I wanted to love this book..
356462
Law student Lex Trent is a very lucky man, literary speaking, Lex uses his luck to steal(he really is 'The Shadowman') and con people. One day when it seems like Lex has run out of luck and there seems to be no no escaping jail, the goddess of Luck appears. Lex strikes a deal with the goddess and escapes the police. Lex agrees to be the goddess player in the very dangerous Games, where gods uses humans as play pieces in their own game.

Alex Bell certainly has skills when it comes to writing characters that are true to their kind. Lex Trent, the main character, is one selfish boy and his actions made me nod along thinking "I know a couple of Lex Trent's in real life". It's much easier to like some of the supporting characters, for Lex is not a sympathetic person.

Lex and his twin brother lost their parents when they were young. The boys were left in the care of their grandfather, Allister Trent. After a few years of taking care of the boys Allister got the soulless wake, in this book the soulless wake is the fantasy equivalent to Alzheimer. Bell impressed me with the way she wrote about the illness and it becomes evident that she has experienced it up close and personal. I lost my grandmother last winter and she suffered from Alzheimer so I too have first hand knowledge of how the illness gradually takes away your loved one long before they pass away. Lex cannot handle the fact that his grandfather is ill and he escapes to the city. During the day he works in a law firm and in his spare time he is thief.

Lex almost ends up in jail but somehow luck(and a deal with the goddess herself) helps him get away. That's when the story begins and Lex steals an enchanters ship(that will get him into a lot of trouble in the future).

I was super exited about the this book but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I never felt there was a climax to the story and I felt I wanted more of the world building(I felt it only scratched the surface). The scenes that were supposed to be getting me a bit closer to the edge of my seat never managed to do just that and the problems were to easily solved to my liking. I thought the characters were cleverly written but I never could connect to the story. Still things that happened in the last chapters of the book remained unsolved, but there wasn't any cliffhanger ending, so I think I need to check out the sequel, due in 2011
4930913
I really wanted to love this story, because I love this writer. But in the end I just wasn't thrilled with the story.  You know it can't end well, and well maybe I'm a hopeless HEA reader.  I think if maybe the story had started at the beginning of their love affair, I would have been more accepting of the end, but then again maybe not....
1674599
MY LADY JANE is a book that has my feelings all in a mix. I wanted so badly to love this book like crazy, especially since there are SO MANY reviews just gushing about it, but alas, it was not meant to be.

I couldn't connect with any of the characters; the humor, while occasionally funny, didn't have me laughing as much as the synopsis promised; and the character actions and dialogue sounded fake.

I know that all makes MY LADY JANE sound terribly bad, but theres still something about it that makes it interesting. Believe me, Im not one to continue a book that doesnt hold my interest. But the plot and story made me want to see what happened in the end, how the lives of our characters ended up.

I really, really cant pinpoint why MY LADY JANE wasn't as big of a hit for me as I expected it to be. It was good but it just wasn't that good. Mayhaps its because I had just finished dying over GEMINA. Maybe not.

Or it may be because most books that are set in historical times seldom work out for me, since the characters almost always sound too fake and modern to actually be apart of that era. Not to mention that they were pretty blind to some obvious stuff. And it dragggggggged. In moments when the chapters could have crafted into suspense and surprise, it was instead peppered with declarations of love.

Our three main characters: Edward, Jane, and Gifford (G), were all quite lovely. They were interesting enough for me, despite them lacking in proper old English dialogue and wise actions, and I found them entertaining.

Another unique aspect is how some of the characters can shapeshift into animals, which is viewed as a curse by some and a blessing by others. Shapeshifting set in historical times was actually pretty interesting and funny to read about.

Do I recommend this book? A thousand and one times yes. As crazy as that seems, Im just going to say that I happen to be a black unicorn here because EVERYONE seems to be adoring this book. So give it a go and Im sure youll have better luck that I did. And even I didn't totally dislike it. Im still trying to sort out my mixed feelings over here!

This review was posted on IceyBooks in exchange for a free copy of the book, which did not influence our thoughts in any way.
3821191
I wanted to love the book, I just could not get into it.
3754782
Well, I wanted to really like this book...but the story was just ok...

A few things are wrong with this book. Loved the storyline of Emma and Clint; She's a single mother working several jobs just to keep a home for her twin boys and her mother. When Clint, the interim doctor for the time while his uncle is away on vacation, brings the twin boys home after their fall which left their arms in casts, sparks fly between Clint and Emma. Not always good sparks, but sparks just the same. This was the part that I like...their love blooms right before your eyes.

What I didn't like was all the spelling/missing words of this story. Please, if you're going to publish something, get it professionally edited...and if you did get it professionally edited, and this is what you were left with, get your money back. Pronto. When you're reading something, and the sentence doesn't sound right, then you have to go back and re-read it again to figure out what it said. I hate that. Plus, the author couldn't keep the ex-husbands name right...for the most part, it was Dwayne...but at least three times I saw it spelled at Duane. So, which is it?

Also, there's one part where Clint, Emma, and Wade (Clint's brother) were going over what they could use against Dwayne (or is it Duane?) and Clint asks Wade if he found any outstanding malpractice suits against him. Wade says, "Oh, we found a few, but they conveniently never made it to court." Wade flipped through a note pad in his file. "My guess is his father-in-law's money took care of those, too." I thought it was Dwayne's uncle that had a stipulation in his will that Dwayne wouldn't get any of his money unless he produced an heir...not his father-in-law...! His FIL was Emma's father, and I'm sure whatever money he had wouldn't have gone to Dwayne...or is it Duane?...

Another problem I have is towards the end when they get Dwayne to say on a wire that he wants his ex-wife and one son killed...so he's caught on tape and arrested...yet, instead of sending him to prison for conspiracy to commit murder, they give him a plea bargain...He can stay out of jail as long as he gives up all rights to the two boys...ok, maybe I don't know anything about the justice/legal system, but I'd say conspiracy to commit murder (whether by his own hands, or someone else's) would not only let him give up his rights to anything from those two boys, but she would know for certain that he was going to be behind bars for a good long time! But instead, he just has to pay back child support. For him, that's chump-change...so he gets off Scott-free...I think this is where this story loses credibility.

I read some of the other reviews about not knowing "anything about nursing"...I'm a nurse...and really, I think that's just nit-picking. There wasn't anything that suggested that this author doesn't know what she's talking about in that regard. What the author needs to do is edit. That's my main complaint. Fix that, and the ending, and you'd have a great story.
1352292
I wanted to love this book but in the end, only liked it. It is an engaging topic and the alternating point of view from different generations really gave perspective and breadth to the historical context. About half way through though, the characters started seeming less and less real. Also, I couldn't decide if the simplistic writing (similar to an African folk tale) was for stylistic effect or not. Overall, I really was hoping for more -- more insights into the time period, more details about the life and times...more heart. It was if you were looking at a series of photographs over time, not actually living in those moments.
4817154
This book had a lot of potential. The idea with the photo is intriguing, and Rowan's whole situation sounded interesting to read about. The plot is what kept me turning the pages - I loved the plot twists and the many ideas - but I had quite a few problems with the rest of Broken Soup.

I think my main problem was that the message got lost in the many aspects of the plot. I don't mean that a book shouldn't have many storylines, but they should support each other to make a whole and create a message to convey to the reader. The different storylines in Broken Soup - Jack's death, Rowan's morhter's depression, her friendship with Bee, her romance with Harper, her role as the responsible one in the family - all seemed to be conveying different messages that had nothing to do with each other. Maybe that would have worked if the book were longer and the storylines were elaborated on more, but like this it just left me confused about what Jenny Valentine wanted to say with this book.

The writing isn't great, but not terrible, either. There was nothing all that noteworthy about it. At parts it sounds like the author wants to sounds poetic and deep, but that didn't fit to the rest of the style and Rowan's voice and seemed contrived.

The characters are okay. Rowan's character is pretty good, and I liked reading how the situation in her family affected her. For some reason, though, I never really connected with her, and for me, if I can't relate to the main character, that takes a lot from a novel. Some of the secondary characters are better: I loved Harper - how he helps Rowan is really cute. Jack is a good character, too; easy to imagine. Bee's characterization is lacking, though. Rowan always tells us she's so special, etc. but the reader is never really shown what's so great about her. She seemed pretty average to me. The parents didn't really seem like characters, more like plot devices, but I guess I can't really criticize that - they're never around, and that was the point of that storyline.

I don't usually comment on the cover of a book if I don't like it, but on this one I have to. Not only is it ugly (in my opinion), it also doesn't fit the story whatsoever. It looks like something someone doodled during class without a care in the world, which is the opposite of Rowan's situation. It doesn't show the reader anything about the seriousness of this book.

All in all, this book was pretty disappointing. There were a lot of good ideas in there, but the execution is clumsy. The writing and the characters are only okay, and Broken Soup fails to convey a message with too - it seemed like the author wanted to pull the novel in too many directions without elaborating on the different storylines. Most of the other reviews I've read for this one, though, are positive, so maybe you'd enjoy it more than I did.
1176530
I really wanted to love this book. I loved the idea of a cute little fairy living at a mysterious house in the woods... Being a short person , I loved that willow was short. I loved her tender heart for the animals.
But that was it. She was a hot headed stinker and I didn't like her muscular form.
Some things just drove me nuts!  The way they were close so fast and yet fighting the next instant was again annoying. How could the author not tell us what Willows story (about her scars) was when she told Noah it was like the author was lazy or in a hurry.
I like Noah. He was okay. I wish he could have had more of a fight in him and came out a little more of a hero.
I really didn't feel Chester got what was coming to him. Why not turn him in for killing animals? Why not give her parents a better resting place? Why not let him be arrested for all that he did and make sure he hadn't ever touched some poor little child? Why not make him suffer?
The idea of it being because willow would be exposed is stupid to me. If he said willow was a fairy everyone would think he was crazy.
This book took me weeks to finish. If I hadn't paid money I wouldn't have finished it.
3148639
But I just couldn't.

The premise of the story was good, the characters had great chemistry, but there were many things I found lacking in this book.

First of all, the ending.  Well, more like the non-ending.  It really didn't do it for me.  I felt the author just ended it in a rush without more explanation and more of a conclusion.  Maybe I missed something and this book is part of a series, but I don't remember reading that; if it isn't, the ending was not good.

Although Dylan is a great character and described as hot, it was like the author wrote two characters.  At first when he is with Bailey, he is so caring for her and you can tell that he truly loves her, but at one point, he just becomes an a-hole who yells and says hurtful things to her, and she just takes it.  Maybe I am just one of those women, but I kept waiting for her to smack him upside the head and tell him to f off!!  I know Bailey's character is young, but for someone who faces down her entire graduating class AND her overbearing parents, she all of a sudden becomes a wimp when he starts treating her badly.

Even if I could get past these things, I couldn't get past the editing, or lack thereof.  So many misspelled words, incomplete sentences, and wrong word usage.  It was hard to get past it.  I am not one of those grammar people who will trash a book for one or two mistakes, but this one was awful.

If you are looking for a good version of this book, read The Edge of Never.  Similar premise, better writing.
3009926
I wanted to love this book - I fear it needed editing !  Mostly it was a mildly interesting read -
one for which I had greater hopes and expectations !
2198574
I wanted to, but I didn't love this book. Here's why:

1. Watery. I felt like I was reading a draft. The relationship between our protagonist Lucinda Trout (a 29 yo New Yorker who moves to the Midwest ostensibly to create slice-of-life reports for the a.m. TV show for which she works) and her boyfriend Mason seems ... translucent. Lucinda states things that come out of the left field to the reader. For example, when Lucinda claims to have fallen in love, it didn't make sense. As a reader, I hadn't yet met her boyfriend. I mean, I'd heard Lucinda talk about him. But I hadn't seen them interact. To make their relationship (and to an extent, her experience in the Midwest) real, Daum needed to

a. Condense, hone, refine. Enough with the repeat-y peat peat.

b. Show, not tell. More dialogue. More dramatic intrigue. More action, less narration.

2. NYCentric. Perhaps, as a woman who was born & raised in the Midwest, my radar was atwitter on this topic, but Daum assumed that her readers were all Manhattanites. Which, as a Midwesterner, I found condescending. Again, this problem could have been solved by a more elegant use of dialogue, e.g., phone calls to her girlfriends back home. As it is, it seems like Daum wants to tell her readers all the great things she now knows about the Midwest (people use tanning bed and get fake nails and drive trucks, etc.). Well good for you honey. Tell me something I don't know!

That said, I didn't hate this book, either. There were moments of funny, a realistic portrayal of the Midwest (meth addicts are people too, and yes, tanning beds can make you feel just as good as "personal coaches"), and Daum's Trout doesn't take her self to seriously.
2273066
I wanted to love this book, but the story itself is not 'loveable'.  After the book transitioned to Cressida as the "intern" I was lost in how this section fit with the rest of the story, and felt angry at not understanding it.  I should have gotten it right away, and had trouble reading through parts of it, and skipped through large portions, impatient to get to the rest of it.  Regardless, it was well-written and I guess just not my 'cup of tea' for bedtime reading.
2306073
I wanted to love this book, but it was difficult. The flow of the writing felt stilted and uneven.

I love Christian romance novels, but this one seemed a bit heavy handed and I felt as if I were being preached to instead of having a beautiful lesson unfold naturally.

I hope to read more from this author to see if other books are a bit better paced. Unfortunately, while I loved the basic premise of the story, the finished product was not as much as I had hoped for.
4936967
I really wanted to like this book..but I just could not get past Ani's obsession with status and her lack of self worth. Yes, there was a surprise event, but that too lacked the emotion and life altering change I was looking for from Ani.
671703
I really, really wanted to love this book because I LOVE Shanora's stories.  I love her writing style, the way she evokes all these emotions when I'm reading her books.  I am on the fence about this one though and I may be in the minority here. Dont get me wrong. I liked the story. My main problem is with the heroine.  I always prefer to read about strong, independent heroines who don't take crap from anyone especially not the hero in the story. She can start off weak and shy and maybe even a doormat or pushover but then at some point she has to evolve into a warrior. That's my preference at least. The transition occurred backwards in this story. Jenny started off as a spunky, independent girl who took a liking to the strange, loner known as Drake Davenport.  That was when they were 10 years old and they developed an unlikely "friendship".

When they finally do get together years later, Jenny fights against anything and anyone, even her parents, to be with him. I love that at 18, she's so strong and won't be dictated to about who she can love.  Due to tragic circumstances, however, he makes the decision to walk away from her.
This is the part that turns me off and there may be some **SPOILERS** here.
Drake goes off and makes it big, I mean BIG in the MMA world while Jenny spirals down into depression, practically becoming an alcoholic and essentially being a kept woman in spite of the fact that she attended and graduated from one of the top notch universities, Yale! I get that you can get depressed and may even be distraught over a breakup but normally you move on.  She just seemed to be stuck. I was disappointed at how weak of a woman she had become.

Another thing that irked me is that if it wasn't for Jennys best friend, they wouldnt have gotten back together. Kylie set it up. It wasn't a coincidence.  Drake never tried to find her.  I mean, how hard is it to find someone at Yalehe knew where she was going to school.  And when they did get together she lets him off the hook pretty easy considering he basically abandoned her and went on to live his life without a backward glance.  He didn't even call her after standing her up on that bridge???  I would have made him grovel. Im sorry but I like to see a lot of groveling before a man can be forgiven. And to be honest, I don't really understand why he dumped her in the first place. He could have gone with her to Yale, away from her parents and pursue his career and remain a couple.  I don't get it.
It may be nitpicking on my part but some things to me just didn't add up like how can Jenny not know that her family business went bankrupt? It was a pretty famous waffle house from what I gathered in the story.  Im sure that would have made the news.  Word would have gotten back to her somehow.  And word would have gotten back to her about Doomsdays fame, if he had fans all over the world.  After 4 years, shes not privy to ANYTHING?! I don't know.

Also, Im not too into a man having to rescue a woman.  If Doomsday hadnt come back into her life she would have what? become homeless, died of alcoholism, become an abused girlfriend?? (She was actually on her way there) She even says so he rescued me ughhh! No, Im sorry. I just cant. He professed his love so much at the end but he never really tried going after her even after he was capable of really taking care of her now and she was way too forgiving.

Sorry this review turned out to be so long.  I will say that I LOVE Shanora Williams because she has a way of twisting my insides with her stories.  This in no way affects how much I love her stories and that she is one of my one-click authors.

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2354662
I really wanted to LOVE this book. The fact is I couldn't finish it. It was good, but there is something that drags in the writing. One day I may try and pick it up again - like I said, I want to LOVE this book - the premise of it really tickles the senses.

The cover art is fantastic, the banter that we get in the beginning of the book kept me going - then the banter stopped and the ultimate deceptions begin...

If you like characters who lie, deception to the max, and to be strung along until the last moment - this book is for you.

Apparently I'm just not up to the task of dealing with this spy thriller at the moment. The deception seems to drag on a bit after where the curtain should have closed and the next act should have began.
2647186
The cover and blurb caught my attention, and since it was free on Amazon at the time, I was more than happy to dive in.

The story starts out super grabbing--Rose in the middle of what should be her princess-like wedding if the groom hadn't turned out to be a blood thirsty vampire feasting on all wedding guests. Being transformed into a vampire...or something close to it but not really...she endures 300 years of his violent temper and travels from Romania, around the world and lands somewhere in the U.S.

It's a great set-up with potentially amazing characters, and I so wanted to delve into the plot and fall into love with this book. Still, I gave up after seventy or so pages. The writing is a little rough although that doesn't really pull out of the story. Rose and her friends are still likable. It's the little logic holes which finally became too much--for example, Rose's sudden desire to go to high school seemed unfounded, her money situation was confusing, the sudden appearance of an exchange student at her best friend's house, and so on. Even her own extreme beauty was a bit much as well as her over attractiveness to men.

There are wonderful things too--a nice moving pace, interesting backgrounds and a lovely set up which give this story so much potential. I'm sure others who love vampire stories might really enjoy this, but it simply wasn't for me.

I'd have loved to give this 3 stars, but since I couldn't bring myself to finish it, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with two.