I am a reader. The thought of going without my books is inconceivable. For the most part, I have my favorites, books that are a comfort no matter what my life throws at me. When I was little, the books were something I needed. I travelled with a copy of “Little Women”. Jo and Beth, Meg and Amy were very real to me. I read that book until it literally fell apart – but it did not matter since they became a part of my brain. I know that they came from another persons brain. I know how much they meant to me. But it wasn’t just them. It was Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstocking and Cutter and Leetah. It was Amelia Bedelia and Bedknobs and Broomsticks and a magical doorway to Narnia that kept my imagination in thrall. It was the thought of Tesseracts and the pagentry of fantasy novels and the words of a bard. Its the words of Elizabeth Dickinson and the words of Keats. And, slowly, it became what was the fabric of my life. The threads I can remember, as well as the ones that I didn’t incorporate into my world view.
As an adult, I read everything and found myself finding more companions. Around other things that happened in the real world, there too were the characters of Anne Rice, Nora Roberts and Guy Gavriel Kay. And something amazing came from the books. It was friends who were only a few pages away. They were never too busy. It was the knowledge that, just by reading a book 📖, I could recapture where I was when I read it the first time as well as some of the minutia I had missed the first time around because I wanted to know what happened. Knowing what happened meant I could pay more attention to the characters that were secondary. And, there were times in my adult life when I had to read those treasured pages one word at a time. It was harder that way.
All of this was a little bit away from my main point. I said I was a reader and I am. It means that I escape into those other worlds and learn the rules… Whether it is based on mythology or vampires, society or shapeshifters it gave me an escape and a place to hope and dream about, while my body betrayed me. I also, somewhere along the way, developed a rule that if I started a book, I finished it. And, then, I found myself feeling a drive to finish a series, even if it wasn’t up to my standards. But, I started this blog to highlight one of my favorite authors and the two heroines of her novels. Karen Chance reminded me why she held a place among my favorites with Dragon’s Claw. It’s the latest release of the Dorina Basarab plot line which is a companion to the Cassandra Palmer series. I realized that I had missed Dory and Marlowe. And, reading it, I felt that excitement that comes from a new adventure and some old friends. I cannot wait for the next story.
I have been ill ad this have spent an inordinate amount of time creating keyboard themes for tiny monetary amounts… And in my travels I have found some kindred spirits and I hope that they find my links to their websites and decide to come visit me and a friendship may bloom…
For right now, keep up with our Facebook page and use it as a discussion space. Post there your thoughts about what you are reading and maybe we will find a way to match readers and conversations will emerge through comments…
Also, I am working hard to find away to let us all chat sharing what we are reading and what we are thinking.. As most of my favorite series are ongoing… It means that speculation is always a fun part of reading the series and sering that every racer brings a different life experience to the reading of the books 📚 which means each of us can bring the one question or offhand comment that rocks our entire understanding of our beloved series…
For those of you who don’t start your day by checking there major paranormal authors blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook series pages, tumblr feeds and/or email lists and whom I have let down during my illness, I apologize.
Laurell K Hamilton’s Serpentine is announced for August 7, and given the long wait and the fact her posts on the blog seem to imply edits have been completed I’m pretty sure it will happen…
Katie MacAllister released the first book in a new series today with Fireborn and given that her books are always full of laughs and sarcasm, I cannot wait to get my hands on it… Oh and a Happy Book Birthday to her— may copies fly off the shelves and travel through the air with great speed to ereaders around the world allowing her to keep writing the books we readers adore…
Hopefully, next year this blog will be established enough to support me going to Dragoncon to give updates but for now, I am wishing all my friends lucky enough to be able to attend a great time! And in an attempt to be helpful, I will publish Laurell K Hamilton’s Dragoncon schedule…
A couple of days ago, I warned that my posts might seem to be a little surreal because I was starting Jeaniene Frost‘s Night Prince which was the fourth and final installment in the that series. The reason that required a caveat was that Vlad is the hero int that series and he has a stepson and blood nephew named Mircea. Given that most of my posts revolve around the Cassandra Palmer and the Dorina Basarab series in which Mircea is a hero and Vlad a villain. I have to admit that it was difficult even within my own mind to make the switch. Eventually, though, my brain successfully made the switch and I came to really enjoy the return to the Night Huntress world. I have to give Jeaniene Frost some mad props. Mencheres plays a large role in the book and they throw in a stay at Kat and Bones cabin. What amazes me about this is that Jeaniene Frost is able to successfully end each series and then start another tangential story, one for which the foundations were laid in the process of telling this hero/heroine story. This means that when the next series, which will revolve around Ian, starts we know that some of our old friends will play a part and, in a way, each successive series is a continuation of the one before.Â
I also greatly enjoyed the Sweetest Burn, the second story in the Broken Destiny series. This series is truly unrelated to the other world. This series revolves around a battle between good in the form of Archons (Angel like beings) and Demons. These Demons have realms that are just a slight bit misaligned with reality and the heroine, Ivy has long been able to see glimpses of these realms and has a long history of psychiatric treatment due to this ability. When her sister disappears and her adoptive parents are killed while investigating the disappearance, Ivy decides she will fin and rescue her sister or die in the effort. This leads to a discovery of the Demons, their realms, minions (humans enlisted by both Archons and Demons to do their will on Earth since there are agreements in place limiting what can be done by the demons and Archons) and the fact that there is something quite special about Ivy. Ivy is the last descendant who has the blood of David from the biblical story of David and Goliath. The Archon who informs Ivy of all this brings someone to hep her Adrian, a man who was brought up in the demon realms and switched sides and who also has an illustrious ancestor as well-Jude, the man who betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver and who is prophesied to betray Ivy as well. Apparently there are 3 artifacts that can only be wielded by one of David’s descendants and have become necessary as the walls between the realms are weakening. Anyways, this second book revolves around a search for a magical staff, the one that Moses used. When Ivy used the slingshot at the end of the first novel, it became a tattoo embedded in Ivy’s skin and it comes as a great surprise when she learns that it can still be used although not to the same effect as before. This installment shows Adrian and Ivy’s partnership going to the next level, with a number of ramifications that, of course, only become apparent AFTER the events have occurred.
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
If you want to support the blog and keep getting great content make a donation at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny)
(Broken Destiny)
Jeaniene Frost
First off, please ask everyone you know to check out the blog, check out the facebook page and like it and make searches for the website when possible?
hi ladies and gentleman I’m currently trying to get my blog off of the ground@bestbooklover.net and I am hoping that you will help me by doing the following a. go to https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/ and like it b. Whenever you have a few moments and nothing better to do search for bestbooklover.net in your preferred search engine (I am told this will raise my Search Engine rankings)
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
I’m a reader-always have been. What does that mean? It means that from Kindergarten through eighth grade, my favorite day of the month was when the scholastic book order forms came in and then the day the books actually arrived. I always ordered way more than I could possibly read and lugging those boxes of books home was like the eighth night of hannukkah and my birthday all rolled into one…
When my children were younger, it meant reading books sometimes a word at a time, but I always had a book with me and I will admit to great pride that I finished any books at all with my children at toddler age. Now it means always having a book loaded on my phone to play or read every opportunity I get.
For me, books are a necessity. I cannot imagine a world without books. If something was wrong in my life, most times being swallowed into a story would make it better or at the very least put off the problem until I could find a solution. Reading gave me time to assimilate, a place where all my life’s problems could be put on a shelf for a while. I could visit fantastical worlds where magic and all things were possible. I could bear witness to amazing legal battles and see fancy balls from all the ages. I could see love triumph over incredible odds. There was no end to what I might find between the covers of a book.
As I have grown older and my burdens have become heavier, I have found that sometimes books bring me a simple distraction and I have also found that the characters in these books can become friends in a way. I am fully aware that the characters in my favorite books are fictional, but I worry over their lives as I would a friend. And I have found that having these books I love so very much has brought me some true friends along the way. Those friendships start with a conversation when we notice we are reading the same book or author and can develop into deep discussions and speculation.
And that love of books brought me to this blog. In reaching out to my favorite authors I found that they were struggling. Niche Publishing Houses had gone out of business, and the big publishing houses were mismarketing the books{marketing an urban fantasy book as a traditional romance, leaving the consumers of both urban fantasy and traditional romance unhappy)-so that when contract negotiations for more books began, the publisher could point to bad sales. The publishing house has complete control over when the books are released as well–and with a few different authors, they keep announcing dates, then pushing them back with no communication. That led to a number of angered fans, some of whom have sworn off the authors entirely. Also, some of the authors had felt very comfortable with the niche houses and so left broad areas in their contracts because of the level of trust that existed. Now those broad areas are leaving them with little contractual wigggle room, allowing the big houses to do many things without the authors input or consent. Bad pairings were being made between authors and editors which led to bad books and a loss of loyal fans.
A few of those authors told me that the best thing I can do to help is write reviews and generate buzz around their latest releases. This led me to this blog and now I am finding that I need to generate followers in order to get electronic ARC’s so I can create bigger buzz leading up to the release of the books.
So, I need your help. First, find my facebook link at the end of this post and like the page. There is also a twitter account associated with the blog. In order to raise my Search Engine rankings, please search for my website address in whichever search engine you use whenever you have a chance.
If you should decide to buy one of the books or anything else, try using one of my amazon links so I get a small commission. Or leave a donation using the link below-every little bit helps!
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
If you want to support the blog and keep getting great content make a donation at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
So, I found another great blog to follow. They have great giveaways and some great articles by various authors we love like Karen Chance. Check out her submission here! http://rabidreads.ca/2017/08/anatomy-of-an-action-scene-by-karen-chance-caspalmerseries-stompvsromp.html#comment-55397
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
Don’t forget to like the Facebook Page to get updates
If you want to support the blog and keep getting great content make a donation at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
My husband’s family is an armed forces family. His father was a marine and his mother in the army. They met in the Armed Services band and as the lore goes, that was that. My husband was in Air Force ROTC and got a scholarship to college and wanted to be a pilot. He got derailed by Calculus Four, but that is another story entirely… His little brother and sister were also in ROTC in high school, but chose different paths for their lives.
The first time I ever traveled with my children through an airport, I taught them that the men and women in armed services uniforms were special and that they fought for our country and deserved our gratitude–then I cringed as my two year old ran up to the marine, pulled on his dress uniform with sticky hands and then said “Thank You for saving my mommy” to say he was surprised was an understatement. After many apologies and smiles, we parted ways and I taught both my daughters that the correct phrase was “thank you for your service.” And to this day I feel a sense of pride each time they politely thank the men and women in the armed services. ( and now cringe as they are pretty close in age to the youngest recruits at 14 and 15, and they get a little more attention than I’m necessarily comfortable with)
That being said, I am a fan of many writers who write detective stories and police procedurals. And every time I hear about a police officer losing his or her life I cringe. I have a few friends who ended up as police officers and I always call them when I have any issue that regards the police so I know how to best proceed.
Police officers and fire fighters come into our lives at the worst moments- either we are victims of crime or in the process of committing one. But regardless, they run towards danger and do it every day all day. So why didn’t I teach my daughters to thank them for their service? Why did I teach my daughters that if they are ever pulled over to go to a public well lighted place before stopping? Honestly, most police officers are a suspicious bunch and if you approach them out of the blue, even to thank them for their service to thee community, I’ve found them to be a little wary about it. I try to always nod at them and say thank you when I see them out and about and will redouble my efforts going forward.
So, I’m not sure exactly what my point was when I started other than that police officers and fire fighters don’t get nearly enough appreciation from the communities they serve. Instead we point at the few bad apples and teach our children to be careful and that a uniform doesn’t necessarily mean a hero.
That being said, please give what you can to this fallen officers family and if you happen to see a police officer or fire fighter in the next few days thank them for their service. And send positive thoughts and prayers to ALL the heroes in our communities.
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BestBooklovernet-336745780072074/
If you want to help support this website, donations are accepted at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
Fist, an apology of sorts. I went radio silent for the last little bit of time. There are many reasons for this, but I am only going to bore you with a few of them:
1. I went on a trip with my deceased husband’s family. We do this every year since Jerome died. We all go somewhere for a week-his parents and grandparents, Me and my girls, his brother and his wife and kids and his sister and her husband. For the past two years we have been going to a remote home in the smoky mountains, which is in a gully, beside a river. But there is no cell service and internet is only available from midnight to 5 am. So I wasn’t able to publish anything… I did a lot of reading and will be catching up on reviews here really soon.
2. I have had some family drama and my head space has been an ugly place to be in and I didn’t want to taint anyone else
3. I asked for help with seo and this was a huge mistake on my part. I have been flooded with calls and emails yelling me how awful my sight was and how they needed to fix it. For an exorbitant price. And after explaining what I envisioned for the website over and over to people who just couldn’t get it through their heads that I am not an expert commerce site. I would be thrilled if anyone clicked to give me a coffee or a PayPal donation, both of those links are in here somewhere.
4. I have been drifting a bit and lost focus on what I was doing with this site. And I have been watching with a morbid fascination as a publishing house baffles and confuses a loyal group of fans for a major author. It’s like someone read the cliff notes version of the series, randomly selected a Character to be the second main character in a long running and popular book series. And it’s not even in all the books, this second main chatacter. I think you guys all know who and what I am talking about, if not here is a big clue, she recently scrapped her release for 2017 and told her fans it will be sometime in 2018 before book is out.
I think from what I’ve read in blog posts that there is a mismatch between the editor (who has recently come onto the scene) and the author. At least that’s what it seems like to me. And I have seen this particular publishing house do something similar to one of my favorite authors to talk about, Karen Chance.
But now for the good News! Karen Chance released a new Dorina Book, Lover’s Knot. She had been issuing it a chapter at a time but now the full book is out and available as a freebie on amazon and smashwords… So what are you waiting for.. Go get it..!
