Tagged: spotlight
Spotlight: Bad For Me by Codi Gary
Callie Jacobsen isn’t about to open her heart to just anyone. Not so very long ago, trusting someone changed her life forever—and not in a fun way. Now she’s better off focusing on her career, her friends, and her dog. So when former Marine Everett Silverton takes an interest in her, Callie’s more than a little wary. No matter how charming he is, men are a bad idea. In fact, she’s got the scars to prove it. But Everett isn’t convinced Callie should shut everyone out—especially not him. He may be a hero to the people of Rock Canyon, but he’s got his own demons, and he bets they’re not that different from Callie’s. Still, he knows it’s going to take more than chemistry to get her to let her guard down. Everett will do whatever it takes to show her she’s safe with him. All she has to do is take a chance, take a step … and take his hand.
An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.
~Excerpt~
“Looks like you could use a hand.”
“Son of a bitch!” Surprised, Callie spun around from her kneeling position so fast that she fell over, landing in the softening muck with a splat. She’d been too busy cursing the shredded tire and the pouring rain to hear Everett behind her until he spoke.
Callie shook her mud-covered hands and was sure she heard a snort of laughter from Everett over the pouring rain and Ratchet’s muffled barking inside the Jeep.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that sneaking up on someone is rude?” Callie glared up at Everett, who was holding his hands down to her. Even though he wasn’t smiling, she’d have to be blind not to catch the amused gleam in his eyes.
Jackass.
Ignoring his offer of assistance, she climbed to her feet, but her bruised pride earned her even more mud as her jeans were soaked through. She tried to wipe off the muck, but it just smeared.
“They have, which is why I didn’t sneak; I walked. I saw you huddled over and figured I could help.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got this,” she said.
Thunder erupted over their heads, and Callie felt like the sky was laughing at her too.
“You sure? You’re shivering like crazy, and I can have this changed in under four minutes. I’ll have you know I hold the Silverton family record for fastest tire change.” Lightning lit up the sky, highlighting his cheeky grin. “And I’ve been told more than once that I’m good with my hands.”
She didn’t want to smile at his gentle teasing, but she was cold and miserable, and he was offering her a way out.
“I was just going to call triple A for a tow—”
“It will be faster if I just change it; believe me. Here.” Everett reached around her and opened the door to the Jeep. “Hop in, and I’ll grab the spare from the back.”
Callie’s face burned with embarrassment. “It’s not there.”
“What?”
“I meant to buy another one, but these suckers aren’t cheap and I just . . . I never got around to it.” She leaned her head against the door, laughing humorlessly. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
“Well, yeah, but there’s no use in me lecturing you when you already know.”
Callie glanced at him sharply. “Thanks a lot, Dad.”
“Come on; I’ll take you to Jose’s Tires, and we’ll get you a new one.”
“I told you; I can’t afford it right now—”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”
“Um, no. I don’t like being in anyone’s debt.” She squirmed under his thoughtful gaze and added, “Thank you, but I must decline.”
“Well, I must insist. You can’t just sit here on the side of the road until payday, and triple A will ding you for using one of your get-out-of-trouble calls.” Another crack of thunder shook the sky. “Look, I get it. You don’t know me from Adam, but I can get you over to Jose’s and get you a line of emergency credit. That way, you won’t owe me anything, and I don’t have to stand out in the rain. Sound fair?”
Her insides churned, and she cursed. If she’d just gotten a new spare when she’d bought her last set, she wouldn’t be sitting in the rain at the mercy of a large former marine.
Who you can’t seem to get out of your head.
Spotlight: Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead
Spotlight is my weekly feature in which I highlight a book I’m really looking forward to or really enjoyed. This time around it’s a book I absolutely loved: Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead.
When Naomi’s sisters are snatched up to be taken to be wives of the erratic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, she knows they won’t survive the palace, so she offers herself in their place. The fearsome Commander Horemheb sees her courage, and knows she is exactly what he is looking for…
The Great Queen Nefertiti despises Naomi instantly, and strips her of her Hebrew lineage, including her name, which is changed to Kiya. Kiya allies herself with Horemheb, who pushes her to greatness and encourages her to make the Pharaoh fall in love with her. When Akhenaten declares Kiya will be the mother of his heir, Nefertiti, furious with jealousy, schemes to destroy Kiya.
Kiya must play the deadly game carefully. She is in a silent battle of wills, and a struggle for who will one day inherit the crown. If she does bear an heir, she knows she will need to fight to protect him, as well as herself, from Nefertiti who is out for blood.
This is Katie Hamstead’s first book, but since she was writing about my favourite historical period (ancient Egypt) I had incredibly high expectations for her. It’s a testament to her writing that she exceeded them all.
There were some historically questionable theories, but most of it was either a plausible way to fill in gaps in the historical record or the actual events that were occurring at the time. Katie Hamstead had quite a bit of leeway here because very, very little is known about Kiya, who is supposedly the mother of the famous Tutankhamun. (To be truthful, we don’t even know that for sure.) Still, the details of ancient Egyptian life were correct and her portrayal of historical figures felt spot-on.
Part of what makes historical fiction so hard to write is the fact that you have to do so much research in order to tackle famous figures. You have to not only get the details of their lives right (or mostly right), you have to decide what angle to portray them from. For example, Akhenaten was not the usual unstable despot, but a very kind and loving, but slightly unstable man. Or take Horemheb, who is both ruthless and very compassionate toward Kiya’s plight. Katie Hamstead could have easily gone with the stone-cold army commander angle with Horemheb, but she chose to go deeper and make the man more complicated.
What really made Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh such a great book, however, was Kiya/Naomi herself. She carried the whole thing on her shoulders and had she been one of those horribly whiny narrators I would have beat my head against my desk. We’re trapped in her point of view for the entire story, but because Naomi is such a resourceful, compassionate young woman, that’s actually a good thing!
If you love history, romance and especially ancient Egypt, you will adore Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh.
Spotlight: There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack
A world kept peaceful for a thousand years by the magic of the ruling vicars. But a threat lurks from a violent past. Wizards from the darkness have hidden their sorcery in a place called the keep and left a trail of clues that have never been solved.
Nathaniel has grown up longing for more but unwilling to challenge the vicars. Until his friend Thomas is taken for a teaching, the mysterious coming-of-age ritual. Thomas returns but with his dreams ripped away. When Orah is taken next, Nathaniel tries to rescue her and ends up in the prisons of Temple City. There he meets the first keeper of the ancient clues. But when he seeks the keep, what he finds is not magic at all.
If he reveals the truth, the words of the book of light might come to pass:
“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”
Q: Which is better: fantasy or science fiction? A: Why decide? Just have both genres rolled into one awesome book!
There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack is one such book. It takes place in a society that, long ago, was incredibly technologically advanced. But when the Temple of Light gradually took control, technology was forbidden because of the evils it caused in the world (nevermind that it did a lot of good too). Enter our three protagonists: Orah, Thomas and Nathaniel. They have been given the key to restoring long-lost knowledge to their world. But of course societies don’t change overnight and neither do people.
The ‘rebellion’ is not your typical YA novel rebellion. It doesn’t start suddenly because of the actions of a couple of teenagers. This, combined with the history of David Litwack’s world, is what makes There Comes a Prophet so believable. David Litwack obviously understands how people and societies work, therefore straying away from typical fantasy/science fiction clichés.
If you love fantasy or science fiction (or both!) you’ll love There Comes a Prophet.
Spotlight: The Return Man by V. M. Zito
Spotlight is my Saturday feature in which I highlight a book I’m looking forward to or really enjoyed. This week, I want to highlight one of the best zombie books I’ve ever read: The Return Man by V. M. Zito.
The outbreak tore the U. S. in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness. They call it the evacuated states.
It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace.
Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.
But in the wastelands of America, you never know who—or what—is watching you…
If you love AMC’s The Walking Dead, you will absolutely love The Return Man. Heck, if you love zombies, good characters, fast plots and conspiracies, you’ll love V. M. Zito’s debut novel. Basically: You’ll probably love this book.
Not only is Marco a great character you can sympathize with because he stayed back in the Evacuated States to return his zombified wife, but Wu is also amazing. Wu is kind of an ambiguous character because he’s not a villain, but he’s certainly not a hero in the traditional sense of the word. I can’t decide whether I like Marco or Wu better, so their journey together from both points of view was a satisfying thrill ride.
The plot is fast and dramatic (but believable) and the zombies are terrifying. No, they’re not ‘fast zombies’, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t scary. Believe me, with the descriptions Zito gives of the zombies and all the gore they cause, you may lose your appetite. The purpose of those graphic descriptions isn’t so much to gross out the reader as to bring home the point that in real life, a zombie apocalypse would be absolutely horrifying.
I wouldn’t recommend The Return Man for sensitive readers, but for everyone else: Go for it!
Spotlight: Wilde’s Fire by Krystal Wade
Spotlight is my new regular Saturday feature in which I highlight a book I really enjoyed or am eagerly waiting for. This time around, it’s the incredible debut novel of Krystal Wade, called Wilde’s Fire.
Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she’s ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she’s dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her. She’s forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What’s worse, she has no control over her new future, and it’s full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made. Will she discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?
Now here is some good fantasy! It has an unique premise, amazing characters and is well written. You can’t ask for more.
However, what really stood out for me in Wilde’s Fire was the narrator, Kate (Katriona). She doesn’t spend an inordinate amount of time agonizing over her situation and actually adapts quite well to the world of Encardia. Not only that, she doesn’t want to be a helpless maiden and makes an effort to learn how to use a sword so she can survive. Kate’s a pretty independent, well developed character, so her love for Arland doesn’t feel contrived at all. What I mean is that when characters aren’t developed properly, reading about them falling in love is not nearly as interesting as when they are as fleshed out as Kate.
The other thing that really stood out for me in Wilde’s Fire was the world-building. Krystal Wade developed a history for Encardia, religion and a sophisticated political system. You would be surprised at how many authors have a fundamental misunderstanding of politics, so this was a pleasant change.
If you’re looking for a great fantasy book to read, you need to pick up Wilde’s Fire right now. You won’t be able to put it down!