Saturday, November 26, 2016

BOOK REVIEW # 2016-106 - THE MEN OF STARLIGHT BEND

Anyone who is a voracious reader of books, or one who is also a book reviewer like me, should jump at any opportunity in which a LIMITED collection of stories written by bestselling authors of the New York Times and USA Today for only 99 cents comes along, especially when the genre is romance. While many such collections revolve around a simplistic notion such as shapeshifters and the like, this one had been planned. The one thing which actually connects each of these five stories is a Christmas wish tree located in the local sporting goods store in Starlight Bend, Montana. Not only does each story revolve around a sexy hunk one can only dream about, each of them lives in Starlight Bend, Montana. When you add in the holiday season and making a Christmas wish come true for a child how can you go wrong?

And as with every Christmas season, a certain magic abounds around us and wishes of finding someone to love can finally be fulfilled, especially if you believe it can happen. There’s a certain warm endearing quality about the guy in each of these stories, a quality which might make you fall in love with and fantasize about being in the shoes of the woman who winds up stealing his hearts. There’s a wonderful range of romantic themes in these stories from a second chance romance by Calistic Fox in “His Angel” to a sweet beauty is in the eyes of the holder story in “The Grinch of Starlight Bend” by Jennifer Probst, a story which is similar to the romance story most if not all of us have read as a child, that of “Beauty and the Beast.” But who knew then that what we had read had been, along with “Cinderella,” had been our first exposures to romance, which is why we probably love this genre today.

For a having us 5 stories which will begin to warm the cockles of our hearts in time for the holiday season, I’ve giving this LIMITED Edition collection 5 STARS.


Tuesday, November 22, 2016

BOOK REVIEW # 2016-105 - UNDER THE KISSING BOUGH

I love having an opportunity to partake in a smorgasbord. Who doesn’t?

Smorgasbords at weddings are simply divine to eat. You’re able to savor delicacies you seldom have a chance to eat; or delicacies you’ve never tried before, and now will love eating more of any chance you get. But along with them comes the, heaven forbid, dreaded weight gain.

Those of us who are aficionadas of the romance genres love to devour anything and everything thing written by our favorite authors. However, at the same time we’re hesitant at times in buying something written by someone we haven’t read before. This is not because the stories aren’t well written; it’s usually because we might not like that particular author’s style of writing.

This is why I love jumping at an opportunity to read a smorgasbord of multi-genre romance novellas and novelettes written by some of the bestselling authors here in the US and internationally. I love being able to see how these various authors deal with a specific theme, as is the case here. The theme in this LIMITED EDITION, which is a get it while you can situation, is the Kissing Bough, otherwise known as the mistletoe.

What’s more fun than kissing someone under under the mistletoe?  It’s kissing them under their nose.[LOL]

But seriously, how many women who haven’t found their HEA yet, each year are looking forward to this holiday season so they can grab their desired hunk and kiss him under the mistletoe, even it means having a friend nearby with a sprig of this mythical bough dangling on a string attached to a stick.

In each of the 15 wonderful stories contained in this collection, the female protagonist is counting on her kissing her guy under the mistletoe before the last berry has been removed. Will each of these women obtain what she desires, or will she be disappointed only to wait until next year for her next opportunity to have the HEA she desires?

With the low price for this collection, how can you go wrong in downloading a copy? This is why I’m not hesitating in giving this collection the 5 STARS it so richly deserves.

US:   https://www.amazon.com/review/R1YFIPZCCHAZSY







 

STATUS REPORT # 94

I know it’s been 18 days since my last Status Report but with nothing really to report I saw no need to do one.

Since my last report I haven’t been myself, nothing serious but I just felt I need to simply relax and take care of myself. I didn’t do any work on any of my three WIPS, which I’m now going have to pay for with having to re-read several chapters of my debut erotic novella. I still have the end of the year set as when I’ll be able to type that final elusive period for the manuscript.

I haven’t done too much reading so I haven’t done that many reviews; and why I haven’t posted any of better reviews here.

The past five days were quite enjoyable. To begin with it was my dear OH’s birthday which got followed three days later by our 23rd wedding anniversary.

Now rested from all the festivities, I’ve set and ready to begin returning to normal. So with Thanksgiving approaching we’ve decided to be different this year by going out to eat and possibly eating a non-traditional holiday meal, perhaps going so far as having Chinese food.

THANKS for following me here. I’d love hearing from you. But most important have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING with your families.

HUGS and KISSES !!!  :-) :-) :-)

Monday, November 21, 2016

BOOK REVIEW # 2016-104 - DON'T I KNOW YOU ?

I received a hardcopy edition of this book from the author’s publisher, Flatiron Books, through a giveaway they had on GoodReads and the following is my honest opinion.

“Rose McEwan has lived her life out of the spotlight—daughter, wife, mother, ex-wife, journeyman writer trying to make ends meet. But even so, fame has come to her.”  So states the description for this debut novel which contains 14 episodic stories in this fictional woman’s life from the age of 16 to 60.  At the same time the author tells us in her Author’s Note that they contain some autobiographical elements.

These stories, in part, remind me of the fictional character Walter Mitty who begins to fantasize and daydream the moment he hears something interesting the moment he hears something which triggers he imagination. Rose after encountering the celebrities mentioned in each of these stories; however when she retells each incident she begins to embellish what happens afterwards.

All of these stories are quite plausible but only to a point; these stories attempt to show that even though these individuals might be a celebrity that they’re really ordinary people like you and me given the right circumstances. Rose’s embellishments are fascinating and touching, as well as being quite thought provoking and delightfully fun to read.

The interesting thing is many of us can, given the right opportunity, might do the same thing as Rose has done. I should know because being involved in local politics the way I was I got invited to a birthday party for a local elected representative where I met someone who’s a nationally known political figure, and had a photo taken of the three of us. I didn’t have to say a single word when I would show someone the photo; the photo did the embellishing for me. Honestly, wouldn’t you want to embellish a story about someone who might met who’s well known.

For having given me something I would love to read again if I can find the time, I’m giving Ms. Jackson 5 STARS for this endeavor.



CA:   https://www.amazon.ca/review/R2P90J0I5NBJSL            

Thursday, November 3, 2016

STATUS REPORT # 93


This is going to be a very brief Status Report as things should be getting back to a real sense of normalcy for myself.

To begin with I’ve finally finished judging the entries I’d received for the contest a local chapter of the RWA [Romance Writers of America]. This endeavor took me more time than I had anticipated.

Now it’s back to work on my first Erotic romance novella which as I’ve already written in my previous reports is my first priority to finish as I’ve entered the beginning in a contest from a RWA chapter, and want to have a completed manuscript prepared in case I should become a winner and someone wants to read it. Right now with a projected word count of 40,000 I’m about 48.2% finished. Once I’ve re-read the last two chapters, I ready to forge ahead towards typing the elusive final period.
I’ve already completed my GoodReads reading challenge of my reading/reviewing 200 books by the end of the year at the end of last month.

With about 60 days left for the rest of the year I’ve got to move my goal of having read/reviewed my 500th book until about the end of January 2017.

 

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

BOOK REVIEW # 2016-103 - ANATOMY OF A SONG

Being a child of the 1950’s I was born along with the real birth of the genre of music we fondly know as “Rock ‘n Roll”, and then for the genre known as “Pop”.  By the time I was eight [1959] and could really begin to enjoy listening to the old style radios we had I enjoyed listening to this kind of music. While I might not have understood the meanings of the songs being sung, I still enjoyed the sound of these songs.

When I was ten I got my first transistor radio with those rectangle 9 volt batteries I could listen to my music any time I wanted to. The problem was back then I fell asleep with the radio on, and as you might have guessed by the time I woke up the battery had died. I had no music so I wound up, much to my chagrin, having to ask my parents for money to buy a new battery. Of course, wanting to teach me a lesson about responsibility [turning off the radio before going to sleep], they would deduct it from my allowance.

All my friends had record players which we listened to the 45 rpm records we used to buy with our allowances. Some of my friends had been lucky as their parents gave them money to buy their records any time a song became very popular. There was never a party where records weren’t played, sometimes over and over again. We used to stack as many records as we could so we wouldn’t have to change the records on our own.  Diners had a small one at all of the booths they had, and if you were lucky your parents would pay for your song selections.

We all loved listening to the songs of the “Rock ‘n Roll” and “Pop”, etc. eras, we never became interested if there was a reason as to why the singer[s] decided to write their songs. Even though the eras of this music have died, we’ve never gotten the music out of our blood. Which is why we’re nostalgic about them still today, and why, even as adults, we’re always looking for an opportunity to see our favorite artists live. And along with this nostalgia comes an interest in knowing if there had been a reason for any of the songs a specific artist is noted for singing.

The only way to find out what had brought about the creation of the songs we had loved is to speak to those involved which is precisely what Marc Myers has done here. By interviewing these individuals [those still alive] the author takes us into their minds and the events surrounding the decades of songs the author has included in this marvelous compendium of the songs we all loved listening to as we grew up, songs we still love hearing today.

If there’s song which would epitomize all of the songs and artists in this book it would be Barry Manilow’s song I Write the Songs:

I've been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music and I write the songs

[Chorus]

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I've got my own place in your soul
Now, when I look out through your eyes
I'm young again, even though I'm very old

[Chorus]

Oh my music makes you dance
And gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock 'n' roll so you can move
Music fills your heart
Well, that's a real fine place to start
It's from me it's for you
It's from you, it's for me
It's a worldwide symphony

[Chorus]

[Chorus]

This is why I loved Marc Myers efforts in compiling this compendium of the origins of each of the songs he’s included here. Some of us might be familiar with the songs included in this book as they come from a column, of the same name, which the author wrote for the Wall Street Journal [2011 – 2016]. It must have been a monumental task for the author to select the 45 songs he’s included from all those he’s written about; perhaps if we’re lucky we might see a second book covering additional songs, songs we’ve listen to which we’d love to know the origins of.

For bringing back memories of our younger days and for enlightening us as to the origins of these songs, how can I not give Mr. Myers 5 STARS for his endeavor here.