Tuesday, June 28, 2016

So, I took a hiatus.

It's been awhile.. 

I kind of took a blogging break with all the stuff that has come up in the last few months.   Doesn't mean I stopped reading all together.  As a matter of fact I read a bunch of books. Mostly those that had to do with linguistics.   

Sometimes reading one type of genre numbs my brain. It doesn't matter if I have 50 thousand favorite books in that genre if its all I read I tend to hit a slump where I don't feel like picking up a book.  Blasphemy! right? Never to pick up a book and experience and learn new things. It happens. At least to me.  So as I said above I have read a lot of books once I got out of my reading slump and I will be sharing my reviews for them soon. 

Lets kick off my return with a book called Wordcrimes: Solving Crime Through Forensic Linguistics by John Olsson




Wordcrime: Solving Crime Through Forensic Linguistics



















Synopsis from Goodreads:



Tell kids not to worry. sorting my life out. be in touch to get some things. Instead of being a simple sms message, this text turned out to be crucial and chilling evidence in convicting the deceptive killer of a mother of two. Sent from her phone, after her death, tell tale signs announce themselves to a forensic linguist. Rarely is a crime committed without there being some evidence in the form of language. Wordcrime features a series of chapters where gripping cases are described - involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death, code deciphering, arson and even genocide. Olsson describes the evidence he gave in each one. In approachable and clear prose, he details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat the criminals. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.









My Review:
4/5 Stars


I've been getting more and more into linguistics these days and when I found out that there was such a thing as forensic linguists I had to check out a book that discussed this.


This book has no action or romance but it does have an amazing amount of intrigue in which you read about how someone could use the way people write to determine many factors about them. I'm not talking like handwriting analysis type stuff but more like how all our writting wether it be texting, email, or hand written letters have bits of us in them. How we misspell words or what abbreviations we may use. All this can help tie things together and point fingers towards those who have done crimes and left notes.


Yes, at times it was "dry" I guess you could say. But it was able to hold my interest and amaze me. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes linguistics or even if you just like learning about different types of crimes and how they could come to be solved.


A great nonfiction book, bit boring if you don't have an interest in this type of stuff otherwise very informational and intriguing.

Monday, February 8, 2016

The Medusa Files Case 8: Cut From Stone Release Day Launch!

Medusa Files 8 RDL Banner
It’s release day for C.I. Black’s The Medusa Files, Case 8: Cut From Stone. I am so excited to share this great new urban fantasy with you! C.I. is sharing an exclusive excerpt and a giveaway with you! Grab your copy and check it all out now!

M8d  The Medusa Files, Case 8: Cut From Stone Synopsis: This disaster could destroy everything she hadn’t realized she needed. While Gage might be out of human custody, the Kin High Council remains suspicious of him and the team, and Lachlin is now even more determined to force Morgan to quit. The only person Morgan can trust is Gage, but her attraction to him has made her powers dangerously uncontrollable. When someone sets off a bomb at a Kin high society party and releases a contagion that turns Kin into humans, the team must put their difference aside and stop their most dangerous threat yet. If you haven't started the series yet, you can get the first book, The Medusa Files, case 1: Written In Stone, for FREE! Buy Links: Get the release day price of .99 Now! The Medusa Files, Case 8: Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo Catch up on the series with book 1, free now. The Medusa Files, Case 1: Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | Nook Exclusive Excerpt: His expression darkened even more, and invisible lightning snapped across Morgan’s skin. The bathroom was too small for both of them and his magic. Another snap of lightning and her newly manifested gorgon powers exploded over her eyes, rushing out of control across her cheeks. Shit. She squeezed her eyes shut and jerked to face the shower stall, away from Gage. Fiery tears threatened to seep from beneath her lashes, and every muscle grew tight with the effort to hold it back. Shit shit shit. “That was Loric on the phone,” Gage said. His voice sounded so far away and hushed against the rushing in her ears. “We have to report to the Council.” “Okay.” She sucked in a ragged breath. One of the tears inched closer to release. “You all right?” He stepped close. The heat from his body and the tingle from his power brushed her senses, and her hold on her powers trembled. “Fine.” The tear broke through and traced a searing line down her cheek. She caught it in her palm before it hit the floor and exploded into a drop of granite dust. “Morgan?” “Just give me—” She forced her shoulders into a roll, trying to loosen the muscles. Logically she knew if she relaxed so would her powers, but the other part of her — probably her human part — screamed with panic. Don’t kill anyone. Again. “Focus on my voice,” he said, his tone softening. “Draw in a slow breath.” She inhaled. “That’s it. Relax, Morgan.” His tone shifted — or was that her imagination changing it? It was now sensual, slick, sexually charged. “Relax, Morgan.” Desire shuddered through her, and Lachlin’s unwanted fae charm billowed, achy and needy inside her. Her powers flared again. Gage stood so close, too close. “Morgan.” Another shudder and burst of power. Two more tears slid from her lashes. She wiped them away. She was going to kill someone or destroy the building they were in, and Gage wasn’t helping. “Please. Just step back.” “You can control it.” He slid a hand up her back. Her muscles contracted. Desire and fire roared through her. It forced her eyes open, burst through her sunglasses, and slammed into the shower door. It flash-froze to stone and cracked. She wrenched her glasses off and pressed her palms to her eyes before the door exploded. When her power was this out of control, things tended to erupt into granite dust, not just turn to stone. She’d gotten lucky with the door. Gage’s fingers tensed on her shoulder, and her powers seared her hands. “Stop touching me.” His hand and the sense of him vanished. “You’re getting stronger.” It sounded like his voice was all the way across the room. “And unstable. Your powers shouldn’t be this unstable.”   C.I. Black Bio: CI Author photo C.I. writes fast-paced, thrilling, and sexy urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is the author of the Dragon Spirit series and the Medusa Files series. Always having been drawn to storytelling, C.I. can’t remember a time when she wasn’t creating a story. Her early tales were adventures with fairies, dragons, and sword swinging princesses. Today she continues to spin tales of magic in lands near and far, while her cat sits on the edge of her desk and supervises. When she’s not writing, you can find her pretending to be other people with her local community theatre groups. Links: Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / CIBlack.com   Enter C.I.’s Giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, February 5, 2016

Love and Decay Episode 5 Release Day Launch!!


L&D Revolution Ep 5 RDL Ban
Revolution Episode 5Today is the release day of Rachel Higginson's Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Five. This is a serial novella, and completely standalone in the Love & Decay universe. I am so excited to share this with you!! Be sure to enter Rachel's giveaway as well and grab your copy today! About Love and Decay: Revolution: Episode Five: It’s not easy being a badass Zombie killer. But somebody’s got to do it. Page Parker and family have survived the worst of their journey back to the former United States. They managed the Darien Gap and fought their way through Mexico City. But now, on the brink of Revolution, they’ve made one last stop in the Mexican Territories. Hoping to find an ally in an old friend, they walk into a volatile community fighting more wars than they have Zombie armies for. But it’s not just cannibals and Colony scouts they have to fear. There are internal battles that have to be fought too. When Page learns more about Miller’s dark side, she has to confront the reality that maybe he isn’t the hero she thinks he is. Maybe he’s more like his father than she ever thought possible. Love and Decay: Revolution is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. Every episode is approximately 20,000 words long and released every two weeks. Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Six coming February 19th, 2016.     Buy now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble   Catch up on the Revolution Episode 1: Amazon | BN Episode 2: Amazon | BN Episode 3: Amazon | BN Episode 4: Amazon | BN Volume 1 (episodes 1-4) Amazon | BN   Rachel Higginson Bio: rachel_profile_pic (1)Rachel Higginson is the author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, The Star-Crossed Series, Love & Decay Novella Series and much more! She was born and raised in Nebraska, and spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days writing stories and raising four amazing kids.   Links: Author Page | Instagram | Twitter | Website   Enter Rachel’s giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, January 18, 2016

Between Here and Gone Blog Tour






Between Here and Gone Synopsis:



In 1959 Cuba, Natalia San Martín was nothing short of a princess: sheltered, pampered, and courted by her very own prince, a childhood friend turned lifelong love. All that changed on the fateful New Year's Eve when Fidel Castro and his followers seized control of the country, with tragic consequences for not only the island, but Natalia herself.


Five years later, in 1960s New York, she’s known as Natalie Martin―living a life that’s bleak, but thankfully anonymous. However, when the enigmatic Jack Roemer offers her a job writing the memoir of a starlet on the brink of self-destruction, she sees not only opportunity, but unexpected echoes of a fairytale long forgotten.


As she knows all too well, however, the prettiest façade can hide the ugliest of truths― and peeling back the layers of someone else’s past forces Natalie to confront her own.


"Ferrer has created a story that’s breathtaking in its scope, and a heroine whose strength will leave readers in awe." -Publishers Weekly Starred Review





Barbara Ferrer Bio:



Barbara Ferrer is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, whose young adult debut, Adiós to My Old Life was Romance Writers of America’s 2007 RITA® winner for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance as well as being named to the 2009 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults list by the ALA. Her latest novel, When the Stars Go Blue, a contemporary retelling of Bizet’s Carmen, was released by Thomas Dunne Books and was honored as the first place YA Novel: English Language at the 2011 International Latino Book Awards.


A native Floridian, Ferrer now makes her home in the Pacific Northwest, thriving amidst the rain and cooler weather, finding it the perfect writing environment.

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Buy Links:


Links:






My Review:
3/5 stars


I found this to be a gripping read at the beginning. I was really excited for this book hoping although Romance it would be more of a historical type and give me more of a look at historical Cuba. Although it did do some it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.



The romance aspect though was wonderful and kept me interested. There was so much drama and I actually enjoyed it. For me it helped keep the story going where it started to lull. The only parts where it lulled were where the descriptions seemed to get a bit winded. It wasn’t bad just long and in my opinion over descriptive.



Natalie was a bit overdramatic at parts but I think I was in the mood to read a character like that so I enjoyed it.




All in all I think this was a great story. Interesting read and different from the paranormal and new adult romance I tend to read. The characters where all interesting and the story had a decent flow. I think many who enjoy romances are going to enjoy this book.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Love and Decay: Revolution Episode 3 By Rachel Higginson Release Day LAUNCH!

Today is the release day of Rachel Higginson's Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Three. This is a serial novella, and completely standalone in the Love & Decay universe. I am so excited to share this with you!! Be sure to enter Rachel's giveaway as well and grab your copy today! 











About Love and Decay: Revolution: Episode Three:  


It’s not easy being a badass Zombie killer. But somebody’s got to do it. Page Parker knows there are more important things than policing the streets of Bogotá. Like taking down a tyrant and saving the world. If only she could convince her family to leave their beloved research station. But life isn’t easy at the end of the world no matter where you live. When things heat up in their peaceful town and enemies find ways to attack them even from a distance, her family is given more reasons to destroy the Colony. And when Page gets a glimpse of Miller’s hidden dark side, she’s more determined than ever to kill Matthias Allen. Love and Decay: Revolution is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. Every episode is approximately 20,000 words long and released every two weeks. Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Four coming January 22nd, 2016. Buy now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble Read Episode 1: Amazon | BN Read Episode 2: Amazon | BN 

 


Rachel Higginson Bio:
Rachel Higginson is the author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, The Star-Crossed Series, Love & Decay Novella Series and much more! She was born and raised in Nebraska, and spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days writing stories and raising four amazing kids. Links: Author Page | Instagram | Twitter | Website 

 Enter Rachel’s giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Hear the Crickets ( The Gibborim Series book #1) by BJ Sheldon











Hear the Crickets

The Gibborim Series, Book 1
by BJ Sheldon







Synopsis from Goodreads:



Skyy’s a freak. She’ll tell you so herself. Her past – a mystery. Her future – uncertain. Having spent most of her life avoiding humans in an effort to conceal her wings, she wants nothing more than to end it all, leaving behind the solitary life she’s been forced to live. But numerous attempts to die have proven immortality is both a curse and a nuisance. She now lives out her days in self-imposed seclusion to stay hidden from the world. But that quiet way of life is shattered when mysterious siblings arrive and reveal a destiny which sends her running for the hills. When an earth shattering discovery is made in the Badlands, history and science collide furthering the mystery behind Skyy’s past – and her future. Skyy will need to embrace her fate and confront an evil so ancient, only a miracle can keep the world from ceasing to be








My Review
4/5





* I got ARC this for my honest review*







For some reason I thought I was going to read a book about a girl who was part cricket. Well I didn’t get that book. BUT! I got this book which is a a wonderful book that has to do more with angels and Nephilim. 




I liked Skyy the self proclaimed freak who is kind of a shut in and not exactly nice to her best friend at times. I can understand why she would what to keep him at arms length though. During the course of the book you do see that she really cares for him. So, Skyy hears voices and paints visions she sees in her head. One day after a few day painting stint she got some unexpected not so nice visitors only to be saved/helped by a pair of nephilim twins. After that day Skyy’s life gets a turn and she finds out what her destiny could be, discovers more information that clouds her past and future and also has to fight and protect those she comes to love. 




This book was filled with some great characters some wonderful mysterious aspect( because I was guessing and trying to figure out everything as Skyy was) lots of humor, a little romance and some great action! The ending has a great battle scene, heartbreak, revelation and a twist. I thought it was well written and very engrossing. 




I enjoyed this book a lot and would gladly recommend it to those who like books with fallen angels, arch angels, nephilim and everything else that comes with the Angelic Lore. I’m looking forward to the next one in what I hope turns into a great series of books. 






Digging the cover too! Simple but represents the book wonderfully.