Tag Archive: book-2



The Witch and the Englishman (The Witches Series #2)The Witch and the Englishman by J.R. Rain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hate when I don’t review within the day of reading a book. I am always already reading other books and find it hard to get back into the mindset of the previous book.

Let’s see, I finished this two nights ago. I was able to have the Whispersynch audible to listen to as I read. I must admit for Francesca Townes, narrator, this book seemed much better than the first one. She was able to handle all the voices male and female with great acting skills. Each character had their own voice and, well, character. The only voice I don’t like is the one of the detective. But he isn’t around so much so we don’t have to put up with that voice very much. Reading with her voice is so important for me now that I just don’t want to get into book three without it. So even though I want more of this series, I will wait to pick up the next book.

Meanwhile, the character Allison Lopez is gaining ground in her experience as a witch. It’s a good thing as the challenges she faces in this book seem harder, nearly impossible to solve. I love that she gets a new friend out of the deal. I love that we got to know her old friends in more depth. But is she ready for the demon realm?

This book was very intense in places but moved along quite well between. I look forward to more in this series, but please, add Francesca Townes’s narration soon!

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Girl on Horseback Volume II: The Journey of Abby Simmons and her horses continues as she grows from child to young experienced horsewoman.Girl on Horseback Volume II: The Journey of Abby Simmons and her horses continues as she grows from child to young experienced horsewoman. by Eileen Tidwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t know. I liked the first one. There just wasn’t enough depth to this one. Since I listen to the Kindle text-to-speech while reading it on the tablet app I saw a lot of editing issues. There were places where there were strikethroughs followed by other ways to say the same thing. Often I thought the strikeout was a better way to say it. The TTS would speak both parts. Then near the end there was a lot of underlining. That didn’t change or interrupt the story, just a little distracting.

Still, I needed a little story about horses to join me on my week long vacation out in the country. It just wasn’t long enough to keep me going a couple days and the character only grew a little. I felt it would have been better to have parts one and two together and with a part three to make it feel deeper.

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Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky, #2)Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Look, if the publishers and the author didn’t think of their pocketbooks over their readers, I would have been able to give this book five stars. As it is, the book, Kindle version (the cheapest) is $9.99. This isn’t loanable. It doesn’t have text-to-speech. For those of us who have poor eyes or other reading disabilities, there is no hope but to buy the Audible version to Whispersynch. That’s another $12.99. Twenty-three dollars for this piece of crap? No, the story is okay. It is as good as other YA dystopias out there. Maybe fewer mistakes, but not topping any of the indies. Are ALL young adults made of money? Do they care about reading books this much? And now I have to put out $23 more to read book three? Are you kidding me? I am putting no more money out for this. I don’t care what happens to the characters. If I can find the Kindle and Overdrive or CD versions I might check them out. Otherwise. I am done with this author and publisher. I don’t care if they are geniuses, storywise! There is plenty more out there that is equal if not surpassing these stories.

Now the story itself was good. I did like the characters. I thought the world interesting. I did pull for the good ending. And while I was reading/listening to the story, I forgot about the price. Michael Goldstrom is okay as a narrator but not the best. Since half the book is from a female point of view, hearing the male voice made the female seem less than a person.

I hope when I get ready to publish my own books I remember how I felt about this series and do what I think is the right thing for all.

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A Woman Ignored (A Woman Lost, #2)A Woman Ignored by T.B. Markinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Know what I hate? Having to wait for the next book! I really love the characters in T.B. Markinson’s series which includes: A Woman Lost (book 1) and A Woman Ignored (book 2). I relate to Lizzie, the main character, a lot.

You know, I have had a hard time figuring out how these two books kept me so enthralled. There was no great mystery to figure out. No one is flying in spaceships. Nor is there a race to the finish of any kind. Yet I could not stop reading until I was finished with this second book. And though there is no cliffhanger, I am holding my breath hoping for the next steps.

I’ve had the kind of mother that Lizzie had. I’ve been through a lot of things like she has. No, I’m not rich with my own trust fund, which means I had to work harder at relating to others and still have a very hard time. Being with people wears me out. I think that is why I found myself reading a lot about autism and Asperger’s syndromes. And often my friends choose to show me how naïve I am. What they don’t understand is that I don’t know any other way of being. Thank goodness they still want to be friends with me, just as Lizzie’s friends cling to her. Ms. Markinson writes her world and characters so realistic that you feel you are hanging out with people you have known forever. And that is why when tragedy strikes it hurts the reader deeply.

If you get the chance to read these two books give them a try. Maybe you can explain how much empathy can be had for a reader. I picked the first one up for free though it is only $2.99 right now. And I see that book two is now free on Kindle Unlimited.

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Outsider: The Flawed Series Book TwoOutsider: The Flawed Series Book Two by Becca J. Campbell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given the ARC by the author for an honest review. Because of it being an ARC, I will not count into this review any of the editing errors that I did pick up. In fact, the story caught me up so firmly that I hardly noticed these oopsies.

About that story! Wow! Told from the viewpoints of the main character, Josh, and his female interest, Alex, and their nemesis, Nic who is out to kill Alex. I like that you can get into the heads of each of these people. Sure, one could guess at the insecurities young people have about starting a new relationship, but Ms. Becca Campbell (author) gives us deeper insights than those surface issues. Put into that mix suddenly awakening abilities and one can understand the deep confusion. And seeing what was motivating the bad guy was ingenious!

This series is so much fun! It keeps one on the edge of one’s seat wondering what is going to happen? How will they get out of this one? Try to read this one so that the last half is long before bedtime. I was lucky that I was able to finish long before sleep. There are nightmare elements that I didn’t want to have entering my subconscious. (Course the next book I picked up then was by Neil Gaiman, gulp!)

It had been a long time since I read the first of the Flawed series, Flawed. Even so I found a reread wasn’t necessary. Enough review is set up in this book two that one wouldn’t feel lost. In fact, one could read this without having read the first book. But the depth you would have from reading the series in order is unbeatable. I highly recommend reading this series if you are inclined to read fantasy books about new or young adults. This one was more contemporary than other fantasies. In that way, it is fun to visit Colorado and California as they are.

I can’t wait to read the next in the series!

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COME, THE DARK: (Forever Girl Series Book Two)COME, THE DARK: by Rebecca Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A while back I picked this Kindle edition for free from Kindle Unlimited. I was lucky to find book one for free soon after. I’m glad I was able to work it out that way. This was a fun read.

This book two, could have been read separately as the main characters from book one are not in this book. The concept of “Forever Girl” is explained fairly well. So I don’t think anyone would feel lost if they had to read these out of order.

One of the things I felt most off with this book, that didn’t occur in book one, is the language and historical issues feel unmet. Our main character is able to smoothly make the process from modern-day Georgia to the years of the Salem Witch Trials with no one noticing her modern speech or clothing. But if you get used to that kind of thing and remember it only as a story, that isn’t a problem.

The book begins with a rape/incest trigger warning. If you have had these things happen to you, then be warned. Even though the main character is able to leave the situation it is always in her mind and is brought with her, as such a situation would live within anyone. One of the things that bothers me is: If you go back in time and hopefully fix the problems of the past, you could cease to exist, and the newborn babe you’ve left behind. If Pa had remained a loving father the babe would cease to exist, too.

Though the main character remembers a time when her parents and life were happy, before the darkness, why does she never wonder if she could go back and help her folks by her newfound abilities? Maybe the baby she only knew one day would cease to exist, but she could save the lives of those she once loved. But this poor girl only remembers her one-day-old baby.

Regardless of the problems I mentioned above, the story is suspenseful and is quite the adventure. Ms. Rebecca Hamilton is quite the writer. There were editing errors, but the story kept me involved so I couldn’t get involved with the mistakes. And I can’t wait to see if there is more to the series, even with the problems I’ve mentioned.

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Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu


Prodigy (Legend, #2)Prodigy by Marie Lu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never read a series of books so out of order as I have had to with this series. It was too expensive to buy each of the three books so I consulted the library. They had the large print hardback book and the CDs to listen to available right away. They didn’t have the first book and the second was already borrowed. So I read/heard book three first. I was very impressed with the author that the story line and characters held together without the background of the first two books. Soon the second book became available in only the OverDrive (audio) version. So I took my chances.

Once again, I am impressed with how well the story holds together even reading it so out of order. As with book three the narrators: Mariel Stern (June), Steven Kaplan (Day) keep the story moving from within the characters’ points of view. Though the ending of book two felt like the narrators were hitting their stride, the beginning felt a little unrehearsed. Still, I think this is a great way to tell a story from the male and female viewpoints. I think it makes the book more accessible to both genders. That’s my guess. I wonder how males react to this way of telling a story. Both June and Day are fearless and human and show they deeply care for each other and their people. Both are trying to make a dystopian world a little more livable for all. I imagine that the audio versions of this story add so many more layers of believability to the story.

This was the first book I have had to rely strictly on the audio version. There was no Kindle or tree-book available to read along on. With my ADD that made it hard to stay within the story. But I limited my visual stimuli to crocheting a mundane pattern or closing my eyes. I think if I had a car, this would be a great ride along story. It isn’t so exciting as to make the drive dangerous, but it keeps your attention.

Now that I know how the story ends, and how the middle is told, I will have to read the first part. I found I had one credit on Audible so as to ‘buy’ book one. Once my finances are better I will grab the Kindle version to go with it. I may eventually reread the story in the right order to see how much different it comes across. I highly recommend these books for young adults and older. The romance isn’t horrible sticky. Rather it adds another layer of depth to the story. Enjoy!

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Taxi - Trials (Book 2)Taxi – Trials by Sophia DeLuna

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Get ready! I got behind on my reviewing, but the reading just kept going.

This one, the second of the Taxi series by Sophia DeLuna. Remember how peeved I was that Taxi was merely a short story? Yeah, well, it seems there is more over on Smashwords. My only problem with getting it this way is that it is that each section is $.99. In the olden days that wouldn’t have been a problem but now that I am on such a tight budget. And if I didn’t like the characters and the story itself I could ignore the next parts. No cliffhanger to make me anxious between reads, but still, as I said before, I wanted to hang with my new friends and see what happens.

I don’t want to tell you much about the story. I hate spoilers as much as short stories. Needless to say, the new relationship deepens along with the insecurities we all have as it starts to take off. Hence the title, Trials, I suppose.

When I get ebooks from Smashwords, I usually download it to my MoonReader Pro. That way I can listen and read on the same reader. If I download to my Kindle, I have to listen on my older (keyboard) Kindle while reading along on the tablet. Can’t wait until I can afford the Kindle Fire DX 8.9 as it will have a better text-to-speech voice than MRP. I really need that TTS feature as my eyes can’t handle too much reading at a time, and you can tell I love my reading!

Anyway, I still have more to review. By the way, if you are into LGBT stories, especially of a romantic nature, you might like these. My only wish is that the stories were all in one book rather that $.99 a bit.

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A Witch's Magic: A Love Triangle With a Magical Twist (Heart of a Witch Book 2)A Witch’s Magic: A Love Triangle With a Magical Twist by H.T. Night

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can I give a three and a half star rating? I loved the first book, but this one so left me flat. The first dealt with the power of a blooming witch trying to decide between good and black magic and the decision that needed to be made between her two great guys. Unfortunately, book two was more of the same angst. Nothing got resolved.

I was happy to hang out with old friends. I had grown to really like the characters, even the not so good ones. But I got very frustrated without any progress being made in this book. In the first book, there were even bits of seemingly real information about how to find your center and power. Not much was in this one.

AND I might have been happy just hanging with the friends as I mentioned before, but the book needed more editing. There were places I had to reread sentences to make sense of things. A word left out or not the right word. A sentence of present tense mixed in with mostly past.

Even still, I can’t wait to read the next book.

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Mother Earth (The Girl God)Mother Earth by Trista Hendren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When something intrigues me, I do not stop until I have chased down every butterfly! This was the next book by Trista Hendren. Another wow!

Again the illustrations were amazing. The story to all children of all ages touched me, inspired me. Again, there are quotes to go along with each picture. They made me wish I had the tree book to highlight and review from time to time.

I picked this up for free with Kindle Unlimited. It was a shame to let the book go back, but I plan to buy my own copies when I get paid.

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