Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez

5 out of 5 stars

Margle the Horrendous had a habit of collecting things.

Okay, so I lost half my notes on this book which sucks cause it's pretty much full of all the reasons you should read this book!

But I'll tell you all the reasons I can remember:

First and foremost, this is by A. Lee. Martinez, therefor you should read it! I have never read a bad Martinez book and I have never met anyone who has read a bad Martinez book. I can go on for days about how much I love Martinez, and how his writing is amazing and how I wish I could write that well, but for now I'll just try to focus on the book review.

This book started off strong! It pulled me in right away and by chapter four I couldn't put it down for the life of me.

The entire book takes place in a castle, but I didn't feel like it lacked because it only took place in one location, in fact I loved the location.

In reality I feel like this book was just one big subplot/not really a major story. That being said I still loved it! I could not stop reading it and I loved every little  aspect of it. The story was great, the characters were fun and

Like that it is not written from any one characters point of view. We all realize that Nessy is the main character but we also get to see how other characters feel or what they think. I loved seeing how other characters felt, thought and what they saw.

I love the optimistic outlook at Nessy has throughout this book and I think Martinez did a great job with the mythology/rules of the world. In other words, he did a great job creating the universe.

The characters are so good! This book takes place in a wizards castle who loved to curse the opponents he defeated instead of killing them, things brings in many fun characters who have unique curses (Examples include: Bats, bodiless people, being cursed to speak fun, owls, etc.) and each character really has their own unique fun aspect about them. One of my favorites was The Monster Under The Bed, that begins to show signs of jealously when he thinks Nessy has been reading to another monster.  So cute!

Oh! And the nurgax! How could I have forgot him? He was another great character that makes this book worth reading for sure! 

As we get to the end of the book we get to see the characters work together, and we even get to see some special characters who I won't mention as not to spoil the book!

I loved seeing The Monster Under The Bed help save the day. Over all he played such a small role in most of the book but he was such a fun character that seeing him play a heroic role was thrilling!

I loved the way this book ended. Honestly the only thing that I could say is wrong with this book is that it ended! 

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"I hope it’s a dragon. I love it when they kill dragons. Pretentious reptiles, think they're so special just 'cause they can breath fire and fly. Like that's so great. Is it a dragon?"

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

It was a breeze, a change in the texture of the unseen that made her look up and walk around a stand of shading beech trees. 

This stated off so slow and there we a lot of things I didn't like about this book. I actually thought several times that I wasn't going to be able to make it through this book. But I REALLY liked the idea of it. It felt slow and sentences like: "The annual Ludlow antiques auction to raise money for the poor" rubbed me the wrong way

Tim annoyed me and there are a few character traits from the main character I HATE reading about. Like the "I'm not that pretty" personality. The big thing for me is that I have my own self esteem issues, I don't want to read about a character who has them. Also as a reader I want my main characters to FEEL beautiful.

But! By chapter 3 things started picking up and the action started. I loved being able to read about all the other women who had the dress. And I'll admit I had a hard time putting this book down at some points

There is a bit of a misunderstanding with "another woman" that just feels like it is so over done, then the characters went on to put the "other woman" down. It felt really of them low to me.

And then there was the part where they needed to open a trunk that hand been welded shut… and they considered using a drill. I'm not as handy as I would like but I can change my oil and normally fix thing something if I need to and I felt like a character not being able to use a drill was unbelievable. I mean I can understand if someone hasn't used them but after a quick look at them it's obvious. And then using a hammer to  hit the welded metal and what? Hope it magically breaks the welds? I've welded twice in my life (once when I was like 8) and even my welds would be strong enough to withstand a hammer

Another thing that really annoyed me about this was that she "feels" like she met her long lost father at one point but there is NOTHING to suggest it. Just a feeling she gets and, while I understand getting odd feelings and everything, I really didn't… it just didn't feel real. It felt like the author just wanted someone to happen and tossed it in there and left it to "feeling"

I loved Emily and hearing the stories about the other 3 women who wore the same dress and, as much as there were things I didn't like about this book I finished it in less than a day. It kept me reading and wanting to read more- Dare I say I even enjoyed it? I think so. 

Interview Donna Steele

Today, we have another author interview! I'm so excited to welcome Donna Steele to the blog today so lets get right into it!

Why don't you tell us about your latest work? The Melting, Book 3 Cohesion will be released on February 10. This is, obviously, the 3rd book in The Melting Trilogy. The damage is done and the glaciers have melted, thawing out a virus that has consumed most of the population of the planet. The first winter following the fall of civilization has passed and there are survivors. Now is the time for them to come together to rebuild community, explore the changes and see what the future might hold for them.

What inspired it? Saving the planet is a theme that runs through a lot of my stories. Regardle
ss of what has caused the melting or the pollution or the instability of the ground, we need to work to “fix” it because it’s the only planet we’ve got. That can give you a lot of inspiration and science fiction is a good way to explore it. Watching people in that kind of adversity can really show their strength.

Is there something you are currently working on? My current WIP is the story of aliens coming to Earth to try to save our planet after destroying their own. No invasion, just a weaving into our society to ensure that their heritage is not forgotten and to help us learn from their mistakes. Of course they get involved with their perfect mates here.

Is there a topic you would like to write about but haven't gotten around to yet? Actually I want to try a time travel book. I’m always heard that it could be a disaster to change the future but what if it wasn’t? What if events could be changed when an unwitting couple are flung back that aren’t disastrous? It’s an idea . . .

When did you finally feel like you could call yourself an author? When I won my first Spooky Award in X-Files fanfic. Of course it helped to be published, but that’s when I realized people liked what I was writing.

What made you decide to submit your writing to a publisher? Was it scary the first time? A good friend and fellow author, Char Chaffin, dragged me kicking and screaming into submitting. She said I had to expand what I was doing and do it for “real”. And OMG was it scary! Hitting send on that first email was one of the most terrifying things I’d ever done. But I did it and survived the rejections and kept going.

Other than writing, what are your favorite things to do? Well of course reading – I always have three books going – reading one, listening to one on the commute to work and writing one. Keeps the brain hopping! Also I love counted cross stitch – takes little brain power, I can count to ten and keeps me from snacking while I’m watching TV.

Are there any websites where readers can connect with you? Oh yes, I’d love to hear from everyone. My webpage is www.steelestories.com. I’m also on Twitter – steele_donna, Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DonnaSteeleAuthor and Goodreads and http://www.amazon.com/Donna-Steele/e/B007G8V5C6

Thank you so much for coming out! And everyone remember to check out The Melting when it comes out February 10th!

Taint by Michelle Lowhorn

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This is the second book in the Unlovable Series. It seems to tell the stories of a group of sexy, muscular and often times damaged (ex) military men.

Once again, this is not normally something I would read, but I offered to help the author do some promoting and I'm glad I took the chance!

So, let's get started!

"It had been almost a year since Kai’s mercenary commander,Gage Hennessey, retired." 

This was a very sweet romance and that was really what I took away from it. There are spicy bits but you can tell that the book is about the romance between the characters.

It started off slow but I was excited to see the set up for the romance (that Keri must find Harper and bring her back to her vengeful ex-husband)

This story is full of good action and cute/funny moments but one of the things I loved the most was seeing our hero bond with the love interests baby, Eli. I'm not sure what it is about them but I love seeing kids in romance novels! When it comes to the love interest… I loved Harper. I thought she was spunky and even though the hero was "taking care" of her I felt like she was a strong woman who didn't need that. I liked it. I also really liked seeing characters from the first story in the series Abandon.

I loved the ending

The one downside to this is that it was, in my opinion, chalked full of talking, and often times explanation through talking.

The Other Half by Sarah Rayner

"There were three men opposite her, all hard at it."

Alright, this is going to be quick... I will add right away that I loved the first sentence! Now, into it: 

First I want to say I did not enjoy this book! I know that I'm a picky reader but honestly…. I just couldn’t understand how this got so many good reviews.

First, I didn't like the way it was written. There were no italics for train of thought!

But putting that aside, because I can put up with formatting that annoys me if something is good, this started off slow and never really picked up. I didn't always feel like the story every took off. I understand that the main conflict was the affair between Chole and James (Jamie) but I didn’t really feel like there was much else (that was constant)  in terms of plot.

Now, let's talk characters… We have three main characters. Chole (the mistress) James (the hero) and Maggie (The wife). We also have a few friends and the child Nathan.

Personally I would have liked to see more from Nathan.

When it comes to Chole- I hated her. I did not sympathize with her what so ever, I thought she was mean, bratty, childish, judgmental, and honestly I finished a lot of chapters from her point of view going "God, she's such a bitch." I also didn’t want her to succeed and wasn't happy when she did. It felt like her success was handed to her for no real reason.

James… the love interest. Urg. He was worse than Chole. His lack of respect for his wife, his meanness, his childish personality and he's just…. A dick. I found myself thinking about what a bad husband he was through the entire book. There is actually a part in the book where he tells his wife she isn't supposed to talk to her friends.

Now, the wife Maggie. You know, she's the only main character I kind of liked. I felt like Maggie was a nice character, she wasn't a dreadful person and I actually rooted for her. I was happy to see her start standing up for herself and, unlike Chole, I was happy to see her succeeding.