Review: The Ghost of Nan Clarks Lane, by Shalini Boland

Title: The Ghost of Nan Clarks Lane
Author: Shalini Boland
Rating: 4/5 Stars

“It’s 1940 and twins Jimmy and Patrick are off to catch frogs in the North London countryside. But as the day unfolds, Jimmy realises that the ghost of Nan Clarks Lane may be more than just a story.

(Also contains Chapter One from the full length novel A Shirtful of Frogs.)

Suitable for both adults and children aged 10+” (description from Goodreads)

The Ghost of Nan Clarks Lane is nice and short.

Boland does a nice job of creating the setting, the main characters, and the storyline in only a few thousand words. While there was more backstory that could have been told, there was just enough extra given without there being any fluff to fill in any gaps.

The twins, Jimmy and Patrick take this innocent trip to catch frogs, but then it turns into a much different outcome to the day. I enjoyed the build-up to the climax of the story and it was a little different than I expected from it. That’s always a sign of a good story.

While I note that the author used the word count effectively, I can also see how a few aspects of the story could have fleshed out just a little more. Being that this is a story related to Boland’s novel A Shirtful of Frogs, I’m sure some of what I would have enjoyed reading more of, would be in the novel.

This is a story young children will likely like to read, as well as adults looking for some light but enjoyable reading.

You can grab a copy of The Ghost of Nan Clarks Lane from:

Smashwords (FREE)

Amazon ($0.99)
The author’s trying to get this free on Amazon. Please help her and readers out by reporting the free link(s) to Amazon

About the Author:

Books and music are my passion and I’ve always been a writer in some shape or form. Before children, I was signed to Universal Music as a singer/songwriter. I collaborated with some amazing musicians and was lucky enough to sing with Basement Jaxx on their album Rooty and live on stage. But that all seems like several lifetimes ago.

Now I combine motherhood with writing fiction. I write the kinds of books I love to read – gripping adventures with a spattering of supernatural and a sprinkling of romance.

I also get stupidly over-excited when people leave comments on my blog, so please feel free to say what’s on your mind.

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COVER REVEAL: Soul Survivor, by Michelle Nicole

What do I have for you today? Well, my friend, Michelle Nicole, is coming out with her first book next month, and I’d like to share the cover and a little about the book with you all. So here for your visual pleasure, is the cover for Soul Survivor, book one of the Hybrid Chronicles.

Release Date: June 2013
Genre: YA, Paranormal romance
Cover Designer: Okay Creations

Hailee Mai Hart is just a simple, normal girl. Or so she thought.

When she left her one-horse town for a college education in the big city, she never could’ve imagined what awaited her.

She’s quickly thrown into a world filled with angels, danger, and a curse…her curse. Come to find out, she’s not so simple after all. She’s actually the last of her kind, and the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. She has one chance to save Earth, and it all comes down to one choice: Light or Darkness. What is right and what is wrong is all a matter of perspective, which leaves her heart dangerously tangled. No matter which path she takes people will die, and that’s just not an option.

Will she be able to save everyone, or will she be the Soul Survivor?

About the Author:

Michelle Nicole was born and raised in the wild and wonderful state of West Virginia. She’s holds both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA. While her first passion is numbers, not long into adulthood, Michelle rediscovered her love of books and with it the joy and fulfillment of writing her own stories. She spends her days working as a CPA and her nights weaving tales of love, friendship, and everything in between.

When she’s not working or writing, you’ll find her binge watching her favorite TV shows, reading, tweeting, hanging with her husband and furry children, or spending time with her close knit extended family.

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Review: The Strongest Ring, by Laura Bradley Rede

Title: The Strongest Ring
Author: Laura Bradly Rede
Rating: 5/5 Stars

“Seventeen year old Beck doesn’t consider herself a tree-hugger. With her multi-colored dreadlocks and her combat boots, she’s more at home working at Criminal Records Music than taking a stroll in the woods. That is, until she falls for Jordan, a handsome vampire activist who remembers Earth’s past and wants to save its future. But will Jordan’s friends accept Beck’s help? Or will they decide that humans are the problem – and the solution is wiping them out? A hopeful environmental message shines at the heart of this YA short story by Writers of the Future award winner Laura Bradley Rede, author of the YA paranormal series The Darkride Chronicles.” (description from Goodreads)

I really enjoyed this short story.

While there was a lack of a full history between how the vampires came to live side by side with humans, without hiding, I feel that I wasn’t left wanting to know too much more due to how into the story I got. I’m interested to see what the author’s take on that situation is though, it’s one of the things I enjoy in a paranormal setting; “How did this world come to be how it is?” sort of thing.

The environmental message/theme in the story was a nice touch. It added to the story by giving it a place to move toward, and at the same time provided the readers with a little hint at “we CAN help out the planet,” without the message sounding at all preachy or overbearing.

On top of this is a nice gentle presented romance. This and all the other elements came together nicely in a few thousand words that made me glad I picked this one up.

You can purchase a copy of this story for FREE (at the time of posting) from

Smashwords | Kobo | B&N 

This tile is also available for $0.99 on:

Amazon

About the Author:

Laura Bradley Rede grew up the oldest of nine kids in a small town in Maine. She now lives in a little hippie-punk neighborhood of Minneapolis with her wonderful partner, their three amazing children, one Great Dane, one dachshund, and four city chickens. She is a winner of the Writers of the Future Award for fantasy and science fiction and the author of the YA paranormal romance DARKRIDE, and its upcoming sequel CROSSFIRE, as well as many YA short stories. She often quotes Bela Lugosi, the original Dracula, who said “I have never met a vampire personally, but I don’t know what might happen tomorrow.”

After all, a girl can dream.

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Review: Flat-Out Love, by Jessica Park

Title: Flat-Out Love
Author: Jessica Park
Rating: 4/5 Stars

“He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt.  Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot.  But there is also Finn.  Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward?  Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother’s? This was all supposed to be temporary.  Julie wasn’t supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers.  Especially the one she’s never quite met. But what does that really matter?  Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here’s the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves.  And no one ever escapes unscathed.” (description from Amazon)

Flat-Out Love was a great book for me to have picked up. It was hard to put down and very easy to get back into a steady reading pace the few times I had to put it down.

This story really stood out to me as an original and enjoyable read the whole way through. While I was able to make strong assumptions of the outcome, early in the novel, it was the journey to the actual reveal and confirming/disproving my assumptions that might have been the best part. It was less of “wow, I figured this book out. I don’t want to read it now” and much more “Could this really be the situation? I NEED to know. It’d be great if this was what’s going on.” I was impressed by just how much thought had to go into making this story work with the complicated back-story, the unique and dysfunctional Watkins family, and coming-of-age growth that Julie’s character went through.

The characters definitely made for an enjoyable read. My favorite of the book is probably Celeste. She has her issues and definitely adds some awkwardness to situations, but her intelligence and dialogue are what really make her a favorite of mine. Like the rest of the family, she’s smart, but she’s also funny in her own way. Also, even though she’s only in her early teens, she shows maturity well beyond her age. Definitely wouldn’t have been as great of a book without her. There wouldn’t have been a reason to read about Flat Finn without Celeste either. And he’s a very unique character as well. Despite his “flat” name, Flat Finn is very dynamic…but I’ll let the readers fin the pun in that themselves.

Bottom-line: Flat-Out Love is a great book to pick up. I can see what so many people have enjoyed about it, and I am looking forward to experiencing more of Park’s writing.

You can grab a copy of Flat-Out Love from:

Amazon

About the Author:

Jessica Park is the author of the young adult novels FLAT-OUT LOVE and RELATIVELY FAMOUS; five Gourmet Girl mysteries (written as Jessica Conant-Park); and the e-shorts FACEBOOKING RICK SPRINGFIELD and WHAT THE KID SAYS (Parts 1 & 2).

Jessica grew up in the Boston area and attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. After spending four years in the frigid north, including suffering through one memorable Halloween blizzard, Jessica hightailed it back to the east coast. She now lives in (relatively balmy) New Hampshire with her husband, son, bananas dog named Fritzy, and two selfish cats. When not writing, Jessica indulges her healthy addictions to Facebook, Rick Springfield, and super-sweet coffee beverages.

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Review: The Eslites, by CM Doporto

Title: The Eslites
Author: CM Doporto
Rating: 3/5 Stars

“Sixteen year old, Miranda Mays, discovers she is a superior donor for the alien race known as the Eslites, who have come to earth demanding humans to help save their race from extinction. Will she be the one to help them or will their quest continue?” (description from Goodreads)”

There was an interesting concept to this story. Though, I think that it’s a concept better fleshed out in a longer piece. I’m a fan of short stories, but I feel that this one was in need of a little world building at the very least.

While reading questions continued to pop into my head about just what kind of events lead to this alien race coming into control in the way they did. Also, the use of the term “state of the art” occurred often, but there was nothing to base that off of. This was obviously a futuristic story, but what is state of the art when it comes to a world that’s already going to be state of the art to the reader of today?

I also had questions arise near the end (which I won’t get into due to them spoiling things). The characters knew more than I did as a reader, and I think that it limited my understanding of why some themes were brought up in the end.

All in all, with me still having questions and also zipping right through this one, I think I’ll be looking forward to book 2, “The Coming,” when it is released.

You can purchase a FREE (for the foreseable future) copy of The Eslites, from

Amazon | Smashwords | B&N | Kobo

About the Author

CM Doporto lives in the great state of Texas with her husband and son enjoying life with their extensive family along with their Chihuahua, Mexican Redhead Parrot and several fish.

She writes Young Adult and New Adult Urban Fantasy stories about ordinary women who do extraordinary things, become a heroine, and find love along the way.

She writes a heroine blog at: http://cmdoporto.com

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