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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Oct 21, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the Christian historical romance series AMERICAN WONDERS COLLECTION by Regina Scott on my blog. There's also a GIVEAWAY to win both books in the series, a tote bag, book swag, and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card - three winners total!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/10/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-nothing.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS OF NOTHING SHORT OF WONDROUS (AMERICAN WONDERS COLLECTION #2)**
In 1886, the U.S. government gave control of Yellowstone, the country's first national park, to the cavalry to stop predation by poachers, hunters, and vandals. Mrs. Kate Tremaine is all for the change. The young widow and her late husband held the lease to operate one of the hotels in the park. She has raised her six-year-old son among God's wonders and knows every inch of the mountainous park like the back of her hand. It is her home, and she has vowed to protect it.

Lieutenant William Prescott needs someone of Kate's caliber more than he knows. Congress has appropriated funds for only one guide, who is required elsewhere in the park, and the cavalryman is having some trouble finding his way around much less tracking down the troublemakers. As Kate and her son help him, he doesn't dare give in to the tender feelings she raises in him. A tragic mistake eight years ago nearly derailed his career and made him question his own abilities. Not even Kate's encouragement or God's forgiveness can blot out the stain on his conscience.

When Kate's son disappears, Will and Kate must work together to rescue the boy and protect the park. In doing so, they may just find that two wounded hearts can lead to one powerful love when God is in control.
     
Elect (Eagle Elite, #2)
Elect (Eagle Elite, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
*ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This one seemed more of a mystery than the first. Who was behind the killing? Who was Phoenix scared of? What did he know that made him so scared? Ooh, let the snooping begin.

So we’re back with our beloved characters from the first: Nixon, Trace, Chase, Mo, Tex…Phoenix, and we’re still hip deep in the family business. Only this time it’s worse, much worse. The original Sicilian family is on it’s way over to investigate the death of another leader and it isn’t looking good for anyone.

After Phoenix’s actions in the last one, I cant say I was very warm at his reappearance in this but the more I read the more I began to feel sorry for him. He wasn’t all bad; he’d just been forced to do bad things from an early age, stuff he didn’t want to do and it had begun to be ingrained in him. In the end, he did the right thing and that put him back up with the rest of ‘em for me.

Chase. *sigh* He’s such a great guy and deserves happiness. I loved him in Elite but in this…well, I fell even faster and harder, seeing how he struggles with his feelings while at the same time trying to do the right thing. Nawwwww, he’s lovely. :’)

I was intrigued throughout when more information came out about who the bad guy was and I was eagerly awaiting his demise for the last 20% or so of the book.

It’s hard to write too much without spoiling it. All I’ll say is that the ending has left me wanting more!!

If you read and enjoyed the first, you should totally check this out too.
  
Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)
Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)
Jaymin Eve | 2021 | Paranormal
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I picked this up from the Kindle Unlimited library on its release day because i was curious.

So it literally picks up where the last left off with Mera in a crazy going-to-kill-someone mood believing her friend had been murdered with the consent of Shadow. In her anger she once again draws from the Shadow World, bringing hundreds of shadow creatures across before panicking and trying to send them back. Shadow helps her cage them and then they have their argument, coming to an understanding before Angel rushes in, telling them the Shadow World's lock has been broken and they can now head inside so Shadow can claim his powers and his world.

So, yeah. I read it. I felt more interested in the romance between Mera and Shadow in this one. Their feelings grew a lot - or maybe i should say; they grew more comfortable around each other, enough to admit things when shit got bad at times. I will admit that I got invested in them. Without the pack and other distractions like the library, we focused more on Mera and what was happening in her head. She did grow on me quite a lot.

There were quite a few surprises thrown in towards the end involving Dannie and a few other things that I didn't entirely see coming and then the last chapter? Not a fan of what the author did with that but I guess she had to end it in a way that left the third book with a strong starter since the plotline from the start of this series was getting into Shadows World and him getting his powers back and that's all sorted now. I will probably read it when it comes out.
  
Read my original review on my blog: https://bookmarkedreading.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/book-review-geekhood/

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind is a greatly humorous, relatable book about the struggles of a 14-year-old Geek.

Archie, a true Geek to his core, has a lot going on in his life. His parents are divorced, his step-dad is a Tosser, the only thing his friends are good at is the Game, and, to top it all off, he is struck by surprise by a Close Encounter with a Beautiful Goth.

After Sarah tries to help him battle his problems and insecurities, Archie replaces his snarky interior monologue with the voice of his psychic self, trudging alone along the path to psychic alignment. But things don't go quite as he hopes, and he soon makes a serious mess of things. How has it all gone so wrong?!

When he no longer wants to be associated with the Geeks he once called friends, he starts to realise that maybe this isn't what he wants after all. After so long of trying to fit in and fly under the radar, it turns out that maybe doing what you love is enough to keep you truly happy.

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind is a hilarious book, following Archie's combat with problems that are well-known among us teens. I love the script of the interior monologue, and I think a lot of people can appreciate Archie's attempts to mask his true feelings and use of his interior monologue to express himself without others hearing. Definitely a good book, which I enjoyed far more than I expected! A strong 4 stars from me.
  
We Were Kings - Single by Neon Dreams
We Were Kings - Single by Neon Dreams
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Neon Dreams (Frank Kadillac, Adrian Morrisis) is a pop outfit based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Not too long ago, they released a music video for their “We Were Kings” single.

“The video for ‘We Were Kings’ was shot by my close friend Alex Gayoso and directed by me. We were driving through Utah and found this piece of land that was incredible. It had all the landscapes in one place. As a Coldplay fan, I had this idea for doing a one-take video like ‘Yellow’ but making it our own.” – Frank Kadillac

‘We Were Kings’ tells an interesting tale of a young man who reminisces on his teenage years when he was thirteen and six-feet-tall.

Back then, he was shy and the new kid in town, until he obtained a friend. Together, they skipped classes; he wrote songs that his friend sang along to.
Later, he admits that the other children used to beat him up because of the color of his skin. Even then, his friend was there to pick him up.

Even though he hasn’t seen his friend since then, he still remembers the days when they had crowns before they were kings.

“I want to be honest about who I am. I was raised by a single mother who had me when she was only 17. We moved around a lot. I was sleeping in closets, couches – wherever we could stay until we got evicted. I was the new kid in 10 different schools. ‘We Were Kings’ is a heartfelt thank you to those that helped me get through my difficult teenage years. I wanted to make a song that shows these people they’re always in my heart. Nothing has ever changed about my feelings towards them.” – Frank Kadillac
  
Carnival Row - Season 1
Carnival Row - Season 1
2019 | Drama, Fantasy
Cara Delevigne (0 more)
I have mixed feelings about this one. I know that this show did well with the critics because it's apparently reflective of our modern times (xenophobia, etc), and, I'm sure that's probably what the writers intended. However, this show seemed to actually reflect the always interesting and complicated relationship between Ireland and England. The fae even had Irish accents (albeit, bad ones in some cases). It made me think, since both of my families are descendants of two races that weren't necessarily welcome in the US, and I get random sneering/weird comments about being half-Polish.
Anyway, the world was interesting, and it was a Steampunky-Victorian mash up. It was also very predictable, I had everything figured out completely by the 6th episode. The script wasn't that great, and good god, Cara Delevigne cannot act her way out of a wet paperbag. The main draw, for me, was Orly. He seemed to be the best actor out of all of them. There was one story line that I'm not sure was strictly necessary, involving the Spurnrose family, and that obnoxious actress that played Catherine Howard in the Tudors. There was also another strange plot line that seemed a little off, because it wasn't introduced with enough detail. There was also unnecessary T&A that I think just slowed down the show in general. I don't like T&A scenes in general, because they're hardily every relevant to the overall story. I just feel like the streaming platforms are trying to be like HBO. This show would have benefited from not having it, because it could have brought in a younger demographic as well as the adults.
I'm glad this was already renewed for a second season, because they left it as a cliffhanger. I wanted more about these different magical races and their country of origin.
  
Show all 3 comments.
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Erika (17789 KP) Sep 9, 2019

I had a hard time rating it, since Cara was sooo bad in it. It's definitely intriguing.

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AJaneClark (3975 KP) Sep 9, 2019

It’s on my watch list. But the reviews have not been great at all

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ClareR (6054 KP) rated Normal People in Books

Jul 26, 2020  
Normal People
Normal People
Sally Rooney | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
10
6.8 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Normal People has been lauded by so many people for quite a while now, so when the TV series came out, I thought I’d better get the book down off my shelf and actually read it. I’m shockingly bad at watching TV, so I knew this was the only way I’d be able to keep up with everyone talking about it.

I’d had a bit of a love/ hate relationship with Conversations with Friends, but this was all love. A girl who doesn’t belong, has no friends, has a relationship with one of the popular boys - but no one knows. It’s a secret. Marianne seems so damaged by her family, and I really felt sorry for her. Connell lives with his mother - it has always been just the two of them. He seems quite happy with the arrangement with Marianne. In that typical way of teenagers, where they seem oblivious to the feelings of others and their reputation is everything, Connell makes it clear that his and Marianne’s arrangement is not to be made common knowledge.

Marianne reinvents herself at university, and when she meets Connell there again, it appears that their roles have been reversed.

This was a fascinating read, and captures so well the uncertainty of youth. These characters were finding their place in the world, and they really struggle. I honestly could have read on. It’s obvious that Marianne and Connell are made for one another - and I really did like how the book ended.

I say this about a lot of authors (which is why my house is heaving with books!), and hell, I’ll say it again: I can’t wait to see what Sally Rooney comes up with next.