Lessons Learned

                                             
                                                         Lessons Learned

English teacher Sarah Bray never thought she’d return to Sycamore Falls, but a traumatic event at her inner-city school leaves her desperate for the sanctuary of home. By returning to her roots, an older and wiser Sarah hopes to deal with the demons of her present and confront the ghosts of her past. She discovers a kindred spirit in Lucas Miller, a teacher from New York with demons of his own. They quickly become friends—bonding through Lucas’s culture shock and their mutual desire to build new lives. When they open their wounded hearts to each other, their friendship effortlessly evolves into romance. Their love is put to the test when Matt, the quarterback of the football team, shares his deepest secret with Sarah. When the conservative community finds out, Sarah and Lucas—along with the town of Sycamore Falls—are schooled in the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and love.

Author: Sydney Logan

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The imagery in this book is gorgeous.  I can see the house and the mountains and the town of Sycamore Falls - and all the people in it.  The love story between Sarah and Lucas is touching and sweet and is a union of equals rather than one person constantly "rescuing" their partner.  The story about Matt is heartbreakingly honest and deals with cultural, social, and moral issues with a delicate yet unflinching hand.  Well written!

Spoilers: This is Sarah and Lucas's love story; there is sex in it, but it is not graphically detailed.  The core issue of this story is homosexuality and the process of coming out that an adolescent boy experiences in a conservative and homophobic community.  There is also some violence, although most of it happens "off screen."  

The Learner 

                                                
                                                               The Learner

 An alien from the dark side of the universe is sent to Earth on a mission. She’s called a Learner. When she falls in love with a human—which is against her species' covenants of exploration—her rulers order her to leave him. She refuses, risking not only the successful outcome of her mission on Earth, but also her life as well as the life of the man she loves.

Author: Alan Nayes

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Alan Nayes has an excellent turn of phrase and is able to give vivid, compelling descriptions of the world in which his characters exist, and the alien worlds beyond.  A nicely-paced love story with enough intrigue and danger to keep my attention, and enough romance to keep me reading without feeling smothered or embarrassed.   A good read, with engaging realistic characters.  While this is the first in a series, it tells a complete story, but still leaves plenty of room to grow.

Spoilers: This was hard for me to read because of the consistent use of the Šumayin pseudo-language.  The intermixing of Greek and English letters with phonetic and mathematic symbols was confusing and distracting, and impossible for me to render phonetically even in the silence of my own head.  While the glossary at the was very helpful, I still had not learned what the words meant by the end of the book because I had no basis or context for them.  This may be worse for me because I read three alphabets (including Greek and Hebrew), and I kept trying to translate the words rather than just making up sounds for them.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the sponsor requested the contest end early. Apologies to anyone still waiting to enter.

The Learner

An alien from the dark side of the universe is sent to Earth on a mission. She’s called a Learner. When she falls in love with a human—which is against her specie’s covenants of exploration—her rulers order her to leave him. She refuses, risking not only the successful outcome of her mission on Earth, but also her life as well as the life of the man she loves.

Purchase The Learner on Amazon!

 

About Author Alan Nayes

I live in Southern California but still consider myself part Texan by birthright. I was born in Houston and grew up in Dallas. I've resided in California since the mid 1980's but get back to Texas as much as possible. My first two published novels--GARGOYLES and THE UNNATURAL are biomedical thrillers. Actually THE UNNATURAL could also fall into the horror genre as it is a pretty bizarre tale. BARBARY POINT is a love story about a successful young woman who falls in love with a fishing guide. It was written on a suggestion from a former agent. My favorite football team is the Superbowl champs GREEN BAY PACKERS. Sorry Cowboys. But when GB is not on the gridiron--Go Dallas! Great Cheerleaders, too! I enjoy the outdoors and as a side note I'm one of only a few individuals to ever swim across Wisconsin's chilly Lake Winnebago. Does this make me a better writer--probably not. When I'm not working on my next project, I enjoy relaxing and fishing at our family vacation home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Alan Nayes is the author of GARGOYLES, THE UNNATURAL, BARBARY POINT, GIRL BLUE, and SMILODON. Follow Alan Nayes Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Blog / His website

Talisman of El Giveaway!

                                                
                                                               Talisman of El

What if your whole life was a lie?
One planet.
Two worlds.
Population: Human... 7 billion.
Others... Unknown.

When 14 year old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again.  This time he witnesses a brutal murder.  He's afraid to tell anyone.  No one would believe him... because it was a dream.  Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.  Charlie doesn't know why this is happening.  He would give anything to have an ordinary life.  The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home.  He belongs with the others.

Purchase Talisman of El:  Amazon  B&N
                                                     

Author's Page: Alecia Stone - Follow her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and GoodReads  

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The 13th

                                                   
                                                                    The 13th

Magic in Strega Bluff is like parking meters in other cities.  The quaint New England town is home to a large community of witches, warlocks -- and many secrets.  Jade Hansen loved living there until the untimely death of her parents.  After a much-needed sabbatical, she returns to find the peaceful hamlet turned upside down. A string of murders haunts the city and everyone is a potential target, but even worse, they are all suspects.  A family secret puts Jade in the middle and her loved ones in danger.  Dodging an evil warlock set on revenge, she is a race to stop the killer before it's too late.

Author: Shadow Stephens
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I really enjoyed this book!  The author does a fine job of painting the town of Strega Bluff, the people who live and visit there, and the rich paranormal history of the town.  Jade and Asher are well-rounded and have  more to their personas than sex appeal and spell casting (although there is a lot of both!).  Jade's relationships with others are varied and realistic, without "cookie-cutter" characters or a re-hashing of an old plot.  Jade and Asher are fun to read because they have fun in their lives, and have hope in the face of fear.  It was refreshing to read a paranormal story that is relatively angst free!  This was a fast read, and kept my interest.

Mini spoliers: Recommended for 18+ because of frequent sex scenes.  While these scenes are not overly graphic, there is no doubt as to what is happening or how the participants are interacting.  However, other than the sex, the book reads almost as if it is for young adult readers.

Broken Promises

                                               
                                                          Broken Promises

All Bri wanted to do was spend her Friday night with the man she loved and adores.  Little did she know leaving her home would result in her relationship with Quinn being tested beyond its limits.
Fae have been organizing to invade Earth, and their devious plans are culminating now, colliding with Bri's very existence.  Using a powerful glamour, the Fae trigger each person's violent tendencies, turning the streets into a battleground and strangers against each other.  In a crushing blow, Quinn becomes affected and Bri finds herself battling to save her lover from himself as he stalks her relentlessly, taunting her at every turn.
But fighting for her love isn't her only worry.  As the battle ensues, Bri discovers a startling truth about her own heritage that she must come to terms with.  She has no other choice but to fight, leading her to a confrontation that will change her world forever - and threaten to leave her with broken promises.

Author: Belinda Boring
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A good, fast read.  The book is well written, with good turn of phrase, many humorous moments, and an intriguing plot.  There is not much direct depiction of the Fae, but their impact on the story is deep and far-reaching.  It was a little hard for me to get my head around the characters because they are almost all archetypes - flawless, physically perfect, dashingly witty beings - but this made their descent into the violent madness of Fae-possession all the more shocking.  Bri is warm, funny, lovable, clumsy, and a little vulnerable, but also strong and stubborn.  Overall, a good book that is worth reading.

Spoiler Alert: There is lots of sex, but the sex is almost always tied in with violence, and comes near rape on several occasions.  I found this hard to reconcile in a book that is labeled as a romance.  Bri's constant attempts to redeem Quinn despite his threats and acts of violence toward Bri crossed the line for me into willfully blind stupidity rather than passionate devotion to her man, but did not detract much from my enjoyment of the story.  But you be the judge.

The Silver Cross

                                                                
                                                               The Silver Cross

The Silver Cross

There are two things Boston detective Lacey Gardner knows about killing vampires. Slicing off a head or a hit directly to the heart are the only surefire ways to kill one.  Silver is their Achilles heel.  A vampire never wears silver.

When she meets bartender extraordinaire, Damon Harte, her heart does a quickstep for the dark hunky guy. She's learned the hard way that having a love interest in her line of work can be heart-wrenching.  She's kept to herself for years, but something about Damon captivates her and draws her to him.  When she learns Damon's devastating secret, she knows what she has to do: kill the man who has stolen her heart...

Authors: Debra L Martin & David W. Small
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I enjoyed this book.  It is well conceived, well written, and with characters that each have a distinct personality, appearance, and motivation.  There are a wealth of details, but not so much that they bog down the fast-paced action, or makes the slow and seductive romance too over the top.  The authors do a good job of introducing layers of story that are not evident from the above teaser-review, and his story is more than just "girl falls for vampire and has to choose between love and loss."  It was a fast read - I finished it in a little over an hour, but I will probably re-read it more slowly to really enjoy the unfolding of the plot and characters again.

Spoiler: Absolutely written to be the first in a series (there had better be more!), and there is no definite conclusion for any of the primary characters.