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Permalink Reply by Makayla Thomas on March 19, 2012 at 9:21pm

Hi everyone. I have two VERY different reviews for you today.

The first is a children's review called: Gypsy's Meadow, the other is an ADULT erotic romance called Jared & Bekka. I'd love for you to stop in and view one or both. ☺

Book Review: Gypsy's Meadow (Childrens): http://makaylasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review.html

Book Review: Jared & Bekka (Adult): http://makaylasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review-jared-b...

Permalink Reply by Darian Wilk on March 20, 2012 at 9:20am

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Always You by Shilpa Mudiganti, a wonderful romance about betrayal and change. And Searching for Eden by Keith Madsen, a great fiction about an adventure to find the Garden of Eden.

http://crazyladywithapen.blogspot.com/

BloggerPermalink Reply by Shayna Gier on March 20, 2012 at 11:33am

Taking on the forces of Mother Nature for some thrill seekers is a simple task. However, when simultaneously engaging the power of Cupid, relationships become complicated. For while the fury of Mother Nature can be embraced to a p

oint where mere survival is questionable, Cupid, on the other hand, never accepts defeat.

A reporter and a camera woman, who were ex-lovers, get caught up in a chase to document the world’s best kiteboarders. These guys dominate the high winds generated by a hurricane passing by the southern tip of the Florida Keys. While most people flee Key West, this select group of thrill seekers relishes the adventure of a lifetime. When the hurricane takes a dangerous turn and surprises everyone on their way back to Miami, there is nowhere to hide. They can only draw on their inner courage, and each other, which quickly reunites a lost passion in the process.

This is the second book I've read by Beth Gray, and if you like erotic romance, this is a book you won't want to miss.

Read my review here!

Permalink Reply by Donna McBroom-Theriot on March 20, 2012 at 12:16pm

As the daughter of Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Anne Sexton, Linda Sexton witnessed her mother’s enigmatic presence but also her multiple—and ultimately successful—suicide attempts, which led her to struggle with an engulfing undertow of depression. In Half In Love, Sexton conveys with powerful and unsparing prose her urgent need to escape the legacy of suicide that consumed her family—a topic rarely explored, even today, in such poignant depth.

My Life. One Story at a Time.: Half in Love (surviving the legacy o...

I have a copy to give away of this powerful book.

Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide [Hardcover]

Permalink Reply by Makayla Thomas on March 20, 2012 at 1:55pm

I have a new review up for a romance: Now and Forever, Callie's Story by Jean Joachim. Please stop by and check it out here: http://makaylasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review-now-and...

AuthorPermalink Reply by Shelly Sanders on March 20, 2012 at 4:08pm

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie

Review by Shelly Sanders

Let me begin by saying that I started and finished this book in one week. Not much of an accomplishment for a small volume, but quite a feat for one that spans five hundred and thirty-two pages. As with Massie’s new release, Catherine the Great, I could not put Nicholas and Alexandra down, for this would mean leaving the tumultuous yet fascinating period in Russia that led to a seminal political and cultural shift.

The book begins in 1894, during the final year of Alexander III’s reign as Tsar. Russia was a vast land of extremes, with some living well in cities while greater numbers spent their days in poverty-stricken villages. But they had one thing in common at the time—a steadfast love and respect for the Tsar, “the Batiushka-Tsar, the Father of the Russian people.

“It is very high up to God! It is very far to the Tsar!” said the Russian proverb. If only we could get to the Tsar and tell him, our troubles would be at an end—so runs the plot of a hundred Russian fairy tales.”

This was the world Nicholas II entered with his new wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, in 1894, upon the unexpected death of his father. This was the way things had been since 1547, when Ivan the Terrible was crowned as Tsar of Russia. Yet in just twenty three years of rule by Nicholas II, the entire Tsar establishment fell in disgrace.

Using letters and diary entries, Massie shows precisely how the autocracy crumbled. We see clearly that he loved Alexandra and that she loved him. In his diary, Nicholas wrote: “At the same time that He has sent me irreparable grief (the death of his father), God has given me a happiness of which I never dared to dream, in giving me Alix.”

In fact, Massie has so eloquently humanized Nicholas, that I couldn’t help but like him as a person. He may not have been a strong, efficient leader, but there is no doubt he adored his wife and children.

While it’s common knowledge that Nicholas’ son, Alexis, was a hemophiliac, Massey carefully shows how this condition helped bring about the fall of the Tsar’s reign. There was no cure and no relief when Alexis bled, but Rasputin, a Siberian peasant who claimed he had spiritual power, was somehow able to appear at the height of Alexis’ discomfort, and announce that the boy would survive. On at least three occasions, Alexis improved significantly the day after Rasputin had visited.

“It was the boy’s illness that brought Rasputin to the palace,” writes Sir Bernard Pares. “What was the nature of Rasputin’s influence in the family circle?” Pares goes on to ask. “The foundation of it all was that he could undoubtedly bring relief to the boy, and of this there was no question whatsoever.”

To Alexandra, Rasputin was a miracle-worker who could do no wrong. Harmless at first, but increasingly dangerous as Rasputin began to advise Alexandra on affairs of the state. While Russia was at war, she told Nicholas who to fire or hire depending on whether the person liked Rasputin. Nicholas did not always listen, but he often bowed under his wife’s pressure and made poor decisions that had a traumatic effect on his country.

It is this chain of events—Alexis’ hemophilia, Rasputin’s inexplicable ability to heal him, Alexandra’s growing reliance on Rasputin, and the Tsar’s desire to make his wife happy by following her wishes—that, based on Massie’s compelling research, the people lost faith in the Tsar and turned on him with such ferocity.

Even though I knew how the story of Nicholas and Alexandra ended, it was the details in between the pages, their lives and the lives of the Russian people that captivated me so strongly. Now, I feel as if I understand the historical period better, as if I have actually stepped foot in Russia, as if I might have liked Nicholas and Alexandra.

Permalink Reply by Harvee Lau on March 20, 2012 at 5:16pm

CRUISING ATTITUDE: a memoir on the life of an air stewardess, by Heather Poole, a review

Permalink Reply by BeaCharmed on March 20, 2012 at 7:28pm

A bunch of reviews, some paranormal and a romantic suspense.

Timeless by Gail Carriger - steampunk/romance

Illusions by Kacey Hammell - romantic suspense with a light paranor... & an interview with Kacey Hammell

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R Green - Urban Fantasy

The Calling by Ashley Lynn Willis - paranormal romance, heavier on ...

Permalink Reply by Jessica Haight on March 21, 2012 at 10:04am

A new review of The Field Guide: The Spiderwick Chronicles: Book 1 by Holly Black or Tony DiTerlizzi is up on Fairday’s Blog! Stop by and read up on this fantasy book that shouldn’t be missed!

Permalink Reply by Makayla Thomas on March 21, 2012 at 5:44pm

New review up for Sara York's Not That Type of Guy

http://makaylasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review-not-tha...

Permalink Reply by Lisa Jemus on March 21, 2012 at 6:19pm

My review for Rob Lowe's book is upover at Book Blab.

BloggerPermalink Reply by Tina "The Book Lady" on March 22, 2012 at 1:17am

Hi Everyone -

I have 2 book reviews that went live as part of the Litfuse Book Tours this week. I thought you'd enjoy both of these. Both are Christian Historical Fiction, wonderful well written and great for mother/daughter reads or book clubs. Click on the picture to go to the review: