Reading Fanatic Reviews
Books to Add to Your TBR list... or Not!Hey, ya’ll! I’m VERY behind getting my reviews up on the website! I’ve increased the reading and reviewing, leaving less of my leisure time available to update this website. I’ll do weekly posts with links to my reviews at Amazon; you can also check out my Amazon and Goodreads profiles.
By the way, I’m now a top 50 Amazon.com reviewer (#12 currently) and the top 8 US reviewer of all time on Goodreads (and top 9 in the world)… and the #6 US reviewer and #8 in the world in the past year. Cool stuff!
I hope to make updates to this site soon!
Bradley’s Bride by Kathleen Lawless
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Bradley's Bride*
Action and Intrigue But Romance Fell Flat
Just like the first book of the series, this one is full of action and intrigue. In fact, at the couple from the first book’s wedding, which opens this book, there is quite the gun-fight kerfuffle. While there definitely was a lot going on in the book, I didn’t like the way that the romantic aspect was played out. Often in romances, the hero and heroine go back and forth about their feelings for each other and what to do about them (that’s the basis for romance books), it seemed extreme in this novel. For instance, at one point when it looks like the couple have to marry, the heroine decides that she can seduce him into loving her, and not long after, she’s thinking of how to get out of the marriage so she can run her own business in a different town (though she claims to have had feelings for him from afar for a long time). There is just too much of that kind of wild back and forth for both of the characters. I also thought that the blurb didn’t accurately portray the book. The blurb makes it seem as if the book is all about a forced betrothal or wedding. It isn’t really about that, and that issue is even germane until after the 40% mark of the book. The book continues the issues with the villain of the previous book, and my gut feeling tells me that this will be the case for the rest of the books in this series about the seven “brothers.” This book didn’t gel for me quite like the first one did, and I quite enjoyed that one. It was nice to see a little bit more of Laura and Brody, the heroine and the hero from the previous book, and their new life together as a married couple. While this book could be read as a stand-alone, you would miss much of the context about the brothers and the villain.
Falls Ende: Courser by Paul W. Feenstra
Available at Amazon, Kobo, Mondador, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Falls Ende: Courser*
Not Quite Sure What I Think About This Series Now
This is the second novella that I have read in this series, and I now find myself wondering if the author is making a mockery of medieval-inspired contemporary literature. Aspects of this book just didn’t ring wholly true for me as straight-up historical fiction. For one thing, in this book (and to a lesser extent the previous one) he has odd names for some characters. In this book, it was Master Mason Morel Mundy, and yes, he did always capitalize it like that. When referring to people by their job, he always capitalized it. The author also makes some odd word choices, causing me more than once to refer to my Kindle dictionary and the internet (which is kind of annoying in and of itself). Some words did not appear to be used correctly by definition or by culture; I wonder if the author is just using some of these words for effect.
Like the last book, there are some very long stretches of describing setting and other straight-up narrative prose, especially at the beginning of the book; you know an author has gone on too long if you’re tempted to just skip over large blocks of text. Some details were needed, but the author went overboard far too often. This slows down the action of the book. I thought there was too much head-hopping in the book; sometimes, the point-of-view character changed from paragraph to paragraph. Though really much isn’t said about it in the book blurb, much of this book is about Charlotte, Odo’s betrothed, and her plight; the book isn’t all about Odo, which seems to be implied by the book description. Her scenes alternated with the parts about Odo, who is showing himself to be much more than a simple herdsman. I actually quite enjoy historical fiction and so was looking forward to this series of novellas, especially as I had seen some good reviews, but I find myself disappointed because of the deficiencies above.
How to Make Money Writing Fiction by Nick Hoff
No longer available at Amazon.
Available at Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, and 24 Symbols.
How to Make Money Writing Fiction*
Disorganized Conglomeration of General Book Marketing Information
With the variety of marketing and writing books on the market, I can safely tell you to look elsewhere if you’re wanting solid advice about making money writing fiction. This book is a hot mess in many ways. In general, the information within is mostly what you can find in many other places, often for free; no new ground here. He also doesn’t go into any depth at all; just when it starts to get interesting, he says that he can’t go into detail even about his own story (sometimes also suggesting other, outside reading; Kindlepreneur seems to be a favorite site), and moves on to the next subject. This book mostly appears to be an advertisement for his free email course on book marketing; I think it was mentioned no less than four times in the book, in the beginning, the end, and even interrupting the middle. Of course, that links to a pricey, more expanded version. Some information in the book is just wrong as well, as there have been recent shifts in the Amazon search algorithm. Even though the book purports to be about selling fiction, only in a few places does he actually mention fiction, like in the section on genre; the rest of the book has general information that could apply to any book. The book is poorly organized as well, which is only made worse by the author jumping from topic to topic quickly. The entire text is all so poorly formatted for e-reading. The table of contents is a mixed-up jumble. The book comes across as a thrown-together grab bag of information from a variety of sources that is solely meant to lead the reader to further engage with the author.
Options Trading for Beginners by Tim Shek
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Options Trading for Beginners*
Well Organized, But May Be Confusing for True Beginners
This book is well organized, which I always appreciate in a nonfiction book. The author starts with the basics, first explaining the concept of options and then defining terms used in options trading. Then he goes into covered calls and even gives a step-by-step way to do the sell and the buy version of this. He then talks about buying and selling puts. The book ends with advanced strategies and information about bull and bear markets (and how to profit with either). I felt like the book needed more clarity to be fully accessible for true newbies to option trading. The definition section is definitely a good idea, but I found the definitions confusing. The book definitely had some issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. I don’t know enough about options trading to say if what he writes is good information or advice, but I do appreciate that he does address tricky issues like volatility and risk as well as how to be careful.
Living in the Lower Chakras by Linda Jordan
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Smashwords, and Bol.de
Living in the Lower Chakras*
Just a Weird Story
What a bizarre story! I usually don’t read celebrity-type romances, but I was intrigued by the concept of the chakras, so I thought I’d give this book a try. I was put off on the first page by a misspelling. I might be too picky, but seeing an error on page one just kind of sets the tone for the whole book for me. The author calls this a slapstick and screwball romantic comedy, but I didn’t really find this humorous at all; I just found it strange. Actually, I would say that the book alternated between typical romance and just odd. The plot felt disjointed and all over the map. There was some emphasis early on about peripheral people who ultimately didn’t end up to be that important to the story. As a whole, the story just didn’t work for me.
Under the Willow by Patricia Egan
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Under the Willow*
Disjointed Beginning Ruins Tone of Novel
Before I post my reviews, I sometimes look at other people’s reviews just to see if there is a common thread between them that perhaps I agree with or disagree with. I was surprised at the glowing reviews of this book. I found the duel-open prologue, with the first part by an omniscient narrator and second by the heroine, to be odd and off-putting. The first couple of chapters seemed disjointed and not connected, which kind of ruined the narrative flow of the entire story for me. There was also waaaay to big of a data dump in the early chapters I found the concept of dream jumping fascinating, but this rough start ended up putting me off the novel, and I just couldn’t shake my unease to be able to fully get into what could have been a fascinating story.
Secret Sky by J. P. McLean
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), amd Bol.de
Secret Sky*
Good Fantasy Elements; But Unbalanced Overall
This book is a quirky combination of fantasy, romance, and suspense. I know the description of the book says it as a thriller, but I wouldn’t call it that. Even the suspense part doesn’t really happen until the end. The heroine is given a gift that feels more like a curse until she meets others who have it. Much of the book has to do with her trying to understand her gifts, first on her own and then with the group. The middle section seems to be heavily into the romance aspect of the story while the end is more suspenseful; the book did feel unbalanced to me; I would have liked to see the suspense element woven more throughout.
The first scene pulled me in right away because the action was just allowed to happen without a lot of backstory; authors of fantasy worlds are usually too tempted to describe their world (and sometimes in great detail) and let that to take up much of the beginning pages. But after these good early scenes after her “accident,” the pace of the book really slowed down as the heroine tried to figure out her gift. There was quite a long lull period before things got interesting again.
The author did an excellent job creating a fantasy world that coexists alongside the normal one; it felt believable. I felt like there were some cringe-worthy moments in the romance aspect of the book. This book is a long one, and I do feel it could have benefited from some judicious developmental editing.
How Probate Works by Anthony S. Park
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
How Probate Works*
Perfect Guide to the Probate Process
How wonderful to come across a nonfiction book that promises precisely what it delivers! As the title says, this book is all about how probate works, and as the subtitle says, it is for executives, heirs, and families. The book starts with a definition of probate and other terms that are a part of the process. Then he goes into the beginnings of the probate process and follows with how to settle and close an estate. Ending chapters are specifically for executors and heirs. The last chapter looks at specific difficult situations. Each chapter ends with key takeaways. Each chapter is full of examples, so you can see that the ideas that he talks about in action. Probate is tricky business–complex, lengthy, and potentially expensive–and people have to handle it at probably one of the most challenging points in their lives, when they’re grieving someone they cared about. This straightforward, no-nonsense book is the perfect antidote so you don’t have probate overwhelm.
Mission: Impossible to Love by Jacki Delecki
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Mission: Impossible to Love*
Tech Aspects Interesting, Other Elements Not
Sometimes, it’s the little things that irritate you. For some reason, I had a hard time just getting past the names of these characters, Izzy and Sten, especially the hero’s. His name, in particular, seems like a cheesy romantic hero name, Sten Jenkins. I was intrigued initially by this book because of the hacking and dark web aspects of it. I find technical thrillers and suspense to be fascinating subgenres. This book was interesting in that respect, but I felt like it lacked in others. I didn’t quite buy the romantic relationship between Izzy and Sten. Some of the story was just implausible, like the idea that Izzy went to Stanford at 15 and got her first Ph.D. by 19–even if you’re smart, there are mandatory classes that must be taken in a certain order in college. I felt like the beginning spent a little too much time on information that didn’t really end up to matter. I like my pacing to be a little tighter in a suspense book like this.
The Lost Book of the Grail by Caitlin Matthews and John Matthews
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
The Lost Book of the Grail*
Excellent Blend of Scholarship and Spirituality
I’ve long been a fan of John and Caitlin Matthews’ writings on pagan topics (some 20 years). They have an excellent way of combining scholarship and spirituality that appeals to both my head and heart. This book is no exception. It is about a recently discovered text called the Elucidation, which is an early medieval version of the Grail myth. This version of the story shows the ties of the story to the pre-Christian world. The authors not only present the text itself, but give the context for it within the greater body of Grail literature. They analyze the text and also further look at the themes brought up within the text, giving insight into how its ideas can resonate with personal spiritual practice. This adds so much to what we think of as the Grail story. Another thought-provoking look at the Celtic roots of culture and spirituality by these authors.
Jamie Brydone-Jack
Reader, Editor, Writer
I’m an avid reader, for both fun and work/business. I enjoy a wide variety of books, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and fantasy for fiction and history, contemporary issues, philosophy, music, medicine, and cookbooks for nonfiction. I’m a freelance copyeditor who also does beta and alpha reading. I have two websites that are all about romance and mystery. You can also follow my reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.
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