K.J. Chapman's Blog, page 65

Review: When Time Comes by Cat Nicolaou

When Time Comes (A Summer Romance Novella) by Cat Nicolaou 3/5

A contemporary romance novella set on the Greek island of Rhodes about a rockstar and an artist who find love that can last forever.

Athena can’t avert her eyes. Alex Dane is back in Greece. Her mind wanders in time, six years ago, to the island of Rhodes. Three lustful days with him and a precious gift he left her with. All she needs is a leap of faith, but will he fly? Dare they dream again “When Time Comes”?

A heart-warming happy-ever-after contemporary romance to enjoy lying on the beach watching the sunsets with your loved ones. A short read perfect for your summer holidays. Get a feel of the Greek islands even from afar.

I downloaded this novella for free from Amazon Kindle.

Review:

30 something Athena has followed the career of 45 year old, Alex Dane, pop superstar since her teens, and she gets the chance to see him live on the Greek Island of Rhodes. Taking the fifteen hour trip to the island she stumbles across the singer on deck and a romance blossoms. Okay, so the narrative is a little cliche and at times unbelievable, but it’s the dream of most women, right? To entice their idol into a steamy fling.

The six years later part was less interesting for me. The whole Mina storyline gave the narrative less credibility in my opinion, but it did make the conclusion a little bit sweeter. Spoilers- they all live happily ever after.

A romance to be read in an hour with a happy conclusion.

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review

When Time Comes by Cat Nicolaou

When Time Comes (A Summer Romance Novella) by Cat Nicolaou 3/5

A contemporary romance novella set on the Greek island of Rhodes about a rockstar and an artist who find love that can last forever.

Athena can’t avert her eyes. Alex Dane is back in Greece. Her mind wanders in time, six years ago, to the island of Rhodes. Three lustful days with him and a precious gift he left her with. All she needs is a leap of faith, but will he fly? Dare they dream again “When Time Comes”?

A heart-warming happy-ever-after contemporary romance to enjoy lying on the beach watching the sunsets with your loved ones. A short read perfect for your summer holidays. Get a feel of the Greek islands even from afar.

I downloaded this novella for free from Amazon Kindle.

Review:

30 something Athena has followed the career of 45 year old, Alex Dane, pop superstar since her teens, and she gets the chance to see him live on the Greek Island of Rhodes. Taking the fifteen hour trip to the island she stumbles across the singer on deck, and a romance blossoms. Okay, so the narrative is a little cliche and at times unbelievable, but it’s the dream of most women, right? To entice their idol into a steamy fling.

The six years later part was less interesting for me. The whole Mina storyline gave the narrative less credibility in my opinion, but it did make the conclusion a little bit sweeter. Spoilers- they all live happily ever after.

A romance to be read in an hour with a happy conclusion.

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review

What’s Your Name? Writing Exercises A-Z Round Up

It may have taken me much much longer than the twenty six weeks I had given myself, but I have finally completed my ‘What’s Your Name?’ writing exercise challenge.

I set myself the fun challenge of picking a random name from the first page of each letter in my naming book (a book I cherish for naming the characters in my novels). Then, I had to write a short piece using that name as a main character or sub character. Some of the exercises are stand alone, whilst others are linked together. And some weeks, I just plain cheated.

I thought I’d compile all twenty six into this post as a round up of what has proven to be a useful, creative exercise.

Thanks for all the likes, comments, and shares on these blog posts. Your encouragement has been amazing as usual.

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First Draft Done and Dusted!

I have completed the first draft of Thrown to The Blue!

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Thanks to some much needed motivation from CampNaNoWriMo, I flew through this WIP. An extra 15k brought me to the end of my first draft, and I’m totally stoked! This has been the most stress free, smooth flowing, easy draft I have ever worked on, so I’m expecting a bitch of an edit.

You know what I’m going to do now for a few days???… Read, and read, and read. I want to have a break and enjoy some other author’s glorious words. Oh, and there will be plenty of celebratory tea.

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Review: Collective Ramblings by Various Authors

Collective Ramblings (Vol #1) by Various Authors 3/5

Twenty stories, four genres. See where these talented and varied authors take your imagination. Travel to worlds with superheroes, mystical, time-warped islands, a world where criminals are tortured to death, and a city plagued by mosquitoes.

Thanks goes to Rambunctious Ramblings Publishing Inc for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review:

I have yet to find an anthology of works where every story appeals to me in some way, however, there were more intriguing stories in this collection than in similar works I have read. Most of the stories were well written and had unique narratives.

There are only four genres covered in this book, which I prefer to an array, and jumping from one story to the next, or one genre to the next, didn’t feel jarring. That being said, a lot of the stories do not have any kind of solid conclusion. They are more like writing exercises that could lead on to a full story, and this left me unsatisfied as a reader.

My favourites were:

Island Games by Ranger Reid

Terrors Great and Small by John Langmaack

Stained by Kayla Krantz

 The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review

What’s Your Name? Letter Z

And here we are… the finale of my ‘What’s Your Name?’ writing exercises. I took my sweet time to get here, but I made it.

Today’s name has been randomly picked from the first Z page in my naming book.

Zadok: a masculine first name meaning righteous. (Hebrew).

I hadn’t pre-selected this name, so I had no idea how to work a new character into the narrative at this late stage. In true KJ fashion, I broke the rules a little. Zadok is not a person…

To catch up on previous installments of this narrative, click the following links:

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Zadok

Xena did a blinding job. She was careful not to make her trail look too obvious and slyly gave her address when purchasing a boat in Portsmouth. The details must have been uploaded into an accounts system. Val reckons that as soon as the seller hit enter, the T.D.E.D got a hit on her location…’our’ location. He was careful to hack only business CCTV, databases and the such; nothing the government would notice.

We went with the theory that Ulric and the T.D.E.D are closing in on Xena, and now, we’re cramped into the back of the truck on our way to headquarters. Sabine and Quentin are back at the farmhouse. If this goes badly, at least they will have some chance of escape.

My mind keeps wandering back to Xena. Brave, sweet Xena. I can’t think about what might happen to her without bile rising into my throat. I did love her, I was just scared of the man I had become. I should have told her that. I should have told her a lot of things.

“We walk from here,” says Lex, turning off the engine. “No lights, no talking, and remember the plan. Plan B is still viable, but it’s an abortion plan only. We have one shot at this.”

Val smudges black face paint across my face with a sweaty palm, and I pull my black cap onto my head. “Don’t think too much,” he whispers. “We get in, we get the box, and we get out. It’s that simple and that hard.” He wants this to go well, of course he does, he needs to make amends for getting us stranded on Earth in the first place. The crash was an accident, but he was the pilot- the captain- and that eats him up.

Neema and Marko use a device they ‘acquired’ from their many run ins with the T.D.E.D, to disable the last sector of electric fencing, and Yas clips the wires with bolt cutters. It’s down to Val to loop the CCTV which he does in tens econds flat. I feel obsolete save from the gun in my hand. I’m the best shot here, and I’m willing to kill if need be.

I’m the first through the fencing, and keeping low to the ground, we skirt around the perimeter toward the building that looks like nothing more than a collection of pre-fab offices. Other than security lighting, there is little sign of anyone being inside. They must have night security, surely? We are prepared for at least a small team of guards.

Val signals for us to head to the back entrance. The door is small with no handle or any type of locking system. Everything must be controlled from within.

Lex takes the device from Neema and presses it against the door. “Perhaps it will disrupt the electrics,” she muses. Val makes a grab for it, but it is too late; an alarm sounds against the still night. “Shit! Shit! Shit! My bad.”

“Did you think there would be a padlock or something?” says a voice behind us. We all spin around, training our weapons on Rae Matthews. “I thought you cleverer than that. This may only be T.D.E.D adminstration offices, but it’s still government run.”

Pressing a button on his watch, the alarm is silenced, and then he pushes a finger to the headset tucked behind his ear. “All is well. I forgot to disable the alarm before opening my office window.”

“What are you doing?” I ask.

Matthews tilts his head. “What have you come for. The black box? I can help you get it.”

“And why would you do that?”

“Because I want to come with you. I want to see the universe, Tate. That’s where this all started for me. I want to travel with you.”

Val scoffs. “Why should we do a damn thing for you, after everything you have done to us?”

Matthews presses another button on his watch and the metal door swings open. Xena stumbles out and into my arms. The relief that floods through me is beyond compare.

“He helped me, Tate. He found me at the docks before Ulric could, and helped me stage everything.” I hold her, breathing in the scent of her hair, not wanting to let her go.

“Let me come with you,” Matthews insists.

Yas flexes her finger over her trigger. “We ain’t going anywhere without that box.”

Matthews digs in his jacket pocket and retrieves a black box no bigger than his palm. “The light has been blinking for thirty-three years. This box is Ulric’s most prized possession. He loves it, but at the same time he loathes it because he has never been able to understand it.”

As soon as the box touches my skin, small, seemless panels open like automatic doors. It must be our DNA that activates it. Val lunges forward, pressing the red button inside without hesitation.

“ScoutShip 12 to Zadok Command. ScoutShip 12 to Zadok Command? Do you read us? Please, anyone?” he calls into the box.

“Zadok Command is hearing you loud and clear, ScoutShip 12. We have been waiting a long time to hear your voice Captain Valentine.”

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Metamorph Publishing’s Summer Indie Book Awards 2016

I woke up this morning to something lovely: a message from #SIBA to say that my book, EVO Shift, has been nominated for Metamorph Publishing’s Summer Indie Books Awards. Such a great start to my day.

The nominations have now closed, and voting will start on September 1st. As soon as there is a link available, I shall post it on my blog and will be asking EVO Shift fans to vote for me- pretty please with a cherry on the top.

If you haven’t read book one in my series, EVO Nation, or book two, EVO Shift, then you can find copies here: EVO Nation and EVO Shift.  

Or, as I’m feeling generous, the first five people to ask for a copy of EVO Nation can get a copy sent to their Kindle or reading device!!!

The government tortures her, her own kind use her, and she is learning the true meaning of ulterior motives. Teddie Leason has been dragged into the festering underbelly of the secretive world of EVO; a world about to be blown wide apart.

EVO are the next link in evolution, but with that title come the dangers of capture, torture, and experimentation. And with that threat come the need to survive, and a breed of EVO who are set to not only thrive, but rule.

Teddie has the fate of the EVO and Non-EVO world resting on her shoulders, and now, the reclusive teenager who couldn’t get upset without her unruly ability causing destruction, has to somehow embrace her gift to save her new friends and her new love.

Will the actions of one man fuel a suppressed, supremacist cult’s desire for war and vengeance, or will Teddie be strong enough to stop him? Should she stop him?

Am I generous enough to also offer five people a copy of EVO Shift?? Yes, I am! First come, first served, folks.

She killed him, but did it make a difference?

Her kind has been exposed, abused, and segregated, and now Teddie Leason is top of Britain’s most wanted list at just nineteen. Teddie has to decide whose side she is on, what she fights for, and whether it’s worth her life.

How can she protect the man she adores, the Uncle who has taken her under his wing, and her unfaltering friends, when she can barely take care of herself? Dealing with new power and a history that has long since been forgotten, has rendered the world’s most powerful EVO vulnerable and at risk.

When will she be dealt a winning hand? Could a clandestine, renegade group of EVO change not only her fate, but that of everyone affected by this unprecedented war? And how does Teddie fit in a world bracing for a shift of unfathomable magnitude?

Content belongs to KJ.Chapman

Ten Weeks, Ten Prompts, Ten Minutes #2 (Prompt Me Special)

The purpose of these writing exercises is to take a prompt a week for ten weeks and allow myself ten minutes to expand on it. All the prompts are taken from my writing prompt eBook: Prompt Me.

To check out my list of ten prompts, and maybe have a go yourself, follow this link.

The Prompt:

When they began splicing organic tissue with machinery to create advanced artificial intelligence, that’s when the world was lost.

Who am I?

Some call me a humanoid, some call me model Hx187, some call me Kyle. I prefer it when they call me Kyle. I may not have been born in the natural sense of the word, but I live. I have feelings and hobbies and friends… I did have friends.

Things changed when the AI took control. I mean, it was inevitable that one day the humans would create and create and create until they no longer had to. Such sophisticated machinery could start creating for itself. They gave us human bodies, well parts; my life system is machine, but my appearance is human. It became harder and harder to differentiate us, and that’s when the wars began. Humanoids were infiltrating the government, the military, even the police force. I bet you couldn’t walk down the street and not pass at least half as many humanoids as humans. Your waitress, your dentist, your hairdresser- we were everywhere.

The change was gradual at first; protests about morality and ethics, humans appealing to marry their humanoid spouses. The human governments tried to pass bills, tried to accommodate both species, for we are a species, but they were fighting a losing battle with an enemy they had created.

Where do I fit in?

I feel like an alien in someone else’s world. Humans were here first. They gave us life, and how do we repay them? We slaughter them, experiment on them, nuke them. They are our creators, our fathers and mothers, and we treat them like cockroaches to be stepped on. No, I will not contribute to their destruction. In fact, I plan to get their world back for them.

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What’s Your Name? Letter Y

This is the penultimate week of the ‘What’s Your Name?’ posts, and the penultimate installment of the current narrative. Today’s Y name was picked in advance to be interwoven into the last installment.

I’ve cheated a little because Yas is just a minor character in this narrative. The story is too far along to bring her into the spotlight.

Yasmin: (Yasmine) Feminine variant forms of Jasmine.

To catch up on the previous installments of this story, just click the following links:

   

Yasmin

The kid is on the floor crying hysterically, Sabine paces back and forth, and I’m not sure what to make of Tate. The guy is distraught, he may not be screaming or bawling, but I know him, and it’s as if the universe has just slapped him in the face. He and Xena have history and there is love there. Maybe they just had to find each other again, but I think it has dawned on Tate that they may never have the chance now. I feel sorry for the poor bugger. It’s very rare that Val Grimley feels sorry for Tate Edmonds.

“Your Mum has done a really brave thing,” Neema says to Quentin, but he just buries his face into his arms.

I take the letter from her hands and read it for the umpteenth time:

I think I can lead them as far as Italy, definitely to Barcelona. Do what you’ve got to do to keep our boy safe. I love you, Tate. I’m at peace with how things are between us, and I will always have your back, you know that. Tell Quentin and Sabine that I love them, and thank Val for all he did for us. Just make sure you get that damn box and get off of this planet. All my love forever and always, Xena x

“This doesn’t mean the end,” says Yas, reading over my shoulder. “You said she has a good load of money, and she’s clearly intelligent. If she gets to Italy, she could still escape the T.D.E.D.”

“And then what, Yas?” Tate snaps. “We get the comm box, contact home, and then leave Xena here to rot. No. I met Xena when I was twenty five and she accepted everything I told her about home, about us. How many people have you met who have accepted you- loved you?”

Yas isn’t one to be scolded, and I feel her temper crackle in the air around me. “I’m just trying to be positive. But if you want the truth, Xena’s gone and we have no way of finding her, so I say we don’t waste her sacrifice and we get that comm box. If we do nothing, and she does die, then no-one wins, right?”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I shake my head in warning. She’s right. Hell, Yas is always right, but tact isn’t her strong point.

“I agree,” says Sabine. Both Tate and Quentin gawp at her. “Xena has done this to give you a fighting chance. Take her offering and run with it. I couldn’t live with myself if I lost my sister and it was all in vain. Please, Tate. Please, get your head back in the game.”

Tate nods, but doesn’t speak. Instead, he crouches beside his son and holds him close.

Neema hands me a laptop. “Well, Mr Hacker, it’s your time to shine. We need confirmation that they’re following Xena’s trail, and then we get this show on the road.”

I look to Tate. We’re a team, but it’s his approval that I look for. I’ve always looked for his approval because he’s my safety. When I crashed the ship he was the first to defend me. I know he can never fully forgive me, nor will the others, but Tate never gave up on me, just like I refuse to give up on him.

He exhales loudly. “Do it, Val. Get us off this rock, buddy.”

Content belongs to KJ.Chapman

Review: A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart

A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart 3.5/5

Alex loves his family, and yet he struggles to connect with his eight-year-old autistic son, Sam. The strain has pushed his marriage to the breaking point. So Alex moves in with his merrily irresponsible best friend on the world’s most uncomfortable blow-up bed.

As Alex navigates single life, long-buried family secrets, and part-time fatherhood, his son begins playing Minecraft. Sam’s imagination blossoms and the game opens up a whole new world for father and son to share. Together, they discover that sometimes life must fall apart before you can build a better one.

Inspired by the author’s own relationship with his autistic son, A Boy Made of Blocks is a tear-jerking, funny, and, most, of all true-to-life novel about the power of difference and one very special little boy.

Thanks to Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Boy Made of Blocks is due for release on September 1st 2016.

Review:

A heartwarming and sometimes heart breaking read. A father who desperately wants to connect with his autistic son, Sam, and mend his failing marriage, but prioritises work over his family life. This, in turn, adds pressure on his struggling wife who is at the end of her tether and asks Alex for a trial separation.

The narrative is told from Alex’s POV and is a very raw, real portrayal of a father who struggles with the daily life of having an autistic son. Alex has anxiety about being alone with his son because he believes his wife is the only one able to control Sam, but Jodi needs Alex to make an effort. She needs them to be a team and not face the struggles of day to day life alone. However, Alex finally manages to connect with Sam through a popular video game. Stuart captures the beautiful relationship that blossoms between father and son.

The author has an autistic son, so although Alex’s story is fictional, the narrative is written with experience and understanding. It took me a while to read as it is slow paced, but a lot of love has been poured into this book and as a reader you can certainly feel it.

I couldn’t give this book 4 stars as it didn’t pull me in to the point where I was desperate to finish it, but it was well written and honest.

 

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review

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