Harmony Kent's Blog, page 69

Oh Baubles: Sneek Peek!

Hi everyone. As promised, here is a sneek peek from my latest book, Oh Baubles, a clean Christmas Romance Novella …

Christmas Romance Novella

John glanced down. He had no clue why. Maybe it was bug radar or something. A big black spider, fat round body and legs thick enough to have knee joints, crawled over his foot. With a screech, he flicked it off and leapt to his feet.
From her perch in the bed, Charlene stared at him. He laughed breathlessly. ‘Oh, God. I just squealed like a girl.’
‘Hey, I’m a girl.’
Startled, he stared at her. She was laughing. At him. Oh, Lord. What must she think of him? Bad that he’d just screamed like that, but then he’d added to it by insulting girls. Smart. Real smart.
‘Sorry. Spider,’ he mumbled.
Charlene shuddered. ‘I hate the things.’ Then she grinned at him. ‘I’m glad it was on your foot and not mine.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You’re welcome.’
They shared a chuckle. For the first time, John felt like he might have made some headway with Charlene. He’d liked her from the first time he’d met her, as damaged as she was. Her injuries paled next to her fighting spirit, grit determination, and bravery. As much as he resented having to work with sick and broken people, instead of doing the glamorous stuff with the sports stars, she was one of the few who made his daily grind easier to bear.
Then she vomited. All over him. With zero warning.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little excerpt. From December, I’ll be on a couple of blogs around the web, and I’d love to see you there. I’ll be sharing some more snippets of Christmas romance fun and frolicks with you. Here’s the line up …

Monday 2nd December, Craig Boyack on Entertaining Stories

Tuesday 10th December, Joan Hall on JoanHall Blog

Thursday 12th December, Mae Clair on From the Pen of Mae Clair

In the meantime, have fun! And thanks for all your support, everyone

#BookReview: Eventide by Mae Clair

Hi everyone. Today, it gives me great pleasure to post my review of Eventide, the third and final book in the Hodes Hill Series by Mae Clair, fellow author and friend. I received a free advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’ll let the book and my review say the rest >>>

Book Description

The darkness is coming . . .

The old house near Hode’s Hill, Pennsylvania is a place for Madison Hewitt to start over—to put the trauma of her husband’s murder, and her subsequent breakdown, behind her. She isn’t bothered by a burial plot on the property, or the mysterious, sealed cistern in the basement. Not at first. Even the presence of cold spots and strange odors could be fabrications of her still troubled mind. But how to explain her slashed tires, or the ominous messages that grow ever more threatening?

Convinced the answer lies in the past, Madison delves into the history of the home’s original owners, only to discover the origin of a powerful evil. An entity that may be connected to a series of gruesome attacks that have left police baffled. No matter where she turns—past or present—terror lingers just a step away, spurred on by a twisted obsession that can only be satisfied through death…

 

My Review

Thanks to NetGalley and Lyrical Underground for an ARC of this book.

I have read all of Mae Clair’s Hodes Hill books, and this one is by far my favourite. I loved the mix of the supernatural with typical ghosts spiced up with a deadly and terrifying ghoul. All in all, this is a great series that works well both to read as a run on and for each book to stand alone, although you get more by seeing the character progression throughout the series if you read them in order. Having read of Madison, the main character, in previous books and seeing her struggle through the eyes of others, it is nice to see her getting a book to herself, and what a strong heroine she turns out to be.

The plot runs both in the past (1800s) and in the present day and gives you plenty of mystery, suspense, and twists in both timelines. While I sussed out that something was up with the historical brothers early on, I completely failed to work out what it was, so kudos to the author for that bit of cunning.

I highly recommend this book and will be reading more from this writer. A solid five star read.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

Expansion Pack: Stock Characters

 

You have to check out this post on Stock Characters by Craig Boyack over at Story Empire. I love it! >>>

Hi gang. Craig with you again. Earlier this year, I wrote a series here about The Hero’s Journey. This is a link to PART ONE. Then I went on to write several Expansion Packs. Those are easy enough …

Source: Expansion Pack: Stock Characters

#BookReview: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara

Hi everyone. Harmony here with another book review to share. This one is from an advanced review copy provided via NetGalley and Random House UK. I greatly enjoyed this read, and here’s the book description and my review …

Book Description:

 

Every town has its secrets. Lesley Kara knows them all . . .

From the author of 2019’s biggest crime thriller debut, The Rumour, comes an addictive new novel . . .

It’s been 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes since her last drink. Now Astrid is trying to turn her life around.

Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and painful memories of her life before, Astrid is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged.

But someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected.

Some mistakes, you have to pay for . . .

 

My Review:

 

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC of this book.

We meet Astrid, a recovering alcoholic … sober now for 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes.

Then we meet the cute hunk, Josh … who still needs to recover from the sudden and tragic death of his mother.

Then there are all the supporting characters and a true-to-life small-British-town feel. A great mix.

I found this to be a fun read, which didn’t go too deep and kept things fairly light despite the content matter. The experiences for both the alcoholic main character and for her supporting characters were realistic, and I felt for the MC and her mother most especially. While I did guess who the culprit was way early, I still enjoyed the getting there part.

The plot has some good twists in there, and following Astrid while she teeters on the edge of the sober-wagon makes for an intriguing and mildly suspenseful read. I found myself rooting for her, and I could easily understand her struggles. I felt that her character arc was well portrayed from weak and a little pathetic to growing stronger and more determined to solve her own problems and get on with her life.

I give this book a strong 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

Cool Apps for Writers

Check out this fun post on apps for writers from Mae Clair over at Story Empire >>> Would you dare the Write or Die?? >>>

 

Hi, SeERs. It’s another Mae Day on Story Empire. As writers we’re always looking for ways to increase our creativity and our productivity, right? Today, I’m sharing several apps t…

Source: Cool Apps for Writers

Oh Baubles!

Hi everyone. A very happy Harmony here! My latest book, a Christmas Romance novella just went live on Pre-order

How to Back-up your Manuscript Easily and for Free

A quick, easy, and FREE method of backing up your precious manuscript >>>

Hello SErs. Harmony here. It always saddens me beyond measure when I read that a fellow author has lost all their hard work due to a computer failure, lost laptop, or any number of other reasons. W…

Source: How to Back-up your Manuscript Easily and for Free

It worked. It’s a book

A new book from C S Boyack with a cover I love! For more about this, check out the original post >>>

 

I allowed myself that extra hour of sleep the time change provided. This isn’t my first book, so I didn’t completely panic when I got up. I went through my morning routine, fed the dogs…

Source: It worked. It’s a book

Research: How deep do you go?

An interesting post on research in writing today by Mae Clair over on Story Empire >>>

Hi, SeERs! It’s another Mae Day on Story Empire

I’m Testing a new way of Commenting … can you help?

[image error]Hi everyone, it’s little ole me. I just changed the comments requirements on my blog, and I’m not sure how it will work for you all. I removed the need to log in with your name and email address, so–hopefully–you can now just comment without inputting that information every time.

What I don’t know is if you’ll have to be logged in to WP to comment first or if you can simply comment. I would love for you to try to leave me a comment to this post and let me know what hoops–if any–you have to jump through.

The other side of this experiment is to see how much spam comes in and if it’s manageable at my end timewise.

Thanks, everyone!

Hugs

Harmony