Rise of the Fire Dragon by R.D.Foster

Yup, you got me.... I absolutely hate cliffhanger books, and yet....... I really liked this one!  Go figure.....  To me, starting a book I know will end on a cliffhanger, is like watching a movie halfway thru. You keep wondering! And I don't have the mental stretch to do this for very long, so I usually don't start. I have noticed, that sometimes a title will stay "Book one" only to be just that... book one of a series of loosely connected stories, but not one story running thru 2 or 3 books, and my mind didn't make the distinction this time around. Yes, I read a book on a cliffhanger, YES!!! I liked it! And, again, Yes, I will read the others, to get that sense of accomplishment without any loosends.  But until I can do that..... here's the review of Rise of the Fire Dragon.

The story is a tale of desperation and hope, tinged with adventure and action. The manipulations of one man, his hunger for power shackles a whole society and the world surrounding it, including the dragons that will eventually free the world.  The book is written well, the characters evolve thoughout the story, but....... it's only part of the story. I should have realised it by "book one" in the title, but I didn't, so..... I kept looking where I was in the story and comparing it to the pagecount, figuring the ending would be abrupt, only to find out, there was no ending yet.  

If you don't like cliffhangers, don't start this book untill you have all of them. If you don't mind them.... it's a very nice read that will have you looking for the next book when you're closing this one :-)

Trickster's Trap by Axl Blaze

Yup, realized I didn't read these in order, but besides some mentions of previous cases (that became clear, once I read said "case"  ROFL!) the books are standalones. Still not sure if I want to read more, but maybe I'll borrow one that should be edited and ready for print and see if I can get into them more.  The books could be great, but somehow fall short of their potential.

As the last book available from the series closes on another twisted case, I have to wonder and hope that the inconsistencies throughout the books, is because the final edit hasn't been done. The storylines, the twists, the premise all point to a great imagination, but the characters are not fleshed out and makes the books shallow, there seems an unending string of clues that are not explained and the ending is abrupt. Still, I couldn't put it down, wanting to know where it all leads, who did it and why. So, yeah...... Good read, with some second thoughts. As the last book available from the series closes on another twisted case, I have to wonder and hope that the inconsistencies throughout the books, is because the final edit hasn't been done. The storylines, the twists, the premise all point to a great imagination, but the characters are not fleshed out and makes the books shallow, there seems an unending string of clues that are not explained and the ending is abrupt. Still, I couldn't put it down, wanting to know where it all leads, who did it and why. So, yeah...... Good read, with some second thoughts.

Deadly Delusion by Axl Blaze

 It's hard to resist if you have a chance to review a whole series of stories..... The problem is, if you don't like it, you're kinda stuck :-)    It's not that I don't like this series, but there's something "off" and I can't explain it. The stories have a good theme, that's not it, either. The writing isn't bad, there's just something not "tripping" with me.....  Still, I try to be fair to the book and the author.

Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

 Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

 

Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.Nice read. The premise is interesting, the characters could be a little less shallow, and the story could have a little more details as to the "why is this a clue and not just information" but it's still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

Summer Break by Britney Bell

 Still not a great fan of short stories under 100 pages, but as far as "lunch reads" go, there is something to say for them, I guess.....  I read a lot by this author, and it doesn't matter whether its a 40-something-page short like this one, or a full book.... It's a joy to spend some time with her characters and writing stye.

Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-) It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered. Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-)  It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered.

Fun short story. The writing is good, and the characters are likeable and human. No over the top action, just a little ego-trip at the beginning, but even that fits the character :-) It's a little lite on details, but with the limited pagecount, the story IS all there. Everything you need to know, is covered.

Hollywood Haze by Axl Blaze

Yup,  read the second book. Well, my second but 4rth one in the series.... The writing style is still a little fuzzy on details and vocabulary, but the reading is fun, so I'll keep going :-)

Another closed case for FBI team Ava and Harry. The two investigators seem a little lost at times, with clues and places seemingly popping up out of nowhere, but even so, the story is interesting.

Another closed case for FBI team Ava and Harry. The two investigators seem a little lost at times, with clues and places seemingly popping up out of nowhere, but even so, the story is interesAnother closed case for FBI team Ava and Harry. The two investigators seem a little lost at times, with clues and places seemingly popping up out of nowhere, but even so, the story is interesting.

 

Another closed case for FBI team Ava and Harry. The two investigators seem a little lost at times, with clues and places seemingly popping up out of nowhere, but even so, the story is interesting.

Milfield Murdes by Axl Blaze

I found this writer thru Story Origin. It looked interesting, and different from what I normally read, so I gave it a try. And, even though you may think different when reading the review, I DID enjoy it, and, as indicated in the review, I will read the rest of the series, as well. So, without further interfering with your curiosity.....

The storyline is good, the characters interesting, but the execution is somehow a bit off. Besides the fact that clues in the beginning of the story somehow foresee the direction of the investigation threequarters thru, is only one of the inconsistencies. The story weaves around interesting theories but ends up with a suspect that should have been picked up on in the beginning, and there are several spots where the same scene is worded different, right after eachother. It's a shame, really, because I really liked the premise, however,it's the first book in a series, and I'm going to give the others a try, assuming this is just growing pains of starting a new character with new challenges and the author is still finetuning the narrative. The storyline is good, the characters interesting, but the execution is somehow a bit off. Besides the fact that clues in the beginning of the story somehow foresee the direction of the investigation threequarters thru, is only one of the inconsistencies. The story weaves around  interesting theories but ends up with a suspect that should have been picked up on in the beginning, and there are several spots where the same scene is worded different, right after eachother. It's a shame, really, because I really liked the premise, however,it's the first book in a series, and I'm going to give the others a try, assuming this is just growing pains of starting a new character with new challenges and the author is still finetuning the narrative.

 

Starting a trend, hopefully :-)

 I'm going to start and actually transfer some of the books I read for review here.... and work my way backwards to include all of them, over time.  No promises it will be on the regular, because life has a way of taking up more time than I have hours in a day, but I'll try and keep it up to put at least one new review a week here. There will be a variety, and all I ask is if you do not approve of the genre, don't be mad at me for reading or liking it and I won't hold your choice in reading against you, either......  To each his own, right?

Currently, I'm playing catch up on promised bookreviews so it may be a tik before the most recent ones will show up, but I have a couple of bookreview coming up that have posting on my blog mandatory, so my "I will get to it when I can" attitude towards posting here is coming to an end ;-)

Just going to put it out there......

 I. LOVE. BOOKS!!!

Old ones, well loved ones, mistreated ones, new ones, secondhand ones and sometimes even digital ones. 

What I don't like is having a "book" that is 23 pages...... That's not a book, that's an essay.  

- Do I read them as part of the ARC's? yes. 

- Do I like the writing? A lot of times, yes. 

- Am I a fan? OH HLL NO!!

My big issue is that they're called a book. In "ye olde bookstore", you could see the leaflet it is and decide if it's worth the price of admission. As an e-book, I often didn't have a clue, until I was 20 minutes in, and hit the end of the story. Now, the first thing I look at is the page-count, second price, and mostly.... I pass. You would hope the charged price will give you a clue but I've seen 30 page "books" go by for 4 Dollars, 20 pages for 3...... That's just not right. I found a series, that sounded great when I read the description but when I looked further, the whole series was 142 pages, spread over 6 books and would cost almost 18Dollars, if bought seperately...... and that's not even an exception.  Don't get me wrong, if you do the job, you should get paid.....but even bonded translaters don't make that kind of money:-) 

My other issue with them is the lack of substance.... not in pages, but in ability by even some of the best writers, to tell the story in a way that doesn't feel rushed, or plain has holes it it, big enought to push a containership thru. There just isn't enough space to put a story together introduce the characters in a way that makes them believable or maybe even give details instead of flying from scene to scene to get to the end....

Short stories are handy if you have no attention span, are short on time, or when you have so much time between being able to read, that you never get past the first chapter, because you have to keep re-reading it to catch up with the goings on, but if I want to sit and read, I need at least 300 pages :-)

 I read e-books, but it's not the same, hanging on to your phone, instead of tunneling into the couch, under a blanket with an actual paper book.... 

I discovered........

that my budget and my appetite for reading were not on even footage...... What else is new, right? :-)  

I order and read as many books from the library on base as I can, but they don't have all the genres I like. It's hard to find some writers and it's a chore to return the books on time, because.... life. I start a book, get sidetracked by whatever is going on and leave it, so now I have a stack of probably8 novels, 4 coding and design, and one cross stitch book sitting on the shelf, and I read on my phone.  Even though I don't remember half the books I read as e-books and in my mind, there is nothing that compares to having a book in my hands, I read e-books, because they're handy, even if I don't plan on reading and I wouldn't have taken my book, if the opportunity shows up... they're right there, and I read.....

I scrounge Kindle Unlimited once a year for a month or 2 when it's affordable, and try as many "new to me" writers as I can possibly cram in to my day. But recently I found something else........ ARC's. 

These Advanced Readers' Copies only require that I read the book and leave a review/opinion on some websites for potential readers to find, something similar to being on a creative team for scrapbookkits. Anybody that knows me just a little bit, knows that I have a lot of those opinions, on a lot of things, so I combined my reading and my opinions and now I'm reading with a purpose (or possible addiction)....

My intention is to put most of my reviews here in the blog. Some as individual, and if I am able to read a series in its entirity, put a review out for the sum total of it.

 Sooooooo..... See you around?