Estevan Vega's Winter Sparrow - Blurb, Review, and Excerpts!

Today's post is part of Read Between the Lines book tour featuring Estevan Vega's Winter Sparrow!

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Publisher: Stonehouse Ink

Edition/Formats Available In:  Ebook & Print

“I’ll grow wings all by myself.”

Mary is a young artist about to enter a new chapter in her life. After years of waiting and searching, she has finally found true love. She’s also just discovered that her fiancé Joshua has inherited his father’s rundown countryside mansion. To add to the rising pressure, her wedding day is so close she can practically hear the music. All she has to do is accept what the future holds. Accept…and be happy.

But something’s missing.

As the seasons change, her doubts turn to fears, and her fears become reality. Through struggle and loss, the love she once possessed for Joshua transforms into contempt. When Mary is confronted with a magical escape, the life she has and the life she dreams of will collide, awakening a mysterious change within. But no choice comes without cost, and each one will draw her closer to the truth.

At times both beautiful and haunting, Winter Sparrow dares you to step into a world where eternity is a moment and every breath is a second chance. The fantasy begins….

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Review: 5 out of 5 Stars. This is not your typical Fantasy/Romance. This isn't boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, boy falls in love with girl, and they lived happily ever after. This is about life and love. It isn't always pretty, it doesn't always make sense, but oh how we all long for it. This book is poetic and beautiful and haunting. Read this line!

"He was the sunrise she missed so strongly, perhaps, and she was the cloud that, in time, might eclipse him."

Or just previous to that when the author describes the scene for you with: 

"BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER, dawn resembled dark poetry. A spellbound earth sat behind the hills and clouds and dim but rising light. It was made new by irregular colors. The trees on the south end of the mansion flexed rebelliously out of the black dirt womb and created skinny branches. The shades of leaves faded."

Can you not see every shadow lit gently by the light? Does it not evoke a bit of creepy stillness that comes with early morning fall? I could practically smell this morning at their house in the country. 

Mary and Joshua are about to begin their lives together. From completely different upbringings, one being taught that we are "made to love" and the other to doubt self-worth in every aspect, you would imagine that these two overcame hurdles to fall in love. While I was reading, one of my notes said that I pitied Josh. Mary refers to herself as neurotic, but that is such a gentle word for what he is dealing with. As their lives begin, so does their downward spiral. 

The imagery and ethereal beauty of Estevan Vega's writing stuck with me. It is visceral and yet soft; strong and clear and yet confusing. The entire book was much like a dream itself, with bits and pieces coming together to evoke a response but without having total clarity of the events that got us there. You have these references to Mary's past experiences, to her father's words, but nothing is concrete. And that is why this novel works so well. If it were concrete, you wouldn't have to fill in the blanks with your own emotions and past. You wouldn't be able to step into Mary's shoes or Joshua's. This was the first book I have read by this author and I will definitely be picking up his others. 

ESTEVAN VEGA FELL IN LOVE WITH STORYTELLING IN THE FIFTH GRADE WHEN HE WAS FORCED TO WRITE SHORT STORIES EVERY DAY FOR ENGLISH CLASS. THAT’S RIGHT, FORCED. BUT WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FATHER, HE REALIZED, HE ACTUALLY LIKED WRITING AND LOVED PEOPLE’S REACTION TO HIS WORK. NOW, AFTER MANY, MANY MOONS, VEGA HAS AUTHORED 6 BOOKS AND SEVERAL SHORT STORIES ALL READY TO BE CONSUMED BY YOU. HIS HOBBIES INCLUDE SINGING IN THE SHOWER, GOING TO CONCERTS, AND TRYING TO ALWAYS EMULATE OPTIMUS PRIME. HE LOVES MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM, WRITING PECULIAR TALES, AND STILL HASN’T LEARNED HOW TO WHISTLE.

Author Links

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Website

http://www.estevanvega.com/

Read on for your excerpts!

Cliff of the Ruin by Bonnie McKernan

Cliff of the Ruin by Bonnie McKernan
Publisher: Abbott Press
Publication date: November 2012
Length: 418 pages
Genre: Historical fiction, fantasy
Editions: Hardcover, paperback, kindle
Source for Review: Netgalley

Synopsis: There are three good reasons why dashing Civil War hero and New York lawyer William Teague cannot tell artist Mae Kendrick he''s in love with her. One, she told him he was dull. Two, she is the niece of an important client. Three, she just hired him to find the man she doesn't remember marrying.

As Will manages this peculiar case, the search for Mae's husband unveils a shocking discovery about her childhood, one that shifts the investigation to the place of her birth--Ireland.

But on the voyage overseas, circumstances become increasingly bizarre. Mae suffers ghost-like visions and further memory loss, and Will is seduced by a beautiful stranger who just might be trying to kill him. When Mae suddenly vanishes like her husband, Will is forced to enter a thin place, an ancient monastic ruin leading to Ireland's Celtic otherworld, in what becomes a race against time to find her.

But are Will''s war-honed instincts any match for the alluring forces of Irish legend? Can he distinguish friend from foe? Can he protect Mae from the apparitions of her past? And how far beyond the breaking point can his secret love be tested?

Review after the jump!

Liesel Schwarz's A Conspiracy of Alchemists

A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: Received from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun, well-paced steampunk fantasy romance! I thought it was a strong start to a new series that I will be snatching as soon as available. It starts off with intrigue and action and keeps it up throughout the book. I loved the absinthe fairies and the inner monologue of Adele as she travels with Elle on her adventure.

I've always liked Wonder Woman and the archetype of strong, self-efficient feminine leads without them acting as if they have something to prove. Elle Chance is this kind of character. She is self-sufficent and able to stand on her own, but doesn't have that self-aggrandizement that can be so annoying. She questions Marsh and his motives from the beginning, which was smart in my book as why ever would you trust someone with your life and the life of a loved one based on his word alone?

Marsh, as her counterpart, is likeable with the tiniest hint of "hurt in the past" that makes you want Elle to fix him. Dashing, gentlemanly, and never condescending.

I enjoyed the turns of mythology in regards to oracles, the fantasy of magic with warlocks, and the steampunk ships, creations, mechanicals, and alchemists. The ending was satisfying even though it left you with heart palpitations and wanting the next book RIGHT NOW.

A Conspiracy of Alchemists publishes on March 4, 2013. So get it now and join me in the "wait, when is the SEQUEL?!"

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ARC Review - The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*happy sigh* Review to come. I don't want to write it right now as I'm still living in the world of Rob and Nicola, Anna & Edmund.
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If you couldn't already tell by the happy sigh above, I LOVED this book. I found myself reading slower and slower once halfway through as I wanted it to continue. I was excited when I realized we were back to Slains Castle for a bit, and easily imagined Eyemouth having done a little traveling in Scotland and seeing a village just like that. My first book by Ms Kearsley was The Winter Sea and I really loved it.

THIS is how romances should be. Much like The Winter Sea, The Firebird has two stories to tell. The modern story of Rob & Nicola, and the history of Anna Moray (and later her love interest, Edmund).

Perhaps I'm attracted to brogues and all things Scottish, but I was instantly enamored of Rob. And it wasn't til his mom was talking about him to Nicola that I said, "omg The Shadowy Horses! I really have to read it now!" I love the ties like that.

I found the psychometry and telepathy interesting and found myself envying Rob & Nicola for their ability to speak to one another mind to mind. You cannot get more intimate than that!

As Anna's story unfolds, I was eager to learn more and more. I was hoping to have her childhood promise to her fulfilled, but couldn't see how it would be accomplished. The twist...boy do I feel stupid. I READ The Winter Sea! I should have seen that coming, especially with the remarks on the plane about how Russians call one another as so-and-so's son/daughter. *facepalm*

I loved this. That makes two books this year I would read over and over and over again, so far.

If you loved The Winter Sea, get this book. Preorder it. If you like romances and historical romances, get this book.

P.S. Receiving the ARC didn't color my review at all: as always, this is a totally honest, unbiased review as you can tell by my blabbering.

Soul Avenged by Keri Lake - GO GET THIS

Soul Avenged by Keri Lake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, first I should say that I got my copy directly from the author as an ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. I am doing my best to keep this a spoiler free review, including not giving away much of the plot. Okay?

Honest. Unbiased. Review. Got that? Good.

This was one of the BEST paranormal fantasy reads I have read in a long time! I started reading this in earnest today as Blizzard Nemo hit the area. Between bouts of taking the dogs out, checking on friends, etc., I was sneaking time in to read. And then when I finally had a few hours to myself (very late at night as it's now 4am and I've been reading the last 3 hours straight) I finished this in one, long gulp, unable to put it down and sleep. I simply had to know what was going to happen!

The book hits the ground running, full sprint. There is no lead up, Keri Lake just drops you into the middle of the action and makes you say to yourself, "Yeeeesss!"

The heroine, Ayden, kicks some serious ass, but flawed in that way that makes her human and appealing to the reader. If you liked Lilith Saint Crow's Dante Valentine or Jill Kismet, you are going to love Ayden. In the beginning, I was in complete agreement with Kane: "This woman is all kinds of fucked up, but damn she is one tough cookie!" She frustrated me in her inability to see past his new "halfling" status. He hasn't done anything wrong yet, woman!

Kane seems like quite the good man. Motivated by his own loss in life, he's the director of a children's cancer institute before he's bitten. He lives a good life, if a tad obsessed with his job. It's as he's seeing the end come, that he realizes he really wasn't LIVING.

Ms. Lake's world is well constructed and detailed. READ THE GLOSSARY IN THE FRONT. You won't necessarily need it as the explanations come seamlessly in the plot of the novel, however it does help to have an idea and something to reference when they are talking about it. As the reader, I found myself connecting with the different characters easily. They are all so fascinating! I am happy that this is the first in the series and I am hoping that the series will be a book for each Wrath brother we just met. I mean, this story is about Ayden and Kane, really, with an introduction to the Sons of Wrath. Sooooooo...books on Gavin, Logan (and Calla?), Zeke, Zayne, Calix, Ferno, and dammit I'm missing one.

This sounds like something weird to say, but not only did I really enjoy the story and the characters, but I also really appreciated Ms. Lake's writing. I've read several series whose story could be fantastic, but it melts into just sex scene after sex scene, which while hot detracts from the progression of the plot, and isn't what I'm looking for when I read. Yes there are sex scenes in this book, but they integrate well with the plot and the story of the characters involved. I also appreciated that we the readers weren't told in detail about the disgusting and sadistic sexual actions General Wade inflicted on his female soldiers. The hints alone left such distaste in my mouth, but I was very glad not to have it solidified into imagery.

The ending was very satisfying and complete. No cliffhanger to leave you dangling, although PLENTY to explore in future books in the series.

I haven't enjoyed a book of this genre this much since I was first introduced to Dante Valentine, Jill Kismet, Elena & Clay, Paige & Lucas, etc. I need the rest in this series. I know this book just came out, but I really need the rest of this series. LOL

TL;DR - It was a frickin' good read, urban/paranormal fantasy, go GET IT! And then join the bandwagon as we await more in this series. :) Thank you, Ms. Lake, for giving me a FABULOUS read during a huge blizzard!

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