Dawn of Rebellion by Michelle Lynn

Exercise for today is to just pick up a random book. Don't read the blurb, just start reading. I often download free books and don't look to closely at the blurb. Sometimes I have the wrong idea about a book and it can be a bit disorienting. (Like this one which I thought was about the American war of Independence, but then I read about London and cars etc.and it dawned this was not a historical novel) I always like to be surprised, I think it ads to my reading pleasure. So this one was a surprise, but a good 5 star one.

Dawn of Rebellion by Michelle Lynn

I have a habit of not reading book blurbs carefully and I’m often surprised when I start reading a book. I got all comfortable with my kindle and sat down to what I thought was a novel about the American war of independence. I didn’t mind one bit when I found myself reading a YA novel about two sisters, Dawn and Gabby surviving in a future version of London where a totalitarian regime rules. The former United States is once again a colony of Britain. When Gabby is arrested for shoplifting, she is shipped off to the colonies. Her sister Dawn and Gabby’s boyfriend Drew start a desperate journey into the unknown to find her.

This is a story about young people discovering a strength and bravery within that they didn’t know they possessed. It is also about the power of love making you discover this strength. The book is narrated by Gabby, Dawn and Drew. The chapters are named after the narrator so this doesn’t get confusing at any point. The story has a quick pace due to short chapters, lots of action and narrator changing all the time. All three talk in sort of cockney London accent, that I found very amusing. It made Dawn and Gabby believable as two streetwise London kids.

This is firmly a young adult novel and the budding romances between Dawn and Drew and Gabby and Jeremy will please this group of readers. Also the action is good and there are a number of cliff hanger moments, including the ending. (Got to leg it to Amazon and buy part 2) The book is also laden with symbolism as the group find bits of a former civilisation and inhabitants of a land that used to be the United States. No one knows what destroyed this civilisation, but religion is now banned in Britain. This mix of all destroying war, religion and world powers, makes the book current and interesting to adult readers like myself too. I will be interested to see where Michelle Lynn will take this story next. Promising start to a series.

Unexpected

People on the Côte d'Azur generally don't expect anything else but glorious sunshine. When things are different they are very ill prepared. I never check the weather forecast; I carry an umbrella and a pair of sunglasses in my bag, what else can possibly happen here? Most people only carry a pair of sunglasses; it never rains, right? So it was no small surprise that cafe owners were again totally caught on the hop when the first storm of the autumn season hit. Work crews were busy, this morning on the beach salvaging decking, chairs and potted palm trees from the beach fronts.

I guess I'm not the only one that doesn't bother with the weather forcast. We repare the damage and promise ourselves we really should be better prepared (Yes these storms cause havoc every year!) but after a few weeks of glorious weather we have lulled ourselves back into a false sense of security; Its the south of France, what's the worst that can happen.
On other news:
I've not progresses much on my novel as with work, book promotion and a trip to Holland, I've not had the time to sit down and write. The promotion on the other hand went well. I had a free book offer on Language in the Blood and used the site: ilovevampirenovels.com
I've given away an impressive 771 books in two days and having a number of sales and KU borrows too in the days that followed. As it was a free book, the advert might not pay entirely for itself, but it will be interesting to see the next two weeks if it was worth it.
Both the language in the blood books are now also available in paperback via Amazon and createspace(There is even a distributor offering a second hand copy? How? I haven't even received my copies yet!)
Language in the blood, second hand!!! on Amazon
More news:
The Anthologie I'm part of; Holes, has been made available to download for free on Smashwords:
Holes, the anthology

You don't need any devises and can just download as a pdf on your computer. Its a great collection of dark stories with Holes as a central theme.

Defective (The Institute Series Book 3) by Kayla Howarth

I already reviewed the first two in this series and it is a pleasure to now do the third. This Australian YA writer is a cut above the rest and her books are fun to read. Even though the pace in this book is a bit slower, it still kept my attention and I'm happy to give the third in the series 5 stars too.

Defective (The Institute Series Book 3) by Kayla Howarth on Amazon

I hugely enjoyed book one and two in this series, so I eagerly awaited the third instalment; Defective. We find Allira two years on from the end of the second book. She is working with her aunt in a clinic, helping defective patients who increasingly find themselves the victims of hate crimes. Allira is wracked with guilt that overthrow of the institute didn’t lead to greater tolerance; instead it left defectives vulnerable to attacks. Two years later she is also still mourning the death of her boyfriend Chad. She has agreed to live with Paxton James and his daughter Nuka, once things became difficult at home; her grieving has pushed the once closest to her away. Paxton is running for president and Allira agrees to play his ‘girlfriend’ in order to help his campaign. Life for Allira is shaping up to be all about duty, until tall handsome psychology student Jayce walks into the clinic. The pace of this book is initially a bit slow as Allira struggles with duty versus what she really wants, but then things hot up as the past is catching up with her and she realises what she thought was the truth proves to be otherwise. There are a good few surprises towards the end of the book, and the final chapter sets it up nicely for a sequel. Judging by the ending, book four I imagine, will have a few comedy moments. I think Jayce is one of Kayla Howarth's best characters yet. He is comfortable leaving all the heroics and ass-kicking to Allira and sister Jenna, just providing moral support and a shapely shoulder to cry on. Who needs a hero when you are perfectly able to kick any ones butt? I’m happy she has found the brains to her brawn.

Corpus Delectable (Marcy Pantano Mysteries Book 1) by Mike Billington

Corpus Delectable (Marcy Pantano Mysteries Book 1) by Mike Billington 

They say a great actor is one that excels at drama as well as comedy. I believe the same is true for writers. Here we have a writer who is as comfortable writing an epic story set in biblical times (The Third Servant) as he is writing this sassy crime thriller. In Marcy Pantano he has created a woman after my own heart; sassy, intelligent, independent but not without her flaws. She has overcome a bad marriage and a nasty divorce that left her penniless, but Marcy picked herself up, started her own consultancy and now dates a hot young photographer. Her help is being sought by the public prosecutor when a mutual friend is being accused of murder. He is lying about his whereabouts to the authorities. Is he protecting someone even though the truth might clear him? The story is mainly character driven and there is an interesting sub-plot involving the ex-husband. The actual solving of the crime is a bit sudden, but this didn’t take away from the fun read this is; there is plenty of other things besides the murder going on. The best bit about this book is the depth to which the author explores his main character. We get to know this woman intimately; what makes her tick, what ticks her off and what gets her hot under her bib overalls. I would love to have Marcy along for a girl’s night out. This is the first of a series of books and I would certainly like to read what Ms. Pantano gets up to next. I would like to read more in general of this author, as I have no doubt that whatever genre he tackles next, he will do it well.I give this 5 stars.

Hedonism

This week I had a very enjoyable two reads. Two books that delve into the things that make life so enjoyable (alcohol) but also so unbearable (the hangover) just a few hour later. People must have thought I was quite mad laughing to myself on the beach and at work. (Passengers glancing nervously at me hoping I’m not on their flight) Both books got a well-deserved 5 star.

The Redemption of the Unorthodox Gentleman by Joe Osborne 

This book was very funny and will appeal to people who like Harold and Kumar go to white castle and comedies of this genre. This is the second of a series, but it stands perfectly on its own. The book is written in the first person and we never get a mention of his name, but the book is called the redemption of the unorthodox gentleman. However our narrator is anything but a gentleman. Dependant on his mother for work and his rent he is hardly a pillar of the community. Things get from bad to worse; his mother sacks him when she walks into the laundry room and sees him pleasuring himself, during work time! Our ‘Hero’ sets out on a quest to find honourable employment. He finds a job at the public pool as an assistant canteen manager, but his troubles are far from over. This book has a great cast of characters, each one more obnoxious and reprehensible than the other.  There is Carl, his mother’s sleazy boyfriend who manages to become a local celebrity due to some fine form in the local lawn bowling championship. His nemesis; Otis the alcoholic funeral director who owns the place next to the swimming pool, who is out to destroy the gentleman’s fledgling career. This book is original, silly and not for the easily offended. I can’t explain why it’s funny, but trust me, it just is. I recently read a few books by new Canadian writers (Silas Payton and Nico Laeser) and there is definitely something in the water that brings forth original thought and creativity. Keep on writing Canada!

Thai Hangover Cures; The Handsome man guide to preventing and managing hangovers

Even though this book is aimed at restoring the handsome man to his prime, this beautiful lady didn’t take offense but instead learned a few things. I like that this book is not judgemental. Some of us like to go out, have few drinks that can turn into too many. This book explains clearly, but also in a funny and tongue in cheek way, what a hangover is and what are the best ways to remedy it. I like the section on prevention and learned a few things that will hopefully reduce the headaches. There are some wonderful recipes for cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic and some juices that can be enjoyed even when not suffering the symptoms of over indulgence. I also liked that the book is peppered with quotes from well known authors related to drinking. I believe that at the moment the book is only available on kindle, but it would be nice to have it sitting in print next to the blender and juicer for daily reference.

Murderous Little Darlings - A Tale of Vampires - Book One: A Tale of Vampires - Book One by John Hennessy

The book promo is going well, so far I managed to sell about 60 books and the countdown runs till the 9th. The next couple of weeks will reveal the full impact, but it's encouraging. I also reached another milestone in getting over a 1000 twitter followers. I still have to be convinced about twitter. I spend many hours doing tweets and retweets and met some interesting people, but as regards to book sales, well I think it is probably a waste of time. I'll sit on that fence a little longer and tweet on:)
Now back to my cup of tea; vampires. This was an interesting one and some new fresh ideas here. It was a short story, but one that will be part of a seven book series. Five stars.

Murderous Little Darlings - A Tale of Vampires - Book One: A Tale of Vampires - Book One by John Hennessy

What a tasty morsel this was. It was very short and I’ve would have liked to get my fangs into something a bit longer, but the good news is that this is part one of seven. This excellent short story starts a promising series.

John Hennessy very cleverly messes with his readers minds. Firstly his characters are young children; they have the faces of angels but are capable of gruesome and violent acts. Marcus the oldest of the three siblings has fully embraced his vampire nature and tries to get his siblings to follow his lead. His brother is easily manipulated, but his sister objects. Here the author messes with us again by throwing doubt on the assumption that Marcus is a vampire. Is he just a disturbed young boy that thinks he is a vampire? Vampires are just a myth, right? Marcus, despite his young age, is a manipulative character and I found him quite chilling. People who like things clear cut and logical might have a problem here, but I took it as a story told from the perspective of the children. You get three kids in separate rooms and you get three completely different stories and two will be far removed from the truth. (At times this might even be a little trippy.) The ending was unexpected but a little sudden. I do hope that in the next stories we will delve a bit deeper into the lives and backgrounds of the three siblings (or that the reader gets further messed with). A different take on the vampire genre and certainly something I want to read more of.