Class Vamp / Silence O'Shea

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Paranormal/ Erotic Romance

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Silence O'Shea lives in a tiny woodland town in the extreme Northern U.S., where the lusty locals generate enough heat to melt the polar ice caps. As in any good Catholic town, dirty deeds are afoot behind closed doors. Some people just have to share their exploits--and Silence is a superb and trusted listener. She’ll never spill secrets, but that doesn’t mean she can’t use the naughtiest bits and most colorful characters as inspiration for her work.”

For more, visit her website or Facebook page.

Description:

“Hoping to make her ex-classmates eat their bullying hearts out, Josie Miller plans to attend her high school reunion a foxy vixen. Until a bloodsucking fiend turns her. Now she’ll be attending the reunion a fat vampire. Enter Tanner Douglas, her one-time crush, who’s happy to use various body parts to boost her confidence, and help Josie waltz into the reunion a sexy, sultry class vamp.”

Appraisal:

In this smexy (A little smutty and a little sexy equals smexy) novella, Ms. O'Shea has redefined some of her own unique vampire life rules. A vampire's appearance never changes after the turn although they still have to be wary of sunlight and pointy sticks. They also have laws governing them, especially laws about turning new vampires.

While patrolling a dark alley Bob, a vampire cleaner who wears a trendy Marc Jacobs cross-body man purse, finds Josie dying from a sloppy vampire feeding. He has a choice to save her by turning her into a vampire or letting her die. After saving her life and a rowdy round of the best sex Josie has ever had, all she wants is a do-over. The last thing she wants to be is a chunky vampire for the rest of her undead life. Their conversation is hysterical! Bob ends up making sure she gets home afterward while she laments about being a fat vampire for all eternity and being turned by what she considers a vampire janitor.

With help from her best friend Carmen, Josie takes on changing her self image problems. This is a totally irreverent look at a realistic problem facing many women today.

The plot has a nice pace and the characters are well developed and believable, aside from Josie's vampire situation. When Josie runs into Tanner, an old high school crush who just happens to have moved back to town, she tries to stay realistic but is all too easily swept away. When she learns he may have an ulterior motive, all of her insecurities instantly lock back in place. I enjoyed the dialogue between Josie and Carmen, everyone needs a friend to help them examine life, people, and situations through different eyes. Tanner is almost too good to be true and Josie's concerns are rational. With the reunion approaching Josie's and Tanner's relationship is still on shaky ground when an argument about what she will wear to the event breaks loose and both their worlds are turned upside down.

This is a fun, sassy, and sexy journey which is really more paranormal Chick-Lit than Romance. However, could it last an eternity?

FYI:

Explicit sex and language that may not be acceptable for all readers.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant issues with editing or formatting.

Rating: **** Four stars

A Whole New Ballgame / Caryn Rose

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Chick-Lit

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

The titles of Caryn Rose’s novels, B-sides and Broken Hearts and now A Whole New Ballgame reflect her two major interests, music and baseball.

For more, visit Rose’s blog.

Description:

“The story of a 20-something woman who finds comfort and solace in baseball as her carefully ordered world starts to unravel.

26-year-old Laurie Nicholson thinks she's beginning to sort things out when it comes to life, work, and love. When a sudden declaration from an on-again, off-again boyfriend inspires her to take a risk, only to meet with crushing heartbreak instead, Laurie finds herself searching for refuge.

A chance encounter with Eric Morris and Peter Ellis, two friends spending their summer visiting every ballpark in America, offers Laurie an unexpected way to salve her wounds. Despite growing up in Boston surrounded by Red Sox fans, she wasn't a fan of the game-until Eric and Peter's enthusiasm turn that around and she falls in love...with baseball.”

Appraisal:

If you’re one of those women who isn’t much into sports or at least not baseball, you might be tempted to skip past this book. I’m not much of a sporty guy myself, so I understand. But in skipping it you’ll miss out on a good story that just happens to have baseball as a backdrop. Plus, you’ll find you have more in common with Laurie, the protagonist, than you think. You might not understand some of the references to specific players, but they aren’t important to the story. (I don’t know who they are either.) Maybe you’ll understand the music and band references better. (Those, I got, but they’re also unimportant.)

At its heart, A Whole New Ballgame is a coming of age story. Although Laurie is an adult, living on her own, established in her career, and much more “grown-up” than many of her peers, the struggles she goes through and the lessons she learns take her through the next level of growth. I found myself struggling with her as she faced some tough decisions, upset, when she was, and even gaining a small appreciation of baseball, even if I’m not planning to run out to the ballpark on opening day.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

God Particle / Toby Tate

Reviewed by: Sooz

Genre: Science Fiction Thriller

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Toby Tate has seemingly done it all. He’s been in the Navy, worked as cab driver, a pizza delivery man, a phone solicitor, a shipyard technician, a government contractor, a retail music salesman, a bookseller, a cell phone salesman and a recording studio engineer, according to his bio.

He has written several sci-fi, fantasy and horror books.

You can learn about him on his website.

 http://www.tobytatestories.com/

Description:

Chloe Johansson’s father goes missing and she heads from Boston to Switzerland to learn what she could about his disappearance. Her father was one of the scientists that discovered the Higgs Boson, and he accidentally discovered there was more to the God Particle than realized. Johansson, her family and for-hire agents cross the globe to save it from unseen monster that could destroy everything.

Appraisal:

Chloe Johansson is a brave, smart 16-year-old. She’s already attends MIT, and when her dad goes missing, she doesn’t bat an eye in going to Switzerland, where he works at the CERN, in trying to help find him.

The science fiction thriller pits Chloe as the central character from a first-person point of view, but we get into the mind of other characters as author Toby Tate uses a third-person point of view for the other characters. This jumping between POV felt a bit disjointed, but luckily it didn’t last long as the chapters were short and direct.

Admittedly, I don’t know enough about the Higgs Boson to know if the science going on in the book is even plausible. It was one of those moments where I decided to let go and jump into the story, and I think readers will have to do that.

The story puts the family on the run across the globe, chasing a being that could wreak havoc on the world if it takes control of the right person. Tate does a great of describing the settings of all the different places the family visits, but I wasn’t sure the globetrotting was necessary as we did find the characters on a plane often.

I would have liked to learn more about some of the other characters as Tate put a diverse group together to fight the menace, but Chloe Johansson was a likable 16-year-old, who seems young enough to not understand the dangers she faced. Even while trying to save her father, and the world, she still finds time to think about the cute boy who just saved her family.

There was a subplot that started at the beginning of the book where Chloe’s friend calls to tell her she is pregnant, but this thread isn’t picked up again until the very end of the book. If there are other stories about Johansson, perhaps it will be mentioned again, but I wasn’t sure what the point was other than put out a political opinion regarding options for teenage pregnancy. This subplot wasn’t involved enough to sway my feelings of the book.

For those who like fast-paced, sci-fi thrillers, this is the type of book you would enjoy.

Format/Typo Issues:

No major issues.

Rating: ***Three stars

Recently at The IndieView (plus some other stuff)

Before letting you know about the latest happenings at The IndieView, I've got a couple other things to mention.

First, BigAl has been busy lately, with an interview on Lyn Horner's blog and another just today on DV Berkom's blog. For those who would rather listen than read (that doesn't apply to anyone visiting this site, does it?) BigAl was also a guest recently on the A Kind Voice on Books podcast.

Next, you may have noticed a couple ad spots that are new on the right side of the page. Authors, publishers, or other parties who are interested in running ads at Books and Pals or The IndieView can find out how by visiting Project Wonderful. It's unbelievably cheap. 

And finally, the most recent interviews at The IndieView starting with a refresher on the different kinds of interviews.

The IndieView

This is an interview with a standard set of open ended questions. While they focus on a specific book, they also delve into the author's history as a writer and the path they took in becoming an indie author.

The BookView

This is a shorter interview format for authors who have already done an IndieView which focuses just on their most recent book.

Reviewer IndieView

These are interviews with reviewers who have their own review blog that delve into their approach to reviewing. A great way to find other book blogs you might like to follow. (For authors, there is also an extensive database of indie friendly review sites you might like to check out.)

Allirea's Realm

By invitation only, these are quirky, often irreverent interviews done by longtime Books and Pals follower, Allirea.


(Authors and reviewers interested in doing an IndieView should visit this page for details.)

IndieView with Amanda from Cozy Tea Corner reviews

 I try my best not to completely trash a book, because I know it’s a hard process, but they are seeking me out for my honest opinion, not just an advocacy piece.


Allirea’s Realm, Coffee and Conversation with Jason Gurley

Sometimes it’s difficult to get excited about something created by someone close to you. Novels are mysterious to so many people, so when they discover that you’ve written one, it tends to unravel that mysteriousness. I know that I don’t often read books that my friends write, and it’s usually because I’m too close to that person to see past them to their creation. 


Bookview with Mary Fan, author of Synthetic Illusions

Then, I got stuck again and realized I hated everything I’d written. So that got scrapped too.


IndieView with reviewer Mati Raine of Steampunk Sparrow’s Book Blog

Books are works of art: they are never truly perfect, you just have to decide when to walk away and let it be seen. 


IndieView with Allen Houston, author of Nightfall Gardens

Ideas can come from anywhere. Dreams are a good one. Snippets of conversation overheard on the subway. I played the “what if” game with my father a lot when I was a kid. I remember asking him once, “What if a werewolf jumped out of the woods while we were walking home?” He responded, “We would run like hell.” He was right on that.


BookView with Jonathan Bennett & David Bennett, authors of The Teen Popularity Handbook

Yet, in spite of the huge need for teens to be popular and fit in, there is no book specifically devoted to teen popularity. We decided to do the research and create the tips to fill that need.


IndieView with Michael Patrick Hicks, author of Convergence

In 1999/2000 time-frame, I read a really cool BBC News Science article about a team of researchers who, for the first time ever, were able to plug into a cat’s brain directly and record video of what the animal was seeing. These scientists were able to build a device and tap into the cat’s optical nerve, and pipe it through a TV set. It was pretty remarkable, and set the stage for what would later become the DRMR device I write about in this book.


IndieView with M.H. Soars, author of The Prophecy of Arcadia

 hear so many people say that they would love to write a book but then they list all the reasons why they can’t. I don’t buy that. If you want something bad enough, you will find a way to accomplish it.


IndieView with Tom Abrahams, author of Allegiance

It began as a book about Texas seceding from the union and morphed into a more complex story.  I got the idea from all of the “secession” talk during the early days of the 2012 presidential primary campaign.


Allirea’s Realm, Coffee and Conversation with Jools Sinclair

You don’t want to be out in the middle of a giant lake with the wind kicking up and big black waves rolling into you. That’s what happened and it was very, very scary. 


IndieView with reviewer Don Grant of Gut Reaction Reviews

Like most readers I read to escape, to learn, and to expose myself to new ideas. The fun part is getting inside a character’s head and reading about what makes them tick.


BookView with Rebecca Forster, author of Keeping Counsel

I read an article about an attorney whose client confessed to murdering two people and showed him where the bodies were. The attorney was bound to keep his client’s counsel and the man remained free. I thought that was frightening and wondered how such a scenario would play out if the attorney’s friends or family were at risk.


BookView with Elizabeth Corrigan, author of Raising Chaos

I learned that writing a second book involves just as much sweat and just as many tears as writing a first one. I kind of thought/hoped that after I had one book published, the writing process would get easier from there. But it turns out there are always more things to learn, more ideas to show instead of tell, and more birds that are just dying to chirp in the background of your Pakistani forest scene. 

IndieView with Jocie McKade, author of Heart River Inn

My husband took me to a resort in the Pocono’s for an anniversary.  While I didn’t get surrounded and wounded by evil swans, I did encounter a few couples that had some seriously interesting (weird) traits that made it into the book.

Waking Up Dead / Margo Bond Collins

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Mystery / Paranormal

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

The author lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college English online. She loves paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.
Description:

After she is raped and brutally murdered in Dallas, TX, Callie Taylor ‘wakes up’ as a ghost in small-town Alabama. Seeking solace against the loneliness of the ghostly life, she falls into the habit of dropping in on a young married couple and watching TV with them (although they can’t see her). When a stranger breaks in and murders the young wife, Callie gains a new purpose—to bring the killer to justice.

Appraisal:

This was a fun and easy read. A book you can pick up and put down, and then slot right back into the plot again when you re-open. The ghost world and Callie’s abilities and limitations were well handled--basically she operated very like Patrick Swayze in Ghost--and Callie was great to be around, witty, and with a dry sense of humor.

When Callie finds an African American bank teller and her grandmother who can see and hear her, she persuades them to help in her quest. They were also fun characters. The grandma—Maw-Maw—was especially feisty.

I think lovers of mystery books will enjoy this slightly different take on the genre--having a ghost act as ‘detective’ added an interesting twist.

Format/Typo Issues:

I received an advanced copy, so can’t pass judgment here.

Rating: **** Four stars

#Free for your #Kindle, 4/17/2014

The author of each of these books has indicated their intent to schedule these books for a free day for the Kindle versions today on Amazon. Sometimes plans change or mistakes happen, so be sure to verify the price before hitting that "buy me" button.

My Monster Burrufu by Alberto Corral

Amazon US

Amazon UK

A Chance for Charity by S.L. Baum

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Author's interested in having their free book featured either here on a Thursday or a sister site on a Monday, visit this page for details.

Diamond Duplicity (Jewels of Desire) /Erica Lucke Dean with Elise Delacroix

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre:  Erotic Romance/ Mystery

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Erica Lucke Dean:

“After walking away from her career as a business banker to pursue writing full-time, Erica moved from the hustle and bustle of the big city to a small tourist town in the North Georgia Mountains where she lives in a 90-year-old haunted farmhouse with her workaholic husband, her 180lb lap dog, and at least one ghost.”

To learn more about her, visit her website, blog, or Facebook page.

Elise Delacroix:

“Elise Delacroix married her high school sweetheart and moved to a remote hideaway far enough from civilization that she was forced to create her own entertainment. When playing charades got old, she came up with a plan to write erotic romance in order to keep life exciting. She may spend most of her days lounging in a pair of red flannel pajamas, but her characters wouldn’t be caught dead in anything less than satin and lace.

While Elise also writes in other genres using a pen name, it’s her collaborations with Erica Lucke Dean where she lets her naughty side come out to play. And oh, what a naughty side she has.”

Description:

“Lucy Matthews can’t believe her crazy luck. While she’s on a date with Mr. Wrong, her evening tilts from merely unfortunate to downright surreal when his attempt to sneak them into a club lands them in the middle of a diamond heist.

When gorgeous Max Callaghan discovers a hot and disheveled Lucy clutching his bag of diamonds at the crime scene, he brands her with a fiery kiss. His gang wants her dead, so Max rescues her by claiming her as his girlfriend. Lucy soon realizes with sudden, pulse-pounding clarity that she needs Max for another reason entirely, but their passionate ruse might not survive the intense pressure of a high-stakes mob war.”

Appraisal:

Lucy Matthews is not quite twenty-one, a bit naïve, and totally swept off her feet by Max Callaghan. She is not normally an adventurous or outgoing person but once she looks into Max's gorgeous green eyes she loses all of her inhibitions. It was fun to go along with her on her adventure, even though we are not sure what side of the law Max and his crew are on. He seems genuine and forthright, he says all the right things but is he too good to be true? 

The supportive cast's dialogue is entertaining, I love Rabbit, Keagan, and even Mario.  The characters are well developed and I hope to see more of them in future stories. I also want to know more about Uncle Mick and Big Al, we didn't get the full story between these two characters! The plot is fast moving, all happening in a single event filled night. The biggest problem is I want more!

If you are looking for fun, fast, sexy read, that actually has a plot this may be a book you would enjoy.

FYI:

Adult language, situations, and explicit sex scenes.

Rating: **** Four stars

Choice Cuts / Joe Clifford

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime / Noir / Hard Boiled / Short Story Collection

Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Joe Clifford is acquisitions editor for Gutter Books and managing editor of The Flash Fiction Offensive. He is the author of three books.

You can learn more about the author at his website.

Description:

The author’s debut collection of noir and crime stories previously published in a variety of magazines, brought together for the first time.

Appraisal:

I’ve previously reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed two of Joe Clifford’s novels – Junkie Love and Wake The Undertaker so I was interested to see how he dealt with the shorter form. In summary – very well. This is an enjoyable, if at times challenging, read. There’s a real spread of subjects, from drugs and their users to combat stress to prison escapes. Some have nods to Clifford’s past experiences as a user (read Junkie Love for more information). However, all have an underlying element of empathy for the characters. This is not sensationalized story telling.

Most are at the high end of the quality spectrum, one or two not so. To be fair, those that fell into the latter segment were the shortest of shorts, where there was insufficient room to develop a narrative, but that’s just down to my preferences.

There are too many stories to go through in detail so I’ll pick out some of the highlights.

Another Man’s Treasure is written in the first person, a perspective that Clifford seems most comfortable writing within. The main character and a friend called Geiger trawl flea markets with the aim of making a few dollars from junk. Geiger thinks he’s got the perfect scam to rip off one of the stall holders, but the tables are turned in rather gruesome fashion.

Meat follows several Russian prisoners who escape the most brutal of confinements and battle their way across a frozen landscape, miles from anywhere. In order to survive they need a source of food…

In Red Pistachios a once successful writer is struggling with life, literally. A student of his, one to whom the main character owes a debt in effect, returns after several years away, but to disastrous consequences.

Joe Clifford has many enviable strong points as a writer, but the one that shone through yet again was his descriptive narrative. Simply read and enjoy this collection of high quality work.

FYI:

Scenes of drug taking.

Format/Typo Issues:

Nothing of note.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Lucky Girl: How I Survived the Sex Industry / Violet Ivy

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Memoir

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Violet Ivy (I’m guessing a pen name or at least working name) is “an international call girl.” This book chronicles her years working in the sex industry.  She also has a book of interviews discussing sexuality with some of the people she’s crossed paths with over the years called Sex and Sexuality: The Interviews – Part One.

Description:

“The intimate autobiography of an international call girl. Scary, funny and bizarre stories recorded for your amusement, edification or simply for interesting dinner conversation.

The sex industry is clouded in mystery. It has to be to some extent or it wouldn’t survive. But in this age of internet porn, buying pubic hair trimmings online and wife swapping parties it’s about time the veils of mystery were taken down.”

Appraisal:

My feelings about Lucky Girl are ambiguous. In it Violet Ivy chronicles how she went from a farm girl in rural Australia to working as a prostitute and call girl both on her own and in brothels in at least three countries. She also attempts to put a positive spin on the industry with thoughts on why it is needed as well as arguing against some of the stereotypes we might have about sex workers. Taken at face value, it was both entertaining and thought provoking.

However, it suffered from an overabundance of typos and other errors not caught in the proofing and copyediting process. I also found that as I was getting close to the end I was questioning the credibility or truthfulness of Ivy’s story. There were two main reasons I was able to identify as contributors to that feeling. One was a story about a man named Bruce who Ivy got involved with on a personal level which seemed to contradict earlier stories where she talked about her “one real love” and also the difficulty in having a regular relationship while working in her industry. To be fair, she might not have contradicted herself and I read more into one of the stories than was intended. However, my second concern was when she argued against the media stereotype of a sex worker being addicted to hard drugs and guilty of theft and other mayhem, saying it was done with the “aim to sensationalize” and claimed that this “archetypical hooker is the exception rather than the rule.” Possibly it is the exception, yet there were multiple stories earlier in the book that involved her peers stealing from her or someone else and the point was made that this wasn’t an uncommon problem. At least in my experience working in other industries, theft of personal items by my coworkers hasn’t been an issue I’ve had to worry about. Maybe the stereotype isn’t the rule, but it didn’t seem to be so uncommon as to paint it as rare either.

If you’re willing to wade past a few typos, I’d be interested in your thoughts.

FYI:

Adult subjects and language.

Format/Typo Issues:

A moderate number of typos and other proofing and copyediting misses.

Rating: *** Three Stars

The Ideal Household Appliance / Laura L Sullivan

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Science Fiction / Short Story

Approximate word count: 5-6,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Under the pen name Sullivan Lee as well as  her own name, Laura L Sullivan is the author of several traditionally published books in multiple genres. The former social worker, newspaper editor, and deputy sheriff is now also self publishing her short stories.

Description:

“In The Ideal Household Appliance, a socially averse entomologist with an interest in robotics has created the perfect cleaning gadget – artificial roaches that hide in the daytime but scurry around at night cleaning up debris. They have all the benefits of insects, without the feces and disease. But when he develops an unhealthy obsession with his neighbor, and her violent ex-husband returns, the scientist discovers that his new invention still has a few bugs.”

Appraisal:

The nature of a short story is that relative to longer works the author is limited in how much can be said. There can’t be as much character development (often leaving the reader wanting to know a character better) and the story has to have severe constraints on complexity. I enjoy them, but am often left wanting more.

What struck me about The Ideal Household Appliance is that, for me, character development was exactly what was needed to understand the story. No more and no less. The reader gets a good handle on Watson, the protagonist, learns enough about Rosalind, a major secondary character, to fit the story, and just enough about Rex, Rosalind’s son, and Rosalind’s ex-husband for them to understand their place in the story. And it was a good story, with a hero, some conflict with a satisfying resolution, and an ending that didn’t leave me thinking I’d been left in the dark about something important.

Format/Typo Issues:

No Significant issues

Rating: ***** Five stars