Early Review: Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle / Reading Romances August Challenge

Reading Romances August Challenge

4) Read a book that has a character that is involved in any type of arts (music, dance, literature, theater, etc).

Kissing Shakespeare
by Pamela Mingle

Expected publication: August 14th 2012 by Random House Children's Books

Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.

Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lose its greatest playwright.

Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.

Genre: Young Adult, Time Travel

Publication Date: August 14th 2012

Publisher: Random House Books

Format: eARC, 352 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

Miranda is a young actress, but lately she has been thinking of herself as more of a 'failure'. After she blew her part in the school play of The Taming of the Shrew, she decides to let everyone know (including her super perfect actress mom) that she's giving up on acting. That is, she intended to do that, until Stephen Langford, a weird crew member who never hangs around much, tells her he needs her help and drags her to the school's roof, spouting some nonsense about Shakespeare all the way up..

Miranda soon discovers that Stephen may be eccentric and all, but he was not that crazy. He actually meant everything he said to her, and he proves that by somehow traveling back in time, to when Shakespeare was still a teen, and bringing her along for the ride. He explains to her (in incredibly vague terms), that it is his responsability to make sure things in the past happen as they should. And that includes making young Will become a poet as he should, and NOT become a Jesuit, which would ruin our future as we know it. For that (and we still don't know why) he needs Miranda, who is posing as his sister, to seduce him.

Miranda now needs to deal with strange things from the past, such as too many clothes, little privacy, no drinking water, balls and religious conflicts. Oh, and she needs to bed William Shakespeare before it's too late.

As you may probably have noticed, I wasn't very satisfied with this book, for many reasons.

I expected something else, after reading the synopsis. Especially after this bit:

"Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase."

The last thing Stephen did was ask something. He kidnapped Miranda, and the dim-witted thing let him. >.>'

I expected a fun encounter with a young version of a great idol, some fun moments trying to adjust to the time period... things like that. But there wasn't much of that in there, I'm afraid.

Miranda was pretty boring and obtuse at times. She kept going on and on about the same things, kept asking the same stupid questions (when she had already had the answers to them) and just following Stephen's plans too blindly, in my opinion. Plans that were quite ridiculous, if you ask me. 

I simply cannot understand why it is that Shakespeare would ever become a Jesuit, if obviously he never did in our present time. And even if he almost did, and Stephen really had to interfere before that happened, couldn't he have just chosen someone from that time to seduce him? A practiced, mature mistress or something? Did he really HAVE to go all the way to the future to choose one silly, plain, nobody of a teenager? I understand that's why YA books are supposed to be so much fun, but in this case this was not a very good idea at all. 

And, to top it all off, the constant religious babble was a huge turn-off. I understand that during the Elizabethan times all Catholics were forced to become Protestants, and the whole thing was pretty violent... but was that really important to the story?

This book felt sooooooooo long. I just took a look and it's supposed to have 352 pages, but they really felt like 1072. O.o It was very, VERY tempting to just give it up and label it as DNF, but I kept going... and I'm afraid to say it didn't get much better.

What I liked the most about the whole book were the final author's notes, about Shakespeare's life and curiosities. About the book itself I enjoyed Shakespeare's quotes and the hardships Miranda had to got through to fit in that time period. I always like to imagine how I'd act if I had the chance to time travel and see how things were back then. I know, I'm silly like that.

If you like time travel stories and would like to imagine a young, flirty William Shakespeare, you might want to give this book a try.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi

 

Tomorrow Land
by Mari Mancusi

Published March 8th 2012 by NLA Digital

Can true love survive the end of the world?

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: March 8th 2012

Publisher: NLA Digital

Format: eARC, ? pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

It's the year of 2030, and fifteen-year-old Peyton Anderson wouldn't go out with Chris Parker if he was the last guy on Earth. She's also not very happy about her crackpot of a father, who will tell anyone who'll listen about how The End of Days is coming soon and how dangerous the government is. Oh, and he won't let her have any of the advanced  technology that everybody else has because he's so afraid the government might be monitoring them. And he most certainly won't allow her to get her LTF, a License to Fu--, well, you get the idea. Its real name is the Copulation Conditional and nobody can have sex without this license, and it's only given to those who have taken their AIDS vaccine. But, like with everything else, her father doesn't trust this vaccine... and this time his craziness just might be right.

All of a sudden people start falling sick. First it's just a few isolated cases, quickly covered by the government... but then the disease starts to quickly spread. The first sign of Super Flu is people coughing blood. After that they might die...or not. If they don't die, they become 'zombies'. At the beginning it only happens to those who have taken the AIDS vaccine, that is, all the adults and a handful of teens. But then the virus seems to evolve, becoming airborne. And that's when 'The End of Days' Dr.Anderson has been talking about all this time really makes an appearance.

Peyton is slowly starting to warm up to Chris, she might even be falling in love, but the evident Apocalypse threatens to separate them. Chris and a few other kids decided to run to the mountains to scape the disease and 'the Others' (zombies), and Peyton had every plan to go with them... but after being experienced on and cybernetically enhanced by her father, she is forced to enter an underground shelter, equipped with every necessary provisions, with her mother. Her father assures her it would open in four years, after which she would have one mission. To find her father and save the world.

It's 2034 and the world is a very different place. Peyton is a very different person. She doesn't know what has been happening these last four years, who has survived and who hasn't... the only thing she does know is that she must join her father in California. To be more exact, she needs to go to DisneyWorld. That's where he told her a group of his scientists friends would be, working on a cure. So that's where she's going... until she meets him again. Chris Parker, who might as well be the last guy on Earth.

I expected Tomorrow Land to have a completely different story... and to be much better. Honestly, Peyton sort of pissed me off AND confused me. One moment she's saying how much she can't stand Chris and how he has been stalking her since they were kids and all... and the next she just can't believe how great a guy he is and oh, she just might be falling for him. Seriously, it all changed radically in just a matter of a few days. Sorry, but I couldn't swallow that. 

And when they were finally reunited four years later, things still didn't go very smoothly with me.  Or with them. There was waaaaay too much drama. Oh, she stood me up four years ago, I can't just forgive her. Oh, I can't explain to him why I stood him up four years ago, so I'll just be cold. Oh, I need to be strong, so I'll ignore her and push her away. Oh, I need to save the world and be on my own, so I'll just ignore him and push him away. Oh, he's a lying junky, I can't trust him. Oh, she just won't trust me, so I'll give up on her. Oh, I've been bitten by a zombie, so I'll be cold and push her away yet again for no apparent reason. Jeez! Drama much?? O.o I was like: WAKE UP, you two losers! It's the freaking end of the world, you have half a dozen kids to take care of (kids that are not well explained or well utilized as they should), tons os zombies to kill and hundreds of miles to cover til Florida, and all they can think of is stupid reasons not to be together. Either just break up or not. It was like the zombies were getting smarter and the main characters were getting more stupid...

The book felt like it was too long and it dragged quite a bit. It seems to me like there were lots of unnecessary things and pages and many issues that could have been better developed. The ending, by itself, wasn't surprising. But its abruptness was. The whole thing was very brusque. Too much description, not enough action. I believe the whole 'phantom city with zombie fights' could have been completely deleted to make room for a more decent ending.

But even with all those many things that bothered me, I still couldn't put the book down. I read the whole thing, because I really wanted to see what would happen. Strange, but true. I guess that's why there are so many 5 star reviews of it.

If you like apocalyptic YAs with lots of zombies and difficult romances, then you might enjoy Tomorrow Land. 

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* 

Review: First Date by Krista McGee

First Date

by Krista McGee

The orphaned daughter of missionaries, Addy is quite content to stay in the shadows and never draw attention to herself. But when she's selected for a reality TV show to try to become the President son's prom date-a show she didn't audition for-she's suddenly in America's spotlight.

The lights, the make-up, the competitions, and the blogs discussing every move she makes all make Addy incredibly uncomfortable. But through her time at The Mansion, Addy comes to realize that first impressions aren't always right, that hiding out may not be what God had planned for her life, and that her faith should affect everything she does. It may just be that her selection wasn't random at all and that she's on this show "for such a time as this."

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My Review

Addy is very curious when she is suddenly called to the principal's office. And completely surprised when she finds out that the reason she's there is because she will be her school's representative in the new TV Show, The Book of Love, where Jonathan Jackson, the handsome son of the president will choose a girl from other 100 to take to prom.

She is not thrilled, not in the least, but everybody keeps saying that this is her chance to bring God to others, what with her parents having been missionaries and all that. But Addy just wants to stay home, with her friends and books, calm and quiet. Just hanging out... close to Spencer Adams, the half-cuban hottie, if possible. 

But she has little choice, and so she goes to the show, planning on being sent home as soon as possible, but for some reason her honesty seems to enchant Jonathan and enrage her contestans to no end. They all think she's been planning to act nonchalantly an uninterested all along... and that makes her the enemy of many. She does get to America's heart, though. After all, she looks just like the girl next door, so simple, ordinary and clumsy, different from the beauties that are competing with her.

Between the chapters we get to see the interviews from some of the most important contestants, which gives us some great insight on their reasons for being there.

I especially loved Addy's roomate and best-friend in the competition, Kara. She's loud, outspoken and not afraid to say what's on her mind. And she's especially good when dealing with bullies (I really wanted to slap a few of those girls sometimes). Jonathan is very kind and cute. Totally smoochable.

I did like the premise for the book, it was interesting to see the other side of 'reality' TV shows, the real side  of the contestants, how the shows are extremely manipulated and false. I also liked knowing more about the security proceedures involving the President and his son. It's all very complicated, poor Jon. 

What I wasn't so excited about, though I knew I should have expected, was the constant and unending mentions of God and Jesus and Christ. It is a christian book (I noticed it only after I requested it, I'm afraid), but reading the word God over 96579 times gets a little annoying. Also, it bothered me that she wanted to fix everyone all the time! Maybe people aren't completely bad, sure, and we all have our reasons to be bitter sometimes, but if people don't want to be helped, you can't force them. 

What disappointed me the most about the story was this: how Addy's lovely uncle Mike makes it very clear to her that if she likes Jonathan, she better be sure he 'shares their faith', otherwise they can never be more than friends. I don't mean to be very judgemental here, but isn't God all about Acceptance & Equality? It doesn't matter how great and sweet a young man Jon was, he would never be good enough if he's not a freaking Christian? And doesn't LOVE conquers it all? Addy kept going on about how much she loved him, but it was obvious she would give him up just as easily if he wasn't Christian. Talk about hypocrisy and half-heartedness. 

Anyway, of course he turned out to be Christian (he was almost too perfect, after all) and very enthusiastic about learning the Bible with Addy. And they lived happily ever after.

I think this book had a lot of promise, but it turned out to be a very long religious pamphlet with short stories thrown in the middle. If you do ignore the excessive Christian content, you can actually have fun with some very well-written scenes. 

If you like quick, funny, sweet, christian romantic stories, this may be your book.

*I received an eARC form Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

The Demon Lover

(Fairwick Chronicles #1)

by Juliet Dark (Carol Goodman)

Kindle Edition, 432 pages

Expected publication: December 27th 2011 by Ballantine Books

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I gasped, or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t draw breath. His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked my breath in and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh.

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of her having written the bestselling book The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she’s found herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name. But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: Her incubus is not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the demon, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this supernatural lover from her heart.


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My Review:

The Demon Lover was nothing like I thought it would be. When I first saw the cover, read the summary and an excerpt of the prologue, I thought, WOW. I HAVE to read this book now.

But when I actually got to it... let's just say it was very difficult to get into the story. I felt no connection to the main character. None. The other characters were all very mysterious and... ecletic. Really, just too odd. Even if they were paranormal. And most of them felt superfluous, I guess. They weren't very important to the story at all. Maybe in the next books?

This is a supernatural romance with a lot of mystery. Really, A LOT of mystery. That was the biggest problem for me. There was way too much of it. (I used to think there couldn't possibly be such a thing, but as it turns out...). If I had to read one more sentence of: they shared a strange look, they looked at each other as if sharing a secret, they were whispering in secret, they exchanged glances... GAH!!!

When you thought something would be cleared, that something would finally be explained... there seemed to appear three more different mysteries. No answers at all. O.o Anyone heard of Hydra of Lerna?

I caught myself skipping a great deal of pages, which is not a good sign. The book was so long! It's not that the story wasn't interesting (I really wanted to get a taste of a demon lover myself, LOL), but it's very tiring when nothing is ever explained... and, at long last, when they eventually do explain somethings, we get THAT kind of sucky ending. Yeah, well... (It was only when I was halfway through it that I found out this book was part one in a series -jeez-, but this was such a long, tiring read all I really wanted was some kind of closure...).

What I did enjoy VERY much was... (guess, guess!!!) YES, the incubus! LOL. Liam was my favorite thing in the whole book. The only exciting things that happened were when he was around. Yes, there were many sexual interactions, (but you only need to read the summary to see they're coming) and I'm not ashamed to say (okay, maybe just a little) that they were the only reasons I kept turning the pages. That and because I wanted to read more about Liam. (and does the author make you work for it! >.>).

I was all kinds of disappointed. With the too-long book, with the empty, distant characters, with the ending that failed to meet any and all expectations... (those that still resisted my initial frustration). I'm sorry about so much whining and complaining, however, that's how it was for me.

The author is very good with describing objects, houses, nature, clothes (her detailing of art work and the interior of the forest just leaves you breathless.), she's obviously very creative and has studied a lot about folklore, fairytales and celtic fables, but, for me, not even those super interesting things could save this book.

Then again, who knows? Maybe you'll love it. It has every kind of paranormal creatures: vampires, demons, fairies, familiars... you name it. It's worth a try, at least.

*eARC provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter - Review

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.


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My Review:

Being a fan of mythology, I had a lot of expectations for this book. Too bad they weren't met.

The beginning was very irritating, especially because of Kate (she was too much like Bella from Twilight, I guess), but I persevered.

When I finally got to the middle I was starting to get very excited to see how everything would turn out. I was even starting to sympathize with the annoying heroine! The hero, our sexy Henry, sounded better and better.... then BOOM. I got to the end of the book.

What the HECK? It sucked SO BAD I felt like throwing the book out the window (except it was in my Kindle, so I just delicately deleted it. :P ).

It had so much promise, was getting more and more believable, and then it was done. Just like THAT. Such a disappointment.

But I'm a good-hearted, stubborn reader, so I might even try reading the next book in the series, just to see what happens.