Review #2! A Deep and Dark December!

Happy Monday everyone! I got another review for you to kick off the week!

Another author I had the pleasure of saying hi to at the California Dreamin’ Conference Author Signing was Beth Yarnall. I picked up her latest paranormal novel, A Deep and Dark December.

Love the cover! This was a very fast paced story with suspense, paranormal abilities and my favorite, romance! In the small town of San Rey, the December family has a reputation for being…odd. This isn’t an inaccurate statement as they all have special abilities, some of which involve seeing into the future, reading minds, or implanting suggestions into people’s minds.

Erin December, however, has been hiding her power. All she wants is to find her niche in this small town and be accepted. But her whole world is shifted on its axis when murder hits San Rey and Erin is dragged into the middle of it. Now the spotlight is on her and her strange family and the worse part is she can't even feign ignorance because she keeps having visions about the murders.

Erin finds herself in the middle of an investigation with hottie, Graham Doran, and together they must find the killer before all of San Rey is consumed into chaos, because this murderer isn’t like everyone else—they have an ability too. One that proves stronger than Erin could ever have imagined.

Like I said, this story was a very fast-paced read. It’s non-stop chills, thrills, and steamy Graham. If you like a good murder mystery with a hot sheriff and paranormal powers, this is definitely the book for you!

Breaking the Habit

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you're all having a productive start to the week. As for myself, I find that for the past week now I've been working on breaking my habit of writing in passive voice. I'm currently editing a manuscript that could be (cross your fingers!) considered by Decadent Publishing if I can weed out this habit of mine. The first step I think was the easiest, all I had to do was identify and find all the to-be verbs. Little did I know that my manuscript would soon look something like this:

Not sure if you can see it very clearly, but the blue and pink highlights are what I'm talking about. They're pretty much everywhere! It was like a plague of 'was and had' all over the place. But like I said, identifying it was the easy part. Editing the words out and restructuring the sentences is what's been taking the longest. I can happily say that I'm more than 3/4 of the way there and I thought this would be a fun learning experience to share.

Anyone else have the same problem with to-be verbs? Or do you find yourself relying on a certain word too much, or repeating phrases or descriptions? I think I'm guilty of all of it. I'm very much a visual learner and seeing all the highlights really helped me identify what I can focus on and hopefully fix, that way my manuscripts can become stronger. What tricks do you guys have to help with editing?

Prodigal Son Review

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

I'm a little late for my post, but better late than never, right? Anyway, last weekend I was able to make it to the California Dreamin' Conference Book Signing! Not only was it great to be back surrounded by numerous authors and writers who all share a love of romance novels, it was great to meet up with people I haven't seen since RWA 2012! One such person was author, Debra Mullins. I picked up her book Prodigal Son, the first in her Atlantean book series.

Isn't the cover fabulous? Not only that but this book was great! It had everything a romance novel needs: well written characters, steamy chemistry, an environment that made you feel a part of the story, and a great plot that had me completely submerge into this universe.

Prodigal Son is about Cara McGaffigan, a woman who is determined to help her stepbrother get out of trouble because he is her last remaining family. This was definitely something I loved about Cara right away, her loyalty. She risks so much, traveling from one coast to another, in search of her brother and instead of finding him, she finders herself in a whole mess of trouble. She’s not the only one looking for Danny, and this excludes the cops who want him for skipping bail. Powerful people are looking for her stepbrother and her only hope is Rafe Montana.

Mmm, Rafe. He was my absolute favorite in this book. His personality had me laughing and sighing with pleasure. I wish he was real so that I could take him home and keep him all to myself. Rafe is a bounty hunter, but not just any bounty hunter, he’s a descendant of an Atlantean. He has the ability to gleam information about people with nothing but a thought, the only problem is that when he tries to find any information on Danny, he can’t. Together, Rafe and Cara must find Danny, who has in his possession an ancient Atlantean stone. The owner won’t rest until that power is back in his hands, and considering the stone was responsible for the destruction of Atlantis, Rafe and Cara aren’t willing to give it up without a fight.

I can't recommend this book more. I'm already plotting in my own head who I want other characters to end up with. The second book, Heart of Son, is available and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

What have you all been reading? Any suggestions?