Author Kristen James

                                  When love is worth fighting for! 

  www.writerkristenjames.com

There are a handful of authors of whom I'm more than willing to read every book they write, Kristen James is one of those authors. I want to encourage you to sign up for her newsletters, seriously you'll want to do that! She does giveaways and from time to to time she'll choose a few of her fans to do reviews for her. I truly enjoy her books, they're the kind that leave you thinking about your relationships with your friends, family and especially your spouse. Try one of her books, you won't be disappointed! 

Review for Mosquito Chase by Jaycee Ford

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

5 stars
Story told in both points of view
I want to state that I finished this book at 4 am today and I have a serious book hangover thanks to Jaycee Ford! I'm glad that Angela Butler got her HEA and that it was with Caleb Harris makes it that much sweeter! Jaycee writes each character with such depth that you feel as if you're right there in the story. You feel their sadness, they're joy and their confusion as they try to make sense of their feelings for one another and the situation at hand. 

I've read all of the other stories in the Love Bug series and I've enjoyed every one of them. 

This story starts out hard and fast, you're immediately thrown into the story. Your heart aches at all of the sadness in Angela's past and for what she is currently going through. Caleb is a complex creature, he tries to wash away his heartache and pain of betrayal of his ex and his best friend through engaging in meaningless sex. But when Angela Butler comes knocking on his front door in need of his help, he can't turn her way. They start out not liking one another, gradually they comes to terms and it's when Angie has a break down that Caleb realizes that his heart is in danger from this helpless creature. 
Angela is my hero in so many ways. She comes back from such pain and heartache and faces/confronts her fears and she does it more than once! She has guts and she tells it like it is. Rumors about her past are cleared up and the real truth come to be known. She's not the person that others have made her out to be. 
Read this story and you'll see why this one is my favorite book in the Love Bug series. I don't want to go into details as I ant you to discover th story line yourself. Just be prepared for heart pumping drama and action and one heck of a Book Hangover!

Review for The Irresistible Collection

The Irresistible Collection- 5 erotic short stories by AJ Harmon
5 stars
Best collection of erotic short stories you'll ever read! I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I fell in love and I laughed some more as I could relate to some of the antics. AJ Harmon writes with such flare that tugs at your heartstrings! 
I've reviewed all of these stories individually.

I received this collection as an ARC from the author in return for an honest review
California Girl in MA look for me on Facebook 
www.CaliforniaGirlinMA.blogspot.com

Review for Band of Bachelors-Lucas

Review Band of Bachelors- Lucas

This book touched me deeply. I could see myself understanding the issues that that soon to be ex-wife was feeling. It also gave me better insight into the feelings that our men and women returning from combat. 
Buy it. Read it. Review it. Share it with your friends! 

Honesty is the Best Policy

Honesty is the best policy!

Recently I had a set back due to an unexpected (and sadly, an on going) emergency situation. If ever you find yourself in a situation such as I have, where you've been given an ARC (advanced reader copy) of a book and you find for whatever reason that you are unable to make the deadline-it's always best to be completely honest with your author and her book promotion people. I did that and even though I am a little behind, I am getting it done. 
I'm trying to read a complete book every couple of days, taking notes while I read and then compiling those notes into my reviews. Again, always keep your authors up to date with what's going on with you and your life. They're human, just like the rest of us. 

Writing Reviews

We have all found ourselves in the precarious position of struggling to write as eloquently as our favorite authors do. The words can be right there in front of you, swirling around in your noggin, and yet you can't get them to come off as smoothly as you'd like. Just so you know...You are not alone! 

I have no intention to echo what others have written, I do try to make sure that my reviews don't not sound cliché or repetitive. I want this to be "My interpretation" of what I've read. I don't give a 5 star review lightly, the book has got to touch me emotionally in order to get that.  Sometimes I will use a favorite quote or two from the book in my review. 
You might notice that I have quite a few 5 star reviews, but what you don't see is that I am rather selective in the books that I choose to read. 
It bothers me greatly when I see a review that does nothing but quote verbatim the cover of the book or the blurb that is posted on Amazon. My ultimate non-favorite reviews are ;
"buy this book, it's great" 
"Worst waste of my money and my time"
"OMG"
Instead of these unimaginative one liners, why not tell us prospective readers why you think it's a great book or why you think it's not. 

I've got this little set of self imposed rules, they're more of a guideline really as to how to write a review, maybe they'll help you to write your own;
 *I don't like to leave a review less than a 3, why? Because I don't think that it's fair to the author. No author intends to publish a bad book, they've invested hundreds if not thousands of hours into the research and writing of their books. Be respectful of that process. I encourage you to do the same! I've been known to write the author and let them know how I felt about their book before I ever do something that I think is mean. I like to give authors a second chance, sure I might not have liked one of their books, I like to think that I'm open minded enough to try a second one. I did that a few months ago and found myself delighted in the authors second book. It came to me that I might not have been the right "target audience" for the first book, and I stated that in my review

*Always be positive. Constructive criticism on the authors writing can be helpful, but be positive about it. Do they need an editor? Mention it briefly that they might need help in that area but don't harp on it. Maybe it's formatting, again be helpful in your suggestions not rude or condescending. 

*Don't personally attack the writer, there's no reason to do such a thing-EVER! If you think that the characters in a particular book are poorly fleshed out, immature, whiny or shallow, say that. When giving a review where you write that you think the author is immature and can't write-that's a personal attack.

*Spoilers- do you really need to include one in giving your review? Not everyone wants to know who the bad guy was, what the big secret was, who dies or what the argument was about that drove our main character apart.  But if for some reason you feel the need to include those things be kind enough to give a spoiler warning. The words SPOILER ALERT should be clearly written in bold. At the top of your review you should include the words "Review Containers Spoilers" and then before you write the actual spoiler write **SPOILER ALERT**. The author and other readers will appreciate that kind of respect being given. 

* To every writer/author, their book is their baby, treat their baby with care and respect. And just because a book isn't to your personal liking, it doesn't necessarily mean that others won't find it enjoyable. Be honest in what you write but also don't be rude and condescending. 

Now with that said, it's time to write some reviews.

I ❤️ My Kindle

This month I'm celebrating my five year anniversary of owning a Kindle. Honestly, I don't know why I was so hesitant in getting one, but in full disclosure it's brought me so many thousands of hours of pure reading joy! E-Readers in general have opened up readers to hundreds if not thousands of potential new authors and their books. Just the price alone of e-books has many readers sold on going paper free. I was Introduced to the world of Indie Authors and I've never been more pleased with a group writers and their works in all my life!  Because of them, I started reading a few "new to me" genres purely because of books suggested to me by Amazon. And now with book apps like Kobo, iBooks and a few more- well the opportunities to read new to you authors is endless! I highly recommend you try something new to you. Be adventurous in your reading! 

Are you an e-book hoarder?

Have you been loading up on more "free" books than you'll ever read? Well I say "get picky"! Life is too short to waste your time weeding through the hundreds or quite possibly thousands of books on your e-reader only to realize that you don't like the genre. Kindle, Nook and all of those wonderful reading apps can lead us astray in our quest for quality reading material. 

I realized a while ago that I had doing the very thing myself, every time that I saw the word "free" associated with a book, I downloaded it not caring what genre and ear marked it to my "read later" file. I had quite literally amassed more books than I'll ever read, and worse I just downloaded them because they were "free". I became an e-book hoarder. I've since cleaned up my act and only download books that I honestly and truly will read and review. No more getting something just because it's "free". But say that one of my favorite authors has made one of his/her books available for "free for a limited time", well that's quite different! 

I started this blog because I know what I like and I have a good sense of what others might like. I'm not going to get rich or famous, nor do I have aspirations to do so. Follow along and you'll find all sorts of fun stuff. I do plan to do book related giveaways, to participate in blog hops, cover reveals, book launches and talk about what's happening in the world of books. 

Welcome to my book blog!

You've seen my reviews of the books I've read on Amazon and Good Reads. I've been told countless times by friends and authors to start my own book blog, so here I am. I like to think that I've got a good feel for picking out a winner when it comes to books. I've not let my friends down yet when they ask me to recommend a good book for them. 
I like good strong lead characters and the more depth to them the better.  From time to time I am give ARC's (advance reader copies) in exchange for an honest review. I do my best not to give away spoilers that would ruin the story for other readers. I'm on a few street teams and I pimp awesome books that I think are great reads! So follow along as I read, tell you my thoughts on the books I've read and from time to time talk about what's going on in the wonderful world of books!