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Chasing Atlantis Review & Author Interview

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Image from Goodreads

Title:  Chasing Atlantis

Author: Kelly Coughlin

Published: July 2013, by Outskirts Press, Inc.

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Click here to purchase Chasing Atlantis from Amazon.com

 

Its summertime and Amy is once again spending it at her mother’s house in Florida.  Sounds like the ideal summer for a teenage girl, but it turns out to be anything but.  Her mother and stepfather are acting strangely, and they won’t stop pushing her on their friends’ son, Adam.  Amy thinks he is cute and all, but he just isn’t for her.  Amy heads out to the beach one day and meets a really attractive lifeguard, Ty.  He’s kind of mean to her, and she leaves upset, but she still can’t stop thinking about him.  Turns out, no one is who they say they are, and everyone has something to hide.

This book started out okay, with a lot of spelling and editorial errors.  I just hate when there are a lot of those because it pulls me right from the story.  I felt like the story was being told in the beginning, instead of being shown, if you get my gist.  However, as the book went on, I feel like it got better and the author grew and improved, and I finally did end up enjoying it.

I think I would have like this book a little better if I could connect to the main character, Amy.  I know she was a teenager in the book, (and I’m in my 30’s), but she seemed a bit immature and annoying.  I didn’t like how she didn’t stand up to her mom and stepdad for a while about dating someone she didn’t want to date.  That got to me, but hey, maybe I’m just getting old!

Chasing Atlantis has a bunch of different kind of supernatural beings.  Some expected.  Some not.  It was definitely a different story and didn’t feel familiar at all; that’s a good thing.  All and all, I would say it’s a good book.  I think author Kelly Coughlin did a great job on her first book, much better than I could have done.  Scroll down for an interview with her.

 

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****

 

 

Interview with Kelly Coughlin

 

Why did you decide to write it?

I started thinking of a story just to entertain myself, as well as my friends one day, and before I knew it I couldn’t stop.  It was as if a part of my brain would not shut off until this story was complete.  While standing in the post office I began furiously scribbling dialogue down on whatever facsimiles I could wrap my hands on (yes, I was that deranged person who is laughing to herself as she takes notes on their hand while in line.)  I was a woman possessed because I believe that the purity of the characters and the loyalty that they show to each other is something that is missing from our world today.  To surmise, I just wanted to tell a love story.

 

How did you get your book published?

Well, originally I tried it the old fashioned way of sending it off to publishers and got rejected (a lot) *sniffles*.  I decided to put it on the back burner for a few years, while I started looking into self-publishing.  I researched many different self-publishers and decided that Outskirtspress had the best bang for the buck.  I sent it off to them, crossing my fingers and chanting “oh please let this be a good idea” for a few days until I saw the finished results.  I loved it!  It was everything I ever dreamed of and then some. 

 

What types of readers will be interested in your book?

Young Adult readers who like fantasy romance with a twist of mystery will enjoy this book.  This story has plenty of deception and lies to keep you guessing until all hours of the night.  It is a good read if you plan on basking by the beach.  Only just don’t look too deeply in the water after reading…

 

Have you published any other books?  Do you plan to publish more?

This is my first novel.  Yes!  I’m writing another right now.  I definitely plan on writing many more books.     

 

Hit and Stay Review

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Title:  Hit and Stay

Author: Ninette Swann

Published: 2012 by Resplendence Publishing

Genre: Romance, Fiction

Click here to buy Hit and Stay from Amazon.com

 

Andrea Wadsworth is engaged to John Waters (who is running for senator).  She gets a phone call saying her grandfather is ill and it’s an emergency, but she doesn’t have a car so she decides to ride her bike to see him.  On the ride there, she gets hit by a car.

Jake Harrison, once a police officer, happens to be at the scene.  He immediately takes charge of the situation before the other police get there.  He also feels a need to do his own investigation, and visits Andrea at the hospital to see how she is.  Andrea and Jake end up on the run, trying to figure out who ran her over and why, with a little romance on the side.

So this was my first novella, and I didn’t really like it.  I was looking forward to it too because it had good ratings.  Here’s why I didn’t like it.  I felt like the relationship between Andrea and Jake moved way too fast.  They hardly knew each other and started developing serious feelings really fast.  Also, Jake told Andrea his past, which was a little sketchy, and she didn’t really care that much.  I just thought it was odd.

Another trivial thing that bothered me, were the names John and Jake are pretty similar for two main characters.  A few times as I was reading, I had to backtrack and think about which character was which, especially in the beginning.

I’m not sure if this is the way that novellas are, with the relationships moving so fast because it is a short story so there isn’t much time for them to develop?  The story itself was well told and suspenseful, and I enjoyed the secondary character, Burt, who was Jake’s friend and a reporter.  But overall, the lack of character development, and how it just didn’t feel real, is the reason that I thought this book was just okay and gave it two out of five stars.

 

My Rating:  2 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****         

The Lure of Shapinsay Review

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Title:  The Lure of Shapinsay

Author:  Krista Holle

Published:  December 2011 by Sweet River Romance

Genre:  Romance, Paranormal Romance

Click here to buy The Lure of Shapinsay from Amazon.com

 

 

 

In the mid1800s, Kait Swanney rushes into the ocean to save her friend’s baby who is being discarded because it’s half selkie.  In her quest to save the child, a selkie man notices, but instead thinks that Kait is the one doing the child harm, not the one trying to save it.  This angers the selkie man, who then decides to kill Kait in revenge for the child.  I’m the type of reader who would rather not know anything about the plot, so that’s where I’ll end the synopsis in order to not give anything away.

What a good book!  I’ve always been interested in selkies, ever since they were mentioned in my favorite series (Outlander by Diana Gabaldon).  This was the first book I’ve read, and even heard of, with selkies as the main focus/character.  It was a quick read, with romance, suspense, and mystery, with little surprises here and there.

There were two main things that bothered me.  The one thing that I didn’t like so much, was Kait’s constant sadness over her ‘man’ possibly leaving her.  The other was her ‘man’s’ stubbornness to be with her.  Those were just their character flaws, but I just felt like it was a little much in both cases.  At the same time though, I understand why it was done.  Someone wouldn’t be stubborn if they were easy to change.  I get it.

What I did like was Kait’s willfulness for her time.  She didn’t just do something because a male authority, like her brother who she lived with, told her to do something.  She followed her gut and did what she felt was right.  I love that about her.

The Lure of Shapinsay was definitely an enjoyable book, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it.

 

 

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****       

 

 

Elite Review

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Title: Elite

Image from Goodreads

Image from Goodreads

Author:  Rachel Van Dyken

Published:  2013 by Grand Central Publishing

Genre:  New Adult, Romance, Fiction

Click here to buy Elite from Amazon

 

 

Tracey got accepted to a prestige and unique college, Eagle Elite University.  This is the place where famous and privileged students and their children go.  It’s a bit of a different experience for Tracey than the famous/rich kids though, because Tracey is there on a scholarship.  The fact that her grandfather has to drive through a security gate just to drop her off starts ringing bells in my head.  What kind of school is this?

Tracey gets an extremely rude welcoming by a few young men, including Nixon, the student body president.  The bullying starts immediately, and is out of control.  Not only that, but the teachers look the other way when it happens.  Tracey notices other odd things, such as underage drinking at school events.  Sick of being pushed around by Nixon, who seems to be the ringleader of the bullying, Tracey finally sticks up for herself, which is uncommon here, and things start to change…

Yay, no more book slump!  I read this book in two days while moving with three kids, that’s how good it was.  Finally, characters I could connect with and a story I could get lost in.  I also love that the story is not at all what you expect, that’s why I’m not saying too much about it.  I love surprises.  The one thing that bugged me was that Tracey cried a lot, but then I thought more about it and I would probably cry if I was in those situations myself.

Elite is definitely a book to read; and good news is it’s the first in a series!  Can’t wait to see what comes next.

My Rating:  4 ½ out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.*****

A Discovery of Witches Review

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Title:  A Discovery of Witches

Author:  Deborah Harkness

Published:  2011 by Penguin Books

Genre: Paranormal romance, fiction

Click to buy A Discovery of Witches from Amazon
 

 

 

 

I’ve been in a book slump lately, and some ladies in a fan club of Diana Gabaldon’s book, Outlander, suggested A Discovery of Witches.   In fact, this book was suggested a lot.  I was pretty excited about everyone’s eagerness about it so I picked it up at Barnes and Noble and got started.

This book is about a witch named Diana, set in modern-day time.  She doesn’t want to be a witch; in fact she basically refuses to use her powers at all.  She’s a historian, a doctor in that subject in fact, and her daily routine is doing research at the library.  One particular book there soon changes her life.  Diana then meets a vampire, Matthew, and they become involved.

A forbidden relationship, magical powers, a vampire.  Sounds good right?  I don’t know guys; this book just didn’t do it for me.  At the beginning, I was enthusiastic, and actually got lost in the book, which made me more excited because I was like, finally, a good book!  But then I just got bored.  I know this is the first one in a series and I’m wondering if the series gets better?

Something trivial that bothered me was the main characters’ names.  I know Diana was used for a reason, but Matthew just seemed out of place for the vampire.  Also, there was only one suspenseful part in the book that left me wanting more, and in a book that’s over 500 pages, I want to want to know what happens more often!

It was good, just not awesome, and I’m looking for that next book that I can rave about.   So if this sounds up your alley, go ahead and I bet you’ll like it. Even for its length of 500 pages, it’s surprisingly a quick read.

Also, it ends on sort of a cliffhanger into the next book, which is already out on shelves.  I’m on the fence, because the ending was really good…..what to do, what to do…

 

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam