Get up Girl!

Have you ever had a moment in your life, where something you did or something that happened to you was so horrible that you shut yourself away physically and mentally?

That is what happened to me. I won’t go into details, just gonna leave the past in the past. So many emotions and feelings twisted and swirled through me like a tornado just before crashing into my heart.

Letting this shame and hurt has controlled me for long enough. Tired of feeling sad and sorry. I am not the same person I was all those years ago and I firmly believe everything happens for a reason.

Stepping stones if you will, guiding you to the next destination in your path. The universe shaping and molding you.

So, no longer will I let the past get me down and no longer will I hide myself away in my dark hole.

Get up Girl!!! It’s time to forgive yourself, pick up the pieces and move on!

Now back to reading and writing!

A VAMPIRE’S TALE by Maya Tyler

Good intentions sometimes lead to horrific mistakes, intertwining paths of fate.

Following her passion for writing, Marisa Clements sacrifices a steady paycheck and benefits, to submerge in the world of make-believe and fiction. At least it paid the rent…barely.

Desperate for the truth to be revealed and to end his miserable existence and suffering, Corgan Halton exposes his true nature to Marisa, coercing her to write about the facts of vampires and demolish any misconceptions. Knowing she was fated to be in his future, he expects her to aid him in discovering eternal peace, even though it might lead to her own death.

But the best intentions led to other choices, paths that Corgan would soon discover after caring for Marisa. Emotions guide one’s decisions and when a group of rogue vampires put them both in harm’s way, Corgan decides to put her safety first, even as far as obtaining the assistance of wizards and his maker, to keep her safe. Therefore changing his priorities and putting life before death.
Maya Tyler has shown us a new truth in “A Vampire’s Tale” that loneliness can destroy even the strongest predators but love can also save them.

This was a fun and refreshing read and I give it a 4-star for making me fall in love with Marisa and Corgan, wishing and hoping their love would conquer all.

Dream Hunter by Maya Tyler

 

Dream Hunter by Maya Tyler instantly snagged me into the storyline on the first page, well really the first sentence.

Ms. Tyler’s descriptions and character development are unique and exciting. She uses a great skill of giving birth to characters and a story that will drop you into a fantasy world where we have guardian angels watching over and protecting us.

There is a something or someone after Cynthia and her troubles begin when a strange package is delivered to her office. Her world changes yet again when her dream lover becomes reality and is determined to protect her from the force after her.

Her path drops another twisting turn when her reality changes from a fantasy guardian destined to protect her to a semi rewind where a police officer wants to question her about the strange package.

This is definitely the best novella I have ever read and I am chomping at the bits because I can’t turn the page to begin chapter one of a full novel. Looking forward to reading the rest of Cynthia’s story and find out more.

I give Dream Hunter a Four-Star and encourage to not believe all the negative reviews. My gut instinct tells me this was just a sip, a taste of something more intriguing to come.

NightWalker by Ime Atakpa

 

The Thrush Family has suffered a terrible curse for three hundred years. The most recent victim in the family, Hubert has been inflicted and tortured by the night walks.

Watching his parents mourn his disappearance, he discovers himself being tortured continuously by the eerie silence and inability to be heard or take action. After much pain and self-loathing, he decides that nothing is impossible. He will find a way for restoration and end the torment his parents as well as himself endures.

NightWalker by Ime Atakpa is extremely well written and has perfect grammar and editing. The author has a skill of developing the story and the characters. The main character, Hubert, faces a dilemma and though the storyline is well groomed, the beginning is drawn out, almost drowns out the plot and direction.

The pieces will fall together and hook you in if you give it the chance. The author has left an opening for Hubert’s story to continue and I am hoping Book 1 is just an introduction to the real jewels of this adventure.

My advice and suggestion for the author are to lighten the load of over describing the minute details in the beginning and keep it simple. Sometimes less is more.

I give NightWalker by Ime Atakpa a rating of Three. This is NOT a bad rating, it means I like the story and the characters but there are improvements that could be made.

Finding Freedom Zion Series by Brittany Nicole Lewis

Review by Paula Ricketts:

This book took me a little by surprise. I’ve not read a lot about cults, but I’ve seen a few TV shows and movies about them. This book definitely opened up to me the way some cults operate, and also how many people are truly brainwashed.
This was the story of a young girl who grew up in such a cult. All along she felt like things were not as they should be, and she didn’t want to continue in this lifestyle. Katie had a twin brother and a loving mother and father. The community they lived in, “Zion,” only had 200 people in it. In this community, couples were chosen by the Elders to become husband and wife. Most of the people in Zion were born there, and the process for outsiders to join was a lengthy one.
Katie found herself interested in one of the young boys of the community, David, about the time she turned 14. He seemed to feel an interest in Katie as well. They became friendly, and finally, Katie made a decision to leave Zion. She told David about it, and he told her he would go with her so they could be together. Katie’s brother wanted to be baptized in the society, but Katie did not. Her mother kept asking her when she was going to do it, but she kept saying she just wasn’t ready. She went to her parents and told them that she was going to leave Zion and David was going to go with her. Her parents decided to go, but her brother Michael refused. David told his parents and they supported them in their decision but felt they could not. So a friend of Katie’s dad told them he would help them and they could stay at his farm with him until they could find jobs and somewhere to live. Katie and David were married, with Katie’s father signing for her since she was only 17.
Eventually, they were told of an organization that had facilities in three locations throughout the United States for people from places such as Zion. This organization helped with job placement and medical care for up to 18 months. They also had a program that would help these people to accept who they were and to understand the things they had come from. The family decided to do this; David and Katie to one in New Hampshire and Katie’s parents to Florida.
Upon arriving at the new place in New Hampshire, Katie learns quite unexpectedly that she is pregnant. After the initial shock wears off, David and Katie are excited about their new little one that is coming. They make friends at the facility and receive medical care and counseling. David is given job training and placement and things are looking up. They are able to stay until the baby comes, but through friends, they have made they find a place for them to live when they leave and David is able to find a better job.
Katie always felt she needed to find her freedom, and in the end, she does just that.
I was given this book to read in exchange for an honest review. I was very surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. One of my criteria for a good book (this is just my opinion) is if I can put myself in the book as the character. I feel the emotions as if they were happening to me. This book did that for me. Another criterion is that I get a good cry out of it. That also happened in this book for me. These are my honest opinions. I would like to read more from this author, and possibly more of this series. Since this book is the Zion Series Book 1, I feel there will be more.

SUNBORN RISING – Beneath The Fall

Barra inherits her father’s passion for exploring and discovering new territories.  After discovering her father’s journals her passion is ignited and she will go so far as to disobey her mother to embark on a journey, the same journey that took her father.

BtF Cover_Front

But her love for her family and friends pushes her to save their tree from the black rot that is slowly creeping upon them and threatening to destroy their lives.  She and her two best friends adventure on a new quest through the floating tree-scape of Cerulean desperate to find a way to save them all.

Aaron Safronoff depicts a fantasy tale into a world that has forgotten their past but more importantly forgotten that there are bigger worlds outside of their tree.  The characters and the settings are well developed so much so that they will drag you into their realm and fill your mind with colorful illustrations as you watch your imagination twist and turn the story into a movie you will never forget.

I recommend Sunborn Rising – Beneath the Fall to YA Fantasy readers who are looking for something different and refreshing from the normal dragons and magic.

Willows of Fate is magnetizing!

Desdemona struggles through mental issues all her life that she eventually drowns with drinking and sex. Finally after she reaches the bottom of the barrel, she pulls herself up and runs down the narrow path towards a decent life, but those mental issues that she thought were mostly hallucinations, burn in the back of her mind.

After her mother’s death, those visions rise to the top and she soon discovers that the visions are real and always have been. The apparitions persuade her that she has to come to their world, that she is in grave danger.  She learns there is a dark force after what she possesses.  Almost too late, she will discover the secrets of the dark force and the possession they are willing to kill for.

9780692519271-us-300

I highly enjoyed reading this Willows of Fate (The Lands of Sun and Stone Series Book 1) with its unique characters and its magnetizing twists and turns.  When reading a story, my first attraction is if the author’s words will pull me into a movie where I see pictures instead of black words on a white page.  That is exactly what the author, Suzanna J. Linton has done for me.  Now I crave for a sequel to find out what has happened to Desdemona.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to escape reality and jump into a world of action, romance, and betrayal.


CHAOTIC BRILLANCE!

Eve is in constant turmoil between her father’s loving motivations and her mother’s not-so-loving expectations.  Her constant failures eat away at her self esteem while she becomes a rope in the game of Tug-Of-War between her parents.

Cld6bNBWMAAQco6

When Eve’s mother pushes her to do the ‘unthinkable’ all hell breaks loose, giving her the confidence to decide that she no longer needs Life’s false motherly attention.  Giving in to her true nature with a little help from Destiny, Eve strips her mother from Life.

Death’s true love becoming evident, she promotes the one sister that never showed her a millisecond of affection.  Maybe the Fates were right, Life and Death shouldn’t have tempted them and had a daughter.

I was lucky enough to receive this story as a free download and I am thrilled to have enjoyed the unique tale of love and hate.  Patti Larsen is one of my favorite young adult authors and she never disappoints. Ms. Larsen has a skill of creating worlds and characters that collide and combust into a story that pulls you in like vacuum-sucking vortex.

I wish had ten thumbs to hold up for the first book in a new series that is truly to become my new reading addiction.

 

HAPPY EASTER!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and Happy Easter!!!  img_0427-1

Looking forward to this weekend myself.  Itching and can’t sit still because I wanna jump head-first into my writing.

That’s right!  I finally busted through that horrible block!  Geez, I mean it was really bad!  Overtime I sat down at the laptop, I just stared at the page and the scene where I left off.  Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing would come to my brain or flow out of me.

I didn’t give up though and finally the ideas overflowed.

Maya and Bri’s adventure is coming along and unexpected events are happening that I never knew before hand.  They are straying off the outline path! Giggles.

Pretty soon I will post some excerpts to get opinions AND suggestions.  Still working on book reviews as well.

HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

 

Self Care

00b531c3fbc19450bf04107d38d5fa74Everyday, no matter where I go, I find individuals who live in constant misery.  They swim in their own waters of low self-esteem, envy, jealousy, and stress.  I guess society has named these individuals as “drama-whores”, but this name only brings to light part of their inner turmoil.

Have you ever had coworkers, friends or even family, become your biggest supporter during extreme difficult times in your life?  When you heart is breaking and you feel as if your world is crumbling all around you?  These people are there for you during your worst.  They comfort, help you, and may even take control of your decisions, but once your crisis is over, they either disappear, act as if there was never a bond between you, or appear as if they are upset with you?

This is what I see all around me.  I seriously believe the old saying is true, “Misery Loves Company”.  I listen and I observe.  I see those who make it their daily goal to snuff out others’ inner lights.  What I can’t figure out,  is if they do it because they think their light will burn brighter when they destroy others, or if they just want company to swim with them in the waters of misery.  Maybe some do it subconsciously, aren’t even aware of their actions.

There really isn’t a solution to stop these individuals and for strangers or coworkers, we are not really in a position to be emotionally supportive.  Since we can’t avoid them either especially at our places of employment, the only thing that we can really concentrate on, is ourselves.

We need to focus on our own spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being.  From now and into the future I plan to do just that.  During my own self care, I will send out a little wish and prayer that my positive energies will spread or rub off on those individuals as well.

I will protect myself and my light from being snuffed out.  I won’t fall in their lake of misery.  I will not drown.  I will always reach for my own light of happiness.