#446 ~ The Reflections of Queen Snow White

The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David C. Meredith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars







David Meredith, the author, very kindly sent me a copy of his book to review; he had been reading my Blog.

Firstly, I love, love, love the colour, and this is definitely worth using it to judge the cover.

I don't want to give too much away, but it's based on the Snow White fairy story, and gives us a glimpse into her life after she obtained her 'happy ever after'. Was it that though? Well, you will just have to read the book to find out.

What I will tell you is, that the writing was of a high calibre, which is not particularly surprising as David has a Masters Degree. It was an original idea, and very well educated. In short, just how a novel should be presented. I like his voice, and would eagerly read anything else he has to offer. David is certainly one to watch.


Product Details

I was sent a copy to review by David, but would have happily have paid hard earned cash for this one.  You can pick up a copy HERE.

Keep up to date with David's literary life HERE.  A bargain a £1.27 for the Kindle page, although admittedly it's not that long at about 155 pages.

Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery Magic, Fairy Tale
Indie Writer (Self-published)



The Good, the bad and the ugly (if any)

There wasn't too much to comment on here.  As mentioned above, the standard of writing was exceptionally high, with nice use of linguistic devices.  In particular the use of anaphora at Location 77.

A highlight at Location 95 was 'blithesome decorations bursting like wild spring blossoms', that was just lovely phrasing.  Alliteration was also nicely displayed, and I really liked 'disrespectfully dubious' at Location 136.

I was little disappointed though that there was a missing conjunction and  'gotten' made an appearance.  Yes, I am aware that it's common in the Americas', but it just frustrates the living heck out of my.  I had thought with David holding a Master of Arts, I would be 'gotten' free.

A bug bear, but essential only that (not an error really) was the use of 'coral' a couple of times.  Paddock would have had a much more authentic feel to it.  'Coral' just conjures up images of the wild west and cowboys.

Loc 694:  Breathing heavily, she drug the whimpering princess - she dragged.

Loc 965:  The void stretch away from her in every direction - stretched.

Loc 977:  It fell abruptly still as if cut off with a switch ... - this really bothered me as really the switch is a modern concept in this form.

Loc 1303:  ... but her heart was beating at frightful pace - at a frightful pace.

Loc 1614:  Gone were her thick socks .... - another anomaly, to my mind socks are another modern concept, and stockings would have been a better fit.

Loc 1787:  .... lungs she was drug from her chair - dragged from her chair.

Happy reading

Hugs.

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download on Amazon

The Autobiography of Peter Pan

RP Brockman

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tale > Fantasy

Indie Writer (Self-published)

*Introducing a New Author to the Blog*

The synopsis appealed to me .... who wouldn't want to find out what made Peter Pan tick?

Peter’s side of the story at last!

Mid-Summer Night’s Eve 1706

Quivering with fear and rage, a six-year-old Peter crouches among the multi-coloured blooms and exotic scents at the bottom of his family’s enormous garden. He is determined to run away. Bored with her distinguished but dull companions, the exquisitely beautiful but rashly daring Fairie, Tinkerbell, observes him. For mischief’s sake, or so she thinks, she shows herself and shockingly initiates a conversation with ‘this perfectly scrumptious little human being’. Soon Peter’s life is changed forever, with inter-dimensional repercussions that ring down the centuries. 

From the Fairies’ home dimension and the Neverland, a realm as cosy and boundless as a child’s imagination, to London’s filthy streets and burning skies, the adventures of the boy who wouldn’t grow up are fully told. Learn about Peter’s official adoption by the Fairies and his tempestuous, enduring relationship with Tinkerbell. Read the truth about where he found the Lost Boys and the surprise identity of his deadliest enemy. Find out what made Captain Hook tick, and discover the nature of Peter’s romantic attachments to Wendy and her progeny. His combat service with the Royal Air Force in World War Two is revealed for the first time, as is a scandal that shook two dimensions and still hides a deep secret in yet another. 

JM Barrie assigned the rights of ‘Peter Pan’ to Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. Many of those rights have now expired, but the desire to help GOSH lives on with Peter’s autobiography and 50% of the profits from this book will be donated to that cause.

Editor’s Note: 

Conventional publishers hate what cannot be categorized. Is this action–adventure? Romantic fiction, or fantasy? True autobiography, or military history? What if it is all those things? I don’t know myself, but thanks to Amazon Kindle, Peter’s real story can now be brought before the public. 

He first came to me for advice and assistance 30 years ago, mostly because I’d been an American paratrooper in my youth and had had a near-death experience in Vietnam. My published books are all based on myth and legend or the supernatural. He guessed rightly that I was not fully part of one world or the other, and chose me to act for him as editor of his memoirs. Fearing both the mad house and the talk show circuit, Peter was understandably shy of publicity. Back then, he decided against publication but has finally changed his mind. 

I would like to thank Jane Fuller and Kate Bevan for helping me prepare the manuscript for publication because, despite what Peter thinks, I’m no great shakes as an editor. 

Above all, Peter’s multi-dimensional life has been one of wonder and the mysteries of existence. His story is told with honesty and true feeling. We have altered nothing, apart from the correction of spelling and modernising some archaic slang for clarity.

Peter insists that it is not his intention to debunk Sir James Barrie’s work. Nor does he fear this autobiography will spoil anyone’s enjoyment of it. There may, however, be people who wish to read of the true events that gave birth to the classic book and stage play. Peter Pan hopes his readers will enjoy and benefit from the lessons of his long and extraordinary life.

I couldn't hit the button for this one, which is HERE, just in case I missed it later on - although it will be a very long time until I can get around to reading it, as my WTR list is getting longer by the day with the arrival of the postman.

Happy reading, and I hope you enjoy this one.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Gateway to Faerie

MD Bowden

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Science Fiction > Fantasy > Fairy Tale > Dystopian

Indie Writer (Self-published)

*Introducing a New Author to the Blog*

I thought I'd mix it up a bit today .... after all, romance is everybody's cup of tea ..... and have gone for a Dystopian Fantasy/Fairy Tale:

A gateway has opened to the land of Faerie. Can one girl close the portal in time to protect her world from the destructive powers of darkness?

Set two hundred years after the world has been destroyed by a terrifying faerie invasion, Fayth Blackman is busy studying for her final exams. She has no idea that a gateway has opened to the land of Faerie and that dark haunting creatures are filtering through into her own world. But then tragedy strikes and her life turns upside down. She finds out that she is the descendent of a powerful faerie, and that the key to closing the gateway is in her blood. She must embark on a dangerous quest to find the Bell Stone, and with it stop the world from being destroyed once more. But can she make it in time?

Follow Fayth on her quest for the Bell Stone in 'Gateway to Faerie.'

As it's a New Release there are only 3 Reviews, but they are all 5 star - normally I would be a bit suspicious about that few being 5 star, but I've checked out here other work (Vampiric Series) and they are pretty much 4.5 to 5 star), so I think we're safe.

This one isn't overly long, probably more a Novella, but what the hey it's on free download HERE.

My reading rate has thankfully picked up since Brat when back to School, and she's got so much Prep when she gets home that it's fairly quiet, so plenty of reading time for me.

Hope you all have a great day, and happy reading.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Poisoned

Katherine Pine

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tale > Fantasy

Indie Writer (Self-published)

*Introducing a New Author to the Blog*

Short but sweet, for this post and the choice.  I've been MIA with the worst case of flu .... and my selection is a short story, just to see what the writing is like, so I can judge whether to invest in the series:

Poisonous mists settled in the lowlands 17 years ago, rendering ninety percent of the land uninhabitable and killing over half the population. Most blame their misfortune on industrialization or the fey, but some curse Snow White, the princess who was born poisoned.

As the only person who can survive entering the poisoned woods without a gas mask, Snow White has dedicated her life to studying the poison and finding a cure. This obsession draws her deeper into the woods and its secrets, where nothing is as it seems. When Snow White saves a man who should never have been saved, she unleashes an evil more horrifying and destructive than the poison.

Download it HERE if you are interested - I'm off to attempt a quick review for a book that's taken me 3 days to read, when it should have taken 1 .... I didn't even pick up Baby yesterday!

Hugs

Kay

#387 - Tanaquill

Tanaquill

Akalle

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Historical > Romance > Fantasy > Fairy Tales

*Introducing New Author to the Blog*

Description:

On a visit to London in 1802 Princess Tanaquill meets a stranger who brings her a glimpse of the love she'll never have in her arranged marriage.

Product Details:

I got hold of this one as a free Kindle download back in March of this year, and at the time of writing this post it is still available free HERE.

260 pages approximately in length.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Summary/thoughts:

You will definitely have to suspend normal thought process with this book.

It's billed as an historical romance, but other than the fact that it's set in years gone by, it's more fairy story than anything else.

I have to admit that I remain still a little bit confused by it in places.  At times it was muddled, and a little on the slow side.  Then the pace quickened, and it had quite an energy about it.  Some pieces of plot needed further clarification, but other bits were too vague.

Anyway, it's free at the moment, so why not try it and see what you think.  I'd love to know if I am the only one that felt that way about it.

Rating:

It was okay, but not mind-blowing, on the whole fairly well written, but there were a couple of errors, so

4 Star

****

would the the way to go with this one.

Errors/Bug Bears:

There were a few throughout the book, in the main "princess" really should have had an capital letter at the beginning.

1%: "formalwear"

Correct to: formal wear.

86%: "Thousands of fairies, what had looked to him like fireflies ...".

Correct to:  Thousands of fairies, that had looked to him like fireflies ...".

I did notice a couple more, but didn't have the notebook to hand.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Prince in the Mist

(Prince-Legend)

Claudy Conn

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Family Saga > Fantasy > Fairy Tales

Indie Writer (Self-published)

I thought I'd feature another Claudy Conn ... she always proves a fairly enjoyable, but undemanding read.  For a change she's gone all Fae with this one:

Fact one: By tradition and treaty, Fae do not interfere with the human world—it is against the rules.

Fact two: For a Royal Fae prince who suffers from the ennui of immortality, watching and interacting with humans—especially lovely, spirited human females—can be entertaining.

Fact three: When entertainment changes to affection, and affection becomes love, rules will be broken.

His name is Breslyn, Prince of Dagda of the Tuatha Dé. He is a royal Fae, immortal and endowed with more than eye candy looks. He is a being with immeasurable powers but life for him lacked something—so he looked around, and found...humans.

Watching their lives and interactions, from another dimension filled him with feelings he had thought long lost in the ennui of immortality. The more he watched--the more addicted to their antics he became. An affection for the human race grew inside the heart Fae are not supposed to have, and it was inevitable that he began to have preferences with regards to them.

In 1314, when Scotland’s rule was in jeopardy and the British were about to take more than they should, he chose a side--and then he saw her, and nothing would ever be the same for the prince ever again…

In truth, it's only a Novella, so it won't take much time to read.  If you fancy it click HERE to download whilst it's free.

I downloaded my copy, but it will take me a good long time to get to it .... I just found out that apart from the large pile of books (paper and ebook) I already have, there are apparently another 11 on the way to me.

I'm additionally working out arrangements with an Author we've featured/Reviewed before for our first giveaway of his second novel - so watch this space for news.  We're also going to be featuring an interview with him shortly.

On Amazon today my rating is (static) 3,740. I suppose that I'm still heading in the right direction, but very slowly now. I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day ....... so if you find the Daily Kindle Downloads info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback  on some of my reviews (which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks).

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Nandana's Mark

(The Queen of the Realm of Faerie:  Book 1)

Heidi Garrett

*NEW AUTHOR

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tales

Indie Writer (Self-published)

I'm taking a chance with this one, insofar as it's just had the one 5 star review ..... which always makes me a bit suspicious.  However, I checked our the Reviewer and she seems fairly ok .... so we'll go with this.  Who doesn't love a Fairy Tale anyway?

As a half-faerie and an outcast, Melia longs to fly--like her mother and the other fullblood faeries. However, her lack of wings becomes the least of her concerns when startling visions of destruction, linked to her father's ambitions, escalate. Desperate to stop them, Melia visits the Illustrator and receives a strange mark on her forehead. The mark will draw a green-eyed stranger--one who shares her obsessions--to the Realm of Faerie.

Click HERE to get the download.

On Amazon today my rating is (<) to 5,451.  I suppose that I'm still heading in the right direction, but very slowly now.  I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Beauty's Curse

Jodi Woody

*NEW AUTHOR

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tale > Fantasy

Indie Writer (Self-published)

The question is will this really uninspiring cover, prove to be any good?

Beauty’s Curse is a fairytale that spans centuries of bondage, shown through the intertwined lives of four people. Esmeralda, Victor, Nicholas and Adelaide are living under a curse, some of their own making, some by the cruelty of others, and a curse once cast cannot be broken. For years they have toiled under their prospective curses, each in their own way, trying to live with the burdens and troubles. Then along comes Hope, who proves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is better judged by what in the heart of a person. True love can break the chains that bind.

We shall see .......... click HERE for the download.


On Amazon today my rating is (<) to 5,601.  I suppose that I'm still heading in the right direction, but very slowly now.  I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

A Chance For Charity (The Immortal Ones: Book 1)

SL Baum (*NEW AUTHOR)

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tales > Paranormal > Romance

Indie Writer (Self-published)

Today I've chosen the Winner of the 2012 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Young Adult Series:

If you live long enough... love (and danger) will find you.

Seventeen-year-old Charity regularly changes her town and her name, with hopes to begin a new life. But it's impossible to fly under the radar in tiny Telluride, Colorado. When fellow newcomer Link enters her life, her plan to start over with a clean slate unravels. Charity soon realizes that you can never truly leave your past behind, while Link discovers that mortals are not the only beings to walk this earth.

Why not give it a try? .... click HERE for the free download.

On Amazon today my rating has gone down a little to 6,427 (<).  I suppose that I'm still heading in the right direction, but it does feel like an uphill struggle.  I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay

#355 - The Third Son

The Third Son

Elise Marion

 Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fantasy > Historical > Fairy Tales

Indie (Self-published)

Description:

Prince Damien, the spoiled youngest son of the king of Cardenas, finds that his world will never quite be the same again when a fiery Gypsy girl, Esmeralda, comes dancing into his privileged life.

Rake. Rogue. Scoundrel. Each of these words has been used to describe Damien Largess, youngest prince of Cardenas, most frequently by his ridiculously sombre eldest brother. Damien is perfectly content to spend his days drinking at the card tables, and his nights in the bed of his scheming mistress, especially since doing these things seems to vex his high-handed brother to no end. But when he steps into a glittering ballroom on the night of his twenty-fifth birthday, the roguish young prince’s life will be forever changed.

Beautiful. Graceful. Sensual. When Esmeralda steps into the centre of the King’s ballroom to perform for his youngest son’s birthday, every eye in the room is glued to the tall, lithe Gypsy dancer. One pair of eyes seems to burn straight through her, and though she has worked endlessly to shield her heart, she finds her defences slowly slipping away in the presence of the handsome prince. She cannot resist his devastating charm, nor is she immune to the earth shattering desire in his kiss. As she falls rapidly under his spell, Esmeralda dares to hope for a future she would never have thought possible.

With a deadly plot against the royal family surrounding him in danger and intrigue, Damien will face a decision he never thought he would have to make. Would he step up to claim a responsibility that should never have fallen to the third son? Or will he abandon it to risk all for love? 

Product Details:

I picked it up on free Kindle Download in early March, and at the time of writing this post it is still available for free download HERE.

361 pages

It forms part of a series of books.

* * * *

Summary/Thoughts:

Okay, this is a difficult one.  Over and above some errors/bug bears (see below), there wasn't really anything fundamentally wrong with it.

However, I failed to engage with the characters other than on a superficial level right until the very end of the work.

The pace of the plot was a bit ponderous in places, but not all the time.  The villain was predictable, and there just really weren't any surprises of real jeopardy in my opinion.

For all the haters out there, that seem to dislike negative comments that I make .... ~~PLEASE don't get me wrong because of the above, I didn't hate the work at all ~~ towards the end I'd started to engage with Serge and Isabelle in particular.  Given that they were secondary characters, it was a little surprising that was the case.  Why didn't I fully engage with Damien and Esmerelda.  I don't know the answer, despite quite a bit of thinking about it .... anyone got any suggestions?

Anyway, the good news is that books two in the series: The Second Son, carries on with the story of Serge and Isabelle, so I won't be giving up on it any time soon, I need to find out where they are going ... even will to pay good old cold hard cash for it too.

Rating:

Given the above, 3.5 rating would be appropriate, I would love to feel I could give it more though.  I will award 3 stars for Amazon and Good Reads, it just didn't cut it for upgrade to 4 because of some of the errors/bug bears.  I have higher hopes for the next one.

Errors/Bug Bears:

There were a few, but nothing horrendous or major.  Given the fact that they started at just 1% into the piece it could have been a better delivered product, but nothing that can't be put right.  I have underlined the questionable bit where quoted.

• 1% - "It all made since now and the process of his life all came together to form one clear picture" - sense.  Also, comma after "now" perhaps.
• 9% - "....weaved as they danced.,  The pace quickening.." - no comma required as well.
• 11% - "And what as this talk of ledgers" - "of".  Call me old fashioned, but I don't like to see a conjunction forming the beginning of a sentence (blame my old English Tutor).  Although I do concede that it's quite on out-dated notice that I hold.
• 19% - "....she was obligated to attend" - in my own personal view obliged would have been better.
• 22% - obligated again ... may be it's me.
• 26% "artfully" used twice within a few sentences.
• 37% - "Iabelle's ribbon was now fluttering on the handle of this lance, and he raised it to this betrothed in silent salute." - his.
• 48% - "...moving her fingers town to the waistband ..." - down.
• 58% - "Damien was caught offguard by Lionus' question" - in the context of the paragraph it should be Nicolai's question not Lionus.
• 75% - "I think perhaps you should say, ...." - it should be stay if you read the whole paragraph.
• Can't remember exactly where, but some where after 75% "...her younger to cousin to come.." - an extra "to" in there, should be: her cousin to come.
• Now this next bit is probably nit picking by me, but it bothered me .... at some point Peter Pan was mentioned.  There is no actual date that the novel is set (I quite like to see a date by the way, then you know where you stand!), but I had gained a feeling it was dated earlier than the beginning of the 20th century - Peter Pan was not published until 1902.
• More a bug bear, it fell somewhere in between historical and fantasy for me - I might have felt happier with the work as a whole if it had been clearly fantasy with no real life mentions, i.e. America, Peter Pan.

I think I need to work as a Beta Reader .... can't help noticing errors etc., so if anyone would be interested in my acting as a free Beta Reader/Editor get in touch.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily (well almost) Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

On Fallen Wings ~ Jamie McHenry

*NEW AUTHOR

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fantasy > Fairy

Indie Writer (Self-published)

I missed yesterday's selection as the whole house is poorly sick .... so today I thought it might be nice to have a bit of fairy type adventure with this one.  No reviews so far, so it's a leap of faith.  You can find it available as a free download HERE.

Today I was delighted to find out that my Amazon Reviewer listing is at 8,687 (<).  I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Free Kindle Download at Amazon

Xandria Drake: Ancient Rising ~ Laura Cantu

*NEW AUTHOR

Kindle Books > Fiction > Fantasy > Fairy Tales

Publisher:  Serendipity Digital Media

Today's selection is sitting at number 79 on Amazon's Free Best Seller list this morning, plus it's a lovely cover!  No reviews have been written yet, so it will be happy surprise to everybody how this Fantasy/Fairy Tale will pan out.

You can find it quickly over at Amazon by clicking the large title just above the cover photograph, or click HERE.  As always, please bean mind that I have no guarantee how long they will stay available for free download, so if you are reading this post retrospectively, you may well have to pay for it - I will review it as soon as possible and report back on it's merits.

This morning my Amazon Reviewer rating slipped back a bit (not badly though) to 10,444.  I haven't done a review now for a couple of days - I've had so little actual reading time, plus the book I'm currently reading is a little slow going in places.  I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' some day .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay

My Daily Selection for Kindle Freebie Download at Amazon

Myth of the Moon Goodess ~ Aprl Rane *NEW AUTHOR

Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fairy Tales

Today I've done a switcheroo to the realms of Fantasy, or I should say Fairy Tale.  It's the début novel by April Rane.  Whilst it has only had 1 review so far, it was quite favourable.

As usual you can find it quickly over at Amazon by clicking the large title just above the cover photograph, or click HERE,

This morning that my Amazon Reviewer status has dropped back up a bit to 9,366.  Making significant gains seems to be hard now I've hit the Top Reviewers' List, but thank you to anyone that has taken the time to leave positive feedback over there for me, it is very much appreciated.


I would love to get to the top 1,000 Reviewers' .... so if you find the Daily Kindle Download info useful please go over to my Reviews on Amazon and leave me some positive feedback - which helps my rating, and will earn you my grateful thanks.

Hugs

Kay