Monday, August 16, 2010

A little bit of Ancient Rome indulgence, if you will.

 
 
 

Bloody Fantastic Book.

Bursting with amazing characters, some you will fall madly in love with, while others you will just love to despise.

Corruption, Jeolousy, Murder, Conspiracy, Heartbreak, Adultry, Passion, and above all Love detail this courageous and brilliant first novel of the amazing Kate Quinn.

Fast paced, and jaw clenching, this is a story for the masses. A definate page turner, with a guarantee to keep you up all night, ignore the family, and sneak as many reading breaks from work as possible.

I simply couldn't put this book down. 



Happy Reading.... 

Mona Lisa Series, By Sunny



I frakkin loved this book.
It was jammed packed with guilty pleasure. Holy Man!

Warning, those faint at heart, or easily offended, do not venture into the Monere territory.

But for those of you like me, whom every once In a while like to channel their inner freak... Read On!

This was so disturbing, and fantastical, it bordered on outrageous for me! I simply couldn't put this one down, in fact the only time I did, was to run to my local book store to order the rest of the series.

Happy Reading....

Beyond The Highland Mist, by Karen Marie Moning



I just couldn't do it, I simply could not finish this book. I tried, I wanted to like it. Highlanders, History, God's, and Time Travel, it sounds intriguing. Right? I managed 283 pages of 375.

At moments it was almost... well, good... I guess. Then it would taper off, and become the epitome of erotic cheese.

And what was with the all the cliches? Can you actually picture a buff, beautiful scot, from the 16th century saying phrases like 'Tit for Tat', and 'What's good for the goose, is good for the gander'.. Bah! Please. I aslo can't fail to mention the deplorable vocabulary. Throwing in the odd, 'och' and 'wee' or 'lass', does not make for authentic Scottish prose.

This book attempts wit, and failed more than suceeded. It attempts originality, but became silly instead. At moments it bordered entertaining, then completely lost my interest. Eventually I had to concede, this was not a book for me.

Happy Reading... 

The Sins of Lord Easterbrook, by Madeline Hunter


I have just recently discovered Madeline Hunter, after experiencing a rather, drawn out, and annoying bout of 'reader's block'

I picked this book up at my local bookstore, thinking it would be an easy read, to help me out of my slump. Let me tell you what I have discovered, about Ms Hunter...

In my opinion, her writing is amazingly clever, devastatingly sexy, and with just the right amount of mystery to keep the pages turning.

In short, I have definatly found myself another favorite author.

Do not make the same mistake I did, however, and start with this book. After starting it I realized it was book four, in a series. (Hate it when that happens), but this book had me so enthralled by its opening paragraph, I simply could not put it down. Causing me, to go against my golden rule of, 'Never read a series out of order'.

Oh well, it was worth it.

Happy Reading.... 

The Wildest Heart, by Rosemary Rogers

A tome of Historical Romance, compulsively readable!

This was an amazing story, though not for the the faint at heart.
I was drawn to this massive book, by it's size, and genre.

This novel surprised me in so many ways. It was not what I was expecting, it surprised, and horrifed me, both in equal measures. The pages kept turning, almost on their own accord, as my blood pressure raised, and my fingernails suffered.

Rowena Dangerfield, the unwanted only daughter, of a selfish opportunist mother, and an escaped outlaw father, was raised by her grandfather, in the wilds of India. After his death, Rowena is shipped back to England, to live with her Mother, and Step-father.

This is where her story begins....

Rowena is an outrageously determined survivor, in a land among men, whom all seek to possess and own her. In an age, where woman were without freedom of choice, Rowena learns how to shut one's emotions off from others, in an attempt to endure what was chosen for her. Refusing to be a victim to her circumstances, she is dubbed 'The Marble Goddess.'

Discovering her father is still alive and a rich ranch owner in New Mexico, she ventures forth to meet the man she has never known, but she learned had always loved her.

And this is where her life begins...

This novel, although a love story, is a story of one woman's survival, and the trials she endures, while in search of herself.

It's unpredictabilty was refreshing.

It confuses you, it maddens you, it consumes you. The only thing it doesn't do, is bore you.


Happy Reading... 

April & Oliver, by Tess Callahan


Hauntingly beautiful, totally capable of fracturing not only your heart, but your soul.

Like Kelly, whom recommended this story to me, (thank-you BTW) says, this story is the type that will linger.

For me, it was a mirroring journey, seeing myself in April in such an eeringly real, and disturbing way.

From the very first word, on the very first page, my pulse sped up, and I began fighting the tell all lump in my throat for the 24 hours it took me to read April and Oliver's story.

The tears finally won, on the last page, on the very last sentence.

My one, and only complaint, is the feeling of being cheated somehow, eventhough I get what Tess Callahan was doing with this story, and the ending, I wanted to read more.. I didn't want it to end.. I needed more.

An amazing new voice, an effortless and remarkable new talent. Bravo Tess Callahan, and a sincere Thank-you. You will never know how close to home this book came for me, and the healing it somehow managed, throughout the pages.

Thank-You.

Happy Reading.... 

The Red Scarf, by Kate Furnivall



Okay, I confess, I picked up this book, and devoured it because of its obvious semblance to 'The Bronze Horseman' by Paullina Simons..

Yes it's backround is set in Russia, during Stalin's reign. Yes, there is relentless suffering, starvation, and those whom grasp onto almost anything, in an attempt of survival during a horrific time. Yes, It is a love story... But that is where the similarities end.

Sofia and Anna, are best friends, torn from their families, and all they've known and loved, thrown into a torturous labour camp in Siberia, Russia for 'Crimes' (ridiculous as they may be) towards the Soviet Government.

Trying to survive their horrific exsistence, they love and protect one another, against all peril.

Anna, a remarkable story teller, hangs on to her memories, of her childhood sweetheart, Vasily, with fierce determination. Sharing her stories of great adventure, and unconditional love with Sofia, is the pairs only means of getting through the horrible life they are trapped in.

But when Anna falls ill, and it becomes apparent her survival depends soley on her escape from the abhorrent conditions in which they survive, Sofia decides to escape, determined to find Vasily, and convince him to help her save Anna...

However Sofia hadn't anticipated falling in love with her Best Friends long lost love....

It's complicated, and laden with mystery, love, and a tad bit of gypsy lore within the mysteries of the Ural Mountains, but above all it's about the power of unbreakable friendship...

Great Story...

Happy Reading..

Lord Ian, is Tall, Brooding, Scottish and Mad!!! Perfect!



I've been up, all night reading this book. I was simply unable to put it down. I am writing this review, eyes blurring,and breaking only for my constant yawning, so if I fail to make sense, please bear with me.

Lord Ian, is quite possibly the most fascinating hero I have ever read, to date.

With an affliction labeling him as 'mad' by the aristocracy, (Something we would now know as either Autism, or Asberger's Syndrome). Lord Ian spent most of his youth confined within horrific asylum's walls, enduring, and surviving various experimental treatments to 'heal' him.

Beth, a street rat, born and raised in a work house, in the unsavoury parts of London, by a loving and un-succesful prostitute for a mother, and a fraud and theif for a father. Armed with wit, humor, and a strong will, Beth brings herself up in life and station, leading her right in the path of the notorious 'Mad Mackenzie'!

Albeit bizarre, Beth senses a kindred spirit....

It's a beautiful story, revolving around two very, less than perfect souls, in a society whom demands perfection. Neither fit in their surrounding world, yet they find solace in one another.
It's a fantastic, and original concept. Taking the 'Tortured' or 'Brooding' Hero, to a whole new level.

This is the first of a series by this author, I will be picking up the next installment, as soon as it hit's bookstore shelves.

Happy Reading.... 

Surrender To Love, by Rosemary Rogers....and the Things that make you go hmmm.



Surrender To Love?!?! No doubt! But, certainly not before you beat the crap out of each other, body and soul, for the first 690ish pages of this 700 page tomb.

Historical Romance?!?! More like a sexually deviant, psychological thriller, with a dash of the past.

These characters are unbalanced, to the extreme. Give 'em all a strong dose of Prozac I say... Oh wait... hasn't been invented yet. Right... Well then... Hmmm.. I know, I know!!!! How about you defy convention, lie, cheat, steal, humiliate, brutalize, seduce and manipulate everyone within your direct vacinity instead! Yes, that will make you feel so much better.

This book was so bad... Well, that's not true. It was great writing, just a horrible concept. Well... wait... Maybe not.. maybe it was a genius concept... I couldn't put it down after all..

Oh My! I seem to have developed as many personalities as this bloody book!

How do I explain....?

Like... Have you ever seen that lady, you know the one with the GOD AWFUL spandex, like I mean the type of spandex that shouldn't ever be seen on even the most fit of people.. shopping in Walmart, and you don't want to look, yet your eyes keep straying, till you find yourself staring at the hidiousness of it all...? Yah... that's this book.

Horrible, yet captivating.

Happy Reading... 

Judith McNaught... Come back to Historicals.... PLEASE.

 

This is the one.. The one that started my chemical embalance towards everything historical romance...

I was an avid reader, in elementary school. (Anyone out there remember Fear Street? lol) Mostly horror, mystery and suspense. Anne Rice and Stephen King ranking among my top authors.

Then life happened, and I stopped picking up books for well over a decade.

2 1/2 years ago, I started a new job, and met many new people, making friends among my co-workers. One, of course being Rhonda Krieger, a fellow GR guru.

One day, she asked if I ever read, in which I replied. 'Read, who the hell has time for that!' She started telling me about certain books she has read, and when I heard it was romance that was her genre of choice, it took all my strength, to refrain from laughing out loud. "Romance, seriously. Who on earth reads that crap. My God... Not me."

For weeks, she relentlessly nagged, and cajoled, telling me 'You absoloutly MUST read this book', handing me an old copy of the book I am now reviewing.

Once and Always

I remember it having a hideous "special, only $4.99' sticker on it, and chuckled to myself, knowing I was right, the book must be crap, and I will never enjoy it. To apease Rhonda, and basically get her off my back, I took the above mentioned book,

Ladies and Gentleman, I have an announcement. Now pay attention, because this is the only time you will hear me utter these 3 words....

I WAS WRONG!!!

Yup, you heard me. (or read me, rather) I was 120%, utterly, shamefully, completely wrong in my views of the historical romance genre, and it's readers.

This book, will forever go down in (my) history as the THE book, the one that opened my mind, my heart, along with my eyes to reading again, and the amazingly beautiful stories created by thousands of awesome literary minds out there.

Judith McNaught, will forever be, One of my favorite authors, of all time.

My only complaint, is her apparent decision to stop writing historical romances, and her diversion to more contemporary.

Historical Romance lovers of the world...(or GR community atleast.. I tend to get carried away) You must read all of Ms.McNaughts Historical romances. Prepare yourselves, for an amazing journey, full of tears, hysterical laughter, frustrating anger (may even find yourselves throwing the book, one or two times, screaming 'OMG... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!.. like I did),passion and over all unbelievable true, and unyielding love. These are what Historical romance is all about!!

Whitney, My Love (Westmoreland, #2)A Kingdom of Dreams (Westmoreland, #1)Almost HeavenSomething WonderfulUntil You (Westmoreland, #3)

And of course...

Once and Always 


Happy Reading.....

The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana and Alexander, and The Summer Garden.

 

This book will break your heart, this book will anger you incessantly, this book will have you laughing, and make you blush, through your tears.

An amazingly, beautiful and daring story of impossible love during WWII in impoverished Leningrad, Russia.

Tatiana, a young, naive, and beautifl 17 year old woman-child, oblivious to the war and its beginnings, sitting on a bench eating her creme brule ice cream, fascinates Alexander, a 22, Tall, Dark, and obscenely handsome soldier in the Russian Red Army.

These two you will, LOVE, you will EMPATHISE, and you will HATE aswell. Paullina Simons manages to envoke every possible emotion in her writing, while you are staying up till all hours, and flipping pages as fast as you can, just to find out what happens.

Amazing read. Fabulous Story. I simply can not rave enough, about this book. 



The epitome of Romance, without the frills, and facade of a perfect life. This is a REAL love story.. At it's finest

I loved this story! Not for the same reasons, as I did for 'The Bronze Horseman', although in no way, any more or less.

In the first book, we met, we fell in love with, we despaired with, empathized with, and even at time's hated the characters, as there lives and love flourished.

In this book, we struggle through all the same emotions, just on much greater levels. Its raw, real and desperate, gut wrenching, and soul shattering. It reminds you of the true meaning of love, and how there simply is not anything greater, or more powerful in this world. Not war, or evil, depression, or desperation, nor distance, and time.

It brings you to the front line, you combat all there is to experience within something we hopefully never have to encounter, and in the end you are left with the knowledge, that through out it all, and no matter what happens along the way.. The cliche is true.

Love actually does, conquer all.

Amen! 
 



and finally....

Phew... Well I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

Seriously! Never in my life have I read a novel, that forcefully strips you of all strength with its sheer emotional instability.

Many times, while turning the pages I was sorely tempted to put it down. To find contentment in the ending of it's previous installment 'Tatiana and Alexander'... But I'm a trooper, and I'm not a fan of not seeing things through.. So I persevered.

Thank God for small favours!

Eventhough, there were times I could literally hear my heart breaking, and the words were so blurred, I couldn't even decipher them, and sitting still, was an absoloute impossibility, my foot in constant agitated motion.

Eventhough, there were times I felt like I could personally phone one, Ms. Paullina Simons and scream 'WHY', and 'HOW COULD YOU'!

I adored every page of this book.

Enduring everything they endured.. Suffering as they both had suffered. Every syllable, of every word, that created a sentence, turning into a paragraph, eventually completing the series was most definatly worth it.

The message is simple

In a world, where divorce is epidemic. Broken famillies are the norm. Where, once the honeymoon phase is over, and life brings with it all its profound difficulties, a staggering percentage of couples raise there white flags and simply walk away.

Two amazing people, loving eachother to distraction, refusing to allow the pressures of life destroy the very reason they've survived, simply REFUSE to raise their white flags.

This, Ladies and Gentlman, is a real love story. 



Happy Reading....

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Greatest Books Of All Time

In this humble readers opinion.. Is the one and only, Outlander Series, By the Amazing Diana Gabaldon.


It took me a crazy long time, to convince myself to pick up these books. Convinced it just wasn't my thing, I ignored the numerous pleas from fellow book lover friends, to take on this series. 

Eventually of course, their tenacious badgering, and my over all curiousity won out in the end... So... 

What can I possibly say to you, about this series that hasn't already been said?

Amazing. Beautiful, Magical, Heart wrenching, fantastic, awe inspiring, mind blowing, epic in its originality. My all time favorite books, ones I will forever keep, and read over, and over again.

Beautiful, Lyrical, riddled with a 'blow your mind' storyline. Diana has managed to create an entire world of characters, that you will not only fall madly, deeply in love with, but you will also find yourselves thinking about them... Constantly, without reprieve.

Obsession is the perfect term for any of you, whom like me have fallen for the world of Outlander.
There are seven, massive tome's to this series, and all are brimming with action, adventure, friendship, war, tragedy, heartbreak, but most of all, undeniable, rip your heart from your chest, love.

For all of you people who haven't started this series yet. WTH are you waiting for? ;) And for those of you, whom are just starting this series, prepare to be consumed by the raw, beauty of it all. And, last but certainly not least, for those of you who have travelled this road with me, You know what I'm saying.




Happy Reading.

So here is the thing....

I have two passions, outside of mothering, and wife-ing. Those would be reading, and writing. The first I do, at an obsessive rate, the latter... I'm still waiting for inspiration.

Hence, this Blog, my outlet for both. I get to read as much as I want, and afterwards express my views, no holds barred, in written form.

Two birds, One stone, and all that.

I am going to start, adding my favorite books, and reviews. All of which I have been keeping track on 

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3076674

I have made a promise, to myself, that starting now, I will write a full review (without spoilers... my BIGGEST pet peave) for every book I read.

So here it goes....