Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns
Showing posts with label James Hartley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Hartley. Show all posts

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Cop With a Wand by James Hartley



Blurb:

Daisy Hudson is a newly reinstated plainclothes cop, but more importantly, she has just come to the realization that she’s a witch. Not just any witch, but a very powerful witch.

After reuniting with her partner Inspector Herb Farrell who eventually catches on to Daisy’s powers—as well as falls for her charms—together they conclude that the ordinary crimes of their city have become overshadowed by the evil conspiracy of a sinister group of gray men.

From petty crimes to those committed at the highest level of government, it becomes apparent that these tall, ugly, gray-skinned men known as the Warlocks harbor a far-reaching, ominous plot...an alien takeover of the Earth.

Even with the aid of the forceful local coven, will Daisy and Herb have the fire power to prevent the Warlocks’ impending overthrow of the government?

Review:

Okay, I admit it; I’m prejudiced. Being Wiccan, I love books about witches—especially ones with a sense of humor, and Mr. Hartley’s witches always have an acerbic wit that tickles my humerus. I’m a fan, so I kind of go into his books expecting to have fun reading them and Cop With a Wand did not disappoint.

The first time Daisy uses her powers, she puts a bully in his place, and in the hospital with a crushed testicle, and she doesn’t even realize she did it.  Well, she’s only in Junior High. She barely mutters the spell. She doesn’t even know it’s a spell. These strange words just sort of come to her and he’s on the ground, writhing in pain. The kid he was beating up swears she was at least ten feet away. She couldn’t have attacked him.

Daisy’s boss suspects she’s a witch, but maintains a “don’t ask; don’t tell” policy while sending her out on cases that include strange elements. And they all seem to lead back to the grey men, the Warlocks, who seem to be turning up everywhere, including above her boss’ head.

Needless to say, Mr. Hartley grabbed me on the first page and kept me going right through to the last word. Despite its length, the book sped by all too quickly. I hope there will be sequels.

Length:  251 Pages
Price:  $5.50

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price 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.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Rose, Julie & Rochelle

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Beverly Bronte Space Chick by James Hartley



Blurb:

Space pirates? Invisible asteroids? Six-limbed aliens invading from the Lesser Magellanic Cloud? Bring 'em on, Beverly Bronte is ready to handle them. As Ensign Bronte, a new graduate of the Trans-Planetary Patrol Academy and the first woman assigned to serve on a Patrol spaceship, Beverly shows her native intelligence and ingenuity in solving problems ... and she also shows her ability to deck a space marine of twice her weight. Promotions come fast, but the challenges come faster in this action packed space saga.

Review:

I think the cover of this book is a bit misleading.  The cover is somewhat sexier than the book is.  I don’t recall Beverly wearing any sexy outfits.  She begins as a cadet at the Trans-Planetary Patrol Academy, and we follow her career through the book.  She reminded me a bit of Honor Harrington of the Royal Manticoran Navy series by David Weber, which is high praise since I’m such a fan of those books, I’m a Lieutenant Commander in the RMN (aka, a member of the Honor Harrington fan club).  The difference is, women are not yet accepted in the TPP and Beverly Bronte has to work twice as hard to prove herself to the men around her.  That’s not too difficult, though—Beverly is twice as good as the men around her.

It is really great to read a book with a strong heroine that is written by a man.  It takes a real man, secure in his masculinity, who truly loves and understands women to do so.  The few I can toss off the top of my head are Robert A. Heinlein, David Weber, Jim Butcher (Karen Murphy and other women in the Harry Dresden series), and James Hartley.  In addition to giving us a strong woman to admire, Beverly Bronte, Space Chick is a fast-paced, adrenalin-loaded space adventure that kept me on the edge of my seat, gave me a good chuckle here and there, and thoroughly entertained me.  And isn’t that why we read fiction of any kind?  Great book!

Length:  209 Pages
Price:  $5.50

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price 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.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Rose & Rochelle