Total Blueprint for World Domination by Jolene Stockman

This is, without a doubt, the best self-help book I've ever read. This is also the only self-help book I've ever finished. Not because it only has 61 pages, but because it was a fun read! Wait, self-help book and fun never go together. They're dry. They're boring. Well, I'm here to tell you this book gives lie to all of the preconceived notions you (and I) have ever had about this genre.

Stockman takes a fun, light-hearted approach to giving teenagers and young adults the tools they need to determine how to be successful in life while being the best they can be. What is so fantastic about this book? She doesn't preach. She doesn't drone on and on. She lays out her plan in a few steps, shows you how to get results and all while being very encouraging.

Why is this such an easy read? This book reads like a conversation between people. Okay, so it's one-sided, but Stockman uses every-day language. There's no superfluous prose, no extra anything. Just straight forward language.

So what's my take on this? I like it. I found it humorous and completely engaging. Stockman offers explanations for everything she puts in this book. As self-help guides go, this is the best I've come across. Ever. Well written, well edited, and very worth picking up.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Barnes & Noble
                                    Smashwords

Breaking Free, Others of Edenton: Book 4 by Brandy L Rivers

The latest entry in the ongoing saga of the Others of Edenton introduces us to Declan, Moira and their children, Devlin and Fallon (whom we met in In Too Deep). The prologue takes us back 71 years to when Declan and Moira meet before moving forward nine years to when they must part for their family's safety. Devlin and Fallon are separated to be raised by the parent best able to teach them to handle the talents each were born with.

Devlin is now on the run from the Dales and DeMarco, the dark mage that captured him and his father twenty years ago. Free of the dark wards, he starts dreaming of Jamie and eventually promises he will find her. Afraid of bringing the dark mage and Dales to Edenton, Devlin tells Jamie he can't stay for fear of what they will do to her.

Rivers has outdone herself with Breaking Free. With each new Others book, her characters gain more depth and complexity. The town of Edenton becomes more interesting and vibrant. New characters are introduced, saved, find strengths within themselves of which they were previously unaware. When Jamie finally convinces Devlin to tell her the whole of his history, he again has what was missing for years, the unconditional love he needed.

Once his relationship to Fallon is no longer a secret, everyone begins training to protect themselves, each other, and their town. Devlin, a healer and gentle soul at heart, is unable to find the warrior within until a few choice comments by Preston. (I love this part.)

All our favorite characters are back, both the good and not so good. Love, family and a looming battle that will decide much had me devouring this book at the first opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit to Edenton and look forward to my next trip. If you enjoy shape shifters, vampires, and other paranormal beings, a bit of light romance, you can't go wrong. Visit Edenton, you'll enjoy yourself.

But for two missed errors, I would have gladly given Rivers 5 stars. Unfortunately, I must adhere to the criteria I set forth for rating a book. Regretfully, I can only give her 4. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Barnes & Noble
                                    Smashwords

Fated Love: Others of Edenton Novella, 2.5 by Brandy L Rivers

I have a weakness for shapeshifter stories and those authors who write them are on my "watch for the next book" list. Rivers feeds my fantasy that the perfect partner is out there somewhere, waiting until I'm ready for him. And if it's only ever in my imagination, well, that's fine too.

Fated Love is Christian's story. He's quiet, a good friend, and has been in love with Delilah since he met her. He's just waiting for the right time. His time, when she's done searching for what's right in front of her.

Rivers' characters are always enjoyable. They're never perfect but they are perfect for that one special person. They aren't human, but they have very human foibles.

This is such a short story, that saying much of anything will be a spoiler for anyone who wants to read this book. If you love the other books in this series, you will this one as well. This story was all the excuse I needed (as if one was required) to detour from current books to revisit Edenton again. You just can't go wrong with this series.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Barnes & Noble
                                    Smashwords

Trusting Hearts (The Heart Series) by Shannon Donahue

At first glance, this is a fairly straight forward story. A woman deeply in love with her husband has decided to divorce him for repeatedly cheating on her. He doesn't want to let her go, but until backed into a corner, won't admit just how long he's been seeing the other woman.  Donahue does an excellent job of portraying just how angry Rachel Rossini is about her husband's cheating.

There is a lot of anger in this story, maybe too much. Rachel blows up at the slightest provocation throughout the book. Her lawyer, Carson Licciano, is her high school sweetheart who also happens to be a good friend of her husband. There is definitely potential for trouble here. Adding to the mix, she also has a long distance relationship going with Dr Colin Hill.

This has the potential to be a great story, but for me, the author has missed the mark. Her use of tenses in much of the narrative made for awkward reading. The scenes with Carson felt contrived rather than natural. As her lawyer, he recommends laying low and not pursuing another relationship. However, it doesn't take long for him to "give in" to his old feelings for Rachel and start rekindling the old relationship. Vinnie continues to press Rachel to take him back because he knows she still loves him. When the papers are served, he refuses to sign, forcing the decision to take the divorce proceedings to trial.

I rarely comment on intimate scenes in books. In the case of this book, these parts fare no better than the rest. They are choppy and rushed as though the characters were back in high school None of the sentiment the characters claim to feel for each other comes through in the narrative. This book additionally suffers from the occasional misspelled word and punctuation problems.

I was truly prepared to enjoy this book. I like stories where the woman gets back her own when leaving a bad relationship. While none of the problems with this book are individually severe, cumulatively, they make for a less than enjoyable reading experience. Had the book been properly edited for flow, content and smoothed out the rough edges, I would have happily given three stars.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 2 stars

Deadlier ...than the Male by D. Michelle Gent

Gent offers us a variation on the traditional werewolf genre that I found quite intriguing. There are those born Wolf (yes, she capitalizes the word), and those "made." There is a hierarchy among those born having to do with the amount of power, strength and abilities, and those who are "throwbacks," a danger to Wolfkind and always killed when found. They live and work beside us, a society within society at large, keeping their secrets and laws.

The main protagonist is Hazel, aka Red, a Sentinel whose job is to bring to justice or execute when necessary, Wolves whose activities risk exposing them to the world at large. Gent's Wolves unapologetically enjoy what they are when they hunt. Their prey of choice are Humes (otherwise known as humans to the rest of us).

At first appearance, the book reads like a story within a story because of it's dual timelines. This is one of those books that has you following Red in the current time stream while giving you Hazel's story, which begins some 500 years prior. Her history, written by a Scribe, is uncannily accurate for all that she was not consulted on its contents. As Red pursues answers to questions relevant to her most recent case, she hands a companion a book that tells her history. The book takes us through Hazel's making as a Wolf, to her claiming the name Red.

While not always the case, this is one of those times where going back and forth between present and past are used with great effect. I became more absorbed in the story the further I read. Red's history is necessary to the overall success of the book and was incorporated with skill and a deftness that enhanced the overall reading experience. The two timelines are brought together in a powerful conclusion at the end. The story offers greed, betrayal, power grabs, drugs, and a bit of romance.

This story was very well written. The historical aspects of life several hundred years ago felt well researched and came to life in my mind as I read. The characters were complex and very well developed. Gent even went so far as to explain why her Wolves went for certain parts when eating their prey, a twist I've not come across in any other novel of this genre. Kudos for a new twist. Now that I've been introduced to this author, I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Barnes & Noble
                                    Smashwords

The Banshee's Embrace (The Banshee's Embrace Trilogy, Book 1) by Victoria Richards

Generally speaking, I enjoy stories that embrace the paranormal and mythology and that holds mostly true for this one. Richards has a good premise for her story. A young woman's husband is killed trying to protect her and in the process finds herself inexplicably not only drawn to death when it happens in her vicinity, but to sing as it happens. Over time, she finds herself drawn into a world she had no idea existed and learns she is slowly turning into a banshee. Unknown to Jacqueline through most of the book, as a half banshee, she is a power to be reckoned with. People are trying to capture her for their own dark reasons.

This book has all the usual components of this type of story. There's romance, loss, revenge, greed, a few surprises, and a good plot. What the story lacks to make this book truly compelling are both characters, and a plot that are fully developed. There are places in the story where the plot is still a bit rough as well as events happening out of sequence that need to be addressed (i.e. - asking her mother if she's adopted after telling Toby she is). While the problems in this book are not severe enough to warrant pulling it off the shelves, they are significant enough to detract from the reading experience. 

Due to the lack of sufficient editing, I can only give this book 3 stars. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from:
                                    Amazon US
                                    Amazon Canada
                                    Amazon UK
                                    Barnes & Noble