December 21, 2012

This is amazing.

The author of the book I just reviewed -- Addison Westlake is doing something very wonderful this year. 

All author profits that she receives this year are going to a charity to help the families of the victims of the Newtown, Ct. school shooting. 

This is an extremely self-less act by a wonderful author. 
 Please, with whatever leftover money you have from the holidays, pick up a copy. It is only a dollar, and not only do you get to read a great story, but you are helping others as well. 
There is a link the the amazon page in the review post and I will put another one here. 

Thank you all for reading. 

Pick up a copy here!


Christmas in Wine Country by Addison Westlake


Christmas in Wine Country is almost a coming of age story for the main character -- Lila. Even though she isn't exactly coming of age, she is finding herself again, and not in the place that she had imagined she would end up in.

This story will take you on a journey from happiness, to heartbreak, and back again. It is full of emotion, and is written to make you feel everything that is happening.

Lila finds herself leaving the corporate world after a .... mishap at the company's Holiday party. After settling down in a sweet little town she decides this is where she was meant to be all along.

After settling down comes task number 2 of finding someone to settle down with. Through all the pain of dating and falling in love comes a magical story of romance that will keep you flipping the pages of this book to find out how everything will turn out.

All of the characters in this novel have distinct personalities, and they were all carefully developed, and done so in a great way. There wasn't too much time spent on character development, there was a perfect mix in my opinion. It flowed well with the telling of the story.

Lila, the main character, is extremely relatable and likable. I think all readers would be able to see a little of themselves in her -- male or female.

This is a perfect Holiday read. With it getting cold out, and snow falling in various places, curl up on your couch with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy this great story.

5/5 stars. It was sad; it was funny; it was great! I really enjoyed reading this, and I would love it if there were a sequel, though I feel the ending for this one was perfect.




Read ahead for spoilers

December 3, 2012

Horrorism by Scott M. Goriscak

Horrorism is a collection of short stories that are either gruesome and filled with gore or haunted by the paranormal. Instead of spreading out the reviews for each story, I will post them all in this one post. Get ready!


The Game
Warning: This is not for anyone who cannot handle some gore.

This story is about a sick game that takes a turn for the even sicker. It starts out as a game made up by a bunch of teenage boys looking to cause trouble. They want to run over small animals with their cars.

After the competition heats up, the game becomes more than any of them thought it would, and gets out of control.

What lengths would you go to to be the point leader?

Scott Goriscak’s writing is very interesting, and I look forward to seeing what the next story holds.
5/5 Disturbing. Very, very disturbing. But, very well written and remained interesting throughout the whole journey. 


Home Sweet Home     
       
Have you ever thought there was an odd presence in your home?

Your thoughts come alive in this story. A man and his wife plan on getting divorced. When the woman finds the man a house to live in, she gets herself into more than she can handle.

The house is a rat-infested mess, and has a dark history.

When the man discovers the truth behind this residence, he becomes a little too comfortable.
Then, at the end, a huge twist is thrown at you.

It is a very creepy story, but I enjoyed it a lot. Well written, the characters were well developed, and the story was interesting.

5/5


Peepers

This story was very… odd. I shall explain why.

A man and his family decide to move from the city into the country.

When he decides he wants to fix something up in his daughter’s room, he discovers little creatures that will ruin his life.

Now, usually little creatures with extremely sharp teeth and claws would be terrifying, but I could not take it seriously, because as soon as I read it, I pictured the little worm from The Labyrinth.

Remember this little guy?


It made the whole story funny – in a sick humor sort of way.

That being said, it had a very eerie vibe to it – which proves good writing to me even though I could not take it seriously, and the end was actually pretty creepy.

4/5 Stars. The plot of little furry monsters ruining someone’s life is a little too out there for me, but it was good nonetheless.


Shadows of the Night

I have to say, this is the weakest link of the series so far.

It is about a man that has to take a roadtrip for business and winds up in a ghost town that was abandoned after a government experiment.

Things are not as they seem to him, and he begins to be haunted by the dead residents of the town.

While it may seem like the premise for a good story, it runs pretty dry throughout.

It also ends pretty abruptly, but you don’t really see that ending coming.

3/5 it was  okay, but not as good as the others. 


Parenting – Not For the Faint of Heart

This story started off with a very scary beginning, but then it evolved into something else.

It became a story of love – laced with losing limbs and eyeballs… but a story of love nonetheless.

When parents of an adopted child are forced into a situation they were not prepared for, they must learn how to cope with it, because it is their child.

It is really a great story. I found myself really enjoying it.

Oh, and there are werewolves involved.

5/5 great story. Love, blood, and violence. HOORAY!


Congratulations

WHAT DID I JUST READ.

Okay, back up.

A man is given a great promotion at work. His co-workers decided it would be a great idea to take him out to the bar at lunch time and get him completely drunk. He decides he is okay to drive after blacking out in the parking garage.

What he experiences next is something that no person should ever go through in their entire life. That is where I am going to leave you, because there is no way I can give away the ending to this one.

WHAT DID I JUST READ.

This story was so emotional I was on the verge of crying while reading that. Not many stories affect me in that way – especially short stories. But, wow.

5/5 even though I almost cried, and the story line was terrible (terrible as in very depressing) it was a great story. 


Blinded by the Light

This story was very interesting.

A man is killed by a secret experimental weapon that two fools were messing around with. To avenge his death, he begins to torment one of the men responsible.

It is sort of entertaining for a while with how he uses his abilities to get back at the man.

I wasn’t expecting the ending. It was a bit extreme, but it was pretty emotional.

4/5 It was odd, but interesting.  


Pet Co-Dependent

And I thought I was a cat person….

This story takes the “cat lady” term to a whole new extreme.

This story is about a man and his wife, and the cat that destroys the man’s life. It was sort of humorous because it seemed like it was mocking cat ladies, but to a gruesome extreme.

The end was pretty shocking as well.

5/5 It was silly, but it was also kind of scary


Playing with Dolls

This one was really creepy. Dolls in general are creepy to me after seeing the movie Dead Silence. This story reminded me of that movie in a way.

A man reconnects with one of his old girlfriends. As they begin to hang around each other more, he learns of her dark hobby. She places dark magic into the dolls she creates and sells to people.

He begins to distance himself from her, and once she sees him on a date with another woman, she decides to make his life a living hell.

This story was very interesting. It kept my attention the whole way through because I did not know what was going to happen next.

5/5 stars. Super creepy, but entertaining as well.  





Read ahead for spoilers!

December 2, 2012

Time Trick by Nick Wisseman


Book Ten:

Wow! What a way to end this series.

Have you ever wanted to go back in time and change everything? This book will allow you to live out that experience through its pages.

It is a quick page turner, and it is very short. It won’t take long to read, but every page of it is enjoyable.

5/5 Best one of the series in my opinion. Loved it!


December 1, 2012

Splintered by Nick Wisseman


Book Nine:

This book went from being a bad nightmare to being more like Shutter Island. It has a sci-fi element to it as well.

It follows a man named Jason through a collapsing universe. This is where the bad nightmare comes in. The events he had to endure felt like something you would witness in an awful nightmare and wake up severely confused. It was fun to read.

Then, at the end, we are thrown with a twist, which is when it becomes like Shutter Island.
Is he actually  crazy?

That is up to you to decide.

5/5 stars. Very interesting read. One of the better ones in the series.


To purchase, click here!

November 30, 2012

Smile by Nick Wisseman


Book Eight:

This story was very eerie. Probably the creepiest one of the series so far.

It is about The Artist and his photographs.

That’s all I got out of it, really. There are girls that play soccer, but then that story gets flipped around in a sudden twist, and I am not quite sure what happened.

It was very mysterious, for sure. For that, I give it 4/5 stars. I didn’t completely get it at the end, but I feel like you aren’t supposed to understand the whole thing. 



Read ahead for spoilers

November 29, 2012

Revisions by Nick Wisseman


Book Seven:

You may want to sit down for this one. It takes you on a crazy journey.

It is about a man named Blake. He is a Shifter, and this story takes you through how he figured out what he is and what it means to be a Shifter.

I felt as if I was on the journey with him.

He was being slung into different situations and he had no way of stopping it.

I like the way it was written. It was very effective in telling this story.

I was confused for a while as to where this story was leading, but it came together at the end, and it was very interesting.

5/5 stars. I really enjoyed this one. The way it takes you along on the journey made it even better. 


November 28, 2012

Permanance by Nick Wisseman


Book Six:

Imagine being stranded on an island. You don’t know where you are or why you are there besides the fact that there was a war. One of your comrades is severely injured an mute. You don’t know if he will recover.
You all have to try to get along so surviving is easier.  All you have is a journal to document your thoughts. Will anyone read it? Will those be your last words ever documented? Or will you be rescued?

That is the journey that this story takes you on.

I liked how we got to see everyone’s perspective of their stay on the island through the journal. That made this story more interesting.

4/5 stars. The characters were well developed, but I didn’t really care what happened to them. I didn’t find them likable. 


November 27, 2012

Low-Limb High by Nick Wisseman


Book Five:

A girl in search of the answers for the disappearance of her father and brother. A simple watch will lead the way.

Caroline makes a diagram of her house hoping it will give her the answers.

Are the answers comforting? Or are they more painful than not knowing at all?

This story was very intriguing. It kept me hanging on trying to guess where it was going. It wasn’t what I imagined it would be at all.

There was quite a twist at the end which was exciting.

4/5 It ran a little slow at parts, but the overall story and the twist were interesting.