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BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated An Elegant Façade (Hawthorne House, #2) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
How much is Lady Georgina willing to risk to protect her secret? Will she be able to keep up her façade long enough to land a titled husband who will protect her at all costs? First things first...I have NEVER read a book quite like this. And I LOVE it!!! The storyline overlaps A Noble Masquerade from both Lady Georgina's and Colin McCrae's perspective. Giving us a whole new level to the story. Simply brilliant. (Kristi, I am happy you were able to retain a bit of sanity while writing it, the result is beautiful!!!) We revisit several scenes and now I want to go back and reread the original scenes in A Noble Masquerade. Kristi weaves the story together so beautifully. Both intriguing and refreshing, there is not a dull moment between the covers of this book. Lady Georgina's character definitely lives up to the expectations presented to us in both the novella and the first book of the series. I fully expected her to be self-centered and snobbish and that is how she begins. However, her secret (and no, I'm not telling you what it is) adds a new dimension to her character that produced compassion in me, for her (yes I am shocked myself). Her journey and growth is astonishing to behold. And I can say that I am truly proud of the person that she becomes. And can I just say, "Lord bless Colin McCrae." Annie over on Just Commonly has already called dibs on Colin, which is fine with me. But he is one of the most charming and by far a favorite hero of mine. His growing admiration of Georgina was thrilling to see unfold before my eyes, and closely mirrored my own feelings about her. Faith and self acceptance play a big role in this book. Not only being ok with who you are and how God created you, but thriving in that knowledge that God accepts us for who we are. It is truly important to realise how valued we are, not just by God, but our friends and family as well. And above all, there is nothing too great to keep the Father's love from us. I am even more excited now for Trent's story in An Uncommon Courtship scheduled to come out in January 2017.
I received a free copy of An Elegant Façade from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
I received a free copy of An Elegant Façade from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
ClareR (5996 KP) rated Beneath the Surface in Books
Jul 9, 2019
A family’s destructive secrets
All families have secrets, but it’s highly likely that not all families have secrets that are quite as huge as those that the Vermuydens are keeping from one another.
Grace had grown up in a very chaotic household and she doesn’t want that for her daughters. But when 17 year old Lilly collapses at school, it triggers a chain of events where the family members realise that there are consequences to keeping their secrets.
I actually liked the Vermuyden family. Grace is a mother trying her utmost to give her daughters all the things she never had. She can come across as a pushy ‘helicopter’ mother, but as the story progresses, we realise that there’s no wonder that she tries so hard. However, it can’t be easy for Lilly, who all of her efforts are directed at. She has a great responsibility: mainly to achieve all of the academic things that her mother didn’t have the chance to achieve.
Mia, who is 10/11, has a much easier time of it with regards to her mother. I don’t actually think that her parents expect much of her at all. She’s quirky, really not the same as her peers - something which we seem to value as an adult, but dread when we’re children.
Patrick, the father, is the hardest character for me to warm to. He’s having huge financial problems which are impacting on his family, yet he is keeping the extent of these difficulties from his wife. If it were me, I’d be livid!
This is a great book. I read it within two days because I just couldn’t put it down. I really enjoy these kinds of books - books about families and their issues. The style in which it was written really worked well for me too - I felt as though I was there in person, watching the story unfold (I suppose as a reader, I was!). They were all very human, relatable characters. The teenagers were well written as well. All too often teenagers are written as unpleasant, selfish and calculating, but here we could see their more sensitive, caring sides. They were all just trying to fit in, deal with growing up and their impending adulthood.
I’d recommend this book, there’s just so much to think about - and there’s such a good ending!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this . It’s not a book that I would have immediately chosen to read, but I’m so glad that I did!
Grace had grown up in a very chaotic household and she doesn’t want that for her daughters. But when 17 year old Lilly collapses at school, it triggers a chain of events where the family members realise that there are consequences to keeping their secrets.
I actually liked the Vermuyden family. Grace is a mother trying her utmost to give her daughters all the things she never had. She can come across as a pushy ‘helicopter’ mother, but as the story progresses, we realise that there’s no wonder that she tries so hard. However, it can’t be easy for Lilly, who all of her efforts are directed at. She has a great responsibility: mainly to achieve all of the academic things that her mother didn’t have the chance to achieve.
Mia, who is 10/11, has a much easier time of it with regards to her mother. I don’t actually think that her parents expect much of her at all. She’s quirky, really not the same as her peers - something which we seem to value as an adult, but dread when we’re children.
Patrick, the father, is the hardest character for me to warm to. He’s having huge financial problems which are impacting on his family, yet he is keeping the extent of these difficulties from his wife. If it were me, I’d be livid!
This is a great book. I read it within two days because I just couldn’t put it down. I really enjoy these kinds of books - books about families and their issues. The style in which it was written really worked well for me too - I felt as though I was there in person, watching the story unfold (I suppose as a reader, I was!). They were all very human, relatable characters. The teenagers were well written as well. All too often teenagers are written as unpleasant, selfish and calculating, but here we could see their more sensitive, caring sides. They were all just trying to fit in, deal with growing up and their impending adulthood.
I’d recommend this book, there’s just so much to think about - and there’s such a good ending!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this . It’s not a book that I would have immediately chosen to read, but I’m so glad that I did!
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Rampart Guards (The Adventures of Jason Lex, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Roger Charlie in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<p style="text-align: left;"><i>The Rampart Guards</i> basically made me realize that I'm definitely growing out of middle grade books and I should move on. This is an extremely scary thought, because what if I get tired of young adult books next?! That probably won't happen for a good while, and I've yet to actually read an adult novel that isn't from the cause of required reading.
<p style="text-align: left;">The first book in the <i>Chronicles of Jason Lex</i> starts out extremely slow, but picks up pace as the story progresses. Jason's mom suddenly goes missing, and Jason (along with his family) suddenly gets forced to move to a small town with their grandmother to get away from the painful memories of their mom. And to top it off, Jason sees weird blue electricity-like wisps coming out from his hands and eels in the sky later revealed as Skyfish. He's also a little whiny at the beginning of the novel, but eventually drops it as he realizes, "Oh, hey. Cryptids are real. Someone is hoping to expose these creatures and kill millions in the process, and if I don't get my act together, I might lose everything as well."
Wendy Terrien's debut novel is right up my alley in regards to concept <i>The Rampart Guards</i> is about cryptozoology, the study of creatures that may or may not exist. It's not everyday Big Foot, Loch Ness, and other creatures play a critical role in the plot of a novel, and it's the primary reason why <i>The Rampart Guards</i> caught my eye the moment the book was pitched to me.
I adored learning about all kinds of different creatures I've never heard of until I read this book, and if I do decide to continue on with the series, learning more about the cryptids and how this entire world works is going to be one thing I'll be extremely excited for.
Even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would, <i>The Rampart Guards</i> will be a fantastic read for younger audiences.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-rampart-guards-by-wendy-terrien/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<p style="text-align: left;"><i>The Rampart Guards</i> basically made me realize that I'm definitely growing out of middle grade books and I should move on. This is an extremely scary thought, because what if I get tired of young adult books next?! That probably won't happen for a good while, and I've yet to actually read an adult novel that isn't from the cause of required reading.
<p style="text-align: left;">The first book in the <i>Chronicles of Jason Lex</i> starts out extremely slow, but picks up pace as the story progresses. Jason's mom suddenly goes missing, and Jason (along with his family) suddenly gets forced to move to a small town with their grandmother to get away from the painful memories of their mom. And to top it off, Jason sees weird blue electricity-like wisps coming out from his hands and eels in the sky later revealed as Skyfish. He's also a little whiny at the beginning of the novel, but eventually drops it as he realizes, "Oh, hey. Cryptids are real. Someone is hoping to expose these creatures and kill millions in the process, and if I don't get my act together, I might lose everything as well."
Wendy Terrien's debut novel is right up my alley in regards to concept <i>The Rampart Guards</i> is about cryptozoology, the study of creatures that may or may not exist. It's not everyday Big Foot, Loch Ness, and other creatures play a critical role in the plot of a novel, and it's the primary reason why <i>The Rampart Guards</i> caught my eye the moment the book was pitched to me.
I adored learning about all kinds of different creatures I've never heard of until I read this book, and if I do decide to continue on with the series, learning more about the cryptids and how this entire world works is going to be one thing I'll be extremely excited for.
Even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would, <i>The Rampart Guards</i> will be a fantastic read for younger audiences.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-rampart-guards-by-wendy-terrien/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Jobs (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Whatever you may think of the Apple line of products, Apple as a company, or Steve Jobs himself; one cannot deny that Apple is an innovator and one of those companies that shape economies as well as how we see ourselves.
JOBS is the story of Steve Jobs who, after dropping out of college, created the billion-dollar company so many people buy phones from now. Ashton Kutcher portrays Jobs right down to his many behavioral quirks, and does a very good job; there were even times I forgot I was watching Kutcher. He even mimicked the set of Jobs’ mouth perfectly. I found myself wondering if the people who knew Jobs would feel like they were seeing a ghost.
The movie follows Jobs as he drops acid in the 60s, finds computers in the 70s, “grows up”, while growing his business, in the 80s, and then actually grows up in the early 90s (kind of). It is well known that Jobs was hard to with, but this film shows that he was a gigantic jerk at times. He cut people out of things others would think they deserved; he treated his friends and coworkers alike, and never batted an eyelash at the hurtful things he said to those people. That being said; he truly had a vision and knew what it would take to make that vision come to life. Most driven people tend to be selfish and Jobs was no exception to this; he actually took it to a whole new level at times. The movie doesn’t shy away from this side of his personality, but it does try to explain some of the ticks. This was an area that I thought could have been done a bit better; it would have been nice to see what about his childhood left such an impression that he felt it was ok to be so mean to people. At times I found the movie difficult to watch simply due to his treatment of others, and total lack of understanding how what he said and did affected them. “Oh, that’s just Steve” was an actual line said in the film.
Other than this I found JOBS to be a very interesting look into a modern day legend. One that doesn’t pull as many punches as I thought it would, but that also doesn’t make a villain of a man who, while having extraordinary vision, was nothing more than a man.
If you are a fan of Apple, Jobs, or are just looking for a break from the summer block buster movies, check out JOBS.
JOBS is the story of Steve Jobs who, after dropping out of college, created the billion-dollar company so many people buy phones from now. Ashton Kutcher portrays Jobs right down to his many behavioral quirks, and does a very good job; there were even times I forgot I was watching Kutcher. He even mimicked the set of Jobs’ mouth perfectly. I found myself wondering if the people who knew Jobs would feel like they were seeing a ghost.
The movie follows Jobs as he drops acid in the 60s, finds computers in the 70s, “grows up”, while growing his business, in the 80s, and then actually grows up in the early 90s (kind of). It is well known that Jobs was hard to with, but this film shows that he was a gigantic jerk at times. He cut people out of things others would think they deserved; he treated his friends and coworkers alike, and never batted an eyelash at the hurtful things he said to those people. That being said; he truly had a vision and knew what it would take to make that vision come to life. Most driven people tend to be selfish and Jobs was no exception to this; he actually took it to a whole new level at times. The movie doesn’t shy away from this side of his personality, but it does try to explain some of the ticks. This was an area that I thought could have been done a bit better; it would have been nice to see what about his childhood left such an impression that he felt it was ok to be so mean to people. At times I found the movie difficult to watch simply due to his treatment of others, and total lack of understanding how what he said and did affected them. “Oh, that’s just Steve” was an actual line said in the film.
Other than this I found JOBS to be a very interesting look into a modern day legend. One that doesn’t pull as many punches as I thought it would, but that also doesn’t make a villain of a man who, while having extraordinary vision, was nothing more than a man.
If you are a fan of Apple, Jobs, or are just looking for a break from the summer block buster movies, check out JOBS.
Flower Girl: Big Wedding Day
Games and Entertainment
9.0
Rate It
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Molly’s sister is getting married! Join Molly, the flower girl, on a crazy adventure as she sets...
The Princess and the Pea – An Interactive Children’s Story Book HD
Book and Education
App
>>> FREE & packed with superb animation & stunning interactive activities Take your children on a...
The Arab of the Future: Volume 1: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 - A Graphic Memoir
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VOLUME 1 IN THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CHILDHOODA GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR...
Greenwards / Grunwarts: The New Delight in Urban Nature / Die Neue Lust an Urbaner Natur
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Text in English & German. The inhabitants of our cities have undoubtedly come down with a gardening...
A Fish Supper and a Chippy Smile: Love, Hardship and Laughter in a South East London Fish-and-Chip Shop
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'Oi, Hilda, the sign outside says you're frying today but I ain't seeing nothing done in ere!' The...
