JULIE MARTIN WALLACE: December 2012

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Friday, December 28, 2012

Jane Austen Diaries series is one of my favorites, It's giving Twilight a run for it's money.

I posted two book reviews on my Anything but Normal blog since that is where I'm working on my YA novels and so more appropriated to review YA books there, but I wanted to share it on this blog too since this is where I post most of my reviews. Even though these books are YA and the characters are about 20 years younger than me I really enjoy to read them. The Jane Austen Diaries is a series of Jane Austen books turned into a modern day stories. The author is great about staying true to the theme and characters Jane Austen created but making it relevant enough for us to understand what's happening today. It's a great way to get kids interested in Jane Austen. The heroine and hero in all her stories are real and very likable. They will appeal to kids today but still give them an uplifting story. I give major props to Jenni James for coming up with such a great idea. I've read and reviewed all four books from the Jane Austen Diaries, two more are planned and I can't wait to read them.

http://anythingbutnormal-juliewallace.blogspot.com/2012/12/book-review-persuaded-by-jenni-james.html

http://anythingbutnormal-juliewallace.blogspot.com/2012/12/book-review-of-emmalee-by-jenni-james.html

Thursday, December 27, 2012

The Unveiling Age of Faith Series: Book One By Tamara Leigh

Revenge and True Love, all wrapped into a great story

Lady Annyn Bretanne was not very ladylike at all, at 14 she was as tomboyish as you can get. Her brother and Uncle are the only family members she has left. She was distraught when Jonas was sent away to Knight training.

Baron Wulfrith’s father had raised him to believe women were trouble. When his tough, hard-hearted father passed away Wulfrith became in charge of the Knight training, where women were never allowed.

When young squire Jonas Bretanne dies and is brought back to him family Annyn is heartbroken. She doesn't believe Wulfrith’s story that her brother died an honorable death because she sees the rope burns on his neck. She vows to avenge her brothers death and trains for the next four years. When her Uncle dies, Duke Henry, the future King, plans to marry her off. She runs away and pretends to be a boy taking on the name of another young squire on his way to the training to become knight. Annyn looks the part of a boy and has been trained by her families guard Rowan. Nothing could prepare her for how hard Knight Training really is. When she comes face to face once again with Wulfrith she can’t wait to take her knife to him and once and for all revenge her brother’s murder. Wulfrith surprises Annyn with kindness, justice, and fairness. He doesn’t fit the description of a cold blooded killer and she can’t help questioned everything.

The story is gripping and keeps you wondering. You’re worried the whole time when Annyn will get her revenge or will her true identity be revealed. When all is UNVEILED, there is much more to her brother’s death. You’d never think a beautiful love story would develop from all this action but it does. Not only is it a revenge story but about finding true love where you least expect it. Annyn doesn't act like a lady and defiantly is no one's property. She is different than most women of her time; A time when arranged marriages are made for profit instead of love. If her true love will have her, they will have to go against the future King's wishes.

http://www.tamaraleigh.com/#!__excerpt-unveiling

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008R54ZWO/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Book Review The Darlings by Cristina Alger

This book is like a puzzle, different characters are introduced and you don’t know how all the pieces come together, but they do come together and very compellingly. The time stamps before the chapters keep the excitement going. You experience with the Darling family what should’ve been a festive Thanksgiving weekend and instead you live the nightmare of how quickly your whole world can turn upside down. You meet many different characters and you have sympathy for them and how they got to this point. It really gives you the inside view of the rich and famous of the financial world.

While reading, I pictured many characters from the TV series “Dirty Sexy Money.”

I also pictured the high-society of “Gossip Girl” but a lot more sophisticated.

It makes sense that Bravo and Fox Television are developing the novel into a TV series; it will be very intriguing and I’m eager to see it come to life. The author was very knowledgeable in the financial world. All the characters were very real and when they were introduced you got a real feel of who they are and what makes them tick. I’m looking forward to reading this continued series, it's great writing.

Buy the book and learn more about author Cristina Alger @ http://cristinaalger.com/

Cristina Alger graduated from Harvard College in 2002 and from New York University School of Law in 2007. She has worked as an analyst at Goldman, Sachs, & Co. and as an attorney at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, & Dorr. She lives in New York City, where she was born and raised.The Darlings is her first novel and she is currently working on her next book.

You can see the dates for Cristina’s Darlings tour here. To keep up with news and events for Cristina and the book click here.

I received this book for free from Penguin Books for an honest review.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Haines Alaska Tour Guide: LOOK MA...I"M ON TV

Check out this awesome blog of my sister Holly on TV!!!!!
Haines Alaska Tour Guide: LOOK MA...I"M ON TV: HOWDY FOLKS - Tour Guide Holly here... Angie Goodwin's winning Christmas Card First things first - The Big Winner of my Chris...

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Book Review of Dreamspell by Tamara Leigh

I loved, loved, loved this story. You get the best of two worlds, Historical romance and time travel. I like reading historical fiction and this one has a unique twist with time travel. It is a plausible way to time travel because who knows what our brains are capable of. You root for the Dream Dr, Nedy, you hope she will over come her battle with cancer. You don't know who the bad guy is and who she can trust. This is going on my list of favorite reads for 2012.

Click on links below to learn more about the author and to purchase this book. It's an eBook for only $2.99 and worth every penny.

http://www.tamaraleigh.com/#!
http://www.amazon.com/Dreamspell-ebook/dp/B007MDF8OG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332263929&sr=8-1
https://www.facebook.com/tamara.leigh.50
https://twitter.com/TamaraLeighAuth

Tamara Leigh is the wife of one, the mother of two, a once-upon-a-time Speech and Language Pathologist, and an award-winning best-selling author with RandomHouse and HarperCollins. She began her writing career in the general market and now writes inspirational romance.
For nearly 20 years, I have been blessed to have my stories published by traditional publishers, including RandomHouse, HarperCollins, and Bantam Books. Now, due to the increasing popularity of e-readers, a new path to publication has opened. With the release of Dreamspell, I have joined the ranks of other traditionally published authors who are exploring the electronic format by releasing out-of-print books in the hopes of finding new readers, revamping old titles to give them new life, and offering new titles (hello!). I hope you enjoy this excerpt from Dreamspell, my fifteenth published novel that also stands as my first novel to debut via virtual bookshelves.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Book Review of Eragon by Christopher Paolini

I've been on a dragon-book reading kick this year. I decided to give this series a try. I was not disappointed. Eragon is an adolescent boy who grew up hearing the stories of the Empire. When he finds a rock he’s thrown in the middle of the legend. The rock hatches and turns out to be a dragon. He's connected to the dragon Saphira. They communicate telepathically. Eragon learns from an old story-teller Brom that he’s a Rider. Brom teaches him how to use magic and about the responsibility involved with being a Rider. This first book is a lot of set up and unknown. Most of the book is Brom training Eragon while they are on a revenge run. The exciting part comes when Eragon meets up with Arya, who's an elf. To save her life Eragon has to get her to Varden. Varden is hidden in the mountains; A place where humans and dwarfs have been living in safety. Safe until Eragon brings the wicked King's army chasing after him. A war breaks out and the end is just the beginning. We have a hint of romance which of course always sparks my interest. Similar to Lord of the Rings, we have elf's, humans, and dwarfs coming together to conquer evil. It's a completely different world and very visual writing.

In the middle of reading I became interested in the author. I found he started these books at age 16 and was published at age 19. His family published the books and he traveled around marketing them. I was very impressed with the depth of the story and great writing from someone so young.

I know there is a movie based on the book. I heard it didn't do well in the box office. I imagine it doesn't do the book justice, because if the movie would have followed the story Christopher Paolini created it should be a box office hit.