Coming Home For Christmas - Julia Williams

Hello All,

Please find my Christmas theme novel that I'm sure will be right up a lot of people's street. I want to review this book so that we can have some fun this Christmas holidays with this book.

Coming Home For Christmas - Julia Williams

Warm, humorous and completely irresistible. All you want for Christmas is right here!

“Terrifically warm, with lovely, lively characters.” Fiona Walker

“This story warms you like a cosy cup of cocoa.” Closer

These three friends are dreading Christmas…

Cat needs to get off the ‘has-been’ heap and rescue her flagging TV career, but the demands of her extended family are reaching fever pitch and she barely has time to breathe. Meanwhile, Pippa has got too many balls to juggle as a struggling single mum trying to hang on to her family farm. And Marianne’s marriage is looking distinctly rocky now her beloved husband’s ex is back on the scene.

Happy Christmas? Forget it. But Christmas is a time for miracles, and when the villagers learn they must fight for what they love, it becomes clear that there is festive magic in the air.

Suddenly for Cat, Pippa and Marianne, it’s looking like it might just be a Christmas to remember…

Review- 5/5 

This story follows a group of women who are trying to find there happy ever after. I have to say that I fell in love with all of them. 

Pipa in my mind is one of the women who is tested the most with her own struggles to stop her woods being destroyed and finding her own happiness through the fog she finds herself in. 

Marianne is having trouble with her partner Gabriel's

ex comes to stay. She finds herself trying to find where she fits into her home again as she starts to feel like she didn't fit in there anymore. She has to keep moving forward and that was going to prove her own way to cope till they could find each other again.

Cat has the least testing time yet it showed many traits that older women face when their children are grown and the teenage pregnancy that a lot of parents are dealing with. I have a lot of sympathy for her as she tries to adjust. 

I just can't explain how wonderful this book is. 

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Please check back in where I hope to have another great set of reviews for you. 

Kristal McKerrington 

The Rural Setting Thesaurus:A Writers Guide - Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi

Hello All,

So we are diving into a writers study and teaching guide to get us through those times when the books not working or the words are just sounding all the same. I can't wait to give you my thought on this master piece and in the new year I will be doing some more of these to help out the inspiring writers out there. We are always learning and that is the thing about writing we shouldn't be stopping any time soon.

The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places

Within the pages of a book exists a world drawn from a writer’s deepest imaginings, one that has the ability to pull readers in on a visceral level. But the audience’s fascination will only last if the writer can describe this vibrant realm and its inhabitants well. The setting achieves this by offering readers a unique sensory experience. So much more than stage dressing, the setting can build mood, convey meaning through symbolism, drive the plot by creating challenges that force the hero to fight for what he wants, and trigger his emotions to reveal his most intimate feelings, fears, and desires.

Inside The Rural Setting Thesaurus, you’ll find:

• A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 100 settings revolving around school, home, and nature
• Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters
• Advice on the many effective ways to build mood, helping you steer both the character’s and readers’ emotions in every scene
• Information on how the setting directly influences the plot by acting as a tuning fork for what a character needs most and by testing his dedication to his goals
• A tutorial on figurative language and how different descriptive techniques can bring settings alive for readers while conveying a symbolic message or deeper meaning
• A review of the challenges that arise when writing description, as well as special considerations that apply specifically to rural and personal settings

The Rural Setting Thesaurus takes “show-don’t-tell” to new heights. It offers writers a roadmap to creating fresh setting imagery that impacts the story on multiple levels while keeping readers engaged from the first page to the last.

Review - 5/5

I was so happy when I finished reading this master piece for its what I have been searching for. It has everything I need to set up a scene and to do what I need when the words are sounding the same. I am always stuck on smells and this gave me advice on that too. I got through several of the chapters thinking to myself (how did I forget that or I should have known.) 

Its exactly what we as writers and authors need to remind us of what we need to make our stories sing to our readers. I think its going to be having a special place on my desk from now on as its something that I will properly turn to on more than one occasion in the future. 

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Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will stop by for my Christmas themed book review. 

Kristal McKerrington 

The Ragged Heiress- Dolly Court Review

Hello Readers,

We are going to dive into the historical side of things today with this great book. I'm going to leave your decision to my thoughts in the review section. Its worth checking out.

The Ragged Heiress

On a bitter winter's day, an unnamed girl lies dangerously ill in hospital. When two coarse, rough-speaking individuals come to claim her, she can remember nothing of the events that brought her to her present state, not even her name. According to the men, she is their young sister, Lucy. As her health improves and her memory gradually returns, she realizes she's been kidnapped. But she has no means of escaping the hideous confines of the filthy basement room in which they have imprisoned her in.

Review 4/5 stars 

Dilly Court's take on a trades daughter who is worth a small fortune is a truly interesting story, there is places where its so slow that you are 'get to the point' already. There is parts that are so alarmingly obviously that you want to scream. Her job is not just to tell a great historical romance story which she did, but also draw emotions out of the book and make you think about it when you finished. There are what I look for in a book and she provided me that. 

There was places that were rushed and that is what I would tell her. She has done a great job constructing the book and the world she wanted to create, however she fell apart in some areas. I will not go through the book picking it apart I just sharing my opinion. The characters were developed well except for some of them which I don't want to name to spoil it for you. 

Setting was perfect and she offered a great book to pass the time and I recommend it to alot of readers out there. 

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Thank you for stopping by and please come back to see which book I will be reviewing next. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Beautiful Broken Things- Sara Barnard

Hello All, 

Well I'm back with a none series book that took my breath away and I can't wait to share with you the thoughts on such a thought provoking book. I was a bit iffy that it was a childrens book however this is something that children should understand in this ever changing world. 

I was brave
She was reckless
We were trouble

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie - confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne's past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realizes, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

5 Star Review

This book I have to say is breath taking and the entire time your reading it your rooting for Suze to get the help she needs. This is a great children's book that will also speak to every parent and adult out there. It will also touch base with every teenager out there who is finding life hard and doesn't know what to do to make things better. I have to say that is what really made me think this was a five star book. 

The writing was perfection and was done to such a high standard that made me want to get nothing else done than reading about a world that doesn't seem to far away from what I grew up with. Living in Scotland and being in a small town we had a few Suzies and I was friends with one of them. I ended up being forced to take the route that Rosie took instead of Caddy. 

There is warning in here that must be understood by parents and I don't want to spell it out because it will ruin the book for all those of you considering it. I will say though, this is a must read for all. We could all use a lesson in understanding and being more aware of situations such as these. 

I hope that you will agree with my review and will be like myself, not only happy with my purchase but interested in seeing what other work this author comes up with. 

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Thank you for stopping by and check back soon for the latest review and to maybe share your thoughts on some of the books I have read already. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Fall of The Night- Rachel Caine- Review

Hello All,

I'm getting sad now that we are nearing the end of the Morganville Vampire series. I wish that we were gearing up for another great spread of stories but alas there is just two more to go now. Rachel I'm very, very sad.

Okay enough of my emotional ties to books lets get on with the review.

Fall of The Night

Thanks to its unique combination of human and vampire residents, Morganville, Texas, is a small college town with big time problems. When student Claire Danvers gets the chance to experience life on the outside, she takes it. But Morganville isn’t the only town with vampire trouble…

Claire never thought she’d get to leave Morganville, but she can’t pass up the chance to finally attend her dream school, MIT. After all, getting to invent anti-vamp devices with Professor Anderson—a Morganville exile herself—sounds like a dream come true…until Claire realizes that there are sinister forces in play, and she’s not the only one with a vampire-related agenda.

Without her friends Shane, Eve and Michael, surviving a killer schedule may be hard…but with them, it might turn out to be impossible.

5 Star review. 

This was short of nothing but five stars. From the very beginning the book cries out with heart pounding moments. There is this desire by Claire to go to MIT only things don't turn out the way she planned or anyone in Morganville thought. From the moment that Shane followed her out there and things went wrong for him too. It was not the sort of 'fix it' stunt that either of them thought it would be. 

Rachel keeps you hanging onto the book not wanting to put it down and I know that for a fact. I often fell asleep on the book or it on my face for that matter. Hubby was starting to get a little annoyed at having to remove the thing from me every so often. It was a master piece in young adult suspense, the mending of a relationship and the warning of what any weapons can do in the wrong hands. 

Its perfect in the detail. The trails the plot leaves and the way that there is even more tension brewing or the next part in their destined tale. There isn't many books that could be fourteen in and still have the same grab and bite that the first two has. 

This is a must read for vampire readers and young adults a like. It even makes a reader a very happy reader if you get them the box set. Hint Hint..

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Thank you for stopping by and later on you will get to read the review that I'm going to do for books fifteen. 

Kristal McKerrington

Bitter Blood By Rachel Caine (Morganville Book 13)

Hello Readers,

Its freezing in Helensburgh today and soon I will be sipping coffee with Debz, gossiping about our lives. Discussing Marie's World: The Aftermath. Check side board of this blog for more information. Before I go try to not fall asleep on girls day, I wanted to give you my review on the book I finished late last night.

Bitter Blood By 

Rachel Caine

With the eradication of the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town's human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But Claire Danvers isn't about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires.

Review: 5 Stars out of 5. 

This book gave me everything I needed and the change of POV was done so well in each chapter change that it gave me a much fuller out look on the story. It allowed me to see all sides and gave me the much bigger picture earlier on. There were often times w

ith my hubby saying to me 'shhh!' as I groaned (trying to not to yell) at the book in order for the characters to see what was coming.

The break up, near deaths and of course the punishments of Morganvilles queen or new queen was just the twists this book needed to put it over the top. To make it awesome. The humor for Myrin (sorry if I spelt it wrong) was what the book needed to push it over the top in my opinion. 

For someone that has written thirteen books with another three to go I have to say Rachel Caine did more than surprise us. She wowed us. She took the series to a new level each time and adding a film crew, ghosts and a possible new resident really made this book just blow you away. She is a great best selling writer for a reason. 

Through out the end of the book she sneaky and creatively sets up the beginning of what will be book fourteen. She has done more than we can ask for and she keeps the series fresh with each piece of the Morganville puzzle that she puts together. I'm sure that there is hundreds of teenagers out there that is falling in love with this series over and over again. 

I can safely say that my series of Morganville books will be staying on my shelves for my teenage daughters to read when they are old enough. I love that she still uses physics at every turn. 

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Thank you for stopping by and please come back for the new review that I hope to be posting very soon. Subscribe if you don't want to check back weekly. 

Kristal McKerrington 

Fatal Affair- Marie Force - Review

Hello All,

I'm back from the hospital I just endured. 4 weeks and its not the easiest place to read in. I did however have some time to do edits as that is the easiest thing to do when your in there. I'm sure that is what headphones were invented for.

Now onto the review that you came here to read.

Marie Force's Fatal Affair. 

"Fans of Scandal and House of Cards will love the Fatal Series."  —New York Times bestselling author Cindy Gerard 

Includes a never-before-published prequel novella 

Walking the thin blue line… 

Detective Sergeant Sam Holland of the Washington, DC, Metro Police needs a big win to salvage her career—and her confidence—after a disastrous investigation. The perfect opportunity arises when Senator John O'Connor is found brutally murdered in his bed, and Sam is assigned to the case. Matters get complicated when Sam has to team up with Nick Cappuano, O'Connor's friend and chief of staff…and the man Sam had a memorable one-night stand with years earlier. Their sexual chemistry still sizzles, and Sam has to fight to stay focused on the case. Sleeping with a material witness is another mistake she can't afford—especially when the bodies keep piling up.

5 Stars 

Well I'm not into the suspense romance novels for the sex scenes tend to be to much and its that have struggled with. I didn't have that problem in this book as Marie Force balanced so many balls in the air at the same time. She didn't let anything get dropped during this great plot at all. I'm glad that the reading club I'm apart of suggested this novel. 

There is hot scenes, ones that are super emotional and there is a great deal of suspense that holds you from page one right through to the last one. Plus there is a few moments that I didn't see coming. This book will even suit authors who have a tenency to see how books tend to go. This is great book for someone starting the suspense romance experience with the Carina Publishing company or just the genre in gender. 

I take my hat off to Angela James who did well with this great novel and it just shows how well Carina Press are doing. I look forward to reading more of the series. I know that book 2 is on its way to me as I write this. 

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Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you back here for my next review. 

Kristal McKerrington