Book Review of Erasing Time by C.J. Hill

Time travel, Love, Escape, and Death all wrapped into a gripping tale

What an exciting book! Identical twins, Taylor and Sheridan get abducted into the 25th century. Lots of things have changed in the future and defiantly not for the good. Echo and his dad Jeth are "wordsmiths" who studied and fluently speak the English version of the 21st century. They are called in to help the scientist figure out what went wrong from the two girls. The Time machine made the mistake and brought two teenage girls instead of the scientist they were searching for. Echo's twin Joseph was recently killed by the evil Dakine’s group who has more power and control than the government.  Echo is ready to escape but his plans change as he becomes attached to Sheridan and wants to help her. Taylor who is the genius of the twins comes up with a dangerous plan to destroy the time machine, hoping to prevent anyone else from experiencing the same terrible fate of being stuck in the future. They have to do this and escape before the government erases their memory and installs a tracking device.
C.J. Hill's word-play was spectacular. With the slang we use today the girls were able to disguise what they were planning. It was hilarious to see through the eyes of those in the future how ridiculous those sayings really are. The story kept you wondering, who was bad? Who could they trust? How would they ever return home? The conclusion was nail-biting to the very end. A must read, not only for Sci-Fi fans but those who enjoy a good love story.

To purchase:

http://www.amazon.com/Erasing-Time-C-J-Hill

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/erasing-time-c-j-hill

Book review of “Jane Austen and the Archangel” by Pamela Aares

Jane has moved to Chawton with her mom and sister Cassandra. Jane is in a terrible state of not being able to write her next novel and worrying over her friend Serena. Serena’s fiancé went to war in Spain and never returned. It’s been two years and her family is forcing her to move on and marry an awful man, Lord Rendin. As Jane receives a letters from Serena the letter carrier introduces himself as Michael Grace. There is something intriguing about him. When he arrives on Jane’s doorstep on a rainy day she invites in him for tea. She knows it’s improper but admits to herself that being near him overthrows all propriety. When Jane confides in Michael concerning her worries over her friends missing fiancés, he immediately assures her that he has connections in Spain that can maybe assist. Michael who really is an archangel doesn’t know why he is so drawn to help Jane and see her happy.  Jane goes to Serena’s place in Anderley to help her friend with a scheme to show the true character of Lord Rendin. As the plan unfolds, Jane finds herself facing truths that even her imagination couldn’t come up with. The lengths that Michael goes through to bring happiness to Jane even surprises him.

It’s a fascinating and brilliant love story.  As stated in the novel Jane admits, “She’d read about such things, had thought she knew what Dante and Shakespeare had meant when they’d penned their words about pure love, about love beyond imagining, love beyond words.  But she’d never had an inkling.”

Those of us who enjoy Jane Austen’s work sometimes feel a little sad for her as she wrote such beautiful love stories and in her real life its unknown if she ever found true love.  In “Jane Austen and the Archangel” we learn that she has loved deeper and stronger than most could ever dream of. A well crafted novel by Pamela takes us into a new world and gives us the peace of mind that Jane truly knew love. 

To learn more about Pamela and her wonderful book, go to:

http://www.pamelaaares.com/

To purchase her book, go to:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/177105

or

http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austen-Archangel-ebook/dp/B008FERXTE

Book Review of Slayers by C.J. Hill

I’m a believer! Dragons really do exist.  After reading “Slayers” by C.J. Hill the storyline is plausible. Dragons may have disappeared but their return and attack on mankind is inevitable.  All the stories in medieval times that Dragons exist are not fables but true. What’s great about this book is its happening today right in your own town. Well this story takes place in Washington DC but no one is safe from the return of Dragons!

Tori a rich girl who always dreamt of dragons and obsessed over them being real found Dragon camp and this summer finally talked her parents into letting her go. She hoped it would help her figure out why she believed in dragons. She gets off on the wrong foot with the other campers as two good looking guys try to help her carry her heavy luggage she brought and she mistakes them for bell hops.  The other campers have been attending Dragon camp since they were 11 years old so they are tight-knit group.

Tori quickly learns two different camps are going on… the normal geeky people who are obsessed with mystical creatures and the advance Dragon camp where they have special powers and are actually training to kill these “mystical” creatures.  Dr. B who created this Dragon camp for the sole purpose to finding Slayers knows dragons are real first hand. His family had worked for a Dragon Lord, Overdrake. They could control dragons and wanted to use the power to control America. The Overdrake’s plan was to protect the dragon eggs that had been dormant for 150 years and as soon as they hatched they planned to attack and take control of the government. When the eggs were moved to Washington D.C. 17 years ago it activated the DNA of the descendants of the original knights who were Dragon Slayers. These kids all had special powers that only kicked in when a dragon were nearby. Tori didn’t know if she wanted any part of putting her life on the line.

Tori can’t help being attracted to Team Jesse with his tall, dark, and handsome features and Team Dirk with his blonde, blue eyes, and surfer boy attitude; really they are the “team” captains. That is how they train by competing against each other and they are very competitive. Tori’s way behind in training and very frustrated because she doesn’t know her purpose in the group. Her special power is she can hear what the dragon hears, which for now, as an egg is a heartbeat. How special is that?

This story is exciting and keeps you speculating what will happen next. Not everybody is who they claim to be and with their lives on the line they have to decide who they can trust.

Ryker is a side story of the boy who got away but I can’t wait until the second book when he finally joins the group and find out his powers. I believe he will be powerful and just what the other Slayers need to finally rid the world of Dragons.

To purchase:
http://www.amazon.com-Slayers-CJHill

http://www.barnesandnoble.com-Slayers+cj+hill

For more information about the book and to watch the book trailer go to: http://www.cjhillbooks.com/

ME and C.J. Hill at Changing Hands bookstore 

Book Review of Eon by Alison Goodman

I started reading this book and then put it down and I even read some other books in between reading Eon. It was interesting and well written; I just had a hard time getting into the story. Eon is a young crippled "boy" who has some special powers. He's going against better skilled warriors trying to become apprentices of the Rat Dragoneye. The setting felt like Ancient China, very similar setting and story line of Mulan. It was a fantasy world with dragons and mystical powers. The king is dying and his young prince is preparing to rule. The King's wicked brother is trying to rule instead. With wicked minion's like Dragoneye  Ido it looks like they will succeed. There are many great characters in this story. Eon frustrated me at times as he keeps a lot of secrets, even from those who could help. The author’s descriptions were original and painted the scene perfectly. It’s surprising how well smells can describe a person. I like reading epic fantasies and this one defiantly has all the makings of a great one. A lot of bad things happen and the good guy isn't always coming out on top in this book. A little slow in the beginning and it wasn't until more than half way through the book that the action started really pulling me in.  It’s a great story about a girl having to hide her gender and pretend to be a boy to survive in a male-dominated world. I will most likely read book two Eona. I think I might like it better, since the story-line of a powerful Dragoneye and her female dragon sparks my interest.    

Book Review of Midnight in Austenland

Absolutely loved this book! (I really enjoyed the first book "Austenland" and can't wait for the movie to come out.) "Midnight in Austenland" took me by surprise and I think I loved it even more than book one, which I didn't think was possible. This wasn't a real sequel, it was different main characters but the setting was the same place. I was expecting more of the same kind of story from book one but it had twists and turns that I never saw coming. Charlotte our heroin is a discarded wife and sometimes you want to slap her because she is like a front-door mat letting everyone walk all over her, especially her slimy cheating x-husband.

Charlotte becomes a big fan of Jane Austen and loves all her books. So spending two weeks in England in the Jane Austen world is just the break she needs from her x-husband and this way her two children can spend time with their dad and new step mom.

The experience at Austenland is completely authentic to 1816. Charlotte is there with two other ladies who are on vacation too and the three gentlemen there will woo them and at the end of the vacation a ball will take place and everyone is sure to get a happy ending with a proposal. Of course all of this experience is playacting but sometimes acting can become terrifyingly real.

Charlotte has an active imagination and on a dark and stormy night during a game of "bloody murder” she is sure that she touches and see's the hand of a dead body. 

Even though the story becomes a murder mystery the author is genius in her writing and there were so many things that made me laugh out loud. The “Internal Thought” is the comic release. There are so many lines that are my favorite. For instance, "It's a universal truth that nothing spoils a postlunch game of croquet like suspecting the other players of murder."

The writing was original and painted a picture with words; like, "She seemed to be floating all over the place. Someone could tie a string to her and sell her at carnivals."

Another good line, "Truth is a sword, and though it be good, it cuts."

Jane Austen lovers you will be thrilled with this modern day reenactment resort. You get the “Pride and Prejudice” brooding Mr.Mallery (like Mr. Darcy) and Edmund Grey (like Bingley). Charlotte becomes like Catherine Morland in “Northanger Abbey” as she sneaks around the place trying to solve a murder. And you get a little “Emma” too as Charlotte is a nice girl helping everyone to a fault.

  Shannon Hale does it again with another witty tale and is a heroin in her own right.