Book Review: The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

 

I always think I've read all the books by my favorite authors but every once in a while a book by Alice Hoffman or Anne Tyler or Mary Balogh shows up from their back catalog that I've never seen before. The Ice Queen is one of those books, and a lovely story it is.

The protagonist loves books, especially fairy tales (Grimm, not Andersen), so when her mother leaves for a party, this eight-year-old girl makes a wish and her mother dies in an accident. Later, the girl's grandmother is the recipient of another wish. As a young woman, our unnamed heroine makes a third wish and is struck by lightning.

These circumstances cause her to believe she is unworthy of love:

“At night I told myself a story, wordless, inside my head, one I liked far better than those in my books. The girl in my story was treated cruelly, by fate, by her family, even by the weather. Her feet bled from the stony paths; her hair was plucked from her head by blackbirds. She went from house to house, looking for refuge. Not a single neighbor answered his door, and so one day the girl gave up speaking. She lived on the side of a mountain where every day was snowy. She stood outside without a roof, without shelter; before long she was made of ice—her flesh, her bones, her blood. She looked like a diamond; it was possible to spy her from miles away. She was so beautiful now that everyone wanted her: people came to talk to her, but she wouldn’t answer. Birds lit on her shoulder; she didn’t bother to chase them away. She didn’t have to. If they took a single peck, their beaks would break in two. Nothing could hurt her anymore. After a while, she became invisible, queen of the ice. Silence was her language, and her heart had turned a perfect pale silver color. It was so hard nothing could shatter it. Not even stones.”

This is a dark story just like the Grimm fairy tales our heroine loves. It is also a story of opposites: life and death, ice and fire, dark and light, fairy tales and chaos theory. There's a lot of symbolism and touches of magic. But it's also a story of redemption and sibling love. I loved this book. It's definitely one to reread.

Book Review: I love this series!

The Poison Song by Jen Williams

Well. I am very rarely reduced to this kind of overwhelming emotional state by a book or series, but Jen Williams has done it with this very excellent series. Over the course of the three books, the stakes have risen like a tidal wave that has finally crashed down in the last few chapters of The Poison Song. I simply love these characters; good and bad, their redemption arcs or character growth have had me engrossed all along the way. Noon, Tor, Vintage, those wonderful war-beasts, and all the others fighting for Sarn and Ebora, I'm going to miss you a lot. The story has been superb, unlike anything else I've read. This is dark fantasy at its best, with a ray of hope shining for the reader. The bittersweet ending was correct though it made me sad. I can't say much because of spoilers, but I do urge anyone who loves a good story with great characters to pick up this trilogy. I give it all the stars. P.S. I love the book covers too

Book Review: Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen

"What else is a library, but a temple of truth? What other function do books have, the great ones, but to change the reader? Books to comfort. But most of all, books to disturb you forward." I'm a lover of books of magical realism (Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin may be one of my most favorite books), so Harry's Trees is perfect for me. I will venture that it might also be a perfect story for most readers. It begins very sadly for both Harry and Amanda, our protagonists, who've both lost their spouses. Oriana, Amanda's daughter, seeks solace for the loss of her father in fairy tales, aided by the "witchy" local librarian. Their lives collide a year later as each of the three tries to find a solution for their grief. This is a beautiful story, set against the backdrop of the Endless Mountains in Pennsylvania. I was surprised to find it an actual place and perfect for Harry who has loved trees most of his life. Every character has an important place in the book and multiple stories weave their way through the story. Even the minor characters have satisfying endings, which one doesn't always find and I enjoy. And of course, there's a lot of symbolism and magic - not overt, no wands or mystical spells - but the best and worst part of fairy tales: red coats, portentous feathers, heroes and villains, and significant coincidences. This is one of those books I'll reread. It's a wonderful story about hope and love. “Because it’s worth it. Worth the risk and the pain. Of all the glorious enchantments of this world—spring, snow, laughter, red roses, dogs, books—love is by far the best.”

Book Review: The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams

This is one of the most amazing fantasy (with a bit of sci-fi thrown in) series I've read in quite a long while. Fantasy authors and publishers tend to write trilogies a la Tolkein, but too often the middle work is stuffed with padding and needless wandering around for my tastes. This is one of those rare exceptions where the author kept the pacing, built the world and the character arcs, and kept the reader on the edge of their seat for the duration of the book. This book splits into several different POVs. Noon, our fell-witch, and Tor are off to find a lost recording that may help their war beasts learn their powers and coordinate with each other better. Bern and Aldasair go to fight a Jure'lia threat to Bern's homeland. Vintage is trying to manage things in Ebora with the help of an Eboran boy Eri but it's not easy with betrayals and political infighting. And Hestillion, Tor's sister, was taken by the Jure'lia queen though she seems a willing prisoner. This was an especially interesting POV as we got to see from the Jure'lia side of things a little. These are such unique characters and their interactions draw the reader in which adds to the tension. The worldbuilding is amazing and unusual but fits so well into the history we discover. There are themes being explored and developed here: connections between groups, origin myths, and exploitation of people. The writing is excellent but also very dark, and I was crying by the end of the book. But it's a fascinating series and I can't wait to dive into The Poison Song.

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

 

No hyperbole - this is one of the best fantasy/science fiction books I've read. I say both genres because this book has a unique blending of the two that works really well here. The book is the well-deserved winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel. There's a fine mix of distinctive characters and races. At the core are the Eborans, a warrior race who have fought in eight previous wars against alien invaders, the Jure'lia. They are also feared by humans because in the last war, the Eighth Rain, their tree-god died. They were sustained by the sap of the tree but turned to human blood. Then they've been stricken with the scarlet flux, a deadly disease that is slowly aging and wiping out the Eboran race. Tormalin the Oathless left Ebora and ended up working for archeologist Vintage De Grazon as she explores the wreckage left by the Jure'lia. She needs a bodyguard as these wrecks are invested with parasite spirits (RAFO). Meanwhile, fell-witches are born to humans, women who manifest winnow fire. These women are imprisoned in the Winnowry and Fell Noon has been there for ten years, taken as a child, and longs to escape. These are the three primary characters but they all have fascinating backgrounds and I loved how they grew as the book goes on. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the next book in the series. The secondary characters are interesting also. There are some very unique and complex people in the book. Tor's sister is definitely morally gray and will bear watching. What we learn about the Jure'lia world is also fascinating. As I said earlier in this review, I can't think of a fantasy book (maybe some of Mark Lawrence's books set in Abeth) that so successfully combines fantasy and science fiction. There are also some horror elements incorporated into the story. It's a melange of genres that work together to create an excellent world and people. I'm diving right into the next book in the series. These are books that should be recommended more, so read them now. https://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Rain-Winnowing-Flame-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B09X5CBYYD/

Book Tour, Review, and Giveaway: Bon Bons to Yoga Pants by Katie Cross

Bon Bons to Yoga Pants 

The Health and Happiness Society Book 1

by Katie Cross 

Genre: Chick Lit

*Winner of the 2015 Watty Awards Best of HQ Love*

Lexie Greene has always had such a pretty face.

Unfortunately, that's where it seemed to stop. She's grown up hearing her Mother constantly remind her that she needs to lose weight. And twenty-two-year-old Lexie knows she's overweight.

With her younger sister's wedding on the horizon and a crush to stalk on Facebook, Lexie's had enough. She gives up her constant daydreams about food and joins a dieting group. As the pounds melt away at the gym, she finds that life on the other side of junk food isn't what she thought.

Bon Bons to Yoga Pants is an inspirational hit about a girl coming to terms with herself, and her past, all while navigating a world of food and fitness.

Review

Lexie is overweight, but her sister's wedding is coming up and she's under a lot of pressure to lose it before the wedding, especially as she's invited her Internet crush to attend as her guest. She joins the Health and Happiness Society, a group to help her meet her goals.

We go through an almost daily accounting of Lexie's trials and triumphs along the way. She learns to eat clean, exercise, and builds up a better rapport with both her family and Bradley, the Internet guy. It's inspirational as a weight-loss book with some good tips, especially for attaining the correct mental state - one should want to lose weight for themselves, not for anyone else. It's not really a romance; Bradley is really there only to show how losing weight to win him is wrong. The weird stuff with the wedding is a confusing mishmash of how he probably would have liked Lexie anyway.

This is probably a good book for teens and young adults concerned with their weight. 

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I Am Girl Power 

The Health and Happiness Society Book 2

Cardiac nurse Megan Bailey has it all. Until she doesn’t.

Thanks to a string of horrible relationships, an unexpected twist in her career, and mounting credit card bills, Megan escapes to Adventura Summer Camp to work as camp chef.

Instead of a relaxing summer in the mountains, she faces a persnickety oven, squirrels in the kitchen, and a host of uncertain staff. With the help of her twin brothers and a quiet, blue-eyed camp ranger named Justin, Megan will have to navigate the treacherous waters of a storm she never expected: her parents possible divorce.

I Am Girl Power is the second book in the quirky new Health and Happiness Society series. Join Megan as she experiences heartbreak, laughter, and the frightening winds of change. 

**Kindle countdown deal from Nov 6^th – 13^th!!**

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You'll Never Know 

The Health and Happiness Society Book 3

Rachelle Martin is a hot mess.

After losing 110 pounds, she expected to be happily flirting her way through countless dates, not lost as a college dropout. Now that she’s arrived at her ideal weight, why isn’t she happy?

When an injury prevents her from running her dream race, she realize she can’t run from her ghosts anymore. Rachelle must take the one step she’s sworn she’d never take: professional therapy.

Can Rachelle push herself through pain and let go of the past? Or will her demons continue to haunt her one bad decision at a time?

You’ll Never Know is the unforgettable novel in the groundbreaking Health and Happiness Society series. It tackles the false idea of conditional happiness and the exhausting path to self forgiveness. 

**Kindle countdown deal from Nov 13^th – 20^th!!**

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Hear Me Roar 

The Health and Happiness Society Book 4

Bitsy Walker is a woman in control.

She eats 1200 calories a day, prepares three rounded meals on a budget, runs her own cleaning business, and never leaves the house with an unmade bed.

When her ex-husband crashes back into her immaculate world, her daughters fall in love with their father all over again. Rumors of joint custody surface, driving Bitsy to the edge of dieting desperation.

Can she handle losing control without giving into binge eating? Or will losing the battle make everything unravel—even her?

Join Bitsy in her journey through calorie counting, the intricacies of self care, and surrendering control in the fourth book in the Health and Happiness Society Series. 

**Kindle countdown deal from Nov 20^th – 27^th!!**

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What Was Lost 

The Health and Happiness Society Book 5

Mira Montgomery is the only one left.

Her brothers unexpected death leaves her tragically alone. No kids. No husband. No family.

Fifty-one years of unrealized dreams crash down on her when a real estate development company threatens the only stability she has left: her store. To make matters worse, her friends in the Health and Happiness Society have more good news than ever before.

Mira is faced with the decision to walk away and start fresh, or stay and fall apart.

Can she survive life without the comfort of her friends? Or will she fall farther into her depression than ever?

Join Mira on her new path through old grief, new loss, and the burning importance of gratitude in the fifth and final book in the Health and Happiness Society series. 

**Kindle countdown deal from Nov 27^th – Dec 4^th!!**

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Finding Anna 

A Health and Happiness Society spinoff

Anna Buchanan is a freshman college student with one plan: travel abroad.

Except . . . college life isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Her new roommate definitely has a quirky side. All those romantic comedies she watched growing up? Not happening. Money is harder to come by than she thought, and her first kiss is less-than-foot-popping.

Not to mention the fact that there aren’t enough hours in her day to sell blood plasma, work at the deli, and volunteer at her dream internship.

All of Anna’s hard-thought dreams tumble around her ankles when she buries herself too deep in dreams. Then the most terrifying news hits her like a slap in the face.

Can Anna salvage the time and money needed to fulfill her dreams? Or will she have to face the truth: that sometimes our greatest adventures never take us very far away.

Join Anna Buchanan in Finding Anna, a heartwarming novel about odd roommates, unattainable college boys, and the epic quest to find yourself. 

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My world revolves around my husband (who is a major hottie), my precious kids, my Vizsla’s who act like children, and the mountains. 

I wear hiking boots instead of heels when I need to feel powerful, and on a bad day, I love a weightlifting workout. Actually, I love it on a good day. 

I don’t eat bread because my thyroid doesn’t like it, although there are days I miss it. Especially ciabatta. Sweet potatoes are kind of my thing. Cookies too. 

I write because I never stopped. 

Author of The Network Series, The Dragonmaster Trilogy, and The Health and Happiness Society. 

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$25 Amazon 

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Book Review: The Stolen Ghosts by Icy Sedgwick

When Sarah and her family move to a mansion in Northumberland, she doesn't expect to find ghosts. A dashing Cavalier named Fowlis Westerby has been assigned to the house for a scheduled haunting. It should be a routine assignment. All he has to do is scare Sarah and her parents, but things begin to go wrong when Sarah finds his anchor, the device that holds him to the house. And there's trouble in the ghostly plane where it seems that only Sarah can help Fowlis.
This is a fun story for teens who like paranormal mysteries, or actually any reader who enjoys a good ghost story. The writer has a nice style. I especially liked the bits of history that are thrown in here and there that really add to the story. Sarah is perfect as the inquisitive teen heroine. Fowlis and his tricks reminded me of the Canterville Ghost, one of Oscar Wilde's short stories.
I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it if you're looking for an entertaining read.

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Book Tour, Review & Giveaway: Pure Dumb Luck by Dahlia Donovan

Pure Dumb Luck

by Dahlia Donovan

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance 

When two small-town country dudes win the lottery, they finally find the courage to speak their truth.

An unexpected adventure follows.

Linwood "Woody" Robinson has a routine. He works for his baby brother in construction, buys three lottery tickets every week, and lusts after his best friend from high school. He's done the same thing for twenty years.

Eddison "Eddie" Howard owns the only gas station in their small South Carolina town, sells lottery tickets, and lusts after his best friend from afar. They joke around but never speak their truth. He knows they're cowards but can't seem to find the courage to bridge the gulf between them.

And then they win eighty million dollars.

Life changes.

They go from never talking about their feelings to facing the world together.

Can anything pull them apart?

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REVIEW

Woody and Eddie have been friends since high school. When they win the lottery, they finally decide to act on their feelings for each other and travel the world.

It's a cute story, but I thought it could have been a lot better. I would have liked more backstory on their relationship and why they finally decided to consummate the relationship. Yes, I read it and even went back over that part several times, but it seemed like they barely talked to each other except when Woody went into Eddie's store to buy lottery tickets, then boom, they won a lot of money and were suddenly messing around like bunnies. Maybe it's me, but I wanted a little more romance and wanted to see more of what they were like before they won the money. 

The travelogue part was fine, especially in Alaska, but I felt I was still getting only a surface view of the two guys. It's a quick read, maybe too quick, because I wanted more. Maybe we'll see a sequel of their further travels and some flashbacks to their teen and young adult years. 

Dahlia Donovan wrote her first romance series after a crazy dream about shifters and damsels in distress. She prefers irreverent humour and unconventional characters. An autistic and occasional hermit, her life wouldn’t be complete without her husband and her massive collection of books and video games.

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Book Review: VSS365 Anthology: Volume One: A stunning collection of Very Short Stories from around the globe

VSS365 Anthology: Volume One: A stunning collection of Very Short Stories from around the globe 

Most of the reason I'm on Twitter is to participate in the #WritingCommunity there and some of their writing games. #VSS365 (very short story 365 days a year) provides a word prompt every day to write a tweet for. Full disclosure: I write #VSS365 though I didn't submit to this anthology.
As with most anthologies, you get a mix but I found the judges did a pretty good selection of tweets. I've read some in the past on Twitter, but I was surprised at how many I'd missed reading - those tweets fly by on my stream. It's fun to see the different takes people use for the same word. There are some poems and mostly short stories. I hope they do another anthology. Oh, and all royalties of this anthology go directly to a children's literacy charity.

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Book Review: Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1) by George RR Martin

GRRM's Fire & Blood is a history of Westeros under the Targaryens from Aegon I through the regency of Aegon III. This is NOT the Winds of Winter or anything like the Ice & Fire series. This is a history book which would be considered non-fiction if Westeros was a real country. Think Ian Mortimer, Niall Ferguson, David Starkey, or other noted historians of the British Isles.
That said, I loved this book. The history of the Targaryens is fascinating, on par with the Plantagenets except they have dragons. Martin has created such a rich and detailed world that he could write dozens of future books to expand on various people and events included as snippets here. Who wouldn't want to read more about the Red Kraken, the other sea voyages of Alyn Velaryon, Saera Targaryen, and so on?
I love the way Martin incorporates 'sources' into his writing. He's very careful to attribute certain incidents to previously written histories of maesters or the more dubious and bawdy memoir of Mushroom, the court fool. Like any historian, he must reconcile varying sources as he recounts various events.
Martin has always used bits of English history in his stories, and I had fun trying to decipher various characters and incidents from real history. He never copies directly (there are dragons after all) but sneaks little scenes into the story. I think I recognized the first and second battles of St Albans, Richard III's fatal charge at Bosworth, the Peasant's Rebellion, as well as more bits from the Wars of the Roses. The war called the Dance of Dragons could well be the Anarchy (the civil war between Stephen and Matilda).  Aegon III's regency could be drawn from the minority of Richard II.
This is a 700 page book, and I could go on, but now, along with the Winds of Winter, I'm waiting for A Targaryen History #2.

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Book Review: 13 Steps to the Cellar by Teresa Mathews

After the death of her father, Callie Harris travels to the small town of Richmond, Maine to look into the murder of her aunt many years ago. Laverne was her father's sister and Callie feels she owes it to him to dig into the family history. Callie's arrival in Richmond sets off a flurry of repressed emotions bursting forth as the people in town recall the events of the murder. And soon more crimes are discovered.
This is a fabulous murder mystery with lots of twists and turns. Ms. Mathews does a wonderful job of feeding the reader clues but never too much so you don't know who the murderer is until the last pages. Callie is a nice Southern girl doing her best to honor her father but she definitely walks into a hornet's nest.
I happen to be very familiar with Richmond, Bath, and the surrounding area, and it was delightful to read about many of the places I've visited. The author does a great job of describing the museum, The Old Goat, Pierce's grocery store, and the Kennebec River. Richmond is really a quiet town with lovely old Victorian homes, not quite the hotbed of murder and sin described here, but it's certainly fun to read about it. I devoured this story, wanting to see how it all turns out (although there's just a little uncertainty at the end that might lead to another book - I certainly hope so).

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Book Review: Love Bites by Antonia Wang

I follow some authors on social media and when I find someone whose writing I consistently like, I'll pick up their book for a more thorough read. Love Bites is one of those, and I'm glad I did.
Ms. Wang writes poetry in a lyrical romantic style with a fine sense of word-play.  I happen to personally like the Celtic poets like Yeats, Thomas, and Burns, and the poems here seem to me to be in that style. While the subject matter harks back to the author's personal circumstances, lines like 'I'm shedding wasabi tears, for verdant dreams that withered in a blazing sun of fears' could have been written by Dylan Thomas.
The poems are written in themes of Heart, Mind, and Home. There are multiple layers within each poem, and I found the book a fine collection for thoughtful reading.  As Ms. Wang says in The Word, 'Poetry is the pixie dust of life.'

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Book Review: Burned to a Crisp by K.A. Miltimore

Hedy Leckermaul runs an odd but deliciously stocked bakery as well as hosting a waystation for supernatural creatures. Oh, and the animals in her house talk, too. When a salamander (a man with fire properties) comes to stay at the same time there's a string of arson fires in town, Hedy and her friends must solve the mystery.
I like cozy mysteries, but I have to say that adding in the paranormal aspects to the story is genius. Ms. Miltimore has done a great job in throwing in all sorts of odd little bits that are just wonderful. I don't want to spoil the story, but we have undines, ghosts, vengeful demi-goddesses and baking that all fits together perfectly into a gem of a story.  Hedy is a somewhat mysterious figure, and I look forward to finding out more about her (I already have the next book on my reader).
If you like cozy mysteries with some mystical aspects, I guarantee you'll love this series.

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