While some of the books I review on my site are furnished by the publishers, authors, or publicists for the purpose of review all of my reviews are truthful, honest, and my sincere opinion.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Review: Selene of Alexandria by Faith L. Justice

Thank you to Faith Justice for letting me read her story.



About the Book

Set in AD 412 Alexandria, Egypt and based on historical events, this story of ambition, love and murder brings to life colorful characters and an exotic time and place. SELENE is bright, impulsive, stubborn, and a little spoiled by her father, a city councilor. Since her mother’s death, she longs to forgo the privileges of her class to become a physician—an impossible dream for rich Christian girls who never engage in a profession. But Selene perseveres and gains a powerful champion—HYPATIA, the renowned mathematician and Lady Philosopher of Alexandria.

The old Christian Patriarch dies and the city splits in support of two candidates. After days of rioting, the Patriarch’s nephew CYRIL is proclaimed Patriarch and sets about consolidating the Christian sects and purging Alexandria of pagans and Jews. ORESTES, the new Augustal Prefect, struggles to keep the peace and also seeks the advice of Hypatia. He finds her a woman of enormous personal charm and astute political insight and places her first among his advisors, to the humiliation of the new Patriarch. These events set the stage for a contest of wills between Church and Empire.

Selene struggles in her new life. Under Hypatia's guidance, she takes classes and apprentices in medicine. She gives up security and the love of a young man for the danger of poor neighborhoods and the hostility of her classmates. It's not long before Selene is unwittingly drawn into the deadly rivalry between Cyril and Orestes. She comes of age amidst riot, plague and political intrigue . But will Selene survive the consequences of her own ambitions and impulsive actions?

To find out more about Selene of Alexandria please visit Faith L. Justice's website.

My Review

This book has everything... It was such a great story.

I LOVED Selene, she was such a great character. I'm really finding it hard to describe her. There were times when she was so strong, emotionally, and yet other times when she would let her emotions take over. She was so strong-willed and yet still understood her place in her world and did as she was supposed to do. I guess the best way I can think to describe her would be, she was a real woman.

I was very attached to Selene. She was just so real. While the story focused around Selene there were so many other things that were going on around her. Even when the story didn't focus on Selene she always managed to get herself right there in the middle of what was going on. There were times when I wanted to knock some sense into her, but I knew that she could handle whatever situations she was placed in.

The ending was great. While not everyone had a happy ending it was very realistic. There were a few unexpected twists that really added to the tension of the story, but they made for great reading.

The story was so great, it had everything. It was exciting, endearing, suspenseful, and emotional. There was a very tense felling around everything. The fight for power in the city, the fight for Selene to get what she wanted out of life, the fight of religion in the city. Everything was marked with tension.

This one did take me a while to read. I spent many hours with Selene, Hypatia, Phillip, Rebecca, and Orestes. I'm not sure why it took so long for me to read it, as it was a fairly fast-paced story.

Despite the time it took me to finish it was well worth the read. It was beautifully written, it was an intelligent story, and it was easy to escape into Selene's world.

SELENE OF ALEXANDRIA

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Review: Nook Edition: The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas

I got this as part of the B&N First Reads program. This was also the first book I read on my Nook!



About the Book

When Nancy, whose most recently published work is a medical newsletter, is asked to join a writing group made up of established writers, she accepts, warily. She's not at all certain that her novel is good enough for the company she'll be keeping. Her novel is a subject very close to her heart, and she isn't sure she wants to share it with others, let alone the world. But Nancy soon finds herself as caught up in the group's personal lives as she is with their writing. She learns that nothing--love, family, loyalty--is sacred or certain.

In the circle there's Gillian, a beautiful, scheming, world-famous poet; Bernard, a pompous but lovable biographer; Virginia, a respected historian and the peacemaker of the group, who also happens to be Bernard's ex-wife; Chris, a divorced father and successful thriller writer; and Adam, the youngest of the group, an aspiring novelist who is infatuated with Gillian. And then there's Nancy, an unassuming fiction writer embarking on a new chapter in her own life. They meet to read their work aloud and offer feedback. Over the course of a year, marriages are tested, affairs begin, and trust is broken.

Through their complicated relationships, these eccentric characters share their families, their beds, and their histories, and soon find that buried secrets have a way of coming to light. Hearts break and emotions are pushed to the limit in this richly engaging tale of love, betrayal, and literature.

My Review

This book was weird. I really liked it, but I didn't really connect with the characters. I understood what they were going through (well, except for Gillian) and I liked them (again except for Gillian) but I just didn't connect with any of them.

I liked Nancy, she was pretty grounded. I liked Virginia, she seemed liked someone I could be friends with. Bernard was an odd character, as was Adam. I felt so bad for Adam, I could tell he was in love with Gillian, but I didn't fully understand why.

The story wasn't slow, but the big stuff didn't really start happening till near the end. Even though Gillian was a bit of a witch, I didn't really think she had the gull to do what she did. Just after that curve ball I did become slightly endeared to Nancy, but it as the story jumps between characters I moved onto the next character's emotions.

The writing was good. The story jumps between the characters, and just when I would start to connect with one character the story would jump to another. It didn't really detract from the story, but I think it kept me from really connecting to any one character.

I liked the idea of the writing circle. I'm not an author, but I think it would be nice to belong to a group of other authors that can give you advice about what you're writing. I know I like my knitting group because I can bounce ideas and get feedback on what I'm doing, I would imagine a writing group would be similar.

I'd say this was well worth the read. It didn't really take all that long to finish, and the end was satisfying...

Closed: Giveaway: Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden

Thank you to everyone that entered. There were 27 different entrants and a total of 62 entries!

Here are the five winners:
1) Debbie F
2) Myra C
3) Cheryl F
4) Benita G
5) Elaine G

Emails are being sent to the winners. Thank you again for entering and congratulations to the winners. I hope you enjoy them.

All winners were chosen using Random.org

-Jennifer

Thanks to Anna at Hachette I can giveaway 5 copies of this one.



About the Book

TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS
FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She's walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can't ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.
ONE DREAM TEAM
Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease . . . professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they're reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims' deepest, darkest fears for sport - but their investigative skills aren't enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.
But can they catch a killer whose weapon is . . .
DEADLY FEAR

To find out more about Deadly Fear please visit Hachette Book Group.

You can also read my review.

Giveaway Info

The giveaway will end 8/25/10 at 11:59pm (EST)

I'm trying something new with the next few giveaways. Hopefully it will not only save me time and confusion, but it will also help you guys to enter easier. Please let me know what you guys think! You can now use this form to enter.

Rules:
1) Only winners from the US and Canada
2) No PO boxes

To enter:
1) Fill out this form.
2) Get an extra entry for following my blog.
3) Get a third entry for mentioning this giveaway: On your blog, facebook, twitter... anywhere (Make sure to leave me a link or your SN so I can verify!)
5) "Like" Just Jennifer Reading on Facebook.

Please RT: @JustJennReading: New Giveaway: Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden http://tiny.cc/yul4b

Remember to use this form. Until everyone gets used to the form I will still take comment entries, but I really think this form is going to make things much easier.

You can see the current entries here.

The winners will be randomly drawn and notified by email.

Good Luck and thank you for reading my blog!

Review: Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden

Thanks to Anna at Hachette Books for letting me participate in this blog tour!



About the Book

TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS
FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She's walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can't ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.
ONE DREAM TEAM
Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease . . . professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they're reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims' deepest, darkest fears for sport - but their investigative skills aren't enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.
But can they catch a killer whose weapon is . . .
DEADLY FEAR

For more information about Deadly Fear please visit Hachette's website.

My Review

I liked this book. It was so suspenseful. The romance part of the story was good, but I really like suspense. It's so intriguing to me.

This one was one I really connected with. Given that everyone has fears I think this one was able to really get to me. While I was reading I kept thinking about the things that I'm scared of. I could almost feel the fear that the victims were feeling when they realized what was happening to them. It gave me chills quite a few times.

The romance in this was pretty good. I didn't really connect with either Luke or Monica. They were believable characters, and they were really well written. In this one the victims were the ones that I had more of an emotional connection with. Although towards the end Monica did become a bit endearing.

The writing was really good in this one. The story just flowed, it had a few lulls, but they were easily overcome. The images were so vivid I could see what was happening. I really didn't want to put it down.

As much as I like to read suspense it always amazes me the way the authors can "get into the head" of the killers. It takes an emotional toll on me to read these books, I can't even imagine living with that in my head while writing.... This one had to be very disturbing to write.

I really liked this one. I will have to pick up more of Eden's novels.

Deadly Fear