Book Reviews
In 2012, I was a volunteer reviewer for YourNeedToRead, an online book review blog site affiliated with Indie Book Collective. We reviewed traditionally published as well as self-published books. IBC has gone the way of so many other online organizations, so I'm not reviewing for its affiliate anymore. However, if you would like me to do a FREE, honest, critical review of your book on Amazon or Goodreads, please use the form on the Contact page to let me know and I'll get back to you. Below are some of my reviews:
James Swain is young, rich, talented and handsome. A British actor in a wildly successful series of films, he’s well acquainted with the sort of lifestyle afforded by practically unlimited wealth. Life hasn’t always been this good for Jamie, but he senses something is still missing.
Enter Melanie Morganstern, a thirty-something American housewife with an ambition to become a published author. After penning a well-received fanfiction novel involving Jamie’s popular character, Mel inadvertently becomes drawn into his real-life orbit. What would seem like a dream come true soon becomes something like a nightmare: her favorite fictional character crosses the line separating fantasy from reality, resulting in nearly catastrophic consequences.
Deciding Mel is exactly what he wants, Jamie tries to steal her away from her husband. But, despite her attraction to him, Mel refuses to betray her marriage vows. It’s only after tragedy strikes that she finally opens herself to what Jamie has to offer, something she’s desperately needed all her life. And Jamie, leaping headfirst into the aftermath, learns lessons of self-sacrifice, patience, and responsibility. Their passionate romance blooms despite nearly universal disapproval. Together, they face the challenges of forging a new life and a family out of the wreckage. (Amazon Product Description)
Shanyn is a new, and very talented, self-published author with two more novels upcoming. I’m anxious to read them when they come out. Old Enough to Know Better is her first book.
The first two paragraphs hooked and kept me slogging through the boring backstory that filled the rest of that page and the next two pages of the novel—good thing, because what followed completely reeled me in. I couldn’t put the book down, even though it’s 478 pages long. Shanyn’s masterful characterizations and descriptive capabilities had me right there with Mel and her two small boys, cheering them on as they worked their way from grief to happiness. Jamie, a too-young, hotheaded, “bloody narcissist”, made me root for him to “capture the castle” despite everything against him, including his own screw-ups. And I had to cross my legs at the “X” scenes (blush).
While characterization is strong, I found the plot to be a bit disappointing. Mel’s former mother-in-law threatens to take the children away from Mel after she marries Jaime, and there’s no escalation of that conflict. The last chapter is a letdown. I expected Mel to deal with her phobia and support Jamie at the premiere of his new movie, but Jamie babies Mel through her fears in the hotel room and the premiere scene itself is never reached. Also, Jamie has hereditary tendencies that led him to have a vasectomy well before he ever met Mel. I kept expecting some sort of challenge involving Jamie’s health to hit them. I think some of the “X” scenes (while I loved them) could have been “x’d” to allow for greater plot development.
I give Old Enough to Know Better 2.5 stars for plot, 4.5 stars for character development, and 5 stars for the love story—the chemistry among them, including the children, was totally believable and completely “satisfying” (blush again)—for an average of 4 stars. It’s a jolly good read!
http://yourneedtoread.blogspot.com/2012/07/old-enough-to-know-better-by-shanyn.html
'Old Enough to Know Better' by Shanyn Hosier
Reviewed by Shari
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
4 stars
Enter Melanie Morganstern, a thirty-something American housewife with an ambition to become a published author. After penning a well-received fanfiction novel involving Jamie’s popular character, Mel inadvertently becomes drawn into his real-life orbit. What would seem like a dream come true soon becomes something like a nightmare: her favorite fictional character crosses the line separating fantasy from reality, resulting in nearly catastrophic consequences.
Deciding Mel is exactly what he wants, Jamie tries to steal her away from her husband. But, despite her attraction to him, Mel refuses to betray her marriage vows. It’s only after tragedy strikes that she finally opens herself to what Jamie has to offer, something she’s desperately needed all her life. And Jamie, leaping headfirst into the aftermath, learns lessons of self-sacrifice, patience, and responsibility. Their passionate romance blooms despite nearly universal disapproval. Together, they face the challenges of forging a new life and a family out of the wreckage. (Amazon Product Description)
Shanyn is a new, and very talented, self-published author with two more novels upcoming. I’m anxious to read them when they come out. Old Enough to Know Better is her first book.
The first two paragraphs hooked and kept me slogging through the boring backstory that filled the rest of that page and the next two pages of the novel—good thing, because what followed completely reeled me in. I couldn’t put the book down, even though it’s 478 pages long. Shanyn’s masterful characterizations and descriptive capabilities had me right there with Mel and her two small boys, cheering them on as they worked their way from grief to happiness. Jamie, a too-young, hotheaded, “bloody narcissist”, made me root for him to “capture the castle” despite everything against him, including his own screw-ups. And I had to cross my legs at the “X” scenes (blush).
While characterization is strong, I found the plot to be a bit disappointing. Mel’s former mother-in-law threatens to take the children away from Mel after she marries Jaime, and there’s no escalation of that conflict. The last chapter is a letdown. I expected Mel to deal with her phobia and support Jamie at the premiere of his new movie, but Jamie babies Mel through her fears in the hotel room and the premiere scene itself is never reached. Also, Jamie has hereditary tendencies that led him to have a vasectomy well before he ever met Mel. I kept expecting some sort of challenge involving Jamie’s health to hit them. I think some of the “X” scenes (while I loved them) could have been “x’d” to allow for greater plot development.
I give Old Enough to Know Better 2.5 stars for plot, 4.5 stars for character development, and 5 stars for the love story—the chemistry among them, including the children, was totally believable and completely “satisfying” (blush again)—for an average of 4 stars. It’s a jolly good read!
http://yourneedtoread.blogspot.com/2012/07/old-enough-to-know-better-by-shanyn.html
'Old Enough to Know Better' by Shanyn Hosier
Reviewed by Shari
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
4 stars
Destiny rarely gives a woman a second chance at love, especially not with a man who died twenty years ago. Laurel is pulled to an alternate reality where her beloved still lives. She desperately wants to remain, but every shift between realities damages her body further, and her soon-to-be-ex will stop at nothing to shackle her to a life she despises.
(Amazon Product Description)
Thomma Grindstaff is the author of two previous novels, Mirror Blue and Patchwork Stained Glass. Her writing interested me enough that I would like to read them, as well.
Heart’s Chalice is an intriguing novel filled with suspense. There’s nothing like an unplanned pregnancy on the first page to grab a reader's attention (unless maybe it's a murder). And as I read through the rest of chapter one, there were both, with some psychic episodes thrown in, too. Triple hooks!
Chalice reminded me of the movie Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow, but only because of the alternate realities that Laurel, the heroine, keeps sliding in and out of (with the guidance of a mystical cat she calls Moonlight). There, the similarity stops. Laurel experiences something akin to being struck by lightning every time she alternates, and she also suffers great emotional trauma. In one reality, she is alive but has lost the love of her life, Nate, and the children she might have borne him, and in the other reality, she, Laurel, is the one who has been lost, and Nate and his motherless children grieve. She can appear to them only as a wraith-like specter. In one reality, Laurel is tied to a loveless marriage (an institution she entered into believing she could somehow redeem herself and her emotionally abusive husband). In the alternate reality, the love she never lost for Nate is a beacon of hope, but Nate and the children, especially the boy, are emotionally scarred and in need of a redemption Laurel is sure she can bring to them if she can only make them aware that her presence is real. The last third of the book really hooked me, and I’ll leave that as a surprise for the reader.
However, I found some of the transitions to be too abrupt. That abruptness works well when Laurel is “sliding”, but it doesn’t at other times. Like when the reader must jump from the young teens being in love (I felt that early relationship could have been depicted with a lot more depth) to their breakup, and then to Nate’s death in hopscotch fashion. And I never connected with Laurel’s feelings that she had “done” something wrong that caused her losses. Perhaps it might have worked if Thomma had taken me deeper into Laurel’s psyche, but she didn’t. Even worse was the jump from the dinner scene when Laurel first meets the Harry, to the proposal, immediately to the first anniversary, and then a HUGE jump to fourteen years later. And, in reading that last third of the book—which shall remain a surprise—I could see how much better it would have been if the character of Harry had been further developed. The novel is relatively short, 253 Kindle pages, and Thomma could have lengthened it by a good bit allow for this development. Still, I very much enjoyed it, especially the cats who stole the stage at various points in the novel, and the transcendental love that permeated everything.
I give Heart’s Chalice 4 stars for plot, 2.5 stars for character development, and 4.75 stars for the love story—the way they triumphed despite the challenges of the alternate realities was fantastic—for an average of 3.75 stars.
http://yourneedtoread.blogspot.com/2012/08/hearts-chalice-by-thomma-grindstaff.html
'Hearts Chalice' by Thomma Grindstaff
Reviewed by Shari
Monday, August 13, 2012
3.75 stars
(Amazon Product Description)
Thomma Grindstaff is the author of two previous novels, Mirror Blue and Patchwork Stained Glass. Her writing interested me enough that I would like to read them, as well.
Heart’s Chalice is an intriguing novel filled with suspense. There’s nothing like an unplanned pregnancy on the first page to grab a reader's attention (unless maybe it's a murder). And as I read through the rest of chapter one, there were both, with some psychic episodes thrown in, too. Triple hooks!
Chalice reminded me of the movie Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow, but only because of the alternate realities that Laurel, the heroine, keeps sliding in and out of (with the guidance of a mystical cat she calls Moonlight). There, the similarity stops. Laurel experiences something akin to being struck by lightning every time she alternates, and she also suffers great emotional trauma. In one reality, she is alive but has lost the love of her life, Nate, and the children she might have borne him, and in the other reality, she, Laurel, is the one who has been lost, and Nate and his motherless children grieve. She can appear to them only as a wraith-like specter. In one reality, Laurel is tied to a loveless marriage (an institution she entered into believing she could somehow redeem herself and her emotionally abusive husband). In the alternate reality, the love she never lost for Nate is a beacon of hope, but Nate and the children, especially the boy, are emotionally scarred and in need of a redemption Laurel is sure she can bring to them if she can only make them aware that her presence is real. The last third of the book really hooked me, and I’ll leave that as a surprise for the reader.
However, I found some of the transitions to be too abrupt. That abruptness works well when Laurel is “sliding”, but it doesn’t at other times. Like when the reader must jump from the young teens being in love (I felt that early relationship could have been depicted with a lot more depth) to their breakup, and then to Nate’s death in hopscotch fashion. And I never connected with Laurel’s feelings that she had “done” something wrong that caused her losses. Perhaps it might have worked if Thomma had taken me deeper into Laurel’s psyche, but she didn’t. Even worse was the jump from the dinner scene when Laurel first meets the Harry, to the proposal, immediately to the first anniversary, and then a HUGE jump to fourteen years later. And, in reading that last third of the book—which shall remain a surprise—I could see how much better it would have been if the character of Harry had been further developed. The novel is relatively short, 253 Kindle pages, and Thomma could have lengthened it by a good bit allow for this development. Still, I very much enjoyed it, especially the cats who stole the stage at various points in the novel, and the transcendental love that permeated everything.
I give Heart’s Chalice 4 stars for plot, 2.5 stars for character development, and 4.75 stars for the love story—the way they triumphed despite the challenges of the alternate realities was fantastic—for an average of 3.75 stars.
http://yourneedtoread.blogspot.com/2012/08/hearts-chalice-by-thomma-grindstaff.html
'Hearts Chalice' by Thomma Grindstaff
Reviewed by Shari
Monday, August 13, 2012
3.75 stars
She was the first woman to turn him down.
CEO-turned-rancher Curran Shaw is no stranger to hard work, but women have never required much effort. When a mysterious brunette at a resort-town Halloween party sparks his interest and then vanishes, he vows to finish what she started. It's finding her that's going to be the hard part.
He was her fantasy, and that's all he could ever be.
Victoria Linden has reconstructed her life and soul from the devastation wrought by an abusive ex and her own failures. She desperately wants to be loved, but what man will agree to the control and limitations she needs in order to hold herself together? Especially a man like Curran, who's used to getting whatever he wants. Walking away from him after a searing kiss is her only option.
When serendipity brings them together in the snowy mountains of Utah, will Victoria and Curran be able to mend the fences in their hearts, or will discovery and heartbreak tear them apart?
Mending Fences is approx. 70,000 words long.
(Amazon Product Description)
Lucy Francis demonstrates that she has the multiple gifts required of a first-rate writer: masterful mechanics; skillful scene-setting, captivating characterization (she is equally adept at getting inside a man’s head and revealing him as she is able to show us the secret heart of a woman); and powerful plotting.
From page one, there is mystery. Both hero and heroine have secrets to keep, secrets the reader wants to know, so we keep reading. The sizzling sexual chemistry that ignites between the masked Shaw and the mysterious lady in black as the story progresses also kept me in thrall. I liked the fact that both hero and heroine are flawed and that the taboo subject of spousal abuse is explored within the confines of this romance. I loved the portrayal of Victoria as freelance writer, realistically dressed in her pajamas in midday, poor enough to have to house sit, etcetera. Francis has a unique turn of phrase that either made me chuckle— “Her stomach flip-flopped when he licked the residue from his lips. She could have done that for him. Really.”—or brought me deeper into the scene—“Yeah, and if anyone tried that now I’d give them explicit directions to Hell.” Lucy also very skillfully kept the suspense level high, and there’s a twist to the climactic scene that readers won’t want to miss.
However, I was disappointed with two things in this story:
1) After maintaining sexual tension so well throughout the book, keeping the couple at an impasse, when they finally do “connect” the scene is definitely anti-“climactic”; it’s too commonplace. I expected more of the high combustibility that was there at the novel’s beginning.
2) There is a point in the novel when Curran is given notice of a charitable event at the children’s hospital. I fully expected this to be used as a device to bring Victoria and her past “failure” face-to-face, and possibly deepen the rift between her and Curran, and it didn't happen. I think Lucy missed a great opportunity to bring more angst to the story as well as to create an even more satisfying reconciliation at the conclusion.
Still, it was a great read. I very much enjoyed this first novel in her Heart’s Redemption series. The second, Finding Refuge, is upcoming, and I want to read it, too!
I give Mending Fences 4. 5 stars for plot, 5 stars for character development—including that of Peg-leg and Sassy, secondary animals—and 4 stars for the love story for an average of 4.5 stars. Francis is an author to watch.
Mending Fences by Lucy Francis
Reviewed by Shari 4.5 stars
Appeared on Jessica Riggles' blog, Diary of a Bibliophile, for guest reviewer week: 10-3-12
http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/2012/10/guest-reviewer-week-shari-broyer.html
CEO-turned-rancher Curran Shaw is no stranger to hard work, but women have never required much effort. When a mysterious brunette at a resort-town Halloween party sparks his interest and then vanishes, he vows to finish what she started. It's finding her that's going to be the hard part.
He was her fantasy, and that's all he could ever be.
Victoria Linden has reconstructed her life and soul from the devastation wrought by an abusive ex and her own failures. She desperately wants to be loved, but what man will agree to the control and limitations she needs in order to hold herself together? Especially a man like Curran, who's used to getting whatever he wants. Walking away from him after a searing kiss is her only option.
When serendipity brings them together in the snowy mountains of Utah, will Victoria and Curran be able to mend the fences in their hearts, or will discovery and heartbreak tear them apart?
Mending Fences is approx. 70,000 words long.
(Amazon Product Description)
Lucy Francis demonstrates that she has the multiple gifts required of a first-rate writer: masterful mechanics; skillful scene-setting, captivating characterization (she is equally adept at getting inside a man’s head and revealing him as she is able to show us the secret heart of a woman); and powerful plotting.
From page one, there is mystery. Both hero and heroine have secrets to keep, secrets the reader wants to know, so we keep reading. The sizzling sexual chemistry that ignites between the masked Shaw and the mysterious lady in black as the story progresses also kept me in thrall. I liked the fact that both hero and heroine are flawed and that the taboo subject of spousal abuse is explored within the confines of this romance. I loved the portrayal of Victoria as freelance writer, realistically dressed in her pajamas in midday, poor enough to have to house sit, etcetera. Francis has a unique turn of phrase that either made me chuckle— “Her stomach flip-flopped when he licked the residue from his lips. She could have done that for him. Really.”—or brought me deeper into the scene—“Yeah, and if anyone tried that now I’d give them explicit directions to Hell.” Lucy also very skillfully kept the suspense level high, and there’s a twist to the climactic scene that readers won’t want to miss.
However, I was disappointed with two things in this story:
1) After maintaining sexual tension so well throughout the book, keeping the couple at an impasse, when they finally do “connect” the scene is definitely anti-“climactic”; it’s too commonplace. I expected more of the high combustibility that was there at the novel’s beginning.
2) There is a point in the novel when Curran is given notice of a charitable event at the children’s hospital. I fully expected this to be used as a device to bring Victoria and her past “failure” face-to-face, and possibly deepen the rift between her and Curran, and it didn't happen. I think Lucy missed a great opportunity to bring more angst to the story as well as to create an even more satisfying reconciliation at the conclusion.
Still, it was a great read. I very much enjoyed this first novel in her Heart’s Redemption series. The second, Finding Refuge, is upcoming, and I want to read it, too!
I give Mending Fences 4. 5 stars for plot, 5 stars for character development—including that of Peg-leg and Sassy, secondary animals—and 4 stars for the love story for an average of 4.5 stars. Francis is an author to watch.
Mending Fences by Lucy Francis
Reviewed by Shari 4.5 stars
Appeared on Jessica Riggles' blog, Diary of a Bibliophile, for guest reviewer week: 10-3-12
http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/2012/10/guest-reviewer-week-shari-broyer.html