Kelly Cain's Blog, page 3
October 24, 2017
Goodreads Review: Rise of the Phoenix by Jamie McLachlan
Rise of the Phoenix (The Memory Collector, #3)
by Jamie McLachlan (Goodreads Author)
4 stars
The is the 3rd and final installment of the Memory Collector series. Our familiar characters are back, sort of. The detective is his usual stoic self, but Moira isn’t quite Moira. She is, but she has some internal stuff going on (trying not to be spoilery). Even with this, she makes familiar decisions that we’ve come to be both admirable of and infuriated at. Sometimes I really just want to shake her shoulders… really really hard.
The writing immerses the reader in the time period and era the author has built. She does a great job of being authentic – although this is a fantasy world, it is rooted in turn-of-the-century North America. I can imagine the clothes, the motor vehicles, and the demeanor.
The author is especially good at getting the reader to care about secondary characters where we even worry for them when they’re missing. Even the phoenix is multidimensional and when certain things happen, you have mixed feelings about it (again, trying not to spoil).
I would have liked to have more time with Keenan and Moira together, but I understand why that wasn’t really possible given the plot. I still missed their give-and-take though.
Overall, this was a great ending to the series where all questions were answered and the future set out for us. I would highly recommend this entire series for all lovers of fantasy or just a great story.
September 28, 2017
Review of Love Unlimited by Kendra Olson
Great review for the latest anthology I have a story included in. My story, Summer Healing, is one of the titles specifically reviewed. Thanks to Kendra Olson for taking the time to review. The ebook version of this anthology is free btw (links in the review).
Love Unlimited is an intriguing anthology of short fiction with an uplifting concept at its heart. Although love is the theme, the love featured in these stories isn’t purely romantic. Where it is romantic, it’s rarely the traditional boy-meets-girl love story. There are stories about the love a parent feels for a child, ambiguous love, the rediscovery of love following loss and the way loneliness and a sense of compassion can bring about a different kind of love, amongst many others.
While not all of the stories were to my taste, and there were places where I felt the writing could have been stronger, I found the general message of the collection to be commendable. Featuring stories by eleven different authors, the anthology includes a range of writing styles. What I enjoyed most about this collection was its sheer diversity. The characters featured in the stories span cultures, generations, abilities…
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September 26, 2017
Goodreads Review – Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein (Goodreads Author)
4 stars
I suppose I was thirsty for historical fiction and didn’t realize it. I’m a sucker for WWII novels, German or Russian literature/history, and women thriving in non-traditional roles. This novel combined all those so needless to say, I enjoyed it immensely. It does begin a little slow and seemingly with triviality, but it soon catches the reader unaware and sucks them (that would be me) in.
The novel is told in two parts by two different narrators. The first narrator is wildly unreliable; hence the perceived vapidity in the beginning. One might conclude certain negativity about her character (okay, me again) and one would be completely wrong. Although even in her banality, there are many reasons to like her anyway, and to root for her. The second storyteller drives that home, and you’re soon heartbroken you (*raises hand*) ever doubted or underestimated her.
If I haven’t mentioned, this is a spy novel (mostly) and you should read it!
So, my thirst has been quenched. Or perhaps maybe whetted for more.
September 2, 2017
Altered Deleted Scene: Saying Goodbye to Drew
The next day in class, things are back to normal. The new normal. Nicholas and I don’t look at each other and we go our separate ways after class. I go to the gym and Drew is there. He smiles at me and I go over to say hi. I don’t want things to be weird between us too.
He gives me a hug and sighs before he says, “I don’t think you’ve worked things out with Nicholas still. Am I reading that correctly?”
I really don’t want to talk to him about Nicholas, but I owe him the truth. “No, we haven’t been able to work it out, but you were right, Drew. I have some unresolved feelings for Nicholas that are more than just friendly feelings. I’m still trying to work through those. I’m sorry I let stuff between us go as far as it did. I guess I was in serious denial.”
He gives me one of those honest smiles I truly have not earned. “I knew what I was getting into, Liv. I always knew you felt more for him than you knew. I hoped I could win you over, but I was wrong to try. I told you before you deserve everything and if it’s Nicholas you really want, you’ll have him.”
Looking at this amazing man, I wonder why it couldn’t be him. I press my lips to his and breathe in his scent one last time.
August 29, 2017
Book recommendations
Fantasy
One of my favorite genres.
Time travel
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon (this could fall in many genres)
River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren (also fits under YA)
Out of Time series by Monique Martin
General fantasy
The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Claire (also author of The Mortal Instruments but you probably know all about that already) (also YA)
The Godsland series by Brian Rathbone
The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Innkeeper Chronicles series by Llona Andrews
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Trinity Saga by Ronnell D. Porter
Young Adult
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
Historical Fiction
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
Victorian San Francisco Mystery series by Louisa M. Locke
Pluto’s Snitch series by Carolyn Haines
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Whiplash by Yvie Towers
Mystery, Thrillers, & Intrigue
Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
Agents Irish & Whiskey series by Layla Reyne
Millennium by Stieg Larsson
The Burden by Mary Westmacott
Ape House by Sara Gruen
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries by Carolyn Haines
Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow
Rai Rahotep series by Nick Drake
Liv Bergen Mysteries by Sandra Brannan
The Dead Saint by Marilyn Brown Oden
An Arsonist’s Guide To Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
The Classics
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (actually a novella, completely love)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (my all-time favorite)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Dracula by Bram Stoker
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Contemporary Lit & Romance
One Day by David Nicholls
Crossfire series by Sylvia Day
He Say, She Say by Yolanda Joe
Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest
Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper
Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Cosmopolis: A Novel by DeLillo
New Adult
On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Point of Retreat (#2 of the Slammed Series) by Colleen Hoover
Song of the Fireflies by J A Redmerski
Historical Fiction
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
Victorian San Francisco Mystery series by Louisa M. Locke
Pluto’s Snitch series by Carolyn Haines
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Whiplash by Yvie Towers
August 28, 2017
Love Unlimited Anthology
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Explore the unlimited nature of love and its many incarnations in the Love Unlimited Anthology, featuring eleven stories that cross generations, cultural backgrounds, and borders. Love Unlimited will warm your heart, tickle your funny bone, and envelop you in the wonderful and complex human emotion the world calls “Love.”
Bryana Beecham — Love Letters to the Universe
When Ursula aims her cupid’s arrow at an office colleague, the drama begins with a series of handwritten letters. Penned to charm and disarm, the one-sided letters take on a life of their own… until one day Ursula decides it’s time to take their relationship to the next level. What could possibly go wrong?
Geralyn Corcillo — In Her Space
A sixty-four-year-old woman lives quietly, content with all she has survived in life. But things change when she discovers a homeless young man living under her small house.
Laura Chapman — Smyth Saves the Date
While clashing with his stern but swoon-worthy producer, George, about the show’s direction—and trying to plan his best friend’s wedding—Smyth will have to choose what he needs more: fame or love.
Katie Leonard — SuperMom and the Theory of Mind
When her mother-in-law is injured, Lauren is forced to bring her wife’s son (okay, he’s her son, too) to a comic book convention. As she navigates a world of masked heroes, flirty villains, and a giant gorilla, she learns unexpected lessons about empathy and love.
Kelly Cain — Summer Healing
A contemporary enemies to lovers romance about a poly-sci major home for the summer from college. While visiting her ailing grandfather in the hospital, she meets a hot RN with strong political opinions, completely opposite of her own.
Anne Hamilton — The Shining Girl
Surviving a cyclone, Caroline travels from India to London and back again, to find – maybe – the man she once loved but shouldn’t have. En route, a surreal encounter with her would-be guardian angel helps her redefine love, life, and what she really wants from both.
Zainab Muhammad Shahid — Kaneez’s Bulbul
Set in Lahore, the capital city of the Pakistani province of Punjab, this love story features a young couple whose marriage of convenience reveals dark family secrets from the pre-Partition era. If love gives life, it certainly has the power to take it away.
Samantha Bryant — Flygirl’s Second Chance
Jessica “Flygirl” Roark has no problem with flying headlong into danger to save the citizens of Springfield, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to nerves on the eve of her wedding. Sure, she’s survived ovarian cancer and learned to control her new powers of flight, but is she ready for her second chance at romance?
Therese Gilardi — Paris in April
An American woman has her life upended on an April day in Paris.
Lizbeth Durano — Starting Over
When her flight is delayed due to a snowstorm, a young painter, recently betrayed by her boyfriend and best friend, finds herself stuck overnight at Gate 27. But she’s not alone for she finds a new friend in a carefree young man who just might be the perfect friend for the duration of the wait… maybe even longer.
Amy Gettinger — Kiss My Sweet Skull
Is Indiana sugar cream pie seriously the only answer for Betty, an anthropology professor with a daunting forensic task and suffocating skull dreams that haunt her nightly? Or could a perfectly timed, yummy kiss be just the thing she needs to see her through this Halloween?
Where to Find LOVE UNLIMITED:
Déjà You: Stories of Second Chances
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The Birth of Déjà You
About two years ago, a group of five novice writers signed with the same small publisher, each inexperienced in the publishing world yet committed to understanding the process and finding success. Through their mutual dive into unchartered territory, Amanda Linsmeier, Bianca M. Schwarz, C.H. Armstrong, Kelly Cain, and Jamie McLachlan reached out to one another and became instant friends, sharing laughs, tears, and the struggles of life and writing. We soon dubbed ourselves “Book Besties.”
During the fall of 2016, we decided to write a book of short stories together. As friends, we wanted to combine our talents to create a collection that would inspire hope and happiness. After much deliberation, we chose the theme “Second Chances” and decided to title this anthology, “Déjà You.” Though each story contains the same theme, they all are as unique as the author who wrote it. Including New Adult, Women’s Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, and Contemporary Romance, each short offers a different take on the theme and involves varying heat levels, from sweet to steamy.
In Déjà You, five authors share stories of second chances, as varied in telling as the writers themselves.
Kelly Cain’s We’ll Always Have Oahu takes us on a whirlwind New Adult romance set in the 80s between a young woman on a high school graduation trip and a handsome Navy sailor.
Bianca M. Schwarz transports us to 1760 in The Pearl with the story of Marcus Landover, who attends a card party and ends up with more than he bargained for in the beautiful Sophia Chelmsford.
Amanda Linsmeier’s Joy and Sorrow reunites lovers separated by death in a Women’s Fiction tinged with the unusual.
The Eyes of the Heart by Jamie McLachlan gives us Rosalina, who is forced to confront her attraction and the truth about her blindness when a new gardener is hired at the Greystone house.
Finally, C.H. Armstrong brings us Mr. Midnight, where tragedy reunites two star-crossed lovers, but misunderstandings soon rip them apart. Now, six years later, the stars are realigning with the help of the smooth voice of a late night radio DJ.
Some of the stories are sweet, some sad, some steamy, but all carry the same theme. Déjà You is a collection of stories for those who believe in love, but most of all, second chances.
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon | B&N Paperback |Paperback
