Monthly Archives

August 2015

reviews

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

shadow scaleShadow Scale (Seraphina 2) by Rachel Hartman

As Seraphina travels the Southlands in search of the other half-breeds to help in the war effort, the dragon General Comonot and his Loyalists fight against the upstart Old Guard, with the fate of Goredd and the other human countries hanging in the balance. (Goodreads)

Oh dear, I don’t know what to say here… Because I loved the first book and I almost didn’t finish this one. So yeah, I’m disappointed…

It was just so boring. Seraphina leaves the castle to find other half-dragons. She meets new half-dragon, there’s drama, she meets another one, there’s more drama and so on.

We barely see Kiggs, the love interest of our heroine, and even less of her uncle Orma. We see very little of the people from the first book and instead there’s lot of new half-dragons.

Then there’s Jannoula who’s the main villain of the book. And the sad fact is that this is more Jannoula’s book than Seraphina’s. Jannoula is manipulator and good strategist who has no kindness or remorse. Seraphina is just an observer to these things.

I really wanted to love this but sadly it ended up being a disappointment.

2/5

Published: Random House (March 2015)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 596
Source: library

reviews

Incurable by E.C. Moore

02_Incurable_CoverIncurable by E.C. Moore

Her menacing past was loose and in close pursuit. The fear of the thing lived in her eyes, and trepidation sounded with each step her heels made as she fled.

Los Angeles 1956. Marilyn Palmer is a beauty with a deep dark secret. After a threatening note from a blackmailer arrives she hires a private eye to help keep her unsavory past under wraps.

Incurable is a story wrought with impetuous and regrettable decisions made by a desperate young woman. Barely eighteen years old, and a gifted seamstress, she makes the ill-fated decision to run away from her Detroit home with a wily friend. Bound for Hollywood, and seeking stardom, the girls set out on an incredible journey.

This splendidly imagined debut explores the tumultuous life and times of a woman who suffered the ultimate betrayal as a child during the Great Depression. A story of survival set against the backdrop of early Hollywood, misery on Hotel Street in Honolulu before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and heartbreak in Los Angeles during WWII, Incurable delivers an emotional intensity rarely found.

The book started little slow but it sure did pick up later on. The girls surely didn’t live a quiet time!

The book jumps between Marilyn’s past and present but it was easy to keep up. Marilyn grows to a strong woman who despite everything that happens just finds her way forward. Now she’s married with a baby and believes she’s put her past behind her but discovers that past isn’t so easy to erase.

Her friend June is completely the opposite of Marilyn; carefree and spontaneous with no thought of tomorrow. I gotta say that I didn’t care much of her and she was my least favourite character. I can’t believe how naïve Marilyn was at times and how she went with June’s crazy ideas time after time.

All in all it was enjoyable read and a great debut book.

3/5

Published: BookTrope Publishing (July 6, 2015)
Format: eBook
Pages: 360
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

ABOUT THE AUTHOR03_Author E.C. Moore

When E.C. Mooreís not writing feverishly, you will find her out walking or sightseeing. Sheís wild about coffee, books, cooking, good wine, cairn terriers, miniature ponies, historical houses, and witty people.

She resides in a fifties bungalow in Southern California, with her creative-director husband, a yappy blonde dog, and one feisty Chihuahua.

For more information visit E.C. Moore’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Amazon, Google+, and Goodreads.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, August 10
Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, August 11
Review at A Fold in the Spine
Spotlight & Excerpt at Curling Up By the Fire

Wednesday, August 12
Guest Post & Giveaway at Unshelfish

Thursday, August 13
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Spotlight & Excerpt at A Literary Vacation
Spotlight & Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Sunday, August 16
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Spotlight & Excerpt at Please Pass the Books

Monday, August 17
Guest Post at Passages to the Past

Thursday, August 20
Review at Bookramblings
Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Friday, August 21
Tour Wrap-Up & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

04_Incurable_Blog Tour Banner

meme

Mailbox Monday (10.8.2015)

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is now hosted on its own blog.

Here’s what I got in the last few weeks:

books10.8.15

The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell (bought)
The Winter Mantle by Elizabeth Chadwick (bought)
Richard III’s ‘Beloved Cousyn’: John Howard and the House of York by John Ashdown-Hill (bought)
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Dick Winters (bookmooch)
Joan of Kent: The First Princess of Wales by Penny Lawne (bought)