Review: With Every Letter

I love Sarah Sundin. I just do. I love who she is, how she encourages writers toward their dreams of publication. I love what she does. She writes stories of flawed people. Humans who aren't perfect, who struggle, who question life, and who desire companionship and love. And I love that Revell keeps buying her books so that we can keep reading them. :)

Upon receiving the advance reader's copy of Sarah's new book, With Every Letter, I took a picture and sent it to my mom and my niece. They too are fans of hers. They each pleaded for the book, but they had to wait their turns. I read it in a few days (which is amazing for a slow reader like me). And needless to say, the day after I finished the book, my mom and niece were literally wrestling for it. There was a race and then a chase on foot, which led to a not so loving embrace, flailing arms, and ultimately a winner. I'd love to show you pictures, but I think it may mortify a couple people.

Sarah Sundin writes about love during WWII and this particular story is about a flight nurse and an Army engineer. I had fun reading about the nurse, Mellie, because in some ways I related to her. She is a shy introvert who has a hard time making friends and puts her foot in her mouth whenever the opportunity for friendship arises. Throughout the book, Mellie learns what being herself really looks like. She learns more than that, but I can't just give these things away. ;)

With Every Letter flows well. The story has a quick pace, and yet you really get a sense of who each character truly is. Before you know it, your emotions become entangled in the feelings of the characters, and if you're like me, you find yourself crying along with them as well as cheering for them.

If you enjoy historical fiction, I would encourage you to read With Every Letter.

Want to know more about it? Click here to buy it. Click here to add it to your Goodreads. Click here to visit Sarah's webpage.    

On Being A Cry Baby

I'm not a cry baby. Ask my best friend, I rarely cry at all. But, when I come across a book that pulls at my heartstrings enough to bring me to tears, it's insta-love. When I finished reading The Reason Is You, last night, my face was red and my eyes were swollen. I cried at the end. I cried hard. I love this book.

It's one I haven't heard about. I haven't seen it on blogs, or websites, or marketing material. I won it on a Goodreads giveaway from the author. And I'm so glad I did.

The Reason Is You, is the debut title from author Sharla Lovelace, which makes me think I should email her and ask her for an interview. Because her book did not fit into any genre box I could think of. It had a little of women's fiction, a little of paranormal romance, a dash of fantasy. And so I wonder, was it hard to query this book? I mean, sometimes a book that breaks the mold is highly sought after for its uniqueness, and sometimes it's unwanted for its inability to cleanly fit into a genre, or sub-genre. So for her, which was it?

I think I can assume what won the publisher over though, the voice in this book is wonderful. You automatically get a sense of the main character, and then when the paranormal is thrown in, it feels so natural. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book and would very much recommend it. Here's the the link to Amazon to read what it's about: The Reason Is You

Have you seen this book? Have you read it?        

OF POSEIDON by Anna Banks

YAY! Mermaid novels! Okay, here's the book blurb on Amazon:

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . . 

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

OF POSEIDON will be released May 22nd, tomorrow. And on Good Reads it has a rating of 4.39 stars. Sounds good to me.

I read through Anna Banks' blog and if you too want to read through her process of publication and the very crazy story of signing with an agent, go here to read her blog. And so you don't have to scroll back through her previous posts, here's the exact post on how she signed with her agent.

Want to buy the book? Go here. And don't forget to post a review when you're done with it. :)

What do you think? Does this book sound interesting? What do you think about the cover?

SEA CHANGE by Aimee Friedman

SEA CHANGE was released almost two years ago, so of course I've read it. But, here's what Amazon has to say about it: 


Bestselling author Aimee Friedman is back, with her signature combination of warmth and humor. And with this book, she adds a touch of fantasy. . .

Sixteen-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science. . .and not so great with boys. After major drama with her boyfriend and (now ex) best friend, she's happy to spend the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.

There, Miranda finds new friends and an island with a mysterious, mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, friendship. . .and reality.

This is the review I wrote after I finished reading it:

I love mermaids. Everything mermaid, so the book already had that going for it in my mind. The story begins strongly and then it seems to lull. All the while, you're waiting to find out if in fact he is a merman. And then you wait, and you wait, and then the book is over. Huh? 

I agree with other reviewers; if this is the beginning of a series I can understand why she doesn't divulge the ever important information as to what species Leo is. But, if it's a single book, I think too much time was spent on going back and forth between boys and not enough of their relationship. I wanted to know more about Leo. 

All in all though, it was a fun read. It was a quick read too! I would recommend it. I really enjoyed it. I also hope there is a #2!

Now, onto the sad news. From what I could find online, Aimee Friedman has changed her pen name and started writing a different series. There is no longer whispers that there will be a sequel to Sea Change. I wonder why. But, just because I'm not finding whispers of a sequel doesn't mean there wont be one. I'm still holding out hope. :)

Want o buy it? Go here.

What do you think? Does the story sound interesting? How about the cover?

BREATHLESS by Cole Gibson

I really like this cover. She's underwater, wearing blood red and it looks like she's struggling for air. Thus, breathless.

Here's the blurb on Amazon:

Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken - the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day. But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep. After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school. Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her. But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget. After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning. In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.

Breathless was released about a week ago, so I'm a little late in getting the news out. Sorry. But, you want to see the latest stats on it? So far, on Good Reads, Breathless has a rating of 4.6 stars our of 5. Pretty impressive.

Want to check it out for yourself? Go here to buy it on Amazon. And make sure to leave a review when you're done reading it. I know I plan to. :)

What do you think? What do you like about the cover or premise or both?

Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper Book Review

For Christmas I received a particular book that happened to be at the top of my "I Want" list. See, there's plenty of great looking mermaid books coming out (see list), but at Christmas time, Tangled Tides sat at the top as the book I had to have.

Did I wait this long to read it? Heck no! I plunged right into that mass of goodness the moment I tore the snowman paper from its binding. But...for some reason, I DID wait this long to review it. Well, at least on my blog. So lets get to it shall we?

From Amazon:
Yara Jones doesn't believe in sea monsters-until she becomes one. When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take  her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Tregan, the story-eyed merman who tuned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people-until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process-or she might open the gateway to a love that's deeper than the oceans.

My thoughts:
This story is fantastic and very imaginative to say the least. It goes beyond happy, glittery mermaids swimming around, or girls shocked to have fins and wondering how they'll change that fact. No, there is a ton of story here about mermaids, sirens, selkies, etc. and I love the author's mythology of these creatures. Her world building is beautiful as well. I had a hard time putting this book down because the story just doesn't stop. Action, drama...they just keep coming at you!

I wouldn't say this is completely young adult though. As I read it, I thought maybe this was more for an adult or new adult audience. And on a nit-picky side note, there were a few things that could have been taken out for a tighter story and more fluid flow.

All-in-all though, I gave this book high scores and am glad I own it. I was curious what others thought, so before I sat down to write this review, I checked out the reviews. On Goodreads, Tangled Tides received an average of 4.28 stars out of 5 by 225 ratings and 84 reviews. Yeah. So then I went to Amazon, and you know what? Basically the same thing. It had an average of 5 stars from 29 customer reviews. The numbers don't lie.

Check It Out:
If you want to buy your own copy, go here. And if you want to check out Amanda's blog go here. And if you're a serious mermaid nut like myself, scan your eyes over to the right side of this blog and look for the mermaid label where you will find more posts about mermaids. :) And if YOU'RE REALLY into mermaids...check out my writing tab and read what my mermaid-type book is all about. :)

RIPPLE by Mandy Hubbard

A few months ago, I was searching the internet for new and soon-to-be-released YA books when I stumbled upon Ripple by Mandy Hubbard. It was one of the soon-to-be-released and once I read the story description, I started counting down the days till I could hold it in my hot little hands. 

Then that glorious day came and as I studied the front cover, I noticed that there were scales on the back of the main character's calves! No Tail? Immediately I knew this mermaid book would not be like the others. So, imagine my delight when I opened the book and on the very first page she explains her first love and then that he was also her first victim! 

HOOKED!

Here's the description from Amazon:

Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. Each day she goes to school like a normal teenager, and each night she must swim, or the pain will be unbearable. She is a siren - a deadly mermaid destined to lure men to their watery deaths. After a terrible tragedy, Lexi shut herself off from the world, vowing to protect the ones she loves. But she soon finds herself caught between a new boy at school who may have the power to melt her icy exterior, and a handsome water spirit who says he can break Lexi's curse if she gives up everything else. Lexi is faced with the hardest decision she's ever had to make: the life she's always longed for - or the love she can't live without? 

I naturally gravitate toward mermaid novels, and this one hooked me from page one because it's a different take on the whole mermaid tale. One in which mermaids are not sweet, innocent maidens. I liked how Mandy Hubbard broke some of the normal assumptions of mermaids such as giving her mermaid legs, and other twists you'll have to read the book to learn about. 

If you like paranormal, urban fantasy or just mermaid stories, you should check this book out. Lets just say I never found myself wanting to put the book down. And the end seems to wrap everything up beautifully, but from the author's website, it looks like she's doing another, making this a two part series. So I'm interested to see where she takes the second book.

Plus, the author, Mandy Hubbard is from the Pacific Northwest which is my neck of the woods (literally, lots of fir trees). And the fact that she sets the story in Oregon just puts the cherry on top for me. :)

Have you heard of this book or read it? What did you think?