Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts

Sunday, July 31, 2016

My Valentine Adventure by Amber Daulton





 Blurb:

Parker Townsend raised his children alone after he lost his beloved wife to cancer. When his two little hellions placed a “Mom Wanted” ad in the local paper, Parker found himself roped into an unwanted blind date.

Claire Lauer answered the want ad with few expectations, and met Parker on Valentine’s Day, a day she hated with a passion. As an animal rights activist and a divorcée, she felt more comfortable with a placard in her hand than in the company of a handsome man with emotional baggage.

After a protest takes a turn for the worse, she seeks shelter in her date’s arms and loses time in his bed. Will Parker and Claire find the courage to lay their fragile hearts on the chopping block by morning, or will they forever live in a world of gray?

About the Author:

Writing is the fruit to happiness.

Amber Daulton lives her life by that one belief even though she normally isn’t so Zen.

Author of several novellas, she published her first book in 2012 and hopes to publish countless more in the future. As a fan of contemporary, paranormal, and historical romance novels alike, she can’t get enough of feisty heroines and alpha heroes. Her mind is a wonderland of adventure, laughter, and awesome ways of kicking a guy when he’s down. She probably wouldn’t be too sane without her computer and notebooks. After all, what’s a girl to do when there are people jabbering away in her head and it’s hard to shut them up? Write! Nothing else works.

Review:

Neither Parker nor Claire particularly wanted to go on a blind date on Valentine’s Day. Parker’s kids placed a “Mom Wanted” ad in his brother’s newspaper, and Claire’s daughter all but dialed the number to get her to reply. The only reason either showed up in the end was that it would be rude to leave someone sitting alone in a nice restaurant on Valentine’s Day. In fact, Claire never even spoke to Parker—his brother screened the calls and set up the whole thing, after which his sister-in-law and kids scoped Claire out at work, posing as customers.

But the date goes better than either expects. When Parker asks Claire why she keeps getting text messages, she confesses she planned to attend an animal rights protest at the circus to which he intended to take his kids. As Claire launches into a passionate explanation of the abuses to which the circus owners subject their animals, Parker calls for the check. I’ve driven another one away, Claire thinks. Nope. Parker escorts her to the protest, grabs a placard, and joins in the chant. It’s a perfect date until one of the protesters sneaks inside the circus and frees a tiger, the police show up, and chaos ensues. The couple manages to slip off to their car and even spends the night together, kids safely off spending the night with family.

My Valentine Adventure was a fun romp with kids doing most of the match-making for their respective reluctant parents. It’s another sweet romance, two in a row being a nice break from the sex scenes I’ve been reading in other books, and I confess, writing in my own work-in-progress.

The only reason I’m giving My Valentine Adventure four roses is that again, it could use better editing. I hate to do so, because Ms. Daulton is a fellow #GlassSlipperSister. But, I am nothing if not honest on this site, and anyone who follows this blog knows I’m a stickler for editing issues. It truly is a shame when an author suffers because of inadequate editing, and this is not an indie book. My Valentine Adventure presumably went through both a content and copy editor, who apparently lacked a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style.

Heat Rating:  PG-13
Length:  65 Pages
Digital Price:  $2.99

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy, Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.

Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Raising Children for Fun & Profit By Jill Conner Browne

Blurb:

The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit is a hilarious (though not scientifically tested) wink at the time-honored mysteries of parenting, because anybody who has ever had a kid or has ever known one knows that the experience is neither fun nor profitable -- so you might as well laugh!

As each generation begins its hopeful, happy, and, yes, sometimes harrowing journey as Parent and Child, together they spawn a new body of "knowledge," the nuances of which will elude the Experts every time. Here are stories of the things we do for Mother Love -- or, the most incredibly full-time volunteer job ever -- and tips guaranteed not to be found in any other parenting guide.

·         How to talk to a pregnant woman
·         How the diamonds on delivery policy can speed up the labor nature intended
·         Why a good mother is always adept at subterfuge
·         The list of things you wouldn't think you would have to tell kids not to do
·         Why mothers of sons can never retire
·         Why, for parents, it's just a short drive to the poorhouse

The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit will have everyone who's ever been a parent -- or has ever thought of becoming one -- or has ever been a child -- or is still one -- giggling and grinning (no small feat) through those childbearing years...and beyond.
 

Review by Rose Thornton:

Anyone who is familiar with Jill Conner Browne’s series of Sweet Potato Queen books has likely already read this one because her work is addictive and if you read one, you will want to read them all! Browne is the female Dave Barry of written humor based on real-life. This is another delightful book of hers. If you have yet to read of the Sweet Potato Queens, you are in for a special treat. This book, like the others, is easy to read, well-organized, includes many helpful tips and recipes, and above all is hilarious! I highly recommend it.

Thanks for visiting, Rose, Julie, Donna, & Rochelle

Length:  304 Pages

Prices:
Print:  $12.95
Digital:  $9.43

Buy Link:



Saturday, August 30, 2014

Foreshadow by Cynthia Joyce Clay, Reviewer Julie Grimm



Blurb:

Princess Royal, Tristabé-airta of Allsongs, daughter to King Freyzyn, is the darling of her father's court. Poet souled, she can never contend for the heirship of Allsongs because she is flawed. Never will she transform to demi-dragon form as her kingly father does. Nefarious magical creatures have designs against her; neighboring rulers, King Pict and the Usurper King Knag plot the overthrow of King Freyzun; and malcontents work to undermine the simplefolk’s trust in the magic of the poets. As small as she is Tristabé-airta must, for the sake of the future of her father's kingdom, make an alliance with a child as royal as she is, but this child hates her...

Review:  

Foreshadow: Book I of the Saga of the Dragon Born by Cynthia Joyce Clay is a lengthy tale with Tristabé-airta, daughter to the king, as the central figure of the story.  Although she is considered flawed, Tristabé-airta is a baby whose powers begin to show when she is very small.

I would have given this book a thorn, except I think it would have great potential if this one book could be made into several smaller books without so much detail. I could even picture it as a movie while I was reading it.  It jumps around a lot, and it would help if the characters were introduced at a slower pace.  I simply couldn’t keep track of them all. The chapters start out jumping back and forth between the nobles and the simple folk with no real reason for doing so which adds to the confusion.

What I enjoyed about the book was the main noble characters as they have special powers which are different from powers used in other fantasy novels.  I also was entertained by the simple folk who get into trouble for proselytizing.  However, the proselytizers names made me roll my eyes, and so did key words that were used that didn’t fit the time period.

I was also very unhappy with the ending.  There is a way to tell a tale without leaving the reader hanging but yet wanting more.  It didn’t make me want to read the next one.

Length:  324 Pages
Digital:  $6.00

Thank you for visiting, Rose, Julie, and Rochelle