Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
(Un) Graceful Cat (Un) Series by B. A. Gabrielle (Book Review #437)
As I enjoyed the innocent storyline of the book, I could not ignore the lack of depth and character development it possessed. The plot and the pace were enjoyable to read yet swayed towards many various avenues that made you lose focus.
What did stand out for me was the differentiation between the good and bad. The author portrayed a very interesting dialogue between the characters and I believe this would very much suit young adult novel fans.
Altogether, this novel is sweet to read and excellent for the young minds. The author has potential in creating good literary work, and I look forward to reading more from her.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Plunge In to the Worlds of Temi Black
Plunge Into the Worlds of Temi Black
What would you do if you found that your whole life had been leading up to this moment…
John is simply a visitor in the mountains, who comes for his annual fishing trip. He crosses paths with Temi, a local resident, on three occasions: twice when she is a small child, and once when she is in her teens. But these meetings occur for John all within a space of days!
John and Temi now meet up in the modern day. They begin to discover how their timelines are co
nnected, and how their destinies might unfold.
Between Two Worlds is a fantasy realism story about a hybrid breed of people who have the ability to change shape into mountain lions. They can also travel in time, but they are governed by a unique set of limitations.
The people of the mountain lion clan live in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. They reside in the foothills of Picpic Mountain, meaning “cat” in the Cayuse language. Their power is rooted in the heart of this mountain, and it diminishes when they travel too far away.
Members of the mountain lion clan believe that their brief travels though time are spiritual in nature. Temi exhibits exceptional power by traveling without warning as a child. Her mother panics and moves Temi away from the mountains, only to return several years later.
There are unique “rules” to these people, such as what happens when a member of the lion clan breeds with a human, how it works when one jumps forward, or backward, in time, how the young come in to their powers, what happens when they stay away from the mountains, and even what happens when they die.
Between Two Worlds also has some great cliffhangers, and while wrapping up the story, leave you wanting to know more…
-Jodi Hockinson, author, Between Two Worlds, Book I in the Lion Clan Series – available on Amazon – free on Kindle Unlimited, and free as your first book on Audible.com. Watch the video to learn more at www.betweentwoworldsfantasynovel.com
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The Souls Expression by Amy Alston (Book Review #436)
Dr. Hershaw is a very interesting character. He assists Katherine in finding herself as well as helping her navigate through the trying time she deems to face. The author displays a very classic style of language in her writing while she remains true to the time frame of things. As the doctor helps Katherine, we also witness a relationship brewing between them. I enjoyed the fact that Dr. Hershaw had a more modern frame of mind, ahead of his time.
The pace of the story was well designed keeping the reader interested. I found the sexual content to be too much but essential for me and would like to make sure the reader is aware that the story does contain graphic adult content.
I found the cover to be extremely attractive and recommend this book to people that like to read women’s fiction, romance, and historical fiction.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Hemlock The Manhunters – Book Two by Jesse Teller
Hemlock
The Manhunters Book Two
The busiest pirate bay in Perilisc is newly infested with vampires. These monsters will soon overrun the world, but the Manhunters must try to stop them in secret. Agents of the king are hunting Rayph’s vigilante crew. With one false step, they could all end up at a royal execution.
Hemlock is available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
About the Author
Jesse Teller fell in love with fantasy when he was five years old and played his first game of Dungeons & Dragons. The game gave him the ability to create stories and characters from a young age. He started consuming fantasy in every form and, by nine, was obsessed with the genre. As a young adult, he knew he wanted to make his life about fantasy. From exploring the relationship between man and woman, to studying the qualities of a leader or a tyrant, Jesse Teller uses his stories and settings to study real-world themes and issues.
He lives with his supportive wife, Rebekah, and his two inspiring children, Rayph and Tobin.
Recognition
1st Prize, The 2017 Drunken Druid Book Award
Literary Titan Gold Book Award
Drunken Druid Editor’s Choice, March 2017
Drunken Druid 2016 Book of the Year Short List
Hungry Monster Gold Book Award
Praise for The Manhunters:
“Mr. Teller gives us moral dilemmas, fierce and bloody battles, characters that come alive and the power of the magic of words to take us into another place, another time and another reality.”
—Dii Bylo, Tome Tender Book Blog
“This is one of the more fanciful and almost mythical like settings and storylines I’ve read in a while. ” —The Weatherwax Report
“Teller’s world is stunning in its complexity.”
—M. L. Spencer, Bestselling Author of The Rhenwars Saga
“The characters are interesting, the heroes likable, and the villains hateable.”
—booknest.eu
“Has all the ingredients of an exciting, dark fantasy epic: ancient and powerful mages, deadly and vengeful enemies, familial strife, malevolent politicking, and jailbroken criminals hell-bent on revenge.” —Fantasy Book Review
“Jesse Teller only takes his foot off the accelerator to switch to a higher gear.” —The Fantasy Inn
Author Links:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon
Twitter
The Decimation of Midvor
Dusk lay uneasy on the abandoned farmland. Crops grew out of control, wheat on the ground, too heavy for its stalks. Corn slumped, raided by crows and other birds. A hush had fallen over the surrounding land, and Rayph Ivoryfist and Sisalyyon stood on the road hidden within the trees, studying the town and its growing shadows.
“You say your people told you of the animals here?” Rayph asked.
“The trees are restless,” she whispered. “All animal life, save the birds, has vanished. The people all left.”
From the tracks of carts that had passed, they looked to be carrying very little. Maybe a hundred people had walked this road recently, but Rayph doubted they had much in the way of belongings. “Can you tap into the forest while I go check things out?” he asked.
Sisalyyon nodded. She stepped into the gloom of the trees and dropped her cloak, exposing her naked body. Rayph pulled his eyes away, thinking of his wife and how long it had been since he had seen her.
Sisalyyon was the most ravishing woman Rayph had ever seen. Her perfection was a thing of legend. He heard her roots take the ground, and he turned to see her warping into the form of a cherry tree. The half-dryad dug into the ground. Her arms exploded into branches and blossoms. Her face alone remained that of a woman, and she nodded at Rayph as tears of sap rolled down her cheeks.
“It’s all dead. On the other side of the village, a mass grave holds hundreds of animals. Everything here is either dead or has fled,” she said. “So much decay and murder.”
She heaved as she wept, and Rayph nodded grimly. “Keep me posted.” He stepped from the trees and walked the road to the heart of the village of Midvor and the isolation it promised. Crows screamed at him, raising a storm of belligerent cacophony that gave Rayph pause. He pushed on, letting the night and the sudden chill weigh heavy on his mind. Darkness seemed in a rush, as if filled with bloodlust for the death of the day. Blood red clouds and the bruised purple sky spoke of the brutality of the night’s advance. Rayph touched his dagger, feeling the ally within kick, suddenly awake.
“Are we alone, Fannalis?” One pulse and Rayph knew they were not. He crossed the threshold of the arch over the main road and into the ragged edges of the village, where the houses teetered and moaned with the burgeoning wind. He felt it then, eyes resting on him as he moved, hungry eyes devouring every detail and plotting as he walked. Every door hid shadowy secrets. Every curtain waved in the wind, betraying the darkness within the abode, hungry and waiting.
Fear stabbed Rayph as he walked the dead village, and he wondered at what might have scared away its citizens. He reached the center and found the mill and the town pub. The mill house squealed as the vanes overhead slowly turned, casting new shadows. The mill door was an open mouth, waiting and set to snap closed.
Rayph turned his back to it and approached the pub door. He touched the handle and spat a word, hearing the lock on the other side slide, and the door burst open to slam the frame. The stench of old blood and dead flesh assaulted him. He spat a word, light burst forth from his hand, and he flew into the room.
Chairs had been shattered. Blood splashed the wall and sat in dry, peeling puddles on the tables and floors. Signs of murder hung everywhere, with no indication of the bodies that should be left. He searched the floor for drag marks and found none. Rayph moved on, stepping past tables, cracked and broken, and floorboards creaking, to make his way to the bar and jump behind it.
A great struggle had taken place here. The body of a mighty man lay in shreds on the ground, arms rent and ragged, tossed away as they were ripped free. Huge gashes in the thighs and neck, the face had contorted into a grimace of such pain as to drive a man insane. But the blood was scarce and the prints in it made little sense. He saw handprints and strange smears, marks that could have been knees, and a lack of puddles that nagged at his memory.
“I have faced this horror before, but I know not when,” he whispered.
The Ultimate Cuba Travel Guide By Talek Nantes
Don’t just travel to Cuba, experience Cuba like a local: The Ultimate Cuba Travel Guide
By Talek Nantes
Genre: Nonfiction, Travel guide
Want to experience Cuba like a local? This is the guidebook for you. Talek Nantes, Cuban-American author and founder of the travel blog, TravelswithTalek.com, has traveled to Cuba numerous times. Her detailed explanations will guide you through all aspects of travel to Cuba and help you make the most of your time while in this unique and culturally fascinating country.
Talek’s passion for Cuba is evident in every information-packed chapter from the classic Havana itineraries you cannot miss to the little-known gems pulsating under the radar in hidden Havana. Visit colonial military forts in Cuba’s eastern capital, Santiago de Cuba. Experience Cuba’s spectacular biospheres and animal preserves. Explore the French-influenced cities of central Cuba with their graceful architecture reminiscent of southern France. Sail the calm waters of underground rivers. Take salsa lessons, learn Spanish, cook a Cuban meal. It’s all here. 
Beyond a mere directory of attractions, this guidebook delves into the history of Cuba from the pre-colonial days through the present. Special focus is given to understanding Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain and the Cuban revolution of 1959 along with its key participants.
This guidebook is packed with useful information, facts, and actionable tips:
•Updated guidelines on travel to Cuba for U.S. citizens.
•All you need to know about currency conversion.
•How to locate and reserve the ideal accommodation in any city.
•How to save money and travel comfortably anywhere within Cuba.
•Where and what to eat in Cuba from street food to top cuisine.
•Highlights of the major Cuban cities from Havana to Santiago.
•Walking maps of the key Havana neighborhoods.
* Directory of restaurants, galleries, attractions and music and dance venues in all key cities.
* Current scams and how to avoid them.
* Budgeting for your Cuba trip
* Over 60 full-color photographs
In addition to key tips and advice, this guidebook provides cultural insight gleaned from conversations with local Cubans from the bici-taxi driver to the attendant at a cemetery gate. Explore places and topics tourists rarely see like religious Afro-Cuban dance performances, the hottest jazz clubs in Havana, remarkable art museums and stunning natural beauty.
This extensive guidebook will save you time and money and help you truly experience Cuba like a local.
About the Author
Talek Nantes is an author, travel consultant and founder of the travel blog, http://www.travelswithtalek.com. She is a passionate travel enthusiast and enjoys sharing her travel experiences with others. In her blog, Talek shares information on unique destinations and provides actionable travel tips and advice to help travelers make the most of their time away from home. Her focus is on cultural immersion and interaction with local people to help travelers create their own unique travel experiences. Her work has appeared in several publications. 
Talek’s personal and professional background have led her to travel to over 100 countries. She has lived and worked throughout the world and speaks several languages. Talek is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives with her husband in New York City and Miami.
https://www.facebook.com/travelswithtalek/
https://twitter.com/travelstalek
http://www.travelswithtalek.com
On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2GmVRkp
The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy by Alan Joshua
The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy by Alan Joshua
ARE WE COSMIC APES?
Neanderthal brains were larger than ours are. They thought in symbols and made and used tools over a million years ago. They interbred with modern humans, passing on a percentage of their genome in modern DNA. But did they endow us with covert paranormal abilities?
Let The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy take you on an exciting adventure into this possibility—that is, if it is only a possibility.
An experiment goes horrifically wrong in a secret Russian mind research laboratory. A black hole vaporizes the city of Podol’sk, leaving a mile-deep crater and snuffing out thousands of lives. Simultaneously, a U.S. shuttle vanishes in orbit and a French astronomer spontaneously bursts into flame.
What do these events have in common? The mind of Stefan Dürr, the mysterious subject of the experiment.
Dr. Beau Walker, a disgraced researcher, is kidnapped by the government and coerced to join a U.S./Russian multidisciplinary scientific team, searching for the cause of the disasters. Beginning with a life-threatening descent into the Russian crater where scientific laws don’t apply, he’s thrown into a world of advanced biotechnology, biowarfare, genetics, paranormal research, and military intrigue.
The stakes are inconceivable: Find and control the cause of the events or face planet-wide annihilation.
Brian Allen, Editor of Phenomena Magazine, says, “Anyone who has seen the film ‘Lucy’ will get the idea, but more so… [This] is an absolute thrill ride of a book that is almost impossible to put down.”
SHIVA is also recommended by Kirkus Review–“an exuberant and involving read,” Portland Book Review–“having the right amount of adventure and romance, this crisscrossing genre tale isn’t just a good read, but may also look great on a big screen,” Self-Publishing Review–“the book mixes uncommon palettes and manages a masterpiece with it. If The Andromeda Strain was analyzed in four dimensions, The SHIVA Syndrome might be the result,” Midwest Book Review– “highly recommended, indeed; especially for thriller and sci-fi readers who have become deluged with too much predictability and who seek cutting-edge action, believable protagonists, and action that is solidly intense throughout,” and the San Francisco Book Review “Science fiction fans will love The SHIVA Syndrome. Fans of paranormal fiction, psychological thriller, philosophy and fantasy will love it, too.”
What is/are your favorite book(s)?
Narrowing this answer to a single book is virtually impossible. After so many literature courses, I found myself enjoying everything from Homer to Dean Koontz. Within that broad sphere, science fiction is where the heart is. Among these, outstanding in my mind are Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Altered States (Paddy Chayefsky) and Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles among so many others. Chief among these due to their literacy and uniqueness of content are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, along with Jules Verne’s impressive and prophetic works.
Who is/are your favorite Author(s)?
Without a doubt, I would have to say William Shakespeare. To enjoy his work, I prefer listening to audiobooks. This allows me to close my eyes, lean back, and absorb his literary jewels. I am in awe of his creative genius, scope, imagination, and absolutely incredible use of the English language. Shakespeare covers a broad range from fantasy to the paranormal to comedy and tragedy. Of all of his work, Hamlet is the most brilliant synthesis of drama, mystery, the supernatural, a touch of comedy as irony and sarcasm, and the painful self – examination of a brilliant intellect and introvert.
Is there anything you would like to add about yourself?
During the completion of The Shiva Syndrome Trilogy, I wrestled for hours trying to transform some of the abstract ideas into a more easily understood form. But something unexpected happened. Some of the ideas related to psychology or the paranormal were transfigured and enabled me to understand them in a different light. Because I was thinking like Beau Walker, the main character, I gained a different, sometimes deeper, perspective on familiar concepts. Although I hope the readers benefit, this was an unexpected bonus for me.
Written by Alan Joshua (aka Allan Cooperstein, Ph.D.)
Website: www.alanjoshua.com
Dog Training the American Male by Steve Alten (Book Review #435)
The plot and storyline seemed very simple. There wasn’t anything novel about it. What made it enjoyable to read was the way it was told and the writing skills Steve Alten demonstrated in his book. The New York Times best-selling author did not shy away from making you laugh and ponder on certain aspects of the story.
The content was suitable for a more mature audience and the humor suited the situation built from the storyline. I particularly enjoyed Jacob’s personality and his behavior before and after meeting the protagonist.
The big sloppy German Shepherd was a nice addition bringing all of the elements of the story together. The love of an animal was a beautiful and insightful way to validate how animals do, in fact, influence us and affect us.
I recommend this book to anyone seeking a good fun read. There is nothing more delightful than reading a book like this, on a day when you really don’t feel like doing anything.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Writing Poetry by Diana Raab, PhD
Writing Poetry by Diana Raab, Ph.D
Poetry is the voice of the soul. Poets help us see a slice of the world in a way in which we might not have observed it before. They highlight details to cast a light on a feeling, an image, or an event. Poetry also helps offer insight into both the human psyche and human behavior, and it is a place where the imagination can roam free.
Letting go and writing poetry is about just allowing life and experiences to unfold as they are meant to unfold. When writing poetry, try to release or let go of your rational mind and let your sensations and emotions take over. Letting go is also about slowing down and pausing while being mindful of what is stirring inside you.
As you string words together, feel the poem erupt from deep inside you. Begin by writing about something about which you feel strongly. Writing in this way will help reveal you to yourself, and will be transformative. Over time, you’ll learn what inspires you to write poetry.
Life provides all of us much material to write about. In addition to our memories, reflections, and fantasies, this wealth of material can also include the books or articles you read and the movies you’ve watched. Poet Robert Frost deftly says, “A poem begins with a lump in the throat: a homesickness or a love sickness. It is a reaching out toward expression: an effort to find fulfillment.”
Poems come to me when I least expect it, but most often when I am in the midst of doing something else. Sometimes an image or a title drifts into my mind, and that’s where I begin. Reading the works of other poets is a wonderful way to invite in the muse because it fills you with random thoughts and invites rhythm into your own poetry. My book, Lust, for example, is on Audible and read by actress Kate Udall, and she does a terrific job of bringing the poems alive.
Writing Prompt
Pick up a poetry anthology and find a poet whose voice and sensibility resonates with you. Read a poem by that poet a few times, first to yourself and then out loud. Feel the poem’s rhythm; see its images and ideas. Choose your favorite line from the poem, and let it be the first line of your own poem. Write it at the top of your journal page. Now continue writing lines in connection with it. Read what you write and reflect on new feelings.
Diana Raab, Ph.D. is an award-winning memoirist, poet, blogger, and speaker who advocates the healing and transformative powers of writing. She’s the author of eight books, and her essays and poetry have been widely published. She’s a regular blogger for Psychology Today, Elephant Journal and Thrive Global. Her latest book is Writing for Bliss: Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life. Website, www.dianaraab.com; https://www.facebook.com/DianaRaab.Author/
Celestia by J. D. Evergreen (Book Review #434)
At first, I was interested in figuring out how this kingdom had gotten to this state. I was seeking more backstory and descriptive content. A protagonist seeking to save a world she loves and suddenly becoming the hero possessing magic she didn’t know she had, was not a first-time discovery for me. As I read more, I realized that it wasn’t just another world being saved, but it was more about Talia overcoming much more. I found the situation with people being brainwashed quite intriguing as well.
The story is suitable for the young adult fans and may require more depth for a more adult audience. The literature was well written. The author has clear potential in writing good stories, and it’s very apparent that she has cared about creating this fantasy world.
Talia is not strong, but maybe we don’t always need a strong leader. Maybe, by just having one, it is enough to create that hope in people. I would recommend this book to people that are into magic, wizardry, and fantasy storylines.
Written by Jeyran Main
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