Bernard Jan's Blog, page 9

Maureen's (Not So Great) British Cake Off Book Review

Maureen's (Not So Great) British Cake Off by Jonathan Hill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Once again, he did it. Jonathan Hill proved his sophisticated sense and talent to humor and entertain with his brand-new Maureen and Tim story in which Maureen hosts a cake-baking contest for her friends to show off her new beautiful garden. Maureen's (Not So Great) British Cake Off is funny, witty, clever and entertaining from the beginning to the end. With its set of thoughtfully picked characters and amusing dialogues, it is bound to make you swing, sway and double over with laughter.

If you haven’t already read anything about Maureen and Tim, this is your giggling moment. Maureen’s (Not So Great) British Cake Off is funny all around!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My reviews of A Surprise for Maureen and Mo Mo Mo! Merry Christmas, Maureen!.

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Bernard Jan



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Haunted House Ghost Book Review

Haunted House Ghost by James J. Cudney




The title says it best: you have a haunted house; you have a ghost. But you also have Halloween, the Fall Festival, a murder, a killer, and a 50-year-old skeleton. What more do we need to get intrigued and dive into this macabre story!

Haunted House Ghost is a cozy mystery novel finely dosed with excitement, expectation, curiosity, and humor. James J. Cudney has created a true holiday atmosphere and charismatic and funny characters we love more and more as the popular series develops. In the fifth book in Braxton Campus Mysteries, he raised the ladder even higher. How far he will go? Only the sky’s the limit!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My reviews of Academic Curveball, Broken Heart Attack, Flower Power Trip, and Mistaken Identity Crisis.

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Bernard Jan



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Deadwave and Respect: A Book Review

Deadwave by Michael Evans

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Michael Evans is not a new author to me because I’ve already read and reviewed his young adult dystopian novel about an authoritarian government Control Freakz. Thanks to Control Freakz, I didn’t hesitate to grab the first book Deadwave from his new Conspiracy Chronicles Series when it was available for pre-order on Amazon, though I still have to read the remaining books from the Control Freakz Series.

I don’t hide that I prefer a standalone novel over the series, but if other books in the Conspiracy Chronicles Series are as Deadwave, I’m all in for it! The core of the Deadwave story might be a virtual reality game infested with zombies, but it is also much more than that. It is the story built on interesting and strong characters who try to survive and fight for their future in a decaying society manipulated by an ultra-powerful group and the world succumbing under the heavy effects of environmental destruction.

As Deadwave sucked me into its virtual world and made me totally enjoy it, I feel obliged to say a few words about its author. Michael Evans is still just a kid at 17 (no offense, Michael!), but he is also a great man when it comes to writing and his understanding of the world. I urge everyone to read Author’s Note at the end of the book to see how great a visionary he is and in what spheres and universes his mind works.

Don’t judge a book by its cover is a saying that couldn’t be more appropriate in Michael’s case. Don’t judge Michael by his age because he is a living proof that age is just a number and that amazing achievements can be realized even before you cross the threshold of maturity if you dream big, work hard, have a vision, plan, determination, and courage to live your dream.

Remember Michael Evans, a boy with a lifelong mission and an advocate for a better future, and Michael Evans, a prolific author and gifted storyteller who creates an alternate universe with such ease like he is writing his homework. Respect!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My review of Control Freakz.

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Bernard Jan



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The Catacombs Review

The Catacombs by Jeremy Bates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From the catacombs, in a labyrinth of tunnels that extend over 300 kilometers under the French metropolis Paris, lurks something more than a darkness. More than a blackness in which you cannot hear or see anything.

In the resting place of six million dead, an unknown something waits for a group of friends who ventured there to investigate a mysterious footage of a discovered video camera. Something dangerous, sinister, something deadly.

The Catacombs are the second book in the World’s Scariest Places series by Jeremy Bates. A gripping page-turner hard to put down. It pulls us into its darkness with the strength of a secret which cannot wait to be revealed to us.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Bernard Jan



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Breach Review

Breach by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Breach. The third and the last Analog Novel by Eliot Peper is a worthy ending of the extraordinary technothriller Analog Series. Once again Eliot Peper proves his ingenious writing, giving us a strong heroine in ex-hacker Emily Kim, brilliant and intelligent dialogues and true gems—his descriptions I fell in love with ever since I’ve read his first book Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 (The Uncommon Series).

Allow me to share three of Peper’s Breach gems with you:

“My dad told me this fairytale when I was little,” said Emily, remembering how his stories had been the soundtrack to her stargazing, polished by retelling until they were smooth pebbles in her heart.

The melancholy notes of a lone oud fell on her ears like raindrops. The gentle pressure of Nell’s touch was an ecstatic connection, two spacecraft docking after an interstellar voyage.

Diplomats are people who murder you politely.

Breach is the book to read, enjoy and cherish. Because of its story, because of Emily and because of the realistic insight into our future world ruled by algorithms and startups that rose into giants, global entities as powerful as the world nations.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

My reviews of Bandwidth and Borderless.

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Bernard Jan



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My EBook at a 67% Discount Price!

I am happy to tell you that my eBook Look for Me Under the Rainbow is again at a 67% discount price during Kindle promo week!

Sunday, September 15, 2019, 8:00 AM PDT through Sunday, September 22, 2019, 12:00 AM PDT

Grab this opportunity and read the story of a harp seal Danny at a favorable price! Please spread the word and tell your friends about it. If you care about its message and want more future readers to hear about it, please leave an honest review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you!

“I loved this short story about a sweet young harp seal who faces both adventure and loss despite being so young. This is a gentle, but realistic tale about the life many seals face out in the wild—with humans being their most feared predator. While sad in parts, I found this story to be very though-provoking and encouraging. If only we can stay brave and true to ourselves even when the darker parts of the world show us their horrible faces.”—Sara Flower Kjeldsen, author of Followed, The Suicides and seven other books

An excerpt from Look for Me Under the Rainbow:

Just as she started to chase and catch up to her prey, she heard a deafening rumble and felt the ice above her tremble. Petrified, she listened to the strident screech of breaking ice. With swift movements, she swam to the hole in the ice from which she surfaced a few minutes ago.

Sliding, stumbling, she managed to climb onto the ice floe. She looked in the direction of the barking group of seals, at the same time they plunged into the sea. Fear and panic spread to other groups. Almost in an instant, all disappeared. Only the unprotected young remained behind on the empty ice floes.

Her blood ran cold when she looked at the place where her boys were supposed to be. Nobody there. No sign of life. With tears in her eyes, she uttered a bark full of pain and anguish.

“Danny! Jon!”

Download Look for Me Under the Rainbow.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Bernard Jan

Readers’ Favorite Bronze for Look for Me Under the Rainbow!

Look for Me Under the Rainbow got another recognition—the Bronze Medal in the Fiction–Animals category in 2019 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest!

Readers’ Favorite recognizes Look for Me Under the Rainbow by Bernard Jan in its annual international book award contest, currently available at Amazon here.

The Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest featured thousands of contestants from over a dozen countries, ranging from new independent authors to NYT best-sellers and celebrities.

Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.

Readers’ Favorite receives thousands of entries from all over the world. Because of these large submission numbers, they are able to break down their contest into 140+ genres, and each genre is judged separately, ensuring that books only compete against books of their same genre for a fairer and more accurate competition. They receive submissions from independent authors, small publishers, and publishing giants such as Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, with contestants that range from the first-time, self-published author to New York Times bestsellers like J.A. Jance, James Rollins, and #1 best-selling author Daniel Silva, as well as celebrity authors like Jim Carrey (Bruce Almighty), Henry Winkler (Happy Days), and Eriq La Salle (E.R., Coming to America).

“When the right books are picked as winners we pay attention. We will be spreading the word about Readers' Favorite.”—Karen A., Editor for Penguin Random House

Readers’ Favorite is proud to announce that Look for Me Under the Rainbow by Bernard Jan won the Bronze Medal in the Fiction–Animals category.

You can learn more about Bernard Jan and Look for Me Under the Rainbow here at Reader’s Favorite where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through his website and social media pages.

“It is a beautiful story that will tug at the hearts of all readers who love animals and who want to protect them and the environment. Danny's character is memorable and he will leave a mark in the hearts of readers long after they finish the book . . . The book also captures the beauty of Mother Nature in many ways, inspiring readers with a longing to protect the planet.”—Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite

Please check out Look for Me Under the Rainbow at BookAwards.Com.

Thank you.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Bernard Jan

Look for Me Under the Rainbow in Croatian Schools!

I have amazing news! Look for Me Under the Rainbow (Potraži me ispod duge in Croatian) continues to be listed as a reading of choice in Croatian elementary schools for seventh graders among 177 other books for sixth to eighth graders like The Little Prince, Diary of Anne Frank, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Old Man and the Sea, Oliver Twist, The Hobbit, to name just a few! What an honor!

In 2018 I have published the English translation Look for Me Under the Rainbow as eBook and paperback on Amazon, so my English-speaking readers all over the world can read it too.

Please check out why this gentle story of the seal pup Danny, his family, Helen and other young environmentalists and Rainbow Warriors activists whose mission is to save animals from being hunted for their fur is so popular and winning hearts of Croatian teachers and their students!

Buy and read Look for Me Under the Rainbow and leave an honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Share your thoughts and tell me what you think of it.

Thank you!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Source: Večernji list, Idemo u školu, August 2019


Bernard Jan

BookBub

It may not sound like big news to you, but I'm happy it became true: I have my BookBub author profile now too!

As it reads on their website, “BookBub is a free service that helps you discover books you'll love through unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors.”

Please check it out and follow me. Will be happy to connect with you there.

Thanks!

And in case you missed the short link above, let's do it one more time:

Bernard Jan on BookBub

Thanks for sharing, following me and everything!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Bernard Jan

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley Review

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Words are like emotions and in The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley Shaun David Hutchinson portrays with great attention and knowledge every stage of heartbreak, guilt, recuperation, laughter, desperation, apathy, hope. And love.

Drew is a boy who doesn’t want to leave the hell of the hospital in which his family died. He hides, draws and works there in his self-induced punishment driven by a strong sense of guilt. He is also a boy whose heart is full of love for two other terminally ill children, his friends Lexi and Trevor, he is trying to save from the claws of death. But he also is a boy who is pulled to Rusty, another teenage boy who is wheeled into the ER in a loud agony with half his body burned.

Drew’s and Rusty’s worlds collide and shape into a new reality of hope and happiness that can happen outside the walls of the hospital, a reality which is not completely devoid of painful pasts and sadness which linger anchored to it.

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley is a beautiful Young Adult dark book about finding the way out of dark with the comic book by Christine Larsen inside it and the ending which could last a few heartbeats (or heartbreaks) longer.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Bernard Jan



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