Review "What more could you wish for"

Some information

Title: What more could you wish for

Author: Samantha Hoffman

Pages: 243 (paperback)

Genre: chick lit

Published: august 2012

Publisher: St.Martin's Griffin - New York

My Source: I won this book on Chick Lit Central

My score on Goodreads: 4 stars

Covertext

Libby Carson has a great life - a thriving business, a family she adores, and a steady guy who's sweet and reliable. Life is good - nice and tidy. Until, that is, her fiftieth birthday, when her boyfriend does the unthinkable: he proposes. Libby's been down the marriage road before and it just didn't work. 

While she's trying to persuade her guy to keep things status quo she happens to reconnect with her high school boyfriend online, and what begins as fun soon turns to flirtation. Libby is startled to feel some stirrings of the passion she felt at seventeen. How is that possible? She thought she had things all figured out.

Now she must take stock of her life and everyone in it to answer the question everyone's asking: What more could you wish for?

Review

What more could I wish for? Maybe some more time to read more books like this one...
A few weeks ago I won this great book on the Chick Lit Central Blog and enjoyed it from the first page to the last one. Have to say I don't find this a "normal" chick lit book. I don't know what I mean by "normal", but it's just different from other books I've read in that genre. This doesn't mean I didn't love it. On the contrary, I really liked this book because it was something different. Instead of telling us the story of a young woman in search for a career, a good husband and a stable life, we get a totally different character in this book.
We meet Libby. A 50 yo woman with a flourishing career, a fiancé and a rather stable life. The problem is that Libby WAS is search for all those things when she was 20 or something. Now she's different and she wished she could be as unstable as she was as a 16 year old. She wished she could be back together again with her high-school boyfriend, Patrick... the guy her parents didn't like, but the one she loved with whole her heart.

How does a 50 turning woman get the idea of contacting a long lost love? Well, let's blame it on the Internet. When Libby finds a site to find old classmates, she doesn't hesitate long to sign up. It also doesn't take her long to find Patrick and to decide to contact him. A correspondance between the two of them starts and Libby starts to doubt her life more and more. Does she really want to marry the new men in her life? Does she really want to do everything in life like other people expect her to do? Maybe not... Maybe she liked the unstability of her past more because she could be more of herself back then.

When Libby suddenly loses her father, who really liked the idea of her getting married, she starts to doubt again. Maybe her father was right and she finally needed a man by her side who would support her and be there for here no matter what. Maybe the last thing she needed was a bad boyfriend and the feeling she was 16 again. Maybe...

I really liked this book by Samantha Hoffman and understood Libby very well. Samantha described this character in a way I could really connect with her and I thought it difficult too to choose between the long lost boyfriend and the new man. I'm still far away from my 50th birthday, but nevertheless I felt like Libby. It must be hard to think you can't take chances anymore because you're getting a little older and I'm glad Libby stopped thinking that...

Book Trailer "The Scent of a Soul"

One of the books on my list is "The Scent of a Soul" by Jennifer Thompson. I'm looking forward to read this book and am happy to share with you the beautiful trailer for the book. The music is lovely and I hope it tells us something more about the style and the atmosphere of the book. 

If you want to win this wonderful book, please visit author Jennifer Thompsons' blog and enter the contest. http://jenniferthompsonbooks.blogspot.be/

ENJOY!

Review "Automaton"

Some information

Title: Automaton

Author: Cheryl L. Davies

Pages: 187 (paperback)

Genre: Fiction/YA

Published: november 2011

Publisher: MP Publishing

My Source: Author C.L. Davies (thanks a lot!)

My score on Goodreads: 5 stars

Covertext

In the not too distant future, after the huge successes of role playing games and virtual worlds such as The Sims, Second Life, and reality shows such as Big Brother, it was only a matter of time before somebody took the next step. A remote island. An android population existing only to entertain. Their lives broadcast around the clock and around the globe. Their actions dictated by their owners. It’s the world’s biggest game played by thousands. Welcome to Gameworld. Dean 3012 is a good guy living on the Island. He loves his girlfriend, Lily, and with their first baby on the way, life is perfect. But when things take a sinister turn, the couple is plunged into a world of darkness and despair. Dean must take control and fight for all their lives.

Review

Computer games, we've all played them at some point in our lives... (at least: I did)! I could spend hours playing "The Sims", happy to give them the life I wanted for them. They didn't have a chance to choose what they'd eat that day, what time they'd get up, what job they'd want to do... I was the "god" in their universe and I enjoyed my power.

What if those little creatures in the game were "real"? That's what's going on in "Gameworld", a game created by businessman James Madison. A game played by lots and lots of people in the future, especially the wealthy ones. All they have to do is buy a character in the game and program its life. They can choose everything and they can watch their android "friends" on Wallvision. It's like a reality show and they can choose what happens. 

The thing most people don't know is that these creatures are human beings from time to time. In  Gameworld we find a "healthy" mixture of robotparts and humans. All of them have to wear sleepmasks at night so they can be programmed and controled. Don't worry, all of them have a great life without bad things. They live in the best of worlds until the human part of some creatures starts to be stronger. They start to ask questions and the safe bubble around Gameworld is starting to splash open. 

Although Madison first thought he did a great thing by buying the unwanted human children from their parents and by putting them on this distant island where they would be property of somebody and controled BUT happy, he now starts to doubt it all. Is he ruining those children's life? Is Gameworld becoming a real dangerous place?

If you want to learn something more about the story and about our lovely main characters Dean and Lily, I'd suggest you just read the book. It's a must read and I truly recommand it to everybody. Young adults and adults can equally like and even love this book. It doesn't matter if you don't normally like this genre, you'll love the book no matter what! 

The writing of Cheryl Davies is refreshing, straightforward, beautiful, captivating and not predictable at all. I loved it that she told an intriguing and complete story without waisting space on redundant descriptions.  Also there were lots of new characters introduced throughout the book, but she introduced them all in a way I could really connect with them. Even though they were bad sometimes, I understood their feelings and motives and that's what I find truly important in a book! 

Besides the characters, the story and the writing, I also liked the concept so much! When I played the Sims in the past I already thought about the fact that maybe we ourselves are creatures like that in somebody's big game. Maybe we don't choose things but we ar programmed to choose them. I don't believe that anymore, but you know... what if... In Gameworld "Big Brother" is not only watching you, he's also directing you. 

At the end I can only say I loved this book and praise writer Cheryl L. Davies for this debut! Great start of a big writing career I'd say. And if you still doubt whether buying the book or not, let me just add this... Cheryl is a very nice person (wink)! I already hoped I would like the book after her kind emails, so I'm glad I did :)

http://cldavies.com/automaton-reviews.html

Winners Giveaway Dangerous Waters

Hi everybody,

because I don't have time tomorrow and there's nobody entering the giveaway anymore, I decided to close it some hours before the deadline :D 
First of all I want to say THANK YOU to Anne Allen for this giveaway and to all of you who've read the interview or/and entered the "competition".

Now... the winners... Random Line Picker picked the following two ladies as winners, so they'll receive an e-copy of "Dangerous Waters". Congratulations!!! (and enjoy :D It's a great read!)

To all others: thanks for entering and hopefully you'll win a book next time :D

Have a great evening/day/night and much love to all of you!

Sincerely,
Eline

Chick Lit Central: The Blog!: Meredith Schorr shares her "Voice"...and her latest novel!

Chick Lit Central: The Blog!: Meredith Schorr shares her "Voice"...and her latest novel!

Looking forward to "The Miniature Polar Bear"

I always had a thing for children's books and that's why I'm glad to offer author Sarah Scott some promotion for her upcoming book "The Miniature Polar Bear". I have to be carefull with my words. It's not "just" a book, it's more! It's an interactive book app for children of all ages. Great idea in these times where everything is about computers, Ipods, Ipads,... and real books are becoming old-fashioned (I hate that trend and don't follow it, but it's part of our world I believe). 

The concept is really good in my opinion because the readers of this book will not only get a compelling story about a little boy with a big imagination who finds a miniature polar bear under his bed. They'll also get beautiful animations, music and hear voiceovers. Their imagination will be stimulated in more than one way. It will be a sort of book that's more attractive for the children of this age. Don't get me wrong, I still believe children should read actual books instead of playing on all these devices BUT this IS an actual book. The great thing is that it's ON one of these devices and uses the advantages of it!

What about the story? Well, I believe it's gonna be a good one (although I haven't read it myself so far). Sarah tells us something about Jimmy, a little boy with a wonderful imagination. When he joins his family for a trip to the zoo, he gets intrigued by the polar bear and wants one for himself. And believe it or not... Jimmy finds a miniature version of this bear underneath his own bed! This is the start for some great adventures for Jimmy and his new little friend. Along with the adventures come some trouble for the boy, but he does everything in his power to protect his fluffy companion.

When this book comes out, it'll be understood by lots of children around the world because Sarah makes sure to add as much translations to the app as possible. I for sure would give her some help with the Dutch translation since I really believe in this project!

Want a sneak peek of some images? 

If you'd like to have some more information about the book or offer Sarah some help with finishing her project, please visit this site:

http://www.indiegogo.com/miniature-polar-bear 

Review "The Eternal Well"

Some information

Title: The Eternal Well 

Author: K.D. Lathar 

Pages: 288 (kindle edition)

Genre: hmmm, YA (although I think it's too difficult)/Fantasy

Published: July 2012

Publisher: Tarragon Publishing

My source: Author (thank you!)

My score on Goodreads: 1 star (do not despair, I finished the            book, so that's a good thing!)

Covertext

‘What do you mean a single soul can destroy the universe?’ The Clan leader was serious.

Thirteen-year old Peter Badger and Michelle Hawk cling to the hope that their other Changeling friend, Paul Otter, is still alive and has found one of their missing parents. They re-enter the world in which the Rumanni are struggling with the Clan for dominance; the Rumanni might against the Clan's enlightened spiritualism.

The Rumanni King however hates the Changelings and is hunting them down. He wants their power, for he believes that somewhere in it lies the solution to his longing for eternal life. To make matters worse, the land becomes a perilous place when the sun goes down as the night creatures and the Rakshas, the demons, come out to feed.

The Changelings’ attempted rescue of their captive parent is a disaster. It acts as a catalyst which transforms the Changeling parent's soul into a nemesis that could destroy the whole of existence. Unwilling to accept their failure, headstrong Michelle goes in search of the Gate to the very Realm of the Dead, to save the soul of the missing parent. Peter and Paul follow, knowing that all three must stay together to have a chance of succeeding.

In this Realm, terrible in its simple imperative, the ruler of the Dead is their absolute enemy. Surely the Changelings' task to find one soul amongst the untold trillions is impossible?

Review

Is it because this book wasn't really my genre? Is it because the author gave me the second book in a saga and I wasn't able to understand a lot of things from the beginning on? Is it because I had too great expectations of this book? I don't know... I don't think it's because of  these reasons I didn't love the book.

First of all I've already read other books than those I normally pick and liked them! Second I believe that it shouldn't matter if you haven't read the first book in a series. The author should make it possible to follow and understand the story! And third, yeah... maybe I did have too great expectations... 

This book tells us the story of Peter, Paul and Michelle. Three "Changelings". This means they can change to an animal form. Our three young heroes live in two worlds. The real world and a parallell world where the battle between good and bad is really on. 

The story begins when Peter and Michelle are going to this frightening world full of demons, strange spirits and pain to find their friend Paul, Michelle's mother and some other missing persons. It's not a pleasure trip as Peter and Michelle (and some others) have to fight for their lives, find their way in a horrible forest and watch out for the Eternal Well and all the bad things hidden in it...

I don't think a really bad review would help this kind author, so I'm going to try to make it a constructive review where I highlight the things I did not appreciate and why I didn't. 

The main thing I didn't like was the fact I didn't understand the story from the beginning on. I hoped it would get better, but instead the author kept on piling more mysteries without solving them actually. Mystery is good, but not when it keeps your readers from understanding the plot of your book. I can understand you need to read the first book to fully understand the second one, but all those people, mysteries and terms I didn't get... I felt so stupid! 

There's already a second thing annoyed me... All those characters I couldn't connect with! The main characters become more tangible throughout the book, but there were many side characters only introduced by name. I didn't know them, didn't understand them, couldn't imagine them and this kept me from empathizing. Every character needs a proper introduction, especially when they shape the plot.

Because of all those things (and some more annoying facts I'm not going to mention here) I wasn't sucked into the book. The only thing I felt was an urge to read quick. The sentences are built in a way they rush you. Yeah, you could say that's exciting and this genre needs some excitement, but with all those mysteries, characters,... I couldn't bear this feeling! I was constantly looking at the pagenumber and hoped I would soon reach a point where everything became clear. I waited in vain... Even at the end the fog didn't leave. 

What I did like were the little philosophical items woven throughout the book. I noticed some things about reincarnation and liked them. Also the image of changing footsteps on top of every new chapter was well found. You can see Peter, the main character, changing more and more from a human being to a badger. It captures the main idea of the "Changelings". 

Sorry I don't spread more love for this book, but I promised to be honest and so I am :( The plot was too hazy for me to tell you something more about it. Maybe it's a challenge to read the book yourself and figure the plot out. Maybe you'll think I'm really stupid ;)

Have to say thank you again to author K.D. Lathar for giving me this e-book and I wish him best of luck with the sequel next year!