PrincessReviews

Miss Nobody: Book One of The Shaw Family Saga by Nicole Dunlap is the expertly woven tale of Charlene Shaw and her daughter Raven Shaw. Fifteen-year-old Charlene has dreams of becoming a famous actress. After having her heart broken by her true love and not having a good home life, she decides to run away from Bellwood, North Carolina headed for Hollywood. Unfortunately, she accepts a ride from a truck driver who sexually assaults her and leaves her for dead. A little over a year later her parents finally hear of Charlene’s fate and go to an Iowa orphanage to retrieve her. However, Charlene has left for L.A. to pursue her acting and in her place is a blue-eyed baby girl named Raven. The Shaws take their granddaughter home to Bellwood and so begins the intertwining stories of Charlene and Raven Shaw. I really liked the story. The emotions are believable and I like that the author expertly keeps the characters separate but connected. Charlene and Raven both have their own distinctiv...

Many lovely hair extensions can be found online  here . They can add a pop of color to any outfit and are great for the spring season! Video review coming soon!!

Please join me in welcoming Marlene Bateman to PrincessReviews as she talks about her book, Gaze into Heaven!! : This book is a religious one and is slanted toward members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Here are some assorted blurbs.   Gaze Into Heaven  is a carefully compiled collection of more than 50 near-death experiences that occurred during the early years of the Church. These documented accounts give fascinating glimpses into the Spirit World by those who have actually been there. Besides being filled with stories of insight and inspiration,  Gaze Into Heaven  has pertinent quotes from latter-day Prophets and other leaders,scriptures, and perceptive commentary. After reading this book, you will never think of life—or death—in the same way. Most of us have wondered exactly what will happen when we die. What does the Spirit World look like?  Will we see departed family members and friends?  What do peopl...

Child of the Loch  by Elizabeth Delana Rosa is about J.J. McDonnell who on her twenty-fourth birthday discovers that she is the heir to the Loch throne; and that she must take her throne immediately to save the people and the land from destruction. The story follows J.J. as she forms alliances and makes enemies on her way to the throne. The only way for me to describe this book is Lord of the Rings on fast forward. I have “watched” movies by fast forwarding until I see something interesting and then pushing play for a few minutes and then fast forwarding again, watching a three-hour movie in like thirty minutes. That is how I felt reading Child of the Loch. I wasn’t going to give a rating at first because I felt it was not complete. There is very little dialog and a lot of “telling” without enough “showing.” It is in first person so it reads much like a diary. There are moments of greatly crafted description, but they're few. I did not feel invested in the heroine J.J. and I...

1. What is Islanders about? In the wake of environmental and social collapse, a group of kids go in search of the truth about what happened to their world. 2. Which character from Islanders are you most like and why? Coby. He's the best friend of the leader of the group (Ben Brewer). Coby is a bit of a coward, but he provides back-up for the more courageous members of the group. I think novelists are like that; we're not typically heroic or dashing, we're always there in the background, looking on. 3. How many books (of your own writing) do you hope to have published in your life time? I've had six published so far. The plan is 2 more in the Islanders series and a whopping 8 more in the LS9 crime series I'm writing. Wow, that would be 16... 4. What is your favorite quote? "By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong." Charles Wadsworth. 5. What inspires you the most? Other writers in...

1. What inspired you to write The Sword of Sighs? The idea for The Sword of Sighs came from the Fantasy fiction that I grew up reading for the most; The Hobbit , The Chronicles of Narnia and The Wizard of Oz being the main ones. There are also some influences from Fantasy television shows and movies I watched at the time like He-Man , Dungeons & Dragons and Star Chaser . I’d like to think that it’s written as more of a Classic Fantasy story than Gritty or Dark Fantasy. It’s a tribute to everything I enjoyed as a child and teenager. In addition to that, I wanted to write a novel with a female lead character who is strong, independent and gets to grow and develop throughout the story without needing a romantic sub-plot as a crutch. But that’s just my own preference for characters who can stand on their own two feet against what the world has to throw at them. 2. What is The Sword of Sighs about? The Sword of Sighs is about Sarah Bean – a teenage girl from...

Have You Seen Her? by Chicki Brown follows Marcia Hadley's escape from her fabulously wealthy but abusive husband. Forming a new identity as Dani Reynolds 3,000 miles away, she takes a job as a cocktail waitress at a club called Frenzy, hoping to stay off the radar. But the club's bouncer Taylor has set his sights on her. To her surprise, Dani finds herself looking right back. This book has a good premise although it is predictable. Readers will definitely get their money's worth just in the word count alone. This is a LONG book. I was surprised how long it was for a romance. I was exhausted a third of the way through the book. The writing is clean, consistent and clear. It is also tedious. It follows Dani through each and every action of each and every day...well practically. I would have cut out a lot of her day-to-day activities. The plot kept me on a seesaw of interest. For example, the idea of her husband finding her, her attraction to Taylor and...

Charmaine , Book One of the Light-Bearer series by Emily Guido stars Tabbruis as a lonely Blood-Hunter who has sworn off human blood, and Charleen   (aka Charmaine) as a lonely Light-Bearer who doesn't know she's a Light-Bearer. This book is an introduction to the Light-Bearers series so it covers Tabbruis and Charleen's meeting and the rise of the main threat against them. As a reader, the synopsis drew me in and the cover art is awesome. I couldn't wait to read this.   Once I got inside, the story moves along well with Tabbruis. However, there are places that read way too quickly. I felt like I was reading an extended synopsis. One that particularly bothered me was Tabbruis' background. That could've been a book all its own. It felt rushed. But once we introduce Charleen, the story gets bogged down. Toward the end as Tabbruis and Charleen are getting to know each other, the pace is incredibly slow. Every action is being described almost in re...

Salt of the Earth by Jesse V. Coffey is about Rip. Rip is dead. This is the story that happens between life and the afterlife. Robert Isaac Porter dies in a shoot out after a botched robbery attempt. He ends up in the most haunted cemetery in New England where he meets his Guardian Angel who puts him to work in haunting the place. Everyone in the cemetery has a job whether it's raising a literal "stink", turning into a banshee or running around headless after the "tourists." I enjoyed this book. It is a quick and easy read. Rip is good guy with many hidden talents that you couldn't tell from his speech which is full of "hip" slang. But most of the other entertaining characters have their own slang as well. You won't be confused about who is speaking. It is pretty diverse. The plot moves along pretty quickly and was easy to follow. It was only when the characters started talking about karma, the "Far Meadow...