A great debut...

The Temporary Wife by Jeannie Moon.

I want to start this review by saying I have read Jeannie's work before.  I felt so honored when she asked me to read one of her earlier stories.  So I was pretty sure I knew what to expect.

Yeah, I was totally wrong on that one.  Not the first time and I certainly hope it won't be the last.

For her first published work this story was so much more than just the idea of two people getting married to save a child.  Meg's tendency to not be able to walk on her own two feet without tripping may have been more believable if she wasn't always pitching herself into our hero's arms and wearing killer heels while she was doing it.  I can't walk on the dreaded things either, but when I lose it on a pair of heels all I end up doing is twisting my ankle, not landing in the arms of super hot guy.  

Sigh.  My loss.

And yes folks, that was my only beef with The Temporary Wife.

Jeannie took a recycled story line and made it fresh.  This reader sure did appreciate that.

Meg and Jason have a history, but we don't get mired down in it like some stories because this book wasn't about their past, it was about their future. One of the things you get a sense for early on is while Jason hurt Meg, our heroine was not some besotted women pining for what was.  She's grown into a women who recognizes that she has been hurt once by this man, but moved on. 

REFRESHING!

I also liked how Meg seemed to be the more emotionally stable of the two.  More willing to embrace the changes in their relationship, and dare I say it, be more alpha, where Jason worried more about what people thought.  A definite role reversal from romance novels of yesteryear where the hero was the quintessential male who never questioned what anyone thought of him.  

Meg also owned it when she was playing coy and when she was shooting straight.

Again, refreshing.

The story is solid, even if there were a few typos, but I think that falls more to the publisher than the author.  For me, this was a wonderful gem of a find and because I have read Jeannie's early works I was able to see how much she has grown and honed her craft as a writer.  

Don't take my word for it.  Read it and tell me what you think.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. 

I'm a booklover from way back

Lately I have been reading a lot of books. 

It's cause I love to read.  No, love is too silly a word for that.  It's because I need to read like I need the air to breathe.  Reading really does sustain me. 

This has led to me being more interactive on Goodreads where I like to star the books I have finished  

And since I have become somewhat of a reading savant (It's my dream, let me live it) I have decided to focus my blog on what I am reading and writing.  Don't worry friends every once in a while I promise to sprinkle in some of my everyday life to keep you entertained, and probably humiliate myself in the process, but I really want to focus on reviews and sharing what I'm writing.

So here's how it's going to work.  I will be reviewing books and sharing my opinions.  I will also post said reviews on Goodreads.  Yes, I am still on Goodreads for the time being.  I'm waiting for them to get the new Riffle site up and running.  If you haven't requested your invite you can do it here.  http://www.rifflebooks.com/ 

I am hoping that it becomes an unbiased book reading site especially now that Amazon has purchased Goodreads.  Some of you may disagree with me on that, and don't get me wrong, I'm still on Goodreads, but it bothers me that Amazon wants to own a book review website.  We need to have places where we can go to review books honestly with out concern that those reviews will be deleted if they are not helping the largest online book seller sell said books.  

Soapbox rant complete.

I will NOT be reviewing books here that I don't like.  I plan to still post my ratings on the book sites with one or two stars, but I am not going to trash any authors.  I think if you don't have anything nice to say you should keep your mouth shut.  I don't want to be a book basher.  For me it's enough to rate the book with one or two stars because, let's face it, there is no way I like or even love everything I read.

I have a lot of respect for authors as a species.  They are truly brave souls.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage to put yourself out there as a writer.  Not so much as a reader.  

Don't worry Flickster Friday probably won't be going anywhere either.  I still dig sharing upcoming flicks with you guys as well as what I think of the films I am watching.

So sit back and enjoy.  

Also, book recommendations are always welcome as is my willingness to review about to be released works.  

Happy Reading.     

NetGalley...All a girl could want

Are you familiar with NetGalley?

Are you a voracious reader like me?  Than you should know about it.  This is one freaking great website.  (Have I mentioned lately how much I love the internet?)

Once you set up a profile and join the site you can request up and coming new books to read and review.  

This is brilliant.  At least as far as I'm concerned.  

Okay so how does this work?  So glad you asked.  Let me break it down for you.

Do you love to spread the word about new books? Do you review and recommend books online, in print, for your bookstore, library patrons, blog readers, or classroom? Then you are what we call a "professional reader," and NetGalley is for you. Registration is free, and allows you to request digital titles to read on your favorite devices.

When I read the above blurb from NetGalley I knew I wanted in.  And it was just that easy.  But here are couple of things.  You have to be out there telling the word what you think of the books you read and review.  This is important or you may never get selected to read said titles.  

NetGalley is a service to promote and publicize forthcoming titles to readers of influence. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in the media, you can use NetGalley for FREE to request and read titles before they are published.

Don't tell me that just didn't make you tummy flutter a little bit?  

So get over to their website and see if this service is something you may be interested in.  And be sure to come back and tell me what you think of it.

Kids Need To Read

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know I have a serious love affair going with reading.  Oh yeah, and Nathan Fillion.  That can't really be a surprise.  Have you seen him?  

My Grandmother passed her love of reading onto me by introducing me to the most wondrous place on earth.  The public library.  


Here was a place that I could go to every weekend to escape between the pages of books and take trips to far off places in my imagination.  Remember, this was the 80's.  We didn't have kindle's and e-readers so the library was the place to get our fix.

Some of my best Saturday's were spent curled up in a corner on the third floor of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.  I was also lucky enough that there was a branch exactly four blocks from my house.  I much preferred the central library downtown because it was how we would spend a full day including grabbing lunch at The White Rice Inn, my all time favorite restaurant in the city while I was growing up.  

Literacy was something that was very important to my Gram and that is something else she passed on to me.  So if you feel the same way, I got a way for you to help out.  It's for a good cause; Literacy.  Oh and Nathan Fillion.  

Check it out.  And if your so inclined...donate.
 

BookHungry's March Selection...Learning to Swim

This month's bookhungry selection came to us from Karla Nellenbach.

Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry.

Amazon's Blurb:

“If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn’t, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water.”

When she sees what looks like a child tumbling from a ferry into frigid Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. When she gets the child to shore she discovers that his name is Paul, he speaks only French—and no one seems to be looking for him.
  
Her determination to protect Paul pulls Troy from her quiet life in a small Adirondack town into an unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege in Canada and then in Vermont. Her attachment to him—and the danger she faces when she tries to unravel the mystery of his abandonment—force her to evaluate everything she thought true about herself. 

I don't even know where to start on this review.  I guess the beginning is the best place. 

"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it."

It caught me from the very first line.  Sometimes you read a book and you know exactly what it is that keeps you coming back.  That was not the case for me with this story. 

Troy sees a child plunge into the icy waters of Lake Champlain and without second thought jumps into the water in order to save him.  From here, Sara Henry takes us on a journey with Troy to find the boys family and to figure out what happened and why.  Since I don't want to give up any spoilers I will just say this.  What you think will happen doesn't and what you hope will happen won't.

The bad guy in this story wasn't a total surprise to me, I knew it had to have some crazy twist to it, and I was happy with the outcome when it came to said "bad guy".  To be honest, I would have been happier if the kidnapper had suffered more for a couple of reasons and if you read the story you'll be able to figure it out.  

Normally reviews come pretty easy to me.  In this instance that doesn't seem to be the case.  And I am pretty sure it's because the parts that were so interesting I can't really discuss without giving anything away.  It's a good read and great way to while away a pleasant afternoon.