Merry Christmas! Welcome to EARTH DRAGON REVIEWS! Here you will find reviews for books I have read and reviewed. These books are Advanced Reader Copies and all reviews are my own opinion. Feel free to contact me if you have a questions or want me to read one of your books. Please post to my blog and/or subscribe. I love hearing from you! Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus come! May God bless and keep you this year!
This romantic comedy is light hearted, yet hits the problem of a widower. The widower wants a relationship with his neighbor but feels guilt about moving on even after 3 year. The fact that he has a son adds to that guilt. The story is sweet and funny, and these two make you hope that they can overcome their assumptions.
Typical suspense novelette that girl does something to upset the bad guys and her protector is an ex-boyfriend. I felt the bad guys were a little overwhelming in the fact that they know how to find people, but are too stupid to secure there own property with a kidnapped victim. It's okay for a quick read. Hope the series this prequels has deeper connections.
This is a sweet short story about an reticent Earl who visits his friend's home for Christmas and meets his sister whom he has been writing to while Marcus was sick. Although, he is reticent and a bit ruff around the edges, because his estates are in backwater England, Ellen finds that he is kind. This story is not some grand passion, but it is sweet, and finding love over the Christmas season is the best present of all.
The plot is actually quite silly, because they end up playing the fool with each other. I'm not sure how two naïve people could pull off such clandestine relationship and not come out of it unscathed. The characters are not as well developed for this plot as they should have been. If the book was written as a light read, it would have been pretty good, but the depth was not there for the length of the novel. Six nights of playing a lovelorn swain and miss is more that this reader could entertain without the depth needed for this novel.
The story is quite unrealistic. If she wanted to marry to cover her pregnancy, she should have insisted he fulfill the marriage contract as soon as she arrived. The character, Callie is wish-washy, deceitful just like the father of her baby. Gus, who has had his heart broken, tries again through a mail-order bride service. Only to have another deceitful woman show up at his door. The climax of the story was the most exciting thing, but to be honest. Nate should have shot her dead when she told him that the baby's was Gus's. See she's still lying even after everything has come out into the open. The Rose thing was over the top and so the author comes up with some tripe thing to have Rose back away and approve of the union. I'm glad Gus got his happily ever after, but I wish it was with someone better than Callie the liar.
Another fake courtship, but honestly it never really started out as one because they hit it off the day that they met. These two have the chemistry, but Juliette is naïve and stuck with her head in the clouds. Alexander recognizes this about her and decides to court her in a fake relationship to see if she can give up on her idea of Nicolas. There's adventure, blackmail and even an romantic scene with pigs. The story is fun, but the Nicolas thing is a bit over done. Good reading!
This is a heartfelt book where the gentleman chases her down for her dowry, but finds after courting her that she has found his heart. Unfortunately, Jane has a heart for adventure and there is no way that Nathanial will be able to save his property and finances and take her on a world tour. The author knows how to turn a page and keep from the tedious woe is me that is generally in these kinds of stories. The characters are wonderful and appealing and the chemistry is sizzling.
Larna's story is exciting, but makes an identity crisis into a bizarre and extraordinary event. This is a story for teens, but I don't feel it qualifies as a Christian story. Larna finds a purpose for her life, but it wasn't through God or Jesus. Her brother Kelvin was the only one who was a believer. She only pleaded to her brother's God when she thought it might help when she was in a tight position. Shawdia looks like a nice place to live, and has Vigilantes for police, a robot for President and their transportation are electric scooters. Lifespires are monstrous creatures that want to make everyone fit, so much, that they end up killing them. Personally, I don't see what this villain gets from making people fit, because vampires need blood to live and energy vampires need energy to live. It's a wonderful story of friendship, but honestly in the end the only one Larna could trust was herself and her purpose. Larna, like every great crusader, must give up family and friends to live out her purpose. The author leaves the story open ended for more Larna adventures, but the story itself left me a little sad.
This is an okay story. Neither character is extraordinary except both being firefighters. It's about a firefighter that can't get over being trapped and a woman concerned about her ex, but doesn't want to go beyond friendship. This is a short story and the fireworks shoot up pretty quick. The story doesn't stay with you, even after you finish.
This is a hard book to review for me to write. I did not like Jenny. I don't care that she has carried the burden of sin and guilt. We all do. It shouldn't make us cruel to people or runaway from those that we love. I hurt for Gavin in this story. The pain he had to bear until Jenny came around. The pain she inflicted on him time and time again. Yes, she was hurting, but too selfish to realize how much she was hurting others, too selfish to accept love freely given, so blind by her own pain that it made it okay to hurt others. Her thought, "They'll get over it." How can you want your own restaurant when you are continually running? In the end, nothing was really solved. Can Gavin save her from her pain and alcoholism. The answer is no. Salvation doesn't come in the form of an imperfect human. It comes from the grace of God and forgiveness of our human fragilities. The worst part of this story is that beautiful people that Jenny ran into in this story are Christians living the Christ life. They loved her and forgave her every time, but not once did they share the grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus with her.
This is a fun little romance with some comedy thrown in. Mr. Webb and Jessica have the same prickly relationship that Mr. Knightly and Emma did. Working together to try to break up a romance only has them falling in love. It's a joy ride on the Christmas tide. The narrator was fun and engaging as the antics of these two are somehow enchanting.
The story of Lily is sad and moving. The story itself is long and tedious. This guy showed all the markings of an abusive man. The fact he pushed for marriage and never considered her the whole time they were dating. He even struck her a few times before they were married. Always with the apology, and excessive charm, claiming her loved her. Love is not possessive. Love is patient. Love is kind. Trevor may be her husband but he doesn't love her. Why do women fall for these kind of guys. The woman who warned Lily was just as much of a coward for not coming out right away and stating the obvious. I wouldn't have told her to stay away. I would have written her my story and how I escaped him. Naivety is the foundation which these type of men build their relationships. This story is depressing and I won't read the rest.
A good story with lasting repercussions. This story doesn't cover up the hideousness of choices that are made. As Charlotte watches her family go down in ruin, a young lord thinks he can just ride to the rescue. As these two grow closer, it is basically Romeo and Juliet. The main characters are very well developed, but the parents are stereotypical. The climax is exciting and brings home the grief and evil of Lord Landry's father. It's well written, but I feel more attention should have been given to character development.
The story is supposed to make me feel sorry for the Duke and why he is so cruel. I came away feeling like Edwina is marrying into a lifetime of emotional abuse. The story is well written and carefully follows the plotline, but somewhere during the story; I lost my compassionate heart. The characters are well-developed, but the climax could have been more exciting. A man who is emotionally abusive doesn't just stop because he falls in love. He becomes obsessive and jealous. Once he takes her to wife, his abusive behavior will worsen if she doesn't become subservient and docile. I just didn't buy the story, although it is well written.
This book didn't quite fit the description, and because of that I believe it made the story even better. Gideon is a vicar and having served his congregation without rest. He starts to have bouts of darkness like there is a hole in his heart. Eliza is a naïve girl who wants to fit in and falls for the Duchess's wicked plan. I'm surprised Gideon falls in love with a girl that keeps spurning him every time he tries to get close. This story takes a light-hearted look at depression and guilt. It was surprising and terrible at the same time, yet I really liked the story. Gideon for a vicar is a little naïve in his theories, yet it makes for a pretty exciting story.
The story is enchanting and Hazel is too helpful. So helpful, she finds herself in a scandal helping her friend. Benjamin's father forces him to marry Hazel because he scheming and making a deal with Hazel's father. Benjamin marries Hazel because he likes her, but thinks she loves someone else. The whole thing is one scheme after another until the whole pile comes crumbling down. It's all scandalous and a twenty year old man has more business acumen than his father and grand-father combined. It's whimsical, head-shaking and will make you smile till everyone come tumbling out and miraculously standing on their feet. It's got some flaws, but they can be overlooked as everyone continues to scheme, except Harold. It's a have a good time story.
This is a very whimsical love story of a second son becoming heir apparent and an adopted girl who lived next door. It's about trying to get revenge on your father, but end up hurting the very one you love. Take none of the advice seriously in this book, it could only get you in trouble, just as Hamish is about to find out. The best part of this book is when the son stops hating his father long enough to actually start understanding him. Understanding can bring about ways to actually get what you want from life, and Hamish learns that lesson late in his life. Iris is independent, strong and confident. She's a woman who has learned many lessons as she traveled the world with her father. She has the business acumen and accounting skills of a savant. The best part of her is twelve years later after Hamish was called to his father's estate, she still loves him and harbors no regret. She knows she can live a good life with or without him. Hamish attempts as a rake are whimsical and ridiculous, but it kept me smiling throughout the story. It's a good story and Hamish's plot is really weak, but that's the fun in this story.
Why are men always interested in the mysterious? The woman was in front of him the entire time and he thought he was betraying the mysterious woman because he was attracted to Eleanor. That should have been his first clue! This story was well written with an excellent plot line. The characters were well written despite the Duke's terrible flaw of not being able to see beyond someone's label. Every woman dreams of a prince sweeping them off their feet, even spinsters and wallflowers.
For a Duke, Nathan is wishy washy until Jean comes to break off the betrothal. He then gets all Dukey and staunch because Jean is not biddable. So he does what any Duke will do when his pride is busted, he woos her. Jean gets angry but it takes her a year to do so, too much patience for me. She spends a year under the censure of the ton without bringing Nathan up to task. Of course by this time, the ton is thinking the Duke doesn't really want to marry her because she's a scandalous woman. I think the author needed to get her timeline down better for the storyline and her plot. By the first month after the scandal and the wedding hadn't taken place, it would have been assumed the Duke jilted her. When I read it was a year later, my first thought was "What?" The brother, Michael, becomes insane, because Nathan is going to marry Jean, really! If he wanted her that bad he should have done what Nathan originally suggested and marry Jean. His part in the story did not wash. The chemistry and the love that developed was excellently written, but throwing his own brother in jail instead of getting him help, I don't know.
This story is about three sisters that find an antique watch and travel time with it. They learn about the responsibility of being a Time Traveler and about paradoxes and paradigms. I was disappointed because I thought this was a romance series, but Raine only shows interest in Gabriel and it goes no where. The action and the things they did to set time correctly were interesting but not exciting. I usually love Casi McLean romantic suspense novels, but this one failed me.
If Leila was not going to marry Jules, I was. A man of intelligence and a mind for literature and poetry, and not arrogant to boot. I'm all in. The story was good, but with all the scheming going on, I fell a little out of love with Leila. Jules may have loved her, but in the end none of the scheming mattered. Life may hand you lemons, but you just got to learn how to make lemonade. The plot is thick in this one, and with everything that is going on, it's easy to lose sight of the plot in the storyline. Through all of the shenanigans, Jules stays true to himself and his promise to Leila. Take notice of the father, he never listens to anyone!
This is heart-warming coming home story. Their shared past and the ability to communicate make this relationship workable. The problem is we often sit in our own pain and don't feel we are good enough. God says we are no matter who we are. Sometimes it's just a matter of stepping out of our own way. My problem with the story is Allie. She left town to escape the pain her father caused her, but it seems she took it with her and carried it right back to Rocky Ridge 8 year later. Her relationship with Jesus even 8 years later has not matured very much. Where Dean has conquered his demons even though he is still tempted. His relationship with the Lord has grown in maturity since he gave his life to Christ. His acceptance of his past mistakes shows that he has grown significantly. This relationship starts out shakily and continues because of Allies insecurities and her self depravation. No real growth is seen until the epilogue, after Allie takes her leap of faith.