NOT RATED; 125 minutes; $14.98; Amazon

Now available on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Saban's Power Rangers Dino Charge: Hero, featuring four exciting episodes from the 2015 season. As an added bonus it features the Christmas Special "Race to Rescue Christmas."

Loosely based on the Japanese Super Sentai series Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, Dino Charge debuted in early 2015 as the twenty-second season of the Power Rangers franchise. The main plot focused on a alien named Keeper scattering ten Energems across Earth 65 million years ago. Fast forward to the present day, where five new young adults, including a caveman, have been chosen by the energems to become the new Power Rangers to stop the alien bounty hunter Sledge and his evil minions from destroying Earth. Later during the season, an 800-year-old knight, Sir Ivan joins the team as the Gold Ranger.

The episodes on the single-disc "Hero" are the final episodes of the first Dino Charge season. The episodes are:

"World Famous! (In New Zealand)" - The Power Rangers heads to New Zealand to locate the purple energem before Sledge's latest monster finds it.


"Deep Down Under"  - Still in New Zealand, the Rangers are in a race against time to find the Plesio Zord before Sledge can get his hands on it.

That Patchwork Place; 80 pages; $24.99; Amazon

If you have been in a quilting store or visited an online one, then you have probably seen many different reproduction fabrics.

What are reproduction fabrics?

These fabrics have either been recreated or inspired by a historical quilt or pattern (anywhere from 1775 to 1950).

Now available from That Patchwork Place (an imprint of Martingale) is Preserving History: Patchwork Patterns Inspired by Antique Quilts by Julie Hendricksen, author of Remembering the Past.

The author has put together 15 quilt patterns, all of which have been inspired by older quilts that she has found over the years. She shares photos & patterns of the original quilts (featured as an "Antique Inspiration") as well as the recreated quilts throughout the book.


The quilt patterns are:

Now available is the historical fantasy novel Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel by author JoAnn Spears.

Amazon

The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her newest novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve always enjoyed reading a good story, and wanted to be able to write one ever since I read about Jo March doing so in Little Women, back when I was in the third grade. I lacked the confidence to write fiction as a younger woman, and the time to do it as a two-job single mother. By the time I semi-retired at around 50, both the time and the confidence to start authoring were finally there.

What was your first book/story published?

My first book, Six of One, a comedy novel about Henry VIII’s six wives, debuted in early November, 2011.

What inspired you to write Seven Will Out?

Seven Will Out is the sequel to Six of One. It takes the Tudor story to the next generation and introduces some Shakespeare history as well. Obviously, I am a big fan of Tudor history.

What character in Seven Will Out is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Harald Press; 342 pages; $14.99; Buy Link

Do you have any bad reading habits?

One of my bad reading habits is a reading a book and later noticing it's either book two or three of a series. Like most readers, I would rather begin with book one. However, that sometimes isn't the case with me as either agree to review a title based on the genre, the author's name, or cover art without paying any attention to see if it is part of a series or not.

For Christian's Hope, book three in the Return to Northkill series, by Ervin R. Stutzman, I had signed up to review the book based on the cover art alone. I only noticed it was book three  after I had already read several chapters.

Set in the 1760s, the novel centers on Christian Hochstetler, a young man who has spent the last seven years in captivity during the French and Indian War. During this time, he had lived among the Native Americans.

Now he has returned to his family's home to try and live a normal Amish life. After living with Shawnee Indians, farming along side his Amish father is a little predictable. As Christian struggles with his future in the Amish community as well as faith, he falls in love with Orpha Rupp.

Avon Inspire; 272 pages; $12.99; Buy Link

I'm kicking off a brand new month with reviews for "A Sister's Wish" and "An Amish Family Christmas," both written by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Shelley Shepard Gray.

Yes, many of blog readers will probably recognize her name as I have been a fan of the author's titles for several years now.  "A Sister's Wish" is the third installment of the "Charmed Amish Life" series. Like the other two books in the series, this is a love story. I remember reading the first book, A Son's Vow, but I don't remember if I have read the sequel, A Daughter's Dream.

Set in Charm, Ohio, the story centers on a young Amish woman named Amelia, the youngest daughter of the Kingsinger family, who gets mixed up with Simon Hochstetler, who has just returned to town. Amelia is a sweet and kind girl, so it isn't too shocking that her family wants to protect her from Simon and his wild past.

Final Thoughts: The novel opens up with a neat two-page illustrated map of Charm, Ohio. The prologue begins thirteen years in the past when Simon original left home. After that, the book jumps to the present day, focusing on the love story between a grownup Simon and Amelia.

Similar to her other works, Shelley Shepard Gray uses a fast-paced narrative with short chapters to keep the readers interested in the story. However, I didn't get really interested into the novel until around chapter 5 or 6; then I just flew through the pages. Overall, A Sister's Wish is a nicely written third installment of the Amish series.

Now available from Ruby Blaze Publishing is the fantasy novel Time: the Immortal Divide, book three in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice Trilogy by author K.S. Turner

Paperback: 978-0-9562242-9-3 eBook: 978-0-9562242-7-9

The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her debut novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve always loved stories; from those bedtime readings as a child to weaving fantastic imaginings in the mundane every day things. But, I always thought I would be an illustrator or designer. One day, I wrote a short piece to go alongside some illustrations I’d drawn. That is when I realized that writing depicted the stories in my head better than any other art medium I’d tried. That was the point; I knew, without doubt, using the written word for my storytelling was the right path. The stories were always there – I just had to discover THE medium.

What was your first book/story published?

The first thing ever published was my first novel in the Chronicles of Fate and Choice trilogy, titled Before the Gods. It’s an epic fantasy tale about the birth of humanity, Earth magic, freewill and freedom.

What inspired you to write The Chronicles of Fate and Choice trilogy?

I wanted to embark on the biggest fantasy story that I could imagine. I decided that it had to start at the very beginning of humanity and finish on the potential end of everything. I wanted to take some of the biggest questions we have in life, such as why are we here, and how did we get here, and craft something fantastically fantasy fiction.

What character in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Well, as much as I would like to say all, or none, of them, I have to admit that I am most like the character, Tachra. Tachra is the protagonist in all three novels. We share the same deeply questioning nature, honesty, strength, passion, and desire to do the best possible, while trying to overcome a multitude of personal flaws and obstacles.

Least like me, I definitely want to say is the character Shursa, as I don’t like his traits at all. Shursa is from a race of beings called the Shaa-kutu; the beautiful, highly evolved race responsible for designing humans. But, unlike his fellow Shaa-kutu, Shursa is so power-hungry and selfish that he is prepared to betray his brothers. I don’t like him at all. No, no, no. He is everything I would never want to be.

What is your favorite part in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice?

Not Rated; 842 mins; $9.98; Mill Creek Ent.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Yeah, you would have to be to be living under a rock not to know that today is Halloween, especially with all the horror marathons on the cable channels. Typically, I always watch a few of these flicks ever year, but I haven't had the time this month as I've been busy watching the Pretty Dead: 10 Horror Flims, the 2-disc DVD that was recently released from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Many of you have probably have heard of Mill Creek Entertainment as the company has released similar horror DVDs in the past. The 10 films on this release were filmed on low-budgets, all of which have already been released separately to DVD or VOD over the last few years.

The films are:

The Sacred (2009, but listed as released in 2011 on the DVD) - The film involves a group of film students traveling to remote area to work on a Native American Folklore thesis. However, they aren't aware that the land is haunted.


Bunnyman - (2010; released in 2011) - Also known as the The Bunnyman Massacre, this low-budget slasher is the first in a series of films about a serial killer who dress in a bunny costume. (No, I'm not joking!)


The Lights - (2009) - A group of friends travel to the middle-of-nowhere to watch a meteor shower.


Backwater (2013) - Don't get confused with the Japanese film of the same name. This is a low-budget tale about a couple on a secluded getaway, where there just happens to be a killer nearby.