Sheila's Books Read

Sheila's bookshelf: read

The Best Intentions
Scotland's Melody
The Secret Society of Salzburg
Secret of the Sonnets
20-40-60-Minute Dinners: Meals to Match the Time You Have
Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild
Secret Santa Claus Club: A Tool to Help Parents Unwrap the Secret of Santa
Mr. Pudgins
Revenge Never Rests
The Best Mistake
Meriden Park
More Inspirational Stories for Young Women
The Great Tree: A Christmas Fable
To Capture His Heart
The Call of the Sea
Esperance
Livvy and the Enchanted Woodland
Come, Gentle Night
The Bad Boy Theory
Guide To Smart Wedding Planning: What You want to know and everything you haven't thought of yet.


Sheila's favorite books »

2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Sheila has read 4 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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Friday, July 24, 2009

Review of "Altared Plans" by Rebecca Cornish Talley


Rebecca Talley's new novel, "Altared Plans" is LDS chic lit at it's best. If you are looking for a good light-hearted romance, with many twists and turns along the way, this book is the one.

The story starts with every girls nightmare: Caitlyn is waiting at the temple to be married and her fiance' abandons her at the altar. In fact, it is his parents that show up at the temple to tell her that he won't be coming. With her broken heart and avoidance of all men and dating, she heads to BYU.
From here, she suddenly has something surprising happen to her. Two young men start chasing her and Caitlyn is not sure what to do.

Rebecca has created a story that is fun and one that many of us can relate to. How do you deal with a broken heart? How do you open up your heart to love again? I also thought how many times things happen in our lives that seem to be "bad", but turn out to be for our good. This story is a true example of this theory.

The characters in the story are very likable, all except for one female who is chasing the same guy that Caitlyn is starting to fall for. I wanted to smack her many times as she pulled her many antics that made Caitlyn's life miserable. My favorite character would have to be Travis, the fun loving FHE "dad" who is trying to charm Caitlyn before Chase has a chance to claim her.

The only thing that I wished had happened differently in the story would be for Caitlyn and her "chosen" man to get together a lot sooner in the story. I know that this would have taken away much of the angst in the story and probably would have made the story boring. Rebecca knew what she was doing as she wrote "Altared Plans" and makes you wait on pins and needles to see who Caitlyn finally chooses. I am a sucker for happy endings and you won't be disappointed in the conclusion of this story.

So if you are looking for a quick, light summer read, "Altared Plans" is a good story to pick up. I enjoyed it and Rebecca has written a great, humorous novel that will make you smile, groan and cheer for a happy ending.

You can purchase "Altared Plans" at:
-http://www.cedarfort.com
and at
-http://www.amazon.com

Go to http://www.rebeccatalley.com and http://www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com/ to learn more about Rebecca. I read her blog often and she always has interesting topics she discusses there. I also had the opportunity to interview Rebecca at the LDS Storymakers Conference in April. You can listen to the interview here at http://www.ldswomensbookreview.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=42 We had a great time as we chatted about her books, family and her writing.

Also if you are interested in writing, Rebecca has a website to help you called,
Pursue Your Writing Dream http://pursueyourwritingdream.com/, that you must go read.

Thank you Rebecca for giving us another great book to read!

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Winner of a copy of "Loyalty's Web" is....


Alaine, Queen of Happy Endings, from Australia. Congratulations to you! http://alainereading.blogspot.com/ Send an e-mail to me (ssdawn2002@yahoo.com) Alaine, with your address, so I can send it on to Joyce DiPastena. She will send an autographed copy to you soon. Thank you everyone for entering the drawing. There will be another drawing very soon.

Next up for the blog: I will be reviewing Rebecca Talley's new book, "Altared Plans".

Saturday, July 18, 2009

All's Fair by Julie Coulter Bellon & Last day to enter the drawing

Alls Fair Alls Fair by Julie Coulter Bellon


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed "
All's Fair" by Julie Coulter Bellon. There are two story lines to follow in this novel; siblings Kristen, a political campaign expert and Brandon an Army doctor and LDS covert who is stationed in Iraqi.



Kristen leaves her fiance at the altar and the old boyfriend comes into the picture and Brandon finds he is falling for his fellow doctor, Rachel Fields. The two story lines eventually merge, but I found I was drawn more to Brandon and Rachel's story. Their relationship seemed more believable and this was also the more exciting storyline. Granted, the storyline taking place in Iraqi is full of war happenings, kidnappings and terrorists; of course this had more excitement.



Julie is very good at writing suspense. I read this book rather quickly because I had to see if everyone made it out alive. I felt the book had a good ending, though some people have a thing against a "Happy Ever After" type ending. Personally, I don't mind reading a happy ending once in awhile. I have had too much reality in my own life lately and like to be taken away to a happy place when I read.



I look forward to reading more of Julie's books. I am sorry it has taken this long to find out what a great writer she is.


View all my reviews >>


Remember, today is the last day to enter the drawing to win a copy of "Loyalty's Web" by Joyce
DiPastena. If you would still like a chance at winning this book, read the rules in the post below. "Loyalty's Web's" is a great book that I enjoyed very much.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Review of "Loyalty's Web" and enter to win your own copy




I have always loved reading a good historical romance. The medieval period has always fascinated me through the years. To me, the best blend of a well written historical romance, is one with interesting historical events and a true romance, filled with a little angst. Joyce has achieved this perfect blend in her novel, "Loyalty's Web".

Here is some basic information about the storyline:

The year is 1176, and the Earl of Gunthar and his knights have been sent to France by King Henry II of England to enforce a peace treaty. The rakish earl falls in love with Heléne deLaurant, the younger, spirited sister of the beauty he is supposed to wed in an arranged marriage designed to unite the two countries. But when Heléne and her family are accused of plotting against the king, Heléne is torn: should she betray the man who could send her family to the gallows, or should she follow her heart and risk her safety to save him?


The main characters, The Earl of Gunthar and Helene deLaurant, develop a strong attraction for one another from their first meeting. Many things come between them such as secrets, lies, assassination attempts, arranged marriages and of course a mystery that needs to be solved to save their lives and their love.


I have been impressed with Joyce's intense research that she has done of the medieval time period. If you go to her website and her blogs, she has a great amount of interesting information that she has uncovered to go along with her novels. I admire any author who does deep research to make their novel more authentic. You can see why "Loyalty's Web" was a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist in the Romance category.


If you have not read "Loyalty's Web" yet, you should, and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. Joyce is a great writer who moves the story along well. This kind of writing makes for a fast read because you can't put the book down. I recommend this book to readers of romance of any age, including teenagers. I am looking forward to reading Joyce's new novel called, "Illuminations of the Heart". I will be doing an interview with Joyce, that will be posted, along with a review of the new book.



You have a chance to enter today to win a copy of "Loyalty's Web". Joyce has offered me a copy to give away on my blog. There are three ways to enter:

1.Sign up to follow the blog. Once again, if you already follow my blog , you will get an automatic entry.

2.Post about this give away on your blog, on facebook or Twitter & let me know here where you added the link.

3.Tell me why you like reading a historical romance.


Make sure to post a comment here on my blog to tell me what you did: signed up to be a follower, posted a link or why you like to read historical fiction.


I will give everyone a week to get their entries in and the drawing will take place next Saturday, July 18th, at 8:00 p.m. Good luck!


I have three links to Joyce and her novels that you should look at.

http://www.joyce-dipastena.com/

http://medievalresearch.blogspot.com/

http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Review of new fantasy book, "Bone Warriors" by Bron Bahlmann

Title: Bone Warriors
Author: Bron Bahlmann
Publisher: Sweetwater Book
Release Date: May 15, 2009
ISBN: 978-1599553221
Size: 278 pages, 6x9, softcover
Genre: YA Fantasy
Target Reader: Teens



I was very excited to get a copy of a new fantasy book called, "Bone Warriors". The best part of this book is how old the author is who wrote the novel; Bron is 15. The even better part of this story is how old Bron was when he started writing "Bone Warriors" {Read the interview to find out how old he was}. Now, here is the part that shocked me...how well this book is written! You would never know that it was written by a teenager. There is an adult writer inside of Bron's teenage body. Let's just say, he impressed me greatly by his very mature writing style.

"Bone Warriors" has characters, some are VERY creepy, that have never been imagined or written about before. I just kept shaking my head in amazement as each new creature was introduced. I would love to see pictures of some of these creatures. Bron writes so colorfully that these images came alive for me. It seemed like there was no let down in the adventure for Derrik and Tweaks. I read quickly because I had to find out what would happen to them.

Here is "Bone Warriors" at a glance from the back cover:

CRAVING POWER AND LUSTING FOR HUMAN SOULS, the wicked necromancer sweeps the land, leaving behind nothing but death and devastation.

RETURNING HOME, fifteen-year-old Derrik and his friend Tweaks find their homes burning and families missing. They immediately embark on a rescue quest for redemption and retaliation. Such evil cannot be allowed to roam exempt.

SINISTER GIANTS, colossal green jungle cats, and undead monsters confront them as Derrik and Tweaks encounter inconceivable threats in the forbidden woods, as well as gain unlikely allies.

THE BOYS SOON REALIZE that their only hope to save their families comes from the very creature they cannot trust. But they're running out of time. How can they put an end to the necromancer s terrifying reign?


Who should read this book? Anyone who loves fantasy books, those who want to read about two boys who forged ahead courageously in order to save their families and those who just want to read a well thought out story that brings unexpected friends together.

Here is an interview I did with Bron. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did. Some of his answers made me LOL!








1.How old were you when you first started writing? Well I started writing when I learned the alphabet, but I made my first attempt at writing a book in 3rd grade. It wasn't "Bone Warriors," though. How old were you when you wrote Bone Warriors? I started writing "Bone Warriors" in 5th grade, so I would have been eleven years old.

2.What was your inspiration for writing Bone Warriors? Dreams I had pieced together, which ultimately fulfilled my one big dream, which was to become a published author.

3.What authors have influenced your writing? I wouldn't say they've influenced my writing because I don't write based on other people. I have my own style. But some have inspired and helped me. One of the first bunch of books I remember, other than Calvin and Hobbes, are James Dashner's books. (Don't get a big head, James!) I remember them because my mom is friends with James, and she would read us his books at night while she proofread for him. Recently, Orson Scott Card has been a big inspiration to me. I like the way he makes his characters seem like real people. And I was recently introduced to author J. Scott Savage. He took me to a fancy restaurant (a local Taco Bell) and gave me some really useful career advice that I will never forget. Overall I've had some really good interactions with people in the author world.

4.What are your favorite books/genre to read? I enjoy books of almost any genre, but really like books that try new things. An example is J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books. There have been books about wizards and books about boarding schools, but she mixed them together into something you wouldn't expect; wizards going to boarding school. Another great example is the Bartimaeus Trilogy, because Jonathan Stroud mixes a more modern world with ancient practices and switches from each character's view in every chapter. The genre I seem to read most often is fantasy.

5.Are you currently working on some new books? Yes. I have several series of books I'm planning to write. They will be revealed when they're published!

6.When do you find the time to write? Being as young as I am and not really having set job hours to limit me, I can write wherever my computer is or wherever I have some pen and some paper. Most of the time I write at night before I go to bed. During the school year, I write during lunch.

7.Where do you do your best creative work? Wherever I have the most inspiration. It varies from day to day. Some days I'm more creative than others. Do you listen to music when you are writing? No.

8.Is there a dream book that you hope to write in the future or have you already written it? I have already finished the rough draft for another book and am currently working on yet another book, and was writing a whole different book and got a third of the way through until "Bone Warriors" was published. Then I thought I should complete the "Warriors" series before I finished the other books. I'm really excited about all 18 of my current book outlines. (I keep getting new ideas.) I think they're all really different, with amazing characters, unique plots, and unexpected twists. I can hardly wait to write all of my books, and can't say that I like any one better than another. I only write dream books, because they're all the best ones I can think of.

9.Did you outline "Bone Warriors" before you wrote the story? Yes. You wrote a very surprising ending. Did you plan ahead of time for this ending, or did it happen as the story unfolded? When I first started writing the book, I didn't want to be completely grim, but I was a little bored with reading the happy schmancy everything turns out good kind of books. I wanted a book that was more down to reality, more true to the kind of stuff that goes on in real life. And it was the one of the only ways I could have ended it, as you may understand after reading the book. (I don't want to say more or I might give it away to anyone who hasn't read it yet.)

10.You created a fascinating fantasy world. You did a fabulous job creating such phenomenal creatures. Do you ever sketch out the creatures on paper or just in your mind? Yes, I sketch out the creatures a lot. I have notebooks and boxes full of drawings and sketches that I still haven't finished sorting through. I also draw characters along with weapons they may use and a short outline of what traits they have.

I truly enjoyed reading "Bone Warriors" and I look forward to more books from you. Keep up the great work. I am really impressed with you Bron. Thanks for letting me interview you. Thank you. It was nice of you to set up this interview.


If you would like a copy of "Bone Warriors" you can order it here at http://cedarfort.com/ or at http://www.amazon.com/

If you would like to know more about Bron and his book you can go to his website at http://www.bronbahlmann.com/