Zøe Haslie's Blog, page 3
March 19, 2018
Review: In the Arms of a Pirate, by Michelle Beattie
[image error]She’s his leverage
When Aidan Bradley suddenly remembers his bloody past, he can only think of one thing. Killing the bastard responsible. His key? Using his enemy’s daughter to draw the pirate out. His miscalculation? That he’d soon find himself enticed by her innocence and beauty.
He’s her rescuer
Sarah Santiago’s lived her entire life locked away from the world. While naïve and innocent, Sarah recognizes attraction when she feels it and the pirate holding her as bait soon becomes the pirate she wants to hold.
The odds are against them
Will Aiden’s desire for revenge cost him the woman he loves, or will his decision to stand down cost him his life at the blade of the soulless pirate who murdered his mother?
My Review:
Goodreads Rating: 5*
I will confess that this book was a complete surprise for me! I got it for free from Amazon Kindle (it’s still available, so hurry up and get your copy) and it was a great read!
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It got me living a great sea adventure, falling in love with a proud pirate and wanting to hug cute, naïve Sarah!
It all starts back when Aiden was 5 years old, and Sarah’s evil pirate father cruelly killed his mother and sold him as a slave. Fortunately, when he turns 8, Sam Steele rescues him from a life of slavery and becomes a mother to him.
However, in the light of recent events, Aiden suddenly remembers who he is, and he sets in motion a vengance plot to finally rid of his enemy, who once again threatens his family. In order to succeed, he needs to kidnap Sarah Santiago, his enemy’s daughter.
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What Aiden doesn’t know is that fate has something else in store for him. The night he breaks into Sarah’s house is the night Sarah is finally going to run away from her imprisoned life. Joining Aiden not only frees her from her father, but also from all the lies he’s been telling her over the years.
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In simple words, this is a romantic adventure that drags you right in and doesn’t let go of you until the very end. It not only addresses love and attraction in the most innocent and cute way, but it is also about family, about good and evil, about accepting the past and letting go of it… about forgiveness. And I loved every second of it!
Some quotes:
“I believe you are the first captive I’ve seen smile.”
“Do you ever wish we could have met under different circumstances?”
“More than I can say.”
“Hell, if he hadn’t just realized he’d fallen in love after all.”
“Even knowing she wasn’t his to keep, he needed to be near her.”
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March 16, 2018
Friday Romantic Friday!
Hi, guys! I hope you are doing great 
And I appologize I haven’t been around much lately (not to post content but to check out yours mostly!)
Bad news? I haven’t been able to write much either 
March 14, 2018
Review: An Outcast’s Wish, by Aileen Adams
[image error]Some memories are best left forgotten…
Maccay Douglas finds a trespasser on Duncan lands. Except the trespasser isn’t some lad up to mischief. It’s a woman in boy’s clothing.
A woman with a bruise on her head and no name, and hunting skills.
She claims she doesn’t know who she is.
That doesn’t stop him from falling in love.
Except this red-haired beauty has an explosive secret that is bound to bring war to the highlands.
My Review:
Goodreads Rating: 3*
This is the first book I read by Aileen Adams and it was so much better than I expected, but at the same time it lacked a bit of intensity.
I love reading Historical romance novels, especially when they take place in the Highlands , and I guess my main issue with this one was the lack of descriptions that made me mentally travel there.
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On the other hand, the chemistry between the main characters was great at the beginning and it kind of wore down throughtout the story, making it a bit boring (and if you add unnecesary long descriptions to the mix, the result is a bit doll). I also felt the characters got a bit stuck towards the end (although I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t develop this further).
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However, the story in itself is lovely, vivid and full of adventures, so I did enjoy it. A very positive thing is the lack of sex (explicit or implicit) that usually takes one third of the novels in this genre. I really liked the way the author stayed clear from the cliché and managed to create a story with lovely characters, tense moments and a lot of intrigue. The female lead is also quite a badass and more often than not she’s speaking her mind and saving herself from danger, rather than sitting around waiting for her knight in a shining armor.
As you can see, I have mixed feelings and I’m not sure my rating does this book justice, but I’m gonna leave it at that for the time being! I hope you give it a go and make your own decition on it 
March 13, 2018
TTT That Does Impress Me Much!
It is Tuesday again, guys! For those of you who don’t know it, TTT is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week, we are talking about books that surprised us!
But before, I’d like to invite you all to join my YA Book Club, a brand new group to get together and have fun around bookish people
March 12, 2018
Join The YA Book Club
Reblogging this in case you missed it
Hi, guys! How are you?
I know it’s Saturday and most of you are away having a life, but if you’re not, or if you’re reading this afterwards, Candyce at thebookdutchesses, Angele at angelereadsbooks and I have some great news for you!
As of today, we created The YA Book Club, a space created for readers and authors to interact and share their passion for books. We set some rules to keep the threads clean from authors self-promoting themselves or people sharing links to gain followers in their social media (facts that we find most annoying in the current groups). Of course, we will have special threads to discuss all sorts of promotion, but that will not be the purpose of the group.
Want to know more? We are waiting for you here! Come say hi 
March 10, 2018
Join The YA Book Club
Hi, guys! How are you?
I know it’s Saturday and most of you are away having a life, but if you’re not, or if you’re reading this afterwards, Candyce at thebookdutchesses, Angele at angelereadsbooks and I have some great news for you!
As of today, we created The YA Book Club, a space created for readers and authors to interact and share their passion for books. We set some rules to keep the threads clean from authors self-promoting themselves or people sharing links to gain followers in their social media (facts that we find most annoying in the current groups). Of course, we will have special threads to discuss all sorts of promotion, but that will not be the purpose of the group.
Want to know more? We are waiting for you here! Come say hi
March 9, 2018
Readers & Authors Wanted!
Hi, guys, it’s finally Friday and I couldn’t be happier! What about you?
Now, the reason for this post is simple: I’ve been thinking all week long about creating a community for YA readers and authors to interact, possibly in the form of a Facebook Group.
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Ideally, it would be a place to help each other out as book bloggers, but also to find out new authors, learn about the writing craft (I know some of you are aspiring authors ), recommend books, chat about books, and have fun together. I’d also like to create movie/Tv-series threads so that we get to discuss those as well ^^
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I am aware there are plenty of reading groups out there, but I don’t feel there’s something like this. I would love to share this project with you, so if you’d like to be part of it or even run it with me (it would be great help, trust me!), drop your comments or email me at: zoehasliewrites@gmail.com
I’m looking forwards to hearing all of your great ideas
March 8, 2018
Meet Author Julie Moffett
Hi, guys, it’s been some time since the last interview, so today I am going to introduce you to Julie Moffett.
[image error]Q. Welcome to the blog! Briefly introduce yourself and tell us what genre(s) you write.
A. Hi! I’m Julie Moffett and I write in the genres of young adult, mystery, historical romance and paranormal romance. I’ve published 21 books, 11 of them in my popular Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series featuring geek girl extraordinaire, Lexi Carmichael. I’m a military brat (Air Force) and has traveled extensively. My more exciting exploits include attending high school in Okinawa, Japan; backpacking around Europe and Scandinavia for several months; a year-long college graduate study in Warsaw, Poland; and a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland where I fell in love with castles, kilts and brogues. I have two amazingly witty and fun boys and live in Virginia.
Q. Are you a self-published author or traditionally published? What’s the first book you published?
A. I’ve been a traditionally published author since 1993 with several NY publishers. The first book I published was in 1993, a Scottish historical romance titled Fleeting Splendor, which is long out of print. I currently write the Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series for Carina Press/Harlequin, the latest, NO REGRETS, just came out in January. Next up in that series is NO STONE UNTURNED. This past December, I released my first indie book, WHITE KNIGHTS, which is the first book in a series about Angel Sinclair, a teen hacker in high school who is geeky, snarky and wicked smart. Her life is boringly normal until one day, everything changes. Suddenly Angel’s name, lineage, and excellent hacking skills are being discussed at the top echelons of U.S. intelligence agencies. Why is she so important? Who exactly is her father? Can a geek girl really save the day?
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Q. What’s the first book that had an impact in your life and how?
A. Books have had a huge influence on my life. I am a voracious reader and have been all my life. I have so many favorite books, it is hard to remember the first one. I do know that early on I loved all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books, JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, A Wrinkle in Time, The Forgotten Door and Watership Down. All of these books made me want to be a writer someday!
Q. If one of your books turned into a movie, which one would it be? Which actors would have the lead roles? Who would direct it?
A. This is a really hard one. I think my Lexi Carmichael mystery series would probably work best for a television series. I have actually been approached about this possibility, but nothing is set in concrete yet! I would let the director/producers work out the best actors for the roles.
Q. If you could be a book character for a day, who would you be? Why?
A. Only one day?!? I’d be a billionaire, so I could travel to a secret tropical island where I could sit on the beach, swim, snorkel, drink fruity margaritas with little umbrellas, and read uninterrupted for the entire day!
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Q. As an author, what are the hardest scenes or topics to write about?
A. All scenes are hard. Good reading is hard writing. There is no particular topic or scene that stands out as especially difficult for me. I just tackle the scenes as they come, one by one.
Q. If you had two minutes to speak to all your readers, what would you tell them?
A. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Thank you for buying my books, writing reviews, sending me awesome notes of encouragement, and asking me to write more books. You ROCK!
Julie can be stalked online! This is how:
Julie’s website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Fan Page, Amazon Author Profile & Bookbub.
Bonus track:
Book Trailer for the Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series
Thank you, Julie for sharing your work with us
March 7, 2018
Review “All the Things He Left Behind”, by Kelsie Stelting
[image error] Blurp:
When Maverick’s mother passes away, Saffron doesn’t just lose her soon-to-be mother-in-law, she also loses her future husband. In Drake’s unexpected departure, Saffron’s left to pack up their apartment, along with the memories of their happy life together. There’s only one person in town who can help her with the apartment – her high school, on-again/off-again, not-so sweetheart, Kellum. But can he help her with her heart as well?
My Review
Goodreads Rating: 4*
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to interview Kelsie Stelting, and when I found out this book on Instafreebie, I decided to read it right away. My review is a short one because the story is short.
I must say I trully enjoyed it! This is an original story of what happens after love, all the sadness, the memories, the heartbreak and the moving on that comes after a break-up. And like it or not, we’ve all been there at least once! And we’ve felt like this:
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I loved the style, the tone, and the character building. I also enjoyed the way the story was told: present time with nostalgic flash-backs to the most important relationship moments.
And the ending was beautiful and hopeful. Because life moves on. It’s just like that. And there’s not much to do about it, except accept it and embrace the future!
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Having said that, I regret not being able to read more on these characters and what lays ahead for them. But I strongly recommend this read
March 6, 2018
TTT Favourite Bookish Quotes ♥
It is Tuesday again, guys! For those of you who don’t know it, TTT is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week, I’m excited to address favourite book quotes (For those of you new to the blog, I’ve done several quote specials, which you can check here, here, here, here, and here). I’ll try not to repeat quotes, because there are lots of amazing quotes out there
[image error]1. Paper Towns, by John Green: “What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.”
2. The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks: “Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.”
3. The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
[image error]4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling: “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
5. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë: “Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!”
6. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman: “I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.”
[image error]7. Someone Like You, by Sarah Dessen: “Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend.”
8. We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart: “Be a little kinder than you have to.”
9. Beauty & the Beast, by K. M. Shea: “Beauty fades, but the heart remains the same.” (Review here!)
10. Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie: “To die will be an awfully big adventure.”
I can’t wait to read your favourite quotes!
