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Friday, May 1, 2015

Wild Fell by Michael Rowe









The crumbling summerhouse called Wild Fell, soaring above the desolate shores of Blackmore Island, has weathered the violence of the seasons for more than a century. Built for his family by a 19th-century politician of impeccable rectitude, the house has kept its terrible secrets and its darkness sealed within its walls. For a hundred years, the townspeople of Alvina have prayed that the darkness inside Wild Fell would stay there, locked away from the light. Jameson Browning, a man well acquainted with suffering, has purchased Wild Fell with the intention of beginning a new life, of letting in the light. But what waits for him at the house is devoted to its darkness and guards it jealously. It has been waiting for Jameson his whole life - or even longer. And now, at long last, it has found him!



So I picked this up because it was billed as a Gothic ghost story...I was very disappointed. The first chapter is pretty good and decently scary. That is where it stops, the book then spends the next 100 or so pages (it's only a 180 page book) detailing the life of Jamie, his lonely childhood and best friend Hank (a girl who wants to be a boy) there is a bunch of normal kid stuff with the added bonus of a semi creepy "imaginary" friend named Amanda who lives in his mirror and a dead turtle.


Amanda is only in about two chapters and while she seems a bit evil and I could tell it was important for later, the author then goes into Jaime growing up, graduating school, getting married, divorced and finally his dad getting Alzheimer's. Jamie has to put his dad in a home, then gets into a horrible accident and gets a butt load of money with which he buys a huge rambling house called Wild Fell. He buys it sight unseen aside from the pictures and even though it's a rambling estate no one has lived in for years, it is in perfect condition;and has "not aged."

Finally we get to the good stuff, the house is awesome, description great, history of the Blackmore family creepy and tragic; incest, death, and old money. There was some magic that seemed out of place for the type of story being told however and a really gross scene where Jamie has an R rated dream about his dad. Then we get to the meat of the whole story (keep in mind at this point we are about ten pages from the end)

The reason this got two stars was because the good stuff was SO brief. less than 1/4 of the novel is about the house and the evil ghost that lives in it. Two of the three twists were totally predictable and stereotyped. Then there was the biggest twist of all, which was just ridiculous and very, "timey wimey" but not in a fun Doctor Who kind of way. &The ending was confusing and rushed and made me just go, "meh, eh and BORED NOW!"

There were also no rules, weird magic, and a all powerful ghost. I kid you not, she could do ANYTHING, control ANYTHING,. This ghost has no Achilles heel, no rules, just an unlimited supply of evil and power with no logical (or even illogical) back story about how she got this power. In the end I was just done with this book.

You want a good ghost story? Don't pick this one.




Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Blog Tour Blitz Off Book by Jessica Dall











About OFF BOOK:
Twenty-year-old Eloise has learned all she can from the School, where characters live until joining their novels. No one knows genre and plot structure better than her, but despite her knowledge, she’s yet to be assigned to her own story. All her friends are off starting their lives with their authors—and if Eloise doesn’t get assigned soon, she’ll fade away, forgotten by all.

When she is suddenly offered a job at the Recording Office, she takes the chance to write her own future. Suddenly living among the post-storied, Eloise meets Barnaby Fitzwilliam, a former romance novel hero who hasn’t lost any of his in-story charm. But just as their relationship begins to get serious, everything Eloise has been taught gets turned upside down when she’s sucked into a novel she was never meant to be part of.

Now, caught where the only rules are made by the authors and truly anything is possible, Eloise must find her way back home—or else her life might end before she ever gets the chance to live it.

Set in a world dictated by Authors, OFF BOOK explores the story beneath the stories we all know and love, taking readers and characters alike on an adventure just waiting to be written.


About The Author:
Jessica Dall finished her first novel at age 15 and been writing ever since. She is the author of such novels as Grey Areas and The Bleeding Crowd, the Broken Line Series, and a number of short stories which have appeared in both literary magazines and anthologies. When not writing, she works as a freelance editor and creative writing teacher in Washington, DC.

Find Jessica Dall on twitter, facebook, and goodreads. 


Release Day Trailer:            





















Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who are Plus Size












Top Ten Tuesday is a fun Meme hosted by the Broke and Bookish. This week it's all about picking a character trait and making a list. I have chosen books that feature women who are plus size. Now I haven't read all of these, a lot are on my TBR list though. Though I must say....it was a LOT harder than I thought it would be. Most of them that I did find are from trashy romance novels. not a lot from the YA or Middle Grade fiction genres...or even normal fiction, sci-fy...anything. Or the books I found with fat characters were just ridiculous, insulting or not body positive.



1.) Agnes Nitt and her alter ego, Perdita X. Dream from Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

2) Gloriana St. Clair from Real Vampires Have Curves by Gerry Bartlett

Now I have read this one and got about five books into the series before I got bored. It's a funny vampire read. Though, Glory does spend ALOT of time obsessing about her weight.

3) Bride McTierney from Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Have read this as well, about 100 times. This is a GREAT book, full of a plus size girl that gets a super hot boyfriend, becomes comfortable in her own skin and has a TON of sex...WITH A WEREWOLF. LOL

4)  Heather Wells from Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

5) Cannie Shapiro from Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

This was a fun book, one of the first I had ever read as a young fat girl that actually had a plus size heroine not JUST thinking about losing weight.

6) Tris from Tris's Book Circle of Magic by Tamora Piece

7) Marian Harasta from Sorceress of Faith by Robin D Owens

8) Willowdean Dickson  from Dumplin by Julie Murphy

This doesn't come out until September and I am LOOKING forward to it soo soo much.

9)  Eleanor from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

10) Elisa from  The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson