Romance

Book Review: Unholy by Kathryn Amurra

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Unholy is the third and final book in the “Heart’s True Desire” series by Kathryn Amurra. The books in this series are all very unique, and the one thing that ties them together is a very unusual necklace.

Unholy is a Vampire Romance. However, the vampire is the most unique vampire character I have ever encountered, and the story is the most unique Vampire Romance story I have ever read. The main character is Beth D’Angelo, who is a college student. She is striving to get her thermodynamics experiment to work so that she can graduate. She is working with another college student, and she has a boyfriend. Beth has strong beliefs she lives by.

Between Beth’s frustrations with her experiment and the issues between her and her boyfriend, Beth is quite stressed. Then, one evening as she’s driving, she is certain that she has hit someone with her car, adding to her stress levels.

When she meets, Thomas, a very attractive man, who takes an interest in her, she finds herself drawn to him. Thomas, who is actually a centuries old vampire, finds Beth’s sweet nature a challenge to corrupt her. However, it isn’t long before Thomas finds that Beth has something that he craves more than blood.

What happens between Beth and Thomas, and Beth and her boyfriend, makes for a very interesting twist in Unholy. It’s been years since I have even considered reading a vampire story, but I found that once I started reading Unholy, I couldn’t put it down. The uniqueness of several characters and the story line held my attention.

Ms. Amurra created deep, interesting characters that she developed so well from the beginning of the book and throughout the story. Even the vampire was realistic. Ms. Amurra produced such a unique story line that I was intrigued and captivated until the very end.

I will say that there is some profanity in this book, but it is spread throughout and not overwhelming. There are two scenes that may be problematic for sensitive readers. However, there are no scenes that include a lot of graphic violence, blood, and gore.

I highly recommend this book to adult readers who crave unique stories, as well as those who enjoy vampire stories. I will also say that, after reading Unholy by Kathryn Amurra, I believe Thomas will forever be my favorite vampire.

Although I have read most of Kathryn Amurra’s books, after reading Unholy, I have truly become a dedicated fan and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

Unholy is truly worthy of 5 stars.

Book Review: You Can Hide by Melissa Roos

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You Can Hide is Melissa Roos debut novel. She has written several novels since this one, and though they are all stand alone stories, I like to at least read an author’s first book before reading later ones. Ms. Roos books are Mystery/Romance stories.

Back Cover Blurb:

Jayde Walker is left for dead. Somehow she survives, and is the only witness to the murder of her best friend, Carrie. Fighting amnesia, she tries to get on with her life with the killer still on the loose. Then one night she remembers. The truth terrifies her and breaks her heart. She has to run. She has to hide. Leave behind everything. And everyone.

She runs with no clear direction in mind. Halfway across the country, lost in the Midwest, she makes a wrong turn, down a dead end road. She ends up in a ditch, unable to remember how or why she got there. The only thing she knows is she needs to disappear. The tall, lush green cornstalks of the vast fields call to her. Without hesitation Jayde steps in and disappears.

She’s lost, but found. Who can save her? Her fiance she left behind? The detective she trusted, or the farmer that found her? Who can she trust with her life? And her heart?

NOTE: I have made some punctuation corrections in the Back Cover Blurb. However, I have left the writing as written, even though as an editor, I see things I would suggest be corrected.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I like the characters in You Can Hide. Miss Roos did a great job creating and developing her characters. The plot is filled with tension and suspense. It’s one of those stories that made me want to keep turning the pages, but not because I wanted to find out who the murderer was. I was more interesed in finding out how the romance in the story was going to turn out because I really liked the relationship between Jayde and the farmer who found her, and I was fairly certain I knew who the murderer was.

For me, I felt like the murderer was revealed near the beginning of the story. There was one point in the story that I thought it might be someone else, but as I looked back to the beginning of the book, there wasn’t any other character identified that it could have been. However, the way that the murderer sought after Jayde and all the tension that caused and built to the climax definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be reading any more books written by Melissa Roos because I wasn’t expecting a lot of profanity in this book, and when it first started appearing, it was mild and the words were few and far between. However, when I reached page 175 and found the Lord’s name taken in vain, I was shocked and taken aback. Then on page 176 the “f” word was used. There were only a few mild words up until that point, and even after those two pages, there weren’t too many profane words. However, in the last fourth of the books, the profanity became something that regularly came out of the characters’ mouths.

To me, that’s very sad. I don’t think those words are necessary to make a book realistic nor do I think they add anything to the story.

The other thing I found that distracted me from the story were the things that should have been taken care of in the editing process prior to publishing the book. I know that most professional editors charge a lot of money that most authors cannot afford, but there are some that will edit for a reasonable price. Even participating in a good critique group can help help with a lot of the errors I saw throughout this book.

I can only give this book 3 stars, and I’m not going to post it anywhere but here, (which will also post on my Facebook page), because I know book reviews are important to an author, but they don’t help it they can’t give lots of praise and at least 4 stars.

BIG Sale!

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Today is the first full day of summer here in the U.S.! Are you planning a trip or some relaxation time? Are you choosing your summer reads? Do you like to have some good books to dive into while you bask by the pool or on the beach, or just relax on a mountainside or in an air conditioned cafe? If so, I’d love for you to make my book, Love by Pony Express part of your summer reading list. It is on sale now in celebration of the beginning of summer!

It’s a Historical Romance with lots of action and adventure as it follows the life of a Pony Express Rider who faces many dangers on the trail. It also includes two ladies who are interested in finding the right man for them. Could that man be Johnny, the handsome Pony Express Rider? Johnny’s faced many challenges in his life and isn’t comfortable around beautiful women. Will one of these woman make him comfortable and win his heart?

If you like stories with danger, action, troublesome family members, clean romance, a positive message, and more, you’ll like Love by Pony Express! So, don’t wait! This sale ends Monday morning, and it’s my biggest sale — only $2.99 for the ebook (that’s a $2 savings!) and $10.49 for the paperback (that’s a $5.46 savings!) ONLY ON AMAZON! And it’s available on Kindle Unlimited too! If you read it, I’d appreciate if you’d also write a brief review on Amazon because reviews are very important to me as in indie author. You can also stop by here and share some thoughts with me. I’m always happy to connect with my readers!

Romance Readers, What Do You Think?

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Photo by Ludovic Migneault on Unsplash

As many of you know, I write Historical Christian Romance stories, and my first novel should be out in time for Christmas if all goes well.

I have begun writing my second novel and yesterday, when I met with my critique partner, I asked her a question. You see, I began my new novel with Chapter 0, which is sort of like a Prologue. It’s a scene from my main male character’s back story. Yesterday, I had Chapter 1 ready to give to my critique partner, and she gave her critiqued copy of my Chapter 0 back to me. I asked her what she thought about the fact that I began this novel with a scene from the back story of my main male character and had written Chapter 1 about my main male character in the actual time period of the story.

Why did I ask her that question? Because I had been told when writing my first novel that you cannot wait until you’re too far into the story to introduce the lady who will be the main male character’s love interest. Or rather, both the male and female, who will fall in love, must both be introduced early in the story.

On another note, I had also been told that my male character should not be the main character. I was told that romance readers wouldn’t like it. That it didn’t fit the formula. I’ve been a romance reader for many years. When I first began reading romance stories, I read a lot of Harlequin Romance stories. However, after awhile, I grew tired of the fact that I found them to be so predictable. I felt that the stories had different characters and were set in different places, but the story lines were all basically the same. So, I branched out to read other romance stories.

I have found throughout the romance genre that generally, the formula is boy meets girl and, though they are attracted to one another, something or, sometimes, more than one thing, keeps them apart until the last third or quarter of the book.

My novels do follow that basic formula. However, I choose to make my main character the male, at least in these first two novels. However, once the male and female begin interacting more, I change scenes or chapters back and forth between his point of view and her point of view, so really, my novels really have a male and a female main character throughout the majority of the novel.

One more thing I find odd, is that when you submit a query or a novel to an agent or publisher, they almost always ask you, what makes your story different from the other stories that are out there in your same genre. Why do they want to know what makes it different, if it’s not supposed to be different?

All that being said, I would like for you, Romance readers, to please answer the following questions in the comments below: 1) Do you prefer your romance stories to be predictable? 2) Would you be willing to read Romance novels that begin with a main male character? 3) Do you find it refreshing to find new twists in the Romance genre and look for books that offer something new or do you prefer to stick with the same old, same old?

I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions.

To Claim Her Heart by Jodie Wolfe

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To Claim Her Heart by Jodie Wolfe is a Christian historical romance story set in Oklahoma in the late 1800’s.

Any of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time know that, although, I read a variety of genres, Christian historical romance is my favorite. I read this book in four days. It usually takes me two weeks to read a book, but Jodie Wolfe created characters that grabbed my attention and my heart right from the start. She also included some very interesting history — I didn’t know there were “runs” to claim land in Oklahoma in the 1800’s. Therefore, I enjoyed learning about these “runs” while reading the story, and, of course, because some humans make bad choices, there were many complications to getting your land claim in some cases. Such was the problem for Elsie and Benjamin.

Elsie is a young woman who is on her own and doesn’t really behave like a lady. She also has no intention of becoming involved in a relationship with any man. She’s tough and independent, or, at least she thinks she is.

Benjamin is a preacher who wants to build a home and a church, to preach to a community. He’s experienced some tragic losses that have left him determined to remain unattached.

The things that happen as Elsie’s and Benjamin’s paths cross are humorous, frustrating, dangerous, and more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and fell in love with the characters, not only Elsie and Benjamin but many of the secondary characters as well. I highly recommend this book to any Christian historical romance readers or any reader who just enjoys a good historical romance story that doesn’t contain profanity and explicit sex.

I give To Claim Her Heart by Jodie Wolfe five stars and look forward to reading more of her books in the near future.

Close to You by Kara Isaac

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Allison Shire, a former academic, is now a tour guide for all things Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. She has sworn off love. Then Jackson Gregory steps into her life. He’s on the three week tour with his great-uncle, though he knows next to nothing about Lord of the Rings. He, too, has no interest in love and romance.

So, what happens when the sparks ignite between these two? Lots of mishaps and misadventures.

I really enjoyed this quick, easy read. it’s a really sweet, cute romance story that made me laugh and brought a tear or two to my eye. It was tons of fun with all of the references to Lord of the Rings.

Kara Isaac does an excellent job of writing witty dialogue and original descriptions. I will remember Jackson and Allison for a long time, and I may have to give this another read when I need something light and fun to read.

If you enjoy sweet romance stories or are a Lord of the Rings fan, you may find yourself as drawn into the story as I was. One night, I just couldn’t put this book down and I read past my bedtime. I finished the book the very next night, completed in just one week (I only have time to read for about three hours six nights a week).

This is Kara Isaac’s debut novel and I enjoyed it so much that I can’t wait to read her newer novel, Can’t Help Falling, released just six months after this one. Can’t Help Falling includes references to The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, which are near and dear to my heart.

The Captain Takes a Wife by Doris Durbin

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I received a free copy of The Captain Takes a Wife by Doris Durbin for my honest review for BookLook Blogger.

The war is over and Captain Harry Richardson is looking forward to starting a new life in a small town as a pastor. He also hopes to find a wife sometime soon. His journey to the little mountain town turns quite interesting when he meets Sarah Franklin and realizes she’s in some kind of trouble.

She begs him for his help, and he cannot refuse. After all, she’s quite an attractive woman. So, as he tries to help her during the journey, they seem to meet trouble around every corner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was suspenseful and romantic. There were unexpected twists, and just when I thought I knew who the head bad guy was, I found out I didn’t.

The plot, character development and dialogue all worked well to move the story forward without slowing down to much or leaving me too breathless for too long. There were some sweet, tender moments to balance out the threats and suspense, yet the pace  didn’t waiver.

Descriptions were vivid and painted pictures in my mind. There was even some humor at places. The  only thing I question is the setting. The place was well described and explained, but the story is to be taking place in 1875, and yet, I felt like I was in present day more often than 1875. That didn’t hinder my interest or the fact that I liked the book, but it did cross my mind a few times.

I’ve been reading books published by West Bow Press for quite a while and often find them lacking in many areas, so it was refreshing and delightful to read a book published by West Bow Press that I felt was quality fiction. So kudos to Doris Durbin for writing a book of good quality that I can honestly say I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a romantic suspense story.

A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in order to write an honest review of the story.

Emily Price is an art restorer. She restores art that has been damaged by fire, water or that has become worn with age while harboring dreams of becoming an original artist, herself, one day. She travels to Atlanta to restore a mural in a home damaged by fire. That’s where she meets Chef Benito Vassallo, who is visiting Atlanta to reconnect with his brother and breathe new life into his aunt and uncle’s restaurant, Piccolo. Emily falls in love with Ben as she works with him to improve the appearance of Piccolo, and shocks everyone when she accepts his marriage proposal and follows him to Italy.

Once in Italy, Emily struggles to fit into Ben’s close-knit family and creates problems for some of Ben’s family members when she was only trying to help. She begins to wonder if she belongs in Italy and in Ben’s family.

The story was romantic and it was easy to be swept away on the wings of love with Emily when she spent time with Ben in Atlanta. However, when she follows Ben to Italy and struggles to fit into his tight-knit family I can relate to her feelings and I cheer for her to fight for her place in the family because she and Ben seem so right for one another. Besides, Ben’s father likes her and encourages her.

I love the relationship between Emily and Ben. It’s sweet and romantic and a little bit magical. I love the dialogues between these two.

Katherine Reay does an excellent job of showing the relationship problems in families; not just mixed cultural families. Yes, some of the issues Emily faces in Ben’s family in Italy has to do with their culture, but most of it has to do with the differences in personalities and in the things they choose to keep inside.

I also think Katherine did a lovely job of painting a picture of Italy for her readers. I loved the driving scenes.

The fact that this was a wonderfully realistic romantic story is what endears it to my heart. Ben and Emily have a deep love for one another but that does not exempt them from challenges in their relationship that could separate them.

To read the way that Katherine Reay chooses to deal with the issues that challenge Ben and Emily both startled me, bringing tears to my eyes, and gave me a warm heart and encouragement I can apply to my own relationships.

If you like romance stories, but prefer your romance more realistic and not of the “happily ever after” flavor, I encourage you to read A Portrait of Emily Price.

My Writing Life

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Okay, so I am working on an historical romance story that takes place in the old west.  I have ideas for at least two more books, possibly three, to create a series.

I’m part of several writing groups that offer critiques or are strictly critique groups.  Also, a couple of weeks ago I attended a writers’ conference where I had two appointments for one-on-one conferences with published authors to get input on part of my story.  Of course, I have things I need to work on and am very grateful for the two writers who were kind enough to give me advice.

Being a visual learner, one of the writers, my friend, Mike Dellosso, gave me some great advice that he worded in a way that created a picture in my mind, which I know I will not forget and will be able to apply to my writing.  You see, I am struggling with setting the scenes because I’ve been told not to write too much description.  Therefore I had swung to the opposite extreme and wasn’t writing enough description.  Mike told me to put myself in my character’s shoes and use my five senses and describe what my character is seeing, hearing, smelling, etc. as he walks down the street in that old, dusty western town.  He also gave me some examples which made this advice come alive for me.

A few days after that, I shared a piece of this same story with the critique group I recently joined.  I was extremely nervous and afraid of what might happen in this group.  I was pleasantly surprised that there were many positive things said (One lady really likes my main character) and they also offered some great advice.

Therefore, on Thursday night when I met with my weekly writers’ group, I was feeling overwhelmed about how to go about sorting through all of the advice and applying the needed changes to my story.  I just didn’t know where to begin.  My friend, Laura, who just finished edits on her first novel had great words to help me.  She suggested that I get rid of any advice that I didn’t believe was helpful, which I had already done.  Then she said to go through the ones who offered the least amount of changes and work toward the one who offered the greatest amount of changes.  She said that by the time I get to the one with the greatest amount of changes, I probably will be surprised to find that I’ve already taken care of many of those changes from things the others suggested.  Ahh, thank you, Laura, you gave me a workable plan that I can handle.

I am so thankful to have met and made connections with writers who have gone before me who are willing to help me on my journey.  As writers, we spend a lot of time alone working on our craft, but we need each other.  We need the help and encouragement of others and then we need to pass that on to those who come behind us.

How about you?  Who’s been helping you on your writing journey?

 

Top Ten Tuesday

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Today’s Top Ten Tuesday’s theme as determined by the Broke and the Bookish is Ten Books on my To Be Read List.  This is probably the easiest list I’ve done so far.

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