Tag Archives: stories

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(Netgalley Review) Corruption and Politics, Princes and Princesses, and Handsome Assassins

 

The last thing Lia wants is to be a First Daughter, or at least the First Daughter of the King and Queen of Morrighan, a country trying to form an alliance with their enemy Dalbreck with an arranged marriage– her marriage. But Lia isn’t having any of it. Instead of being married to a pompous prince she had never seen before, she and her maid make a break for it, escaping to the small town of Terravin. Lia knows this will get a bounty on her head and people will be looking for her. But she didn’t know the prince of Dalbreck would come after her himself, nor did she expect an assassin from the barbarian Vendans, whose futures depend on an alliance between Morrighan and Dalbreck never being made.

 

This book definitely made a good impression on me and I’ll be looking out for its sequel which comes out in 2015. I loved the plot and characters for the most part and I think Lia is a very strong character. I’m glad they showed how Lia had more freedom growing up and how she was influenced on her brothers because that explained why she was so headstrong. After all, if she had lived a more sheltered life, her character would just seem like a phenomenon produced by mediocre writing. I also like the Prince, Rafe. He is definitely a fantastic character and so attractive. This book has a love triangle between Rafe, Lia, and the assassin, Kaden, but I am rooting for Rafe all the way.

I did have some problems for the plot, however. I think Lia jumped to conclusions on the prince’s age way too quickly. She had enough reasons for not wanting to marry him without adding that into the mix, and it just seemed strange for her to conclude that he was twice his age based off of seeing his father. After all, if the men marry old, which seems like the norm here, then there will be a huge age gap between them and their children. Also, I thought the reason for the assassination was a little weak. A bride running away on her wedding day is a huge slap in the face and things were tense as it was between Morrighan and Dalbreck. Even if Lia did return, the king of Dalbreck would probably refuse to let them marry anyway. Why kill her?

Also, I don’t like Kaden’s character at all. Yes, he’s supposed to be flawed, but does he have to be a hypocrite? He has so many pity parties for himself throughout the story, like when he is sure Lia regard him as an animal, or when he is thinking about all the injustices done to him (granted his life hasn’t been a walk in the park for sure) but he has no compassion for Lia even though he kidnapped her, one of the barbarians wants to rape her, and she finds out her captors killed her pregnant sister-in-law. Also, he is very prejudiced against royals in general and makes a lot of disdainful remarks about them in front of Lia and yet he thinks it’s incredibly unfair of her to be prejudiced even though he was going to kill her, but they kidnapped her, and they have given her no reason at all to like them. Really, Kaden? Don’t be a dick.

Aside from the above complaints, though, A Kiss of Deception is a fantastic book that will appeal to Lord of the Rings and Great and Terrible Beauty fans alike.

http://www.indiebound.org/book/

 

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The Vampirates by Justin Somper

Most people have read books about vampires. And most people have read books about pirates. But there’s only one series about vampires who are pirates. Vampirates by Justin Somper is a series about two twins, Grace and Connor Tempest who sail away from the town they grew up in when their father died. But only a few miles off shore they get caught in a storm that tears apart their ship and separates them.

Connor Tempest finds himself on pirate ship where he becomes part of the crew, sailing under the pirate rebel, Captain Molucco Wrathe. He’s admired for his athletic ability and quickly becomes accepted by the crew.

But Grace finds herself on a ship where she is kept in the dark and secrets swarm around her. She finds herself sleeping an unusually large amount of time and is only visited by one person: Lorcan Furey, the boy who rescued her. But from her room she hears snatches of conversations about things that make no sense at all. But as her brother was gifted with athletic ability, Grace was gifted with intelligence and it doesn’t take long for her to piece together the truth: she’s on a ship full of civilized vampires, run by a mysterious captain who hides his face beneath a mask.

Somper makes a truly original story where pirates are friendly, and have a government of their own, and vampires live on a ship and feed on volunteers. The Tempest twins must battle a rebel uprising, secrets, petty rivals, and reunite with each other as they figure out the mystery of the vampirates and their father’s mysterious connection with them.

This story is perfect for anyone looking for an intriguing fantasy adventure, whether they like pirates, vampires, or both.

You can find the first book in the series here: http://www.indiebound.org/book/

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Infinity: Chronicles of Nick, Book 1

For anyone looking for a funny read full of supernatural activity, high school bullies, and snarkiness, I’d recommend Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It’s hilarious, and next to impossible to stop reading. For Nick, life could not get worse. Going to a school full of snobs and an evil principal was not his idea of fun, and it couldn’t get much worse when his classmates know he’s from the wrong side of New Orleans and his mother is a stripper. Not to mention his mother makes him wear Hawaiian shirts which are so not cool. Then when he goes to school to find out one classmate tried to eat another classmate, his life takes a very freaky turn. And he finds himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and it’s up to him to stop it and get home without getting killed or grounded. Mix in Artemis, goddess of the hunt, possible time travel, gods, demons, the hot new girl named Codie, and certified zombie hunters Bubba and Mark, and you’ve got an awesome story. Now add in the fact that he’s destined to become a god, and lead his father’s army- his father, by the way, is on death row for mass murder. And Codie, who he’s madly in love with, is assigned to kill him to stop him from destroying humanity, and you’ve got the plot of Infinity. 

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Writing Challenge: Vampires

It’s not a bad story and the first half is pretty darn fun, in a YA-adult romance crossover kind of way. What really killed me was that it pulled a bait-and-switch on me. It promised and delivered me a strong heroine, and then took her away just as things got moving. Meena hangs back. Meena gets rescued. Meena’s heart breaks (a lot). Meena gets held hostage.- The Canary Review http://thecanaryreview.com/2012/12/08/book-review-cabot-insatiable/

This is a review from The Canary Review, one of my favorite places to turn to for good reads. I had already had Insatiable on my reading list because I love Meg Cabot but the review by the canaries made me bump the book up to number one. Knowing Meg Cabot, I thought it might have been an exaggeration, but they actually had it pretty dead-on. The first half was great, especially when they made fun of Twilight. And I could even forgive Meena when she fell in love with Lucien and got a little brainwashed by him because, hey, he’s a vampire, it’s sort of his thing. Also, hanging back in the middle of a vampire war, getting rescued, etc. etc. is also forgivable because she’s a soap opera writer, not a warrior. However, her calling Lucien in the middle of a battle just to hear his voice and whisper sweet nothings does take it a bit far, and she was naive with Dimitri. Meena, for the most part, was a strong character, but she did have some weird anomalies during the later part of the book. But I do a have some hope for the rest of the series- maybe working with (spoilers!) the Palantine Guard will toughen her up. (By the way, this is my guess, but knowing Cabot, Lucien isn’t who she’s going to get together with in the end.) I recommend reading the review by the canaries for a better idea of the book.

But as I was reading the review, and then the book, I was wondering if it is possible to write a good vampire romance- one that’s unmockable, and doesn’t have any of the cliches or usual objections of this particular storyline. So I’m issuing a challenge to all the writers out there to try and write a good vampire romance. Is it possible?

Here are some of the objections:

-age difference

– weak heroine

– sap

– love at first sight

– the fact that the love interest wants to kill the heroine

– sparkles

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Classic Funny Moments

Recently someone told me that there’s no humor in classics. I’m going to prove them wrong. Here are my top five classic funny moments.

1)John loves Emma with a reasonable and therefore not a blind affection, and Isabella always thinks as he does; except when he is not quite frightened enough about the children.

Jane Austen. Emma (Kindle Locations 533-534).

2)My sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbours because she had brought me up “by hand.” Having at that time to find out for myself what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me, I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand.

Charles Dickens. Great Expectations. Chapter Two

3) Quote 2: “He was not the Model Boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well though–and loathed him.”

Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer. Chapter 1, pg. 4

4) Flavius: But wherefore art not in thy shop today?
Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?

Cobbler:Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes

William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Act I Scene I

5) No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her. Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected, or poor, and a very respectable man, though his name was Richard—and he had never been handsome. He had a considerable independence besides two good livings—and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters. Her mother was a woman of useful plain sense, with a good temper, and, what is more remarkable, with a good constitution. She had three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of dying in bringing the latter into the world, as anybody might expect, she still lived on—lived to have six children more—to see them growing up around her, and to enjoy excellent health herself. A family of ten children will be always called a fine family, where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number; but the Morlands had little other right to the word, for they were in general very plain, and Catherine, for many years of her life, as plain as any. She had a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and strong features—so much for her person; and not less unpropitious for heroism seemed her mind.

Jane Austen. Northanger Abbey (Kindle Locations 41-50).

Well, there you go. Five classic quotes that proves there’s humor in classics. Hope you enjoy!