What's Next, Wednesday (2)

 

• To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to...

 

The Thing Is by Kathleen Gerard.

 

Writers from Red Adept never let me down. In this new novel, struggles with depression after the death of her fiancé. By agreeing to puppy-sit a little terrier, Meredith unexpectedly begins the road to acceptance. I'm hoping it ill be an uplifting and inspiring read. 

Teaser Tuesday (209)



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm/Books and a Beat. 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



Mabel Crowley (2% Kindle)
     - E.H. Nolan

Mabel Crowley hated her name. Oh, "Mabel" was alright; it was "Crowley" that displeased her so. Whenever she heard it spoken aloud, she pictured someone so wrinkled and old, it would be necessary to stare as one would at a confusing painting in order to determine whether or not the massive wrinkle could ever have been considered a woman.

Breakable (Contours of the Heart #2)

As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.

*May Contain Spoilers*

 

Welcome to the other side of the story.

 

Breakable, by Tammara Webber, is a retelling of the first book in the Contours of the Heart series, Easy, but from a different character's point of view. With Easy we trailed Jacqueline as she was sexually assaulted and dealing with the terrifying ramifications while falling for Lucas. With Breakable, readers follow Landon Lucas. What makes it even more interesting is that the book is split into before and after. Before his mother's death and after his mother's death. The before is labeled with Landon, as he went by his first name back then. The after (or the present) is depicted by Lucas. Readers who have read Easy will be better equipped to understand the importance of this break in character, though new readers will come to comprehend the heaviness of these labels.

 

The sections that focus on Landon tell the story of a young man who feels he failed to protect his mother and the downward spiral that Landon falls into. He becomes withdrawn and is labeled an outcast. He turns to fighting to escape, tattoos for self-expression, and piercings to keep people at a distance. Landon finds himself using drugs, alcohol, and girls to get away from his guilt. Readers will witness all of this first hand and it's heart breaking. This side of the story will deepen the connection readers already had for Landon if they read the first book, and it will create an incredibly strong foundation for those who haven't.

 

In the present, readers go through the whole story of Lucas meeting and saving and falling in love with Jacqueline. Though there isn't as much terror on this side of the story (because Landon is not the one being stalked and attacked) the action is still there. Readers see how Landon's childhood influenced his adulthood and the connection with him couldn't be stronger. The language use in this book definitely assigns it to the college age demographic, though the story will undoubtedly reach anyone who reads it. This love story is a bridge that connects the past with the present. A story of believing in yourself to be brave and strong and keep moving even when everything has crashed down around you.

 

It's inspiring, terrifying, hopeful and heartbreaking.

 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Read the review of Easy!

Wytchfire (Dragonkin Trilogy #1)

In a land haunted by the legacy of dead dragons, Rowen Locke has been many things: orphan, gravedigger, mercenary. All he ever wanted was to become a Knight of Crane and wield a kingsteel sword against the kind of grown horrors his childhood knows all too well.

But that dream crumbled—replaced by a new nightmare.
War is overrunning the realms, an unprecedented duel of desire and revenge, steel and sorcery. And for one disgraced man who would be a knight, in a world where no one is blameless, the time has come to decide which side he’s on.

*May Contain Spoilers*

 

The war is coming and it brings The Nightmare with it. Michael Meyerhofer writes of a land separated by races with grudges and myths that have lasted too long in his novel, Wytchfire, the first in the Dragonkin Trilogy. As cities are destroyed by a beast made of smoke that burns through everything it touches, one down-trodden man may be the key to stopping it.

 

Rowen Locke followed in his brother's footsteps to become a Knight on the Lotus Isles, only to be kicked out before he received his Knighthood with no reason as to why. Though being raised in the slums of Lyos, and working as a mercenary and a sellsword may have something to do with it. Rowen is an incredible character. He's loyal, brave, true to himself, and has outstanding morals. Readers will know that he's the key to stopping this magic takeover before he does. Rowen is open-minded and nice in a world that doesn't appreciate those attributes. He risks his life over and over again to prove that there are things more important than glory and pride, which gains him both in the process.

 

The story begins with Rowen being mugged and beaten up by a couple of ruffians after he's kicked off the Lotus Isles. This sets him on a path toward Jalist, an old friend, who tells him about The Throng, an army hiring sellswords and sweeping across the lands to take over everything. Though there's more at work here than just that. Rowen refuses to join Jalist and instead runs into a man who changes his life by giving Rowen a legendary sword without any knowledge of its importance. Between the sword and Silwren, a beautiful wytch, combined with Rowen's bravery, the city of Lyos may have a chance. Wytchfire is an adventurous book full of magic and death, love and life, rebellion and salvation. However, it's just the beginning. And the end foretells much more to come.

 

Rating: 4/5 Cups