Review of "Love Is A Battlefield" by Annalisa Daughety

Yay! I'm finally back with a review! School is over for the year, and I am a college graduate! With a Bachelors in History! I'm hoping to go back to school, but for the moment, I can honestly say I'm happy with what I have now, and I'm proud of myself for getting to where I am. But enough about me... This book was almost perfect for the end of this semester, because the main characters work at a National Park, a site of a battle from the Civil War - A dream job for a lot of American History lovers.

First off, where I got the book: I recieved this book via Librarything.com 's Early Reviewers program. I was sent this book in exchange for a review, whether that review is good or bad. So here goes!

From the back of the book: "All relationships are doomed to fail - At least that's what History has taught Kristy O'Neal. Left at the altar, Kristy returns from her solo-honeymoon to ask for her old job back as a park ranger at Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee. But the position's already been filled. So she takes a seasonal position, praying something will open up before the job ends on Labor Day. Ace Kennedy gets off on the wrong foot with beautiful, spunky Kristy - not only does he have her job, but apparently she doesn't like the way he does it. But he has a secret: He's really there to write a history of his family, who can be traced to the Shiloh battlefield. Ace is appalled to learn Kristy doesn't believe in true love. Using the story of his ancestors as proof, Ace begins the battle to win Kristy's heart. But when Kristy learns he's keeping secrets from her, her skepticism seems justified. Can she risk her heart on the battlefield of love one more time? "

I would like to first start by saying, overall, I enjoyed "Love is a Battlefield" by Annalisa Daughety. As a History buff, I like that it was set in a National Park, and the setting felt real. A quick google search tells me that there is a real Shiloh National Military Park, and I firmly believe the author did some research, or maybe even volunteered or worked at that park or another at some point, because the list of duties, etc, seemed extremely accurate. As far as the characters, I thought both Ace and Kristy seemed natural and real, and even the side characters were all quite believable, and I didn't find any of them overly annoying. Sometimes lesser characters that are only there to drive the plot along can seem unnatural and irritating, but I found very little instances of that in "Love is a Battlefield."

Just a few little nit-picky points, there was a slight over-emphasis on the mysteries in the book. Kristy is suffering from some instances of vandalism, which is an interesting part of the plot, but I would at least like to see some subtlety with the mystery, instead of her wondering some form of "Who could do this?" every time something happened. We can assume Kristy wants to know who's doing this, and the audience wants to know too, the author does not need to keep saying "Kristy wanted to know who was doing this." or "Who could have done this?" [Not exact quotes], etc.

But I'll say it again. I enjoyed reading this book, and I liked both Kristy and Ace. And actually, "Love is a Battlefield" made me want to go out and visit some National Parks (you all should go to! Support the National Park system!), and heck, maybe I could get a seasonal job at one too!

I would give this book a THREE POINT FIVE out of FIVE. The copious amounts of prayer was a little much for me to get over, but I did enjoy this book.

Happy Holidays everyone, and Happy Reading. Expect another review soon!
~!~ Morning Glow

PS: Check out my new layout! Thanks to my bestest friend. Loves ya!

Sorry guys, an update

-Sigh- I have missed my blog so much, and I have been longing to come back to it. But the truth is, I won't be able to for at least a little longer. I am in my last semester of my undergraduate studies. Assuming I pass all my exams (I dang well better, considering how hard I worked this semester), this time next week, I will hold a Bachelors in History. What's next? Either going to a different school to get my much desired Bachelors in English, or to graduate school to obtain a Master of Arts in Creative Writing. Next week is my exams, though I only have one real exam, the rest are papers. I love having a blog, I love reading, and I love reviewing my books on said blog, but I always told myself this can't get in the way of my schoolwork, especially in this important last semester. So here I am, but I will return.

I will be back! And thank you to those that have stuck around, and will continue to stick around until I'm back.

Happy reading!

~!~ Morning Glow

Gobble, Gobble

To those of you that celebrate it, I want to with you a Happy Thanksgiving! And.. well, if you don't celebrate it, I'm wishing you a very happy Thursday! And for everyone's enjoyment - it's a sexy turkey!

My family is taking a different route this year, usually we go to someone's house and have a HUGE meal, this year we're all doing our own thing.. so my household is going to the Grand Victoria Casino for their Thanksgiving buffet. Here's hoping it isn't crowded!

So, let's list a few things that I'm thankful for, to get in the mood. I'm thankful for my friends and family, they're there for me through it all. And I'm thankful for, of course, YOU dear readers. Blogging wouldn't be quite as much fun without you guys here to read and comment once in a while. I know my blog is still technically small scale, and I'm maybe a little slow at getting things to review, but I enjoy doing it, and I've met some great people so far. Well, I'm off to find suitable clothes for gambling (oh yes, we will be gambling as well) and still look nice for Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!

Happy Reading, and Happy Thanksgiving (or Turkey Day, or Thursday, or whatever you want to celebrate today!)
~!~ Morning Glow

Just a reminder (Kindle II Giveaway)

Hello again, lovelies! I just wanted to remind you all about Bibliofreak's Kindle II Giveaway! So far only one is being given away, but if you do your Christmas shopping through her amazon affiliate program (click on one of her amazon links on her blog, then either buy what you were linked to, or anything else), the number of kindles will increase. And don't worry, all your personal information is completely safe!

To enter the giveaway, just follow this link! Thanks, and expect a review soon of "Vampire Taxonomy" by Meredith Woerner.

Happy Reading! And Happy Gobbles, if you celebrate it!
~!~ Morning Glow

Dear Readers/Followers.. your opinions please!

My dear friends, the new year is quickly approaching, and with it, I would like to make this blog something more.. accessible, I think. By the middle of next month, I will have graduated with my Bachelors (oh my gosh, I'm not ready!), and with that big change, I want to bring a change here. So far, it's just been me doing reviews, and occasional updates on what's coming out that I'm interested in, what my favorite authors are doing, etc. Buuut....

Here's the part where I need your help! What should I start including? Should I start taking part in memes, would you like to see themed daily posts, should I include more of myself in the posts.. or maybe would you like to see more information about the books within the reviews? Of course, I will only take part in things I feel comfortable with, if I feel like it's something I'll feel "blah" about doing... I won't do it. I want to have fun as a blogger, as much as I want you all to enjoy reading it. And neither of us will have fun if I'm all "yeah, and then there's this stuff... and blah..."

I do plan to do some giveaways (nothing huge, I'm not exactly rolling in money right now), but something to just show my readers I appreciate them, and I'm thankful that they participate on my blog. I also plan to get reviews out quicker, I'm sooo backed up! But as we all know, school comes first. Though I'm actually furthering my procrastination by writing this.. I have a rather big research paper due Tuesday, and it's taking up all my time.

Please, comment and let me know what you think would be nice to see, or what memes or themes you enjoy participating in, or just comment about how the weather is, if the urge strikes you!

Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow

Review of "Me and My Shadow" by Katie MacAlister

Another Katie MacAlister book come and gone.. I get so excited on the release day, I buy it, inhale it, then have to wait until the next one... On to the review!

From the back of the book: " May Northcott is a woman at the end of her rope. She'd almost gotten used to her employer, the ex-demon lord Magoth, spending his days hanging around her home and interrupting her private moments with her love, Gabriel. Then trouble appears on her doorstep in the form of a nearly dead man.

With May fighting to control the dragon shard, Magoth wrangling to regain his position and powers, and a mysterious and deadly dragon bent on their destruction, Gabriel has his work cut out for him. Now he'll have to claw his way through all the distractions and convince May that their love is strong enough to conquer all of their enemies. "

"Me and My Shadow" by Katie MacAlister is the next installment in the Silver Dragons series, which followed the Green Dragons series. Katie MacAlister is famous, at least to me, for some great quick reads, because I really can inhale her book in a few hours after buying it. There has been times when I so looked forward to her next book that I made sure the evening of the release day was free and clear of appointments, or whatever else.

I really love Gabriel, and while I wasn't sure about May as a character at first (when we met her in the first book), but I quickly came to enjoy her. As usual, some of the side characters came to annoy me, but this is something I've found happening more often in all the books I read, not just one particular author. Cyrene (May's "twin") was a little too much for me at times. And she has an extremely logical (sort of?) reason for being so.. so.. bothersome? No, that's not the word.. So Argh!, but there were several times I just wanted to punch her and get it over with. I'm interested in reading the next book in the dragons series ("Love in the Time of Dragons") to see what happens with Cyrene. And Magoth.. ahhh Magoth. Except for his temper tantrums, which could indeed be life threatening, I loved having him around to make dirty little comments and just make everyone uncomfortable. The only thing I wish I could have seen more of was some May and Gabriel alone time. Not necessarily sexytimes, but the two main characters were often in separate parts of the world, and would just communicate via phone. I would have preferred to see them together more often, interacting in person.

That said, I give "Me and My Shadow" by Katie MacAlister a FOUR POINT SEVEN out of FIVE. I love Katie MacAlister, she's one of my favorite authors ever, and I will buy and read everything she does, but I'm not sure this book WOWed me as much as she usually does. I still enjoyed it, I still love the characters, and I can't wait to find out what happens next with the dragon septs, I just feel a little.. I feel like it left with a few too many questions, maybe is the problem.

That all said, make sure to check out "Steamed" by Katie MacAlister, coming out February 2nd, 2010. This is her first foray into the steampunk genre. And also coming next year is Katie's "Love in the Time of Dragons," so far scheduled for May 4th, 2010. "Love in the Time of Dragons" is the first book in the Light Dragon's series, and I have a post with the cover and other little tidbits somewhere on the roster.

Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
Book was purchased by myself, not given in exchange for review.

Review of "Branded by the Sheriff" by Delores Fossen

Another book review, yay! Today we have "Branded By The Sheriff," a Harlequin Intrigue title by Delores Fossen!

From the back of the book:
" Years ago, Sheriff Beck Tanner had believed the worst about Faith Matthews. Now she was back in their small Texas town, forcing him to question everything he thought he knew about her. And when the killer who'd murdered her family set his sights on Faith - and her innocent baby girl - Beck's protective instincts kicked into high gear. As dangerous pranks turned into deadly games, and with a sadistic killer circling closer, all of Beck's attention had to be on keeping Faith's baby safe.. and ignoring his inconvenient attraction to the beautiful mother... "

So, last night before bed, I wanted a quick, good read, and usually for something like that, I either pick an anthology and read a couple short stories, or a Harlequin title. Obviously, you can guess which one I chose. And frankly, I'm super glad I did. I loved this book, and I have to be honest, the end shocked me a little. I mean, I had my suspicions, but I never would have guessed it was... HA! Not giving it away, read it yourself! Yes, there was some predictable aspects, but the somewhat surprise ending (at least for me) far outweighed anything like that. And I'll be honest, I usually don't read books where the heroine already has a kid, or is pregnant. So I did have a few reservations when starting "Branded by the Sheriff" because of the already-having-a-kid-thing. But it was good. Very good. The characters were believable, the motives were believable. A side note, though.. I don't suggest reading this right before bed, unless you're a sound sleeper. It wasn't scary, it just gave me some very creepy, vivid dreams. But at the same time, I like a book that affects me so much my dreams are a little screwy the night after I read it... or at least sometimes.

So for a rating, I give this book FOUR out of FIVE stars. I liked it, I'll definitely recommend it to people (How about you guys?!), and I'm going to keep it on my bookshelf for reading in the future. Or maybe let my mother/aunt/some relative borrow it and enjoy it as well. I wasn't much of a Harlequin Intrigue person, but this book has made me want to check out more of the line.