Sunday, March 31, 2013

Guest Post - Character Inspiration by Tina Martin

Guest Post - Character Inspiration by Tina Martin



Accidental Deception – Character Inspiration

I love creating characters when I write. And my process is quite simple. My male character, the hero, has to be very strong with striking good looks. Who doesn’t like a knight in shining armor? My inspiration for character, Carter Williams came from several factors. For one, in my head, I envisioned that he would look like one of my favorite actors, Daniel Sunjata. His skin tone, his eyes, his persona is just what I had in mind for Carter Williams. Second, I used to work in Uptown Charlotte. I’ve seen firsthand how business professionals hurry to their buildings. Life is so fast paced and it seems that we forget about the little things, about fellow humans, even if they’ve fallen on hard times. Carter represents these professionals in my novel. Thirdly, I wanted Carter’s attitude to be very straightforward with a touch of arrogance. He’s confident and successful and he knows it. Still, through his own personal tragedies, he can relate to a homeless woman, character Shayla Kline, that he finds on the sidewalk.


About the Novel:

Accidental Deception is a story about love versus loyalty, the tug-of-war that dictates every action Carter Williams will take after he stumbles upon a homeless woman, Shayla Kline, in Uptown Charlotte. Completely out of character for the usually self-centered bachelor, he puts his life on hold to spend a few nights with the stranger in the hospital.

That’s when he makes an earth shattering discovery – Shayla was the fiancĂ©e of Jacob, his estranged brother. His brother who hated him. His brother who recently committed suicide. His brother who, despite the animosity between them, wrote him a suicide note asking him to take care of Shayla.

Out of guilt and fulfillment of his brother’s final wish, Carter takes Shayla into his home, with every intention on helping her get back on her feet. But he makes an already complicated situation even messier when he begins to fall in love with her, desperately wanting to be a man for her, to give her everything his brother could not. 

His morals tell him to be loyal to his brother, but his heart urges him to love his brother’s woman. The two opposite forces battle it out within him, creating an internal showdown that even he can’t referee. He knows what he should do, but it’s hard to walk away from the only woman that has ever been this close to his heart.


About the author:

Tina Martin is a fiction author from eastern North Carolina. A recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award from the Famous Poets Society, she now uses her creativity to pen novels which include Secrets On Lake Drive, Another Man's Treasure, The Baby Daddy Interviews and Accidental Deception. She is also the author of two short stories - Vacation Interrupted and The Crush and one poetry book, Love Like Yours. Tina resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her family. Read more about Tina and read excerpts of her novels at her website: www.tinamartin.net.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Review - The Kings of Charleston by Kat H. Clayton + Giveaway


Title and Author: The Kings of Charleston by Kat H. Clayton

Publisher: Kat H. Clayton

Publication Date: June 23rd, 2012

Paperback/Hardcover: 348

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery

Find it at: Goodreads /






Summary:

Casper Whitley is forced to move to Charleston, South Carolina where she’ll be the new kid her senior year of high school. Casper’s upset about the move until she meets the Roman family’s gorgeous son, Cal, but there’s a problem. A mystery surrounds him which can be summed up in one word…Kythera. Never heard of it? Neither has Casper until she finds the word tattooed on cars, paintings and all her new friends.
After Casper’s life is threatened, someone is forced to tell the truth about her parents, the Romans and Kythera’s motives for her being in Charleston. Once the truth is revealed, she must decide whether to protect her family and Kythera’s secrets or walk away from everything she has ever known

  

Review:

I have received and reviewed this book as part of a blog tour. The storyline of Kings of Charleston seemed like an interesting one and since I love a good mystery I was happy to read this book.

After Casper in forced to move to Charleston and meets Cal she quickly finds out there’s a secret surrounding him, his family and the town. Add a mysterious word to the mix and Casper is suddenly involved in a mystery.

The characters in this book are interesting but I had a few problems with them.  I couldn’t seem to really connect to any of them and felt like they could have grown more during the story. I don’t mean to say the characters are bad because they really aren’t and they are very well-written. Plus, I’m sure they will develop in the next book in the series.

The romance in this book is a good one, though and I enjoyed the way it developed.

What I really liked in this book was the mystery. It isn’t obvious and it keeps the reader guessing and curious. I kept reading, wanting to find out what was going to happen next. There was some surprised and twists turned in there that I think were really interesting.

All in all, I did enjoy the Kings of Charleston. The book is fast paced and well-written and the mystery engaging and suspenseful.

If you like a good and well-written suspenseful mystery I think you should give this book a try.



Rating: Somewhere Between Readable and Worth Your Time (3 ½ Stars)


Giveaway

- One signed copy + a Kindle Paperwhite
- Open to US/Can/UK
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Link Your Reviews

We all want to promote our reviews, don't we? This is a way of letting other people know about them. Just leave a link to your review below.


Go visit the other reviews and let people know what you think about them!

This is a weekly feature posted on Thursdays. :)

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Review - Asunder (Newsoul 02) by Jodi Meadows

Title and Author: Asunder (Newsoul 02) by Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: January 29th, 2013
Paperback/Hardcover: 406
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Find it at: Goodreads / Bookdepository


Summary:
DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.
SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.
  
Review:
After having read Incarnate and enjoying it I had to read Asunder. I was curious and wanted to know what would happen to Ana and Sam and everyone else.
As a newsoul Ana is different from everyone else in Heart and not everyone accepts her. Add this to the fact that sylph start to behave differently toward her and that some things are changing in the city and is no wonder there are some people who want to see Ana hurt if not dead.
The main characters from Incarnate are back and some of them, like Ana, are still growing and changing. She’s determined to change the course of things, to show people that only because she’s different it doesn’t mean she’s less than they are, to face down her own fears. She takes action in this book and tries to unravel some mysteries instead of just wondering about them, which I really enjoyed.
Sam is still very sweet and supportive of Ana. He’s not always completely sure his decisions are the right ones and struggles with it sometimes. It is obvious Sam loves Ana and would do anything to protect her but, thankfully, he never tries to stop her from searching for the answers she needs.
There are some sweet and romantic moments between Ana and Sam. There are also some tense moments and conflict between them, which I think was great because no relationship is perfect and you can’t always agree with each other. 
In this book we get to see another side of some characters like Stef and are introduced to some new characters as well.
Plotwise, it moves along nicely and is very well-written. The world created by Jodi Meadows in Incarnate is very interesting and it’s explored in this book.
What I really enjoyed in this book is that we get to learn a little bit more not only about Ana but also about Sam and his past lives and also about Heart, Janan and the creatures that inhabit Range.  I had a lot of questions and some of them were answered in this book. Other I think will only be answered in book three but I really don’t mind the mystery and I enjoy the way it is being slowly revealed.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. The characters are good and the story interesting and well-written. I enjoyed the fact we get to understand a few things a little bit better in this book – like the sylph. There’s still a big mystery left to be unraveled and I can’t wait to know what will happen next.
If you enjoyed a good YA Paranormal story, go on and give this series a chance!

Rating: Worth Your Time (4 Stars)