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.

Book Review of A Discovery of Witches

Discovery of Witches is a great story about two highly educated professors finding an old book and trying to find its meaning. Throwing the paranormal into the mix you have a very exciting tale. Diana is a witch, but since the death of her parents as a young child she has refused to embrace that lifestyle. No matter how much she pushes her witch skills aside it's very clear that her powers are special. When she is the only one who can open an important document it attracts all kinds of creatures. A very interested and sexy vampire, Matthew, who’s an Oxford professor, witches, and daemons all start coming out of the woodwork to see what Diana does. These creatures live among us with careers and are aware of each other but the one cardinal rule is they don’t mix with each other romantically. When Matthew brings it upon himself to protect Diana she quickly falls in love. The two can’t be together because it’s upsets the Congregation which is a council set up of vampires, witches, and daemons.

I enjoyed the love story and became Team Matthew! Diana is very interesting because she’s honest and straight forward. I love when they go to France to protect Diana from her own kind, the witches who are out to get her. I loved the castle they stay in, Matthew’s mom, their servant, and the horses they ride. It was all magical and lovely.  The relationship between Matthew and Diana grow quickly. The Congregation comes to put a stop to their growing relationship and threatens the lives of those they love.

Diana goes to spend time with her Aunts in New York to  better understand her kind. Her Aunt's house is alive and very temperamental with ghostly ancestors living there too. With some very exciting events the book ends with everyone having to go different ways. I look forward to finding out what happens in  book two, Shadow of Night, which will mix my two favorite genres, historical and paranormal. Deborah is an excellent writer and I think everyone who loves a good story will enjoy the series. 

Book Review of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? 
   As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

My review: You've seen the headlines and news feeds that do just what is happening in this story. A wife goes missing and we all suspect the husband. This story shows us the inside story of what it's like for those going through this horrific experience. The media will post a picture completely out of context and try to lead the viewers to judge before all the information is out. Guilty or not, you really feel for Nick as his life is turned upside down when his beautiful, intelligent wife Amy goes missing on their 5th anniversary. Nick and Amy's parents have plenty of possible suspects because people are always so obsessed with Amy. She brings that out in others, they just wanted to be her friend or worse, be her. Nick has many secrets that he keeps from the police which doesn't help his case. His lack of being able to show feelings in public and his Chester-cat-grin doesn't help his situation at all. This story keeps you reading on the edge and nothing is what it seems. The story feels vaguely familiar like it was based off of A True Crime story, and really opened my eyes to the truth behind the headline. Gillian is a brilliant writer and knows how to keep you in suspense.

Book Review of “Northanger Alibi” by Jenni James

Claire Hart is obsessed with “Twilight” and so when she has an opportunity to go with family friends to Seattle for the summer she is ecstatic. She meets the Russo twins Tony and Nora and she thinks they are going to be weird but instead finds them very intriguing. The twins take them out on the town to show them the Seattle sites. Claire starts to recognize some weird similarities about Tony and “Edward.” Not only is Tony drop dead gorgeous but he keeps staring at her and answers things she is only thinking. Oh no he can read minds! Claire accidently touches his chest and he is like stone. When they go to the top of the Space Needle’s very expensive restaurant Tony doesn’t eat his food. Claire is convinced.

Cassidy, Claire’s older sister who was forced to come on this summer trip with Claire as a chaperone thinks Claire is completely crazy. Claire gives Cassidy “Twilight” to read so she can see for herself that Tony is a vampire. Cassidy doesn’t leave the house the rest of the trip while she is obsessed reading the whole “Twilight” series.

On a shopping trip with Nora, a tall, dark, mysterious man walks right up to Claire and kisses her. She is shocked but not completely turned off. When she finds out his name is Jaden Black and he’s from the Quileute Native American tribe Claire is sure she’s meet a real life werewolf. Tony acts jealous when he hears about the kiss. Claire who never dated back home and never had been kissed finds it very exhilarating to have two men fighting over her. Claire had no idea that coming to Seattle would put her in the middle of the Twilight saga.

LOL! I loved this story because I could relate to the obsession with “Twilight” and I loved that Cassidy started reading and couldn’t put down the series (been there done that.) Claire is young and naïve but you grow to adore her wild ideas. Claire is the youngest sister of Chloe who was the main character in “Pride and Popularity.” I love the spin off idea, this way we can hear a little tidbit about the characters we learned to love in previous books. This was a perfect adaption to Jane Austen’s story where a young girl leaves her small town and goes to a busy city. The character Catherine in Northanger Abbey let her imagination from reading get the best of her and it was a great similarity of Claire letting the Twilight story get mixed with her real life experiences.

 Bravo Jenni!  What a great idea taking something we can all relate too in our modern times and showing that the same issues were prevalent in 1790. This book made me snicker at my own obsession with Twilight.

http://authorjennijames.com/






To purchase:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/northanger-alibi

http://www.amazon.com/Northanger-Alibi-Jane-Austen-Diaries

Be Social "Like", "Circle", "Follow", "Tweet", "Pin" and "Post"

Are you social enough? There are so many ways to reach your customers these days.

In Facebook we want people to “like” and "share" 

https://www.facebook.com/geodepress

Right now we have a contest for the 50th person to "like" us on Geodepress's Facebook they win a free book of ZENOBIA - Birth of a Legend. 

Google + we want our “circle” to grow 

 https://plus.google.com.JulieMartinWallace or https://plus.google.com.geodepress

Blogspot.com we need “followers” 

 http://juliemartinwallace.blogspot.com/ or  http://anythingbutnormal-juliewallace.blogspot.com/ or http://geodepress.blogspot.com/

Twitter you want people to “tweet” too. https://twitter.com/ZenobiaZenobia1
or https://twitter.com/JulieMWallace


So many social networks, so little time. 

Here is a great article I received from The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter.

The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter By http://blog.kissmetrics.com/beginners-guide-to-twitter/

Even though they are speaking about Twitter the information below is very useful in all social networks.

“The key to remember with social media is that it’s about engagement.

The number one rule in social media when you are first starting out is to listen.

Most businesses start off by not listening and go straight into “talking”, promoting and pushing content. And most of those companies get very little use out of social media.

To start off on a good foot, search for keywords in your industry and see what conversations are happening. Listen to what people are saying about your brand; listen to what they’re saying about your industry. If you see a conversation that you can join, then do so. Don’t try to sell a product when you join a conversation, but rather provide value. You can do this by: Offering helpful answers (be as unbiased as possible), try to solve problems that your customers may have, and point people in the right direction (say if someone is looking for your returns policy).”

Here is another article on The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter by Patrick O’Keefe. I found it very interesting and it will broaden your social media even more. http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/how-to-engage-in-online-forums-for-your-brand/

“The social web is a big place. It’s always funny to me when I meet people who think it primarily consists of Facebook and Twitter. If you believe that, you really are missing a majority of the social web. It’s a lot bigger and more diverse than that.

Forums and structured, focused communities offer a great deal of value, representing a concentrated audience of the people that you probably want to reach. They are engaging now, around your company, your products and your industry. I’m not saying everyone should join a forum and start contributing, just that you should be aware of them as a legitimate, powerful platform. Engaging with individual forums should be a strategic option you consider, right alongside engaging with people on Facebook and Twitter. They are worth your consideration.”

Happy Socializing! 

*Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

BOOK REVIEW TIME AGAIN! Pride and Popularity by Jenni James

Chloe doesn’t care to be part of the popular crowd and for sure doesn’t want to be part of the Taylor Anderson fan club. Ever since the first time Chloe meets Taylor she sees how conceited he is and she vows not be a part of all those girls that swoon over him. Chloe’s senior year lands her in art class with Taylor and he sits at her table with her two best friends. She tries and tries not to fall for his stunning good looks and charm but it becomes obvious to everyone around her that Taylor is into her and she doesn’t believe it. Taylor is rich and always has a cheerleader as a girlfriend so why would he be interested in her? As they butt heads many times Chloe has to come to terms with her true feelings.

This is a perfect modern-day twist to the great story with all the important characters from the original Pride and Prejudice. I loved when I recognized a character and the part they play in this new version. Chloe is a red headed spicy girl who portrayed a modern Elizabeth; she is a very enjoyable character. Taylor Darcy Anderson is a dreamboat who grows on you. 

My favorite part is the costume party Chloe throws for Halloween; I totally want to steal that idea. 

This is a fun read and I couldn't put the book down. I read the whole book in one day. I’m excited for the other books in “The Jane Austen Diaries” and see how Jane Austen’s stories adapt to our teenagers lives today. 

http://authorjennijames.com/

How to buy this book:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pride-popularity-jenni-james/1103094328?ean=9780983829300

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Popularity-Jane-Austen-Diaries/dp/0983829306/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342286950&sr=8-2&keywords=pride+and+popularity

Coming soon author interview with Jenni James and book review of Northanger Alibi!! 

Persuaded is the next book in the series available soon. I CANT WAIT!