Book Review - When Lightning Strikes , By Kathleen Rovner

I think this is a week of Mondays, or at least it feels that way.  Just so much to do and not enough of me to get it all done.  Some days I just think that I spread myself too thin.  It happens, but let me tell you, I am not a fan of it.  I am exhausted.

That being said, I have been reading, a lot.  So there will be reviews coming, because, well, books!

On with the show....

BLURB:

Julie Marin is a talented dancer, and her family has the means to make sure she can live her dream. Her life is close to perfect—until the night she leaves practice late and gets attacked.

Then her world takes a terrifying turn. With no notice, her family has to pack up and move overnight. And they won’t even tell her why.

Now everyone around her has secrets—her brother, her parents, and the disturbingly alluring Lucas Black, a new teacher at her school. And there’s definitely something going on in the small town the Marins move to.

When Julie finds herself drawn to the arrogant but handsome Rory, nothing makes any sense. Is she just paranoid, or is she going crazy? Will these secrets destroy everything Julie has worked for—or destroy her as she fights against them?

A 300 page young adult fantasy with romantic suspense.  

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Book Title: When Lightning Strikes

Author: Kathleen Rovner

Publishing Date: May 7, 2015

Page/Word Count: 217 pages

Pros: Great idea, great characters

Cons: got a little lost at times, some ideas didn't seem fully fleshed out

Overall rating: Good book

Impressions: Fasted paced from the get go, some spots were slow.  Some things were lacking a "body" if you will.

Review:

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal)

So I had high hopes for this book.  The idea was great and I liked most of the characters. Unfortunately some parts just felt rushed or lacking in information. The idea behind the story was a well thought out idea, and I can tell that the author wanted to make sure it was done well.  Sadly I felt lost in some areas, like the idea was there but the words never made it to the page.

Julie was a good character, but I could not love her.  I just didn't feel like I connected with her.  I felt like she was annoying at times.  I feel like her part of the story was actually the parts that were lacking something for me.  I think she needed to be flashed out more. The parts of the book that I got the lost the most in involved her and her random trains of thought.

I think that with a little work this book could be a great one.  With a little fleshing out of things it cold become one of those series that everyone loves.  I just don't see that yet.

I loved the hanger at the end though.  That little tidbit was enough to make me want to know what happens next.  I am willing to give the next book in the series a try, with the hope that things get fleshed out better. 

Stars: 3 out of 5

Amazon Link: Buy it here

Goodreads Link: Click here

Book Review - The Dawn: The Bombs Fall, By Michelle Muckley

And here we go with review number two!  I did some reading when I couldn't sleep this week.  My job out in the world keeps me up sometimes and there are days when it keeps my mind so busy that I can't sleep.  Those are the days when I get a lot of reading done.

So I got this book by e-mail and let me tell you, I want to read the rest of them because of this book.  I want to know how it all works out.

And on with the show......

BLURB:

Zachary Christian is Delta Tower resident 8652. He has been stuck inside his tower since the bombs destroyed the world he knew. The reason for the war is still a mystery, but ever since that day the world stands still, trapped by the nuclear winter and the Guardians who patrol the exits. Zachary should feel lucky to be alive, but he is haunted by past mistakes which he never got a chance to put right.

The only way out is the New Omega Lottery. The prize is a place in Omega, a giant glass tower in the center of their barren world where the new government, The Conservators, rule. Nobody from Delta has ever won. But when Zachary meets Emily he knows she is not from Delta. Convinced there must be another way out, he vows that he will find it. But he doesn't realize that The Conservators have already found him.
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Book Title: The Dawn: The Bombs Fall

Author: Michelle Muckley

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

So let me be honest, I went into this book not expecting much.  That is not a complaint.  I just never know what to expect with this type of book and I have learned never to expect anything.  You just never know where you will end up with these books.

There were some issues for me and this book.  The characters just weren't developed for me.  The back stories were just not enough for me. I really had a hard time relating to any of them.  When I read a book I want to be able to relate to at least one character.  They were ok, but I just couldn't find myself connecting with any of them.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let me say that the idea behind the book is a great one.  The way we get an idea of what life is like for these people in Delta Tower was great.  We get a real vision of how life for those who were not in control after the world is destroyed. I just wish we got more about how they ended up there.

Now all of these issues might be cleared up in the later books.  I am willing to wait and see how things work out for the characters.  I am hopeful with the next book we will get more of a back story and really I want more from the other towers.  I want to see if we get a chance for Zach to see Emily again.  I want to see what the rest of the world looks like now, not just what they see from the windows in Delta Tower.

Pros: Great story idea

Cons: Characters were not easy to relate to and the story was hard to get into at the beginning.

Overall rating: I am torn about recommending it.

Book Review - Dying Embers, by Betty Adams

So I have done a lot of reading this week.  Between insomnia and plane rides I got a few books done that I needed to finish for reviews.  We also have a couple blog tours coming up, so be on the look out for those. 

I really do appreciate all the people who stop by and read the reviews.  I know I am still learning the ropes of things here, but I am really trying to get the hang of things.  I love that I am part of a larger community that does read each other's reviews.

That being said, here we go....

Book Title: Dying Embers

Author: Betty Adams

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

So when I started this book I was little lost. I am glad that through out the book we got more back story but for a while I had no idea why or what was going on. I loved the idea of the book but I honestly think that it would have flowed better for me so that we understand better where each character is coming from.

I loved the alien species. They were definitely not what I was expecting them to be, but I wish we could have seen more of the “bad” side of things. We get small tastes through back story and conversations but we never get to see any kind of interactions with them. To me it was lacking something, but I just can't put my finger on what.

Over all I love the book and it got to me. Let me say, when you start reading this you don't expect to need the tissues, but trust me, you will need them. The plot was great, but I just feel like there was so much more that could have been done with this book. Again, that is where the lacking something comes in. I just don't know where it really is missing something.

After I finished reading this book I thought about it for a while before I started to write this review. When I finished the book I had strong emotions about the whole story but I was unsure how I would rate it. I also felt like I was missing something. I went back over certain parts of the book and still felt missing pieces.

I think that over all what we are lacking is more about the aliens and how they got to Earth, how they ended up where they are. I just think that we need to know why they are working with the government, why they are with the humans. I guess I am just a bit cynical and would think that the humans would not be so open to the interactions we are getting in this book.

Pros: Great idea, love the characters

Cons: Feels incomplete

Overall rating: Great book, would recommend it.

Book Reviews - The Merriweather Witches Series, By Tricia Schneider

Alright, so I got a set of four books that are tied together into a series.  I sat down yesterday, while doing massive amounts of laundry, and decided to get to reading them.  When I have a deadline I like to get the books read before then just in case something massive happens at work or elsewhere.  You never know when things will fall apart somewhere.  The life of a social worker.

I am going to give you all four books here...

Book Title: The Witch and the Wolf

Author: Tricia Schneider

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal).

So this was the first book in the series.  I wouldn't call them full books, they were more like novellas and I would have surely found them in one book together, like the way Stephen King sometimes does his novellas.  I am only using that format as a example.  Tricia's books are not horror like Mr. Kings' books.

The idea behind the plot was wonderfully thought out. I did have some problems with this book though.  I think that at times things were way too rushed. I know that idea behind the romance genre is find love, living happily ever after.  I think that there were just not enough steps to get from point A to point B.  I get that the characters come from the paranormal side of things, but I just feel like there were many steps left out.

I think that if the author would draw it out more, make it longer, she could give the story more depth. I felt like there were definitely things missing.  You have a main character that is already in love in less then 24 hours.  While I do believe in love at first sight, this was almost too much for me.  I also think that the issues were all prettied up and finished too quickly.  I get the happy ending idea, but I feel like there was no enough "struggle" for this ending.

Yes, we had a werewolf in this one, but it seemed to be a back story, not a main point. I wanted more on that.  I felt like the author just threw that in there to give her male lead something supernatural.

Overall I think that the idea for the story had merit, but I think that Tricia should have fleshed it out more.  I think that if she would take it from novella to full book she could flesh out the idea more and make the story into something grander.  The idea of the evil family member that was going to do bad things to the main character was a great start, but I just felt like it was very rushed.  She wanted to get from meeting your two main characters, the love interest and the protagonist, to them being in love.  There was just not enough between there to make me see them really love each other.

Pros: The characters were likeable. The idea behind the story was great.

Cons: It was too fast.  There was no depth.  The ending was too rushed.

Overall rating: I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone until it is fleshed out more.

Book Title: The Witch and the Vampire

Author: Tricia Schneider

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal).

So this is the second book in the series that Tricia Schneider wrote.  I liked that it took place at the same time as the other story, just in a different location.  Again, this was a novella, not a full book.  I use that term because these are not full novel length stories.

I think that the idea behind this one was a bit more thought out.  There was more struggle to this one and I liked that.  The characters in this one were a bit more "grr" for me and I liked that.  I think that it helped with the story.

This one was again still too short for my liking.  I think that it needs to be drawn out more, giving the story more life.  This one has a better struggle in it.  The evil family member in this one is the same as the first, but we get a better idea about him.  I still think there is more there.  I think his part could be made larger, with more depth.  There was just not a lot of depth in the story.

I know that romance is a way of escape, but there was not enough to escape to in this story.  We are brought into the story at the right time but shoved right back out again before we can really settle in.

I do like her idea on vampires.  She has put out there that they only feed on the full moon.  I liked the idea, but what I really want is to know how he became a vampire.  I also didn't like that he just threw out there that he was 100, with nothing else to go with it.  That should have had something to go along with it.  I get that the love interest understood what he was, but I don't care who you are, you tell me you are 100 and I am going to ask some questions.

I am also struggling with the side story that was in this one, with the vampire hunters.  There was just nothing there and it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Pros: The struggle was a bit more pronounced in this one.

Cons: Still too fast.  Too many openings that were left unopened.

Overall rating: I don't think I can recommend this one yet.  If she can draw it out more, I might be able to tell others to read it.

Book Title: The Witch's Thief


 Author: Tricia Schneider

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal).

So as this series goes, the stories get more to them.  When we get to the third in the series, it feels like the author is starting to flesh out more things.  I still feel like the story is rushed in this one, but we see more then just getting from point A to point B in this one. As the series progresses, we see more in the stories and that helps a lot.

This one takes place in the same time frame as the first two, and I think that as we get to the end of this one we finally get to start moving past that time frame, due to needing the other characters to come to the location in this one.

I felt like this one has more potential and sadly we were left with a hanging issue.  The "bad guy" in this one had no closure.  I hated that and I wish we could have seen more into the reasoning and thinking of the evil man.  I am being very vague here, but I am just not sure how I want to talk about him.  I don't really know how to fit him into things.  The mad, crazy man was shoved on us and I think that we need back story.  We see the death in the very beginning and then never hear of it again until we are shoved into that story toward the end.  We need more there.

I still feel like the story is lacking something.  I think that there needs to be more added to this one.  I do like that in this one we have a more plausible love story.  They knew each other many years ago and have come back together.  This was more real for me and I could see them coming back together, as opposed to the "I just met you but in less then 24 hours I love you and will marry you" idea we get in other stories.

Pros: This story was fleshed out more.  The love interests were better portrayed.

Cons: Again, still far too rushed.  We need more back story on the antagonist.

Overall rating: I think I could almost recommend this one, if it was given more back story on the bad guy.

Book Title: The Witch's Kiss

Author: Tricia Schneider

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal).

Alright, so this is the fourth book in the series.  Of the four, this one felt like it was on the right path from the very beginning.  This one did not feel nearly as rushed.  The main characters were in the last book and the struggles started there. Part of the back story in the previous book are the main point in this book.

So we have a demon and a ghost in this one.  I love that they can't be together to start with and it was not until the very end they even told each other how they felt.  The struggles in this story were better and it gave us a chance to see them trying to do the right thing before they ended up together.

We have a random fiancee, other women who have been with the male lead, and internal struggles that keep the characters away from each other.  I think that this helped make the story more then the others.

I am still struggling with the shortness of the story though.  I would love to see this one drawn out more.  Give us more trying to fix the issues, give us more back and forth between the male and female lead, to show us how they work together.  I just want more!

The ending was still very rushed for me.  We did take longer to get from point A to point B but it was still very fast.  The ending was too pretty, if that make sense.  They took all the problems and tied them up in pretty little bow.  I think it should have been drawn out more, made to feel more plausible.  Well as plausible as a paranormal story can be, with witches, vampires, werewolves and demons.  But I think you understand where I am coming from here.

This is the book that feels more thought out.  I have to wonder if perhaps this was always the end game, but the others were just small steps to get to this one.

Pros: More story, more struggles.

Cons: Too short, the ending was too pretty.

Overall rating: This is the one story in this set of four books I can safely recommend to others.