books

Lady Luck’s a Loser – Caryl McAdoo

Angela3 Comments

I loved this story! It was a fast, easy read that drew me in from chapter one. You are dying to know right from the beginning what is really going on with W.G. Preston, and why he is running a “bachelor” style contest on his apple orchard.

Lady Luck's a Loser Cover Image

More importantly, you are really concerned about Marge, what she is feeling, and what she is going to decide to do. She is being pulled between her good common sense and her growing love for a man who hired her in order to fire her, if luck was not on her side.

I again cannot give any spoilers here, but this is a clean romance novel that is fun, exciting, and full of suspense that will have you staying up late to read it to the end. It certainly did for me!

Caryl McAdoo PhotoIf you are unfamiliar with Caryl, please go visit her website here: http://carylmcadoo.com/

You will be glad you did!

500 Followers! One Happy Girl Here!

Angela10 Comments

Thank you so very much to each and every one of you who have chosen to follow my blog! I could not explain the excitement I feel each time I see I have a new follower; the 500th one was as exciting as the very first one.

500 Hundred Followers

I try to write a blog that is interesting, fun, and informative. I love books; they are my passion, and the stories I have read have been so much a part of my past, present, and certainly my future; I could not imagine a day without my books.

My bedroom is dominated by bookshelves full of books; yet I still have books packed away, stacked on top of others, and never-even-read yet, because I have so many. I am grateful to have 4 daughters who love books as much as me, and I know that is because I read to them from day one, took them to the library every week, and set a good example.

So once again; Thank You so very much! It truly makes me happy to be able to share my joy of books with so many others!

The Serpent Bearer – Frank Say

Angela3 Comments

serpent_bearer_final_cover_1_jpg

This was a great story, full of great characters, great scenery, and best of all, a great plot! Taking place in Louisiana, Sydney Monroe has her life turned upside down when her Grandma, or Memaw as she is affectionately called, asked her one more time to use her psychic dreams to help out friends of the family.

While Sydney drags her sister Casey into the mess right along with her, they soon find themselves on a journey of discoveries about themselves, their families, and the difficulties they experienced as children.

Dave, the neighbor, adds a perfect amount of entertainment to the story, like a welcome guest and not an intrusion. There is a varied cast of characters, but none are so complicated that you have a difficult time keeping track of the who-is-who of the story. (That is my first pet peeve about books; too many characters.) Not so here!

This story gives some brief background on various religions in relation with the point of the story, and it provides interesting information without boring the reader. This is not a book chock-full of religion or religious innuendos, but it does discuss psychics abilities, voodoo, and various things of what some would consider ‘black magic’ types of things. It adds to the story in just the right amount.

I really enjoyed reading this story; it flowed very well from one character to the next, and also from one chapter to the next. You do not always see books that use a transition sentence at the end of one chapter to pull you into the next chapter; this one did that effectively!

Frank Say Picture

Be sure to stop by Frank Say’s website to see what else he has for your bookshelf! You can find it here: http://www.franksay.com/

You can find the CNN review here: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1179031

Did Any Of Your Favorites Win A Goodreads Award?

Angela1 Comment

I know I am a few days late, but I have been incredibly busy and just now had a chance to go see who the winners were in the Goodreads Best Books of 2014 contest.

There were a total of 3,317,504 votes placed. 6 of the books I chose won. There were a couple categories I did not vote on because I had no interest in them and had not heard of or read any of the books.

How did your favorites fare? Do you know someone who was a winner this year? I know I have read some great stories this year by new authors who I have no doubt will one day have their books being voted on as well.

I do have more book reviews coming, as well as more author features. My 13 year-old homeschooler has fallen off the wagon on staying on task, so I have been getting up at 4am, going to work for 9 hours a day, and then coming straight home and spending 5 to 6 hours every night helping her get back on track. I could of sworn I successfully made it through the 8th grade, about 30 years ago; it sure feels like I am going through it all over again!

What To Do With That Horrible Book Review You Wrote

Angela13 Comments

Oh. Hello there. I hope you were not coming here to find the answer to what you should do with a horrible book review you wrote, because I have no idea. I actually was hoping someone could tell me.

As I have stated many times, it is not my intention to destroy anyone’s writing career, or write horrible things about their writing abilities. But when you pick up a book, and it was very poorly constructed, how do you avoid that huge problem while focusing your review on the underlying story that was actually pretty good?

If I post a review that I loved it, or even liked it, I destroy my reputation immediately. Trust me, if you saw this book and I gave it a top review and rating, you would think I was off my rocker. Now, the fact that this story had a few top ratings on Amazon also tells me that someone had their family members post reviews for their story. There were no ‘bad’ reviews for this particular story, or even reviews with much needed and deserved constructive criticism.

Book reviews are a touchy subject, especially to the writers who have no control over how the reader is going to interpret what they wrote. Did they understand the point you were trying to make? Did they misunderstand the dialect? Did they not realize the story was intentionally written like that? and on and on and on again…

One of my favorite quotes is about the fact that no two people will ever read the same story. I find it amazing that no one else read Harry Potter and got the same, identical things from it that I did. That is the beauty of books!

As a footnote, I do not want any of my recent authors who have sent me books or whose books I have purchased to panic. This post is NOT about you. I have had a couple people contact me within the last couple of days and I do not want them to think I am talking about their story 🙂 This is a story that I found on my own while I was looking for someone else’s book.

So at this point I am going to hold unto this review. This book is not a new release and I do not believe that more people will purchase this story, and that I did not prevent that from happening by holding unto this review. I want to do some more digging to see if I can find more ‘true’ reviews of this story and then go from there.

The Night Shadow – Cheri Vause

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The Night Shadow CoverThis is a great suspense-mystery story, set in the 1960’s. Taking place between California and New York, the attention to details for this decade is excellent, and just one of many things that make this story so enjoyable.

There are many characters in this story, but the story places them in at the right time, without overwhelming you and making you feel like you can no longer keep track of who-is-whom. Very early on I was trying to work out what I thought the ending of the story would be, the who-done-it if I may.

There are twists and turns, and I quickly developed a valued interest in the main characters, Esther and Mac. There is tragedy, illness, murder, deception, hatred, and many other vices sprinkled throughout the story that made me stay up much later than I should of just because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I can honestly say at one point I was brought to tears, and that does not very often happen to me from a book. Of course I never had it figured out, but those are the ones that make the best stories, wouldn’t you agree?

I would recommend you get this book as soon as possible. Just make sure you have the free time to read it, because once you start, you will not want to put it down!

Cheri is a theologian, a photographer, and an author. She is the proud mother of 2 sets of twins, born on the same date, 14 years apart! She currently lives in Texas with her husband and dogs, Scully and Mulder.

Footprints – Crissy Moss

Angela2 Comments

A fantastic short story, a man deals with the grief, loss, and emptiness after the death of his father. Losing a loved one is never easy, and to have them taken from you for reasons beyond a natural death of old age after living a long life makes it sometimes impossible to accept and heal from. I cannot tell you too much without giving away key points and spoilers to this story. It is a bit supernatural, a lot suspenseful, and well worth the read. I will definitely be getting Crissy’s other short stories, compiled into a book, when my reading list gets a little bit smaller!

Footprints Cover Image

It is titled “Small Bites: The Complete Collection”, and can be found on Amazon. Be sure to check this collection out!

You can visit her website here:

There’s Nothing Like A Day of Illness…

Angela4 Comments

…to make a person appreciate how wonderful it is to feel, well, wonderful! My first official day of my 9 days off for Thanksgiving break, yesterday, consisted of me vomiting, dry-heaving, sweating, shaking, cold-sweats, and a headache from Hades that I could not take anything for, because it would not stay down anyhow.

So I did not get any of my reading or reviews done, at least not like I had thought I would. I never left the vicinity of my bedroom-bathroom until about 6pm, and managed to eat some jello! Which lead to taking some ibuprofen, and a cup of Thera-flu. I feel spectacular today, and am taking advantage of it. So I was up at 6am making cupcakes, cleaned the house, and got groceries at 8am before the stores got crazy busy. It is a trip to Allendale to visit my oldest, and then off to the movies with my youngest two to watch Mockingjay. My 16 year old is having a whirlwind visiting spree with her Father and extended family.

I have 8 more days off, and besides helping my homeschooler, I have a whole lot of books to get read, and I have every intention of getting it done 🙂

Wishing you a warm, healthy, Blessed Sunday full of comfort and a good book to read!

More reviews coming soon, and my next giveaway will begin, tomorrow! Stay tuned 🙂