Dangerous Temptation Preview (by Catrina Barton) - a review

First things first, please take note that this book is a preview of a book that will be published in full at a later date.
The story tells of two young people, Kaitlin Sinclair in America and Cadmon in Indonesia.
Kaitlin is living with her father's friend due to her mother having died and her father serving in the armed forces. She comes across as quite a "strong willed" young woman, but quite a likeable character.
Cadmon becomes the leader of his people after the death of the former leader. He is also a shapeshifter with the ability to take the form of a tiger.
The paths of the two lead characters cross when Kaitlin has to go to Indonesia and it is easy to see the potential chemistry early on.
Although this is a Young Adult book, don't make the mistake of thinking "oh, it's just another Twilight" - it is so much more than that.
The author has very good descriptive skills and this comes over especially well in the Indonesian section.
For me the complete version of this book cannot come out soon enough.

Dear Crossing (by Marjorie Doering) - A Review

A brilliant start to what has the potential to be one of the next big series.

The story starts with a high profile and horrific murder. The lead character, police officer Ray Schiller starts the story having spent the night in jail for brawling. On release he is straight on the case. His chief would rather be rid of him but Ray is the best they've got.
Throughout the book we meet a mix of chracters from High Flying Exec's to Small Town Folk and they are all a good fit for the story. Each possible suspect could be the murderer.
The author does a good job of making all the characters, and situations they find themselves in realistic and puts in two twists - one at the end which leads things towards the second book, and, more importantly, one in the middle that hits like a train and changes lots of things for everyone.
In Ray Schiller we have a leading character who doesn't hold back and who, due to being separated from his wife and children, is not in a good place in his life, but comes across as a generally good guy and a hell of a good cop.
I am looking forward to the next in this series and also to reading this book again.

The Other Side by Terry Tyler (a review)

I was unsure about this book before I started reading (thought it might be a bit chick-lit ish) but I'm glad I tried it, as I enjoyed it greatly.
 The story starts with four different characters (Katya, Cathy, Alexa and Sandy) each having a chapter which sets out where they are in their life now and the choices and repercussions that have led them to this point. The following chapters then go backwards through the timeline of their lives to life changing decisions.
 This is a story of 'what if' - what if you'd treated this person differently, what if you'd gone left instead of right etc - and works really well. All the characters were believable (so much so that I really felt like banging their heads together at times) and all their seperate stories are different enough that you don't forget who is who). A very clever story indeed and well told.
 It is not just a story for ladies, it is a story for all - so, ladies, pass it on to the man in your life when you've finished it.

Allegiance by Derek Blass (a review)

Derek Blass came to my notice with the excellent Enemy in Blue. Allegiance, in my opinion, is even better.

The action in this book begins about four and a half years after the events of Enemy in Blue and straight away you know that the events of that book have affected the characters and continue to do so.

Cruz Marquez, the lawyer, is now providing aid to mexicans attempting to cross the border and it is while he is doing this that he is captured by an "army" trying to stop the flow of immigrants.
I could go on but spoilers would ruin your reading experience!

Allegiance is, among other things, a story of consequences and that, for me, is where this author really excells. The events of Enemy in Blue hang heavy over the characters and the spectre of Sgt Shaver too. Some authors don't do this realistically but Mr Blass does it well.

This book is gritty, violent and, at times unbearably tense. The action starts early on and doesn't really let up much all through.

I compared his last book to the books of John Grisham. With Allegiance I feel Grisham will be looking on with envy.

This author gets better by the book and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Hounded - a review (and never judge a book by it's cover art)

First off a review of Hounded by Kevin Hearne (1st book in the Iron Druid series

Take a slice of Harry Dresden, add a pinch of Buffy/Angel, throw in some Sookie Stackhouse and you have a recipe for success.
Atticus, the 2100 year old druid (who only looks to be about 21 - don't worry, the explanation makes sense) runs a Pagan/Mysticism shop in Tempe, Arizona. He has a sword that Aenghus Og, of the Irish Pantheon wants - and he's coming to get it!
There are plenty of mystical and mythical creature in the pages of this book - Gods and Goddessess, witches, a Vampire and Werewolf legal team - and they all fit well within the story. There's always something going on but it doesn't feel rushed or overbusy. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Oh, yes, and there is Oberon the Irish Wolfhound, Atticus' pet - possibly the greatest dog character ever written and an excellent comic foil at times.

NEVER judge a book by it's cover art

Up till the last few days I've never really given this old maxim much thought but then.............
Being a regular bookshop visitor I've seen the first three books in the Iron Druid series quite a few times but never bothered with them because I Really Do Not Like The Cover! If it hadn't been for accidentally reading a review of the books I may never have picked them up - and that would have been my loss. The guy on the front, who looked a bit surfer dude-ish (and no insult intended to surfer dudes!) just made me think it would be another book aimed at the twilight types (again, no insult intended, just not my "thing") so I ignored it and moved on to other things.

And this got me thinking of another plus thing for the Kindle/ e-reader, which is this;
When you pick up a book with an illustration of one of the main characters on the front, each time you see the cover a part of you may  unconciously think "this is what the lead guy or whoever looks like". Even though you may have your own idea of how they look a part of you will be guided by what the cover artist thinks they look like.
With Kindle/e-readers you only see the cover the once so the characters you see in your minds' eye as you read are more likely to be your own personal interpretation of the authors' vision.
And that for me is a massive plus point.

On a last point with Hounded (as mentioned above) the author has created, in Oberon the Irish Wolfhound one of the great animal characters in modern fiction. Kevin Hearne goes up there with Dean Koontz and Crystal Connor as one of the best authors of Dog characters around.

Diary of a Part Time Ghost by Vered Ehsani (a review)

I was offered the chance to review the follow up to this book so thought I'd best read this one first. What follows is the review I posted on Amazon and Goodreads

Ash is disappointed when his Great Aunt, gives him an old book for his birthday - but it turns out to be more important than he'd ever expected!
This entertaining YA novel starts a series (the follow on book - Where Shadows Dance - is available now) that has a lot of promise for young and old readers alike. Ash finds he can use the book to travel, ghostlike, into the past and finds himself back around the time of the Boston Tea Party. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just say the action is more or less non-stop with a few twists along the way.
The main 'bad guy' is a nasty piece of work but also, slightly vague. I'm sure we will find out more about him in future volumes.
All in all a very solid start to a series, well written with mainly good characterisation and some clever ideas.
I will be following this series with interest.

Just a small point - although I have been offered free copies for review I generally prefer to buy them, both so I don't feel obligated to give a good review to a bad book (which I don't do - if I don't like a book doesn't mean everyone else will dislike it too - I just don't review it) and also to help support authors. That's just me though, I'd be interested to hear other opinions.

Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace (a review)

Boy (Jason Priestley) meets Girl (The One?) briefly as he helps her into a taxi with her bags. As she disappears he realises he is left holding a disposable camera.
Jason's flatmate Dev convinces him the only way to find her is to get the photo's developed and hope for a clue or two. When Jason and Dev pick up the prints they find something they never expected to see..........

This first novel by Danny Wallace is a cracking read which I got through in a weekend - just because I really didn't want to put it down. At first I didn't like the lead character, Jason, but as the book went on I found myself warming to him.
 The secondary characters (Dev, Zoe - Jason's boss, Sarah - his ex girlfriend and many others) all bring their own thing to the story, while the band that feature in the book (The Kicks) deserve to be real.
 The story is full of lows and highs and even one moment that had me hoping and hoping that everything would be alright. There were also times when I felt like giving Jason a good shake but by the end of the book I felt like I was leaving friends behind.
 This is a book I feel I will come back to again and would recommend to fans of Notting Hill, One Day and the likes but also to anyone who likes a good story well told.
 The perfect holiday book.