Author: Ambrosia

Book Blogger Hop 12/29/12

- Ambrosia 3 Comments

A new for me to join MEME I think joining to get ready for the new year is a nice way to start yeah? So here we go!

What is your chosen book to start the new year with?

or

Favourites of 2012

I will probably be doing a Favourites of 2012 post on New Years Eve so I will be answering what book I plan to start my New Year with. Now this could change between now and then because sometimes I change my mind.



Genevieve de Renalt “must” escape her betrothed, even if that means putting her trust in the hands of the enemy Irish warrior Bevan MacEgan cannot leave a lady in danger, but how far will he go to keep her safe? Marriage would benefit them both, yet he has sworn never to love again….

Proud and strong, he keeps Genevieve at a distance but, as she begins to melt his heart, a shocking discovery forces Bevan to make a choice–a choice that could mean losing her forever.

OR on a way different swing..

Redemption isn’t a word Jim Heron knows much about—his specialty is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charge with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. And failure is not an option. Vin DiPietro long ago sold his soul to his business, and he’s good with that — until fate intervenes in the form of a tough- talking, Harley-riding, self-professed savior. But then he meets a woman who will make him question his destiny, his sanity, and his heart—and he has to work with a fallen angel to win her over and redeem his own soul.

WWW Wednesdays 12/26/12

- Ambrosia 4 Comments

The last one of the year! I hope that all the readers out there had a happy holiday.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading

So far I have found it is not the typical romance and I am liking it. Although it is still more fluff as I had thought it would be.

What I just finished reading.

You can see my review of this one. I did really enjoy it. I am going to be looking to get the other two books.

What I think I will read next.

This week I actually have no idea. I decided if I finish this book before New Years which I probably will that I would not select my next book until after Midnight on New Years so that I could start in on my challenges. We will see if I can keep that promise ha ha. Since I love reading so much I am not sure that will happen but I do have some other things that should keep me somewhat busy.

Posted in WWW

Book Review: Darkborn by Alison Sinclair

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

For the Darkborn, sunlight kills. For the Lightborn, darkness is fatal. Living under a centuries-old curse, the Darkborn and the Lightborn share the city of Minhorne, coexisting in an uneasy equilibrium but never interacting. When Darkborn physician Balthasar Hearne finds a pregnant fugitive on his doorstep just before sunrise, he has no choice but to take her in. Tercelle Amberley’s betrothed is a powerful Darkborn nobleman, but her illicit lover came to her through the daytime. When she gives birth to twin boys, they can see, something unheard of among the Darkborn. When men come for the boys, Balthasar is saved by the intervention of his Lightborn neighbor-and healed by the hands of his wife, Telmaine. Soon he finds himself drawn deeper into political intrigue and magical attacks, while Telmaine must confront a power she can no longer keep sheathed in gloves, a power she neither wants nor can control.



Step into the world of the Darkborn the Lightborn and the Shadowborn in this interesting story that has been woven by Alison Sinclair. I can say one thing for this book I found it to be very unique. It took me a little longer to get through than I might have liked because I had to adjust myself to a lot of the terms used and how things worked, such as Sonn. However once I adjusted myself to the language of the book I found it to be very enjoyable.

The main players in this book are the husband and wife pair of Balthasar and Telmaine and the shadow hunter Ishmael. The web that is drawn in this book is very deep and there is no way that it can be completely summed up in just over 300 pages. A good thing this book is the first book of a series right? You are never fully sure what is going to happen next in Darkborn from magic, to fires to kidnappings. It really does take you on an adventure throughout.

I personally enjoyed the way that Alison Sinclair switched the perspective of the story from one character to the next. While in some stories it can be irritating it really seemed to fit the layout and the plot of this one. Telmaine goes from an unlikeable character to one I admired and hope to read more about in the next novels while her Husband was one I clicked with right away. Over all this is an enjoyable book once you are able to immerse yourself in the different world that has been created for you.

My Gemstone Rating:

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WWW Wednesday 12/19/12

- Ambrosia 8 Comments

• What are you currently reading? I just started reading Darkborn a book I picked on the cover and the blurb I saw about it…seems to be a habit I am getting into more now. So far it is interesting.

• What did you recently finish reading? I just finished Eire’s Captive Moon which you can see the Review too below and LOVED it.


• What do you think you’ll read next? I am not sure what I will read next my mood could change by the time I get to it. But I am thinking about.. Love’s Portrait. Little bit of girly fluff fun eh?

 

Posted in WWW

Book Review: Éire’s Captive Moon by Sandi Layne

- Ambrosia 2 Comments

Release Date January 10th 2013

Éire’s Captive Moon, the first book of Sandi Layne’s Éire’s Viking Trilogy, brings you to the unsettled era of the early Viking raids along the coast of Éire – today’s Ireland. Red-striped sails make their first appearance on the shores near the village of Ragor and the peaceful life of the villagers is obliterated in one deadly raid. Agnarr Halvardson and his overlord, Tuirgeis, have come to Éire for treasure, honor, and slaves. After slaying her husbands, Agnarr claims Charis, the healer of the village, as his personal medicine woman – and sex slave. Cowan, a local prince, is captured by Tuirgeis to serve as translator for trading journeys. Leaving the smoking ruins of Ragor and Bangor Monastery behind them – as well as the children Charis had carefully hidden from the Northmen – the invaders sail away. Cowan, a Christian, is captivated by the pale, widowed herbalist, and finds himself in love with her by the time they reach Nordweg, where they will spend the winter. He is compelled to leave her, however, to serve his master. The winter brings many trials. An invasion from another village’s warriors throws Cowan and Charis together more intimately than she is prepared to handle equitably. Her own feelings are growing uncertain, though she reminds herself that she has to return to Éire and the children she left there. As winter passes in Nordweg, Charis plans vengeance upon Agnarr even as she learns to see him differently. Beset by accusations of witchcraft, hounded by Agnarr’s betrothed and her slave – a refugee Charis herself healed more than a year before – and having to adapt to the strange language and customs among the people around her, Charis still makes her plans. Will she be able to put aside her feelings and escape when spring returns.

Éire’s Captive Moon by Sandi Layne is a gripping story that throws you into the middle of conflict almost as soon as you start reading it. We get to be present for the birth of the main character Charis who’s Mother is a mysterious pale woman who gives birth in a wolf den and dies as soon as her Daughter is in the world. Charis is however saved by an Irish healer and raised with his people to also be a healer. Charis had a perfect life as she got older. According to her ways she could have two husbands and she did two proud warrior husbands. Until the “invaders” or the Vikings showed up and attack her village.

I loved the writing in this book I really did. There were times that I hated the Vikings for what they did to the Irish and there were other times where they made me smile because they did something honorable. You learn a good amount about the different cultures of the time. Between the Irish who had been turned to Catholics those like Charis who still believed mostly in the old ways and the Vikings.

Occasionally I was left conflicted over how to feel about Charis’s actions towards her captor Agnarr but when I put myself in her shoes I could understand. You may have to learn to like someone when they seem to be your only friend in a land that is far from home. I can say this is a very readable book and I would recommend it to those who enjoy an adventure but do not mind a bit of violence in the writing. I am looking forward to the next part of this trilogy.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: The Vital Needs of the Dead by Igor Sakhnovsky

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

What needs might the dead have? Our loved ones stay with us after they’ve gone. Love, death and memory breathe in unison in the novel by Igor Sakhnovsky.

The Vital Needs of the Dead is a tender coming-of-age story set in the provinces of the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. At the center of this story, praised by Russian critics for its blend of realism and lyrical sensibility, lies the relationship of young Gosha Sidelnikov with his alluring and mysterious grandmother Rosa, who becomes his caregiver when he is virtually abandoned by his busy and distant parents. This relationship colors Sidelnikov’s subsequent forays into first love and sexual awakening. Even after her death, memories of Rosa accompany him into his adventures as a provincial student. Then, one miserably cold winter night, her voice commands him to immediately depart for a place he’s never been before, precipitating a mysterious chain of events.

My first thought with Vital Needs of the dead when I started reading it was that not everyone is going to understand this book. As I continued reading I continued to feel that way. For those born in a privileged western world that have not had to deal with the experiences of something like Soviet run Russia they cannot always identify with what is going on.

Now I am one of those who was born in the Western world but I have done a lot of reading of this era and like to think I can connect with what is being told. Igor Sakhnovsky writes a very detailed story that is full of images that seemed to speak of me. Gosha is a character that I could really connect with and so I was interested in his story and what was happening to him throughout.

Some of the translation could be a little bit rough but for me that did not really take away from the book. A lot of times I think you have to read a book in its mother tongue to get all of the subtle nuances of what is being told. I would recommend this book to someone who is willing to take the time to understand what the story is telling you.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 12/18/12

- Ambrosia 10 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

“Yes .The Ostmen have taken us. You have apparently been claimed by Agnarr.”  ~ 24% of Kindle version of Eire’s Captive Moon

 

Musing Monday 12/17/12

- Ambrosia 4 Comments

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

 

This week’s musing – courtesy of http://www.kwizgiver.com – asks…

Is there a particular book that is your nemesis–the book you’re determined to one day finish?

 

I am probably going to get laughed at for this one. However it is War & Peace. I have worked on it on and off for a long time. It is not that the book is not good I actually find it very good but it is so heavy and big that I can only get through so much of it before I set it aside for something else.

 

Book Review: The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of her having written the bestselling book The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she’s found herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.

But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: Her incubus is not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the demon, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this supernatural lover from her heart.

I was granted this book to read through Net Gallery and I was very excited to read it. I know you should not judge a book by its cover but the cover art and then the summary drew me in. So I was set up to really like and enjoy this book. Sadly I really just did not.

So why didn’t I like this book? For me there were a lot of plot holes in it things that clearly did not seem to have the background to make sense. How did Callie know she was the descendent of a curse creating witch? Or why love the incubus when he is a shadow but not when he is a real man? This was perplexing to me and of course the lack of a happy ever after makes this to me not a paranormal romance at all.

The story was also too cluttered with background characters. There were so many side characters that had partially or very little explained stories so you cannot really grasp on to anyone and decide you like them or dislike them. When I read a book I want at least one character I can feel truly drawn to with their story. There was just too many buzzing around in this one to be useful.

Now someone who does not mind a bit of clutter in characters and the lack of a happy ever after might enjoy this book. However for me there were just too many short comings to really center myself with the book and enjoy it. I might give the second book a read when I am given the chance to see if I can warm to the characters anymore but I am not sure.

My Gemstone Rating:

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