Reading Fanatic Reviews
Romantic FantasyA Witch in Time by Catherine Kean and Wynter Daniels
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
A Witch in Time*
Uneven; Didn’t Quite Work for Me
I’ll admit to enjoying time travel romance, so I was curious about this book when it showed up at my favorite book reviewer site. However, unfortunately, this book didn’t quite work for me. I thought too much time was taken up with the setup for both the hero and the heroine in their respective time periods. In both of these sections, too, there were pretty good-sized data dumps about the backstory. In much of the early time with the hero in the contemporary world, there were quite a few scenes that didn’t seem to add much to moving the plot or the story. While, of course, we want the hero and the heroine to get together, it felt more than a little creepy given what the hero had left behind in his time, a pregnant wife whose life was in danger. For these reasons, I just wasn’t particularly wild about the book.
The Girl with the Pearl Pin by Lynne Connolly
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
The Girl with the Pearl Pin*
Some Story Flaws but Good Characters
It is kind of funny. I have often thought to myself that authors do not explore the Georgian period often enough. Regency is certainly one of the most common types of historical romance. So I was intrigued by this story at the outset, knowing that it was of that earlier time period. I have to say, though, that this actually still just felt and read like a Regency. Other than the time frame, nothing really made it seem to stand out as Georgian. I also thought that the language didn’t feel elevated enough to mimic those of that earlier time. I felt the author more often told rather than showed, and there was a rather prodigious dated dump in the first chapter. Actually, the author did seem to have a love of long descriptive passages not broken up by dialogue. Sometimes those became a little tedious. I liked the hero, Leo, as he is just such a thoroughly decent guy with more capacity for feeling than he gives himself credit for. He makes mistakes, to be sure, but I love how he is able to look beyond rank to see the value of another person, to see the content of their character rather than social class.
The Lost Lord by Carrie Lomax
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Lost Lord*
Depraved, Unlikeable Hero
I just did not like this book. For the first 10% of it, actually more, the hero is absolutely unlikable; this is the point at which we meet the heroine. The hero is an Englishman of noble birth who has been exiled to America by his elder brother who is now the earl. The earl blames the hero for their father’s death. In America, the hero lives a life of moral depravity—carrying on a sexual affair with a married woman—and squeaks by on an allowance from his brother, picking up a little more money helping a shipping company. When you read about him, he just comes across as a weak jerk. I wanted to find something interesting in his character that I could like or relate to, but I just couldn’t. He did start to change when the heroine showed up, but it was a little late by then.
There are also issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage, which were sometimes distracting. Commas were particularly problematic. There was the overuse of the word “smirk”; this is a personal pet peeve of mine. (You can’t “smirk” a line of dialogue; go ahead… try it!) The married lover is absolutely despicable. The hero sees her for who she is, but because of his lust for her, he remains with her. Ugh. I felt sorry for the poor heroine, who actually seemed decent. I cannot recommend this book.
Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire by Dan Conway
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire*
One Man’s Cryptocurrency Story
This book is written memoir style by a man who was able to make money by getting in on bitcoin and ethereum. While you do learn a lot about blockchain, bitcoin, and ethereum in the book, this is really more of his story, detailing his life from workaday corporate employee to crypto millionaire. The prologue is his screed against corporate America and in praise of alternatives like cryptocurrencies. I know a little about cryptocurrencies from watching a few documentaries, but it was fascinating to watch in action from a personal perspective, seeing it make a difference in one man’s life. If you have any interest in the subject, the book is a fascinating read. There was only one thing I didn’t like about it. It has a surprising amount of profanity including variations on the F-word. I just don’t like profanity in books, whether it’s fiction, memoir, or nonfiction. Other than that, though, I found it to be a compelling read.
Million Dollar Date by Susan Hatler
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Million Dollar Date*
Opposites Attract… Laugh-out-Loud Funny
I’m always a little hesitant when a book proclaims itself humorous in its description. Usually, the author oversells this point; perhaps she WANTED it to be funny, but can she really know if others will find it funny; humor can be quite individual. But I actually did find this book refreshingly light and funny. Oh my gosh, the heroine’s head was such an interesting place to be in. She has a unique perspective on the world, that’s for sure. And in personality and outlook, she is directly opposite from the hero. Their meeting and first date—two separate incidences—actually did make me laugh out loud. It is so rare when a book does that. These two characters are as opposite as they can be—he’s a buttoned-up, strictly by-the-rules police officer, and she is an impulsive, wear-her-heart-on-her-sleeve kind of a girl. They are both decent people at heart, just in different ways.
There were problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage, enough to be distracting on occasion. There was inconsistent use of single and double quotes to emphasize single words or phrases in sentences; it’s an unusual error; authors usually pick one or the other, but here, the marks changed from incident to incident. But the book is still crazy fun, a quick and breezy read that is an actual delight. If you are a pet lover, you will especially be endeared by this story.
Own Your Weird by Jason Zook
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Thalia, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Own Your Weird*
Own Your Weird… and Capitalize on It
This is a somewhat peculiar book, which I suppose is not expected given its title and its subject. The author purports that the book will help you own your own weirdness. This isn’t just on a personal level as one might think. In fact, the thrust of the book seems to be about how to take your own unique weirdness and turn it into a profit. The author himself has done quite a number of outrageous and unique things that are only possible in this age of the internet: he auctioned the rights to his own last name for a pretty penny, he got sponsorship for one of his books by selling tweet-sized ads in his book to online businesses, and he would wear others’ branded t-shirts and go about on social media for a price.
The book is split into three sections, owning your weird mindset, how he owns his weird, and creating your own weird blueprint for business and life. The book is surprisingly thought provoking. The pace at first is a bit frenetic and odd, but once he gets into the meatier chapters, he simmers down a little bit and actually does provide some nuggets of wisdom. Each chapter ends with a brief exercise to help you find your own weirdness or express it, based on the chapter topic.
The problem with the book, though, is that the author is essentially everywhere in it. It was like he couldn’t keep from discussing how someone could cultivate their own unique weirdness without injecting his story into it, even in the third section. I did find this a bit annoying and perhaps a little pretentious. Also, parts of the book just seemed like some random ideas thrown together. My sense is that he did much of this book on the fly. He does seem to have enough experience and insight that he could have created a pretty amazing book, but it falls short due to the apparently spontaneous nature of the writing and a singular obsession with inserting himself into every bit of the book.
Despite the fact that the subtitle says that this book is about work, life, and love, it mostly talks about how to use your uniqueness to start a business or profit in some other way. There are only very small sections on the other topics. Still, however, I will admit that I found this to be a rather intriguing read, and it did get me into thinking more about my own uniqueness and how I may want to let that shine going forward.
Weight Loss Mastery by Jonathan Green and S. J. Scott
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Weight Loss Mastery*
Good Habits but Some Issues
This book combines several ideas to aid weight loss framed in the form of habits that should be adopted. I’ve seen the concepts in other places but not necessarily together. The book not only contains five habits to cultivate for weight loss but also discusses what they call the six pillars of weight loss mastery, which are mostly about mindset. Within each of the habit sections, the authors list strategies and steps to achieve the habit.
The five habits that are the cornerstone of this book are nothing truly unique. They include things like making better food choices, mindful eating, and moving more. I thought the book started in a way that was perhaps a little shaming of someone who is overweight. Not everyone who is fat is afraid of intimacy, for instance, and to imply that and the other things mentioned, the authors seem to be saying that fat must (or should) equal personal shame for every person who is fat. This isn’t necessarily so, and for those teetering on the edge of self-worth problems because of weight issues, such discussion is more harmful than helpful. The first section also gives links to a bunch of studies about the dangers of obesity. Having studied as a nurse, I would caution against taking any one study’s results to be the be-all, end-all say in any matter.
The book’s subtitle states that this book will help you shed belly fat. “Flat belly” is certainly a buzz phrase at the moment. But in searching the book, I don’t really see where this is specifically about targeting belly fat—which you can’t really do anyway. The only mention of belly fat in the book is in the section on food talking about black beans! This section listed what the authors called “fat-burning” foods but actually gave no evidence or information about why these would be considered “fat burning.” They were just natural, healthy foods. I’d like to see the data on that a fat-burning claim. Despite this, the combination of habit-building techniques is actually pretty decent. There are just some issues with shaming voice, the somewhat disingenuous subtitle, and some of the “facts.”
Mrs. Saint Nick by Caroline Mickelson
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Mrs. Saint Nick*
Learning More About Herself and Christmas
What an utterly charming holiday novella! I’ll admit, I had a hard time getting into it because the language seemed a little strange and simple at the beginning, but once I got used to it and got into the characters, it was fine. Holly is an efficiency expert who is hired by Santa to make things better for operations at the North Pole. She’s a very straightforward young woman who is dedicated to her job, but she has a troubled past with Christmas because of her parents. Santa has her work directly with his son Nick, who goes by Saint Nick. Holly sees him as a deadbeat, privileged son who doesn’t pull his weight. As they work together, though, things gradually change between them, but Holly nearly puts Christmas in jeopardy. In trying to right things, Holly learns more, and in a more profound way, about what Christmas truly means.
Parts of this book had me smiling because I found it fun to look at Santa’s doings as a business. Think naughty and nice reports, loading schedules, and other things like that. Nick and Holly were surprisingly well-drawn characters, and who could not love Santa? The story had more depth than I thought it was going to have. There are definitely some strange issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. Comma splices were rife through the entire novella. Other commas were left out completely, like the required one between independent clauses joined by “and.” I do find these kinds of things distracting, especially when they are just so prevalent in a book. However, I did thoroughly enjoy this book and its look at the true meaning of Christmas and gift giving.
Travel as Transformation by Gregory V. Diehl
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Travel as Transformation*
A Very Different, Personal Book About Travel with Call to Action
This book is part manifesto, part travelog, part travel tips, and part call to action to find your truest self through the native-culture-shedding practice of solo travel. The book begins with the manifesto, where the author states plainly why he believes that travel is the key to transformation and understanding of both yourself and the world on levels that may surprise you. He talks briefly about some of his own world travels, which are pretty extensive for a person who is still so relatively young. He branches out into tips like how to approach trials and challenges. He gets almost metaphysical at times, discussing the ways that travel can help you both find your core self but ultimately change it. He definitely advocates for people of all ages to travel, especially alone and without safety nets. That, he says, is how you truly get to better know yourself and discover your possibilities. This is an insightful and intriguing read, especially for anyone who loves to travel or even loves the idea of it. You might find yourself bitten by the travel bug. Interestingly, I read it just a day before the year anniversary of my last foreign travel, and the book has made me want to dig out my passport and see more of the world again.
Brides and Second Chances by Ruby Hill
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Brides and Second Chances*
Heartfelt Clean Romances
This is a large collection of short novellas, some of which I had read before. I’m a sucker for Christmas-themed stories (even in August), so I particularly enjoyed A Family for Christmas. Lysander is new to the small town in Georgia but blends in well even though he comes in from across the country. He and his two children are very nearly adopted by the couple next door. Their daughter is involved in a relationship with a guy who does not appreciate her; I was actually a little surprised at how much of the novel the bad boyfriend was in. These are novellas, so there isn’t much time for complex characterization or multi-level plots, yet the author is able to bring the emotional feels for most of the stories and create tension. Each story is distinct, which isn’t easy to do in a collection. If you enjoy the kind of feel-good, low-angst romance that you see on the Hallmark Channel, you will most likely enjoy these stories.
Used To Build My Websites
NetGalley Badges