The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

The Sculptor
by Scott McCloud

Synopsis from Goodreads:

David Smith is giving his life for his art—literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought, and discovering the love of his life at the 11th hour isn't making it any easier!

This is a story of desire taken to the edge of reason and beyond; of the frantic, clumsy dance steps of young love; and a gorgeous, street-level portrait of the world's greatest city. It's about the small, warm, human moments of everyday life…and the great surging forces that lie just under the surface. Scott McCloud wrote the book on how comics work; now he vaults into great fiction with a breathtaking, funny, and unforgettable new work.

The Review

5/5 Stars

I LOVED this!


The story was tragic, beautiful, heartbreaking, humorous, hopeful


It made me think of times that I have said or I have heard other says “ I’d give my life to… or to be able to….. “ Would we really give our lives for something? David gives his life to be able to sculpt anything from anything. He’s completely down on his luck and he gets his wish and gets 200 hundred days to live. Even if that seems ideal what happens if your work still doesn’t get you the reputation you want to be known for? Unless he makes a reputation for himself to him he is just another David Smith… “ No not that one.” It also had me thinking about what people are taking out of their lives are we enjoying what we should be? Am I enjoying what I should be? We are all selfish in someway but in the end how will we feel about the choices that we made? Do we take enough time away from the work and our passions maybe to spend time with those that we love? Yet, will we achieve something that will make us memorable? Not just another name? Is there a balance that can be achieved? Might just be me but thats what I kept thinking about when I read it and even after I read it.

At first I was hoping he’d make this amazing art and make this huge name for himself and everyone would love him and he’d meet interesting people along the way and have a great 200 days but then he met Meg and I got to watch there romance unfold. For him it was instant when they finally got to be together we find out she has some demons. He of course stays with her and he seems to be good for her although he still couldn’t convince her to go on her meds. But he also wasn’t the best for her the more he got obsessive about his work the more she seemed to dive downward. At that point his days were becoming severely numbered and I just wished and hoped he’d focus on this relationship that he wanted so badly instead of pushing her aside for his work. I would like to think that if my days were numbered the people I love in my life would be my main focal point and not making a name for myself.


I found Meg and David to be flawed but wonderful characters that I enjoyed reading about. Even if their relationship was a work of fiction it was interesting, joyous and heartbreaking. The sculptors that David created I thought were wonderfully done and emotionally filled.



The ending was heartbreaking… beautifully heartbreaking.



The artwork with the blue, black and white tones I thought was eye capturing and pleasing and helped move the story along and backed up the emotions of the story ( does that make sense? It just all felt like it went together well).



I haven’t read many graphic novels or comics usually when I think of them I think of superheroes and action. This was an amazingly beautiful heart wrenching tragic story with well done artwork. If I had to recommend it to anyone it would be to anyone who enjoyed a beautiful story with flawed characters and wonderful artwork. You do not have to be a fan of graphic novels to enjoy this book.

Heaven's Scent ( Book 1) by Tania Cooper and Ricky Cooper

Heaven’s Scent

Book 1

By Tania Cooper and Ricky Cooper

Synopsis from Goodreads:

They should walk away, they know their love is forbidden, they know their deep connection could destroy both their worlds. No! Good and evil should never collide.

But fate has other ideas.

A lustful encounter will lead to the greatest love to ever exist in their immortal worlds. An Angel and a Demon, two halves of the same coin drawn together by an unstoppable force, their fate intertwined by design but held worlds apart.

With pleasure will come pain, with happiness will come grief. Two missing pieces finally together creates an ecstasy that will rock the ground they walk on. But as their love becomes stronger their worlds will start to fall apart.

Can their sinful love truly conquer all? Will they catch the scent that lingers and find the ties that bind even the deadliest of enemies?


Lines will blur and hearts will shatter. In a battle of good versus evil not everything is always black and white, for even in heaven, shades of grey hide in the shadows

My Review:

4/5 Stars

A while back I participated in a cover reveal for this book and as I was putting it out there I decided it would probably be best if I actually bought the book and read it and reviewed it also.

This book was written by two authors. I’ve never read either of their books. That being said. I personally think they did a great job keeping the flow of the book consistent and not seeming like there was two authors.

I enjoyed reading the story from both Arianwen the Angel and Albion the Demons point of view and like I said above it had great flow and at least for me it was not confusing as some books can be when written in dual point of views.

. Its your star crossed lovers romance story. She’s a sweet Angel with a unique gift of being able to pass into purgatory and help those souls who might be stuck there and need a guiding hand. He’s from hell who in tortures those souls but Albion has always protected Arianwen from the other demons when she was in purgatory. Their story love story is ugly and actually beautiful at the same time. They have some barriers they have to overcome because sometimes the heart wants what it wants no matter what.


This book is such an emotional roller coaster. There were parts where no matter how much Albion needed or wanted to be with Arianwen he was just so evil and at time horrible that I didn’t want him to smudge her but…. There is something different about him that you hope Arianwen sees and pulls out the goodness in him.


It left me with the thought of sometimes not all are what they seem to be. Sometimes good people can have some serious evil going on and sometimes those who seem evil might deep down have some serious goodness in them that needs to be brought out.

Action filled, gripping , romantic emotional roller coaster of a book. Good -vs- Evil, Angels -vs- Demons , hard to put down, and if you need those steamy scenes it defiantly has those.


I look forward to the next book in the series.

Lucas Mackenzie and the London Midnight Ghost Show BLOG TOUR!

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD | Indiebound

Title: Lucas Mackenzie and the London Midnight Ghost Show

Publication date: November 18, 2014
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Steve Bryant

Synopsis:

Lucas Mackenzie has got the best job of any 10 year old boy. He travels from city-to-city as part of the London Midnight Ghost Show, scaring unsuspecting show-goers year round. Performing comes naturally to Lucas and the rest of the troupe, who’ve been doing it for as long as Lucas can remember.



But there’s something Lucas doesn’t know.



Like the rest of Luca’s friends, he’s dead. And for some reason, Lucas can’t remember his former life, his parents or friends. Did he go to school? Have a dog? Brothers and sisters?



If only he could recall his former life, maybe even reach out to his parents, haunt them.



When a ghost hunter determines to shut the show down, Lucas realizes the life he has might soon be over. And without a connection to his family, he will have nothing. There’s little time and Lucas has much to do. Can he win the love of Columbine, the show’s enchanting fifteen-year-old mystic? Can he outwit the forces of life and death that thwart his efforts to find his family?



Keep the lights on! Lucas Mackenzie’s coming to town.

Add It to your Goodreads! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABOUT STEVE BRYANT:

Steve Bryant is a new novelist, but a veteran author of books of card tricks. He founded a 40+ page monthly internet magazine for magicians containing news, reviews, magic tricks, humor, and fiction; and he frequently contributes biographical cover articles to the country’s two leading magic journals (his most recent article was about the séance at Hollywood’s Magic Castle).

Connect with the Author:  Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Check out the next stops on the Blog Tour! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't Forget the Giveaway!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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              And Finally! My Review!!

3.5 Stars






I love the title and the cover.



This book is probably like a middle grade young YA type book. I wouldn’t let me 8 year old read it yet only because of some of the talk about kissing in cars and the curves of the triplets and such as that but if he were to pick it up and read it I wouldn’t be opposed mostly because he watches the Marvel and DC movies which tend to be more risqué than talks of making out in the back seat of cars.



The story was cute. A 10 year old looking ghost boy who helped run the London Midnight Ghost show. He pretty much managed the acts of a ghostly magician, a beautiful 15 year old mystic. a talking and floating skull and A huge green man who passes as Frankensteins monster and quotes stuff from Shakespeare along with other famous authors and many other interesting characters. At one point Lucas decides to try and figure out where he is from and more about his family that he just started remembering. While touring he quests for this information about his family and the group had acquired the attention of a ghost hunter.

So struggling with being in love with the 15 year old mystic yet not able to age past 10, stage managing the performers, and helping keep the Midnight Ghost Show in business. Lucas has some run ins with vampires, a ghostly postal master and goes on a quest to save Yorick. As well as try to find his family.


All in all the story was fun and interesting. The characters were funny and I enjoyed the ending. Only gripe is it was set in like the 1950’s ish time frame. So, not sure if some young kids would be able to really understand who Shirley Temple is and what the Addams Family is. Plus some of the words and other character/ historical figures referenced are pretty old.




Cute, Fun story with a 10 year old struggling to figure out who he is and who he was along with going on some quests and just enjoying his otherworldly family. I’d recommend it to middle school age kids.

Hopebreaker by Dean F. Wilson

Hopebreaker
(Great Iron War Book 1)
by Dean F. Wilson

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In the world of Altadas, there are no more human births. The Regime is replacing the unborn with demons, while the Resistance is trying to destroy a drug called Hope that the demons need to survive.

Between these two warring factions lies Jacob, a man who profits from smuggling contraceptive amulets into the city of Blackout. He cares little about the Great Iron War, but a chance capture, and an even more accidental rescue, embroils him in a plot to starve the Regime from power.


When Hope is an enemy, Jacob finds it harder than he thought to remain indifferent. When the Resistance opts to field its experimental landship, the Hopebreaker, the world may find that one victory does not win a war.

My review:

4/5 Stars


I received the ebook for my honest review


For me this is one of those books that I looked at the cover and decided I have to read this. I mean look at the cover! Its simple and has a cool tank like vehicle for me it was an attention grabber. Then I read the synopsis, a book about a world were there are no more human births and unborn are being replaced by Demons, unless you get an amulet that has to be smuggled in. Also these Demons survive on a drug called Hope. Yup, you got me. I have to read it.


Main character is a charismatic sarcastic and rather anti hero-ish amulet contraceptive smuggler with a coil ( money) addiction. The action starts up from the beginning where the main character Jacob end up in the same place as The Whistler. From there he meets other characters and to only feed his greed ( supposedly) and the mutual hate he has for the Regime he becomes a fighter in the Resistance.


I liked how the action started right from the beginning and continued through the story, so there wasn’t a point I felt the need or the want to set the book down. But, I felt like I was missing something. I think what I needed was more of a beginning

I enjoyed the characters they were interesting and have their own type of mystery about them. But, I could have used a little bit more to make them relatable I suppose. I’m not sure how to put this. They were well written but I felt like something was just left out or that maybe the story with all the action was going too fast that I couldn’t get a grasp on the characters ( This probably makes no sense to anyone). I enjoyed them but they left me with a so what feeling at points. Maybe its all the mystery behind the whole WHY are they in the Resistance besides the obvious going against the drug pushing unborn human swapping Demons.


All in All an intriguing story with some interesting characters. It has your steampunk, dystopian , war , with humor and slight romance. It was a book that I read from 9pm until I finished it around 4am the next day. Action, adventure and the need to know what is going to happen next kept me from putting it down.

I look forward to the continuation of the story and I liked it so much I am putting the other series this author has written in my "to be read" list.

If you like a light steampunk, action adventure with a world being taken over by Demons using Hope as a drug/ weapon and intriguing characters fighting this war against them this book will not disappoint.

First Frost ( Waverley Family #2) by Sarah Addison Allen

First Frost

(Waverley Family #2)

Sarah Addison Allen

Synopsis from Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...




It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.




Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.




Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.




Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?




When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.




Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins

My Review

3/5 stars

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.




This book was just as charming as the first.

Did the first book need a sequel… Not really but you know what, this was also cute. It was nice to see Bay grown up and growing into her magic. Also revisiting the characters from Garden Spells and seeing how their lives are turning out.


It was one of those books easy to wrap up in a blanket and get lost in. Like having a marathon of your favorite movies.


Again I love Evanelle and the fact that Fred is still with her and taking care of her made me super happy. And again she is one of my favorite characters in this book.


I think this book was more about Bay and her gift of just knowing where things belong and the fact that she knows who she belongs with. Even if this boy happens to be on her moms off limits list and she on his parents off limits list. But Bay, know where she belongs. At first I was worried about a young girl and the whole we belong together so I already love you type thing but this wasn’t it. Bay is pretty flipping mature about the whole thing and understanding. Even when she is made a joke.


So the book is just a sweet continuation of the Waverly Family. There was a part of a mysterious man and the problem with Claire doubting herself and her gift but honestly I think I enjoyed more of reading about Bay and her gift.


Cute sequel, perfect for those days where you just want to sit and read something light, sweet and fun.

Hopeless ( Hopeless #1) by Colleen Hoover

Hopeless
Hopeless #1
by Colleen Hoover

Synopsis from Goodreads

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever

My Review

3/5 Stars

Wow… the author puts your emotions through the ringer with this story.


At first I was not sure if I was going to like this book at all. Holder was creepy and Sky still was wowed over him and felt an instant pull to him. Yet it turned out to be a really good young adult story.

I enjoyed Sky’s attitude towards others and life. I loved how she took the horrible notes left on her locker and was strong enough to make them into something funny instead of being hurt by ugly peoples words. She’s honest and always say’s whats on her mind. She’s pretty sheltered especially electronically and reading about her trying to use things like a cell phone was pretty funny. Holder…. yes creepy and aggressive and came off like a stalker at first. I’m pretty sure she even accuses him of stalking. Anyway he turns to be a funny, likable, misunderstood and adorable guy although very determined. I loved the banter between these two and reading how their story grows and how it came to be. The more the relationship developed the more I enjoyed reading this book.


I got absorbed into this book and could not set it down. And it wasn’t even just the romance that kept me reading it was the whole mystery behind Sky and her past and watching her make her way through her senior year in a public high school for the first time without her best friend there but the stigma her best friends decisions and the impact it had on her reputation and how Sky handled it.

I enjoyed this book and I see myself picking up other books by this author. I think anyone who is a hopeless romantic, likes a heart wrenching mystery would enjoy this book.

I think the only caution I have is that its totally the hot creepy guy book. Where I was like seriously!!? He has emotional issues! but its a work of fiction and if you can look past creeptastic Holder part and keep reading its a good story. To me he redeemed himself especially in the end.


Sad, heart wrenching, utterly romantic read. This author delivers a lot of gritty, emotional and heartbreaking scenes with some light humorous ones.

Karma Girl ( Bigtime #1) by Jennifer Estep

Karma Girl
( Bigtime #1)
by Jennifer Estep

Synopsis from Goodreads:

After getting dumped by her crime-fighting fiance, reporter Carmen Cole starts exposing the country’s most powerful heroes and villains. But when her life is threatened, she’ll have to rely on the city’s sexiest crime-buster to save her.

My Review

3 / 5 Stars

 I like Jennifer Estep’s other books. I Figured one with superhero’s and villains whose covers get blown by a reporter who was formally engaged to a superhero who cheated on her with his arch enemy sounded interesting.


It was interesting and at points super funny. But all in all totally cheesy. This is a book I like to read when my brain just wants pure junk food and characters and story that is interesting enough to keep me reading but not all together into the book. My filler book if you will. I read it at night on my kindle when I couldn’t read my paperback book.


It had action, it had humor and a decent story. It didn’t really suck me into the story but I did keep picking it up and reading to see what happens next and if I could match the people with their bad guy or superhero alter ego’s.


So it was mind numbing brainless cheesy fun. Yes I’ll more than likely read the next ones because you know what, sometimes you just need some groan worthy cheesiness. Plus I have high hopes for the next book.