Review: Ties to the Blood Moon by Robin P. Waldrop

Genevieve is a teenage girl who moves in with her aunt in Alaska after the death of her mother. Soon after her arrival she learns the things she was raised to believe only existed in fairytales are in fact a big part of her history. When it gets to be too much she seeks refuge in the arms of her new boyfriend, William, only to find out he's not who she thought he was either.

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This is going to be a tough review to write because there was so much that was right in this book but also so much that was wrong. It's not a secret that I have an extreme dislike for the Twilight series and to me there was way too much similarity between Twilight and Ties to the Blood Moon. Even certain scenes, like to cafeteria scene where Gen first sees William, and the animosity between Gen's vampire boyfriend and the werewolf that is in love with her. It felt like a lot of it was just Twilight in a new setting.


That was my main peeve with this book, but there were other things that annoyed me a little as well. Whilst William and Gen's romance is well written and doesn't seem awkward, it was just total inst-love. Within two days Gen is pledging her heart to him. To make matters worse, after like a month she's off on a journey with a new guy and then suddenly she starts to fall for this new guy. I dislike love triangles at the best of times but when it's a total insta-love triangle I just couldn't get into it. I also didn't see what it was about Gen that's so attractive, she was a bit of a Mary-Sue: werewolf princess, absolutely gorgeous, massively strong and eventually a rare 'hybrid'. It was plain annoying.


Now I hate giving negative reviews and so I really want to stress that despite the fact that i disliked this book, that's only because I disliked the Twilight series and found many similarities. If you are one of the large number of readers that liked that series you will more than likely love Ties to the Blood Moon. The writing style is fantastic and it was a fast paced read that I still read all of which shows that I obviously did like some aspects of the book. I really did enjoy the Alaskan setting and the mythology aspect of it.


Overall Rating: D

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Book received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Indie April Interview: Jennifer Krey, Author of The Hollow of Mont Noir

Today's Indie April author is Jennifer Krey, author of The Hollow of Mont Noir. (review here) 

Jennifer has stopped by to answer a few questions about herself, her book and her experiences and has also given you guys a Smashwords coupon for 50% off the book. (Seriously, go get, it's fantastic!)

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Hi Jennifer, thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for having me!  I'm thrilled to be here!


Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm a stay-at-home mom with two little boys, ages 6 months and 2-1/2 years.  I've always enjoyed reading and writing, and I'm very excited to have published my first novel!  I also like cooking and baking, and I'm really into Paula Deen right now.  I know that a lot of her food is totally bad for you, so I try to limit myself to no more than one recipe a week.  I just made Elvis Pie (a peanut butter and banana pie) and it was outstanding!  I also love Elvis, so it was perfect for me!  My family loved it as well, and they're already asking to have it again.


Can you describe The Hollow of Mont Noir in three words?

Without-A-Trace meets Twilight.  (I made Without A Trace one word... is that cheating?)
(Yes.)

Why should people read your book?

I think (hope) my book is a fun, easy read.  It's part of a series (the Howl Series) that I see as being four books, and I'm already working on the second book, "Ochre Sky," so hopefully, my readers won't have to wait too long for the next book.


Who is your favorite character in The Hollow of Mont Noir?
Tough question.  If they were actual people, Riordan would probably be my favorite, but I really enjoyed writing for Samantha Bellamy.  She is kind of nasty, and that was fun.  Samantha is my husband's favorite character, too.  He wants me to write a spin-off just about her, but I have too many other ideas in the queue right now.
(Do it! Samantha is such a mean character so a spin of would be awesome!)

Were any of your characters based on real people? (If Riordan was, feel free to send him my way...)
No, none of the characters were based on real people, but someone recently asked me what famous person Riordan might look like.  He would look like River Phoenix (the post-Stand By Me River Phoenix with a bit longer and darker hair).  I adored River Phoenix - he was my first celebrity crush.  I won't say how old I was when he passed away, but I was old enough to be heartbroken.  I still remember where I was when I heard.


Seriously, Lycan or Strigoi? Why?
Well, in the Howl Series, the lycans (werewolves) are basically good and the strigoi (vampires) are basically bad... according to the lycans, anyway, which is the only viewpoint we get in "The Hollow of Mont Noir."  So, in this book, I'm definitely on the lycans' side, but.... things can always change.  That's all I'm going to say.
(Oooh, epic foreshadowing?)

What advice would you give to anybody planning to self-publish?
Enlist the help of your friends to review and proofread your book!  I put out a plea on Facebook, hoping for one or two reviewers, and I actually got a huge response.  I had classmates from high school and college, former colleagues, and friends all offer to read my book before I published it, and I can't thank them enough.  They caught typos I had overlooked even after reading the book fifteen times and offered suggestions to improve the story in many ways.


Thanks for being here today, any last words to see to the readers?
Thank you so much for your support!  I would like to offer all readers of Ink Scratchers a 50% discount on "The Hollow of Mont Noir" ebook through Smashwords.  Enter code BZ99E at the checkout to purchase the book for the promotional price of $0.99 through May 31, 2012.  Thanks again for having me here!
(Isn't she awesome?)

Indie April Review: The Hollow of Mont Noir by Jennifer Krey

Allison Spencer was no stranger to the paranormal. An animal empath, she had the unique capacity to sense the feelings of animals around her - an ability she liked to call "Crittervision." She had never met anyone else with unusual powers and had gotten used to the fact that she was just an eccentric in a world full of normal people.

Allison just wanted to be a typical teenager. But with a missing brother, a beastly stalker and the possibility that she's not completely human, her life was anything but typical.

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If there is any book that proves that you shouldn't judge a book by the cover (or an overly long synopsis that I totally cut down for this review) it's this book. Seriously, this book was great and I loved it and you totally wouldn't believe it from that cover, which is a little boring.


To start with, I wasn't sure that I'd really enjoy this book. I was interested from the start but wasn't absolutely gripped, Allison didn't seem like a very interesting character and I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen but by the end I loved Allison and I couldn't put the book down because I didn't know how things were going to turn it, it's just one of those books that aren't fantastically original but still completely grab you.


I think that I really started to like the book after we meet Riordan, maybe that is just because he's so sweet and such a lovely character or it could be because the romance began to develop at a steady rate and I loved to read scenes with Allie and Riordan despite the fact that there were certain behaviours that reminded me of my least favorite YA couple (Edward and Bella) but at least his protectiveness was actually cute and not abusive... I don't know why I loved the two of them, my usual tastes in YA romance says that I shouldn't but I just did!


I really enjoyed Krey's writing, whilst certain characters came off sounding a little too formal I loved how well she managed to write from Allie's point of view. Allie's grief over her brother rings true and her sadness over her parents arguing is so realistic, I think Allie is the type of character that many teenagers can relate to, I know I found it so easy to slip into her shoes for a while.


Overall, The Hollow of Mont Noir was such a fun and fast read with characters that rang so true to me, I enjoyed the romance and will definitely be reading the second in the series, Ochre Sky when it comes out.


Overall Rating: B

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Book received as an ebook for review from the author.

Review: Mortal Kiss by Alice Moss

In Faye McCarron’s sleepy New England town of Winter Mill, the snow has arrived a little ahead of season—September, to be exact. But Faye and her best friend Liz are too busy reporting for the school paper to give the sudden chill much thought, especially with two new boys, Lucas and Finn, heating things up. Mercy Morrow, a wealthy heiress, has baffled the community by moving into a remote old mansion in the woods, bringing her charismatic son Lucas with her. And while Finn may be a member of the Black Dogs, a motorcycle gang taking over the streets, Faye can’t help but be intruiged by his gruff, dangerous allure.

Soon, Faye and Liz realize that romance may be the least of their worries. A dead body has turned up in the woods, the Black Dogs are on the prowl, and the snow just won’t stop falling. As the temperature drops and Halloween approaches, the girls must discover the dark and menacing secret at the heart of Winter Mill—before it’s too late.

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Why I read it: It sounded okay, and it was super cheap. 

Review: This book was a paranormal romance with some great potential, but unfortunately it doesn't really go much further than this. The plot was very unoriginal, drawing plot elements from similar books (typical love triangle, girl lives with aunt in small town, best friend has a police officer in her family...) and being a very shallow read that at times sounds like it was written by twelve year olds. 

The characters in Mortal Kiss were so underdeveloped and it made the book seem very shallow. Faye was one of the most unlikeable heroines ever, and made some very stupid decisions and her best friend Liz was so unbelievably superficial that I absolutely hated her. The only character I vaguely liked was Finn and that's just because he was the typical mysterious her guy, so even he wasn't developed well.

The story was very unoriginal and didn't take me on any twists and turns. The book also suffered from too much scene and point of view jumping, sometimes the book will go from a really serious scene to a shallow scene showing Liz and Faye choosing out an outfit - There is one point where Liz's dad has been turned into a zombiefied slave for the bad guy and Liz and Faye are like 'We have to sort this out', then the next scene sees them talking about boys and trying on outfits for a gig... lack of consistency? Certainly.

The romance pretty much takes over the book, and I hated this. It wasn't even well developed, it was one of those typical love at first sight type romances that annoy me so much.

Overall, I made it through and even that is saying something.

Overall Rating: E+

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Series/stand alone: First in a series
UK Publisher: Bantam
UK Release Date: January 28th 2011
Book recieved via Read It, Swap It