Books, Writing, Reading, & Life

Happy Friday All,

It's the end of another week and my allergies have decided to act up. So, I'm waiting on a call back from my doc's office to see what they'll recommend I take (I had a question about an over-the-counter med). Hopefully it won't get any worse; I just got over having one thing or another not that long ago.

Yesterday I read most of the day. I finished up Joy Preble's YA novel, Haunted (book 2 in her series) and then I went ahead and worked on Katie McGarry's YA novel, Pushing The Limits.

Joy Preble's books use some of the Romanov story and Russian folklore. It's set in contemporary times, full of magic, mysteries, and a little bit of something for everyone. The first in the series is Dreaming Anastasia, which I really enjoyed. Haunted is book 2 and Anastasia Forever should be available, soon. (Joy told me it comes out, I think on August 7th). I'm hoping Anne stays with Ethan!

Katie McGarry's Pushing The Limits is one heck of a read. It's poignant, heart wrenching, and full of mystery. It's a contemporary YA, and I don't normally read things that aren't paranormal or fantasy too often, but because of what I said in my congratulatory post a couple of days ago, I went ahead and purchased and read it. This book is for OLDER teens (17 or 18) and adults. There's a lot that happens in it and things that are mentioned that I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers. Also, this is more than a love story. This is also about self-love, and family type love. It's a journey into the awareness that while you might be one thing, you can become something more--something better--than that one thing. It's about forgiveness and growth. It's about discovery of self and of what is the truth.  So many things are packed within those pages. I found myself laughing, crying, and having to know what was going to happen. It truly turned into an incredible story.

I'm now started a novel by an author I haven't read before (yet another YA) called Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs. I just barely started, so I have no idea what I'll think of it, but I think I'll like it.

I'm counting down the days until Shanna Swendson's novel, Much Ado About Magic is out. For Kindle users, it's available for preorder. For Nook users, you can purchase it on the release date, which is August 15th. And, here's a peek of the story.

Other than that, I hope to do some writing today. Conjure A Man is about half done (short blurb is in the margin of this blog), and I've got several other stories waiting in the wings.

Have A Fantastic Friday!