REVIEW: EXCLUSIVELY YOURS BY SHANNON STACEY

EXCLUSIVELY YOURS

KOWALSKI FAMILY #1

SHANNON STACEY

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

SYNOPSIS: When Keri Daniels' editor finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job.

Joe's never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he's intrigued to hear Keri's back in town--and looking for him. Despite his intense need for privacy, he'll grant Keri an interview if it means a chance to finish what they started in high school.

He proposes an outrageous plan--for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping and four-wheeling trip, Keri can ask one question. Keri agrees; she's worked too hard to walk away from her career.

But the chemistry between them is still as potent as the bug spray, Joe's sister is out to avenge his broken heart and Keri hasn't ridden an ATV since she was ten. Who knew a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling romantic interludes could make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever.

MY RATING: 4.5 STARS

I had a hard time putting my Kindle down once I started reading Exclusively Yours. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Some of the situations Keri were put in were hilarious.

One thing I really found enjoyable is the Kindle edition of this book isn't riddled with errors. That is one of my biggest pet peeves! I think there was one editing mistake that stood out to me. If there were any others I didn't notice.

I fell in love with the Kowalski family and will continue with the series. Overall, I highly recommend this story if you like contemporary romance novels. Best of all, you can get Exclusively Yours FREE on Amazon right now! Just click on the Amazon link below.

Amazon

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REVIEW: THE SERPENT'S BITE BY WARREN ADLER

THE SERPENT'S BITE

WARREN ADLER

GENRE: FICTION

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

SYNOPSIS:

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child"
"King Lear," William Shakespeare

This famed quote by William Shakespeare finds its modern meaning in this taut, fast-paced, remarkable novel by renowned author Warren Adler. "The Serpent's Bite" will take you on a frightening horse trek through the far reaches of the Yellowstone wilderness that turns a father's quest to deal with parental guilt and reunite with his two adult children into a nightmare of lust, betrayal, entrapment, and death. Beyond the revelations of dark family secrets, readers will discover how an obsession for celebrity and blind ambition can distort familial love and turn a beloved child into a grotesque monster. Courtney Temple is sure to be judged as one of those most evil women in fiction, alongside the likes of Lady Macbeth, Medea, and the Wicked Witch of the West. Adler's latest novel takes its place next to the iconic "The War of the Roses," in which the author exposed the true nature of marital dysfunction.

MY TAKE

I received this book as an early reviewer.

I have had such great luck with all the books I have gotten for early reviews. I figured this one would be no different and I would enjoy it tremendously—well, not so much, it was more just “Okay” for me.

I found The Serpent's Bite to have some “dead spots” that can cause some readers to become disinterested and simply stop reading. It was also somewhat repetitive. I didn't really connect with the characters as well as I should have. The man's children were superficial and just plain terrible.

I'm sure there are some readers who will enjoy this book, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

BUY THIS BOOK

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REVIEW: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY BY E.L. JAMES

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

FIFTY SHADES TRILOGY BK#1

E.L. JAMES

GENRE: EROTICA/ADULT FICTION

SYNOPSIS: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her too - but on his own terms.



Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.


Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

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MY TAKE

2 STARS

(May contain spoilers)

Well, I had to see what all the hype was about with the Fifty Shades of Grey. Honestly, I wish I would have committed to reading a different book.

Ok, by now we all know how this book came about (fanfic, Twilight, blah, blah...) and I'm not going to bother with the Twilight similarities, or lack thereof. I want to stick to Fifty Shades itself and not worry about all those annoying references.

Anyways, when I started reading, the first thing I noticed was how poorly it was written. I'm not an English major, (nor do I care to be) but it doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. I can only assume this book did not go through editing. If it had it could have been much better (if it did, please fire your editor Ms. James).  If I never read the word "clamber" in another book --EVER-- I will be satisfied.

Now, the main characters....can you seriously get any more screwed up than Christian Grey-don't-touch-me-but-let-me-beat-you-until-you-cry. Christian is just over-the-top about everything. I don't mind a male character that is a little controlling, egotistical, or even a little kinky, but Christian takes all of this to the extreme. It was really hard to for me to connect to his character because of this. The only connecting I wanted to do with Christian was my shoe to his huevos.

Oh, Ana Steele, poor-naive-innocent-never-had-a-boyfriend-man pleasing, Ana Steele. I just wanted to slap her (hard) across the face and say WTF! At one point in the story she is reading his "contract". She is reading about all this stuff he wants to do to her (various kinds of clamps, chains, whippings, canings, etc..) and the worst thing she says is the food restrictions are a deal breaker! I'm sorry, but I would think being caned would be a deal breaker.

The best part of the book for me was the end when she decides she just can't deal with him anymore and she leaves him (and this is the reason this book gets two starts instead of one).

I know there are many women out there who are just eating this series up, and that is wonderful for them. Fifty Shades just wasn't for me. I seriously doubt I will be bothering with reading the other two books in the series. I believe the ebook price of $9.99 is outrageous. This book would have been a much better deal for $2.99 or $3.99.


BUY FROM AMAZON

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Review: Thirteen Hours / Deon Meyer

Synopsis (Goodreads)

An unputdownable thriller from South Africa's #1-bestselling crime writer.

Some would call Detective Benny Griessel a legend. Others would call him a drunk.

Either way, he has trodden on too many toes over the years ever to reach the top of the promotion ladder, and now he concentrates on staying sober and mentoring the new generation of crime fighters — mixed race, Xhosa and Zulu. But when an American backpacker disappears in Cape Town, panicked politicians know who to call: Benny has just thirteen hours to save the girl, save his career, and crack open a conspiracy, which threatens the whole country.

A potent, suspenseful thriller, and a brilliant portrait of life in the country that will host the 2010 World Cup.
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My Take


Thirteen Hours was a very intriguing read and forced me to really focus. The characters are well defined, great detail throughout the book, and the overall story was really good. Everything in this book takes place within a thirteen hour period. The book is a long read at 584 pages, and jam-packed.

I know literally nothing about South Africa, which is the setting of the story (Capetown), or the language. Although this book was translated from Afrikaans to English, there were still some words that I had no idea what they meant (maybe they couldn't be translated...I don't know). Some of the names were hard to remember (and forget pronouncing them!) for me, so I made up nicknames for some of the characters. Within the chapters, there is a lot of switching back and forth between scenes, but I found that very necessary being that everything takes place within thirteen hours. It sometimes confused me a bit, but I kept moving on.

Even with all the above working against me reading this book, the story is just that good that I had to keep reading. Meyer tells a good story, and I think I see another Deon Meyer book in my future.

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No Rest for the Dead

Synopis (Goodreads)

More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel -- a collaboration that combines the skills of America’s greatest storytellers to produce a gripping, spellbinding mystery.
“The lineup of writers who have contributed to this mystery is akin to the Murderers’ Row of the 1927 New York Yankees. There is not a weak spot in the bunch.”
—David Baldacci, from the Introduction
Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown. Faye Kellerman. J.A. Jance. Jeffery Deaver. Kathy Reichs. Lisa Scottoline. Jeff Lindsay. These are only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from one creator's mind to the next.”
When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he's discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. With the help of the dead woman's friend, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth, suspect by suspect. Solving this case may be Nunn’s last chance for redemption … but the shadowy forces behind Christopher’s death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever.
In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-five bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America’s very best authors could achieve.
From the Introduction of No Rest for the Dead:
There is always that case, the one that keeps me awake at night, the one that got away. It’ll always be there, gnawing at the edges of my mind. It doesn’t matter that ten years have passed, it doesn’t matter that the case is officially closed. An innocent woman was executed, I was the one who helped make it happen, and on the sad night when the needle was inserted into her arm, injecting her with death, part of my life ended too.
It never felt right, never made sense. Sure, there was motive and opportunity, there was the physical evidence. But if you met her, if you knew her the way I got to know her . . . It wasn’t until later, after I’d taken a step back from the case, that I realized it had angles I hadn’t seen, layers I hadn’t uncovered, back when it mattered, back when I could have saved her….

With contributions from:
David Baldacci (Introduction)
Jeff Abbott
Lori Armstrong
Sandra Brown
Thomas Cook
Jeffery Deaver
Diana Gabaldon
Tess Gerritsen<P>Andrew F. Gulli<P>Peter James<P>J.A. Jance<P>Faye Kellerman<P>Raymond Khoury<P>John Lescroart<P>Jeff Lindsay<P>Gayle Lynds<P>Philip Margolin<P>Alexander McCall Smith<P>Michael Palmer<P>T. Jefferson Parker<P>Matthew Pearl<P>Kathy Reichs<P>Marcus Sakey<P>Jonathan Santlofer<P>Lisa Scottoline<P>R.L. Stine<P>Marcia Talley


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My Take
4 Stars

First of all, this book is interesting because twenty-six authors collaborated to write this story. You would think with this many authors (with different writing styles) the story would not flow well and would equal disaster. That is not the case with this book.

The prologue really drew me into this book. It was gripping and a very strong start. As the story continued, it took many twists and turns and had me changing my "who-did-it" list over and over. It wasn't until page 199 (out of 256)that I truly had it figured out.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery-thriller read that keeps you guessing!

One last thing that I thought was very special about this book is that all the proceeds (after author compensation) is donated to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

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