Month: November 2017

“Rules of Rain” Spotlight Tour!

rules of rain

How far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Rain has taken care of Ethan all of their lives. Before she even knew what autism meant, she was her twin brother’s connection to the world around him. Each day with Ethan is unvarying and predictable, and Rain takes comfort in being the one who holds their family together. It’s nice to be needed—to be the center of someone’s world. If only her longtime crush, Liam, would notice her too…

Then one night, her life is upended by a mistake she can’t undo. Suddenly Rain’s new romance begins to unravel along with her carefully constructed rules. Rain isn’t used to asking for help—and certainly not from Ethan. But the brother she’s always protected is the only one who can help her. And letting go of the past may be the only way for Rain to hold onto her relationships that matter most.

Leah Scheier works as a pediatrician and pens stories of romance and adventure. Her latest novel, Your Voice Is All I Hear, received a Starred Review from Booklist. She lives in Maryland. Learn more at leahscheier.com.

Buy Links:

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters | iBooks | Indiebound

Rules of Rain was a fantastic read! The relationship between Rain and Ethan was so believable—I have two brothers, and while we’ve always loved each other, sometimes we really fought, especially during those growing-up-and-apart years. The book truly captures the ups-and-downs of siblings, and portrays the added nuances of autism with compassion.

Rules of Rain also deals with first loves, and the mistakes that are sometimes made by people who are trying to figure out who they are. This is a great book, and well-worth picking up.

The publisher is holding a contest for a giveaway for two copies of Rules of Rain!
Check it out here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Book Review: The Girl in the Tower, by Katherine Arden

the girl in the tower
Image belongs to Del Rey.

Vasya has long seen creatures from legend, and her ability to see has brought trouble down upon her and her family. Only the aid of Morozko (Frost, the winter demon from the stories) has kept her alive so far, and the love of Solovey, her magnificent stallion. With her parents dead and her village casting her out as a witch, Vasya knows her options are limited:  life in a convent or marriage to a Moscovite prince. She wants neither, and disguises herself as a boy as she sets out to explore the world.

She finds burned villages, missing girls, and bandits that vanish leaving no traces behind. After she rescues three girls from the bandits, the Grand Prince of Moscow calls her a hero, and she is reunited with her brother and sister. But Vasya cannot reveal that she is female, or her entire family risks disgrace and death. Soon she realizes that a danger stalks Moscow and the Grand Prince, and even Morozko, who she no longer knows if she can trust, may not be able to help her.

Have you ever identified with a character so completely that it almost broke your heart? That’s how I felt about Vasya as I was reading The Girl in the Tower. Everyone wants her to be content to marry, raise a family, and be conventional, but she wants anything but that. She wants to travel, live her life, and be happy, but the people around her don’t want that for her:  they want her to conform. And she doesn’t want to hurt those she loves, so she’s torn.

Vasya is a powerful character, so relatable that you want to cry for her struggles. This is a magical, vibrant book, and wonder permeates every page. The setting is so vividly depicted that I found myself shivering—and I hate cold weather!

Katherine Arden is from Texas, but lived in Vermont, Russia, Hawaii, France, and Hawaii (again). She has picked Macadamia nuts, made smoothies, and sold real estate, but now she writes. The Girl in the Tower is her newest novel, the second book in The Winternight trilogy.

Go. Read this! And if you haven’t read The Bear and the Nightingale, read it first!

the girl in the tower2
Gorgeous covers!

(Galley provided by Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Rules of Rain, by Leah Scheier

 

rules of rain
Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.

Rain has always been the one to take care of Ethan, her autistic twin brother. It’s always been her job…when their father left, when their mother gets sick, when school bullies pick on Ethan, Rain is there, with her rules to keep Ethan stable and functioning. Then her best friend falls in love with Ethan, and Rain’s own long-time crush falls in love with her, and suddenly everything changes.

Rain discovers secrets she never imagined Ethan could hide, and secrets her mother has hidden for years. Amid this upheaval, Rain makes a mistake she can’t undo, and life goes from predictable and routine to scary and unexpected all at once, as Rain struggles to figure out who she really is and what she wants, for the first time in her life.

Rules of Rain is about the bond between a girl and her autistic brother, but it’s also about finding out who you are and sorting out your life. Rain loves routine and stability to get her through life, but sometimes life gives you things you never expected. This is a moving read that shows one girl’s search for herself when the one person who has always needed her suddenly doesn’t anymore. A very good read!

Leah Scheier is a pediatrician by day, and a writer by night. Rules of Rain is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

 

Book Review: Little Broken Things, by Nicole Baart

LBT
Image belongs to Atria Books.

Quinn Cruz hasn’t had much to do with her family for years, until she and her husband moved back to her hometown a few months ago. Her brother is too busy. Her mother is too intrusive. And her sister has been aloof for years. So, when Quinn receives a text from Nora one night, “I have something for you,” she jumps at the chance to meet up with her sister.

That “something” is a frightened little girl named Lucy, whom Nora begs Quinn not to speak a word about to anyone before Nora vanishes into the night. Lucy’s haunted eyes trouble Quinn, and she struggles to connect with the girl who is terrified of “him.” Quinn doesn’t know the evil that Nora is facing, but the two of them are desperate to keep one little girl safe, and find out the truth of who she is.

Little Broken Things is extremely well-written, with a pace that builds slow momentum to a breakneck finish. Lucy is so innocent and so broken the reader will immediately care for her, and want to know her truths. Quinn and Nora’s family is broken, and has been for years. The sisters are united in their desire to keep Lucy safe, but the secrets still lurking in the dark may tear the family apart.

Nicole Baart’s books have been nominated for awards, and she is the co-founder of One Body One Hope. Little Broken Things is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Seventh Decimate, by Stephen R. Donaldson

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Image belongs to Berkely.

Belleger and Amika have been at war for centuries, with their sorcerers hurling destruction and pestilence at each other and tearing the nations apart. Then Belleger’s sorcerers are stripped of their magic, and Belleger is on the verge of falling. But Prince Bifalt refuses to let that happen.

He sets out in search of the library that is the repository of the sorcerers’ knowledge, to find a decimate greater than the one used against his land, but what he really wants is to destroy all sorcerers. Through battles, desert, and near-starvation, Prince Bifalt searches for the repository, unaware that there are greater things in motion than he can even imagine.

I’ve read the Thomas Covenant books several times, and enjoyed them, but Covenant is not a likeable character. And neither is Prince Bifalt. Frequently, I felt the urge to shake him, for his blindness and refusal to consider anything but his own beliefs. Donaldson creates a vivid world, but I had a really hard time connecting with the Prince, and that made the book drag a bit for me.

Stephen R. Donaldson was born in Ohio, but grew up in India. His is the author of the Thomas Covenant books. His newest novel, Seventh Decimate, is the first in The Great God’s War trilogy.

(Galley provided by Berkely via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Austen Escape, by Katherine Reay

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Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Mary Davies is an industrial engineer in Austin, Texas. She’s happy with her job and her life, although she wishes there was a bit more going on with cute, funny consultant Nathan. Then Mary’s childhood friend, Isabel, offers her a trip to England, for a two-week immersive stay in a Regency-style manor house, where everyone will be living as Jane Austen characters. Mary wants distance between her and her beautiful, manipulative, vindictive friend, but finds herself agreeing.

At first, the experience is fun, as Mary meets a group of people all pretending to be her favorite characters, but then Isabel wakes up one morning really thinking she is her chosen character, and with no memory of reality. Mary finds herself dependent on strangers as she waits for Isabel to regain her memory. Then Mary realizes she and Isabel’s lives are more entwined than she thought, and must decide if she’ll let her pain go and move on with her life, or hold it against Isabel forever.

I loved this book! This is my first (but not last) Katherine Reay book, and I loved the voice, the characters, and the setting. An immersive Jane Austen vacation? Yes, please! (I do love Austen.). Mary is such a complex character, given to spur-of-the-moment impulses and jumping to conclusions (That’s my own personal form of exercise, too.) Her friendship with Isabel is fraught with tension bordering on anger, and the relationship is vividly portrayed on the pages of this novel.

Katherine Reay has lived in Texas, England, Ireland, Washington, and now Chicago. The Austen Escape is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Thomas Nelson via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Dark Intercept, by Julia Keller

the dark intercept
Image belongs to Macmillan-Tor/Forge

 

Violet Crowley is the sixteen-year-old daughter of the founder of New Earth, the safe home of people with the right to leave the sordid conditions of Earth behind. The Intercept keeps New Earth residents safe, and it monitors emotions and occasionally uses them to keep that safety intact. Julia has never known anything different, but when Danny, a cop and her long-time crush, is almost killed on Old Earth, Violet decides to investigate what he’s up to, and ends up finding out secrets she never imagined.

I enjoyed The Dark Intercept very much. The concept was unique and intriguing, and the book takes a hard look at what people are willing to put up with for their idea of safety. Technology is taken to the extreme in New Earth, and the idea is terrifying. Violet is pretty typical for a teenager, with her crush and her preconceived ideas of what’s really going on. She matures some in the book, but she still has a tendency to forgive all of Danny’s lies and actions, which is a bit annoying. The characters are rather one-dimensional, but I feel they will develop more as the series continues.

Julia Keller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. The Dark Intercept is her new novel.

Galley provided by Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Rosemarked, by Livia Blackburne

rosemarked
Image belongs to Disney-Hyperion.

Zivah has barely become a healer when she is tasked with caring for the ill soldiers of the nation oppressing her own. Eager to save as many soldiers as she can—to keep her people safe—she cares for the commander, who survives, but Zivah falls victim to the plague. She knows she’ll die from the plague, she just doesn’t know when.

Given the chance to continue helping her people. Zivah agrees to a spying mission with Dineas, a warrior broken by torture who lives only to overthrow the empire intent on crushing both their people. The two will have only each other to rely on as they journey into the heart of enemy territory, desperate to find any chance of saving their people.

Rosemarked is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. From the first page, I was enthralled by the world, the plot, and especially the characters. The concept of the rose plague is fascinating—a deadly virus that kills most of its victim, leaving only some alive as carriers destined to die, and a few lucky immune, both forever marked by the virus. Zivah struggles with pitting her beliefs against her loyalty to both her people and Dineas, and her conflict weaves throughout the story. Dineas is so emotionally scarred all he can see is revenge, yet he is conflicted after getting to know some of the enemy. The dynamic between the two is absolutely riveting. You MUST read this! I cannot wait for the next book.

Livia Blackburne is the New York Times-bestselling author of the Midnight Thief series. Rosemarked is her newest novel, the first in a new series.

(Galley provided by Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

beasts of extraordinary circumstance
Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Weylyn Grey was orphaned and raised by wolves. He met Mary when she was 11 years old, when he saved her from an angry wolf. Weylyn knows strange things happen around him—like stopping that tornado on Christmas Day—but he prefers to give the credit to his horned pig, Merlin.

Freak storms, trees that grow overnight, hurricanes that mysteriously dissipate; Weylyn has been around them all. Though it all, his love for Mary stays strong, until he realizes that she might come to harm. Then he knows he must move on. Instead of stopping hurricanes, the magic in his life now consists of fireflies who make phosphorescent honey. But, through it all, his love for Mary remains strong. All he needs is the courage to knock on her door.

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance is classified as fantasy/sci-fi, but to me, it’s more magical realism. It’s different from anything else I’ve ever read, and different is a very good thing. This is told not only from Weylyn’s point-of-view, but from that of those who know him. There is magic on every page, and wonder hides here as well.

Ruth Emmie Lang was born in Scotland, but moved to Ohio when she was four. Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance is her first novel.

(Galley provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

 

 

Book Review: Firebrand, by Sarah MacTavish

firebrand

Way back in…March, I think…I went to a local author event, mainly because Rachel Caine was going to be there, and I love her writing. I’d heard her speak before, and was pleased to have another opportunity. There was another author there, Sarah MacTavish, and I really enjoyed her talk as well. So, I ended up buying her debut novel, Firebrand. And it’s been sitting in that particular TBR pile until last week. Yes, I stockpile books…and then don’t have a chance to read them for months. I have a problem, okay?

When I did pick it up, I finished reading it in less than 24 hours. It was that good. It’s set right before the Civil War, and its about two young abolitionists and the struggles they face. I like historical fiction, but I thought this YA historical was extremely well-written, and I found myself rooting for the characters. (Also, I’m from Texas, not too far from where part of the book is set, and I had no idea about some of the things in the novel.) This book deals with difficult events and topics, but it’s history:  if we don’t learn from it, we’re doomed to repeat it.

Saoirse Callahan and her family are struggling to survive on their small Texas farm that’s a far cry from their home in Ireland. Tempers are short, and after the death of one of her brothers, the whole family seems on the verge of collapsing. Then a series of fires sweep the region, and rumors of a slave uprising spread, leaving vigilante justice in their wake. Saoirse is desperate to find out what really happened, but her questions land her family in even deeper trouble.

Westleigh Kavanagh is safely an abolitionist in Pennsylvania, until he realizes his father’s new boarder is a runaway slave. Westleigh is determined to keep the man’s secret, even from his father, who, as sheriff, is bound to uphold the law, no matter what his personal beliefs are. Then Westleigh finds an old journal, and uncovers secrets his father has long kept hidden from him, secrets that lead him to the Callahans in  Texas.