This weekend I spent sometime with some old friends in the town of Sugar Maple, Vermont!  This is the second time I have read Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton and this time I made it a point to review it.  This light read is packed full of wonders and amazing characters!

Sugar Maple is a small town in Vermont with nothing out of the ordinary about it. Except there hasn't been a recorded death in hundreds of years, no births and zero crimes.  They didn't even have a police force... until now.  When a young politician's girlfriend dies within their boarders, Sugar Maple is catapulted into a whirlwind of events that could lead to their salvation, or their downfall.

Chloe Hobbs is a young witch with no powers, a town of frustrated friends and an unending basket of possible knit projects.  As the mayor of the small town it's Chloe's job to prove her worth and protect the tiny town's secret from their new resident cop, Luke. 

The story is enchanting without being heavy and too full of drama, the writing leaves Chloe's situation light-hearted and laughable.  While Chloe and Luke's romance is present, this is not a romance novel, the love story is simply a story telling device and if you're looking for a deep romance, filled with passion and heartache, look elsewhere.

It's time for another goodreads giveaway review!  A few days ago I tucked up with "The Longest Night" by Kara Braden and was more than pleasantly surprised!  You can read my 5 star review below or on goodreads, make sure to pick up a copy via the links below as well.

Ian, a recovering pain medication addict, is sent to live in a remote section of Canada with Cecily, an ex marine with a troubled past and a serious case of PTSD.  Over the course of a few months, in the middle of nowhere, the two slowly with the help of each other begin the healing process and learn to let someone into their hearts.  

Both characters were portrayed in a realistic way with flaws and pain that was balanced by Ian's kind heart and Cecily's strength.  Ian had a Sherlock-esk way of seeing Cecily, attributed to his Lawyer skills, but it was interesting to see his observations woven into the main arc of the story.  Their love story progressed at a refreshingly slow pace, one falling before the other and unwilling to believe it.  Through the course of the book both make multiple sacrifices for themselves and for each other and are rewarded with a new start to their lives that they both desperately needed.

The writing was easy to understand and flowed seamlessly from once scene to another.  There were little to no typos and the paper back had the most delicious tactile feel (yeah I'm a sucker for a well made book).

What a crazy week!  I've spent countless hours on my porch soaking up the sun with Onnie, Gabriel, and my many other imaginary friends in this recent heatwave.  We've gone swimming, accomplished some gardening and even managed to read a couple of books in our down time.  It's the end of week two (only 18 days left) in our July Camp NaNoWriMo adventure and we've made some startling progress!

Go get out your bow and quiver.  Pull back.  Aim... and GO!  See you next week with more words done and even more progress made!

I'm back at it again; reading books for fun!  This time it was "Shadow Spell" by Nora Roberts, book 2 in the Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy.  I enjoyed book two far better than book one, though I attribute that more to the pair of characters than the writing.  Check out my review for the first book "Dark Witch" (goodreads | blog) or for "Shadow Spell" (goodreads)

This is my second Nora Robert novel and as much as I did not enjoy the first book, I actually did enjoy this one.  Roberts was at it again with her wonderful worlds, believable magic system and this time, back with a better pair of characters.  Sorcha's children and their modern day lineage stand up to fight Cabhan once again.  They may have left him hurt in book one, but in book two each side pulls new and devastating tricks out of their bag.

"Shadow Spell" was Connor's story and how finally sees his childhood friend Meara for what she really is.  Their romance was more about two strong people learning how to protect each other without shutting them out and making them feel small than the acceptance that Iona's book was.  Maera and Connor we both written to be strong leads with spine, compassion and faults.  Maera is the deeper character with the struggles placed on her through her family, the circle and her self imposed imperfections.  Her character arc was what made this book worth reading.  Connor's childhood was apparently picture perfect and though his love for Maera was sweet, he was flat compaired to her.  

Same as the first book, my main issue with this novel was the writing. Sentences were repeated one after the other with just minor phrasing changes and it overall felt really difficult to read.  Then there was the repeating scenes.  Some action would occur, and attack by Cabhan for example, we the readers would view it as it happened and then whoever it happened to would sit around a table and tell the rest of the circle.  This happened every time, and there was always more detail about the encounter in the recap, why?  Once or twice, fine, but every time, no, just let me read it and then move on.  So basically the book had half as much content as it did words.

Someone get the tent down from the attic, air out the sleeping bags and for the love of everything, don't forget the marshmallows!  It's campin' time!

Yup, that's write (see what I did there), Camp NaNoWriMo is back in session!  This month I have set another 50k word goal for myself and I will be focusing on content edits and filling plot holes in Keeper's Conundrum as well as simply expanding the story.

Thanks for sticking with me and I look forward to blinding you with progress next week!

After my trip last month my Mom was nice enough to lend me a few books, and after finishing the list of prior commitment reviews, I was able to read for myself again.  Dark Witch is the first Nora Robert novel I've read as I have been wary of reading her work in the past (anyone who can write that quickly makes me leery).  As always, you can see my original review on goodreads or down below.

Roberts can sure weave a wonderful tale; the setting was very well described, the evil felt like a real threat and the back story was the most well written and enjoyable part of the book.  Sorcha and her children and their fight with Cabhan was captivating and left me wanting more... then the point of view changed to present tense.

From the very beginning it was easy to see that this "trilogy" was going to three separate novels based off of three different romances with one interwoven story line.  "Dark Witch" was Iona's story and how she moves her life from the US to Ireland in the hopes of finally "fitting in" somewhere.  If by fitting in she meant finding two long lost cousins and moving in with them within hours of landing in the country.  Or finding a job in her desired field within twenty-four hours and her true love in less time than that... then I think she did well.  The speed at which this, desperate for love, woman finds exactly what she's looking for was astoundingly fast.  Boyle, Iona's love interest was just a flat and one-dimensional as she was and there was nothing that made me root for them.

My main issue with this novel, is actually the writing.  Sentences were repeated one after the other with just minor phrasing changes and it overall felt really difficult to read.

Despite all of the flaws I felt the story/writing had, I did finish the book and I am currently reading the second one.  That being said, I am only doing so because I have borrowed the books and would not have spent money buying the second one otherwise.