost.

Giving it a 6 out of 7...if you love the faerie's...come along for the ride..

I was part of Star Book Tours for this title and no compensation was given to me for this review.

Haunted

Title: Haunted (Dreaming Anastasia #2)
Author: Joy Preble
Genre: Teen
ISBN: 1402244681
Available: Feb 1, 2010
Source: Star Book Tours


Anne is back and trying to do her best at being normal, but a mermaid from Russian is haunting her trying to tell her the history she is trying to forget is alive and well. Then when Ethan returns she realizes that the history will be impossible to forget.

Although this was still a romance story with the predictable teen love drama, the input of the mermaid added an unique spin on this tale! The book is a great winter read....but I would highly recommend reading the first one. I was a bit lost not knowing the original story, but Ms. Preble's writing is very light and enjoyable. If you are tired of the vampires and wolves...you might try this pick on the paranormal world!

Giving it 5 out of 7....It's good, but I would probably recommend reading it from the library

I was part of the Star Book Tour for this book and was not compensated for this review.

The Search

Title: The Search
Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Publisher:
Genre: Inspirational Fiction
Source: Publisher

About the book:
Fifteen years ago, Lainey O'Toole made a split-second decision. She couldn't have known that her choice would impact so many.

Now in her mid-twenties, she is poised to go to culinary school when her car breaks down in Stoney Ridge, the very Amish town in which her long-reaching decision was made, forcing her to face the shadowed past.

Bess Reihl is less than thrilled to be spending the summer at Rose Hill Farm with her large and intimidating grandmother, Bertha. It quickly becomes clear that she is there to work the farm--and work hard. The labor is made slightly more tolerable by the time it affords Bess to spend with the handsome hired hand, Billy Lapp. But he only has eyes for a flirty and curvaceous older girl.

Lainey's and Bess's worlds are about to collide and the secrets that come to light will shock them both.

"Beautifully written, 'The Search' is a skillfully woven story that takes readers through unexpected twists and turns on the long country road toward truth. Fans both old and new will find themselves immersed in this heartwarming--and surprising--tale of young love, forgiveness, and coming to grips with the past."

My thoughts:

I really liked this Amish book. I usually don't like them because it seems there are so many, but this take was very refreshing and funny. Although it is a part of a series, this book definitely stands on it's own. It is the third and I will probably go back and read the first two now. The storyline came together very quickly and I found myself unable to put the book down. I'd recommend this for teens on up and anyone that wants to put a smile on their faces! I'm giving it 6 out of 7 thumbs up....go out and buy it...you won't be disappointed!

About Suzanne:
In no particular order, Suzanne Woods Fisher is a wife, mother, writer, lifelong student of the Bible, raiser of puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, a gardener and a cook...the latter two with sporadic results.

Suzanne has loved to write since she was a young teen. After college, she started to write for magazines and became a contributing editor for Christian Parenting Today magazine. Her family moved to Hong Kong for four years, just as the internet was developing, and she continued to write articles in a 44-story high-rise apartment, sending manuscripts 7,000 miles away with a click of a key.

After returning from Hong Kong, Suzanne decided to give her first novel a try. For four and a half months, she worked on an antediluvian computer in a cramped laundry room. She didn't even tell her husband what she was up to. When the novel was completed, she told her family at dinner one night that she had written a book. "That's why there's no food in this house!" said her slightly insensitive sons.
Undaunted...Suzanne found a small royalty publisher for that book and wrote three more (all earned multiple awards). With help from an agent, she now has numerous books under contract with Revell. Also look for Suzanne's Amish non-fiction, Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World, a non-fiction book of stories and examples about the Old Order Amish, as well as Amish Proverbs, and coming in Spring of 2011, look for Amish Values for Your Family. The Choice and The Waiting are the previous books in the Lancaster County Secrets Collection.

Writing, for Suzanne, is a way to express a love of God and His word. With every book or article, she hopes readers get a sense of what faith really looks like in the daily grind. She hopes they realize that life can be hard, but God is good, and never to confuse the two.

Suzanne can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

Link to buy the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Search-Novel-Lancaster-County-Secrets/dp/0800733878/ref=sprightly-20

Facebook Party:

Join Suzanne for the Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party on February 3rd! She’ll be announcing the winner of the The Search iPad Giveaway, hosting a book club discussion of The Search, giving away copies of all three books and HEAPS of other readerly prizes! Including roses delivered to your door for three months for you AND a friend! Be sure to join us on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 PM PST (6:00 MST, 7:00 CST & 8 EST) at Suzanne’s Author Page.

Suzanne Woods Fisher's latest installment of the Lancaster County Secrets, The Search, is just out and to celebrate Suzanne is hosting The Search iPad Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive an iPad Prize Package worth over $500 and includes:

• A brand new iPad (16KB with Wi-Fi)


• Signed copies of all three Lancaster Country Secrets books (The Choice, The Waiting, & The Search)

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 3rd at Suzanne's Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party. (Did you know The Search takes place on a rose farm?)

Facebook Party:

Join Suzanne for the Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party on February 3rd! She’ll be announcing the winner of the The Search iPad Giveaway, hosting a book club discussion of The Search, giving away copies of all three books and HEAPS of other readerly prizes! Including roses delivered to your door for three months for you AND a friend! Be sure to join us on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 PM PST (6:00 MST, 7:00 CST & 8 EST) at Suzanne’s Author Page.

I was given this book to read and review as part of the Litfuse group. Thank you and no compensations for a good review was required.

Title: Kindred
Author: Tammar Stein
Publisher: Knopf Books
ISBN: 978-0375858710

Genre: Young Adult (hardcover...272 pages)

Available: February 8, 2011

Source: Star Book Tours

Miriam and Moses, twins who find themselves on opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum as each are visited by the divine. Miriam finds herself visited by the angel of God and Mo says he was visited by the Devil himself. When Miriam starts coming down with a strange stomach ailment even after getting her first mission partially accomplished, she isn't sure it's God's will that she is following. Miriam says she isn't really religious, but throughout the book you can watch her struggle with her beliefs and those around her.

At the heart of the book is the age old struggle of most college bound people, is God real and is He good or bad. Along the trip, Miriam finds herself in the company of different beliefs that help her come to terms with her beliefs. When I first decided to read this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. A lot of the YA angel books deal with falling in love with an angelic being, but this book was less of the angels as I was led to believe by the promo and more on the struggle. A word of warning for those who are queasy over body functions, there are a lot of bowel problems mentioned in this book, even complete with a colonoscopy! I did like this book, it can definitely start a dialogue between a teen and their parents. Her parents are Jewish and Catholic so there is a bit of both theologies in the book, but it does not distract from Miriam's story, only adds to it.

I'd definitely say this book is for older teens. There are a lot of tough issues in this book for a younger teen to take on. While nothing big is resolved in this book (sequel?) it can lead to a lot of soul searching.

I'd give it a 6 out of 7.... the bathroom scenes distracted a bit.

This book was given to me to review by Star Book Tours, and no compensation was given for my honest review.

Dreaming of Books/ Giveaway Hop

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It is time again for another great giveaway hop from I am a Reader, Not a Writer! If you aren't sure how it works here is a quick rundown. If you know....please scroll on down and enter to win!

Every blog on the linky list (which is at the bottom of the post) will have some kind of booky giveaway. The rules for entering are usually pretty simple. You can enter one or all of them as long as you do it between January 14th through the 17th! I have won a number of books from different blogs and I always seem to find a new favorite blog to read!

Now.....

My Giveaway!

The Snowflake

by

Jamie Carrie

or

The Husband Tree

by

Mary Connealy

To enter:

Leave a comment with favorite snow activity unless you have no idea what snow is then you can pass on the question!

Please be a follower to enter!

Vesper

Title: Vesper

Author: Jeff Sampson

Publisher Harper Collins

ISBN: 978-0-06-199276-6

Available: February 2011

Source: Star Book Tours

Emily Webb is an average geek that doesn't get into trouble and hides herself from others her age. When things start happening at night that make her break out of her former shy self on the same night another classmate named Emily dies, she can only think she's been haunted by a ghost. But then even things don't really add up. She is becoming fearless and changing more and more until all she can think about is finding her mate and finding the person responsible for the murders and near murders in the former quiet town.

Paranormal books are all the rage in the young adult section and this one will find a nice comfortable space between them. This book has a little of everything; mystery, death, romance and the element of surprise of the paranormal involved! I loved the way that Mr. Sampson weaved in the interrogation of the Vesper with the actual story. It added a mysterical (not a word I know) element that kept me turning the pages. I knew she was going to get caught, but had no clue how she got to that point. The book flew along and before I realized it 300 pages had come and gone. There were a few spots that seemed to be too short (the BioTech scene for one) and I hope that the friendship of the two best friends is explained more in the future books, but the element of surprise of the deviant behaviour overshadows some of those minor problems. It is actually titled as Vesper (A Deviants Novel) so I hope it isn't long before the next installment comes. Because like any good author....he left lots of loopholes and a few mysteries left to be solved.

This is marked as middle grade lit and young adult but I would say that it is more suited to those in the middle grades than high school. However, anyone with an appetite for Hyde and Jekyll like books will find this appealing. A couple of scenes with alcohol but the consequences were also added in (both in physical and parental areas).

I liked this book and will give it a 6 out of 7 thumbs up! The cover of this book is another amazingly simple but effective picture!

I was given a copy of this book through StarBook Tours to review and pass on. All thoughts contained herein are all mine!

The Snow Globe

Title: The Snow Globe
Author: Sheila Roberts
ISBN: 978-0-312-59448-0
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Available: Now
Source: Publisher

The world is quite different inside a snow-globe. But this snow-globe is special only to the person who has in their possession.

Miracles can happen to those who dare to peer inside. Kylie, with no job and no boyfriend (she lost hers to her sister), finds an enchanting snow-globe in an antique shop. She knows it is beyond her budget, but after hearing the story of the snow-globe, she purchases it and soon finds herself on an adventure. Her friends have mixed feelings about her stories about the pictures she sees in the snowglobe, but when the globe is passed from friend to friend they each find that they are too looking for a miracle. From finding a toyshop to finding a man to a dog , they learn that miracles can happen.

This is a cute simple Christmas book perfect for the busy holidays and even after when the snow is swirling about. It is a quick read and therefore not a lot of depth in the story. There are three different stories in this little book and it does seem rushed at times. Kylie's story is the most developed so I did feel a bit cheated out of learning more about her friends. I think it could have stood alone with Kylie's story alone and maybe a hint at the other stories as yet to come. There were a few delightful scenes that really stood out and made me smile, and I did enjoy the quick little break in my day.

It is written very simply and a perfect book for chasing away the winter blues. I would suggest this book for anyone who needs a quick pick me up or maybe even a miracle in their life. Remember to pass it on to someone else to put a smile on their face as well! And the cover is all sparkling and glittery...very cute!

Sheila Roberts has been writing since 1989 and really likes to write about those subjects that are popular with women, family, friends and chocolate. She is married with three kids and lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Roberts, but I think I'm going to have to go check out "On Strike for Christmas".

When Turtles Fly

Title: How Turtles Fly
Author: Nikki Stone
Publisher: Morgan James Publisher
Available: now
Genre: Non-fiction
Source: publisher

Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to get rich or win the game or even get that gold medal? Do you wonder how those that have tread those waters before you managed to prosper? Nikki Stone, former Olympian, takes those questions and so many more and answers them with analogy of a turtle. Things like sticking your neck out, relying on your hard outer shell is the section headings that leads to the many interviews from those who have found success. People like Tommy Hilfiger, Shaun White, Dr. Stephen Covey and so many more share their ambitions and the dreams they had to make it happen.

This is a large book, not only in page numbers but in the sheer volume of knowledge on every page. Ms. Stone kept me captivated as I read the path to greatness or victory through small baby steps. Each step is highlighted by various successful people and their steps to stardom. Some of those excerpts made tears spring to my eyes.

This book is more than a how to overcome mental, physical and emotional hurdles. It dives straight into the heart of the matter. If you are looking for a book to motivate a struggling student, I would pick this one up quickly (but don't get mad at me when they want 150 dollars to start selling jeans). It's a very easy read, it can be read in sections or even just picking out one success story at a time. The turtle analogy ties everything together though, so I would encourage you to read the beginning and to learn more about Nikki Stone, her path to the Olympics and then from the fight of cancer and back to the Olympics.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be adding it to my permanent bookshelf to refer to time and time again.

Tandem

Title: Tandem
Author: Tracey Bateman
Format: Trade Paperback
Available: Now
ISBN: 9780307457172
Categories: Fiction - Christian - Suspense
Source: Blogging For Books


Lauren, an antiques expert, was starting a big job that would help save her business and becomes involved in something she isn't sure she can believe. The whole town soon learns of cover ups that involve mutilated carcasses and other evidence that reminds them of another time. Amede, a visitor brought to the town because of a letter sent by Lauren soon adds more mystery to the small town. Can the two of them solve the mystery before more deaths happen?


There were a lot of storylines to keep track of with this book. Not always a bad thing, but at times I had trouble keeping track of which story line I was reading. I did like the alternative explanation to vampires, especially hard to do in this time of all the paranormal books out there. Not a lot of spirituality in this book, it is classified as Christian fiction, but the Christian thoughts are few and far between.

I did learn this was the second in a series. I did not know that before, but a reader really doesn't need to read the first one to understand this book. It would definitely fill in a few blanks at the beginning of the book, but the author tied everything up at the end so her readers knew what had happened before.

I liked this book, and would recommend it for those with a science fiction appetite. While there is some romance the main focus of the book is definitely the mystery. If you are looking for a simple story, I would hesitate to suggest this, because there is a lot of shifting point of views that aren't even all explained until much later in the book, but for a challenge this winter, pick it up...you might like what you read.