Oh Well

This has been a rather unproductive weekend as far as my reading goes. I have been trying to finish a book that an author asked me to review for her but I can't seem to keep my eyes open at night. The book is very interesting and written very well but I just can't seem to read. I hope I'll be able to put a dent in it tonight.

Cloud Nine by Melissa A. Smith

About the book:
Cloud Nine (A Paranormal Romance of the Guardian of Man) by Melissa A. Smith
Format: Nook Book, Lendable, 221 pages
Publisher: Smith Books, Young Adult
Series: The Guardians of Man, #1

Synopsis

What happens when you receive a guardian angel?
What if you don't believe you need one?
What if one wants you removed?

My Thoughts:
Claire is a 17 year old high school senior whose parents seem to be too busy and leaves her to her own devices quite a bit. She wakes up one morning to get ready for school and finds a floating fog in her room named Sterling. Not only does she see a fog cloud in her room, but she can hear the voice of a male coming from the cloud in her head. Of course she believes she's dreaming. But wherever she goes, the cloud follows and can only be seen and heard by her. The cloud explains to her that he has been  sent to her as her Guardian to help her with her "needs". As a teenager she of course doesn't believe she needs anything.


Eventually Claire comes to terms, kinda, with having a Guardian which happens to be a floating cloud that she can converse with in her head. Claire then of course being the teenager she is, she begins to ask the cloud questions he's not used to. She then asks him if he can transform into a human. This is a request he's never had to grant in the past but he does for Claire. And there is the beginning of a budding romance. Once she sees him, she immediately becomes attracted to him and figures out how to shut him out of her thoughts. This confuses him because he's never had someone he's guarding shut him out of their thoughts before. He seems to experience quite a bit of 'firsts' with Claire.


Throughout all this however, Claire's ex of over six months decides he wants back in life and will do anything to get her back, including toeing the stalker line. This of course drives Sterling nuts. At one point I thought he was going to use some kind of magical power and have the ex disappear. However, Claire isn't the only one with a psycho ex. Except, Sterling's ex is also a Guardian and can appear wherever Claire is. Which she does and she also threatened her life not once but twice and the second time included a dagger.


Cloud Nine was a simple yet refreshing YA romance with a little bit of a paranormal twist to it. There were laugh out loud moments and moments where I thought I was going to cry. This is the author's first book and she is an indie author. Outside of the editing errors, I thought the book was an easy and quick read. For the price, I will definitely read the next installment to see how Claire handles Sterling's ex.

DISCLAIMER: I was in no way compensated to review this book. These are my opinions of a book in which I purchased on my own.

Random Thought

It's been a while since I've posted a random thought. My random thought for the night is how long my TBR list is getting. I had the fortunate and unfortunate pleasure of joining a group on facebook where indie authors are promoting their books. I am enjoying the group and finding new books, which is the fortunate part. The unfortunate part is that my TBR list is getting longer and longer along with my wish list of books I want to buy. Whoa is me....

Lethal People (A Donovan Creed novel) John Locke

 

About the Book:

Lethal People (A Donovan Creed novel) by John Locke

• Kindle Edition, 

• • 256 pages

Telemachus Press, LLC (March 5, 2010)

Amazon Digital Services, Lending Enabled

Synopsis

Donovan Creed, a former CIA assassin, is a very tough man with a weakness for very easy women. Meet him in LETHAL PEOPLE a relentlessly entertaining crime novel that's often LOL - bizarre funny! The action is fast and furious, the dialogue smart, savvy and sexy. The story is filled with quirky characters and clever surprises.

My Thoughts:

Donovan Creed is a man without fear, without emotion but yet will try to do right by the people who deserves it. He seems to be quite the psychopath but in somewhat of a normal way.

Donovan Creed, a former CIA Assassin, turned hit man for anyone who pays enough. He has a weakness for pretty women who are "easy". Donovan also works for Homeland Security capturing and/or killing terrorist and he also test weapons for the military. He has no luck with women due to being somewhat of a cut and dry kind of guy. But there's always someone out there for everyone. He has an ex-wife who hates every ounce of him and a daughter who talks to me as if he's clueless. He doesn't have a permanent home but instead sleeps in subterranean prison cell or he will setup in the attics of unknown people. Without their knowledge of course.

Lethal People begins with a home going up in flames with a family of four inside. Later in the book, the tie in with the fire and the remaining survivor, you will meet the people who Donovan has quite a bit of dealings with. From a big time mob boss who is somewhat of a "friend", another mob boss who he refused to do work for and is trying to kill him to a quadriplegic "little person" with an army of "little people" who hired him to do a hit and finally his body guard Augustus Quinn, who is so disfigured the sight of him makes people scream.

I thought Lethal People had quite a bit of humor and the visual I have of Quinn kind of remind me of an upright version of a cross between Frankenstein and Quasimodo with a mix of Jason Vorhees thrown in. The book was very fast paced and involved quite a bit of action. There was even a little romance for Creed.

Would I read another John Locke book: yes

Is this a book I would recommend: yes but not to someone who reads serious crime novels. 

DISCLAIMER: I was in no way compensated to review this book. These are my opinions of a book in which I purchased on my own.

Revenge Served Cold...Jackie Fullerton

About the Book:

• Pub. Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Thomas House Publishing
• Author: Jackie Fullerton

Synopsis

Kathy Spence awakens in the middle of the night and finds herself in a living nightmare. Her husband has been run down and she is the primary suspect. With an eyewitness to the crime and proof that her car was the murder weapon, it appears to be an open and shut case. Terrified for her future, Kathy turns to amateur sleuth Anne Marshall for help. Believing in Kathy's innocence, Anne launches her own investigation, uncovering proof of a conspiracy that reaches from Kathy's past and threatens her own life. In a race against time, Anne must count on her close friends and even the ghost of her father to help her bring a killer to justice before it's too late.

My Thoughts:
Is it possible to hate some one so much that you obsess about them suffering, although they had no idea of why you hate them?


Revenge Served Cold shows readers how far someone will go to get revenge on someone else. The story starts with the prologue showing Professor Spence is plowed down in the middle of the street after meeting up with a long time college friend. Professor Spence is pronounced dead on the spot. The prime suspect is his wife and her car is found across the street from their house with the fender bent and the window smashed with blood on it. After seeing that, of course you would think it was the wife, slam dunk. However, that's just too easy. Yeah, that's what I thought as well.


I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do I watch a lot of the crime shows on the Discovery channel. In rreal life, the crime is never solved in a "slam dunk". 


In the beginning we find out that the "friend" Professor Spence met up with was his college roommate and best friend who was also his wife's ex-boyfriend. Well, he may have had a motif. But no, we find out there was another friend, Alice Dearborn who had been in love with the friend all this time and would do ANYTHING to win his love. 


Although I found the story to be predictable, there was enough climax and suspense to it once Anne and her "partner in crime", her dad's ghost, gets involved. Anne, who is named Miss Marple by her friends, gets involved in helping to solve the crime. This is something she's done before in the past it seems. Well, had it not been for Anne and her ghost, Professor Spence's wife would have gotten indicted and the real criminals would have gotten away.


I think Revenge Served Cold was a quick and easy read. There was a little humor. If you are looking for a quick and easy crime sleuth book, Revenge Served Cold will fit the bill.

DISCLAIMER: I was in no way compensated to review this book. These are my opinions of a book in which I was asked to review by The Cadence Group.