Silver Moon Deja Vu
The Deja Vu Chronicles
by Marti Melville
My rating: 4.2 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
When we first met John he is a paramedic working on a patient, upon arrival at the hospital he sees a nurse that he thinks he knows, in fact he is sure she is someone from his past. Very quickly we find out that when he means his past, he means his long ago past life! Silver Moon Deja Vu is John's story. In a past life he was a pirate captain in love with an Irish lass named Kathryn. There are trials and setbacks, good times and promises and a romance that lives on past their lives. Add in some superstitious pirate crew members and a hussy lady pirate and you have a wonderful story. Marti Melville mixes Irish and Caribbean traditions, Druids and Voodoo to give a story that is part romance and part adventure, but all enjoyable.
Although Silver Moon Deja Vu is the second book in the Deja Vu Chronicles, it can stand on it's own quite easily. I had not read the first book and had no trouble following the story or understanding what was going on at all. Of course it is probably even better if you have read the first, but it was good without. John and Kathryn are characters that are so real, they have flaws that lead them to mistakes that hurt them, but they love deeply and have tempers. Marti Melville adds in some paranormal aspects into the story with the Irish folklore and ideal that Kathryn has a gift, she is a witch in the Irish tradition and able to heal. Her role on the pirate ship is the ship's doctor or healer. There is also some Caribbean Voodoo since the ship is traveling and Kathryn can't ask her grandmother questions, she searches out those where they are at, which just happens to be Trinidad. This is a wonderful story for those who love romance, adventure and paranormal or any of those. Definitely one that you want to check out.
The Deja Vu Chronicles
Book One: Midnight Omen Deja Vu
Book Two: Silver Moon Deja Vu
Book Three: Onyx Rising Deja Vu
Book Four: Cutthroat's Omen: A Crimson Dawn
View all my reviews
The Selkie Enchantress
The Seal Island Trilogy, Book Two
by Sophie Moss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Caitlin has loved Liam since they were kids, but the timing has never been right for them. Finally, things looked to be turning their way at Tara and Dominick's wedding. Tonight was to be their first official date, she made a special dinner and wore a dress, but he was late. Where could he be? Liam rode the ferry home carrying a bouquet of yellow roses for Caitlin thinking about tonight when the woman on the ferry started talking to him. As they approached the docks, Liam went to help tie off, and he slipped. So unlike Liam. Now he remembers nothing of his relationship with Caitlin or his research, and seems be be under this new woman's spell. The whole island is wondering what is going on. The Selkie Enchantress is a novel of one woman trying to take for herself what is not hers to take by force, and what happens when a whole town turns out to try to prevent that. Sophie Moss has created a story where the whole island is awash with the paranormal and receptive to it, so when something strange is going on they all rally to the cause.
The Selkie Enchantress is the second book in the Seal Island Trilogy, but it can stand alone on it's own. I have not read the first book and was not hampered in understanding the story at all. Caitlin and Liam are the focus of this book, and although they are sure to have been mentioned in the first as other characters in this book would have been the focus of that book, it is nice to have that continuation. I found all I needed to really know in this book, Sophie Moss did a wonderful job in allowing this book to stand on it's own and not depend on the other books so much that you had to have read them all to understand the story. This is a great book for adults who want to add a little Irish folklore and legends or myths to their romance. It is a well written and delightful story for all readers.
View all my reviews
Seal Island Trilogy
Book One - The Selkie Spell Amazon Link
Book Two - The Selkie Enchantress Amazon Link
Book Three - The Selkie Sorceress Amazon Link
The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eetanam
by Jamie Scheid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
When Mathius takes over the kingdom from his father, who was not the sort of king you wanted to have, his only thoughts are how to make sure people know he is nothing like his father. His first challenge comes in the form of Vikings attacking villages, and once the Vikings are dispatched, King Mathius dies in his sleep. His widow and young daughter are left to change the kingdom, and he leave a heroic legacy. His death effects a fisherman, who is given a magic medallion, and he passes it on to the Queen. The time comes when the queen needs to find out if Cassidy, her daughter is ready to take the throne, and she tells her of the medallion and sets her on a mission. The future of the kingdom is borne on the mission and the leaders emerge. The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eatanam follows Cassidy and her journey, along with the fate of the kingdom. Jamie Scheid writes a fairy tale of sorts with wisdom and character.
Cassidy is the perfect princess, caring more for people and her kingdom than herself. The Irish Princess and the Pearls of Eatanam follows Cassidy and teaches of her gentleness and kindness. A kingdom ruled by a widow Queen, but covered in the legacy of a heroic king gone before he had time to do anything. The daughter born to take over, and the children of the kingdom that will be her help and guidance forever. Jamie Scheid gives us a story part historical, part fairy tale, and part realistic. So much to learn from the characters and the way they respond to everything that life offers them.
View all my reviews
Sorrow's Knot
by Erin Bow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
On the world were Sorrow's Knot take's place, the tribe of Free Women, think they live on the edge of the earth, Nothing goes beyond the forest. It is their job to protect the tribe, or at least the binder's job. The story tells us of three you kids who are trying to find their places in the tribe, but they aren't going to stick to the old rules. Otter feels that she is going to be a binder, her mother is a binder, but little does she know her mother has other plans for her, she refuses to let her learn to be a binder. The shock and sadness causes her to move into an old hut that was abandon, followed son after by her two best friends, Cricket and Krestel. They each use the magic they have to find their way, to understand the old stories and to unravel the mysteries that are their world. Erin Bow wraps the unknown of a foreign world with the familiar and weaves a story that will keep you glued till the very end.
Sorrow's Knot is a fantasy book because it takes place on another world, but you will forget that as you read the book. As you start reading it feels more like an old Indian Folk Legend from long, long ago that wraps around you as you read. There are mysteries in the old stories, and Cricket finds them first, and I think I enjoyed that because he was the least valued in their tribe, it only made sense that Erin Bow would bring him to the top. The characters are teenagers, which is what puts it in that coming-of-age story group, but it so much more. Teens and adults alike will love this book, and enjoy the world that has been created.
View all my reviews
Reviewed by Amitha Knight
Reviewed by BookHounds
Reviewed by Tasha Saecker
Divided against Yourselves
by Bill Hiatt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Divided Against Yourselves is the second book in the Spell Weavers series, but unlike a number of series this book can be read on it's own without having read the first book and without feeling lost. Tal is a teenager dealing with reincarnation, in fact he is the reincarnation of the original Taliesin, a bard in King Arthur's court. Tal has successfully to this point merged his past lives together with his present life quite well. His best friend Stan is also a reincarnation, but his is not going so well. He past life as King David wants to take control too often. Even after defeating the witch Ceridwen last Halloween, Tal and the guys think they can relax and go back to normal life, only for Tal to be surprised by the appearance of Morgan Le Fay, who help Ceridwen at Halloween. Tal and his warriors work to figure out what Morgan wants and how to protect everyone at the same time. Bill Haitt does a wonderful job of weaving a magic tale into a modern day high school and making it work.
This is the first book I can remember reading that took on the reincarnation topic as a theme to the magic. It was novel of Bill Haitt to think of that plotline for a story, and it made this story compelling and interesting. It also opened a number of question that have me asking what is the next book after Divided Against Yourselves. I found the teenagers in the book to be real and remind me of my own teenagers at home, some of the bantering between the boys is stuff I hear coming from the boys in my sons room all the time. I felt the story was well developed and the action scenes would entertain and keep a good range of boys interested in reading. There is a puppy love vs. true love kind of thing, you know the kind that happens when you're sixteen through that along with the magic would keep girls reading. There are so many different side stories and themes in the book that are weaved together so well into a complete story that it will appeal to a great variety of readers.
View all my reviews
Entwined Courage
by Tracy Lane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For centuries two worlds have existed in peace and harmony, the world of magic, a crystal city that floats high above the planet. Down below, on the planet, the common folk, who have no idea that the crystal city really exists believing it to be a myth. In the crystal city there are two forms of magic, the light and the dark, and they have stuck an easy balance and rule together for the good of both worlds. +Tracy Lane brings us into this world and introduces us to a young squire who is duty-bound to obey his master no matter what he asks of him. The problem is that his master is a greedy power hungry dark mage who wants all the power for himself and cares for no one else. He orders his squire, Kayne to steal a powerful artifact which he must do, but he cannot fully comply with his master and breaks his duty by hiding the artifact instead of giving it to the master. Entwined Courage is the ensuing story of Kayne's struggle to right the wrong he did by obeying his master and protect a young girl, Aurora who he involved in this plot without thinking.
+Tracy Lane does a wonderful job of describing the characters so vividly that you can imagine the evil in the eyes of Kronos and the compassion in the eyes of Iragos, As Entwined Courage continues the friendship between Kayne and Aurora grows, and much to Aurora's dismay she finds that she has magic in her. When she and Kayne work together to get away from Kronos, even with Aurora never having any training, they can do some amazing magic. Along with the story of righting his masters wrong, there is another story. This one is the one that involves Aurora's misguided belief in what the mages really do. She is sure they only protect the resources of the planet. She never thinks to consider that the common folk are the biggest resource they protect. As they work to right the wrong, Aurora must also grow up and figure out what she really believes about the mages and where her place in the two worlds really is.
View all my reviews
Winter Solstice Winter
by E.J. Squires
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Take a trip with me, back to the year of 1007, to the Northern reaches of Europe. The Nordic lands, the lands of snow and Vikings. Can you imagine the snow and cliffs, the cold, grey stone that builds the castles and keeps, the long houses with grey smoke coming out all the time to keep the people warm. Yes, this is where our story begins.
Winter Solstice Winter begins in the village, with just a normal village family and normal village life, except their daughter is having mare’s at night. Dreams that seem so real, almost as if it were memories of another life. We watch as Aillia and her family deal with those has other happenings occur in the area.
At the castle, the Queen although advanced in age and with a 17 year old daughter, is once again pregnant, hopefully with a son for the King, but all is not going well, and she passes away during childbirth along with the babe. Her daughter Lucia, is lost, having no idea how to manage life without her mother, but unbeknownst to her, life is about to change in more ways than she can ever imagine.
As the story progresses and we follow these two women, both born on the Winter Solstice Eve, we learn the history of the area and the legends that are guiding the events and shaping what is occurring. Much to the +Evelyn Squires credit, the back history is told in conversations between character’s, so it fits into the storyline perfectly and makes sense. It’s not just some aside that takes you back and fills you in on the history. It belongs where it is, and since it unfolds in conversations, you get small bits and pieces at a time, so it is almost like unwrapping a puzzle.
The characters; Aillia, Lucia, and just to make it interesting a love interest for both girls, Soren; are well thought out and easy to get to know. I related to them and understood them. Of course at times I thought Lucia was a spoiled, rich-kid brat, but then again that really is what she is. The weaving of the characters, past and present into the story just makes it feel more like a tale you have heard over and over, not a book you are reading for the first time.
Although the book ends, leaving you on a bit of a cliff wanting to know more, and having to wait for the next book to come out; it does end at a very logical place. It is a natural break in the storyline that fits well with transitioning to another book. I applaud the author for that as well, because not many authors can do that, some leave you on a huge cliff and this was more a natural cliff. Yes I am waiting for the next book, but I feel good about where the characters are at while I wait.
If you are at all interested in historical fiction, viking lore, Nordic lore and the such this is a great book for you. Even if you aren’t that impressed with that, I think you would still enjoy this book just on the richness of the story itself. The writing and weaving of the story is genuine and truly the work of a great author.
View all my reviews
Julie Martin Wallace blog Judy DeVries Blog
Jovon Tucker Blog
