The Fallen by Dave Bailey

2.5 stars rounded up.

Henry Sleep’s father visits him in a dream.
It’s time to come home…..

When he calls to check on his father he finds out that he has committed suicide. So Henry returns home to Saul’s Run.
A small town where people live long lives, no crime occurs and sickness has a weird ebb and flow.

This book could have been really good. The story just didn’t flow smoothly. The first half of the book kept me coming back for more and then it just fell to crap. The writing became so uneven that I just couldn’t care anymore.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet

Patrick and Mike’s dad ran down a young boy. Drunk driving. They are now on their own and live with their own demons.

Mike was strong and good-looking and he made her feel safe, but that wasn’t the kind of thing he thought about. Patrick might have understood, but Caro thought Patrick had grown acclimated to misery, and even as he knew the beer cooler was poison he wouldn’t have been able to get rid of it.

This book was so personal for me. My dad spent 26 years in prison. I know that feeling of your demons eating you alive. I’m not throwing this into the review as a pity party. He is a great man and I’m proud to have him as my dad. I just know the feelings these kids are having.

Caro grew up with a mentally ill mom. She sleeps with too many men in order to just find someone that wants/needs her. She ends up as Mike’s girlfriend. 

it was a nice thing for him to say, the sort of thing that always got to her. Caro needed to be important. It was boring and typical and transparent as hell, even to her, but she couldn’t turn it off any more than she could quit having arms.

Patrick works nights at a 7/11 type store and ends up kinda getting stalked by Layla. A goth type girl with so much going on in her head that I couldn’t decide if I wanted to smack her or cry for her. 
Her parents are those type parents who fight the school board to keep sex ed out of the school. Purity rings. The whole nine yards. 

Her little sister Verna has so much to face starting high school. A sister that was involved with a favorite teacher that was involved in the sex-ed scandal, she is super religious, no friends other than her sister. The bullying in the book could be a trigger if you’ve ever been bullied. I wanted to smash and roar.

Little sister Verna gets involved in big sister Layla’s world.

You have to read this book!! 
Dark fiction at it’s finest. I didn’t know when I started reading this book that the author was Stephen King’s daughter in law..What the heck is up with that family. Do they just ooze awesome in the pages they touch?

I received a copy of this book from blogging for books in exchange for an honest review.

Bedlam by BA Morton

I had to go to bed last night after reading this book. I had to recover. I kept waking up throughout the night though thinking about it. 

Sometimes I hate books that leave you with questions..they make you think. I’m a lazy reader though. At times.

This book.

Joey is a down and out cop. His girlfriend Kit went missing last year. Everyone believes she is dead. Except for Joe. He drinks too much, misses work..just doesn’t really give a crap anymore.

Then he gets a call from his boss. There has been some murders. A couple of people hung from hooks and a girl. The girl is dead. Until Joe sees her eyes blink.

She has a Ying/yang tattoo..that will lead Joe to answers.
This book is hard to review without giving anything away. If you want a book that makes you think-which way could life go? This is your book.

Thank you Jahy for the copy of this book. I hate that it’s not being published anymore..because this…it’s how it’s done.

Blackout by Tim Curran

Wait? This isn’t tentacle porn?

This story starts off in a suburb. Normal afternoon of grilling with the neighbors, drinking a few beers and inter-marital groping.

Then it starts lightning and all the lights go off. No cell service. It begins. Of course I read the book when it’s storming outside and my power is flickering.

This book reads like a Twilight Zone episode or a whacked out X-Files. Heck yes!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Omerion: (Hell is My New Home) by Angel Gelique

You think you know what hell is like? Angel Gelique takes that image and smashes it with her bare feet.

Sam is a serial rapist..the asshole. He also murders a few of the girls along the way. They can after all identify him.
This book should be required reading in the courtroom for rapist. 

It is a short little book, but it packs a huge punch.
Warning:not for the easily grossed out. Sam deserves it.

I did receive a copy from the author of this book and she is my friend. In no way did that impact my review of this book. Go read it.

The Homesick Texan’s Family Table by Lisa Fain

I’ve followed Lisa Fain’s blog “The Homesick Texan” for some time now. I really like her food. She is down to earth and her food is frigging fabulous.
You can find her here: http://www.homesicktexan.com/
When I got this book in the mail I was super excited. I loved her first cookbook and hoped for more of the same.
Maisy got in the action too..after she arranged the couch and got comfy.

There are several recipes I’m interested in trying..this apple,walnut and blue cheese salad has me all over it.

The pictures in the book are great as always but this book to me just didn’t hold a candle to her first one. It just seems like she has gone more commercial now. I want that spice back Lisa Fain!! I’ll still grab up anything she writes though..just cuz.

My butt just put on a pound from looking at that frito salad. 

I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from bloggingforbooks. Thank you.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

I love fairy tales..anything to do with them period. Always have and probably always will. 

This book could have been so much more. It has a good base for the story. Characters who aren’t perfect (except for the main character of course) a cool setting (that could have been explained better) some unDisney tales involved, and an interesting concept.

But then…the flipping main character is 15 years old. That distracted me from the book. I have a 15 year old daughter. I would NOT want her slipping off and taking up with some “hot guys” in a hotel. 
There is not really an adult presence in this book well except for the “hot guy” that takes in the little 15 year old girl and gropes her…it’s OK. She’s in lllloooooovvvee with him. Yek.

I want more people!! Write something with some damn sense in your head. This could have been an awesome book. It had good ideas. Why did you screw it up?? I’m giving the book a 3 star just because some ideas did exist. 

I think I’m going to start writing fairy tales (not) but mine would go more like this. 

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Calling by Joe Samuel Starnes

The story starts on a bus trip. 

A crazy preacher forces a DJ to hear his story because the Lord told him to preach it to him. Timber the DJ doesn’t necessarily want to hear it but there is no stopping him. Over several states they share their lives and a bottle of Jim Beam.

Zeke was a preacher’s son. A preacher who just couldn’t keep his pants zipped up. We follow his life story of his rise from small town boy to Bible college and then he settles down and preaches in a small town church for years. Robbing banks on the side…after meeting a con in prison that gave him tips on how to pull off the perfect crimes.

Timber’s dad was the local radio star. He managed the radio station and also had some problem with the old pecker needing to jump out pretty often. He went from small town to bigger stations in Dallas and across the south. His downfall was he couldn’t behave himself on the air and liked to piss off advertisers. 

Both main characters stories are told very well. The book is very wordy or I would have rated it higher. The author does write very well and at about 60% I couldn’t put the book down. I wanted to know what was in Zeke’s suitcase (yep-not good)

One question I have though is why does every crazy ass preacher have to be from North Georgia? We are only about half crazy thank you very much.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pet to the Tentacle Monsters by Lilia Ford

The end time has come. We have been invaded by an alien species. Benji can’t behave himself and gets involved with a stupid stunt. Does it pay off? Nada

He ends up in a square white room. With 3 ummm tentacled personas that want to make him their pet. 
You have “Black” who will spank that ass if he gets out of line.

“Silver” who well..he pushed old Benji to limits that he never thought was possible. 

and little “Kitty”
Does he decide to stay and be their pet? hmmm you gotta read it and see! Muahahahaha!

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Lilia Ford is also my Goodreads friend. In no way did either of these facts affect my review. This book was just plain fun

The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson

Romances aren’t usually what I pick up first to read. I will read them but I’ve never been crazy about them. Every once in awhile I will go through a smoochie streak where they fit in.
I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this book. Cali has been secluded her entire life up in the mountains in a small log house..so jealous of that. She hasn’t been to school, exposed to peer pressure, or any of the normal childhood happenings. Her parents teach her not to trust the “outside world.” After she loses her parents she goes to live with a step-aunt. 
She is odd to start off with..she has mismatched eyes and is able to see colors of people’s auras. 

She meets local bad boy Cal and somewhat they become friends.
I loved how the author made us see things through Cali’s eyes. The newness of the things around her was one of the biggest pluses for me in this book.

Pick this book up if you just want to smile. It’s well written and moves smoothly along. Very much enjoyed.

I am friends with this author on Goodreads. In no way did this influence my review