mignon mykel { reviews }: review + guest post || SOMEWHERE IN TIME { blog tour } by Alyssa Richards

Thursday, December 17, 2015

review + guest post || SOMEWHERE IN TIME { blog tour } by Alyssa Richards

Self-Published | November 9, 2015 | Supernatural Romance
The Fine Art of Deception, book 2
★★★★

SOURCE: BARCLAY PUBLICITY

Addison Montgomery has finally found love with the man of her dreams, Blake Greenwood, and is ready to live another lifetime of happiness with him. But the morning they’re supposed to bring closure to their dark, violent past, all chances of a happily-ever-after turn as dead as the ghosts she sees on a daily basis.

Now Addie must team up with her greatest enemy, embracing her not-quite-perfect gift of reading art psychically. If she succeeds, she will finally learn the truth behind her father’s and grandfather’s disappearances. If she fails, every chance at love she’s ever hoped for will be destroyed. But one thing is clear: she has to choose between saving Blake or her family, and there’s no way she can ever have both.

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords | iBooks

{ add to goodreads } .

{ about alyssa richards } .

Alyssa Richards is a paranormal romance author who lives in the South with her husband and two children. She recently published her first paranormal romance book called The Fine Art of Deception: Undoing Time and is currently working on the sequel. Alyssa’s writing is influenced by her curiosity with ghosts and the supernatural world. She writes daily and believes that discipline and commitment to the craft are critical to be a successful writer. Whenever she gets the opportunity, Alyssa enjoys travel, spending time with her pups, and nurturing her herb and rose garden.

{ day in the life: a typical writing day with alyssa } .

Usually I get up around 4 or 5 a.m. and write while my house is quiet. Morning is my most creative time and I love that space where the distractions are few and the creativity is loud and strong.

I have two very active boys, so my writing world is built into the margins of their life. My laptop goes with me everywhere and I write wherever I happen to be at the moment — soccer practices, baseball practices, summer sports clinics. My car is my writing den.

I’ll also write in the evenings, and to the endless frustration of my husband and boys, while we’re supposed to be watching a movie or a baseball game together!

{ review } .

In book one, we met Addie and Blake. In book two, we learn a little bit more about their time together.... before. I felt that the suspense aspect in this story was definitely better -- pairing present to past, and further weaving in the art pieces, made for exciting points in this story. Then further form the villain that is Otto, and even more excitement graces the pages.

Addie and Blake, as well as the side players we meet in this installment, are all well-written. This is an enjoyable cast of characters, and the time hoping and painting watching and Otto avoiding was fun to read. There were still a few writing characteristics that didn't work for me, but I've decided that's more of a "this reader doesn't care for it" type of thing.

{ previous reviews in series } .

UNDOING TIME 4★ { review }

{ giveaway } .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments:

a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

View all my reviews