A Timeless Romance Anthology

Ok guys, I know it has been a while since I posted anything but that is life with 4 kids.

I am excited to share with you readers this assortment of romance novellas.  Before I get into my thoughts about it let me share a note from the main authors:

"Heather B. Moore, Annette Lyon, and Sarah M. Eden have been indie publishing this series since 2012 through the Mirror Press imprint.  For each anthology we carefully select 3 guest authors.  Our goal is to offer a way for our readers to discover new, favorite authors by reading these romance novellas written exclusively for our anthologies...all for one great price."

Does that  not sound great to you?  I love it!  Every time one of these anthologies come out I get a novella from 3 authors I enjoy and I get 3 more from other authors, some I already know and love and some I don't know but get to find out if I like them or not.  When I finish one collection and get to see what is coming next I nerd out a bit and get a little giddy with the anticipation of more.  It can't be helped really.

Because these timeless romance anthologies are plentiful I didn't want to highlight just one.  Because I am not highlighting just one I really can't give a rating.  When I rate the collections individually on goodreads I usually give them a rating based on the overall feel of it which doesn't really account for my feelings of the individual novella, some of which are better than others.

Between my sister and I we own an e-copy of every collection in the timeless romance anthology.  We both read it and then we talk about our favorites and it's really just so fun for us.  They are always 4.99 on amazon, which in my opinion is very affordable and totally worth it.

If you wanna read these and don't know where to start I suggest starting at the beginning.  That's the way I like to do it at least.  But if you aren't picky about such things as I am then I suggest starting with which cover or collection looks most appealing to you or if you see an author you like within a collection.  If you are wondering which collection is my favorite I would have to say the Summer Wedding Collection.  There are some seriously great ones in there.  I also wanna give a shout out to the Love Letters Collection as one of the guest authors is a talented lady in my ward(church) named Karey White.  I'm less inclined to say which one is my least favorite cuz I don't want to be rude or step on any toes.  I believe I have the pictures above in order of when they came out, the Winter Collection being the first and California Dreamin' being set for release in spring 2015.

For your convenience I will go ahead and list each collection below and link it to it's goodreads page.

A Timeless Romance Anthology: Winter Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Summer Wedding Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Autumn Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: European Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Love Letter Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Old West Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Summer in New York Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: Silver Bells Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Regency Collection
A Timeless Romance Anthology: California Dreamin' Collection

Some of my favorite authors have been guest authors(Janette Rallison, Melanie Jacobson to name a couple), not to mention the recurring Sarah M. Eden who tops my favorites in Regency romance.

If you have never bought an e-book before this is a good way to start.  If you have a smart phone dowload the kindle app and read it from you phone or ipad.  You don't have a smart phone you say? No worries! All you need is an amazon account and you can log into the kindle cloud reader and read from your computer.  Easy peasy.  Enjoy and if you feel so inclined let me know what you think!

Book Review: Ever After High: Storybook of Legends

Title: The Storybook of Legends
Author: Shannon Hale
Series: Ever After High
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Middle Grade
Goodreads rating: 4.02
My rating: 4.25

At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens...whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.

As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen's destiny is to follow in her mother's wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven's style. She's starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.

What if Raven doesn't sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.


___________

I'm always game for some good fairy tale books.  A while back when I first saw that this book was coming out I knew I was gonna read it.  Just the idea of it was intriguing and I loved the cover so so much.  But as I thought about it I decided I wanted to read it with my oldest daughter who is 6.  I waited a while til I felt like she was mature enough to understand what I was reading to her.  I am so glad I waited to read it to her!  It was so fun reading it out loud and to try and make a voice for all the different characters.  It was great to see my daughter getting into the story and asking me to read more to her.  I loved it!  I do believe I am a touch more excited to get into the next book than she is though :)

The story is told mainly from 2 points of view, Apple White(the daughter of Snow White) and Raven Queen(the daughter of the Evil Queen).  We get occasional little interactions from Madeline Hatters point of view as she converses with the narrator, which is just great!  Maddie Hatter is seriously my favorite, she is quirky and upbeat and is always doing impossibly impossible things.

The way Hale writes this book just sets the mood right.  All the characters have personality.  The humor that stems from some of these personalities are great!  Maddie Hatter, Briar Beauty, Hunter Huntsman, Daring Charming and Dexter Charming come to mind.  I feel sure that in the second and third book there will be even more interactions and development with these and more secondary characters, ie: Lizzie Hearts, Kitty Cheshire, Duchess Swan, Ashlynn Ella, Cerise Hood, Sparrow Hood etc.

When I found out there were short little animated episodes of Every After High I couldn't wait to finish this book so I could watch them with my girls.  Then when my sister came for a visit we totally geeked out and watched all of them :)  I may or may not have frequented the website while waiting to finish reading(since reading to a 1st grader is a lot slower paced then if I just read it myself).  I just love the animation.  Love, love, love it!  And I also may or may not have a book crush on Dexter Charming.

I think you all should read this book.  And don't take it too seriously! This book is for fun and still has a lot of story to be told past the first book.

For all the books in this series so far follow the link I made to the series up top.  Though there are 3 books there are also a handful or two of novellas.  The third book will be out later this month.  :)

Of Poseidon

Title: Of Poseidon
Author: Anna Banks
Series: The Syrena Legacy
Genre: YA/Romance/Fantasy/Mermaids
Goodreads rating: 4.08
My rating: 4

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom...

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.



___________


Maybe some of you think that it is too juvenile for an adult to be reading stories of "mermaids."  Well I say you are never too old to read about mythology and fantasy, even if those fantasies were childhood ones.  And be honest, what little girl didn't want to be a mermaid or pretend that she was a mermaid?! 

I've only read a few different series about mermaids and of the ones I've read this series is my favorite.  I love that Emma is quirky and clumsy and that her appearance is quite unique.  I like the chemistry that her and Galen have.  The supporting/secondary characters are fun and interesting and make for an even more enjoyable read.  The plot is interesting and filled with a little bit of mystery.  This book ends on a cliffhanger but lucky for any of you who haven't read it the series is now complete

This series includes:

Of Poseidon
Of Triton
Of Neptune
(and a few novellas which I haven't read)

The Wide Awake Princess

Title: The Wide-Awake Princess
Author: E.D. Baker
Series: The Wide-Awake Princess
Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Romance
Goodreads rating: 4.05
My rating: 4.25

In this new stand-alone fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie—blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic—can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen's true love to kiss her awake.


But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn't possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father's guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own.

___________

The best way I can describe this book is simply sweet.  This is a perfect book to introduce to your young daughters learning a love of reading.  The story has a wonderful message, the romance is sweet and the adventures are perfect for the younger readers.  But that doesn't mean it isn't also an enjoyable read for adults.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

There are other books in this series as well which I have yet to read but I imagine they are all just as great as the first one.  

This series includes:

The Wide-Awake Princess
Unlocking the Spell
The Bravest Princess

Book Review: Across a Star-Swept Sea

Title: Across a Star-Swept Sea
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Series: For Darkness Shows the Stars
Genre: YA/Retelling/Science Fiction>Post Apocalyptic/Romance
Goodreads rating: 4.05
My rating: 4.5

Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction—the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars—is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries’ weapon is a drug that damages their enemies’ brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo… is her most dangerous mission ever.

Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can’t risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he’s hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country’s revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he’s pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she’s not only risking her heart, she’s risking the world she’s sworn to protect.

In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.

___________

I've always loved the Scarlet Pimpernel.  I haven't actually read the book, which I plan to rectify eventually, but I grew up watching the movie(Jane Seymour) with my mom and sister.  After reading For Darkness Shows the Stars, the first book in this series(retelling of Persuasion) I was ecstatic to see that the next book was a retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel.  

I was really not disappointed in this book.  Next to a stunning cover and title is an equally stunning read.  The title of the books in this series are so poetically beautiful and aside from the gorgeous covers, just draw you in.  

This book begins shortly after the end of For Darkness Shows the Stars.  The setting is completely different but some of the issues are the same, yet different as both "countries" believe they are the sole existing humans left in the world and have dealt with the "reduction" in different ways.  In Elliot and Kai's explorations(occurring after the end of the first book) they come to an island in New Pacifica and cross path's with Persis and her friends.  Though Across the Star-Swept Sea isn't about the characters of the 1st book their arrival is a critical turning point in the book.  

I would be silly if I didn't mention the romance in this book.  I love Justen and Persis' relationship.  It was great reading as Justen's opinion of Persis' slowly changed from spoiled, flighty and stupid to loving and caring and generous if not at all serious and still spoiled and silly until he learned of her identity as the Wild Poppy who is daring and excessively smart as well as a little bit of everything else he discovered about her.  

I honestly can't wait to see where this series goes from here.  What retelling will be next?!  Whatever it is I'm sure it will be just as lovely.  

Book Review: Heist Society

Title: Heist Society
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society
Genre: YA/Mystery/Contemporary
Goodreads rating: 3.95
My rating: 4

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

___________

Great cover, right?!  Or maybe you need to read the book to really appreciate the cover.  I love it when I read a book and the image on the cover is a perfect fit with the image the author is trying to create.  I love the Heist Society covers, especially the images you can see through the sunglasses.  It's kinda perfect.  

Have any of you read the Gallagher Girls series?  Well if you liked Gallagher Girls you'll definitely like Heist Society.  Kat decides to leave the life of a thief.  Not so easily done when it is the family business.  When she decides to come back to the life she realizes how much she missed out on but is it enough to convince her to stay? Will she be the kind of thief that steals for selfish reasons or the kind of thief that restores property to it's rightful owners? With the help of her not quite boyfriend Hale and other members of the family business can Kat save her father from certain death?  

I really like this series.  I like that it is clever without being too clever that you aren't even sure if you are following.  Maybe the outcome surprises you but maybe it doesn't.  I personally never quite predicted the outcomes in any of the books.  But I was also never confused by the outcome.  It's a really nice balance that makes for a very enjoyable read.  

Here is the list of the series as it is completed so far:

Heist Society
Uncommon Criminals
Perfect Scoundrels

Book Review: Princess of the Midnight Ball

Title: Princess of the Midnight Ball
Author: Jessica Day George
Series: Princess or 12 Dancing Princesses
Genre: Romance/YA/Fairy Tale
Goodreads rating: 3.9
My rating: 4.5

A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… 

Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above. 

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

___________

Of all the versions of the 12 dancing princesses that I've read this is my favorite.  I love the characters, I love the romance and I love the magic.  I also love how well you get to know the sisters.  Some versions I have read all but the main character gets quite forgotten or has very little face time.  You get to know the sisters even better through the following two books in the series.  

The pacing of the book is great too.  I'm generally a person that likes books that move along.  I don't like to get waylaid by slow scenes and overly long descriptions.  I have a tendency to skip sentences, paragraphs and even pages if a book isn't moving how I like.  In this book I wanted to read every word and miss nothing.  

Rose is the main character and also the oldest sister in this book.  All of the sisters are named after a flower.  For fun here are all the sisters names in order of age, oldest to youngest:

Rose
Lily
Jonquil
Hyacinth
Violet
Poppy(twins with Daisy)
Daisy(twins with Poppy)
Lilac
Iris
Orchid
Pansy
Petunia

The two other books in the series feature Poppy and Petunia as main characters.  The second book Princess of Glass is my favorite in the series, I just love Poppy, she is hilarious and totally awesome.  

Here are the books in this series:

Princess of the Midnight Ball(Rose)
Princess of Glass(Poppy)
Princess of the Silver Woods(Petunia)

While the second and third books are a continuation of the 12 dancing princesses they are really their own fairy tales as well.  Princess of Glass, as you may have guessed, has a Cinderella theme to it and Princess of the Silver Woods, as you may have guessed as well, is sort of a mix of Little Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood.  Speaking of the covers, GORGEOUS! I love them!  

If you have never read Jessica Day George before PLEASE DO!  She is so great at retelling fairy tales and spinning some of her own.