M.L. Sparrow's Blog, page 17

The Bees

The Bees, by Laline PaullBlurb:Enter a whole new world, in this thrilling debut novel set entirely within a beehive.Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen.Firstly, what a gorgeous, eye catching cover, although I also liked the original cover!Now for the review... This book is amazing! It took me a few chapters to get into it, but it turned out to be an engaging, unique, slightly-weird but beautiful book. It had corruption, murder, rebellion and battles, basically anything you could want! I can honestly say I've never read anything like it and I think that's why I liked it so much.This book is very fast paces and a lot happens, so much so that at times it is a bit confusing and hard to envision what's going on. I occasionally had to skim back through chapters I'd read the night before to remind myself of everything that had gone on. Personally, I found that a little distracting and almost wished less was happening, but on the other hand I enjoyed all the twist and turns. The only thing I will say is that I didn't feel that the Prologue and Epilogue were necessary; they added nothing to the story in my opinion.It's hard to talk about characterisation in this book, because it was odd, though well done. I felt for Flora and thought it was amazing how the author humanised her and yet at no point did I forget the fact that she was a bee. She was a strong, rebellious, understandable character and she grows and develops steadily throughout the book. The one thing I did pick up on though, was that the spider mentions something about her heritage, but it's never further explained. I also ended up liking Linden, though I kept wishing he'd be more involved and help Flora - ever the romantic! - but it didn't happen!I also liked the end, although it was sad, and I especially enjoyed how the author integrated real bee 'culture' into the story and characters. I've read a couple of reviews that say this book is a badly done metaphor for humanity, but I tend to take books at face value and enjoyed the book for itself, rather than trying to find any metaphors or deeper meaning.

The Warlord Wants Forever

The Warlord Wants Forever, (Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1), by Kresley ColeBlurb:The WarlordNikolai Wroth, a ruthless vampire general, will stop at nothing to find his Bride, the one woman who can “blood” him, making his heart beat and filling him with strength. Coldly interested only in the power his Bride will bring, he can hardly believe when Myst the Coveted awakens him body—and soul.The SeductressFamed throughout the world as the most beautiful Valkyrie, Myst has devoted her life to protecting a magical jewel and to fighting the vampires.Wroth provides her with the perfect opportunity to torment her sworn enemy—for with his new heartbeat comes a consuming sexual desire that can only be slaked by her. Denying him, she flees, struggling to forget his searing, possessive kiss.The Hunt is on...She eludes him for five years, but he has finally chased her to ground and stolen her enchanted jewel, giving him absolute power over her. Now that she’s his for the taking, he intends to make her experience first-hand the agonizing, unending lust she subjected him to for half a decade. Yet when Nikolai realizes he wants far more than vengeance from Myst and frees her, will she come back to him?This is a great series and this book is a good start to the series. Myst and Nikolai are one of my favourite couples, though I actually preferred them before I read this book - when I started this series years ago, I started with A Hunger Like No Other and didn't read this one until later. As is said at one point, you can't judge immortals by human standards, but still... using a magic chain to take away someone's free will is sketchy!Despite that I enjoyed this book and I love Myst; she is such a kick-ass character. And despite his... lapse in judgement... Nikolai is rather dishy too! I can't help falling for a battle-scarred, hard-as-nails hero with a soft side. Also, Kresley Cole has a knack for writing hot, steamy sex scenes without making the whole story about sex, which is probably why I love her writing so much; her books have the best of both worlds - romance and erotic sex, but also action, solid plot lines, and character development.Like I already said, I just think it should have been longer so that their feelings could have been developed more, since it skipped from hate to love too quickly for my taste. Still, this book is a great introduction to the word of the Lore for those who haven't started this amazing series and the Valkyrie are still my favourite faction - read the book and you'll instantly know why!My favourite quotes from 'The Warlord Wants Forever':' "You need me more than I need to live." '' "Why would you send a man to do a woman's job."Confused, Myst had answered, "Because I can." '' "That's the thing about being immortal. It'll always look worse than it is." '

The Lifeblood of Ill-fated Women

The Lifeblood of Ill-fated Women, (The Blood, Sun and Moon Series, Book 1), by Kevin James BreauxBlurb:Astrid the White isn't an average princess. She has always stayed by the side of her father, King Kol, and learned warfare and weaponry from the best Vikings in the land. When she awakens in the city of Birka and hears the sounds of war, she rushes proudly into the fray. She is more than capable of taking down any enemy wishing to disturb the peace.This enemy, however, isn't what she expected. Before Astrid even gets outside the walls, a golden light knocks her out.She comes to in the snow, in full battle armor. Astrid first suspects that this is a challenge from her father--or even the gods themselves. By acting correctly, she can gain the favor of Odin, the Allfather.Astrid wants to complete the test, but it becomes more and more difficult as she explores this new part of the world and encounters both monsters and monstrous men. As creatures from the darkest legends reveal themselves, Astrid will discover that her journey isn't about acting correctly or passing Odin's test. It's about pure survival. Before she can even think about finding Birka, she will have to defend herself against the demons of this new world.This book was reviewed for Readers' Favorite.The Lifeblood of Ill-fated Women by Kevin James Breaux follows the journey of warrior-woman Astrid the White, Daughter of Kol, after she wakes up after her home of Birka was raided. She doesn’t know where she is, how she got to be there, or what has happened to her family. Walking to a nearby town, she befriends Warren, an ex-soilder who gives her a place to stay and attempts to help her figure out the mystery that surrounds her…This book was a great read. Not only does it have an awesome, attention-grabbing cover, but it is full of twists and turns and bloody action. To begin with Astrid was a hard character to feel connected to, however, as the story wore on and we got to know her, she became more relatable, until, at the end, she’s a heroine you’re cheering for. I loved the fact that this story had so many twists and turns, it kept me on my toes all the way to the end. All the characters tie together effortlessly in the end and little things that I thought were insignificant to the larger mystery all came together.This book ends on a cliff-hanger and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series, which is apparently due to be out in 2018!

Wicked Abyss

Wicked Abyss, (Immortals After Dark, Book 18), by Kresley ColeBlurb:The terrifying king of hell...As a boy, Abyssian “Sian” Infernas had his heart shattered by a treacherous fey beauty who died before he could exact vengeance. Millennia later, a curse has transformed him into a demonic monster—just as she’s been reincarnated. Sian captures the delicate but bold female, forcing her back to hell.Meets his match.Princess Calliope “Lila” Barbot’s people have hated and feared Abyssian and his alliance of monsters for aeons. When the beastly demon imprisons her in his mystical castle, vowing revenge for betrayals she can’t remember, Lila makes her own vow: to bring down the wicked beast for good.Can two adversaries share one happily-ever-after?As Calliope turns hell inside out, the all-powerful Sian finds himself defenseless against his feelings for her. In turn, Lila reluctantly responds to the beast’s cleverness and gruff vulnerability. But when truths from a far distant past are revealed, can their tenuous bond withstand ages of deceit, a curse, and a looming supernatural war?I'm a huge fan of Kresley Cole, especially this series, and I loved this book. It's very Beauty and the Beast, which just happens to be my favourite fairy tale - complete with library!As always Kresely Cole has a spunky, badass heroine, who you can't help cheering on, especially when she was making traps for Sian, and a hot but troubled hero, who you can fall in love with! The banter between them was brilliant to read and I found myself laughing out loud several times. Likewise, the chemistry between them was well written, as it always is, and the development of their relationship was believable... well as believable as a relationship between a fey princess and the King of Hell can be!As for the setting... It was interesting to see this idea of Hell. It's wasn't particularly hellish but I liked it nonetheless and would like to see more stories set there. It would have been nice to have seen other demons though, especially the legions. Also, the more I hear about Morior, the more intrigued I am - I really, really hope Uthyr the dragon and Darach get their own books - plus, I'm intrigued as to what will happen between the Morior and Nix and her allies.I think it's fair to say I can't wait for the next book in this series!My favourite quotes from 'Wicked Abyss':'Note to self: be in charge of future political plots or be excluded from them.''He recalled his threat to throw her to the legions. After this attack, he thought it more appropriate to threaten the legions with her.''Holding sway over one of the most powerful beings in the universe meant she was powerful.'' "Why shouldn't I believe you were involved in your parents' plot to tale my crown?""Because it still sits upon your goddamned head." '

Red Days

Finally, here's the cover for Red Days!Ta-dah!Blurb:2017: 235 taken into captivity, 570 slaughtered.Keiko never set out to be an activist, but when she’s sent on an assignment to Taiji, Japan, the ball is set in motion. Reporting on the brutal yearly slaughter of hundreds of dolphins alters her life.Over the course of ten years Keiko follows the highs and lows of the campaign to stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan and attempts to bring change through her articles. Will her efforts and that of many others be enough?*Though fictional, Red Days is based on a series of true events up until January 2017****Message via Facebook or Twitter******Open Worldwide***Pre-Order UK Pre-Order USA

Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything, by Nicola YoonBlurb:My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.Well, I officially loved this book! I don't know why it took me so long to grab a copy! At the same time though, I have mixed feelings about some parts... If you take it at face value, this is a great YA novel, but if you start looking beneath the surface complications start to arise...It was well written and the pictures and layout made it feel fun and cute. Both Maddy and Olly were great characters and the dialogue between them was so sweet; they are a couple I was cheering on every step of the way. I loved the storyline and thought it was unique, which brings me to the plot twist... On the one hand I loved it (I love a plot twist!), but on the other it felt like a bit of a cop-out; I would have liked to see them learn to live with Maddy's illness.I also thought the message in this book was good... Being alive isn't necessarily living. I know many people won't agree with me, but I'm a huge believer in the quality of life and choice and being cooped up in your house for eighteen years is really no life at all. However, on the other hand, I can see how this portrayal of Maddy's illness could be insulting to some. I've only done a little research into it, but it seems there is so much more it it than was shown in the book and the restriction are even more serious than portrayed. Like I said, mixed feelings! Some people are saying her illness was simply something for her to overcome, which she did, however, I can't help feeling it would have been much more interesting if she'd learnt to live with it instead, as people with the actual illness have to.Despite that though, I'd recommend giving it a try and seeing what you think for yourself.  :-)My favourite quotes from 'Everything, Everything':' Madeline: I'm not at princess.Madeline: And I don't need rescuing.Olly: that's ok. i'm no prince '' "The ocean will kill you." He winks at me. "It turns out that Mother Nature is a lousy mom." '' "Just because you can't experience everything doesn't mean you shouldn't experience anything. ..." ''And the less he seemed to love them, the more they tried to become more loveable.'' "I'm not lonely, ... I'm alone. Those are different things." ''I was happy before I met him. But I'm alive now, and those are not the same thing.'' "... They said it wasn't worth my life, but I said it was my life, and it was up to me to decide what it was worth. I said I was going to go and either I was going to die or I was going to get a better life." '' "You're not living if you're not regretting." ''Be careful because once you become a part of the world it becomes a part of you, too?''My heart is too bruised and I want to keep the pain as a reminder. I don't want sunlight on it. I don't want it to heal. Because if it does, I might be tempted to use it again.''Maybe there's a version of your life for all the choices you make and all the choices you don't.''Safety is not everything. There's more to life than being alive.'

Big Moon Big Top

Big Moon Big Top, by Toneye EyenotBlurb:When Kendrick the drifter joins a circus and becomes Marbles the Clown, he discovers the art of transformation; an escape from the woes of his everyday life. An unfortunate encounter with a feral child in the woods, as the Full Moon prepares to meet the approaching dawn, sets off a gradual transformation beyond anything Marbles could imagine. His deterioration over the following two weeks leads to his apparent death and the circus moves on. Waking up in the morgue a few days later, the slow transformation of Marbles the Clown begins.In a desperate bid to catch up with the circus as it travels from town to town, city to city, Marbles embarks on a two week journey of nightmare carnage and unconquerable insanity, finally reaching his destination in time for the real and terrifying transformation to take hold.This book is not for the faint hearted! It is full of gore and violence and is truly gruesome at times. It was a fast-paced, action-packed read which definitely kept me on my toes. It is well written and although the plot is pretty obvious from the start, for me that didn't effect the story in the slightest. My only complaint was that it was too short; personally, I felt if it had been longer there would have been more time to develop the characters.All in all though, this is a fast, gory read which I'd definitely recommend for fans of horror!

Behind the Dolphin Smile

Behind the Dolphin Smile: One Man's Campaign to Protect the World's Dolphins, by Richard O'Barry and Keith CoulbourneBlurb:Behind the Dolphin Smile is the heart-felt true story of an animal lover who dedicated his life to studying and training dolphins, but in the process discovered that he ultimately needed to set them free. Ric O’Barry shares his journey with dolphins and other sea mammals in this captivating autobiographical look back at his years as a dolphin trainer for aquatic theme parks, movies, and television. Also included is a preface relaying a first-hand account of his adventures filming the 2010 Academy Award–winning documentary The Cove, which covertly uncovered Japan’s inhumane dolphin-hunting practices. O’Barry, a successful animal trainer who had had everything—money, flashy cars, pretty women—came to realize that dolphins were easy to train, not because of his great talent, but because they possessed great intelligence, and that keeping them in captivity was cruel and morally wrong. O’Barry now dedicates his life to stopping the exploitation of these exceptional mammals by retraining them to return to their natural habitats.I was really interested to read this book, since it's by Ric O'Barry who starred in the cover and is at the forefront of the campaign to stop the Taiji dolphin hunts. I'm writing a book about said hunts and thought this would give me further insight. It was very interesting, however, it wasn't what I was expecting; it was more about his earlier career in dolphin training than his current aim to free the worlds dolphins. Like I said, it was interesting and it did give me a fair bit of information, but I thought it would have been better if there had been more about his later life, once he realised keeping dolphins in captivity was wrong...My favourite quotes from 'Behind a Dolphins Smile':'... culture crash between the world's seven billion humans and, well, every other life-form. How we treat dolphins is, in effect, how we treat all animals, and all of nature. We adore them and mistreat them in equal measure.''... they are as intelligent in their world as we are in ours.'' "If dolphins are so smart ... how could we catch them? And why do they do these silly tricks?"..."If we're so intelligent ... why do we do things to them?" '

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls, by Patrick NessBlurb:At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.Wow, what an amazing book! It was short and simply written, but since it's aimed at a young age-group that's not a criticism. Despite that it's a really deep, thought provoking story, which is beautifully written. Also, it dod something few books manage to do... it made me cry! By the end I was bawling my eyes out. At one point, I was reading it whilst at the hairdressers and had to stop because I could feel my eyes burning with tears!I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but it was unique and heartfelt. Simple and yet so, so emotionally complex. I enjoyed the monsters stories and the morals in each of them and I thought Conor was so brave, despite the adults surrounding him who were often less than supportive.I loved it and will definitely recommend it to everyone!My favourite quotes from 'A Monster Calls':'Who is to say that it is not everything else that is the dream?''Stories are the wildest thing of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt.''Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?''Sometimes people need to lie to themselves most of all.''The justifications of men who kill should always be heard with scepticism,''There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in-between.''Stories were wild, wild animals and went off in directions you couldn't expect.''Stories are important, the monster said. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.''You do not write your life with words, the monster said. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.'

Guest Post by Cynthia Roberts!

Behind the Title(Creation of a Love Story)By Romance Author Cynthia RobertsCreating romantic fiction has been a passion of mine, ever since I was old enough to understand the connection between the sexes.  I think I was twelve, when I wrote my first love story and like most young minds; I truly thought it was a masterpiece.There’s another masterful connection that has been going on now for centuries, and that, is the one between music and literature.  There is a full alphabet of songs that have been written retelling a work of literature as far back as the 18th century.“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry was based on a poem, Lady of Shallot.  “Love Story” by Taylor Swift is loosely based on Romeo & Juliet.  The artist Sting’s “Moon Over Bourbon Street” was based on an Anne Rice Novel, Interview With A Vampire.More interesting though, the anatomy of a song has also within its lyrics a pretty fascinating back story as well.  For more than five decades, authors have been creating fictional pieces and bringing readers deep inside the lyrics.  I grew up listening to my mom’s collection of romantic ballads from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.  Those lyrics have forever been embossed into my brain, I still sing along whenever I hear them.  Lyrics like those back then told a story, and they were so strong, and emotional, their affect were everlasting.I have a library of love songs on iTunes I listen to religiously, while I write, as a source of inspiration and a tool that gets me in the mood and mindset I need to be in.  It is from this list, I began to formulate a series of ideas, followed by cryptic notes on paper, and finally the creation of my Love Song Standards Series.  I made a list of the songs I connected with personally, whittling it down to thirty-five.  That number was quite overwhelming and I thought virtually impossible to create that many scenarios.  So, I chipped away at the songs and their lyrics, until I decided on a top ten.I had made a commitment to myself to finish one book a month throughout 2016, writing a chapter every day, leaving me ample time to polish and edit each one.  I knew from the on-start, what I wanted my covers to look like.  They had to resemble each other in a way that would tie them together, but strong enough for them to stand on their own.  My designer Covers by Ramona did an exceptional job tying all my ideas together.After Book 6, Chances Are, was completed, my brain was fried.  I took a short reprieve and switched it up a bit with a Romantic Suspense, A Pawn for Malice.  Happily, the first two books of my series received a 5-Star Readers Favorite Award, which ended my promotion efforts.  I was forced to take an extended break due to personal issues that had set me back both physically and emotionally.  My focus now is to both promote my series and finish the final four titles All The Way, It’s Impossible, Sincerely, and Unforgettable.If you’re a lover of contemporary romance, please do check out myLove Song Standards Series.  I know you’ll be pleasantly pleased.  Buy links and descriptions are available on my website at RomanceAuthorCynthiaRoberts.com.  If you subscribe to my mailing list, we can stay in touch as to when the other titles are completed PLUS you’ll receive a complimentary copy of Book 1, Unchained Melody.  All that I ask is for you to please, please share an honest review at the online retailer you use most. It will help me dramatically towards promoting my book and the series.Hugs from me to you."This is definitely a novel that I would read again. It is going to stay on my bookshelf for a very, very long time."  —Readers' Favorite