In the Hammock Blog

"Lady of the Storm" Review

Thursday, August 18, 2011

by Kathryne Kennedy

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: Aug 1, 2011
Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

Acclaimed for her world-building, in Kathryne Kennedy's new series love miraculously prevails over strife.
Storm lord's daughter Cecily Sutton's powers over sea and sky have put her life at risk. Giles Beaumont is reluctant to protect her, until he falls under her enchanting spell...

My Review:

This was such a unique concept with the mix of historical romance and fantasy. I thought there was an evenly balanced mix of both genres.

Sometimes the fantasy element was a little too involved for my liking, but there was a lot of romance as well. I would just have a lot of romance and a little bit of fantasy. The romance was very sweet and heartfelt though, so I was happy with what there was of the romantic story.

Cecily was a great character, she had a nice inner strength, not to mention her supernatural powers. Giles was a little bit cliched as the protector who couldn't get close to the woman he was protecting. I felt like I had seen that idea many times before. But, the romance was still nice and I did like Giles because he was such a sweet guy.

Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

Bottom Line: I really recommend this book to fans of fantasy who also like romance because I think they will really appreciate this genre-defying book.

Waiting on Wednesday (81)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine, and it is a way to show off the books you can't wait to be released!!

This week I chose:

"The Gathering Storm"
by Robin Bridges
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: Jan 10, 2012

The following description is from goodreads.com:

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue. An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.
The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

What a great concept! I hardly ever see books in this setting, and the fact that it is historical plus paranormal makes me really want to read it!

What are you waiting for this week???

"The Colonel's Lady" Review

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

"The Colonel's Lady"
by Laura Frantz

Publisher: Revell
Release Date: Aug 1, 2011
Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

In 1779, when genteel Virginia spinster Roxanna Rowan arrives at the Kentucky fort commanded by Colonel Cassius McLinn, she finds that her officer father has died. Penniless and destitute, Roxanna is forced to take her father's place as scrivener. Before long, it's clear that the colonel himself is attracted to her. But she soon realizes the colonel has grave secrets of his own—some of which have to do with her father's sudden death. Can she ever truly love him?
Readers will be enchanted by this powerful story of love, faith, and forgiveness from reader favorite Laura Frantz. Her solid research and deft writing immerse readers in the world of the early frontier while her realistic characters become intimate friends.

My Review:

I was very excited to read this book because it is set in the Kentucky frontier in the late 1700's. The author is very knowledgeable about Kentucky history and you can tell she has a great love and respect for the area. She makes you feel like you are right there at the fort with Roxanna and Cass. I was very impressed with the detail of the setting as well as the depth of the story.

The story was heavy at times, often melancholy and a little sad, which isn't what I normally read. However, it fit the harsh setting, and there was always a hopeful, survivor type of attitude that was more uplifting than sad.

I liked the way the Christian message was sent in this one. Roxanna had very strong faith, but whe was never condescending or pushy about it. I especially liked her attitude towards the 'fallen women' at the fort. She never condemned them for their mistakes, she just tried to help them fix the mistakes without scolding.

My favorite secondary character was Bella. She was a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is breath of fresh air. Her snappy dialogue always added some spice to the story.

The romance was very nice, but I think this book will appeal to others too, not just romance fans. There is so much history here and many story lines other than the romance.

Main Characters: 5/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 5/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 5/5

Bottom Line:A wonderful, in depth look at the Kentucky frontier, with a meaningful story and romance.

“Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

"More Than Words: Volume 7" Review

"More Than Words: Volume 7"

by Carly Phillips, Donna Hill, Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: April 1, 2011
Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

Each and every one of us has the ability to effect change—to make our world a better place. The dedicated women selected as this year's recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award have changed lives, one good deed at a time. To celebrate their accomplishments, some of our bestselling authors have honored the winners by writing stories inspired by these real-life heroines.We hope More Than Words inspires you to get in touch with the real-life heroine living inside of you.
In Carly Phillips's Compassion Can't Wait, two high school sweet hearts are reunited years later, as if by fate, and discover that if you believe in yourself and each other, anything is possible.
Donna Hill's Someplace Like Home tells the story of how one woman's dream becomes reality, as three special people learn that it's never too late to form a loving family.
In Jill Shalvis's What the Heart Wants, an honorable man must learn to forgive himself to regain the trust of the ded icated teacher who is the love of his life.

My Review:

First of all, I love the idea of this book-stories about real life charitable organizations. Honestly, I really enjoyed reading the pages preceeding each story that told about the real life heroines who started up each charity, including how and why, more than the actual short stories.

Even though I liked reading the true inspiration blurbs, I thought the actual romance stories were slow and bland. I am a fan of short stories, so it wasn't the format that bothered me. I just felt like the stories were quickly written with hollow characters and not a lot of feeling.

I wasn't feeling any of the romance in the stories, so maybe if the authors had focused more on telling the other parts of the stories instead of the romances, it could have been a better book. The romances seemed forced and didn't seem to really tie together with the charities enough.

Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 3/5

Bottom Line: The book definitely has a great cause and I appreciated learning about the different charities. However I wasn't left with the warm, fuzzy feeling that I was expecting from this book.

Teaser Tuesday (45)

Monday, August 15, 2011

Yay for "Teaser Tuesday" from MizB of Should be Reading!!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser Tuesday pick:

" She raised her hands, her fingers playing some invisible melody in the air. He knew how deadly a mere gesture from her could be, although he had not truly understood the extent of her power until he'd witnessed it. "

p 53 ARC of "The Lady of the Storm" by Kathryne Kennedy

Review and Giveaway! "Becoming Marie Antoinette"

"Becoming Marie Antoinette"
by Juliet Grey

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: Aug 9, 2011
Source: sent by publisher and TLC Book Tours

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.

Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels, Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book, more than most historical fiction. It was such a different view than what we normally see of Marie Antoinette. I feel like the author really searched deeper in her research and actually cared about Marie.

I previously had no idea of all the pains that were taken to make Marie "worthy" of the French crown. The braces that were put on her teeth, with no anesthetic at all, sound like complete torture!

As a lover of romance, of course I was the most interested in Marie's relationship with her husband, Louis Auguste. Their relationship was bittersweet in many ways, but also very sweet and genuine. I was yearning to read more about them both. It's hard to remember sometimes how very young they were when they became King and Queen.

This story was highly readable and written in a very relatable way. Not once did it feel like dry historical facts. There was also a sympathy for the characters that you don't often see in the historical fiction genre. I really liked this writing style so much more than a lot of historical fiction, because it wasn't so harsh.

I did not realize this was the start of a trilogy, so I wasn't prepared for the slightly cliffhanger is ending. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next installment.

Main Characters: 5/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 5/5
Cover: 4/5 (I love that it looks modern)
Writing: 4/5

Bottom Line:A wonderful, heartfelt version of Marie Antoinette's story, and this book is just the beginning.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

Ballantine Books and TLC Book Tours have generously provided a copy of "Becoming Marie Antoinette" for a lucky reader of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy
Extra Entries:
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Rules:

US and Canada only

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Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment

Leave a comment with your email address

Books will be mailed out by the publisher

Must be 18 or over

Ends Mon Aug 29

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

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In My Mailbox (81)

Sunday, August 14, 2011

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, and is a way for everyone to show their new books for the week, including those bought, swapped, won, or received for review.

for review:

"Hades" by Alexandra Adornetto