Category: Kindle


Re-Review: Beta by S.M. Reine


Beta (War of the Alphas, # 2)Beta by S.M. Reine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure: I was given this 4 in 1 book of this series free for review. What I have to add to what is written below is that reading it this way I can hardly tell where one book ends and the next begins. That may be because I am ‘reading’ rather listening by text-to-speech. I use the British female–sounds like Julie Andrews reading to me! The books are seamlessly woven together. I do not like the main character as much as I do Rylie, the first one we meet in Ms. Reine’s worlds and the Alpha that remains Alpha through everything. Deidre is full of flaws and teen mistaken ideas and addictions. Yet, she grows on you and you find yourself rooting for her.

Disclosure: I was gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a sequel! I must admit that I am confused as to what our Omega/Beta, Deidre Tombs actually is as a shifter, still we were given a few clues in this book. I really love her character. Shoot, by saying that I show how Sara Reine writes her characters; so realistic that I forgot there is a writer! Yet how realistic is a shapeshifter? Yet, I believe it while reading it. As always, I am left gasping and wanting to become the main character in Stephen King’s Misery. I want the next book NOW!!!! I want to see if I am correct in my guesses. Don’t worry, Ms. Reine. I’m generally a passive person and have plenty to keep me reading until you can crank out the next.

I was glad to see old friends from Seasons of the Moon and on through other series our prolific author has scribed. By the way, I do highly recommend reading all her books start with Season of the Moon. Her books are full of chills and thrills and characters, places and scenes that are at once unbelievable yet the reader sees everything that is taking place. All senses are engaged and you are there! Beta felt as good as any of her books. And the ending, though not quite a cliffhanger, leaves you wanting to know more. What will happen next? What is she? Great job, Sara!

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Chicken Poop for the Soul: Backyard AdventuresChicken Poop for the Soul: Backyard Adventures by Teri Metcalf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a sweet story about a woman, her family/friends, and some chickens! I feel jealous that she chose this title. I wish I would have thought of that! How adorable! I loved all the stories about the chickens that roamed over from the neighbors’ yard and became a part of their daily lives.

But then somewhere around 79% the story became about the author and her diet. I think that this should have been titled ‘about the author’, but I got over the change in flow and topic. In fact, I got a bit of ‘it’s a small world’ feeling as she tells of her life in 1968. She was in the same city as I was at the time. She and her husband must be very close to my age, a bit older but at our ages the few years don’t matter anymore. Not only were they in the same city but the author seemed to have the same diet of books that created her diet. Her research for pregnancy and raising children were the same as mine. Even her call of being flexitarian which I have been and was more back then than now. Now I am more vegetarian-leaning, always, toward vegan. Just can’t give up the cheese for long.

But back to the bucolic chickens and their lives. When my children were young I had an acre with roaming chickens and had a couple goats, too. Ms. Teri Metcalf brought that back to me and makes me impatient to get that life back. Only 19 days until that happens!

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Omega (War of the Alphas, #1)Omega by S.M. Reine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure: This was my second read of Omega as it was included in a four book gift from the author including the newest in the series, PAS. I decided to reread just to remind myself of the story so far. I stick with the review below. This current copy isn’t loanable as it is just for review.

Disclosure: I received this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

But, hey! This was another Sara Reine adventure! How could I not love it? Yet another series is grown from the Six Moon Summer beginning. How it is possible Ms. Reine can be so prolific? She’s the alpha writer!

I have to admit to being a bit lost at first. What in the world is an Omega shifter? But that is, indeed, what the question of the book is. Even though we get to see Rylie for a bit, this story isn’t from her point of view. Now we get to see what has happened to the world since it ended and started again. Yet evil still exists and causes all kind of problems. Our Omega shifter must learn to deal with it all and figure out where she fits in.

This was not my favorite of all the books, but it was fun to revisit old friends and see that there is still hope of more story yet to come.

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The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Mobile Home Makeover: by Campbell SpicerThe Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Mobile Home Makeover: by Campbell Spicer by Upgrade two mobile homes into a country cottage!
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Since I am moving into a double-wide on an acre, I am trying to learn about mobile homes and their capabilities of being redecorated or added on to. I have collected books on tiny homes and container homes and am seeing there are many things a person can do to make their living situation better or more efficient. I picked this book up for more ideas.

Though I didn’t read every word, I did read quite a lot. I am impressed with this guy’s finished result and am glad he shared the process with all of us. What I picked up most is that I would need professionals to take care of the more dangerous things like electricity, plumbing, etc. But much can be done by the owner. Glad to see there are more options out there.

Usually, I notice things like bad spelling or grammar in instructional books (fiction, not so much), but I guess I wasn’t looking or more interested in what this guy was able to do with two single-wide mobiles. Maybe the author already cleaned up the mistakes mentioned in a previous review. I don’t know. But there are pictures and ideas here if you need those. I got it for free, so what do you expect? Is it worth the $5.99 being charged now? I don’t think so. But I guess it all has to do with what you want from the book.

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Chickens, Hawks and Grumpy Goats: Five Years on a FarmChickens, Hawks and Grumpy Goats: Five Years on a Farm by S.A. Molteni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you follow my reviews, you know that I am reading a lot about farming, gardening, and the like. Most of it is instructional. And so I went into this book thinking I’m reading some how-to book with personality. But into the second ‘chapter’ I realize I am reading an anthology of stories of farm life. Actually, I remember now, that in the first ‘chapter’ I was reading how this family was nearly dying of starvation and they were choosing which young one to not feed. I was horrified! At the end of that story, I figured out it was about chicken hawks and chickens. Not people. Whew! Then I realized I had liked that story after all.

But after a rather realistic story there is one that is about Chicken Little. I nearly stopped reading as it seemed too childish after what I had just read. But I gave it a chance and saw it was very cleverly written story of real life on a farm from the eyes of one of the chickens that had nearly died.

I don’t usually like short stories. As you may well know by now. But somehow, I got into this little book and enjoyed the author’s take on farm life. I picked up this book for free, but it is only $.99 right now. I think it is worth it if you want something different to read. I was so impressed that I went ahead and picked up a couple more stories by S.A. Moteni.

I did learn something. You can call yourself a farm hobbyist. That’s what I’m going to be! 🙂

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Directions on How to Make Plastic YarnDirections on How to Make Plastic Yarn by Patsy Mirtz
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

What a disappointment! I do a lot of crocheting with ‘plarn’ plastic yarn. I was hoping to find a book that included patterns and ideas. In fact, the cover is full of pictures of items crocheted with plarn. But the book is only about one way of cutting the plastic shopping bags into strips then looping and winding the plarn. That’s it!

I picked this up for free. Now they are charging $.99. Not worth it. The pictures aren’t even clear. Google Plarn and you will find far better pictures to guide you to making not only this version made by interlocking loops of the plastic yarn, but a fun way to make a single ply version cutting in one continuous strip. And there are so many patterns out there to keep you crocheting even when you haven’t the money to buy real yarn.

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Keep Austin Weird: A Lesbian Superhero Love Story for Grown-UpsKeep Austin Weird: A Lesbian Superhero Love Story for Grown-Ups by Mary Jane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Was this a waste of time? I don’t know. I liked being reminded of Boba Tea. I like that one of the main characters was able to see into other people’s future so they could become their best selves. But honestly I felt cheated for the most part. I felt the characters were rather flat. The relationships were weird. There was crying that seemed unnecessary. Come to find out, the author is not female. Mary Jane is a male writing about a lesbian couple. Sure he saved himself some remnant of grace in that he didn’t try to throw in deep emotional feelings or erotic entanglements. That is always a tell-tale sign of honesty. And he must be writing what he knows and loves with ‘super powers’ and the tea. But the book was just too hard to get into and truly enjoy.

Worst of all? It is all written in present-tense. Except in action-pack books, I find this trick to be disarming. It makes the story so unreal. Ugh!

But plenty of people love this book, so go for it. You may like it too!

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Bye Bye Bloodsucker (Wicked Good Witches #3)Bye Bye Bloodsucker by Starla Silver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this is the last of the series that was/is free. The rest will have to wait until my finances settle after our move. Though it hasn’t been my favorite series, I am wanting to know what happens next.

I have to admit that I like the element of the youngest, the daughter, even though a good witch, has some mental problems to overcome. It isn’t the usual anger issues, rather she has depression and anxiety that is of agoraphobia nature. Bad for someone that needs to be helpful to the people of the island and her brothers. Being the youngest she is watched out for by her older brothers and a vampire who is a family friend from generations ago. The bad news is she seems to be falling in love with him and another guy on the island. Not your usual triad issues. Yay!

A new element in this story is the giant leeches. Yuck! And there are mermaids! So this may be my favorite so far. Add to these new issues, the brothers are still working with their separate abilities of death-speaking and werewolf changing. So there are a lot of story-lines to follow. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

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Farm Flop: A City Dweller's Guide to Failing on a Farm in Two Years Or LessFarm Flop: A City Dweller’s Guide to Failing on a Farm in Two Years Or Less by Devin Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been reading a lot about farm life. Lots of how-tos. Most of them assume that your life will go right and will follow the recommended ways. Very few are honest and show you how it can go wrong. This one does. Mr. Devin Rose tells his tale and how he and his wife try to make it as farmers. Sadly their family was too young to make it work for them. But his cautionary tale could apply to old folks like my husband and I as we just want some small piece of land to retire onto. Surely if we don’t get too gung-ho we can make it. We don’t plan on cows or horses. Maybe a goat or some chickens. Maybe only a dog. Maybe not even that. Our health and needs will lead us.

I must admit that Mr. Rose told a good story. With all the fails, it still didn’t sound too apologetic. I felt sorry for him, but not in a way that made his attempts hopeless. He tells his story with a sense of humor and gives us the life lessons he learned along the way. Failures are merely tries that didn’t right themselves.

I think the most off-putting of the story was the Catholic bent. But the story wasn’t preachy. He just shared that is was part of the philosophy he and his family tries to live to. Most of the book was dedicated to his family attempting to live life on a small farm.

I picked this up for free on OHFB (One Hundred Free Books.com) but I think it is well worth the $2.99 asking price now. I wish the author luck in the next part of his adventures. And I hope his health is better now.

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Alpha Knows Best (Wicked Good Witches #2)Alpha Knows Best by Starla Silver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this on the heels of the first book of the series. These are more story-driven rather than by humor. Still with vampires and werebeings not being my favorite types of characters, there are enough witchness to make me happy to continue reading.

As with the first book, this is a quick read that is meant for adults as the situations are sexier than a lot of stories out there. But sex is not what leads the story, it just happens and isn’t too in your face. If you like vampires and werewolves this is your kind of series.

The price is right, this book and its prequel and sequel are free. After book three there is a fee involved. Normally that wouldn’t upset me. An author does need to get paid. But my budget is about as strained as it can get with a move imminent in my life. But I will try to finish the series once the money settles down.

So far, both of the books in this series are quick reads. took about an hour or so each. So if your looking for something lighter this is for you. It’s just not of a comedic nature. That’s okay. There’s enough to the story to keep you going.

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