A Kiss For Midwinter (Brothers Sinister series) by Courtney Milan

It's funny how in the last review I said when it comes to books I'm more a HBO than a Lifetime kind of girl, because that is the kind of book that I chose this time. It was like Sex and the City meets the 19th century and I postively loved it.

But first the book description: 

Miss Lydia Charingford is always cheerful, and never more so than at Christmas time. But no matter how hard she smiles, she can't forget the youthful mistake that could have ruined her reputation. Even though the worst of her indiscretion was kept secret, one other person knows the truth of those dark days: the sarcastic Doctor Jonas Grantham. She wants nothing to do with him...or the butterflies that take flight in her stomach every time he looks her way. 
Jonas Grantham has a secret, too: He's been in love with Lydia for more than a year. This winter, he's determined to conquer her dislike and win her for his own. And he has a plan to do it. 
If only his plans didn't so often go awry... 
A Kiss for Midwinter is a historical romance Christmas novella in the Brothers Sinister series.
I chose this book because it was a novella on this Goodreads list of Christmas and winter novellas. In all honesty, I don't particularly like historical romances especially those in the time period of the 19th century because well...they seemed pretty uptight when it comes to all matters regarding sex.
This novella describes Jonas Grantham which may well be the most progressive doctor to have ever fictionally lived in the 19th century. He's also the wittiest and has an amazing dry sarcastic sense of humor. Exactly the kind of man I go for. Maybe that's why I loved the book so much and tweeted that I didn't want it to end. Jonas Grantham is my type.
He's not every one's type though. He is obnoxious, crude, has questionable social skills, is far too forward, and offers advise about the use of prophylactics including the Dutch cup (cervical cap) and French letters (condoms). Yet all of these reasons are both why Lydia hates him and is drawn to him. She has to walk a careful line with him. She wants nothing to do with him but at the same time he knows a secret that could ruin her. 
Because of this she humors him at first and then agrees to a bet that just may get rid of him permanently. It's a 19th century version of Arianna Grande's lyric "I'd have one less problem without you." As the story progresses, she starts to wonder if she really does want to be rid of him.
My favorite love stories are those where the couple starts off hating each other. What's that saying? Hate is passion too. Or something like that. Whatever it is I loved this book and was disappointed when it ended. 
The book also had a surprising subplot. Jonas has to deal with his sick father who is a hoarder. The story explores the complex issue of having to deal with a loved one who suffers from hoarding. Since hoarding is caused by the mental health condition of obsessive-compulsive disorder, this book qualifies for the Mental Illness Advocacy Reading Challenge.
I will be reading more from this author in the future. She made me like historical romance and that's saying something. My rating is an enthusiastic 

Santa's Little Helper by H. D. Gordon

I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of this ebook for two reasons. It was right before Halloween and it was the first time I had ever gotten an advance copy of a book to review. I have a confession to make though. When I read the book I didn't start with an entirely open mind. I thought the title was a little cheesy and the book would be too.

I was wrong. Very wrong actually.

Here is the book description:

He shows up in a white box, with a bright red book under his arm... He wears a jolly grin and hat, a suit with gold bells and green yarn... He watches you for Santa, or so his red book claims... But though his grin is jolly, he's not here for fun and games... 

The children have been chosen, such precious little souls they are... And may the Gods be with them, if they wish to make it very far... For Santa's Little Helper does not say, but knows important things... He knows when you've been bad or good, and what monsters stalk your dreams... He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake...He's picking out his presents...He's got some souls to take.

H. D. Gordon explained that the idea for Santa's Little Helper from Elf on the Shelf. So when I started the book, I was expecting the elf doll to stay a doll. Santa's Little Helper is far more sophisticated and versatile than that. He has powers like shapeshifting. He also has a true form that is scary as hell.

The story follows how the elf chooses four children and their families. The elf doesn't just attack but behaves like a mental and emotional terrorist in a cat and mouse game. The children that he chooses have a complex family life that sometimes works in their favor and sometimes works in favor of the elf.

While the elf's target is the children, five year olds cannot fight evil by themselves. The children confide in their teacher, their siblings, and their parents in an effort to get help to fight Santa's Little Helper. This is a horror story but it is also about the bonds of family and how the love and sacrifice of parents is often what saves the lives of children. Emphasis on the word sacrifice.

Of the four families, the story about the daughter and her mother dealing with an alcoholic abusive husband and father was my favorite. While all the stories dealt with complex human emotions, this one dealt with what happens when human beings become the monster. At times it was hard to know who was scarier, the killer elf or the abusive man.

Gordon also manages to weaves in philosophical issues such as the moral issue of lying to kids about Santa Claus, what evil is, the nature of God and the Devil, and the significance of losing your childhood innocence.

Simply put, this story is not just about a killer elf doll. It is about many other things as well. Still I'm glad to have read it now before December when I get out the Elf on the Shelf doll. As creepy as this book was, I still will be an Elf on the Shelf mom.

Speaking of Elf on the Shelf, I do worry a bit that H. D. Gordon might run into some copyright issues with this book. In the novel, there is a book that tells a similar background story for the elf doll. At one point Gordon describes the elf doll as being on a shelf. I certainly hope Gordon never has any problems with this.

Lastly, as I read this book I couldn't help but think it would make a really great horror movie. My rating is 

The book goes on sale at Amazon on Halloween. I was given an advance copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was recieved.

The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation Book 1) by Pembroke Sinclair

Book Description from Amazon.comKatie wants to invest her heart and soul in love, but she may lose both to Hell. Katie, a senior in high school, is torn between loving the “good” guy, her childhood friend Wes who makes promises he doesn't keep and abandons her when she needs him the most, and the “bad” guy, the new kid at school Josh who is also a real demon from Hell. Katie wants someone who pays attention to her and puts her first, but what is she willing to give up to find him? 
This YA book is a love triangle with one hell of a twist. Literally. 
Katie finds herself torn between two boys. The first is the boy she has been in love with since kindergarten. Unfortunately Wes has never treated her the way that a girl wants to be treated. All Katie longs for is true love, devotion, and a real relationship. Wes leads her on just enough to keep her hooked but never quite delivers.
When Katie meets Josh, the hottest boy in school, it appears as if all her dreams are about to come true. It turns out some of these dreams are something out of a nightmare because Josh is in fact, a demon from Hell. However, he always seems to be there for Katie when Wes fails.
To make matters even more complicated, Katie discovers that Wes is a Praesul, which is an ancient order of demon fighters. Katie finds herself not only trapped between bids for her heart, but smack in the middle of the war between good and evil that has gone on since the beginning of time.
Josh's pursuit of Katie is nothing short of relentless. He is, to put it bluntly, a controlling stalker. What I really liked about this novel is that even though Josh is a demon, he behaves the way any psychopathic stalker and abuser would behave. I think the book is a great lesson for young women on behaviors to look out for in guys that do not have their best interests as heart.
What I also liked about the story was that even though Wes is supposed to be on the good side, his behavior is sometimes questionable. Even though his heart is in the right place, he tends to make decisions over and over that hurt Katie. These behaviors sometimes seem no less manipulative than those of Josh.
This means the book is constantly asking the question, what is good and evil? Penbroke Sincliar does an amazing job of blurring these lines. She asks is a demon capable of love? Any stalker will tell you what he does in pursuit of his obeject of desire is because he loves her so much. Katie can't help but wonder does Josh just do what he does because cares about her so much? If it's because of that, how can it be so wrong?
However, like any situation with an emotionally controlling stalker you know things are going to eventually go bad. Sinclair does a great job of building up the tension in the love traingle. Sinclair doesn't skimp on the action either. I have often read YA books where the author is afraid to actually have anyone get hurt or physically fight. Wes and Josh not only use their minds to fight for Katie, they also use their fists. 
I do have a few complaints about the book. The first is that Katie's thoughts about the boys repeat themselves over and over. Sinclair does a great job of letting us into the mind of Katie, but at times she goes into streams of consciousness that are overwhelming and repetitive.
My second complaint is that Sinclair started what would have been a fascinating subplot of Katie's best friend having a Preasul in her family, but then never follows through on it. The plot thread is left dangling.
Hopefully Sinclair will go back to this story thread in the next book in the series. The way the book ended lets you know the next in the series will take you even deeper into this world of good versus evil and Katie is right in the middle of it. 
Unfortunately Book 2 hasn't been released yet. I guess I'll just have to wait to find out what happens next. Sinclair says she is currently working on the sequel.
My rating:

Penbroke Sinclair has a website and also can be found on Twitter and Facebook. Her book can be purchased here.
I was given a copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was received.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L. J. Smith (contains spoilers)

Book Description from Amazon.com

A deadly love triangle Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any guy she wants. Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good. Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . . who will she choose?
I am a huge fan of the TV series The Vampire Diaries. It's embarrassing to admit considering I'm 38 yrs old but I completely fangirl over Ian Somerhalder. My computer background is fanart of Elena and Damon. Yesterday I was wearing a Damon t-shirt. If you ask me about the most recent season finale I may choke up a bit. I'm still traumatized.
Because of the heartbreaking season finale, I decided to keep myself busy reading The Vampire Diaries novel series. Unfortunately most of the first book left me feeling anything but anxious to read the rest of the series.
Elena Gilbert is the queen bee of her school who can have whatever boy she wants. So when the mysterious Stefan Salvatore starts school and completely ignores her, she makes it her mission to make him her boyfriend. The reason Stefan ignores her is because, as a vampire, every time he's near her he can't think straight because all he wants to do is taste her blood. She also happens to look like the woman who broke his heart in a love triangle with his vampire brother about 500 years ago. 
Elena is pretty much unlikable. She's vain, cares too much about her status in the popular clique she's in, and spends an unbelievable amount of money on a custom made Halloween costume then admiring how beautiful she looks in said costume. Most people who read the book complain about Elena's character but I think they forget this is a book series. If the character did a 180 and became a different person in the first book what's left for her to do in the rest of the series? I am going to read on only because I hope Elena grows as a character into someone well...not so shallow.
As a fan of the TV show one thing that I love is the supporting characters. In the book, all the same names are there but very little is written about them. The other characters don't factor into the story much and are never developed.
Stefan finally starts paying attention to Elena when she is a damsel in distress and he needs to rescue her when a drunken Tyler tries to rape her. Yes, you read that right. The main character is almost raped! After Stefan rescues her he beats Tyler almost to a bloody pulp. Yet neither of them get in trouble with the police. Elena refuses to press charges against Matt and the police are too busy dealing with a dead homeless man that got his throat ripped out.
The love story left me rolling my eyes most of the time. Elena instantly fell in love with Stefan declaring how much she loved him only days after they have had their first kiss. There is absolutely no development of their relationship even though months go by.
Nor is there any buildup of Elena suspecting that Stefan is a vampire. Almost the whole story is just utterly boring. Even Catherine is boring. She's a sweet and innocent vampire who just couldn't decide between brothers. Anyone who watches the tv show can't possibly imagine Catherine as sweet and innocent much less boring. I'm hoping the bad ass version of Catherine is in the later books.
The novel's saving grace is Damon. Damon is just as sexy, dark and tempting as he is in the tv series. What's even better is that I didn't have to wait several seasons before Damon and Elena are attracted to each other. The attraction is there from the first time they meet. In fact, Damon makes it his mission to make Elena his. Whether it's because he's truly in love with her or doing it as revenge on his brother isn't clear. At one point the vampire brothers are literally fighting for Elena. That scene alone made up for the rest of the book being dreadfully boring and pretty predictable. (It wasn't hard to figure out who really was the murderer.)
Not to mention that Damon has magical powers in the book. He can shapeshift into animals and control the weather. Why wasn't that in the tv show?
I will continue reading the book series mostly for the character of Damon but do hope Elena becomes a better person. Stefan's character is mildly interesting. As for the rest of the book and characters, it just, forgive the pun...sucked.My rating

The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith

Book Description from Amazon.com

What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone? 

On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing: 

The king is dead. 

The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old. 

It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what "happily ever after" really means? 

Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.

Since starting this blog I have been asked to do book reviews on occasion. I usually said no because of one simple reason. I didn't have an eReader. Then a few months ago I started reading a few books that I bought from Amazon on the Kindle for iPhone app. I enjoyed this so much I started borrowing my son's iPad to read books. And I loved it! There was one big problem with that. My son had to give his iPad back to the school because the school year was ending. So I spent a tense few days trying to find the cheapest Kindle I could on eBay. I managed to find a 2nd Generation Kindle (the original eReader) for under $30 including shipping.

Why am I telling you all this? Because in celebration of getting a Kindle, I decided to finally say yes to a request for a book review. The book is The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith. This book made me realize how I've really been missing out on eBooks. I was rather adamant about sticking with paper books and I realize now that my refusal to get with the times has made many wonderful books unavailable to me. I couldn't have picked a better book to "break in" my Kindle.

I wonder how much David Meredith knew about me when he asked me to review his book. Did he know that I'm a widow just like Snow White? Did he know that I have suffered with prolonged grief and severe depression just like Snow White? I never anticipated how personal reading this story would seem. Reading this book was like reading about some of my own experiences and that's quite unexpected considering it's a fairy tale.

I guess that's the thing about fairy tales. They contain universal truths. I don't know how much experience or knowledge Meredith has with childhood abuse, infertility, widowhood, severe depression, or women's self esteem but he nails it. When a man perfectly describes a woman's experience I can't help but be impressed.

While you and I would visit a therapist (i.e a complete stranger), Snow White has something even better. Snow White has a magic mirror that shows her only what is a reflection of her. The magic mirror never lies but instead shows Snow White the many truths about herself, her past, and her life that she refuses to face. This magic mirror knows her better than she knows herself.

Ultimately, the book is about coming to terms with life's challenges, letting go of the past, and finding forgiveness. This book wasn't just entertaining to me. It was therapy!

I do have to admit there were times when I wanted to just shake Snow White while yelling "Have confidence in yourself! Just be happy!" but that is the nature of grief and depression. It's a black cloud that follows one everywhere. No one gets better unless they choose to get better. Happiness is a choice. It was wonderful to read a story about someone healing from the monster that is grief and depression. So many books about widows end up with healing coming from finding romance and a new love. In this book, Snow White finds it in herself.

I do have a few minor criticisms. The book could have used a bit more proofreading. Sometimes I thought characters talked too long. I wish Meredith would have included some scenes of how Snow White came to be taken in by the dwarfs. I would have liked to know more about Arglist and what happened in her life to make her so cruel and abusive. What was her experience with the truth telling magic mirror? Arglist's story would make a great prequel. (Hint. Hint.)

I don't give out five star ratings often. I only give them to books that are either so entertaining I was sad when the book ended or to books that touch me on a very deep level. I would by lying if I said this book didn't affect me deeply. I don't have a magic mirror, but this story made me want to look at my own experiences and my own truths so that I can find healing too. This book made me consider my own experiences with prolonged grief and severe depression. Most of all it did something most books about widows don't do and that is share the lesson that healing comes from within, not from finding new romance and love.  My rating

David Meredith has a website and also a Facebook page. His book can be purchased here.

I was given a copy of the book for an honest review. No other compensation was received.