How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck

How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck. Zondervan, 2015. 368p. (9780310315544) Series: Royal Wedding, #3

I quite enjoyed the first two books in this series, Once Upon a Prince and Princess Ever After and was excited to read Prince Stephen’s story. Especially given the summary!

Goodreads Summary:

Prince Stephen came to America to escape responsibility. But what he found complicates his life more than ever.

Corina Del Rey is happy with her life in Melbourne, Florida. She spends her days engrossed in her career as a journalist and has her sights set on climbing the corporate ladder if for no other reason, to distract herself from her dissolving family. But when she is confronted with the past she fought so hard to put behind her, she struggles to make sense of her future.

Prince Stephen of Brighton Kingdom has moved on since the tragic death of his buddies in Afghanistan. A star professional rugby player, he has no intention of looking over his shoulder at what could have been.

But when a notice arrives in the mail requiring his and his wife s appearance before the courts to dissolve their marriage, he must deal with the questions rumbling around in his heart. He thought his marriage had been annulled long ago, but his memories of Corina Del Rey remain close. Does he still love her? Can he even find her? Above all, can he tell her the truth about that fateful night in Afghanistan seven years ago? If he does, he might really lose her forever."

My Review:

This is a very fun story with an interesting twist. I’d recommend reading the first book in the series and possibly the novella A March Bride before reading this one. The second books deals with a neighboring kingdom and while King Nathaniel, Stephen’s brother, is in there I don’t think it’s necessary for enjoying book three.

This book, like the other two, is very sigh worthy. What girl at some point doesn’t daydream of marrying a prince or being an heiress, and being able to wear stunning gowns? But at the same time it deals with difficult and complicated issues: Forgiveness. Survivor’s guilt. And the author guides her characters through those emotions and processing them very well.

I didn’t remember Stephen being such an intense and downcast man from the previous stories but the rest of the royal family were as I remembered them. The family dinner that Corina was invited to was an excellent scene showing how Susanna is making her mark on the royal household!  

The supernatural elements were a bit far-fetched, but it isn’t logical really to want to call it far-fetched since I do believe angels are sent to look after us from time to time and we accept much more fantastical occurrences in fantasy tales.

All in all a fun read, especially if you like modern day fairy tales and royalty.

Releasing Feb 24^th, pre-order it! Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon ($9.99 / $11.95); Buy it from ChristianBooks.com ($9.99/$11.99); Buy it from Barnes &Noble ($9.99/$11.95);

(Ebook/paperback prices good as of January 24, 2015 always double check for yourself)

Disclosure: I received these book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

~~~

Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com or Independent Bookstores use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

Cover Reveal: Draven's Light

I may be a few hours late in posting this but I am no less excited for this next book in the wonderful Tales of Goldstone Wood series. It isn't quite a novella - bit long for that, but it's also quite a bit shorter than the other books in the series. This past week Golden Daughter arrived at the library and I was amazed at how fat it was. (I read it as a pdf.)

But let me tell you about Draven's Light

~~~

In the Darkness of the Pit

The Light Shines Brightest

Drums summon the chieftain’s powerful son to slay a man in cold blood and thereby earn his place among the warriors. But instead of glory, he earns the name Draven, “Coward.” When the men of his tribe march off to war, Draven remains behind with the women and his shame. Only fearless but crippled Ita values her brother’s honor.

The warriors return from battle victorious yet trailing a curse in their wake. One by one the strong and the weak of the tribe fall prey to an illness of supernatural power. The secret source of this evil can be found and destroyed by only the bravest heart.

But when the curse attacks the one Draven loves most, can this coward find the courage he needs to face the darkness?

Coming May 25, 2015

~~~

Anne Elisabeth has shared an excerpt of this compelling tale on the book's website. And she also tells us how this story came about. Quite interesting with some intriguing hints about what we can look forward to. I just love Anne Elisabeth's work (as you well know if you regularly read this blog), but I'm not the only one. Her novel Starflower was awarded the 2013 Clive Staples Award, and her novels Heartless, Veiled Rose, and Dragonwitch have each been honored with a Christy Award.

Last but not least, here's the link to the giveaway for a chance at one of three advanced reader copies of this book!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Dutton Books, 2012. 316p. (9780525478812)

I finally got around to reading this last week. What a bleak outlook on life and eternity!

Goodreads Summary:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent [yep!], and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

My Review:

The story is engaging and terminal cancer patients do tug at ones heart strings; I never even came close to crying though. The writing and vocabulary is at a middle/high school level (for the most part) but the author throws in obscure words (hamartia for one, but its explained) and doesn’t ever talk down to his audience. I think that’s perhaps why so many YAs love this book. The author deals with big issues with candor and grittiness but he also lighten things up with laugh out loud wittiness.

But boy do those kids need their mouths washed with soap. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with so much bad language. Which is a sad reflection on American society because I highly suspect that’s how a lot of teens talk. Though I highly doubt that even a small fraction could use the college and graduate level vocabulary Augustus and Hazel use and launch into very prosaic and philosophical monologues they way they do, especially if they aren’t widely and well read individuals, just as these two aren’t.

**Spoiler alert – not really, you probably heard by now** Augustus and Hazel have sex. Just a short time after their first kiss. Which is another sad reflection on American society. Why is it assumed that having sex is the only way to prove/show how in love or committed a couple is? That’s baloney!

Especially if the couple is in high school. Especially because he's really just using her. God has good reasons for forbidding sex outside of marriage.

Brains are amazing organs and one of the neurochemicals it releases during sex is dopamine which makes you feel good, it creates an addiction to that feeling. To use Dannah Gresh’s words from her book What are You Waiting for? The One Thing No One Ever Tells You about Sex:

Dopamine emotionally “attaches” you to the source of pleasure – even if that source is “just a friend.” … The limbic system was created to store sexual memory and emotion for us. A little walnut-sized mass called the thalamus…is the seat of our romantic “heart.” The purpose of the limbic system and dopamine is to turn the visceral drives of passion into a deep, lasting attachment – into knowing and being known. But when this gets misused, our system becomes confused and we feel great pain. (p.42)

Out of the 33,000+ reviews on Amazon only 104 mention that the teens (who are underage by the way) have sex (and use the word sex in their review). And well over half of those were 4 or 5 star reviews. Also Hazel’s friend Kaitlyn says some very crude things when she finds out Augustus and Hazel are (semi) dating.

I had obtained this free for the library using book club reward money, but I don’t think I’ll be cataloging it and adding it to the library. The collection development policy states, “All material, particularly fiction, should promote faithfulness to Philippians 4:8. 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.'” And this book doesn’t align with that at all.

Read this if you’ve got YAs in your life that love it (or will read it) and if you keep up with pop culture, otherwise don’t bother.

If you must read it: Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon ($2.99/$6.60/$10.70); Buy it from Barnes& Noble ($2.99/ $8.32/$10.75)

(Ebook / paper back / hardcover prices good as of January 7, 2015 always double check for yourself)

Disclosure: I got this from the library. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

~~~

Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com or Independent Bookstores use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Novels For 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Most Anticipated Novels For 2015

The topic is technically 'most anticipated debut novels, but I don't keep track of debut authors very well and there are so many other books I'm looking forward to this year. So I decided to share those instead. Technically my #1 will most likely include debut authors.

1. Five Enchanted Roses by five different authors

2. Poison Crown by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

(This banner is from the title reveal. The cover reveal will be sometime this month or next.)

 3. Always on My Mind by Susan May Warren

(Ok, so technically this came out in Dec, but I still want to read it! And the next one after it which does come out in 2015: The Wonder of You 

 4. The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson

5. A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade

6. A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer

7. An Uncertain Choice by Jody Hedlund

8. Taken by Dee Henderson

9. How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck

10. Miles from Nowhere by Amy Clipston

What books are you looking forward to reading this year?

~~~

Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com or Independent Bookstores use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.