Until Further Notice

Well so far that nasty little stomach bug seems to have made its rounds. Thank God that it skipped me and my son, at least this is what we are really hoping for because its been a about a week and we both seem to be fine. That is me pretty much begging for it to be the truth because. . . .

I'm going to Jersey tomorrow for my husbands little sisters wedding. I'll be there for a bit so once again I won't really be able to read to much. Though chances are after the wedding I'll crack open my kindle once again and start getting back to my reading and reviewing self. So I'll be taking on requests again, but I'll have to let you know now that I'm pretty backed up on them because I haven't touched a book since everyone started puking in my house. . . and car.

So the until further notice is going to being starting up the beginning of November. I'll be taking requests and pumping out those reviews.

Thanks for being patient with me on this.

Blog Tour: Venice in the Moonlight

Venice in the Moonlight

by Elizabeth McKenna

Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-13: 978-1492720195

A story of vengeance, forgiveness and love...

After her husband’s untimely demise, Marietta Gatti is banished from the family’s villa by her spiteful mother-in-law. She returns to her hometown of Venice and her only kin—a father she hasn’t spoken to since her forced marriage. Her hope of making amends is crushed when she learns she is too late, for he recently died under suspicious circumstances. Grief-stricken, Marietta retraces her father’s last night only to discover someone may have wanted him dead—and she may be next. When the prime suspect turns out to be the father of the man she is falling in love with, Marietta risks her future happiness and her life to avenge the death of a man she once hated.

Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel takes you back to the days of Carnival and Casanova, where lovers meet discreetly, and masks make everyone equal.

Buy Links:

Createspace I Amazon I Barnes & Noble

Excerpt

Nico shrugged in the French wingback chair they had placed by the fireplace for his portrait. He looked regal in a black silk suit trimmed in gold and a waistcoat of burgundy and gold leaf-patterned brocade. It seemed Raul had excellent taste in men’s fashions.

Marietta rolled her eyes before she settled in a chair behind the easel. “Please keep still while I draw.”

“May I talk?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Looking at him was going to be enough distraction. She didn’t need to listen to him also.

He ignored her request. “I have to ask—why Palladino?”

Marietta blew out an exasperated breath. “I can’t sketch you properly if you talk.”

“You could have chosen any man at the Consul’s villa. Casanova himself expressed interest in you, yet you leave with that pig.”

“It’s not what you think.” She compared her drawing to Nico and frowned. His shoulders were no longer in the same position.

“You didn’t have to suffer the man’s dismal lovemaking. What were you thinking?”

“We did not make love,” she replied through clenched teeth.

He continued as if not hearing her. “You’re the first woman in years that he didn’t have to pay, though he would never admit to his need for courtesans. I just don’t understand how you could find him appealing.”

“We did not make love.” She practically shouted it this time. “I’m not attracted to Palladino or any other man for that matter.”

This silenced him, gratefully, but only for a few moments. “Well, in that case, I know of a few courtesans that can accommodate you. I am told they are quite beautiful and skilled.”

Marietta threw down her charcoal and marched over to him. She grabbed his shoulders and repositioned him. “That is not what I meant and you know it.”

He smiled up at her innocently. “I didn’t mean to offend you, but you have refused my charms, so what should I think?”

She glared at him for her own benefit, knowing it would have no effect on the man. “You need to stop talking and moving.”

When he didn’t respond, she said, “That’s better.”

He lasted almost fifteen minutes. “So, what kind of man are you attracted to? Perhaps, I could suggest a few potential lovers.”

“How about one who has fewer conquests than fingers and toes? Or one that values honesty and fidelity over all else? Do you know any like that?”

From the thoughtful look on his face, he took this as an earnest question. “I’m afraid, Kitty, a man like that will be hard to find in Venice, especially this time of year.”

“Well, then, I guess I’ll have to go without.”

“How depressing. What will you do for amusement if you don’t take a lover?”

Marietta rubbed at her temples and decided she deserved more than the coins she’d already been paid. “There’s more to life than pleasuring oneself.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Signore, really.” She placed her stub of charcoal on the easel’s tray and rolled the stiffness from her neck and shoulders. “That is all for today. I have another appointment.” It was a lie, but she felt the need to rest and the bed in the corner was tempting her tired body.

About the Author:

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene). She had always wanted to write fiction, so when a psychic told her she would write a book, she felt obligated to give it a try. She combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write her debut novel Cera's Place. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her website http://elizabethmckenna.com/. She hopes you will enjoy her latest novel, Venice in the Moonlight, as much as others have enjoyed her previous works.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and sassy Labrador. When she isn't writing, working, or being a mom, she's sleeping.

Connect With the Author

Website I Facebook I Twitter I Goodreads

Giveaway
1 Winner will get a $10 Amazon Gift Card
3 Winners will get to choose between Paperback or Digital Copy of Venice in the Moonlight
(International Giveaway)

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What a Fun Night. . .Not

Hello my lovely's!

It seems to be that time of year again. You know the wonderful amazing time of the year when all sorts of illnesses come a knocking at your door.

It is currently 3:30 in the morning and I just spent the better part of the last hour cleaning up puke. Yes you read that right, my little princess not only threw up all over herself but also all over her bed. I'm not sure if I should feel lucky that I could handle that or not. Last year was horrible with this same epidemic. I feared sending my kids to sleep because one or both would do this, it lasted a week between the both of them before it moved onto my husband. Not sure if he was worse then the kids. Then it hit me up as well, the universal law that says moms aren't suppose to get sick must of been looking the other way.

So here is to everyone. . .I'll not be taking on any reading for reviews or posting much until further notice. I have a feeling this is just going to make its rounds between all of us so I see myself having lots of gross things to clean up in the very near future. . .like possibly again tonight. I just pray she will get it in the trash can I left for her, but I don't expect that she will.

Until further notice. . .

Review: Revenge of the Elf (Nysta #1)

Revenge of the Elf (Nysta #1)

by Lucas Thorn

Nysta is a new kind of elf.

When nine killers rode out of the homestead with blood fresh on their hands, they reckoned that would be the end of it.

The lost spellslinger was looking for a way out. He figured Nysta could lead him to the safety of a town called Spikewrist. And then there was the tragic creature born in the darkest  shadows of legend. He reckoned she would fight the greatest fight of all.

But none of them counted on the violence she would unleash. Because in the Deadlands there is no forgiveness. No mercy.

Winter in the Deadlands could be cold. But the revenge of an elf would be colder.

**

2 Stars

I really really wanted to like this book. But no matter how much I tried to force myself to like it, I just couldn't.

I give credit to the author for trying hard to change the way people look at Elves. Unfortunately it is a lost cause, to many books and movies have been created at this point to get away with it. I can't help but think of them as tall, willowy people that can be cold hearted but are also good for the most part. Here I got a scarred up elf that curse almost ever other word. I could have maybe handled that well, but cursing in modern phrases killed it for me, though I can say every now and again a homemade one was thrown in, but for the most part the f-bomb was dropped so much I have a feeling I might be saying it a lot in the future because I have read it so many times.

I couldn't even like Nysta, I wanted to. . .she had it hard in life, but her thoughts were all over the place that I started to get tried reading about her. At first I thought it was a pretty neat concept on how she named her weapons, but after a while I got really tried of reading them over and over again, it had a way of jarring me out of the story itself.

I really don't even understand the end of it at all, she started out wanting to get revenge (hence the title) but ended up mixed up in some kind of darkness that wanted her. It seemed kinda pointless to me, the author could have gotten away with her just going after the people she wanted, there was enough of them to kill off a few every book and keep it going. 

I did like the mage, he was interesting to me and amusing. He is the reason I read the book to the end. Can't say what it is that I liked so much about him, but its out there. I started to wish things would start to be told from his point of view after a while, I was way more interested in him than Nysta. What I don't understand is why Nysta let him tag a long with her, especially since she supposedly hates mages. I stopped caring about that after a while though. I imagine it will be something explained in the books after this one. 

I wish I also got a better understanding of the gods. To me they didn't really seem like gods after awhile, just siblings that didn't get a long and started to kill each other off. 

Would I recommend this book? Probably not, it just didn't work well for me.

As a side note. . .love the cover, it is the reason I got the book.

Review: Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles #2)

Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles #2)

by Ripley Patton

Olivia Black is back.

Only this time she's not the one in need of rescue.

Samantha James, rich, popular, and an award-winning composer at age seventeen, is the next target on the CAMFers' list. And in order to convince Samantha to come with them, Olivia and Passion must pose as cousins, blend into the most affluent high school in Indianapolis, and infiltrate a mysterious cult known as The Hold.

Olivia doesn't expect it to be easy, even with the PSS guys backing them up. But what she discovers over the course of the mission will call into question everything she ever believed about herself, her ghost hand, and especially about Marcus, the guy she is undoubtedly falling in love with.

*****

5 Stars

I once read a comment made by an author that went something like this "We work for months and months to write a book and you readers come along and read it in a hour" it wasn't said in anger more in amusement. Well here I am one of those people that read and read until I got to the very end finishing this book in day. I'm a fast reader naturally, but when a book is good and I really like it I tend to go into the zone and don't even realize I've been reading the book for as long as I have or that I'm almost done with it, that happened with this one.

I wouldn't have been able to guess at 85% of the things that happened in this book. Everything that kept happening had me being surprised, or at least not thinking that it was going to happen that way.

I still really like Olivias character, though she needs to work on keeping her feelings to herself when it comes to certain things. Though at the same time that is just who she is.

I wasn't to sure how I would feel about Passion, but I have to say I really think she was a good add to the book. I was defiantly surprised by her back story.

I have almost jumped from the love/hate train to the hate train when it comes to Marcus, but I'm holding out a little longer with him. I still don't know what to think about him, and I want to like him, but at the same time I want to punch him in the face. He seems like he wants to help everyone and especially Olivia, but at the same time he keeps things hidden from everyone.

The plot was good, there was just enough things happening at all the right times to keep you interested in reading. I had thought at one time there was going to be a love triangle, but thank God it didn't happen. There is action, romance, and some mystery. I wasn't expecting something like The Hold, but it really makes sense when it comes to the PSS, when there is something people don't understand they can hate it like the CAMPers, or they can love it like The Hold. It was defiantly an interesting concept.

The ending. . . .yeah I was all shocked with it. I probably shouldn't have been because just about everything in the book blindsided me, but I really didn't think something like that would happen. I have to say everything does wrap up pretty nicely, and I like that. But I'm still reeling from everything that happened, and I really want to know what is going to happen next. I don't want to spoil anything for others so I'll only say this, I was pretty sad about a lot that happened, and I need to know what happen to Passion and Jason.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I really enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Review: The Rise of the Red Shadow

The Rise of the Red Shadow

by Joseph R. Lallo

Every story must begin somewhere. For the warrior who would come to be known as the fearsome Red Shadow, the story began in a forgotten glade deep in the land of Tressor. It was there that a pair of trackers, eager to retrieve a lost slave, instead found an orphaned malthrope. Had it been a human, it might have been treated with compassion, but in the eyes of human society a malthrope was a monster, a mix of fox and man believed to be a murderer and thief by its very nature. The beast was to be sold for a handful of silver, but fate intervened in the form of an old blind slave named Ben. Under the learned hand of the one human who believed in his potential, the young malthrope would instead be given the wisdom to take his first steps on the long journey to his destiny.

The Rise of the Red Shadow chronicles the early life of one of the most mysterious figures of the Book of Deacon trilogy, the creature called Lain. It tells of his years working and learning on a Tresson plantation until a dark day of vengeance and bloodshed finally set him free. From there you will follow as he finds his place in the world, learning what it is to be a malthrope, and turning to the purpose that will guide him for the rest of his days. It is a story of love, hate, and lessons hard-learned, revealing the painful choices one must make to become the hero the world needs.

*****

5 Stars

For someone that read and really enjoyed "The Deacon Trilogy" it was like stumbling upon a treasure when I found this book. Leo, Lain, Red Shadow or what ever you want to call him was my favorite character in these books. I'll start with this, you don't have to read "The Deacon Trilogy" first to enjoy this book. But than again I'm pretty sure that is how prequel work anyway.

I have to admit that though I loved the trilogy, the main reason I keep reading was because of Lain. Something about him just caught my attention and just never let go. I will also say that I might be just a tad bias in this review. I just really love Lain, you don't come across a character like him very often.

I liked the way we were able to follow him literally from the very beginning of his life. How we are there from every single thing that happens. You see why he is the way he turned out to be in the Trilogy, how if maybe under different circumstances he would have been something completely different. If I had to pick one word to describe his life it would be sad, and than I would cheat and add very, very sad. I'll agree with another reviewer that said she would have liked to see Myranda through his eyes and to hear his thoughts about her.

The story itself was really amazing, being able to see how the legend was formed was great. I like how it would fold in on itself at times and bring back certain things. Since I had no clue of the depth of his history I wouldn't even begin to guess at what would have happened. On top of that I was still really surprised by the ending.

Now what I would like even more was more books with him being the main character, but that is just me being greedy cause I know its not something that could easily happen or really happen at all.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, read The Deacon Trilogy first or this one it doesn't matter, but this is one you really don't want to pass up.

Review: The Marksmith

The Marksmith

by C.V. Dressman

Deep within the wrinkled folds of time, an unjust act by a just king brought about the desolation of a kingdom. For an age the secret of that discarded sin has lain chained beneath a sea of sand. Now, as a shadow seeps from the festering land and hope fades into the world of dreams, no secrets shall remain.
Crone has long been a thrall. He has long desired freedom. When the whispered words of a dream compel him to act upon desire, the archer Crone and his companions find themselves pawns in an unfinished game for power.
Hunted by the empire he defied and dark forces intent on keeping the secret of Divine Sin sequestered, Crone must choose his fate. It may well shatter the spirit of friends and burn the soul of an entire world to ash...for in the gathering storm of war, the Marksmith learns that freedom may be the harshest master of all.

**1/2

2 1/2 Stars

About half way through this book I started to get the feeling that this book was birthed from short entries written when the author found the time. Now I'm not sure if this is what really happened, it just seemed like it.

Everything seems to be told in spurts. A few paragraphs here talking about one thing, and marker to separate everything than a few more paragraphs talking about thing else, or just fast forward in the future some. Having the story told this way made the characters very one dimensional. I had a hard time finding any reason to like anyone because I never got the chance to really know them. Reading a book like this is hard, if you don't care for the characters you don't care about what they are up to.

I also found myself confused a lot. Not really sure of everything that was going on. There seemed to also be a lot of pointless sex going on. . .but at least this was tastefully done. It is in no way anywhere close to an erotica, and I was happy about that.

The concept of the book was good, though I found myself not really liking the characters to much after a while the plot was good. I am a sucker for quests like Crone found himself on. But I still found myself confused a lot during the entire read, like the test that Crone goes through at one point in the book had me scratching my head wondering what the hell was going on.  The ending was interesting, didn't see a lot of it coming so that was nice.

The book is told from a few different point of views, this is something I really love, and it was done well. I could easily figure out who was who. This at least made me very happy.

I'm not one that usually complains about grammar or editing issues, because really how am I to point these things out when I am horrible with them myself. But there are a lot of very glaring issues the farther you get into the book. Words not capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, or the one I found the most instead of had it would be hand. A quick go through and these things can get cleaned up nicely.

Would I recommend this book? Eh, its a maybe. . .it would really depend on the person. The author has talent, I'll give him that, he just needs to work on his character development and a few other things.