Spotlight On...Shane O'Neill

It is with great pleasure that I shine a spotlight on author Shane O'Neill

The author developed a fascination with Dracula from an early age.
Like many others he was enthralled by Christopher Lee’s portrayal of him on the big screen. It was in his late teens that he discovered Dracula the man and the love affair began from there.
An avid historian, for many years he studied the period in which the real historical Vlad Dracula lived, 15th Century Balkan. It followed from there then that with his love of writing he would always choose Dracula as his subject.

Away from writing, the author has a wide range of interests. He has lived and travelled all over the world.
He has a love for all things historical, with a particular fascination for medieval Europe. Anywhere he travels he likes to search out locations with an historical interest. He is well read and in recent times has a preference for the work of James Patterson, Carlos Luis Zafon, John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer and Stephen King. He also keeps his library well stocked with historical texts.

For a time he played scrabble on the international stage and represented Wales at the 2007 World Championship in Mumbai, India. He has a real love of sport, most notably football, rugby union, cricket and boxing. His great loves in the football world are Manchester United, Glasgow Celtic, Internazionale and lowly Luton Town. His sporting heroes include George Best, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ian Botham and Muhammad Ali. His only other activities away from these are long country walks and time spent with friends and family.

Blurb...
The Dracula Chronicles is the brilliant and terrifying new concept of Dracula. It is an epic journey through the ages where the forces of Light and Darkness struggle for supremacy until the Second Great War, as foretold in the Book of Revelations. This bitter feud began after the creation of mankind. Lucifer’s jealousy leads to the First Great War of the angels. Hundreds of thousands of years on the feud simmers beneath the surface. It plots the course of history as we know it today. Both sides manipulate the major players through the centuries to seek an advantage over the other.

On a cold night in December 1431 in Sighisoara an old gypsy woman delivers a prophecy to the great Vlad Dracul. She tells him he is about to sire two sons, one an angel and the other a devil. He returns to his fortress just as his wife bears him a son, whom he names Vlad. In the very same moment across the country on the border between Transylvania and Hungary a gypsy girl gives birth to another son, Andrei. The die is cast. The twin souls are born. The young Vlad Dracula becomes the instrument of the forces of Darkness. To balance this, the baby Andrei is blessed by the angels and bestowed with awesome powers. These chronicles are their story.

LINKS

Amazon:

US -  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00A75SM4O

UK -  http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00A75SM4O

Website: www.draculachronicles.co.uk

Blog: www.draculachronicles.co.uk/blog

Twitter: @ShaneKPONeill

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12341417-shane-o-neill

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DraculaChronicles

Book Review: Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione

Title: Rogue Rider (Lords of Deliverance #4)
Author: Larissa Ione
Release Date: November 20th 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

They're here.

They ride.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Born of a match between good and evil, four siblings stand between hell's minions and everything they want to destroy. They are the Lords of Deliverance, and they have the power to ward off Doomsday . . . or let it ride . . .

Jillian Cardiff came to this remote mountain town to forget the demon attack that almost killed her. Instead, she rescues-and falls for-a gorgeous stranger who has no memory of anything other than his name. Handsome, charming, and protective, Reseph seems like the kind of man whom Jillian can trust. But with hints of a troubling history of his own, he's also the kind of man who can be very dangerous . . .

Reseph may not know why he mysteriously appeared in Jillian's life, but he knows he wants to stay. Yet when Jillian's neighbors are killed, and demon hunters arrive on the scene, Reseph fears that he's putting Jillian in danger. And once it's revealed that Reseph is also Pestilence, the Horseman responsible for ravaging the world, he and Jillian must face the greatest challenge of all: Can they forget the horrors of a chilling past to save the future they both desire?

My Thoughts

So this is going to be one of those reviews that is hard to write because I'm finding it difficult to articulate my thoughts, but in doing so, will probably piss off half the population of Ione fans!

I wanted to love Rogue Rider.
I had high hopes for Reseph and the woman who would be his mate.
I wanted so much for this to be a real bad-boy-gone-good-but-still-a-little-bad-but-finally-comes-good emotional roller coaster of a read.
But what I got was a weak, disjointed, convoluted mish-mash of a story that I found to be unappealing and boring.

Don't get me wrong, there were a few moments of the brilliance that is Larissa Ione's story writing, but around the 45% mark I was bored and stopped reading it for a few days. I couldn't connect with Jillian, I found her to be cold, unlikeable, and far too staid and Reseph was too nice with barely any hint to his Pestilence past - the whole thing just felt off to me.
And once I picked Rogue Rider back up, I had the Aegis, DART, the other Horsemen, the Watchers, Demonica characters and Archangels to add to the story and the whole thing became a juggling act - and I was dropping the pins fast!

At the end of the day, I love Larissa Ione's characters but I just felt that she sacrificed some of Resephs story in order to round out and tie up some ends and create new plot lines.

Will I continue to buy her books? For sure!
Am I already dying to read Reaver's story? Absolutely!

But for me, this was probably her weakest book in the series and only gets a 3.5 stars out of 5 :]

Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Release Date: September 1st 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (Text Publishing in NZ & Aus)
Source: A gift from a friend :)
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

My Thoughts

For me, Every Day is the quintessential love story - one person falling in love with another, regardless of outside influences.
Why is that important you may ask.
Well as far as I'm concerned, you fall in love with a person because of their values, humour, shared interests, chemistry, how they make you feel inside. The package that person comes in - be it fat, thin, black, white, boy or girl is irrelevant; and Every Day portrays that kind of love perfectly.

A doesn't know if he is a boy or a girl, he doesn't know if he is any particular race or religion, or anything other than a being that lives in one body at a time, one day at a time. (I'm referring to A as he because for me, A felt like a male)
He learns to adjust, to access his hosts memories to get through each day. Never getting overly attached, never dwelling for too long on the whys, the how's - until Rhiannon.
Rhiannon changes everything.
Rhiannon causes A to question all that he is, all that he knows, and all that he can be...

It did take me a little while to settle in to Every Day, purely because I couldn't comprehend the complexities of growing up the way A had.
But I was enthralled - by the strange and cleverly woven tale that is A's life, by A himself, and by the growing love between A and Rhiannon.
And while I did enjoy this thought provoking, well written story, I was left with questions too. Who or what is A? Who is the mysterious and devious Reverend and what secrets does he hold? And where to from here, because while the ending was sweet and heartbreaking, and perfectly right, the story (for me) is incomplete - I need to know more!

I really was completely sucked in to A's world and I've been left with a burning desire for more, which I may have to satisfy (for now) by reading other books by this author.

A cleverly written and beautifully told story, I highly recommend Every Day to every body. 4 stars ;]


Check out the quick fire question session with author David Levithan...

Book Review: Courting Trouble by Jenny Schwartz

Title: Courting Trouble (Bustlepunk Chronicles #2)
Author: Jenny Schwartz
Release Date: October 1st 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: Received from the publisher via NetGalley

Swan River Colony, Australia, 1895

All suffragette Esme Smith wants is respect. Her beau, American inventor Jed Reeve, may be more enlightened than most men, but lately his need to protect her is at odds with her need for independence. Esme begins to wonder if a modern woman can share her life with a man without losing some of herself.

With his courtship of Esme stalled, the last thing Jed needs is the pressure of saving the Prince of Wales. But when blueprints for a sonic destroyer fall into his hands, he uncovers an anarchist plot that could have deadly consequences.

While investigating the threats, Jed is determined to keep Esme out of harm’s way, despite her protests. But when the terrorists capture Jed and demand a priceless emerald in exchange for his life, it’s Esme who must draw on all her strength to save the day.

My Thoughts

Touted as a steam-punk romance, I did find Courting Trouble a little light in both regards, but I enjoyed the general storyline. It has been well written in an easy, and free flowing style, although it is a rather short read at just over 100 pages.

Jed and Esme have feelings for each other but neither wants to be the first to take that first step towards being together as a couple. Esme wants to be seen as an independent, forward thinking woman, and Jed just wants to woo and protect her which causes a little friction.
When the plans for a strange and possibly devastating weapon fall into Jed's hands, he uses the rouse of a terrorist plot to keep Esme close; which only causes more dissension between the two when his plans start to fall apart, and lives actually are at risk.

While it was a very easy read, it didn't keep my interest and I admit to skimming over several paragraphs, but overall a nice quick read for a rainy afternoon, 3 out of 5 stars :]

Spotlight On...

The Sword of Hope: Destiny Awaits
by Christopher Bryant

This is the story of two boys, one who is destined by the stars to walk a path laid out by destiny. The other, who is simply the help, will step out from the shadows and prove he’s more than just the help. The Sword of Hope is a growing up tale for the two boys, Christian and Tiberius.The boys set out to the Forest of Lost Emotion to face Gmonkis, but find that their enemy is not quite what they expected. The real enemy, their mission, is beyond the borders of their small town surrounded by trees.

Author Bio:

My name is Chris Bryant. I’m 27, born raised in Lexington, Ky. I love to write. I have been writing since I was little, always short stories about action or adventures I’d have liked to have been on. The Sword of Hope is my first of many books to come. My dream has always been to be able to get one of my stories published. This is my first full length story.


LINKS
Authors website
facebook
Twitter
Purchase for kindle

Look Who Got Interviewed...ME!!!

Yep, someone thought I was interesting enough to ask a few questions!

The lovely YA author Melissa Pearl, interviewed me earlier in the week, and the post just went live!

So, if you'd like to learn a little more about me, you should head over here!

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Flesh by Kylie Scott

Title: Flesh
Author: Kylie Scott
Release Date: October 1st 2012
Publisher: Momentum
Source: Purchased for my own reading pleasure.

Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.

When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.

Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.

When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.

Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three band together to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.

My Thoughts

I bought this book because a friend recommended it, but I held off reading it because it has Zombies in it.
Yeah, zombies aren't really my thing, I'm not a fan. I watched one episode of The Walking Dead and that was it. I just don't get it; it doesn't float my boat as they say. So after some further prompting by my friend, I somewhat reluctantly picked up Flesh over the weekend.
OMG, when am I going to learn?!! (some friends know what they're talking about!!)

Flesh by Kylie Scott more than floated my boat, in fact my DH threatened me with an unladylike throwing out of bed if I didn't get up - but I refused to move until I finished this totally engrossing, surprisingly addictive, very sexy story.

Flesh caught my attention from the very first page with its snappy writing and giggle inducing banter from the two lead characters. I love a well written story full of snarky one liners, and Flesh had all that and more.
A great page turner with an ever evolving love story, flanked by a fight for survival, stomach clenching suspense and gore, and two sexy men doing their best to protect and serve a sexually adventurous and open minded target for trouble! I admit, I wasn't sure at first how the sharing situation might work for Ali, Daniel and Finn, but I greatly enjoyed their sexual journey.

I cannot say enough great things about Flesh - in fact, author Kylie Scott may have very well converted me; I think I might try reading a few more zombie themed books.

A good balance of action, romance, and erotica set in a unique and interesting world of apocalyptic Australia. Hot story, hot characters and even hotter sex, Flesh gets a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars from me ~<;]

Author Kylie Scott happened to see some of my exuberant comments about her book on facebook, and contacted me to very kindly offer, a digital copy of Flesh for a GIVEAWAY!! Thank you Kylie :)
If you'd like to enter, just use the rafflecopter widget below :)

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