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Review: Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot by Jane K. Cleland
To continue preparing to write the next book in my series, I chose a craft book dedicated to plot structure with an emphasis on suspense and twists. Rather than being targeted to one genre, the book ensures that all of the writing advice can be applied to any genre, from political thrillers to nonfiction memoirs.…
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Review: Writing Mysteries edited by Sue Grafton
So far I’ve written a female coming-of-age novel, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, a time-travel book…and those are all in the same series. What’s next? I think a murder mystery is on the horizon, and as a newcomer to this genre, I needed to get back to basics. Writing Mysteries is a solid book…
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Review: The Boogeyman’s Intern by Matt Betts
Disclaimer: The author is a friend, and I reviewed this novel as part of the publication process. I look forward to purchasing a hardcopy version of my own. This was a weird book set in an even weirder landscape. Betts proves that the supernatural creatures created as part of all human cultures are very similar…
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Review: “CTRL Me” by Anna Zabo
Disclaimer: I consider the author a friend; however, I purchased this ebook short story for full price. While I continue my trend of reading everything Anna Zabo writes, I appreciate that they’ve taught me a lot about my romance genre preferences. I enjoyed this particular short tremendously, but I think I prefer my romance in…
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Review: Dead Indian Wars (Damnation #2) by Clark Casey
Disclaimer: I received a free ebook from the author via Netgalley. This fast-paced sequel to Dawn in Damnation picks up mere moments after the first book ends. Like the first installment, it’s an easy read that flows well; every chapter brings a new character, a new incident, or a new puzzle. The narrator Tom continues to…
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Review: A Wind in the Door (Time Quintet #2) by Madeleine L’Engle
My 2018 Resolution Project for Speculative Chic was to read and review both the novel and film versions of A Wrinkle in Time. But I’m a completionist, so it should come as no surprise that I’d have to continue on this magical journey I somehow missed when I was a teenager.
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Review: “The Unexpected Infatuation” by Sara Dobie Bauer
Disclaimer: I consider the author a friend; however, I purchased this short story ebook for full price. I wasn’t sure about this short story at first. I’m not keen on the idea of anyone cheating in a relationship, nor do I particularly find the “gay for you” trope appealing. The writing of this story, however,…
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Review: “Wild Type” by J.K. Ullrich
Disclaimer: I received an electronic copy of this short story as part of the full novel Syzygy from the author in exchange for an honest review. This short story acts as a great supplemental material to the novel Syzygy. I enjoyed the insight into the character of Lily’s life in her youth, especially through effective use…
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Review: Invincible Volumes 4-6
My husband has been reading over my shoulder so that I fully appreciate what I’m absorbing. It’s fun to point out cool panels and discuss things with him.
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Review: Syzygy by J.K. Ullrich
Disclaimer: I received an electronic version of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. Even though the majority of the characters, including the two point of view characters, in this book are teenagers, this never feels like a young adult novel. Instead, it’s an intriguing look at two opposed post-apocalyptic societies…
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Review: Unmasked by the Marquess (Regency Impostors #1) by Cat Sebastian
The most interesting and appealing thing about this book is that it did not follow what I’ve come to realize is the traditional romance plot structure. I thought I knew exactly how this book was going to go. I was completely wrong, and I loved it all the more for it.
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Review: An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #9) by Jodi Taylor
Call me blasphemous, because I am a huge fan of this series…but I’m getting a bit bored with fighting Clive Ronan. I still enjoyed the hell out of this book, despite the slow start. One thing I did appreciate about it is seeing the evolution of St. Mary’s relationship with the Time Police. They’ll never…
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Review: Invincible Volumes 1-3
Now that the full run of the Invincible comic series is over, it’s time to start reading the collection of trade paperbacks my husband has acquired over the years! I actually read the first few books years ago, but considering the depth of my to-be-read pile, I soon turned my attention to other series and…
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Review: Origin (Robert Langdon #5) by Dan Brown
For all of the ridiculousness of Brown’s plots and my frustration with some of his writing style, I absolutely keep coming back to his books because when you remove everything I dislike, the rest is a personal guided tour of some amazing information about art, culture, and history.
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Review: Syncopation (Twisted Wishes #1) by Anna Zabo
Disclaimer: I consider the author a friend; however, I purchased this ebook for full price. I’m one of those people who gets goosebumps from listening to music that affects me. Reading about the music in this novel, the way it’s described and the way it connects the two heroes, literally made the hair on my…
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Review: Dawn in Damnation by Clark Casey
Disclaimer: I received a free electronic version of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. I had to knock a star off my rating for this book because it ended in a cliffhanger and didn’t answer any of the major narrative questions presented in the book. Which is a shame, because…
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Review: Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles #2) by Frank Herbert
Read as part of Comic Book Girl 19‘s online Dune book club. Picking up a sequel 13 years after reading the first book should have made the book completely inaccessible. However, a quick trip through the Dune Wikipedia entry and I was ready to go. So ready, in fact, that I devoured this book in 2…
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Review: Lord & Master (The Billionaires #3) by Emma Holly
I had a great time reconnecting with my favorite trio, but this book threw me for a bit of a loop. Not in a bad way, whatsoever. But it was a distinctly different sort of story than its predecessor. Part of what I loved about Beck & Call was that the three characters grow into a…
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Review: Beck & Call (The Billionaires #2) by Emma Holly
I think it’s a testament to how engrossing I found this book that I didn’t realize the title was a play on two of the main characters’ names until over halfway through reading the story. I read this book on the recommendation of a blogger that I enjoy who talks about her romance pet peeves.…
