The Book Cove

On Monday, Jessi did a great post on things in books that drive her nuts. I agree with everything she said and here are some of my own... Illogical situations When you get down to the nitty gritty all fiction is just making crap up. Whether the author is writing realistically or not, the world is still fake. That’s okay as long as the fake world is believable and functions in a logical manner. Harry Potter’s world is fake. So is the world of Shakespeare’s King Richard, although he is based on a historical character. The actions in both are understandable within the context of human nature. The reader understands why Harry went right and Richard so horribly wrong. The biggest offenders are the latest glut of dystopian novels. The authors have no understanding of basic human psychology or motivation. Characters act irrationally. The worlds they inhabit make no damn sense ; politically, psychologically, economically or otherwise . Settings are idiotic as well as impractical ...

(Blurb): The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she's gaining an intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy's athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed dating hiatus, and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly... ...

Every reader has different tastes. Shocking revelation. Reviewing is a bit of a different beast in that a good reviewer tries to keep personal feelings separate from the critique of quality of  writing. It's hard though, not to let your personal style preferences interfere with the evaluation of characters, plot, and sentence formation. I've explained before that this is part of the reason I use ratings. My rating shows book quality but may or may not strongly reflect my personal views on the book. For the most part, they do line up because I'm not too picky about style. If I can make it through the book and can comprehend what is going on, then I generally enjoy the read and feel that the quality was decent. Everyone has there own list of what is okay to let slide in a book and what is not. And as much as we try not to, sometimes there is the smallest detail or quirk that sets us off. The moment I notice the incorrect use of a word - we all make mistakes. But I think ...

Words touch us all in different ways. Sometimes the original intent of a quote resonates so profoundly with us that it is hard to believe that another wrote it. Other times it is a single word, peculiar phrasing, or an alternative meaning regarding an event in our lives that resonates the most. I believe in the power of starting the the week off with a positive or provoking thought -- and so was created  A Penny For Your Thoughts . This is a weekly blog hop that will feature quotes of all kinds; classics, character, book-movie, personal, etc. The themes will range from funny to serious, but really it all depends on how you interpret it! How does this work? Every Sunday a quote will be posted Enter the giveaway by posting your thoughts on a post of your own or the comment section   below .  Collect the pennies!  Every week there will be a new penny to collect and include with your post, if you choose. RAFFLE ENTRY:  Y our site or comment needs to be submi...

A Nice Little Place on the North Side "What does a female bear taking birth control have in common with the World Series? No cubs." (p. 29) Spring is in the air. With it comes the sound of a crack of a baseball bat to be closely followed by the gnashing teeth of Chicago Cubs fans as the team tanks another season. George Will, better known for his political commentary (and ubiquitous bowtie), has written an enjoyable history of the team and begs to ask the question, why can’t they win another Series? “...there is a lot of losing in baseball, even for the best teams. If you can’t bear losing, find another sport. And if you do not much mind losing, or if you actually rather enjoy it, you should feel right at home in Wrigley Field.” (p. 136) A Nice Little Place on the North Side  goes beyond a simple litany of famous and infamous fans, games, and players. Although, I have to admit I was fascinated to find out Jack Ruby once worked at Wrigley Field as a vendor kno...

www.thebookcove.com (Blurb): Everyone has secrets that define them, a past that has shaped them, and a game they play - whether they know it or not.  Despite the fact they live next door to each other, Kade and Raya have never made an effort to speak, until a wild party, four frat boys, and... a bulldozer.  Sterling Shore was supposed to be a new start for eighteen-year-old Raya Capperton. Everything was working out perfectly until her two roommates were expelled for a prank, leaving Raya with the house she couldn't afford on her own. Fate intervenes before she has the chance to find a new home, but she struggles to decide if it's divine luck or the devil's cruel sense of humor.  Twenty-one-year-old Kade Colton has his life planned out, and everything he does is an elaborate game to aid him with his future endeavors. Coming from money has made Kade's life easy, but he wants to build his own name - his own future. The thing he doesn't realize... when you only pu...

How The Book Cove's daily themes developed When I first started blogging I would post whatever I had on whatever day. I was more about building content and less about giving the blog an identifying characteristic. Shortly after starting, I found a weekly blog hop that I liked and I kept up with the hop on a routine schedule. As a result, I started scheduling my other posts around it. It inadvertently led me designate certain days for certain kinds of posts. I liked using a day to catch people up on news and Monday was a logical choice for me. My personal job was gradually taking up more time so the number of reviews that I was posting started to decrease. I wanted to keep the posts spread evenly throughout the week so that left my Wednesdays open for reviews. It wasn't long before I had days designated for certain types of posts. The benefits of keeping up with themes Those exact daily themes have changed for this site since, but I still have designated days for cer...

Words touch us all in different ways. Sometimes the original intent of a quote resonates so profoundly with us that it is hard to believe that another wrote it. Other times it is a single word, peculiar phrasing, or an alternative meaning regarding an event in our lives that resonates the most. I believe in the power of starting the the week off with a positive or provoking thought -- and so was created  A Penny For Your Thoughts . This is a weekly blog hop that will feature quotes of all kinds; classics, character, book-movie, personal, etc. The themes will range from funny to serious, but really it all depends on how you interpret it! How does this work? Every Sunday a quote will be posted Enter by posting your thoughts on a post of your own or the comment section   of a participating blog.  You only get the penny for one or the other. You can do both but it doesn't count twice.  You must  ENTER YOUR NAME IN STEP 5 as well . Otherwise I can't keep track ...

Someday My Prints Will Come The e-book of Someday My Prints Will Come is on sale now at Wild Rose Press for $1.50 Eva, a minor goddess of the Venus variety, descended from a distinguished line of matchmakers, operates a business called Someday My Prints Will Come, a virtual lost-and-found of mismatched prints for photo processors around the country. She uses the leftover space on the database to accomplish her primary mission as a modern-day matchmaker. While Eva successfully helps others find their soulmates, she has never been in love. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t find the perfect woman for a particularly picky client—Noah Prince, the emissary for rich and powerful CEO Adam Prinsky of Prinsky Electronics. Noah holds the key to Eva’s past, and he’s hoping to win her heart before he has to break it. This paranormal/fantasy tells the tale of how the matchmaker, who also hopes that one day her prince will come, finds a match. Excerpt: “Mr. Emissary, just for the pu...

Not everyone with a blog is a blog techie. For the most part, blogs are a pretty straightforward thing to figure out and run. But there is a difference between just running a blog and making sure it is a functional blog, and many of those to-dos that keep your blog running smoothly are very fast and easy to do. I posted previously on the importance of updating blog follow links regularly . It was a simple last-minute post that I decided to do more as a PSA after having issues on blog hops rather than a mind-blowing post about blog maintenance. It's easy to forget about the links that you, yourself, are not regularly using. So when they go defunct you may not know unless a kind soul informs you. That post brought up some side discussion about what other things most of us forget to do with our blog in terms up basic upkeep that allows our blogs to not only run, but run smoothly. So without further ado, here's a list of basic maintenance to-dos that you're probably f...

Words touch us all in different ways. Sometimes the original intent of a quote resonates so profoundly with us that it is hard to believe that another wrote it. Other times it is a single word, peculiar phrasing, or an alternative meaning regarding an event in our lives that resonates the most. I believe in the power of starting the the week off with a positive or provoking thought -- and so was created  A Penny For Your Thoughts . This is a weekly blog hop that will feature quotes of all kinds; classics, character, book-movie, personal, etc. The themes will range from funny to serious, but really it all depends on how you interpret it! How does this work? Every Sunday a quote will be posted Enter by posting your thoughts on a post of your own or the comment section   of a participating blog.  You only get the penny for one or the other. You can do both but it doesn't count twice.  You must  ENTER YOUR NAME IN STEP 5 as well . Otherwise I can't keep track ...

Gull Harbor by Kathryn Knight Sale Dates April 10 to April 24 When Claire Linden's job sends her to the sleepy town of Gull Harbor, she never expects to encounter her ex-boyfriend. As a medium, the prospect of tackling a haunted house is less daunting than seeing Max Baron again. Throughout their passionate college relationship, he promised to love her forever. Then, without explanation, he abandoned her on graduation day. Max never intended to break Claire's heart--a cruel ultimatum forced him to disappear from her life. While he's shocked to find her in Gull Harbor, he isn't surprised by the bitter resentment she feels for him...or the fiery attraction that remains between them. Claire is determined to rid her temporary home of its aggressive ghost, but Max soon realizes she's facing a danger beyond the paranormal. When Claire risks everything to help a desperate spirit, Max must race to save her--before another tragedy tears them apart forever. ...

General Updates: How is it April already?! Not that I'm not excited for warmer weather, longer days, and spring activities to start up, but it's crazy how the last six months flew by me. It didn't really register until I saw my Blogiversary countdown at the bottom of my page and said to my dog,  Holy crap, what am I going to do for that!? To which he responded, head tilt, groan. I hear ya buddy. I'm having the same thoughts... The big 2 doesn't seem as exciting as the big 1. Though every year a blog stays alive is a huge achievement. There's a lot of work that goes into running even the simplest of blogs. I don't think I'm going to go all out this year. I had a lot of guest posts, giveaways, and random activities going on last year for a whole week. I think we'll just stick with some awesome giveaways this year because who doesn't like free stuff?? And I love showing appreciation to followers! Speaking of followers/bloggers, some might ...

Words touch us all in different ways. Sometimes the original intent of a quote resonates so profoundly with us that it is hard to believe that another wrote it. Other times it is a single word, peculiar phrasing, or an alternative meaning regarding an event in our lives that resonates the most. I believe in the power of starting the the week off with a positive or provoking thought -- and so was created  A Penny For Your Thoughts . This is a weekly blog hop that will feature quotes of all kinds; classics, character, book-movie, personal, etc. The themes will range from funny to serious, but really it all depends on how you interpret it! How does this work? Every Sunday a quote will be posted Enter by posting your thoughts on a post of your own or the comment section   of a participating blog.  You only get the penny for one or the other. You can do both but it doesn't count twice. You must ENTER YOUR NAME IN STEP 5 as well . Otherwise I can't keep track of entries....

Enchantment in Morocco by Madeleine McDonald 99 Cents A romance set in a magical land at the crossroads of Europe and Africa. Excerpt Rafi danced with her on the day of the wedding, when men and women finally came together under one roof. Emily was surprised at her own popularity. One young man after another drew her into the circle of dancers. Even old Abdullah, almost unrecognizable in a clean djellaba , performed a few steps alongside her before his grandson took his place. Emily did not know any of the steps, but held hands and stamped her feet in time to the drumming. From the corner of her eye, she noted that Samira danced rarely, but sat in a corner drinking tea with a group of older women. The sight lent a spring to her step. She had barely sat down again before Rafi crossed the room to her and led her onto the dance floor.  “I can see you’re enjoying yourself. I have not had a chance to speak to you yet.” “At least I can ta...