BOOK REVIEW - THE EDGE OF DARK BY PAMELA HARTSHORNE

A dark, page-turning tale from Pamela Hartshorne, author of The Memory of Midnight and Time's Echo, and a perfect read for fans of Barbara Erskine and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

Part of a trilogy 

This novel shares much with the previous two in the trilogy, Time’s Echo and The Memory of Midnight - which I both read and reviewed - but it is not a sequel, nor a prequel,  the three plots and the characters are not related any way.
The three novels share the geographical setting (York), the time-slip pattern (Elizabethan Age/present day), the presence of supernatural events and the fact of having two female protagonists.

In The Edge of Dark, the two heroines live in distant eras but share a great deal of tragicality in their respective lives. Roz Acclam is the only survivor to her family’s slaughter by fire and Jane Birkby faces the outcomes of her vow on  deathbed  and the hardship of being a woman in the 16th century. “Beware what you wish for” may well be the leit motiv for them both.

Book Blurb

Jane believes in keeping her promises but she’s caught on a twisting path of deceit and joy that takes her from the dark secrets of Holmwood House in York to the sign of the golden lily in London's Mincing Lane. Getting what you want, Jane discovers, comes at a price. For the child that she longed for, the child she promised to love and to keep safe, turns out to be a darker spirit than she could ever have imagined.

BOOK REVIEW - THE POLDARK SAGA, ROSS POLDARK (BOOK 1)

I blame Ross Poldark for ...

I hadn’t read any of the books from the Poldark saga before the new adaptation started on BBC1, though I had been totally smitten by the original series back in the 70s. I was just a kid who was beginning to learn English as a foreign language at school at that time and my love for everything British is,  for sure,  a result of Robin Ellis’s good looks and Ross Poldark’s charm as a character. My interest in Jane Austen's novels came soon after.

However, I bought the first 2 Poldark books when the remake was announced in the press. I decided I wanted to read them,  to compare them to their adaptation in the upcoming TV series.

You know, that’s one of my favourite passtimes! 

Synopsis of Book 1 - Ross Poldark

In the first novel in Winston Graham’s hit series, a weary Ross Poldark returns to England from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his beloved Elizabeth. But instead he discovers his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth—believing Ross to be dead—is now engaged to his cousin. Ross has no choice but to start his life anew.

Thus begins the Poldark series, a heartwarming, gripping saga set in the windswept landscape of Cornwall. With an unforgettable cast of characters that spans loves, lives, and generations, this extraordinary masterwork from Winston Graham is a story you will never forget.

Go on reading at My Jane Austen Book Club

My review is part of The Ross Poldark Blog Tour promoted by Sourcebooks and it is linked to a great giveaway!

SHERALYN PRATT, THE KISS THAT LAUNCHED 1000 GIFS - BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY

The Kiss That Launched 1,000 Gifs by Sheralyn Pratt 

 Each weekday from 2:00-4:00 p.m., Grace and Ashton cohost Battle of the Sexes, a radio program arguing the he-said/she-said issues of the day. Their fiery debates often have listeners wondering if there’s more to their relationship than just talk, even though Grace has been dating Phillip, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Perfect, since long before she ever met Ashton Miller. Yet when news comes that Battle of the Sexes is on the bubble for cancellation, Grace and Ashton need to step up their efforts to engage their audience to keep the show alive. When a charity organization approaches them and proposes that the two of them kiss for a fund raiser, Grace and Ash agree to kiss for a good cause. A kiss is just a kiss, right?

Purchase your copy

Amazon.com

HOW TO BECOME SHERLOCK HOLMES! BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY: SHERLOCK ACADEMY BY F.C. SHAW

Sherlock Academy by F.C. Shaw

 Teachers in disguise, secret libraries, hollow books . . . All these and more await eleven-year-old Rollie Wilson at the mysterious Sherlock Academy of Fine Sleuths. When Rollie and his best friend, Cecily, are invited to attend a school where children learn the art of detection just like the great Sherlock Holmes, they discover a strange burglary has been committed and a mystery is afoot. Determined to investigate, Rollie discovers that appearances can be deceiving, the truth can be hurtful, and friends sometimes turn into foes. Does Rollie have what it takes to follow in Holmes’s footsteps? Can he use his skills to solve the mystery and save the school from an unknown villain?     

Praise for Sherlock Academy

For anyone who's ever wanted to be Sherlock Holmes, this is your chance. -- Adam Glendon Sidwell, Bestselling Author of Evertaster 

My students love this book, and have asked for it again and again. It makes them feel as if they are in the story; they keep wanting to know what might happen next. Delightful story that invites anyone who loves mystery to dig in and figure it out! – Amazon Customer  

Grab your copy from

AMAZON.COM

BOOK BLAST - MARROW BY PRESTON NORTON

Marrow by Preston Norton 

Marrow is a fourteen-year-old prodigy at FIST (Fantom Institute for Superheroes-in-Training). With a perfect score on his finals, the ability to smash through walls, and leaps that can launch him over a city block, the Sidekick Internship Program is bound to place him with a top-notch superhero mentor for the summer. But when a series of disastrous events lands Marrow on academic probation, he is forced to team up with Flex--a drunk, hippie, bum with the power of elasticity. The two Supers' powers and personalities clash as they are forced to overcome their differences to prevent the return of Cosmo City's most notorious foe, a supervillain so powerful, no one will survive the cataclysm he is sure to unleash.

Grab a copy from AMAZON

  Praise for Marrow

"If you can't get enough of superhero and comic book movies, read Marrow now! It's like stuffing an action movie into your head. The twists will surprise you." -- Adam Glendon Sidwell, Bestselling Author of CHUM and EVERTASTER. •

 "Fans of comics, superheroes, and stories with twist after twist will love Marrow. It's filled with nods and homages to classic heroes, yet still manages to put a unique stamp on the genre." -- Jacob Gowans, Bestselling Author of the PSION BETA Series.   

MONEY, FAME & YOUTH

Young people, money and fame

Ask young people about their top life goals and the answer is clear, resounding and a bit worrying: they want to be rich and famous. Worrying for me as an educator, as an adult. To be ambitious is not wrong a priori, of course. I constantly work  at stimulating teenagers' wills to set goals and reach them, to set them high and do their best to pursue them. But I'm also sure that money and fame are not naturally connected to happiness. I am convinced that "money doesn't buy happiness"  is not just a popular saying, but an old truth. This is something my students and I often discuss about but it is not so easy to convince them since they are sent hammering messages persuading them that the opposite is true: money and fame are the keys to happiness.