Helen Rena's Blog: Books and Their Discontents, page 4
February 9, 2015
Captive Potential by Barbara Garren: Release Day Blitz
Hi, everyone!
Today is the release day for Barbara Garren’s Captive Potential.
First, the blurb:
Everything in Kelsi’s life feels more like The End, rather than the Happily-Ever-After she anticipated with her prince, Aiden Hardt. She and Aiden are fighting. Again. His daughter Bryn wakes them screaming every night. By day Bryn is bright and bubbly, but at night her dreams are filled with a distant land, a dark-haired man, and a threat Kelsi couldn’t foresee. Even her best friend Sarah is miserable.
Tossed between multiple planes of existence, Kelsi must overcome the barriers in her heart and mind to save those she loves: her friend, her lover, and the child she thinks of as her own.
Even if providing them a chance for their own Ever After spells the end for her.
And now for the lovely cover:
Author’s Bio:
I’m a writer, a reader and a frequenter of the more charming sites in town, namely pubs. I’ve travelled a bit. Lived a few places. Known a few men. It all ends up in a story sooner or later.
San Diego is home these days and my life is ruled by Charlie the Dog, a Valkyrie muse named Prue and a husband who buy me scotch. What more can a girl ask for?
Social Links:
Website: www.bgarrenwrites.com
Email: bgarrenwrites@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.nofilterinstalled.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bgarrenwrites
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/bgarrenwrites/
Twitter: @bak229
Buy Links:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1JU3aeD
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Cjg1Gd
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1zj9ppk
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1KfPDMT
Giveaway!
And finally, a teaser! 
February 5, 2015
February 3, 2015
Is Heart of Darkness Racist?
My synopsis: a white middle-class dude tells other white middle-class dudes about his trip up the Congo river to extract yet another white middle-class dude because the latter went nuts and, instead of just robbing the native population, proclaimed himself a god there. Because it’s easier to rob them that way. This story-telling event takes place on a luxury yacht on the Thames river, near London, as the dudes wait for the turn of the tide. Which is of course very symbolic.
My thoughts: I love Heart of Darkness, or at least loved it. It’s such a rich, nuanced, brilliant book. The dude who tells us about his journey is Charles Marlow, a racist and sexist man who also happens to be charming and intelligent. So as readers go on a journey to the Congo with him, they must guard themselves against liking him. That’s how I used to think about the book.
Until recently.
Until Ferguson.
Then I started thinking about Heart of Darkness again. Yes, Joseph Conrad does show that Marlow is a racist, but he does not punish him. One can argue that no, Marlow is punished because as he sits and tells his story, he is alienated from the other men. They—or at least the man who retells Marlow’s story to us later—see him as Buddha with yellow skin. In other words, Marlow is no longer seen as a white man, and he is compared to a foreign god. He lost his Britishness. The horror. But is it enough?
The Europeans killed the native population of Africa in staggering numbers, so is it enough that Marlow has yellow skin now (jaundice? malaria?)? Is it enough that nobody on that yacht might be listening to his story? They might be all asleep. Or should have the natives got together with the Intended* and killed Marlow?
True, this murder would not have been realistic, but realism in books is a murky concept, and if, let’s say, Tolstoy kills off Anna Karenina because she’s an adulteress, then Conrad could have made Marlow commit suicide because, let’s say, Marlow is haunted by his Congo trip. Which he really is. So what is just? What is enough?
*That’s how Kurtz refers to his fiancée. Marlow deceives her about Kurtz’s last words because…well, it’s a huge debate why, but one of the reasons is definitely because she is not a dude. Because Marlow tells the truth to the white dudes on that yacht, Kurtz’s last words and all.
January 28, 2015
THE EMBERS OF LIGHT by Tammy Farrell: Release Day!
Book Two of The Dia Chronicles by Tammy Farrell is released today!
Here’s the blurb: The descendants of the ancient gods think they’ve found peace, but the time has come when new magic and ancient powers will collide…
Stripped of his Dia powers and left to rot, Malcolm is a prisoner of Valenia—a sentence he finds worse than death. His thoughts of revenge are the only thing keeping him sane, but when he finally manages to escape, Malcolm discovers that living as a mortal is more dangerous than he ever imagined. After stealing from the wrong man, Malcolm becomes a captive once more, only this time his punishment is one that he won’t soon forget. His only hope of survival is Seren, an enigmatic young girl with golden eyes and a malevolence to match his own.
When he’s led to Mara and Corbin, the two responsible for his fall from grace, their new faction of Dia is in chaos, infiltrated by an ancient power thought to have been banished forever. This only fuels Malcolm’s ruthless ambitions, but he soon realizes that he too is under attack, a pawn in a centuries old game of power and greed. As new battle lines are drawn, Malcolm finds himself in uncharted waters, forced to choose between helping those he’s vowed to destroy or give in to his lingering desire to settle the score.
Debts will be paid, lives will be lost, and no Dia will ever be the same.
Here are the covers for both books in the Dia Chronicles (lovely covers, by the way):
And here is an excerpt:
“By the time the smell of smoke and roasting meat finally reached Malcolm, and his hole in the ground was completely black, he knew the time was drawing near. The sound of laughter and flutes from above stoked the fires of determination within him, while the repetitive drumbeat counted down the minutes.
His mind wandered as he stared sullenly at the walls of black earth. He clutched his mangled hand to his chest, far too weary for anger. He was humiliated. Over and over again he’d been disgraced, robbed, laughed at. The hardest truth to face was that there still might be more degradation to come. He had wanted everything and succeeded at nothing. Hope was now but a whisper in the past, still carried on the winds, but too distant to hear.
Malcolm pressed his head against the soft earth. He had nothing left to lose and nothing left to love. Even his own mother had become an unseen shadow, abandoning him in his time of need. She was useless to him, as she always had been, and he vowed that if she ever showed herself to him again, he would speak any word that might pierce a mother’s soul.”
And here is where you can buy the book:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
About the Author:
Tammy Farrell grew up in Orangeville, Ontario Canada where she discovered her love of writing, and all things related to Edgar Allan Poe. She now lives with her husband and six fur babies in Greenville, South Carolina, where she attempts to learn French when she isn’t busy writing.
Learn more about The Dia Chronicles and Tammy Farrell’s other works at: www.TammyFarrell.com
Author web links:
www.TammyFarrell.com
www.facebook.com/thediachronicles
@tamzwrite
January 27, 2015
Dominick by Kara Jemal: Cover Reveal!
If you like dystopians, check out Dominick by Kara Jemal. It is a prequel to Kara’s novel Inferno and will be released in March 2015.
Here is the tantalizing blurb: Dominick Grant had the perfect life: parents who loved him, a beautiful girlfriend, and a best friend who always had his back. He knew who he was, and how he wanted to live his life.
But in Dominick’s world, that choice belongs to someone else — a totalitarian government that dictates the lives of its citizens, decreeing that Dominick must be separated from his girlfriend and forced to work for the very government he detests.
The question is…will Dominick accept his predetermined path, or risk making his own choices and bringing his world crumbling down around him?
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24376214-dominick
About the Author:
Kara Jemal is the writing duo of Kara Leigh Miller and David Jemal.
Kara is a 30-something, stay at home mom, multi-published romance author who enjoys writing across a variety of genres & categories: adult, young adult, new adult, romance, dystopian, and thrillers just to name a few. When she’s not writing tall-tales of love, she’s spending time with her family, friends, and good books.
David is a nineteen-year-old college student with a background in real estate who is eager to breathe life into the many stories and characters banging around in his head. When’s he not writing, he’s reading or working out.
Website: www.karajemal.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaraJemal
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaraJemal
Rafflecopter Giveaway:
HTML: a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 21, 2015
Lord Byron on Why You Shouldn’t Apply Make-up in the Dark
My synopsis of Lord Byron’s “Darkness:” Planet Earth is in trouble. The sun goes out. Plants are dying. There’s nothing to eat. People burn everything they could for light and warmth. And then, after everyone is dead, two last women approach the last fire and look at each other…and die from laughing after they see how badly they applied make-up in all this dark.
Okay, okay, I’m joking. It’s two last men who come up to the fire. No make-up involved. And I’m still not sure what the moral of this poem is. Transcendental doom and gloom? However, the poem does relay feelings of hopelessness and terror and darkness brilliantly because Lord Byron is, of course, a fantastic poet.
January 13, 2015
If a Male Fairy Dumps His Female Fairy Wife, How Many Bunnies Does That Make?
I know this sounds like a bad math problem, but this is literally the plot of Sally Gardner’s Operation Bunny. Don’t believe me? Here is the book’s synopsis as per moi: a girl named Emily Vole must fight an evil fairy named Harpella,* who single-handedly wiped out the majority of the fairy population on earth. The surviving fairies detach their apparently detachable wings and live as humans in perpetual fear of Harpella finding them and stuffing their wings down their throats killing them. The brave Emily bravely fights and defeats the fairy Hitler, I mean Harpella, who, it turns out, was killing the fairies because she was mad at her husband because he had abandoned her because…okay, it didn’t say why he’d left her. Must be her name. What I don’t get, though, is why Harpella wanted to kill all the fairies instead of, let’s say, just killing her husband? This must be some hardcore fairy logic because I don’t get it.
And the bunnies? Oh, yes, Harpella turned some pesky humans into pink bunnies. Why pink? Maybe to really rub it in. The end.
*This name is so appalling I actually like it. So I’m guessing it’s harpy + Cinderella + all the patriarchal luggage these two words have acquired during their existence = a serial killer in a children’s book published in 2012. You just can’t beat this.
January 6, 2015
The Hog Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is about FOUR dudes (yes, what a writer wouldn’t do for a good-sounding title?) who are having some rather vicious fun in the seventeenth-century France. They rob,* kill, and abuse people. Good clean fun, right?
But what is really shocking is the story of Athos’s wife, Milady de Winter. We don’t get her side of the story in The Three Musketeers, only her husband’s, and the noble Athos naturally portrays her as a liar and a thief and it’s totally okay to kill her after a mock trial that comes up at the end of the novel. Yes, the four musketeer dudes capture and try Milady, yes, just the four of them. What a fair trial! Then, after they “sentence” her to death, they pay an executioner they brought with them to behead the poor woman.
Yep.
Anyway, in the sequel to The Three Musketeers, either Twenty Years After or The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, I can’t remember which at the moment, we do learn Milady’s story as told by her own self. Yes, she admits that she was a liar and thief, but she was an orphan and would have died in the streets from starvation if she didn’t steal. Caught after she’d robbed a church, she was branded on the shoulder. Yet she somehow picked herself up and educated herself enough to pass for a noble-born and to marry Athos under false pretences. However, she didn’t mean to hurt or rob him.** Perhaps she even loved him, which he amply repaid by tying her to a tree and leaving her to die after he found out that she was a thief and had that brand on her shoulder. At the time this all was happening, the girl was SIXTEEN!!!
Anyhow, I think these porcelain hog musketeers just about sum it all up.
P.S. Just for kicks, you can compare Milady’s story to Jean Valjean’s from Les Miserables. Jean stole too, was punished, returned to society, but couldn’t find a place in it until he started lying about his past. Which is essentially Milady’s trajectory. Only Jean’s struggle is seen as Herculean and noble and whatnot whereas Milady’s one is depicted as a dirty descent to hell.
*The four musketeers don’t steal stuff directly—they just “buy” things, promising to pay later, but never actually getting around to it. Such behavior was condoned back then because the working and middle classes were considered subhuman by the nobility, hence it was okay to abuse them.
**True, it’s her side of the story, but what would she have gained by robbing Athos and running away from him? Since he’s an aristocrat, his wealth is land-based, which is hard to carry off in the middle of a night. Plus, Milady would have lost the prestige and protection that came with the status of a married woman and a countess.
December 30, 2014
Revenge by Paula Rose: Blog Tour
Hi, everyone! Today I am very excited to have Paula Rose as my guest. She is an awesome writer and the author of Revenge, a romantic suspense novel. Please, a round of applause for Paula!
…
My name is Paula Rose, and I’m here to discuss my Inspirational Romantic Suspense title Revenge.
In Revenge, you’ll meet job coach Olivia Foster who ensures her clients work in a safe environment, understand their positions, and serve their employer’s mission. The death of her brother at a worksite pushed her into this career choice and doing for others what wasn’t done for her sibling is something she loves to do. Having lost a special relationship and wanting to keep her heart safe from further pain, her life revolves around this job until an Autistic client disappears. When Olivia’s employer ends her position and makes no secret that she is on a suspect list, she’s escorted from the building, and the last thing she needs to see is the police waiting for her, again.
Detective Lt. Phillip Landon seems preoccupied with second-guessing his career choice, but he can’t miss the flaws inside this woman’s situation. It doesn’t take long for him to believe Olivia Foster is being targeted, but he never expects how far someone is willing to go to bring her down or how far she’s willing to go to save her client.
Due to some very disturbing phone calls, happenings, and situations, Olivia Foster stubbornly makes plans to bring this missing client home without his help. She unknowingly leads him into terrifying circumstances.
Can Phillip Landon keep Olivia safe and protect his heart? Will he remove the job coach from someone’s target list or will someone try to remove him from this equation?
Writing Revenge was a steady stream of suspense since the plot, the characters, and the muse didn’t always see things the way this writer did. My plot changed, my characters grew, and I was always trying to play catch up with my muse. In the end, even I was stunned by . . . well, the end. It wasn’t at all what I envisioned, but it was the story that was meant to be told.
Nevertheless, it truly is my hope that readers will enjoy the characters and the built-in suspense plot as much as I did.
Blessings,
Paula Rose
Revenge by Paula Rose
Anaiah Romance
Blurb:
As a job coach, it’s up to Olivia Foster to ensure her clients work in a safe environment, understand their positions, and serve their employer’s mission. The death of her brother drives her career choice, and she loves her job. It remains her only focus until one of her autistic clients goes missing. Then Olivia’s employer ends her position and adds her to the suspect list, but she makes plans to bring the missing young man home.
Meanwhile, Detective Lt. Phillip Landon is deep into second-guessing his career choice, but his well-honed instincts see major flaws inside this missing person’s case. Surprising contacts, mysterious happenings, and threats can turn deadly. Can he keep Olivia safe, protect his heart, remove the job coach from someone’s target list, and adopt a faith he never knew all while adjusting to the new lives of his old family?
Release Date:
December 16, 2014
Add it to Goodreads
Trailer:
Author Bio:
Author Paula Rose brings an “average” family into extraordinary situations, brushes with life-size strokes of reality, adding just a touch of humor, and coats with suspense inside Christian fiction. Paula’s research gives readers a panoramic view from law enforcement and lends to character authenticity. She enjoys writing in the romantic suspense, suspense, and mystery genres, but when she’s not writing, Paula Rose is playing amateur photographer.
Author Links:
Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Pinterest | Anaiah Press | Bookfun.org |
Rafflecopter:
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22735988-revenge
December 24, 2014
Moomins and Christmas
Tales from Moominvalley is well, a collection of short stories. 
BUT one of them is about Christmas. “The Fir Tree.” And if I could give more than five stars to this short story, I would. All the stars for “The Fir Tree.”
My synopsis: since the Moomins and most of their friends hibernate all winter, they never celebrate Christmas. In fact, they don’t even know what it is. So, when they are jolted awake by a Hemulen* in the middle of winter and told they must get up for Christmas, they are utterly confused. They try to find out what Christmas is, but everyone they ask is cranky and overwhelmed by buying presents, decorating, cooking, etc. So the Moomins decide Christmas is something scary and unpleasant and they must hide from it in a fir tree. Hilarity ensues, with a very touching ending.
P.S. The other stories in this collection are lovely too, but “The Fir Tree” is the absolute best.
Happy Holidays!
*A creature that looks like a hippo, but walks on hind legs.
