Review: The Wine Club by Edge Steele

Goodreads Blurb

For the first time in his angry and spiteful life Edge is no match for the seductive Captain Athena, outsmarted, outmaneuvered and completely overwhelmed, his life is in her hands.

A momentary lapse in judgement will bring Edge’s guarded and structured world to its knees as he is forced to submit to the whims of relentless and powerful woman.

A stranger just mere moments before she now rules his world with an uncompromising iron fist. Toying with his life, tormenting and shaming him into ever more degrading and humbling situations until he is completely her property

My Review: Rated 4 out of 5 stars

This was a powerful book. That leaves the reader wanting more. Edge is a man who has felt that life had no more surprises held until he met Athena. He had to please her in all her everyday needs and sexual pleasures. Athena is a powerful woman who is smart and athoritative. She was not ashamed of showing her body to anyone or doing sexual acts in front of others. She was turned on and proud when others were around. Edge did everything Athena asked of him. She owned him. He was very happy with being in authority of Athena. His life changed completely. He was in a relationship in which he knew he was owned and what was needed of him. He did his duties perfectly with pride. This book was intense and seductive. Edge didn’t know anything about wine at the beginning of the book. As the book progressed, he was able to pair the meals with a wine that fit like yin and yang. Athena and Edge both needed each other. They gave each other satisfaction and enjoyment.

Review: Maya & Filippo Show Aloha by Alinka Rutkowska

Goodreads Blurb

Take Your Children on an Adventure!”An engaging book to entertain and educate young readers about the Hawaiian lifestyle and culture.” – 5 stars from Readers’ FavoriteThis entertaining and educational picture book features two little travelers – Maya and Filippo – who love to explore the world.

˃˃˃ Would you like your children to learn about different countries and cultures in a fun way?Then the “Maya & Filippo Adventure and Education for Kids” Series will be perfect for you and your early readers.

˃˃˃ Would you like your children to understand the meaning of “aloha”, “hula”, “lei” and “ukulele”? Then let Maya & Filippo show them around Hawaii and tell them about the islands’ culture and geography.

˃˃˃ Would you like to check if your beginner readers are paying attention? Then use the quiz at the end of the book!

Scroll up and grab your copy now!

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Another amazing book that teaches kids about Hawaiian culture. It was a perfect read to read after this horrible winter wishing I was at Hawaii on the beach. I love the illustrations and always like the quiz questions at the end of the book. Keeps children attentive and mindful of what was read n what the images portrayed. I loved how it started with questions so that I could figure out where Maya and Philippo were going. Highly recommend this book for children.

Goodreads Author Biography

Hi, I’m Alinka Rutkowska and I’m an award-winning and best-selling author and coach.

I’ve been featured on Fox Business Network, Examiner, She Knows, She Writes, Blog Talk Radio, The Writer’s Life and many more.

I’m giving away presents!

READERS: Go to http://alinkarutkowska.com and get one of my children’s books for free!

AUTHORS: Go to http://alinkarutkowska.com/authors-home/ and get my ebook “200 Book Marketing Tips” for free!

Review: Kilts and Dagger by Victoria Roberts

Goodreads Blurb

Ever since Lady Grace Walsingham discovered her uncle and sister are spies for the Crown, she has yearned for adventure. She’s counting the days until she can leave barbaric Scotland behind, even if she must endure Highland captain Fagan Murray’s company for weeks.

Fagan has a simple mission: escort the haughty Lady Grace back to England. But nothing is ever easy. The sharp-tongued woman needles him at every turn. But when a menacing threat follows them on their journey, Fagan’s grudging tolerance for Grace turns to respect…and into a perilous attraction that could seal their fate.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

This was another show stopper written by Victoria. It deserved more than a five-star. I was having a ball reading Grace and Fagan arguing back and forth. Loved that Grace spoke her mind and didn’t let men overpower her decisions. Fagan’s love for Grace could be seen from the beginning, by the way he protected her. Love that Grace was able to see she had feelings for Fagan even though she didn’t like highlanders. Grace totally made this story with her clumsiness and wanting to be a spy at any cost. She is strong-willed for being captured and not afraid of speaking her mind even though it costs her later. Her betrothed was a total jerk who beat women and hid behind their skirts in order to protect himself. I am very happy about the whole outcome. Grace deserved Fagan, the man who stood his ground and became Grace’s husband. Can’t wait to read the next book Victoria writes. Highly recommend this book.

Goodreads Author Biography

Award-winning author Victoria Roberts writes Scottish historical romances about kilted heroes and warriors from the past. She was the recipient of the 2013 RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice award for Best Medieval Historical Romance for X MARKS THE SCOT, as well as the 2014 BTS Book Reviews Red Carpet award for Best Historical and Best Book of the Year for MY HIGHLAND SPY.

Represented by Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, Victoria is a member of Romance Writers of America, Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, several local chapters, in addition to being a contributing author to the online magazine CELTIC GUIDE.

Victoria resides in western Pennsylvania with her husband of twenty two years and their two beautiful children–not to mention one spoiled dog. When she’s not plotting her next Scottish adventure, she’s dragging her clan to every Scottish festival under the sun. Please visit Victoria at VictoriaRobertsAuthor.com.

Review: Exile: A Novel of the Bloodforge by Tom Stacey

Goodreads Blurb

On the fringes of the Verian Empire, two small boys stumble upon a strange altar, buried in the heart of a mountain. There they awaken a horror unseen for generations, that will descend upon the realm of men while it is at its weakest. For Veria is a nation at war with itself, only recently recovered from a bloody rebellion, and the time of heroes has passed. The empire is in a state of chaos, and while its ruler, the Empron Illis, rids the land of his remaining enemies, unseen forces are gathering at the borders. However all eyes are turned inwards. The Empron is not a well man, and there are whispers among the common folk that his advisors are spies; demons that only wear the flesh of men.

Yet there is hope…

In the distant mountains, a forester who has buried his past learns that he has not been forgotten, and that his crimes have sought him out at last. But he is no simple woodsman. He is Beccorban the Helhammer, Scourge, Burner and the Death of Nations, and his fury is a terrible thing.

For when all the heroes are gone, Veria will turn to those it has forgotten, before all is lost.

My Review: Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Won this book from GoodReads. The story plot was very good and the writing.I really enjoyed the prologue of this book. Really caught my attention and interest. Tom really made me feel all the pain that Kiren endured with his injuries. I just couldn’t get over when the lady came and used a knife to cut his finger to remove his ring, not knowing that he was still alive. The constant cutting with a dull knife had my hair standing. He was very strong to lay there as if he was dead while someone did such a terrible act while not trying to move an inch. Being caught alive would just make him get killed. When Tom describes the fighting as seen, I feel like I am there being tortoured and trying to survive. This book had a nice array of characters each had their own secrets. Thanks for the chance to read your book.

Review: Detective Mole and the Halloween Mystery by Robert Quackenbush

Goodreads Blurb

The intrepid Detective Mole is called in to investigate when the jack-o’lanterns from every porch in the town are stolen

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Received this book at BookCon and got to meet Mr. Quackenbush. He does amazing illustrations for his children books. Love the story in this book, and the images were perfect and colorful. Kids would enjoy this book in Halloween.

Goodreads Author Biography

Author/Artist/Educator Robert Quackenbush has written and illustrated over 200 books for young readers including his popular Miss Mallard Mysteries, which have been made into animated films for children’s worldwide television programming by Cinar (now Cookie Jar Entertainment) that are showing in 70 countries. His books have won many awards and citations including an Edgar Allen Poe Special Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, a Gradiva Award, and a gold medal from the Holland Society of New York for distinction in art and literature by a member of the society. He is a frequent visiting author at schools and libraries giving programs to instill children with a love of books and reading. These tours have taken him across the US, including Alaska, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. His art is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Interior, the U.S. Air Force Museum, and Norton Simon Museum. For further information, visit his Web site www.rquackenbush.com, which also gives his Facebook and Blog addresses.

Review: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Goodreads Blurb

Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there’s nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra.

Is she ever in for a surprise.

First mom announces that she’s dating Mia’s Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn’t have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I must say I really enjoyed the drama that Mia had to overcome in this book. There was so much more going on in the book than what occurred in the movie. I really enjoy the story and Mia’s thinking process. If her diary could speak, it would spill the beans on love, pride, and courage. I loved how the chapters were broken down by dates and how she would include her to-do list at the end of the chapter. I didn’t care so much for the math equations since I was just like Mia, I don’t care for math. It was a great story since in the book, her father is still alive and is part of her life even though he doesn’t live with her. Lilly is as annoying or even more in the book than in the movie. I had a great pleasure in meeting Meg and getting to know how she felt about her books. If you are a fan, you don’t want to miss it.

Goodreads Author Biography

Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse — at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby–writing novels–for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.

She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy’s Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.

Meg is now writing a new children’s series called Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011.

Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn’t know he married a fire horse. Please don’t tell him.

Review: Songs For Other People’s Weddings by David Levithan and Jens Lekman

Goodreads Blurb

J is an accidental wedding singer. Unlike most wedding singers, he writes an original song for every couple—his way of finding out about the small, strange things that brought them together and the hopeful, vulnerable feelings they’re experiencing.

J’s own love life is in a state of flux. His girlfriend is off to New York for work, and as her life grows bigger and busier without him in it, he finds it harder to stick to a happy tune. He doesn’t know whether to encourage the soon-to-be-wed couples or warn them.

When complications hit and love is tested, is there any way to sing through all the noise?

Combining David Levithan’s deeply observant storytelling and Jens Lekman’s inventive and touching original songs, Songs for Other People’s Weddings is a tender, honest novel that tracks love through all its chord changes, never forgetting that the best songs contain the bitter and the sweet, the despair of losing it all and the euphoria of being found.

My Review: Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Come join a Swedish wedding singer who gives readers a front-row seat to ten weddings. He writes and sings unique songs for each couple. Readers will have a few laughs with some of the interesting couples in this novel, but they will also see that love isn’t always what you hope it to be. The wedding singer, named J, and his girlfriend V will have their romance under scrutiny throughout the novel. J knows all about love and romance, but in his own relationship, he is far from finding true love.

I enjoyed listening to the creative songs Jens Lekman wrote for this book. It gave the book a fun factor, and I enjoyed the couples who brought in the drama. I didn’t care for the relationship between J and V. It made the story drag along and annoyed me about how petty they were. I would have preferred them to break up from page one. If someone doesn’t appreciate you and loves you enough to make a change with you, then that’s not your person. I did get a few laughs in between the terrible moments between J & V.

Author Biography

David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children’s book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.

Review: Big Blue Sky by Hildie McQueen

Goodreads Blurb

Left to raise his infant son alone, a hardened Hank Cole is determined to make the best of it while prospering his ranch, but when a beautiful woman literally lands on his doorstep, he is helpless against the attraction between them.

Elizabeth Dawson is too outspoken for gentle society, but she may be the perfect match for a tough Montana cowboy.

A story of two very different people who belong together, proof that sometimes fate can have a sense of humor when it comes to love.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

What a small book with deep emotions. I was heartbroken with what Hank had to go through because of a woman. He deserved more for being a gentleman who is loving and affectionate. Then I got to the chapter on Elizabeth and was in tears, too, have to go through such devastation and lost. Losing someone right in front of you without being able to help them is beyond words. As I kept on reading, I found out that she is the niece of Betty who babysits Hanks Child. She is very tricky but knew that they would be perfect for each other. I was in utter shock to find out who the man that Elizabeth dreamed about. What a coincidence or should I say premonition. This book was full of sadness and despair at the beginning but ended with a happily ever after. They both deserved themselves.

Review: Watersheds of World History by John L. Taylor

Goodreads Blurb

“Watersheds of World History” is the story of the amazing path taken by the human race from monarchies to democracy and from mythology to reason. This is a kaleidoscope of human events to be enjoyed by everyone but especially by those who have little or no background in world history and would like to appreciate and understand how the fragments of major events form a unified whole. Read the high reviews on Amazon.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

This is a very short book but has plenty of history. It’s a great book for someone who needs to learn the major events that have occurred in Europe and the US. It is a very intellectual book that tells you about history and how the world has changed and parts where people will never change. In the last hundred years, people fought for religious relm, king and country, and unity. I would hope that we can live on without war, racial inequality, religion vs. science, gender ineuality, but we are a world of greed and power. If the possibility is there, then the opportunity will succeed. John wrote this book with such ease and intelligence. History is what makes us today.

Author Biography

The author taught English and American literature on the university level for a decade before entering the mortgage banking industry for 20 years wherein he tried to help minorities obtain better housing. He retired in Utah and moved to Arizona with friends and family. For the last 50 years he has been an avid student of world history and he is engaged at the present time in writing books on this subject for preteens, teenagers and adults with an emphasis upon international peace, racial equality and religious tolerance.

Review: The Curse by Kathi Daley

Goodreads Blurb

Alyson Prescott moves to Cutters Cove, Oregon, after being placed, along with her mother, in the witness protection program. In her previous life, Alyson was an A-list heiress with the excitement of a trend setting lifestyle and the security of old money. After witnessing a murder executed by two members of a powerful gang family, she is forced to leave her old life behind and become a middle class girl, living in a middle class town. Alyson struggles with the duplicity in her life as she strives to reconcile her new life with the old.

In book two of the series, two Seacliff High students turn up missing just days before Halloween. The police believe that they have simply run away, but when strange and unexplained things begin to happen at the annual Haunted Hayride, Alyson begins to suspect there may be more going on than the adults in town would like to believe. After they the props and decorations for the annual event turn up missing, Alyson and the gang decide to look into the case of the missing students. Could the two events be connected? And what about the symbol found splattered in blood in the barn where the annual Halloween party is to take place? Could it be connected to the gypsy curse that most believe to be simply a legend?

Book two in the series will also begin to reveal Alyson’s past and the reason for her inclusion in witness protection.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Awesome YA book and series. Alyson is very brave and does anything to help and protect her family and friends. Loved the plot twist in this book. Great book to read in Halloween. Didn’t really expect the book to unravel as it did. Loving the romance between Alyson and Devon. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Author Biography

Kathi lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, Kathi likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese,) and garden (planting and planning not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing, the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.
Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her cozy mysteries.