Friday 11 December 2015

The Branches of Time

This book was given two me by a very nice Italian author I met via twitter. He very kindly emailed me a copy of his book. I normally do my reading on a kindle, so it took me a while to commit myself to reading it on my computer. This book is showing again what range of genres there are available from Indie authors. I would also like to say that the translation on this book was nearly perfect and well edited. I rated this 4 stars:
The Branches of Time by Luca Rossi

In this book Luca Rossi has created a universe full of magic and dark powers. On the day of a wedding virtually the entire population of the Island Turios is wiped out by an act of dark magic, only the priestess Miril and a couple Lil and husband Bashinoir survive. The King from the northern lands wants them all gone as the mere fact of them living on this island means that a barrier traps the king and his population. Things happened about 2000 years ago, separating the two populations and trapping one on an island and the others in a cold and forbidding land. The island has been protected by two priests, but now only Miril survives. She honours Lil but also gives her an impossible dilemma by proposing priest hood to her. Priests are not allowed husbands. I liked the dynamic between the three survivors on the island. Lil becomes closer and closer to Miril, while Bashinoir is left alone and at a loss.  The story shifts about between times and locations but I managed to keep track of the story line. Beanor is suitably over the top as the sex crazed, cruel maniac of a king. Him and his court provide some very raunchy story lines! It never becomes entirely clear what events happened two thousand years ago, which left me a little frustrated at the end of this book as I still know very little about why the two peoples were separated, but this being part one I’m sure all will be explained in book 2. I think however, a little more explanation might have helped this universe Mr Rossi created really come alive.  I was given a free copy by the author for an honest review. I would not mind getting book 2, but have so far only managed to find book 1 on amazon.

Saturday 5 December 2015

Horror, History and some good laughs

Two reviews of three very different books.
The Little Book of Horrors by Lacey Lane on Amazon.com

I read this authors first book and knew what to expect with this book, but I did read this book with one eye closed and snuggling into my jumper to hide from the pages. If you’re not a fan of horrible things happening to horrible and innocent people alike, put this book back on its virtual book shelf and go and watch some fluffy kitten videos. If you are however a fan of grizzly horror and not averse to some raunchy sex scenes, then put this in your shopping basket and enjoy with the lights switched on. My favourite story was Karma is a bitch. All three are well written, fast paced, gruesome and sexy. I rate this 4 stars.
Goin' Postal and the Creek by Rhoda D'Ettore on amazon.com

I do like the fact that this author has put together two short books and given us, the reader value for money. On the face of it they are not related but after reading it you get a sense of being presented with a very American portrait. A very warm and insightful portrait by someone who loves her country and it’s diverse people. In Goin’ Postal she relates some of the stories (in part fictionalised to protect identities I’m sure) she experienced while working for the institution that is the US postal service. Not only do get a glimpse into the life of an everyday worker, but also how a postal worker experienced going through some turbulent historical times (The 9/11 attacks) This ties it nicely to The Creek which is the local history of a settlement on a creek from the civil war until the civil rights movement. The second book still has it comedy moments, but is over the whole more serious and a good example of exploring US history through the experiences of local ordinary people. Goin’ postal was my favourite of the two as it was just such a guilty pleasure of getting an insider view. I had no idea of the things that went on in the postal service. Both are a good, fast paced read. I rate this 5 stars.



Tuesday 1 December 2015

Competition time

A girl just can't win. Promoting a book is just one of the hardest things going. I wasn't getting anywhere so I resorted to paying for advertising. This had some good results. I wanted to do a big advertising blast around the start of December to get my free book up in the Amazon free book charts. Apart from paying 3 companies I wanted to promote the book myself on social media too. I got a list of one of the companies of groups to target on Facebook. I duly signed up to varies groups and posted about Language in the blood. I've now been banned from doing this until the 8th of December!!!! Of course Facebook wants a slice of the advertising budget too. So here is the competition I'm running. follow the link to win a paperback copy of Blood Ties (Language in the Blood book2)
Paperback giveaway
Good luck!