Author: tamaramorning

Book Review: Immortality: A Love Story, by Dana Schwartz  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Immortality: A Love Story      
Author: Dana Schwartz    
Genre: YA    
Rating:  4 out of 5

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know whether Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: She has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly daughter of King George IV. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn’t the only thing at stake. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

I enjoyed this read, more than I enjoyed the ending of the first book. Hazel was a much stronger character in this one, and I liked her more. The Companions to the Death were fascinating—Byron was just like I imagine him—and I liked that aspect of the story. I liked Jack….but I really like the doctor, too.

Dana Schwartz lives in L.A. Immortality:  A Love Story is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays Are for Writing #213

This week, I wrote two book reviews, Where Darkness Blooms, by Andrea Hannah and Nocturne, by Alyssa Wees. Work has been pretty emotionally difficult this week, so I’m good with that.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Nocturne, by Alyssa Wees  

Image belongs to Ballantine/Del Rey.

Title:  Nocturne
Author: Alyssa Wees    
Genre: Fantasy, YA    
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Growing up in Chicago’s Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet Company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.

Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company’s new prima ballerina—though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron, and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.

Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master’s secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.

This wasn’t consistent read for me. What I mean by that:  solid writing and descriptions, and I love the ballet parts. But….Grace and the other characters felt very one-dimensional and cliched, like the author tried to cobble them—and the story—together from a handful of other stories and myths, but didn’t make them unique enough to be believable. Grace was more of a puppet than anything else, barely taking any of her own initiative to do anything. As a whole, this just didn’t work for me, despite the dreamy ballet sequences.

Alyssa Wees lines in the Chicago area. Nocturne is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Ballantine/Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:    Where Darkness Blooms, by Andrea Hannah

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Where Darkness Blooms      
Author:  Andrea Hannah   
Genre: YA, fantasy    
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney’s twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah’s boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

This was a very strange novel. Very atmospheric and evocative, but strange. The sunflowers creeped me out tremendously—like the corn field in The Stand—and even when I got an explanation for them, that didn’t make them any less creepy. The relationship between the four girls was realistic, with their fighting and arguing and defending each other, but I didn’t really care for them. This was a very dark and bloody story, and I didn’t find much hope in it.

Andrea Hannah is an award-winning author. Where Darkness Blooms is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays Are for Writing #212

This week, I wrote two book reviews, Code Name Sapphire, by Pam Jenoff  and Every Missing Girl, by Leanne Kale Sparks.  I’ve read–and loved–several of Jenoff’s previous books, but I didn’t enjoy this one quite so much. Every Missing Girl left some things unresolved, and I’m not a fan of that, so this was just an okay read for me. I DNFed two other books this week because I wasn’t crazy about the MC and found myself slightly bored while reading. I’m hoping to do some brainstorming on a project this week, plus several reviews, so here’s hoping.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Every Missing Girl, by Leanne Kale Sparks   

Image belongs to Crooked Lane Books.

Title:  Every Missing Girl      
Author: Leanne Kale Sparks     
Genre: mystery/thriller    
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

The stunning landscape of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains are among our greatest natural treasures. But there are deadly secrets lurking in the craggy heights. FBI Special Agent Kendall Beck and Denver Homicide Detective Adam Taylor team up to investigate a kidnapping crime, but the case quickly turns cold. When Taylor’s niece, Frankie, suddenly vanishes at a local hockey rink, it’s clear that there’s a predator on the loose—and now, the case has turned personal.

One discovery after another leads Beck and Taylor closer to the truth, as they close in on the devastating truth about the fates of the missing girls—and the many who came before them. Will they be able to find Frankie before it’s too late?

I liked the beginning of this story, but I feel like the second half got a bit choppy and left some important thing unresolved. There were so many possible suspects for Frankie’s disappearance—among other things—but not all of these suspects’ stories were resolved…and that bothered me quite a bit. I feel like they got away with something. I liked the camaraderie between Kendall and Adam and the rest of their team, but the whole story felt unresolved to me, so I probably wouldn’t read more.

Leanne Kale Sparks lives in Texas. Every Missing Girl is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: Code Name Sapphire, by Pam Jenoff  

Image belongs to Harlequin/Park Row.

Title:  Code Name Sapphire     
Author:  Pam Jenoff   
Genre:   historical fiction  
Rating:  4.0 out of 5

1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind.

Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named Micheline and her enigmatic brother Matteo. But when a grave mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and slated for deportation to Auschwitz, Hannah finds herself torn between her loyalties. How much is Hannah willing to sacrifice to save the people she loves? Inspired by incredible true stories of courage and sacrifice, Code Name Sapphire is a powerful novel about love, family and the unshakable resilience of women in even the hardest of times.

I enjoyed this WWII fiction—one of my favorite reading genres—but I did find bits of it pretty sad (not surprising, considering). I liked Hannah, but found her frustrating at times, too. I would have liked to have seen more of her paintings in the novel. Lily annoyed me about half the time, so she wasn’t my favorite, but I enjoyed the relationship between the cousins.

Pam Jenoff is a bestselling author. Code Name Sapphire is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Park Row in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays Are for Writing #211

This week, I wrote two book reviews—Son of the Poison Rose, by Jonathan Maberry and Wildblood, by Lauren Blackwood. I also wrote my January reading post, and the best books I read in January. Texas was hit with an ice storm on Monday, so I went to stay with a friend Monday around noon until Friday, so I’d be closer to work (20 minutes as opposed to 60). I work in healthcare, so staying home wasn’t an option. I’m glad it’s warmed up and melted!

Happy writing!

Book Review:  Wildblood, by Lauren Blackwood

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:    Wildblood    
Author:   Lauren Blackwood  
Genre:  Fantasy, YA   
Rating:  2.5 out of 5

Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she’s worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travelers in a Jamaican jungle teeming with ghostly monsters.

When the boss denies Victoria an earned promotion to team leader in favor of Dean, her backstabbing ex, she’s determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she’s not the image the boss wants to send their new client, Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched gold supply deep in the jungle.

Thorn is everything Victoria isn’t – confident, impossibly kind, and so handsome he leaves her speechless. And when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, turns to affection, turns to love. But the jungle is treacherous, and between hypnotic river spirits, soul-devouring women that shed their skin like snakes, and her ex out for revenge, Victoria has to decide – is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants?

This started off great:  vibrant characters, fascinating setting, interesting backstory. And then, about a third of the way in, it lost most of its cohesion. Everything—characters, actions, reactions, plot—seemed to become just random. Suddenly, Thorn was a “Christian”—when there’d never been any mention of faith in the story at all (And, I have to say, he was a Christian in name only, because he was still okay with murder, violence, and random sex—while claiming to be a changed man.). Dean, who had not shown even a glimpse of being anything other than a jerk, suddenly had noble reasons for his horrible behavior.

We get a revelation (actually, two) about Victoria’s history that changes everything, including the worldview of the setting, yet there’d been no hints of anything before. In short, this just did not work for me. If there’s been some breadcrumbs cropped along the way, this all would have been fine, but I felt like the author kept writing herself into a corner or against a wall and had to just pull something out of a bag.

Lauren Blackwood lives in Jamaica. Wildblood is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in January (2023)

I read 17 books in January, out of my goal of 225 books for the year, and DNFed one (I feel like that is a record for me).

Of those, I considered four of them 5-star reads….and I’d previously read three of them.

The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I decided to re-read this series this year because I love C.S. Lewis. He is such a genius and a remarkably gifted writer.

Poison Princess and Endless Knight by Kresley Cole. I’m re-reading this series in preparation for the final book coming out—finally—in April. I absolutely love these books and cannot put them down.

And I loved The Letter Keeper, by Charles Martin. I have loved everything Charles Martin has written–including his two nonfiction books–and I almost can’t put them down. Binge read? Yes, please.