The Princess Bride

 

Title: The Princess Bride  Author: William Goldman  Pages: 2 Hours 32 minutes  Genre: Fiction

        Buttercup is a girl that lives on a farm and loves bossing around a farm boy named Westley. Shortly after she realizes that she does love him, he went to go get riches. She gets news that he dies and it destroys her. After a few years the prince of the land finds her and convinces her that they need to marry and that it doesn't have to be about love. On a ride that she takes everyday she gets kidnapped and overhears that the kidnappers plan on killing her in order to start a war. A man in black comes to her rescue. After a few turns of events she finds out that this scary man in black is her beloved Westley. Buttercup and Westley try to escape and get caught by the prince, after being killed by the prince its just a simple thing of Westley coming back to life and rescuing Buttercup from the prince to live happy ever after. 

    I have always loved the movie so why it took me so long to listen/read this book is beyond me. They made this version of the book remind me a lot of the movie. I will read the whole book down the line of course.  The whole time I was listening to this book I could see the movie in my head. The dedication Westley has for Buttercup has always brought me joy, and been a dream to have in my own life. 

 

Fear the Wolf

 

Title: Fear the Wolf  Author: James Patterson & Mike Lupica  Pages: 1 hour and 14 minutes  Genre: Thriller

    Joe Wolf is a very successful man and wasn't a great Dad to his kids. Someone comes up to him with an offer to sell all his businesses and when he declines everything starts going down hill for him. His kids and ex wife barely talk to him when he starts worrying about his life. He only has a guy he fired from his football team years before in his corner. He starts getting followed and starts getting upset about it all. 

    This book was an interesting listen. It was very visual which I enjoyed. Patterson and Lupica wrote a good book. It's not my typical being around so much football but having Patterson known for his amazing writing skills I figured I would give it a shot. It probably isn't one I will go out of my way to own but it is a good story nonetheless. 

The Witcher: The Last Wish

 

Title: The Witcher: The Last Wish  Author: Andrzej Sapkowski  Pages: 400 (Audible) Genre: Fantasy

        Geralt is a Witcher. A special training in order to take on the monsters of the world that plague the land. Geralt is the best of them. This is the beginning of his journey. He helps with a "child surprise", he helps a small town plagued with a goat-man. Near the end you find out how he met Yennifer who helps his best friend stay alive. 

    I really enjoyed this book. In my opinion the person that reads the book makes Geralt sound like Rumpelstiltskin from the show Once Upon A Time. It had me on the edge of my seat even if at some points I would get distracted and get confused. It can bounce from past to present without much of a warning. It is a beautifully written story and can't wait to continue the series. I did watch the show before reading the books so it was nice to have that to help with the images in my mind of what was going on. The voices for each character was awesome! It's very descriptive and can  help you really see this world. One of the thoughts I had at one point of the story was how much different the world would be now if we separated from different races. We tried before here in America and it didn't work, but makes you think about those type of things. Or at least it did me. 

The Silent Daughter

 

Title: The Silent Daughter  Author: Kirsty Ferguson   Pages: 336 (audible)  Genre: Mystery

    Dani was always abused by her sister growing up and it took years to get her out of that situation, She got to marry her high school sweetheart and raise her family. One fateful night her house catches on fire and she watches her family burn as she is stuck outside, helpless. Picking up the scraps of her life she is taking care of her eldest daughter who doesn't speak to her at all, who escaped the fire. As she tries to piece it all together pieces of her past come into play and she finds out details that were in the darkest crevasses of her mind. Can she really survive all this?

    As the story progressed I made a guess on who set the fire and let me tell you I changed my answer a couple times and I was still WAY off. I enjoyed this story and having it unfold. It was not what I expected at all. Kirsty kept me on the edge of my seat but its really hard to get into a story when you are a Mom and need to take care of everything as well. 

Sisters One, Two, Three

 Title: Sisters One, Two, Three  Author: Nancy Star  Pages: 354 Genre: Fiction/Mystery

Ginger is a very worried Mother, but not just about her child she worries about everything and doesn't know how to stop. As an adult she takes care of her Mother and tries to have a relationship with her 17 year old daughter which is hanging by a thread. The tighter she held on her daughter the more her daughter slipped through her fingers. As a last attempt to connect they take a family trip to see some colleges when the secret comes out for her daughter to hear that she doesn't just have one aunt, she has 2 aunts and an uncle. This story is about the canyon a secret can make and what it can do to those we love. Ginger loses her daughter for her to "find herself" and finds out her youngest sister Callie is alive and well when they haven't spoken in 25 years the death of their Mother brings the sisters together and to remember the brother they have lost long ago. 

I really enjoyed this book. I literally couldn't put it down. Maybe it has something to do with I am in a similar circumstance (other then the secrets) and I related to the sisters one way or another about what happened. When people we love die its sometimes hard to talk about them without someone getting upset. So we learn to just bite our tongues and not speak of the difficult matter. However eventually everything comes to light. 

Conceal Don't Feel

 

Title: Conceal Don't Feel Author: Jen Calonita Pages: 312 Genre: Ficton

    What if there was a version of Frozen that Elsa didn't know Anna? Elsa grows up in the castle and is being courted by Hans while Anna is in a small village as a baker's kid. When the King and Queen are lost at sea Elsa is devastated and ends up finding a letter written from the Queen to her to explain the powers she is struggling with and also finds out she has a sister out there. She goes out to try and find this sister and along this amazingly hard journey she finds out the closer she gets to Anna, the more danger Anna is in. Anna will freeze if she is near Elsa and doesn't remember Elsa on her own. Luckily most fairy tales end with a "happily ever after".

    There is a lot of this book that goes with the movie that our sweet daughters are so obsessed with. I did enjoy it, I remember thinking how weird it was to imagine Hans and Elsa together instead of Hans going after Anna. Lovely images filled my head as I read it. It is a book I would recommend older kids or teens to read if they enjoyed it. I'm sure my 13 year old niece will enjoy it along with my 10 year old daughters. 

    

Ruthless

Title: Ruthless  Author:  Carolyn Lee Adams  Pages: 248  Genre: suspense/thriller

Ruth Carver is a self driven teenager who takes the weight of the world on her shoulders. With this weight she doesn't let anyone close. One day she finds herself in the bed of a truck and not sure how, with a turn of events she finds out she has been kidnapped and needs to find a way out of this mess. As she fights obstacles trying to get back to safety she realizes that she has been taking her loved ones for granted.. now only if she could get home to tell them...

It starts off with a self involved teenager and it was hard for me to get into but as she starts fighting the obstacles and her character changes I enjoyed it more and more. By the half way point I hated putting it down.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  Author: J.K. Rowling  Pages: 435  Genre: Fantasy

Harry is getting ready for his third year of Hogwarts. However there is news that a mass murderer is loose from prison. As he gets closer to actually able to go to school he is told that this murderer is after him! There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens to Harry and his friends. 

This is my favorite Harry Potter book! I felt like it was more relate-able then those that dealt with Voldemort. This is a series that is fun to read with kids or just by yourself. There is so much more detail in the books that they need to leave out of the movies due to time probably and the "artist rights" and all. I can not recommend this series enough. I can even get my non-reading boyfriend to read them and enjoy them. I encourage everyone to try and read this series. There is so much you miss out on by just watching the movies. (I am in no way badmouthing the movies I think they are great too!)

Twilight

Title: Twilight Author: Stephenie Meyer  Pages: 498 Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Bella had to move to the small cloudy town of Forks, Washington. Here she thought she would spend a couple miserable years with her Father before doing her own thing to let her Mom be with her new husband and travel. She was not expecting to meet Edward and his family. Edward is not your normal hot guy at school, he and his family have a huge secret and are very good at keeping it. However, when Bella starts interacting with him events start to unfold around the two of them. She finds out Edward's and his family's secret and still can't stay away from him despite the warnings she has been given. She has a run in with a vampire that wants to hunt her. Edward who has fallen for her and she for him now needs to save his very accident prone lover from this fearful vampire. 

This is my second read through and I did enjoy it and loved being able to contrast it to the movie. There are some differences but not a whole lot. The idea of having a boyfriend who would go to the ends of the earth to keep you safe is a great ideal, however the possessive love that they have shows a lot of insecurities about them both. As an adult I now have a hard time deciding if I like the love story of this book. It's nice and a wonderful safety net to know that someone would do anything for you but on the other hand I strongly believe you need to know who you are on your own before you get into a serious relationship where they consume who you used to be and change you into something else entirely. 

Diablo 3

Title: Diablo 3  Game System: Xbox One X  Game type: Fantasy

You create your character, you get to pick male or female along with your class. After you do that of course you get to pick your name. You follow the story line and there are some side quests along the way. The basic of the story is that Diablo has started wrecking havoc on the world and you are a nephalem and you are the only one that can stop him. With help from some people along your journey you get to not just take out Diablo but Death himself as well. After you finish the story line you are able to go through adventure mode and get some really cool gear!

This is a very well made game. Blizzard always knows how to make some of the best games. This game is on all platforms. I have it on PC and have access to it on Xbox. I love playing with other people and just questing on my own. This is a game you can play over and over and it is fun every time. 

Brisingr

Title: Brisingr  Author: Christopher Paolini  Pages: 748  Genre: Fantasy

Eragon is needing to fulfill promises and he starts off by helping his cousin save the love of his life. Then he has to travel all the way to the dwarves town and help sway the vote for the new king in the favor of the Varden whom is fighting the Empire to free all the people so no one is slaves. After he helps with Dwarves he has to go and learn as much as he can about being a dragon rider and get some history of whom he really is by the elves. After all that he has to go back to the Varden as promised and go back to the war to try and save as many lives as possible. 

This book is war or history of the dragons and of course Eragon himself. Without history who are we? He had to learn a lot in this part of the story and myself along the way. It did take me a while to read it was hard to keep my attention at times. It is well written just dry at some points and it was hard to focus on. It wasn't my favorite in the series by far but Christopher has always been a great author in my opinion. 

Dark Places

Title: Dark Places  Author: Gillian Flynn  Pages: 538  Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Libby is a young girl that is home when her whole family is killed. Her brother is blamed and sent to prison. 25 years pass since that day and she gets a letter from "The Kill Club" to come and be involved. This is where people start planting seeds that her brother Ben is innocent. They pay her some money to go back and talk about the past with some key people. She unveils the truth and her life is in danger again. Barely escaping she gets to tell the truth of what happened that night and maybe save her brother. 

I enjoyed this book more then I thought I would. I think Libby was written like a real person. We all want to feel like when we are hit with tragedy that we will rise above, but do we really? Sometimes even getting out of bed is a feat on its own. The story progressed well as you got flashbacks on how that day unfolded and how it all happened from Ben, Patty (the Mom) and of course Libby. 

Fable 2

Title: Fable 2  Game System: Xbox One  Game type: Fantasy

You pick if you want to be male or female and you start your story. Some of the story line can not be changed at all however you can pick how you react to things and it puts you closer to being angelic or evil. You can change your clothes but there is no armor with it. The clothes are for looks or to help you be evil, aggressive, attractive and much more. You go through and the main objective is to seek revenge on the man that kills your sister when you are just a child. You will go from being a child to a full grown adult with kids of your own if you so choose. After you defeat Lucian you have a choice to make out of three that effects the whole of Albion not just you. You can continue to play and maintain your character after you have beat Lucian. 

I really enjoyed this game. I have for many years from when it came out. The graphics when it came out were amazing and very lifelike, over the years the graphics don't seem as good but for the time it was made it was fantastic! There are a lot of side quests to help you along on becoming good or evil. There is also a lot of ways to make money to help you buy the best of the best. It is obvious there was a lot of time and effort put into the game and I enjoy playing it over and over. I hope you enjoy it as well if you play. Happy Gaming!!

Stoneweaver: A Clash of Sword and Stone

Title: StoneWeaver: A Clash of Sword and Stone  Author: Cabe Valion  Pages: 204  Genre: Fantasy

~Review request from the author~

De Mauriac is running an errand for his master to get a "package" he gets a group of thieves to go with him. After a long travel with not much going on they get to the package and get it with little effort. On the way back though this package is taking out the thieves one by one. Along the way there is also bog men, dragons, a quicksilver river and other nasty things that could get the best of them. De Mauriac however gets the package to his master with little time before his blood rage will take hold from being away from the vine for too long. At the last second De Mauriac has a change of heart and wants to keep this package...this boy safe from harm and away from his master. 

The imagery is wonderful and really takes you to another world. At some points it is hard to follow on whose head you are in whether it be the boys or De Mauriac. It is very well thought out and is a fast read due to how much you want to know what happens next. I applaud Cabe with his wonderful piece of work and look forward to reading the next book in his saga! 

Miitopia Demo

Title: Miitopia  Game System: 3DS/2DS  Game type: Casual Dungeon Crawler

You start by picking or creating your mii, you go along and instantly meet the bad guy. The villian takes faces of innocent villagers and puts them on beasts. You must defeat the beasts and monsters and the faces go back to the owner. The big faces that you see him take you have to talk to them to let them have their faces back. You upgrade armor to yourself and your party and feed them and sleep at Inns. The characters in your party interact with each other on their own and its a funny comic relief from the fighting. The closer your party gets with each other the more they will help each other in battle. Your objective is to go through and save everyone and their faces and defeat the boss. 

Now keep in mind this was just the demo so I haven't been able to play it all. However I am hooked and totally need to buy it now. The demo was a load of fun. Also a cool aspect is the progress you make with the demo can transfer to your actual game if you play like I did. I beat the demo in a matter of a couple hours. I was sad to see it end. This game was well thought out and super cute and fun. Great for all ages!!

The Debt: Catch The Zolt

Title: The Debt: Catch The Zolt  Author: Phillip Gwynne  Pages:  275  Genre: Young Adult

At 15 you look forward to all the new gadgets for your birthday. Not a long standing debt your family has. However dear Dominic gets the debt passed down to him on his 15th birthday from his Dad. If he doesn't pay his part of the debt they will take his leg and for a runner that isn't a great thing. In order to save his leg unlike his grandpa he has to do his tasks. First task? Only catching the most notorious online criminal "The Zolt" Now he has to team up with people he doesn't like to keep his leg...great birthday right?

I have a love hate relationship with this book. I enjoyed it to the fact I want to read the rest of the installments however, there isn't as much depth as I would like. There were parts it was hard to continue and not want to throw the book across the room and call it quits. The voices of the characters are great but there is not a lot of depth to Dom and I am hoping there is more depth to come for him. I can see a ton of room for improvement on him.  However it was a quick and fast read and I hope you guys enjoy it as well. 

click here for the book

Stray

Title: Stray   Author:  Andrea K. Höst   Pages:  273  Genre: Sci-Fi

Cassandra was walking home from school like any other day but when she looks up she notices she is not in Australia anymore. She starts a diary documenting her time in this weird place from when she gets there to when a strange guy comes to her and tells her he can take her home. She makes some great friends while learning a new language that is implanted in her brain.
I enjoyed this book for the most part but there were parts I couldn't follow. I liked that she had a way to learn the language but still had difficulties with it. Cassandra was very relate able and was a joy to read through her eyes from her diary.

Soda Dungeon

Title: Soda Dungeon  Game System: Computer  Game Type: Casual Dungeon Crawler

In this game you are you. The tavern keeper and everyone else talks to you and you upgrade the tavern from your winnings from running the dungeon. It is very simple. You can turn on auto and let it play for you. You pick up to 5 people to fight in this dungeon. With each new soda type you buy in the tavern you can get a new type of fighter. There are different type of monsters in the dungeon that you will have to fight, you can warp to other parts and can be caught in sleeping or poison traps. 

This game is very simple and very entertaining to watch and to play. Although it isn't very complicated or interactive you do buy things to help make the dungeon trips easier on you and to get more loot. It's fun to have going on in the background as you are doing other work or playing another game. 

Cinder & Ella

Title: Cinder & Ella  By: Kelly Oram  Pages: 254  Genre: Young Adult

Ella was your typical teenager, she was raised by just her Mom and on her birthday the worst happens...a car accident that leaves her damanged; emotionally and phyically along with her Mom dead. She has to go out to L.A. to live with her Dad who abandonded her years before and his picture perfect family. Alone in the world she is lost, until she reaches out to an old internet friend that starts fixing her life bit by bit. What  happens when that amazing best friend turns into the world's latest bad boy heart throb?

I don't have the chance to just sit and read. If I do I last 15 minutes before something happens. I started this and read this all in one sitting and I adored it! I was so sad when this book ended. There is such depth and understanding from Ella and from "Cinder". The divided family, the not knowing the whole story, the friends we can be real with, bullying, self-esteem issues along with confessing your real feelings for someone and how utterly terrifying that is, its all crammed into this book. I recommend this book to EVERYONE!!

Shifters Forever: Protection

Title: Shifters Forever Protection  By: Elle Thorne  Pages: 186  Genre: Erotica

Chelsea is trying to keep her nose clean and her head down in this small sleepy town, but its hard to do with two guys pining over you. One is a big name in the town for real estate and has the ego to go with it, the other is whom Chelsea is pining over. She has set up dates with both but Jeff (real estate agent) goes first and drugs her, but Chelsea is strong and fights off the drug long enough to get out of the situation alone...but ends up in the forest, at night..in the snow. Her knight on his white horse comes along (although he's just in bear form) and safes the day and learns more secrets along the way about the girl of his dreams. They have a steamy start once she realizes she isn't stepping on anyone's toes. 

I enjoyed this book it was a quick read once I was able to actually sit down and read it. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. The character progress wasn't really there but it only happens in a short time for the most part so its hard to develop too much on them.

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT!!!