Charity’s Heart by Sophia Diana Gabel

May 25, 2015 By 1 Comment

CHARITY
Charity’s Heart by Sophia Diana Gabel
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (214 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Thornapple

Charity Llewellyn, 19, looks forward to her wedding, but upon learning that her intended groom is Mathias Baptiste, the immoral son of a wealthy banker, she runs away from home to avoid the betrothal. Angry at her attempt, her father appoints a handsome and mysterious man, Alexander Sutton, as her constant chaperone.

Furious, Charity plots an escape with help from her friend Lillian, although that leads to involvement in an unsolved 20-year old murder and a shallow burial of human bones. As she tries to unravel the secrets of the old murder, she meets a frightening man who could be Jack the Ripper.

But that’s not her only obstacle. As she and Alexander grow closer, she learns a dark secret he’s been keeping and when Mathias finds them together, he’s overcome with rage and will stop at nothing to get her back, not even murder.

Suspense and mystery added to the pot, gives this story a darker tone than some may be accustomed to in a historical romance. Personally, I like this combination of romantic suspense and historical romance which is a nice change of pace.

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Charity’s attempts to avoid marriage introduced her to Mr. Alexander Sutton, a man who has been hired by her father as a temporary bodyguard, his sole purpose being to make sure Charity arrives at the party where her betrothal is to be announced. However, Alexander is outed as the son of a former law officer, who now stands accused of murder.

For those who know me and follow my reviews online, you know that I have come to detest fluffy period novels with no substance, and an incredibly inaccurate portrayal of women’s hardships in this era of time, mainly by sugarcoating them. However, in this instance, the author got a little heavy handed with the cruelty to women. Every man in this book was mean, cruel and nasty, even Alexander, Charity’s love interest was cold, harsh, and mostly apathetic to Charity’s situation, (or ran hot and cold towards her) and not all that sexy or romantic much of the time.

The women is the story are not much better, with Charity starting off being “too stupid to live”, her best friend being very obtuse at times, although she does redeem herself somewhat, and Charity’s mother is just plain useless, making all the women in the book appear naïve, tepid, or silly.

However…. Charity does progress and grow quite nicely as the story moves along. She is still stuck in her situation and is left with little or no recourse, but to flee, if she can. I liked seeing her break out of her shell and take charge of her life, at least as much as she was able.

The mystery is a secondary plot line and eventually connects to people Charity is closely associated with. Initially, I found the set up with Alexander’s absentee father being accused of murder and leaving his son alone to take the heat and suffer a tarnished reputation, a bit odd. The evidence was circumstantial but very overwhelming. So, we cheer Alexander on as he tries to uncover the truth, with some help from Charity and her friend, although unwittingly.
The murder plot was a tad transparent in some places as you will most likely be able to ascertain who is involved, but there are still a few surprises and twist along the way.

The mystery part of the story is what kept me from sinking into utter frustration with some of the characters and events in the book. I stuck with it mainly to see the mystery solved and to see how Charity would manage to wrangle herself out the arranged marriage to Mathias. I was beginning to wonder if she would be free of this horrible man and if Alexander would simply stand by and watch it happen.

But, in the end Charity made me proud and I was glad to see she was happy, even it I did wish she had been able to experience more sigh worthy romantic elements. Overall, the story has some flaws, and it wasn’t exactly one I would gush over or highly recommend, but I found it enjoyable enough that I read it all the way through. So, if you like your historical novels with a slight edge, with a bit of mystery and suspense, you might want to give this one try.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Spell for Sophia by Ariella Moon

December 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment

SOPHIA
Spell for Sophia by Ariella Moon
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (228 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Sophia Perez-Hidalgo’s survival depends upon her mastering magic and the supernatural before her lawless parents and their vengeful boss catch up to her. How far must she flee to escape them forever? Sophia runs until she’s out of stolen money, then… Fate delivers her into the arms of Louisiana teen Shiloh Breaux Martine, and his grand-mère, a reclusive voodoo priestess living deep in the bayou.

Breaux knows Sophia is trouble — but he’ll travel through time, battle zombies, and risk his bright future to protect her. While Ainslie, best friend extraordinaire, will jeopardize her sanity to find and aid Sophia. When friendship, magic, and love are not enough, Sophia will have to save herself. But first, she must believe she’s worth saving.

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It was interesting to see the narration jump back and forth between Ainslie and Sophia. This isn’t something that’s easy to do well, but it worked for this story. There was so much going on that certain scenes would have been much more difficult to describe from only one point of view. Writing it this way was a good choice.

There were a few too many characters running around. It was sometimes difficult to remember who was who because so many different people were introduced in a short period of time. Something as simple as a list of major characters and short descriptions of how they were all connected would have been really helpful.

With that being said, the plot itself was easy to jump into. I’m curious to one day see what happened in the earlier books in this series, but I understood what was going on in this one perfectly without any advanced knowledge of Sophia’s incredibly difficult childhood. The flashbacks gave me more than enough information to understand why she acts the way she does.

Sophia is described as someone who has had extensive training in spell casting, so it wasn’t easy for me to understand why she made so many mistakes when practicing magic. There was nothing in the rest of her character development that would explain why she had so much trouble learning new things though. As a reader, it was distracting to try to figure out why this might be the case while also paying attention to everything else that was going on.

The romance was well done. The characters involved in it had strong chemistry. More importantly, they genuinely seemed to like one another as friends first. This is something I consider to be vital in any romantic storyline because friendship is such a big part of what makes relationships last in the longterm. Luckily the characters involved in this one have a bond that runs much deeper than physical attraction.

Spell for Sophia is a good choice for anyone who likes contemporary fantasy.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Rest Thy Head by Elaine Cantrell

November 26, 2014 By 2 Comments

Cover_RestThyHead
Rest Thy Head by Elaine Cantrell
Publisher: Astrea Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (233 pgs)
Heat: Sensual
Rated: 3 stars
Reviewed by Poppy

Running away from a fiancé who betrayed her, Peyton O’Malley finds employment at a beautiful mountain inn called Rest Thy Head. She didn’t expect to live in the haunted room or to fall for the inn’s owner, a fire-scarred, war veteran who uses the inn to hide away from the world. She didn’t expect her sister to show up at Rest Thy Head either, much less her formidable mother.

Now, thanks to the aid of a friendly ghost, Peyton has a shot at true love, and so does her sister Ashley, provided the guys cooperate of course!

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Not one, but two romances occur here, which was fun. I really liked Ashley. She’s determined and strong (she has to be after her mother all but disowned her for having a child outside of wedlock) and interesting. Peyton took longer to grow on me. At the start she’s weak and spineless and lets her mother and fiancé walk all over her and I was so incredibly frustrated with her. Her mother is horrible and I wouldn’t have been as forgiving as the sisters were at the end of this book. I found absolutely nothing redeemable about the woman. To be honest, had I not been reading this for review, I might not have continued. However, I’m glad I did.

The story is sweet and romantic if occasionally somewhat predictable. Petyon catches her fiancé in in a compromising position, but it takes more than that before she finally realizes he really is a cad, and runs away. She’s supported in this by her sister, and berated by her mother, but she stands by her decision and even finds a job at the inn where she decides to stay for a bit, Rest Thy Head.

There’s a lot going on here: a scarred veteran with confidence issues, an ex-fiancé who doesn’t want to be an “ex”, and even a ghost who is funny, sweet and hands down my favorite character in the book. There’s also enough suspense to keep you turning pages.

There were some things in the book that could have been cleaned up and tightened by better editing. Some awkward point-of-view violations and a few instances of narrator intrusion. These are pet peeves of mine, and may not bother another reader. Also, the dialogue didn’t always feel natural and, when I read it aloud, was stilted. Still, the author has talent for descriptions (I could see the inn and the setting clearly, as well as the horses, stables and more) and I enjoyed the fact this story didn’t rely on sex to drive the romance. The characters had plenty of attraction, certainly, but were allowed to build a foundation of friendship and respect instead of relying on that “zing” to start with and then do the rest in reverse order.

It’s a decent story and left me with a smile. Recommended to lovers of sweet romance.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Village Green by M. A. Foxworthy

November 3, 2014 By 1 Comment

GREEN
The Village Green by M. A. Foxworthy
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, YA
Length: Short Story (133 Pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Kelsey stood in a long line of ragged people as she did every week, waiting to receive her weekly rations. But the rations were getting smaller and the people were worried. Had life always been like this: hunger, want, and disease? As far as Kelsey knew, it always had, but when she finds the journal of Henry Martin everything begins to change. Will she be strong enough to fulfill a prophecy?

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This kind of equality pervades every aspect of Kelsey’s life, including education. “’Equality calls for sameness. Those who are more gifted must come down to the level of the least in their group of peers. Sameness will bring peace.’ This was one of the many laws all citizens memorized as children. And why it was such a rare thing for anyone to leave the village and go on to higher education.”

When Kelsey finds the journal of Henry Martin, she realizes that things haven’t always been like this. I found Kelsey to be a very believable character. She is faced with some hard facts demonstrating that the system, which was originally set up to protect Mother Gaia, is in fact corrupt and abusive. A few are living well at the expense of the masses. Kelsey’s reactions to the ideas in the journal are realistic. And when she discovers that she is meant to fulfill a prophecy, she is understandably shaken. At the same time, she realizes the importance of what she must undertake.

The village is described in great detail and felt altogether too real for anyone’s comfort. I really rallied behind Kelsey and the others in the underground resistance. The pacing is excellent and there are twists and turns within the plot which build tension. The ending of the novel does bring the events of the book to a suitable stopping point, but I sure hope that the author is going to write a sequel to let us know what happens to Kelsey.

Those who enjoy dystopian fantasy are sure to be captivated by The Village Green.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Stone of Kings by Shea McIntosh Ford

September 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment

KINGS
The Stone of Kings by Shea McIntosh Ford
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (242 pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Twelve year old Ardan is hopelessly distracted because he wants to meet a real faerie. But when he gets his hands on a mysterious red book loaded with faerie spells and accidentally sends himself three hundred years into Ireland’s future, he soon learns that there are more important things on which to focus his attention. Throw in some immortal druids, fun storytelling, a touch of forbidden romance, along with the music and antics of the legendary Irish harper, Turlough O’Carolan, and you’ll become swept up in a very real Irish mythological adventure.

The problem with magical objects is that they don’t always do what’s expected of them.
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I’d never heard of Turlough O’Carolan before, so it was a little bit of a surprise when I realized that this character actually represents a real person instead of a mythical or legendary one. His backstory is clearly explained early on in this tale for which I was grateful. I would have never caught the reference otherwise, and it only took a few pages to catch me up on the most important details of his life.

The plot regularly jumps between two story lines that are set a few hundred years apart from one another. The transitions between these settings were sometimes abrupt. At times I had trouble settling into what was happening next because my focus had been pulled away from the characters in the distant past (or future) at such a tense time in their journey.

It was fascinating to see how Ardan reacts to being thrown so far into the future. He is mesmerized by many things that I take for granted in my everyday life, from the Internet to painkillers. The author did a great job at focusing this reader’s attention on just how strange our world would be to someone deeply unfamiliar with it

At times the romantic subplot clashed with everything else that was going on. It’s not typically something I expect to find in books written for this age group anyway, but the particulars of this specific relationship were extra puzzling for me. I never would have thought that the characters involved in it would have found one another attractive given all of the differences between them.

Faeries have always fascinated me. Knowing that they play such an integral part in this story was one of the reasons why I was so interested in reading it. While I already knew almost all of the superstitions about them that were mentioned in the plot, it was fun to see how the Irish culture’s ideas about them differ from the legends of other lands.

I’d recommend The Stone of Kings to middle grade and adult readers alike. This is the kind of fantasy story that I’d expect to appeal to a wide age range. It’s something I’d suggest to anyone who doesn’t typically read children’s fiction.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Heart on a String by Susan Soares

September 18, 2014 By 4 Comments

Cover_Heart on a String

Heart on a String by Susan Soares
Publisher: Astrea Press
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Length: Full (186 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rated: 4.5 stars
Review by Poppy

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Marissa tells lies.

To herself, about the fact that her brother abandoned her.

To her grandmother, when she says “everything’s fine.”
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To the world when she pretends her mother is at home or working late. When she doesn’t tell them her mother is dead.

She doesn’t even question the wisdom of living in a world built on lies anymore—until she meets Brandon. Unlike Marissa, Brandon faces his grief head-on. As their relationship sweetens, Marissa realizes the value of letting someone in and not letting her grief destroy her. But when her past filled with denial catches up with her, Marissa is forced to tell Brandon her darkest secrets, or risk losing him.

The only thing harder than lying about her life? Facing it.

Aptly named, Heart on a String is one of the most touching books I’ve read in some time. From the start, when Marissa literally finds a heart on a string–a heart shaped balloon stuck in a tree–and “saves” it, I was hooked.

I lost a parent to cancer many years ago. True, I was an adult (a very young one, but still an adult), but it was no less heartrending. Marissa not only loses her mother, though, but also her brother who abandons her. And though her grandmother does her best, nothing can fill that gap in her life.

The strength of this novel was the author’s ability to create real, unique characters that I cared about from the moment I met them. From Marissa, to her grandmother, to her friend, Zoe and, of course Brandon, each person was well crafted, real and exceptional.  Even the secondary characters were solidly three-dimensional. They behaved as I would expect them to, though sometimes I wanted to slap Marissa silly for her behavior and I didn’t always like her. Even then, though, it was well within the realm of possibility. I have a teenaged daughter, and know how incredibly emotional and dramatic they can be.

Brandon was a dream come true. A truly good guy who’s learning to deal with his grief–the loss of a brother–in a much healthier manner than Marissa does the loss of her mom. I don’t want to share spoilers, but I really loved what he did at the very end. I nearly cried happy tears.

Deciding on an age recommendation wasn’t easy, but if your younger teens can handle deeply emotional stories involving the loss of a parent, then there really isn’t any else in this story to worry about.

All-in-all an impressive book. Not without a few things that annoyed (mainly some of Marissa’s behavior), but any irritation was well overshadowed by the emotions the author elicited from me. I cried, I laughed, I empathized and I hoped … the book impacted me and touched my heart. I recommend it.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Devil and Danna Webster by Jacqueline Seewald

August 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment

DEVIL
The Devil and Danna Webster by Jacqueline Seewald
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, YA
Length: Full Length (171 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Quince
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Danna Webster, a shy fifteen-year-old high school student with a talent for art, is studying in the school library with her friend Joyce when a dark, handsome boy starts flirting with her. Rich bad boy, Kevin Moore, continues to pursue her. But Danna is pulled in another direction by Gar Hansen, football quarterback and honor student who has been assigned as Danna’s math tutor. What is Kevin’s connection to the eerie stranger who offers Danna everything she could ever want in life—in return for her soul?

The Devil and Danna Webster revolves around family and love life of fifteen year old Danna Webster. Danna lives with her mother and stepdad, but she feels that there are some secrets in her family. She is a shy and withdrawn, but not naïve, girl with only one good friend. Therefore, Danna is very surprised when suddenly she becomes point of interest of two completely different boys from the senior class. Both of them are cute, and while one is dark haired bad boy – Kevin, the other is blond haired and (of course) good boy – Gar. Although this situation is totally new to her, Danna handles it very well. Also she handles well the truth that her family was hiding for her.

I have not read The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving nor The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet so I cannot draw any parallels between these three stories. Also I understand that The Devil and Danna Webster is allegorical story, but I cannot see why the author introduces the devil in order to tempt Danna. The temptation part could be done without devil, and the story would be still charming.

Regardless of this I find The Devil and Danna Webster a nice and interesting coming of age story. I like that it deals with the issue of making the clever and right choices. And although this book is more suitable for teenagers than for gown ups who like to read YA, I am glad that I read it.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Widow’s End by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

September 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

WIDOWS
The Widow’s End by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical
Length: Short Story (65 pgs)
Heat Level: sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

When widow Katie Lafferty arrives at the Pythian House, a home for widows and orphans, she has little hope for the future. She soon learns the reality offers more grueling work than she could have imagined. One of the few bright spots in her daily drudgery is Latin Master Everett Brown at the school across the street. As Katie struggles to conform to the rules and settle into her new life, she looks forward to her chance meetings with Mr. Brown When she fails to meet the standards of the home, her future becomes even more uncertain. If she has a knight in shining armor, it’s Everett Brown.

Katie never expected to be widowed so soon. She also had no idea that her husband was so far in debt…

This author has picked an interesting subject to write about. I had never heard of a Pythian’s Home for Widows and Children before. To set a romance in this setting was very entertaining.
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Katie has no choice. She no longer has a home, has only the clothes on her back and she has no source of income so her only choice is to accept the aid of the Pythian’s Home. After all, if her husband hadn’t been in good standing it’s likely her only other choice would be to act as a prostitute. She travels to the closest home and hopes for the best.

Ms. Murphy writes a nice, easy romance tale that flows well and makes you smile. Katie has troubles, but she is bound and determined to get over them and go on with her life. The author makes her kind and thoughtful with a bit of rebelliousness mixed in. Katie will need all of that if she’s to live in this home and not be ground down.

Katie’s love interest is the teacher next door. It’s a one room school and the children from the home attend classes there. Everett has fallen out of favor with the home because of an incident with the boys. However, he’s nice enough to Katie. He also grows quite fond of her.

This is a short story, so it seems the romance was a bit rushed but Katie has lived all of her life properly and as she should. It may be that finally being free let her spirit loose.

I really like how Ms. Murphy ended it. It’s a bit corny, but it made me smile. After all, we have hopes and dreams. And who wouldn’t like a white knight to whisk them away? Give this book a read; I know you’ll enjoy all the antics in it.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Lance Temptation by Brenda Maxfield

September 30, 2013 By 2 Comments

LANCE
The Lance Temptation by Brenda Maxfield
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Length: Full Length (162 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Quince

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

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The Lance Temptation was the most thrilling and exciting read for me this year in this genre. Most of the time I was sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails as I eagerly read to find out what would happen next. I definitely think that this book deserves more attention than my review can give.

Why did I like The Lance Temptation so much? This story is full of surprises. The characters might not be likable per se, mostly because they do stupid things and make stupid choices and as such, experience grave consequences. They might be pretending, scheming and self-centered, but that was not a negative for me because it meant that they are real, three dimensional characters. The teenagers in this book are acting like real teenagers and their parents are acting like real life parents, and that is what was the most important.

Even better than the characters is the way this story is crafted. It’s beautifully done. Brenda Maxfield knitted together a tale that is both thrilling and realistic about friendship, first love, choices, mistakes, and shattered dreams. The author wrote the ending with the same quality as the rest of the story; it’s very realistic, but satisfying. It took me awhile to get into the story, but once I was, it was so hard to let it go till the end. It flows nicely and without any inconsistencies or illogicality.

The Lance Temptation is definitely a story worth reading. I highly recommend it to all readers who love to read YA. And I am so happy that there is a second installment in the series, so I can follow the ups and downs of Emily growing up.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cats and Cowboys by Ruth J Hartman

September 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

CATS
Cats and Cowboys by Ruth J Hartman
Publisher: Astrea Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story(76 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rated: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon

Lanna Kirby and her cat, Gordon, flee Indiana when her racecar-driver boyfriend publicly humiliates her. A job in a small Texas post office seems far enough away and a good place to start over. Lanna’s through with men, for sure. That is, until a handsome cowboy strolls in.

Jackson Harrington is a cowboy who loves his ranch, but wishes he had someone special to share it with. Lanna gets under his skin in lots of ways, but that’s not all. Jackson hates cats!

Some viagra without prescription health issues are viewed as culture taboos. Meditation involves training the mind to remain fixed viagra for cheap on a particular external or internal location. Just use simple and normal water overnight cialis to take the medcine without breaking or mashing. The good news is that there are numerous ways for starting the conversation. find that levitra 20 mg Will they be able to ignore each other and their growing attraction, or will one of them get over being stubborn and give in?

A good looking cowboy is indeed, as promised, featured in Ruth J Hartman’s Cats and Cowboys. He’s tall and handsome, and weathered to where he looks exactly as we readers imagine him. And, exactly like main character Lanna Kirby, we fall in love with him instantly. What a perfect leading man… for about two seconds. Then Jackson suddenly isn’t quite so perfect and things go rather downhill from there. In fact, they head toward a right personal sort of skirmish if you can believe it – but its Texas and cowboys will be cowboys.

The Postmistress’s moody, roly-poly cat Gordon has as much personality (and aversion to dieting) as any human person. The local small-town folk seem a little out of their depth with a crazy cat lady taking over the PO, but take over she does; she and the cat. Gordon doesn’t take a shine to everyone, and no matter where we imagine this potential romance heading, he might just be hissing it off in another direction. These orange varmints will make their wishes known.

Hartman’s Cats and Cowboys is funny and charming. Any romance fan will enjoy, but cat-lovers will be especially tickled.

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