Samyann's Blog, page 50

Amazon review for Yesterday – Thank you!

 A gripping love story, September 13, 2014
This review is from: Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation (Paperback)
We all know what it’s like to feel we know someone we just met, and I love it that this story uses that idea to take us on an incredible journey through time, Chicago being the star of the timeline plot. The historical detail in “Yesterday” is enriching and very well written, and I enjoyed the lapse into the Civil War era, which is such an important part of American history. But history aside, the love story is certainly gripping in itself. I was particularly drawn to Mark, a real man’s man, and rooted till the end for him to find love again with Amanda, a girl who saves his life at the beginning of the story and haunts him with a feeling of familiarity neither of them can explain.I found it deliciously teasing how the characters experienced this deja-vu sensation with each other, and with a particularly interesting clock. Samyann did an incredible job bringing her characters and Chicago to life, and I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone who like reading romance and historical romance.

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag – Audiobook Review

Tami Hoag might have a crush on Channing Tatum … maybe? Not sure mentioning a current Hollywood heart-throb in a book, at least twice, is a good idea. Someone picks this book up in forty years and they’ll have no idea who she’s talking about. That said, The 9th Girl, is a decent police procedural. Not giving anything away that isn’t revealed within the first few pages. A teenaged girl pops out of a trunk in front of a party-limo that can’t avoid hitting her. The story moves on from this point, i.e., who is she? Why was she in the trunk? What caused the caustic burns on her face? What’s with the tattoo? The investigation proceeds through suspicions of parents, frustrated cops, deceptive teenaged angst.

The characters are oversimplified images, not fully rounded. It’s hard to root for anyone in particular. The cops act like cops, type-a and hard-boiled. The teenagers act like teenagers, hate everything and everybody, shave their heads and have earrings in their lips. Mothers are like mothers with cubs. Dads are stoic and distant. Nobody stands out.

Writing, in my opinion, begins with character development … followed with plot. Something is skewed in The 9th Girl, and although I had no trouble sticking with the story, something was just …. off. 

Okay mystery, but not one of Hoag’s best.

In Your Dreams Bobby Anderson by Sandra Jane Maidwell – eBook Review

Know a young adult you’d like to hook on reading? Here you go!! This book would be a lovely gift. What a terrific story. Mystery, magic, love, a beautiful girl, a devilishly handsome leading man, and his quest to find the enchanting woman of his dreams. You’ll find it all in In Your Dreams Bobby Anderson.

At just under 200 pages, the story can be a comfortable afternoon of reading, or take your time and savor the mysterious world Maidwell has created. She seamlessly moves from a dream state to reality in the mind of Bobby, having him question his hold on sanity. She eventually merges these fragmented visions and events into a perfect ending I won’t spoil. Fun read!

A Bell Sound Everlasting by J. Z. N. McCauley – eBook Review

 

Lyrical? Poetic? You be the judge. McCauley is a new indie author who has penned a lovely story that is not only mystical but transportive. This appealing tale will startle you with some beautiful prose and pull you into a spiritually allegorical experience. The sea of self-published books sometimes contains gems – this is one! A Bell Sound Everlasting is less than one hundred pages, easily read in one sitting, but not easily read only once. This is a book to be poured over again, and again.

Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts – Audiobook Review

Close to 600 audiobook reviews, read by James Daniels and Sandra Burr, originally published in 2001, the unabridged version of Midnight Bayou is just under ten hours of listening.  Typical Nora Roberts, i.e., a nice curl-up-on-the-sofa story. Not deep, not life changing.

The Roberts formula shines through the story. Take a dilapidated old plantation mansion in New Orleans, a young Boston lawyer (Burned out at a young age, which is a story in itself, I would think.), throw in a stubbornly independent, albeit beautiful, local, a few ghosts, a little southern Louisiana superstition and voodoo, some reincarnation … and ta-da … you have a winner.

Nice narration, fun listen.

The Innocent Ones by Robert Gregory Browne – Audiobook Review

Two parallel stories begin this tale. One centers on a scandalized journalist, Vargas, seeking to recover a shattered career by investigating a mass murder near the Mexican border. The other surrounds two sisters on a cruise, one a Holly-Go-Lightly named Jen, the other a straight laced attorney, Beth. The sudden disappearance of Jen in a Mexico port of call, sends Beth into a frenzy of searching. You’ll wonder how the author can possibly bring these two, completely unique, story lines together into a uniform plot. He does, very well. This is a page-turning thriller.

Read by the incredible Scott Brick, the story is approximately eleven hours of listening. Scott could read a cookbook and make it spellbinding; he uses his stellar talent in joining with Robert Browne to make a good book even better. Fun listen. Surprised that there aren’t more audio reviews; less than 50 at this writing. Lot’s of planning went into this story and all the pieces come together nicely. Enjoyed.

Pines by Blake Crouch – Audiobook Review

Pines is close to nine hours of listening, read by Paul Michael Garcia. There are close to 2000 reviews on Audible at this writing, and the book has a four-star rating. Not likely there is much I can add to what has already said, the story is a page-turner. A secret service agent is dispatched to a small town to investigate the disappearance of fellow agents.

The book should be part of a Sci-Fi listing, because although Pines is a thriller, the tale involves time leaps and the macabre. Any lovers of Dean Koontz or Stephen King out there? Pines is in the same vein. The main character goes through several physically abusive situations, more than necessary, in my opinion. Lots of narration defining his aches and pains … I actually muttered ‘I get it!’ a time or two, and fast-forwarded through repetitive torture scenes that were a bit gratuitous and added nothing to the plot.

Paul Michael Garcia does a great job, good narration.

Don’t expect a Tom Clancy/Vince Flynn type thriller or a Tami Hoag crime procedural – Pines is Sci-Fi, through and through. But, good Sci-Fi! Enjoyable listen.

First to Kill by Andrew Peterson – Audiobook Review

Dick Hill. One of the best! Sorry to say, First to Kill isn’t one of the best. The lead character, Nathan McBride, will remind you of another type A, take no prisoners, kick-ass, fundamentally soft-hearted former military dude. Maybe it’s the fact that Dick Hill narrated First to Kill. If you read primarily via audiobook format, such as I, Connelly’s Jack Reacher is brought to mind. Hill is the voice of Reacher in all of that series, as far as I know.

First to Kill is a thriller, centering on high-level politics and skullduggery covertly pulling our main character into a revenge laced situation. Lot’s of characters to keep track of, a few twists, but the bad-guys are well known throughout. Mild love interest interspersed … just because it’s expected, I guess. Didn’t add anything to the story. A little trouble holding my interest and sadly, I didn’t rewind, just kept moving forward.

Check this out.

 A Timeless Romance, September 4, 2014

By
Ricardo Loughlin



This review is from: Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation
I listened to the audiobook version of Yesterday – A Novel of Reincarnation, as read by Darlene Allen, a gifted voice actor. If you like romantic fantasy, this book is for you. It’s a story that sweeps the reader through history in a bold and cinematic journey of discovery – think Gone With the Wind mixed with The Time Traveler’s Wife. Set in the Windy City but hopping through the past lives of the protagonist in Chicago and the Civil War South, the heroine Amanda saves the life of a mounted policeman, then begins a journey of discovery through regression therapy into her own tragic past. Is love timeless? A matter of fate? Read Yesterday, and decide for yourself.

Another Amazon eBook Review for Yesterday – A Novel of Reincarnation!

 Inspiring love story, September 1, 2014


By
Curt Metzger



Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation (Kindle Edition)
Yesterday is an inspiring love story. You are immediately captivated by the life of Amanda Parker. Samyann takes the reader on an amazing journey through Amanda’s life in the here and now and the live she has lived before all in the name of true love.

The novel is superbly written. The depth of the details spread throughout the novel give us a glimpse into the past, pointing to an author who is thorough in their research. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys romance.