Shattered Circle
By Linda Robertson
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pub. Date: January 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1451648935
ASIN: B007EDYUWK
Pages: 384

Review:

Persephone Alcmedi (known as Seph to her friends and family) once again has her hands full in this sixth entry in the series. Her life is crazy with tarot reading, writing a newspaper column, dealing with her grandma, and kenneling werewolves. She is known as the Lustrata to the witches, while she is trying to handle the aftermath of magically marking Menessos, causing him to step down from his vampire clan. And there is this thing about her boyfriend Johnny being the king of waerewolves.

With all the chaos in her life, Seph is blindsided when her foster daughter, Beverly starts getting into a trouble by tapping into the magical world, something Seph wanted her to stay away from. One of Seph's magical artifacts calls out to the young Beverly, meaning she isn’t exactly human. This time around Beverly's life is in danger and Seph must rely on her friends to help save her.

The battle lines have been drawn and everyone is being challenged in Shattered Circle.

I believe the fat cat Garfield said it best, "I hate Mondays!" As that is exactly how I felt this morning after only getting about five house of solid sleep. The last four days have been crazy. My great-uncle died, another family member has been sick, and I have been dealing with a sinus/allergy infection. Of course I had to deal with a several review items not being delivered, so I had to send out a few emails and hopefully I'll be receiving the products by the end of the week.

The weekend is also a little busy for me, as I help my mother take my grandma shopping, then I do my own errands, etc. I didn't get much reading done as I planned on doing as my eyes were watery due to the allergies. I did get a chance to watch Wreck-It Ralph and Juno. The latter I saw parts of on television a few weeks ago and I ran across it in the five dollar bin at my local Walmart. I spent a good part of Sunday catching up on some much needed sleep. I watched Juno in the afternoon and I watched Once Upon a Time and The Walking Dead later that night.

Wicked Circle
By Linda Robertson
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pub. Date: December 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-1451646955
ASIN: B004U7HSS6
Pages: 432

Review:

Persephone Alcmedi (aka Seph) pays the bills by reading tarot cards, writing a newspaper column, and on nights with a full moon she runs a waerewolf kennel in her basement. She has her hands full taking care of her foster daughter, Beverly, her grandmother and her recently found mother. And there is the little known fact that Seph is a witch.

The vampire Menessos comes back into the fold for the fifth installment in the series. The vampire counsel suspects that Menessos is planning a political move by trying to gain power. To make matter worse trios of truth-seeking vampire sisters have been sent to kill him. Needing help more than ever, he seeks the advice of his witch - Seph.

There is an almost unwanted connection between Seph and Menessos, but she is obligated to help him, no matter what the cost. This becomes a big issue between her and her boyfriend, Johnny the waerewolf. Between her home life, paying the bills, playing with magic, and dealing the warewolves, she has a lot of weight on her shoulder, but she agrees to help Menessos. Little does she know that there is a dragon awaiting her.

Arcane Circle
By Linda Robertson
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pub. Date: December 28, 2010
ISBN: 978-1439190258
ASIN: B003UYURNI
Pages: 416

Review:

Persephone Alcmedi (or as her friend's call her, Seph) barely survived Fatal Circle when she took on the Fairies in a mortal battle and now she must deal with the aftermath. A few of her allies were killed during the battle. Her boyfriend/waerewolf, Johnny, was injured and the vampire's, Menessos, life hangs in the balance as she had to stake him to break the fairy bond. This is Seph's typical day as a witch, not counting her other responsibilities of taking care of her foster daughter, Beverly, her elderly grandmother, reading tarot cards, and writing a newspaper column.

 Before she can even relax, she gets world that the waere (waerewolf) leader is coming from Romania to visit Johnny, which can't be a good thing. To her surprise, Johnny announces that he is the warewolf Domn Lup, the king. Johnny has another problem as his magic has somehow been bonded to his tattoo. Seph of course wants to help Johnny reclaim his power, but there are those in the arcane world that want to stop them.

Damascus Countdown
By Joel C. Rosenberg
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
Pub. Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1414319704
ASIN: B008PX1XHI
Pages: 480

Review:

Picking up where the Tehran Initiative left off, CIA operative David Shirazi returns in the international thriller in a plot that actually could take place in real life with Israel launching a strike against Iran, destroying all of their nuclear capabilities. The current United States president, William Jackson is considering agreeing with the U.N. Security Counsel about taking action against Israel for their aggressive strike against Iran.

David Shirazi is caught between two worlds as he is a follower of the Twelfth Imam, but he is a devoted CIA agent. David and his team learn that a few Iran nuclear warheads have survived. Now they must race against time to find the missing warheads before they are launched at Israel.

The India Fan
By Victoria Holt
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pub. Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1402277436
ASIN: B00A2XV6ZS
Pages: 416

Review:

Victoria Holt (aka Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert) passed away in 1993, but her countless novels, including the ones written under the aliases Philippa Carr, Jean Plaidy, and a few others, are still being reprinted for a new generation of readers. I've never read any of her books before, but my grandma use to read all of the Victoria Holt and Jean Plaidy books, so I naturally became interested in reading The India Fan when I saw it was being released this year. I kindly asked the publisher if I could review the book and they nicely sent me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Originally published in 1988, The India Fan is narrated from the point-of-view of Drusilla Delany, who has had the majority of her life somehow connected to the higher class Framling family, starting when the young Fabian Framling kidnapped her when she was a baby for two weeks. She doesn't remember the situation, but she has heard many stories about it. Drusilla befriends the Framling's daughter, Lavinia, where she learns of the family's curse, an India Fan.

Lavinia is the opposite of Drusilla, as she is shallow and wild, resulting in them getting into some trouble while they're attending a finishing school in France, where the selfish Lavinia becomes pregnant. Drusilla stays by her side all through the pregnancy and helps Lavinia give the child up for adoption.

Sea Fangs
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: Gino Montesions, R.F. Daley, Shane Johnson, Jim Meskimen, Kristin Proctor, Phil Proctor
Studio: Galaxy Press
Release Date: June 18, 2010
ISBN:  978-1592122233
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours

Review: 

Before there was the internet, television, video games, and cell phones in every home, the people of the 1930s and 1940s (otherwise known as the Golden Age) spent their time going to the theater, listening to the radio shows, and reading cheap novels and pulp fiction magazines. Many famous authors wrote countless short stories that were published in brown pulp paper magazines, including the late L. Ron Hubbard.

Galaxy Press has been releasing audiobooks versions of Hubbard's short stories for the past few years and they have kindly sent me a few free copies in exchange for my honest review. I had the privilege to listen to Sea Fangs, which originally appeared in the June 1934 issue of Five Novels.

Sea Fangs is a fast-paced action adventure with Bob Sherman, a sailor, who tries to save the yacht Bonito from being destroyed by a powerful hurricane off the shores of Venezuela. What is he doing on the yacht in the first place? Well, a few years earlier a man named Herbert Marmion greedily stole the land and the drilling business that belonged to Bob, who now finds himself on the very yacht owned by Herbert. The only thing that is on his mind is revenge. That is until he meets the stunning raven-haired Phyllis Marmion, who happens to be his enemy's daughter.

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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What is your favorite book set in a different country than the one you live in?

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I'll be 32 in the fall and I still find myself watching old and new cartoons and family movies, even though I don't have any children of my own. I guess I'm still a kid at heart. I habit of switching over to the Disney Channel and watching a few of their kids’ shows. I thought I would take the time and write about my favorite recent Disney releases:

1. Brave - I enjoy watching Pixar movies (except for the overrated Cars and the horrible sequel), but I wasn't a bit interested in Brave when I saw the advertisements for it. I had no plans on buying the movie, but I received it as a Christmas gift. The DVD rested on my coffee table for a few weeks and eventually I decided to watch it. To my surprise, I actually liked it. For a cartoon aimed toward kids, it has several dark themes and a few adult jokes. 
2. Tangled - I'm not big fan of princess cartoons, but for some reason I wanted to watch Tangled and I ended up buying it. I'm actually surprised that Disney had never made a Rapunzel movie before now. The dialogue was cleverly written for both children and adults can enjoy together. There was a sequel

I was one of the lucky bloggers who got a chance to participate in the new six-week exercise program called Revolt with Nicole Huntsman. The fitness instructor was just like everyone else as she was tired of being unhealthy and revolted against it. Now she is helping others with the Revolt program, which consists of 24-45 minute workouts and a healthy diet plan.

My blog readers know that I have been trying to get into shape for several months now, so I was exited to learn that I was one of the few bloggers that got to try out the program. My ultimate goal is to lose at least forty-five pounds so I can wear my smaller shirts and jeans again, which would help me save money because I don't want to buy bigger clothes again.