Book Tour Review: Her Loving Husband's Curse

Hello fellow readers I must start with apologies as I was supposed to have this review posted some time ago and had a scheduling mix up on my end. Read on to discover my thoughts about this book.

Title: Her Loving Husband's Curse

Author: Meredith Allard

Series: Loving Husband #2

Publisher: Copperfield Press

Published: April 20, 2012

Format: Kindle

Pages: 284

Source: Received from Author in 

exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

How far will you go to protect the one you love?

Finally, after many long and lonely years, James Wentworth’s life is falling into place. Together with his wife, Sarah, the only woman he has ever loved, he has found the meaning behind her nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and now they are rebuilding the life they began together so long ago.

But the past is never far behind for the Wentworths. While Sarah is haunted by new visions, now about the baby she carried over three hundred years before, James is confronted with painful memories from his time with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. Through it all, the persistent reporter Kenneth Hempel reappears, still determined to prove that the undead walk the earth. If Hempel succeeds in his quest, James and Sarah will suffer. Will the curse of the vampire prevent James and Sarah from living their happily ever after?

Her Loving Husband’s Curse is Book Two of the Loving Husband Trilogy. Book One, Her Dear & Loving Husband, is now available from Copperfield Press

Melissa's Musings:

My Rating: 4 Stars

I was pulled in from the very first page. I was immediately enthralled with James and Sarah's story. Their love story is very romantic, but not too overly done. It's simple realistic, and true.

I have the first book on my kindle, I had purchased it a while ago when it was free on Amazon. I had hoped to read it before I read this book for the tour, but I ran out of time. Her Loving Husband's Curse works well as a stand alone novel, but I did feel a slight lack of connection as I knew there was more to the story and that there were details that I was missing. The lack of cohesion in the story from my not being able to read the first book in the series in time was very slight, and not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I always enjoy when an author incorporates smells, colors, and other small touches into a story. Here it was smells. The author pointed out that Sarah's "smell" for James was strawberries and cream, and that their daughter Grace smelled like cinnamon. As much as I enjoyed this detail, I did feel that it was mentioned a few too many times and was over done.

There is a great deal of history that is intertwined with this story, which makes it both an enjoyable and somewhat educational (in a sense) read. I paid close attention to the author's descriptions and references to the Trail of Tears. It's not something I remember learning much about in school so those parts were particularly interesting.

I also enjoyed all the different paranormal elements and characters that are woven into this series. There are vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghosts. Sometimes such an eclectic mix of paranormal characters can make a story crowded. That's not the case here. I think this may be due to the fact that the author does such a good job of seamlessly weaving the paranormal aspects into the story overall that you really focus more on the characters as they are, not what paranormal species they are.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable series. I look forward to reading this series in its' entirety and to reading more from this author.

Black Lion Tours Presents: Witch in the Wind by Brenda M. Collins Excerpt and Review

Hello fellow readers!

Today I'm happy to be a part of the tour for Witch in the Wind by Brenda M. Collins. Read on for an excerpt and my review of this exciting book!

Brenda M. Collins'

Witch in the Wind

Everything happens in Bandit Creek when witches, warlocks and canine familiars slip through the portal from the magical world called THE OTHERLAND.

When murder strikes in Bandit Creek, and the victims aren’t who they seemed, powerful guardian warlock, Marcus Egan, is sent from The Otherland to investigate. What he doesn’t expect to find is Avalon Gwynn, the grieving daughter of the victims, who has no idea she’s an extraordinary, hereditary witch. And Avy’s pent up magical abilities have just been set free in the mortal world.

Can Marcus catch a killer while making sure Avy doesn’t bring Crow Mountain crashing down on the town—destroying Bandit Creek for the second time?

This is a sweet paranormal novella of approximately 50,000 words written for an adult audience but also suitable for young adult readers.

Website | Twitter | Amazon | Smashwords | Kindle

  

Enjoy an Excerpt

Everything happens in Bandit Creek when WITCHES, WARLOCKS, and CANINE FAMILIARS slip the portal from THE OTHERLAND

(Excerpt from Chapter 2)

Marcus debated if he should fade into the background. In his line of work, his talent for making even another witch’s eye look past him without registering his presence was useful.

He felt another power surge. “What the—

The woman wasn't the magic source. Fierce, dark eyes locked on him, not in a friendly, or mortal, way. And the beast already knew Marcus was there. What the hell is a familiar doing here? Familiars couldn’t be summoned. They appeared only when gifted by a more powerful spirit in times of great danger. There hadn’t been such a creature around The Otherland for centuries. So who sent this one to the mortal world, he wondered. And why?

Pushing away from the wall, Marcus wandered over to the reception desk. By habit, he moved with quiet steps, yet the young woman seemed to sense his approach and turned in his direction. She pulled the cap from her head, pushed loose wisps of hair from her forehead, and looked up at him.

His breath stopped in his throat and his mouth watered. The little nymph was more than the usual pretty combination of golden blond hair and flawless fair skin. Her electric blue eyes, even smudged with fatigue, jolted his gut in a way he hadn’t felt since his teens, when his magical energy was working overtime along with his hormones.

He smiled and managed to keep his stance casual as he kept one eye on the familiar and one on the woman. She seemed startled for a second but then returned his smile with a brilliant one of her own. The familiar didn’t. He bared his teeth and growled.

“I mean you no harm.” He didn’t want the familiar to blow his cover so he stood completely still as he spoke to it directly.

To the woman he said, “Is he always afraid of strangers?”

The familiar rumbled again as if insulted.

“Only you as far as I know,” she replied. Her voice, a rich alto, wrapped around him like a siren’s song. “He was fine with me, and the sheriff, yesterday.”

He blinked trying to regain some control of his brain. “What’s his name?” He eased his hand, very slowly, towards the familiar murmuring reassurances that only the magical beast would understand.

“I don’t know really. I found him last night with no collar.” She shrugged and a light flush colored her cheeks. “I’ve been calling him Busby. You know, after the big furry hats the guards at Buckingham Palace wear. When I first saw him on my porch, that’s what he reminded me of.”

That answers one question, Marcus thought. He’s here to protect this woman. But does she know that? With his hand dangerously close to the familiar’s mouth, he let the beast scent the strength of his power. Warlocks were a level above most magical creatures, having been bred for generations as warriors. Of course, that didn’t mean the familiar wasn’t as strong, or even stronger. No one knew how familiars travelled from witch to witch and many assumed they were from the spirit realm.

Finally, the creature eased back on his haunches.

“Busby’s giving me a reprieve.” He very slowly withdrew his hand. To the familiar he said, “Giving me a chance, aren’t you, Busby. But you let me know who’s got the teeth when it comes to this woman.” He stepped back.

My Review:

4 Stars

This book is fantastic. It's paced well, and the romance between the two main characters Marcus and Avy is  perfect. It goes at just the right speed, not too fast so as to be insta-love, but not so slow that you're wondering if they're even worth reading about. 

The blending of the real and magical worlds is excellent. I really enjoyed the separation of the non-magical world from The Otherland. There was just enough information to keep you hooked and wondering about The Otherland, but not so much as to overwhelm you. The book does a great job of incorporating the rules of Wicca, especially it's main covenant "And harm to none." I really liked that the book took them time to lay out these rules and to continue to follow and mention them throughout. A lot of times in books that deal with witchcraft, the setup can be so quick that the rules like these are forgotten or passed over, but it shows that the author took her time in planning to incoroporate the Wiccan elements.

One thing that always sticks out  for me is an author's use of color in their descriptions. I'm not sure why, but this is a particular detail that I tend to gravitate toward. There are great mentions of color in this story as well. Particularly in the descriptions of auras and the characters eyes. People from The Otherland have unique eye colors that they have to hide when they are trying to pass as human, and the descriptions of these unique eye colors are excellent.

This story is actually part of a much larger series, but it works very well as a standalone story. Personally, I'm not quite interested in the rest of the series just the storyline for these particular characters. I can't wait to see what comes next for them.

This is an action packed story and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes stories with well written romance and witchcraft.

Meet the Author

Brenda M. Collins has wanted to write romance since she was twelve years old. At the age of twenty, she spoke to an editor in Toronto, Canada, who expressed an interest in her story; however, she soon realized it takes more than an idea to be an author. She joined a number of writing groups to learn about ‘the craft’ and completed two mystery manuscripts. To help her fellow writers develop strong business skills, Brenda has published articles, and delivered workshops to hundreds of writers, on career planning, professional networking and presentation skills. Her most recent article, entitled How to Improve your Presentations, is in the 2013 Writer’s Market (Brewer, R.L., ed. F&W Media Inc. p. 153).

Brenda’s debut novel, WITCH IN THE WIND, starts with a murder, but comes to life with witches, warlocks, a canine familiar and a magical dimension called The Otherland. For upcoming titles in The Otherland Chronicles, and other stories, keep an eye on Brenda’s website www.brendamcollins.com and follow her on Twitter.