Fairy Tale Novels: Books 4 & 5

"A Fairy Tale Retold"

Bookworm's Ranking - 4-5 Worms

Storyline -

The Midnight Dancers - Rachel's life is boring. Proper girl with no adventure and her parents strict on what she wears and behaves. Not only that, she has to share a house, and room, with eleven other sisters and live in a new house. But she is determined to have an adventure. So when she and her sisters are able to escape to the island across from their house and have parties with the owner's son, what else can they do but sneak out of the house, made increasingly difficult with their father's friend Paul hanging around. But the house that seemed like dream come true might just be a nightmare.

Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves - Alex's family, who has struggled to make ends meet for years, finally came into some money, a million dollars worth. But something is up with it that only Kateri, Alex's girlfriend, seems to see. How on earth did a million dollars just show up in his mail? If that wasn't bad enough, his family decides to by hotel with the money, which Alex just has to give a job to Kateri as she struggles to find work. But when the owners of the money come looking, it will take all of Alex's and his families martial arts skills and intelligence as well as Kateri's sensibility and cunning to overcome the cyber thieves.

Author - Regina Doman

Publisher - Chesterton Press

Age Group - 16 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Girls disobey their parents and sneak out and lie. Fights against evil and those trying to hurt the ones they care about. Some computer hacking.

Personal Opinion - More great reads by Regina Doman. They retell classic fairy tales excellently and make the characters come alive and real. Each character struggles and each comes to see what is important and have a spiritual growth, changing them. The details in the novel are wonderful, seeing each location as clearly as on the TV (nothing graphic though). Something about Alex O'Donnell, though, felt like there could have been more. I can't place my finger on it but it needed... something. That one is still a fun story and the martial arts is just cool.

Reviews of Other Books by this Author - Fairy Tale Novels: Book 1-3

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The Wizard Test

"The Last Thing He Wants

is to Pass This Test"

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms

Storyline - The Wizard Test is one test Dayven does not want to pass. His grandmother was a wizard and a traitor to Tharn so he is determined to bring honor to his name. But to his horror, he passes. No Dayven is called upon the Lordowner to discover what the wizards do and find some honest answers to these people and their knowledge of Tharn's enemies, the Cenzar. As Dayven discovers more about magic and the Cenzar, he begins to see that things are not always what they seem, that there is more to the story than he thought, and is faced with a choice to complete his duty or choose a new side.

Author - Hilari Bell

Publisher - Eos, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Age Group - 13 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Dayven just wants to keep his word and do the honorable thing and is willing to sacrifice what he wants to help another. The wizards are dishonest sometimes which they try to rationalize.

Personal Opinion - For being a small book (under 200 pages), the characters and storyline were well developed. This book could have been made much longer and would have still been just as interesting but would have gone deeper into the main conflict. It was very creative in the names of people and places and yet still pronounceable. It did a very good job on teaching that just because someone is different from you doesn't mean you can walk all over them or that they are less of a person or a "barbarian." Magic was used in the book to mostly to heal others, it was a power inside each individual, not something that was called upon. There was one thing that bothered me but it would give away the ending if I tried to explain. There was just one decision a wizard made to help other that purposefully hindered others (sorry I can't give more detail). But it was a pretty good story and I would read other books by this author.

Buy - Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
(Looks like paperback copies are out of print so these are ebook links. Could probably find paperbacks used somewhere) 

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Chokepoint: Mini Mission 1.5 and GIVEAWAY

 

Bookworm's Ranking - 4.5 Worms

 

Storyline - Spencer is home and back in school but danger seems to have followed. While earning a place on the basketball team, learning LCT with Beth, and trying to find a homecoming date, strange men are coming after Spencer which is making the agents consider moving him and his grandma to a new location with new aliases. Spencer won't let that happen, even if it means agreeing to new precautions by the agents. When a chance comes up to catch the men, Spencer is willing to take it but he could end up in their hands instead.

Author - Jill Williamson

Publisher - CreatSpace

Age Group - 14 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Choices are made on weather to fight or avoid danger and weather to return to old habits or continue with his new ones. One crazy party were people are kissing, drinking, and smoking pot (the description is about as detailed as what I just wrote). Spencer is a little clueless about girls and their feelings but starts to learn a little bit more by the end. A boy is very protective of his sister.

Personal Opinion - This book lives up to the usual Jill Williamson standard of writing. It hits you off with a great adventure and builds to a fabulous, thrilling conclusion all the while creating realistic characters with their own concerns and subplots. And checkout that cover. The only thing I'm wondering about was how close to the climax the ending came. It wasn't bad, it was actually a great ending that still contained mystery and some great advice to Spencer, but I think it could run the risk of being a little abrupt for some readers. But it is a perfect story for those who read book 1 and are anxiously awaiting book 2. Another plus is that all the money from this book, bought either as an ebook or paperback, goes to help friends of the author to adopt a girl named Sydney! So read this because it is a great story AND a good donation. :)

You can also donate directly to Sydney's fund or go to the blog.

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GIVEAWAY -

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Links - Jill's Website
            By Darkness Hid - Review
            To Darkness Fled - Review
            From Darkness Won - Review
            Replication: The Jason Experiment - Review
            The Mission League: The New Recruit - Review
            The Mission League: Project Gemini - Review (Coming Soon)
            Captives - Review (Coming Soon)

Special Notes - This novel happens between book 1 and 2.

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A Breed Apart: Trinity: Military War Dog

"An Ex-Green Beret and His War Dog

on the Greatest Mission of Their Lives.

And Probably Their Last."

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms

 

Storyline - Heath Daniels only ever wanted to follow in his families footsteps and serve his country. But after a mission gone wrong, his dream to continue to serve is shattered by his inability to work in the field and has left him floundering for what God wants him to do. Left only with the one girl he could rely on, Trinity, his military war dog who could not function after he left the service, Heath receives an invitation to become part of the Breed Apart, a program ran by an old friend to inspire others. Soon they head to Afghanistan to speak at bases and troops. But Heath didn't expect to start falling for a beautiful girl, Darci, who he doesn't realize is an United States operative who is undercover. But when her past comes back to haunt her in the form of a man she played and betrayed in one of her missions, it is going to take Heath and Trinity to find and rescue Darci before she is killed or taken out of country. On the way, Heath and Darci are going to have to face God and learn what he wants for their lives.

Author - Ronie Kendig

Publisher - Barbour Publishing

Age Group - 17 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Heath works on trying to do what God wants but pushes for what he wants, ultimately coming to see that he needs God to lead and not him to lead God. Darci wonders about God after all the tragedies in her life. She also has regrets in her past but wants to help her country and do the right thing. Trinity is loving, caring, and protects the one she loves. Was totally dog ;). The antagonist is one vile man, beating and torturing happens when he is around, nothing is described but is understood.

Personal Opinion - What can I say? I was very pleased with this book. I loved Trinity. Some books have a synopsises that hints at animal involvement but then they are minimally in them. Not so with this book. Trinity was perfect. She had a real character and was completely realistic in her personality. The author would write a behavior and/or the human in the story would give something for the dog to say and each time I would see it in my mind because it was realistic. Just look at that cover for the cuteness. Trinity was the best... But I should probably say something about the people too. They and their struggles were realistic, with Heath trying to find God's path for him now that he is out of the Military and Darci being undercover and dealing with demons of her own past. They were people you could meet on the street. Each and every character, no matter how big their role in book, had a complex back story and were real people. My only complaints would be that there seemed to be scenes that were not needed and the info in them could have been transferred somewhere else. Trinity's personality, also, wasn't as prevalent towards the end. Lastly, maybe one or two too many plot twists for the story. But, Trinity all came together nicely and this is sure to be a book I will be recommending in the future and tossing peoples' way.

Video -

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Links - Learn more about this book and author here.
            Book 2, Talon - Review, Coming Soon
            Book 3, Beowulf - Review, Coming Soon

Special Notes - Book one in the A Breed Apart Series.

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The Mission League: The New Recruit

"Mission 1: Moscow"

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms
 

Storyline - Spencer Garmond loves basketball more than anything and is willing to do anything to play. So when he is presented with either going to Military school or joining the Mission League, a group of Christians who think they are spies, he picks the churchers. Caring less about God, he puts up with these crazy Christians and goes on the mission trip to Russia. While in Moscow, Spencer meets Pasha, a boy with a strange tattoo and who is involved with a scary cult. As the summer continues and Arianna, a Mission League girl, tries to convert him and surrounded by other devote Christians, Spencer will have to make a choice about the gift God has given him and if he wants God in his life.

Author - Jill Williamson

Publisher - Marcher Lord Press

Age Group - 15 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Spencer swears but the actual words don't appear in the book but switches to substitute swear words when he can no longer use real ones. He has no interest in God or the Christian thing and thinks/says insults towards the other Mission League members but begins to see them differently and wants to learn about God by the end. There is a cult and it is wondered if demon possession is involved but non of the protagonists like it. A character in her past has had a hard life, there are no details but it is known that she was attacked and has a kid.

Personal Opinion - What first attracted me to this book was 1. Jill Williamson (fantastic author), 2. spies (can rarely go wrong with this kinda plot), and 3. Russia (have a strange fascination and obsession with Russia since the movie Anastasia. Even have a book in Russian yet I can't read a word of it). While reading The New Recruit, I enjoyed the opportunity, like many of my fellow reviews, to see from the point of view of someone who doesn't practice their Christian faith while surrounded by those who do. It gave it gave me, the reader and a practicing Christian, a chance to see my behaviors towards someone who doesn't think, or believe, like I do. Spencer did begin to change before the end of the book and will be digging deeper, I'm sure, in later books into who God is. The action in the story was good and the cult that Spencer and Pasha got mixed up in was realistic. ***SPOILER*** For a literature class, I read an author with similar ideas of looking inside yourself for power and truth as the cult in the book thought (I don't think there are any conection between the two). ***END SPOILER*** The beginning was a little slow to me and I thought I saw a couple of telling situations but that faded as the book went on and I found myself picking the book up when school needed to be done from curiosity as to what would happen next. Looking forward to the next books in this series and all the adventure and character journeys to come.

Video -

 
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Links - Visit the Mission League here. Visit Jill Williamson's webpage to learn about her other books and read her reviews. Read an author interview and enter the giveaway.

Special Notes - This is book 1 in the Mission League Series. Read about the others on The Mission League

Disclaimer - In exchange for an honest review, I received this book for free from the publisher/author through Team Novel Teen.

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The Messenger

"In a Time of War,

Can Two Unlikely Heroes

Find the Courage to Act?"

Bookworm's Ranking - 4 Worms

Storyline - It is 1778 in Philadelphia and Hannah's world turned upside down when the war started. Now, her brother, Robert, who left his Quaker faith when he joined the Rebels, is in the Loyalist jail but she is forbidden to see him. Not only that but it is almost impossible to get a pass to visit. Jeremiah might seem like a Loyalist, but he is working with spies to get the prisoners out of the jail. But only family can visit. Despite the fact they are at odds with each other, Hannah and Jeremiah strike up an agreement where Hannah will deliver messages to a prisoner in exchange for a pass to see her brother. Will Hannah be able to keep this secret and not get caught when she insists on telling the truth? Can they find God's will in all this?

Author - Siri Mitchell

Publisher - Bethany House Publishers; A division of Baker Publishing Group


Age Group - 15 and up

Content - *May Contain Spoilers* Often mentioned that men are with woman inappropriately, with or against the woman's will. Hannah works hard at following her faith and God and tries to do what is right even though it seems like there is opposition at every turn. Jeremiah does what he can to mess with the British's head but slowly comes to God.

Personal Opinion - I learned a lot about Quakers while reading this and enjoyed the romance, which is not always my forte but I liked this. The struggles of the characters were real and believable. The male protagonist had  lost his arm and blamed it for everything. Hannah struggled with what she was doing and her faith because she felt she was going against it. The struggles of the characters really helped with empathy and connecting to the story. The spy stuff was great, being what originally interested me in the story, and the historical notes at the end brought a lot of background info to the novel. Doll was my favorite character, she made me smile and I loved how she just said what was on her mind without sugar coating it. But, I wish some side characters were developed more, feeling it would have added more to the story, fleshing it out more. I sometimes forgot certain characters existed because they were mentioned so little. Also, the first person narratives from both the main characters caused some confusion on who was speaking from time to time. Besides those things, this was a good spy/romance novel and would enjoying hearing more about these characters (but I think this is a stand-alone novel so that probably won't happen).

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Links - Learn more about the book and author here.
Disclaimer - In exchange for an honest review, I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers.

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