Good read w/ interesting characters
586570
Love's First Bloom by Delia Parr is a historical fiction novel that I received from Bethany House Publishers for review.  I am a huge fan of historical fiction (thanks to Francine Rivers among others).  It is a good thing that I follow the advice of the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover," because I never would have picked this book up!  The cover comes off as very hokey and really does not convey the plot of the novel.

Love's First Bloom follows a young, single girl who is forced into secrecy regarding her identity due to her pastor father's controversial ministry of rescuing girls from the brothels.  He becomes the primary suspect in the murder of one of the girls he was seeking to minister to.  Ruth is not only forced to deny her relation to her father, but becomes the mother of the murdered prostitute's daughter as well.  Ruth begins a new life in a small town as a young widow with a toddler daughter.  Her flight to this town will not keep curious and ambitious newspaper reporters from trying to track her down.  One such reporter develops a relationship with Ruth when he settles in the town under his own disguise.  Will he abandon his career and instead protect Ruth and her daughter?  Will Ruth cave and tell this reporter her true identity?  Will her father have his name cleared?  You will have to pick it up and find out!

The story line of this novel was interesting.  The characters showed a lot of depth and the reader truly gets to know them.  My biggest critique would be that the story is drug out a little bit longer than necessary.  The story line starts to die a  little due to this loss of momentum.  This momentum is suddenly captured at the end of the novel.  The story line is abruptly resolved and tied into a neat bow.  I would've preferred more story and plot at this point in the novel rather than earlier in the work.  All in all, Love's First Bloom is a good read that keeps a reader's interest.

*I received a copy of this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review on my blog.  I was not required to write a positive review and the views expressed are my own.
1664500
Good story, somewhat predictable, but still entertaining, and I enjoyed the characters!
1615976
The characters in this story were likable & I enjoyed reading about them. Looking forward to more stories about these two!!
3411741
Enjoy the characters. It's an easy read & not necessarily predictable.
3640721
Good story!  Want to go back and read the rest of the series.  Characters where well developed, story line was interesting and kept my attention.  Even though this was the last book in the series, I did not feel that I missed anything.  The story stands alone.  It was nice to get a sense of the other characters from the series.  It also introduced the new character for the next series, so well in fact that I need to go find that one...
4545747
When I first wrote this review I had to initially put it on hole so I could kind of chew over what I was going to say about this book. The reason behind that is mostly due to the fact that I had quite a few criticisms with the book but still enjoyed it as a whole. If you don't want to look in the comments section for my biggest criticisms (which I did because they are light spoilers) & just want to know if this is a good read, then I'll just say it right here: it's a good read & I do recommend it for the most part. Now on to the more full review.

As far as the plot goes, this had a pretty intriguing hook. This does deal with spirits & ghosts, but rather than just be another "girl sees ghosts & does some sleuthing" type of book, Dane tried to bring in elements of Native American mysticism & work slightly out of the box while still stick to the tried & true trope. (Not that there's anything wrong with the trope- being common does not equal being bad.) This part works out fairly well & Brenna's a nice spunky enough heroine in that she refuses to give up despite a lot of obstacles in her path.

This is where some of my semi-spoilerish criticisms come in. There are a few things that are very quickly brought up & then dropped just as suddenly, things that are near impossible for Brenna to completely get rid of, especially considering some of the bad things that happen to her in this book. I can't elaborate more without getting spoilerish, but it was just unrealistic to read. It just came across as underdeveloped. In the case of one specific obstacle, it would have been better if it had been completely taken out of the story because it didn't really add anything to the character since it was too underdeveloped nor was this relevant later in the series. (See my comments section for more info, as this was important enough for me to want to add into the review as a complaint. It won't ruin the ending, I promise.)

Elements like these were woefully underdeveloped while other parts such as the Native American elements & her interactions with White Bird are far more fleshed out. It just made for a somewhat uneven reading experience.

I don't want you to think that this was a bad read, though. Despite my criticisms I managed to speed through the book pretty quickly & found it an addictive & easy read. It's something that I'd definitely recommend for you to read, but I'd probably suggest checking it out from the library or borrowing a friend's copy to glance through first. It's no Soul Screamers but it's still well worth reading.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)
647016
I enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to reading the next installment. I got invested in the characters and had a hard time putting the book down. The writing style is good, but with some room for improvement (this is not a bad thing). I think that this will be an author to follow as he learns and his writing style is improved over time.
3380426
* I was given a free copy of Pandora's Principle in exchange for an honest review. *
Cassi is a good character. She has a cool back story & powers. Just as practically all the stories of Ancient Greek gods were about the inevitability of FateCassi thinks that she can be the exception to the rule, and ignore her family's duty by getting a BA in journalism at a university in Dallas, Texas. There is good mystery & adventure. There's obviously a lot that hasn't been revealed & it's hard to know whom to trust--plenty of room for more books, but the story doesn't feel like a tease to buy book 2.

There were a number of editing mistakes, and some of them were distracting to understanding, but I could have gotten an earlier copy.

Cassi and Mercer had one of those romances based on a magical connection, so their relationship was based on both of them being attractive & giving each other *tingles*. It would have been nice if we got to see them connecting on something other than lust--to show why a god and a pandoran would want to "cross enemy lines".

I do think I'll want to buy the next book to see what happens next.
4184265
Great read.interesting characters.you'll enjoy this book.
3822495
Well written, likable characters, little suspense on certain topics and interesting relationship blossoming between characters.  Good read. I'm beginning second book and think this one will be even better for me. :-)
4340016
After reading the 1st book which I was  given free in exchange for an honest review  ...  I loved book one enough to buy book 2 & 3!

I really enjoyed the characters & the positions they found themselves in. I was rooting for them from the start and was interested in the further progression of the couple & characters.

I do hope to see something more about these characters in the future!
3707202
i enjoyed reading this e-book.  some aspects were slow, others were faster paced.  the author did a good job making me feel/like/despise some of the characters.  i enjoyed those parts i found suspenseful and the twists.  (the character eric?  NICE!)

funny:  i felt more for the supporting characters than i did the main.  lol.  regardless, i recommend this e-book for purchase.  i expect to do the same for the sequel.  happy reading!
4860201
This was an interesting book and a relatively "quick" read..  The characters were fairly well-developed.  Barely into the book, however, I was well aware of the reason behind the violence (and think many others probably were/will be, too).  I also easily figured out the fate of the person responsible for the violence.  But the ending itself, was a bit of a surprise.  As I said, a relatively "quick" read, which I think many may find to be interesting.  Over all, I liked the book.
1440327
Good writing, really good character development, interesting personalities..  The story was interesting and held my attention, even though there were no terrible things to overcome - the suspense was psychological.  A happy read.
704737
A good read with a few interesting mysteries.  Enjoyed the eclectic mix of characters.  Main character was a bit thin for me - too vulnerable and perfect.
52458
The author writes a good tale that involves an  interesting twist on the alternate universe genre. Definitely a good read for fantasy fans of this genre. The characters "feel" real, sometimes you love them & sometimes you dislike them... A LOT. Makes for a story that moves along & keeps you intrigued. And yes, there are moments that will break your heart.
1267471
I really enjoyed this book.  Not a complex story line but interesting twists with the characters.  The author did a really nice job getting the reader connected to each of the characters and understand their motivations....whether the characters were good or bad.  I was sorry that the book ended but that was done well too.