Author Profile: Samantha Stroh Bailey
Author Name: Samantha Stroh Bailey Website: http://samanthastrohbailey.blogspot.ca/ Bio: Samantha Stroh Bailey has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen. In fact,…
Book Review: The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy …
I received a copy of The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon in exchange for an honest review. This book begins by introducing…
Interview with Cynthia Ellingsen
When did you know writing was for you? It hit me like a handful of glitter in the third grade. My awesome teacher…
Book Review: The Boy Next Door by Annabelle Costa
I received a copy of The Boy Next Door by Annabelle Costa in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Through middle school, high school, bad dates, and an ill-advised punk phase, Tasha has always been able to count on Jason. Since the day he moved in next door, he’s gone from the weird kid in a wheelchair to Tasha’s most trusted friend. But lives change and the friends are going in different directions. When Jason and Tasha rekindle their friendship, sparks fly. After years of being a wild soul, now the ex-lead of a band turned music teacher is just looking for a relationship to last.
When none other than Jason introduces her to a man who can give her what she wants, Tasha is on the verge of throwing passion and love away just so she can forget her troubled past and settle down. But Jason isn’t ready to give her up just yet.
Review:
I had so much fun reading The Boy Next Door and thought that Annabelle did such a fantastic job crafting such fun characters that are honest, flawed and easy to relate to . I loved the romance and thought it was very light and sweet. I also really, really liked the flashback scenes and thought that Annabelle did such a great job at going back and forth between time, which isn’t easily done and many authors struggle with. Overall, this book is really good and full of details. I was very impressed with this book and will definitely check out this author in the future.
Rating: 4 stars
On Tour: Eighty-Eight Keys by Catherine Lavender
Catherine will be on tour April 8-22 with her novel Eighty-Eight Keys Leah is a young woman who is trying to break free from a…
Book Review: The Bad Girls Club by Kathryn O’Halloran
I received a copy of The Bad Girls Club by Kathryn O’Halloran in exchange for an honest review.
When three women are seated together randomly at a wedding, they don’t know yet what fate has in store for them. With nothing in common but dissatisfaction with their lives and resentment toward the beautiful bride, Poppy, they are brought together by a risque prank. Together Imogen, Juliette and Beth decide to form the Bad Girls Club. They put into play a few simple rules – and each girl must complete a dare that takes them out of their comfort zones. Imogen flutters with danger as she dares to have the one man that she shouldn’t. Juliette has a complete transformation. And Beth enjoys being in control and being a bad girl. Are they ready to finally take the leap and become bad girls forever?
I had so much fun reading The Bad Girls Club! When Kathryn originally contacted me, she mentioned that her book was a cross between Sex and the City and the Fifty Shades franchise, and she hit it spot on. This book is hilarious and has some really great scenes that will leave you laughing out loud long after you’ve finished reading the lines. I think Kathryn did such an amazing and fun job creating such great female characters that form such a wonderful bond with one another. These gals are a riot and I loved their friendship! Overall, this book is really fun and I think that any gal looking for a fun and slightly raunchy read will definitely enjoy this book!
Rating: 4/5 stars
Book Review: Marriage Matters by Cynthia Ellingsen
I received a copy of Marriage Matters by Cynthia Ellingsen in exchange for an honest review. This story follows three lovely ladies – June, Kristine, and Chloe – as they prepare for their wedding. For June this will be her second marriage, after her husband’s passing years prior. For Kristine, a vow renewal after twenty-five years of marriage with husband Kevin, and for Chloe, her first trip down the aisle. The three women are also family, June being the grandmother to Chloe and leader of the pack. It is her idea for a triple wedding, but she doesn’t realize both her daughter and granddaughter are having doubts. Kristine is worried that her marriage to Kevin won’t survive if he keeps traveling for work, and Chloe wonders if fiancé Geoff loves her for her – or wants her as a mother for his young daughter. She also keeps having feelings for her best friend Ben…
What a sweet story! I really took a liking to June, who is clever, loving, and quite the prankster! I loved reading about her sly ways, but it was also clear she loved her family deeply. Kristine I wasn’t always so crazy about. She just seemed too ready to throw in the towel on her marriage, and I didn’t quite always get her reasoning. Poor Chloe was just confused, and found herself caught up in the excitement of wedding planning, trying on dresses, and taste-testing cake. It was fairly obvious who she was supposed to end up with, but watching her journey was a fun one. I had a great time reading this story, loved the family values that are written in, and think you should read this one!
4 stars
Future Tour: Meeting Miss Mollie by Di Jones
Di will be on tour June 3-24 with her chick lit novel Meeting Miss Mollie She’s the Agony Aunt who has it all. Except for…
Interview with Evonne Wareham
When did you know writing was for you?
I’ve been writing stories ever since I was in school. It took a long while for me to realize that not everyone did it!
How would you describe your book?
The genre is paranormal romantic suspense – or paranormal romantic thriller. In the UK it tends to be called a thriller. It’s paranormal because of humans with special powers – mind reading – not because of creatures like vampires. It’s about two people who are caught up in a plot that centres around their special skills, and an attempt by a shadowy organisation to take advantage of them. In the course of overcoming the threat, they find each other – but it is not a smooth process.
What was the hardest part of the writing process for you?
I enjoy writing, but even so it is not always easy to keep going. 90,000 words is a long journey! You do sometimes get tired along the way. I tend to invent complex plots, so sometimes keeping track of who is where, and what they are doing, gets a bit complicated.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you as an author?
I’m often told that people are surprised by my books, as romantic suspense is not such a well known genre in the UK – so I’d like people to know that if they pick up one of my books they are going to get a love story mixed with crime and scary stuff.
What does your daily schedule look like?
All over the place! I don’t write on a regular basis with a daily word target. I spend a lot of time planning and researching and then I like to write in blocks and keep going until the end.
What would be your advice to aspiring writers?
Keep at it! Determination to keep improving as a writer and to keep submitting to agents and editors is vital. A few authors have success in their careers without ever having a rejection, but for the rest of us the ability to bounce back is part of the tool kit.
What is your favorite book?
I don’t really have one – there are so many authors I admire, in so may different styles, I could never chose. If I had to pick an author who has enthralled me for a long time, it would probably be Shakespeare, and then it would have to be the collected works.
Favorite movie?
Possession – the film made from A S Byatt’s novel. I love the way the stories of the Victorian writers and the present day researchers who are investigating them are intertwined, and it also has a number of my favourite actors in it.
Who is your favorite literary character?
Again it’s difficult to chose – but I do have a weakness for the villains in Elizabethan and Jacobean plays – there are some wonderful portraits of evil and corruption. I blame them, in part, for the darker side of my writing. I love the theatre, and it gets into the fabric of my work.
Who is your writing inspiration?
All the great American romantic suspense authors – Nora Roberts, Karen Rose, Tami Hoag, Linda Howard – I could go on. I just love the genre.
What is your must have beauty product?
Moisturizer. I’m a sucker for all the promises on the jar and I adore ones that have a nice smell.
What advice would you give yourself ten years ago? Any words of wisdom?
I’d tell myself to keep trying and keep learning. It took me a long time to become a published author, but I amassed a lot of experience on the way that is in
