Quest of the Broken-Hearted (Possible Spoilers?)

Interesting to see how an author connects with the fate of his characters and can feel their misery and pain. Interesting comment thread too, although some are a little off-topic.

Legends of Windemere

By Kayla Matt

I can say that only know of 3 characters who are confirmed to survive Legends of Windemere.  The rest are still up in the air, which has left me with having to create alternate endings.  One such ending can lead to a stand-alone book that gives a character closure if she survives: Kira Grasdon.

I will say that at least 1 person will die in the Sari/Luke Callindor/Kira Grasdon love triangle.  At least as things stand right now, so I have plans for Windemere to continue in each scenario.  If alive, Luke and Sari would join the other surviving champions as cameos in future series.  Maybe even together.  As for Kira, I have two paths if she survives.  One is that she marries Luke and joins him on the cameo circuit.  The other is that she doesn’t get Luke and plunges into darkness.  Hence, that story…

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Whistle for the Crows by Dorothy Eden

Description

From one of the world’s classic authors of romantic suspense comes the thrilling tale of a young woman caught between the desires of two very different brothers while researching a family’s secret history in an eerie Irish castle.

For Cathleen Lamb, traveling to Dublin to record the history of the mystery-shrouded O’Riordan family is the answer to a prayer. Still grieving over the accident that killed her husband and baby daughter, she hopes to lose herself in other people’s lives.
But something sinister is going on at the ancient castle at the edge of the moors . . . something beyond the scandalous skeletons rattling around the O’Riordans’ closets. The former heir was killed three years earlier in a suspicious fall. The same night, the family matriarch suffered a stroke that left her mute.

Despite the malice that surrounds her, Cathleen is drawn to the brooding, darkly passionate man who is plotting to control the family. But even he may not be able to protect her when the crimes of the past reach into the present to terrorize the living.

I gave this book three stars out of five

My thoughts:

I quite enjoyed this book. It was a relatively straightforward read that was easy to immerse oneself in. The setting was perfect for the story that evolved, particularly the gloomy, half ruined castle on the moors in rural Ireland. The author painted an excellent picture of the location with many great descriptive passages.

The story was a nice mix of a number of different elements. It was filled with family history, scandal, investigation, suspense, although I thought that it was a little short on the actual romance.

I enjoyed the interaction between Cathleen and the members of the O’Riordan family, especially Liam and Rory. The rivalry between the brothers for Cathleen’s attention was interestingly handled, and gave great insights into the characters of these men.

I enjoyed the authors skill at character building. She gave us a number of well-rounded characters that were interesting and deep. It was easy to invest in the characters and their lives.

The plot was interesting and moderately paced, although a little slow in places.

The introduction of snippets of back story and the revelation of more and more skeletons from the close to bursting closet of the O’Riordans was cleverly done.

I enjoyed the conclusion of the story and found it interesting and somewhat different to how I had expected.

I would certainly recommend this book to those interested in an eerie mystery story, but would be more reluctant in recommending it as a romance, as this element seemed to be very understated.

This review was based upon a complimentary copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher Open Road Media as part of the Retro reads program.

Cyber Wars

Another one of my favourite poets. Check out Pam’s site.

Poetry by Pamela

Emails
Texting
Messaging
What happened to hand written notes?

Phone sex
Text sex
Cyber sex
What happened to skin to skin sex?

Face time
Skyping
Web cams
What happened to real smiling faces?

Facebook
Twitter
Google +
What happened to coffee klatch?

Personal
Face to face
One on one
The beginning of social media

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How Terrible To Be Separated From One’s Love (Acrostic)

Thanks to Dom, for the continual kind words and encouragement. Everyone should check out the great poetry by one of my favourite poets.

Dom DiFrancesco

How terrible to be separated from one’s love,

Oceans mocking with their insurmountable gauntlet;

Praying on the tender heart as if expendable.

Elicit my wrath you vile beast!

Love conquers all or so the saying goes,

End your repeated assaults on star-crossed lovers

So that those destined to be united might consume.

Save your sour vengeance for hell,

Releasing us to our burning desires.

Over your objections we shall conquer.

My steel shall slaughter your thirst

And leave us to our own destiny.

Neither man nor beast shall stand in our path,

This I vow until my last breath.

I love you, shall be written in the stars

Completing our journey destined by the Creator.

.

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 ~

AUTHOR’S NOTE:  This poem was inspired by Julian Froment and the poem he…

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I don’t want to leave

I make no excuses for the following making me sound like a whiny baby. Fuck it, I think I am perfectly justified in whining a little when I have to be parted, for any amount of time, from the woman I love, Ionia Martin.

 

I don’t want to leave,

I keep repeating this phrase.

I don’t want to leave,

I am in a mindless daze.

 

I don’t want to leave,

Home is wherever you are.

I don’t want to leave,

I need my guiding star.

 

I don’t want to leave,

To return to a living hell.

I don’t want to leave,

To become an empty shell.

 

I don’t want to leave,

Because I love you with all my heart.

I don’t want to leave,

Since we should never be apart.

The Bleeding Heart by Marilyn French

Description from Goodreads.

By the author of the groundbreaking feminist novel The Women’s Room, The Bleeding Heart is a compelling novel about the devastating power of marriage — and the unexpected power of love. A love story for and about adults, it speaks to the hearts and minds of women and men everywhere.

Dolores and Victor are both successful, both Americans living alone in England. They meet and fall instantly in love, only to discover they agree on nothing. From the start they know they have only one year together. Their affair is sometimes bitter, always passionate, and, in the end, an extraordinary revelation for them both.

I gave this book two stars out of five 

My thoughts:

I have to say that I did not get on very well with this book. I struggled to get through it. I enjoyed the location, Oxford, England, but found the rest of the book held little for me.

It was an unusual romance. In principle the idea was interesting, but I found the narrative tedious. There were extremely large sections that just seemed to be undirected rambling and whining about the past by the main characters, Dolores and Victor.

There was a lot of back story, presumably designed to indicate to the reader the main characters motivation for acting as they did. Instead it came across, to me at least, as rather monotonous and extremely negative. There appeared to be a real ire for men, in general, and an automatic assumption that all men are the same. This became wearing after a while.

This was not a book I particularly enjoyed, and although I felt that technically it was well executed, the narrative of the story and the past lives of the main characters quickly began to irritate me, and sadly, that didn’t change throughout the course of the book.

I was hoping for a big conclusion and some life changing events towards the end of the book, which were never realised. A big epiphany, if you will, but it was not to be.

I am sure that there are many readers out there that will enjoy a romance of this nature, but whilst I can appreciate the author’s skill, I am not one of them.

This review was based upon a complimentary copy of the book provided by Netgalley and the publisher Open Road Media as part of the Retro reads program.

Waiting for You

I have been waiting for you,

My entire life,

It has been a long hard road,

Filled with strife

 

I never imagined it could,

Happen to me,

To find a woman that matched,

So perfectly

 

I know that the battle,

Is far from won,

But in my heart,

You are number one

 

The road still to travel,

Will be tough,

But having your love,

Is always enough

 

Finally together,

Whatever we’ve weathered,

Permanent bliss,

Love untethered

And Now the World it Spins Again

The temporary conclusion of the spinning world cycle, (as I have retrospectively decided to dub this set of linked poems), as this cycle will only truly end when I am together permanently with the love of my life. Sadly this cycle will no doubt be repeated a number of times before it can reach its ultimate perfect conclusion.

 

And now the world it spins again

But only for a while

And then we shall begin again

To endure our difficult trial

 

For now though, all is perfect

Back here in your arms

To look upon your pretty face

And all your heavenly charms

 

Even though the real world

Rears its ugly head

Every moment spent with you

Fills my heart with joy

 

Someday will eventually come

And we shall be together

Sharing this one life of ours

Always and forever.

Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune Cover Reveal!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune is set to debut on Sunday, March 16th!!!

The magical adventure continues after Luke Callindor and his friends recover from their battles in Haven.

Nyx still has nightmares about casting the genocide spell in Hero’s Gate. Every night her heart is gripped by the sensation of hundreds of goblins dying by her magic. By the request of Lord Highrider and Duke Solomon, she is returning to fix the damage she caused. With Luke Callindor and Sari by her side, Nyx is ready to face the vengeful goblins and opportunistic thieves that plague Hero’s Gate. Yet, there is a darker threat that was born from her violated magic: The Krypters.

It is another action-packed, character driven story that will reveal one of our heroes has been lied to for their entire life.

About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Blog: Legends of Windemere
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz

We’re still taking volunteers for the April blog tour. So fill out the form HERE!

Read the Previous Volumes of Legends of Windemere!!!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover by Jason Pedersen

Poor poetry

I hope you never get tired

Of my poor attempts at poetry

I am not eloquent like some

But love just flows from me

 

I may not be able

To properly articulate

But I always want you

To be my lifelong mate

 

This truly is a tragedy,

How I cannot express my love,

In words that are sufficient

To amaze the angels above

 

So let me just be done,

Trying to be profound

And just say, I love you,

Passion without bound.