Tuesday, November 27, 2012

ONE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!!

Hi Everyone!!! Today is the one year anniversary of when I started my blog! So in celebration I'm having a giveaway! Here is what it will include.


A personalized signed copy of my book, Thousands of Mornings:


A signed bookmark:

 
 
 
A signed business card:

 
 
So there are the prizes! You have to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this blog post. This will be open from today until December 13 th 2012 at 11:59 p.m. I will post who the winner is here on my blog. You'll have 72 hours to e-mail me your name & mailing address (my e-mail can be found under the Contact tab above). Enter by using the Rafflecopter form below.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

<3 Amanda Leigh

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Book Review ~ Timeless (Transcend Time Saga #3) by Michelle Madow


Title: Timeless (Transcend Time Saga #3)
Author: Michelle Madow
Release Date: November 20th 2012
Published By: Dreamscape Publishing
Page Amount: 220 pages, paperback

Goodreads Blurb:
IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME.

In Remembrance, Lizzie and Drew changed the course of fate so they could be together.

In Vengeance, Chelsea set fate back on its original, deadly path.

Now, strange things keep happening to Lizzie. Things that are omens of darkness to come. A curse has doomed her to die an early death, just as she did in her past life. To make things worse, even if she can figure out who cast the curse, it's irreversible. There's only one option left for her to save herself. It's crazier than anything she's heard yet, and to do it, she'll need Drew and Chelsea's help.

Because to make things right, they must go back to when it all began …


Review:
Oh, it is so hard to review things sometimes. I don't want to give anything away, but I want to spill all the details to you like I did to my mom as I was reading Timeless. Every time I took a break from reading I would be filling my mom in on what had happened.

Like I said, it's hard to review this without giving too much away. Lizzie and Drew are together, and it's great to see them together in this book. To see their interactions with each other and how they are as a couple now that everyone knows they are together.

It was also great to see Chelsea and Lizzie interacting after everything that had happened between them. Alistair also makes an appearance in this book and we learn about Drew's Memory Guide.

We know from the description they go back to 1815 England. During the Regency Era. To see the differences between then and the 21st century added to the story. There were also some twists I was not expecting. Things were already interesting but the twists helped to keep them interesting.

The whole story had a magical, fairy tale feel to it while maintaining the realism enough to keep you grounded in the story. I did feel the same feeling I do while reading fairy tales. It was nice to read something reminiscent of a fairy tale romance with time travel thrown in. It had a Disney-esque quality that made it all the more magical!

I enjoyed the conclusion to the Transcend Time Saga very much and I can't wait for more books from Michelle Madow! I give Timeless 4 stars!

<3 Amanda Leigh

Monday, November 12, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

Just Finished:
 
Remembrance (Transcend Time Saga #1) by Michelle Madow

 
Vengeance (Transcend Time Saga #2) by Michelle Madow
 
 
Reading Now:

Timeless (Transcend Time Saga #3) by Michelle Madow
 
 
Up Next:
 
Face the Music by Andrea K. Robbins
 
So what are you reading? Let me know in the comments!
 
<3 Amanda Leigh


Saturday, November 10, 2012

Book Review ~ Vengeance (Transcend Time Saga #2) by Michelle Madow


Title: Vengeance (Transcend Time Saga #2)
Author: Michelle Madow
Release Date: December 6th 2011
Published By: Dreamscape Publishing
Page Amount: 28 pages, ebook

Goodreads Blurb:
How far would you go to get revenge?

When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back ... well, it's downright crazy.

Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay?

Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga.

*Vengeance is a 12,000 word short story.

Review:
Oh! How do I review this without giving away spoilers? I don't know, but I'm going to do my best. So a lot of this review is going to be the emotions I felt while reading.

You get more of a glimpse into Chelsea in this part of the story. I could tell in Remembrance how betrayed she felt and this story made that even more clear. She flet immensly betrayed and really, you can't blame her too mcuh for that can you? She also doesn't know about Lizzie and Drew's past lives.

The possibility of Chelsea having shared a past life with them is brought up in this story (I had a feeling this was the case while reading Remembrance.) I can't reveal to you whether or not she believes it or sees anything from her past life (you'll have to read it yourself to find out.)

Though we do get more insight into Chelsea there were a couple of things she did or thought that just seemed so superficial. And then, what she decides to do at the end of the story I just wanted to scream at her through the pages of the book "No! You don't know the whole story! You don't know what you're doing! STOP! DON'T!"  I wonder, if she knew the whole story, would she still have done it?

A great set up to the final part in the Transcend Time Saga. I hope everything works out for everyone involved. I give Vengeance 4 stars as well!

Now off to read more of Timeless!

<3 Amanda Leigh

Book Review ~ Remembrance (Transcend Time Saga #1) by Michelle Madow


Title: Remembrance (Transcend Time Saga #1)
Author: Michelle Madow
Release Date: July 25th 2011
Published By: Dreamscape Publishing
Page Amount: 162 pages, ebook

Goodreads Blurb:
Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.


Review:
I think reincarnation is a terrific subject matter. I have always found the idea of past lives fascinating. That is what first drew me to this book.  I don't remember how I came across Michelle Madow or her books. But when I read about Remembrance I had to go download it on my nook. And then when I signed up to review Timeless I finally got around to reading Remembrance and Vengeance.

Remembrance took me longer to read than I would have liked. Every time I picked it up I realized I had other work to do and my responsible side won out. Luckily once I really got a chance to get into the book, I sat there reading and did not want to stop for anything. Even to make dinner (I love cooking, that's why that is saying something.)

I connected to the character of Lizzie because of her love of sketching/drawing and art. As well as the connection she felt to the book Pride and Prejudice. (I haven't read this book but I feel connections to many other books.) That made it easy for me to connect with Lizzie.

Jeremy did some things that I did not like at all and he did get on my nerves at times. I don't think he's a bad person, he was just so full of himself after being elected co-captain that it really got to his head. Chelsea does have that "Mean Girl" exterior to her, but I could tell how much her friendship with Lizzie really meant to her and that there was more to her than just looking pretty and being popular - at least I hope so.

Drew was so mysterious throughout the entire book and we really don't learn a lot about him. He goes back and forth from wanting nothing to do with Lizzie to wanting to be involved in her life. And Lizzie gets even more confused because of this and the flashes of her past life she's having. Not to mention her relationship with Jeremy and that Chelsea is dating Drew.

It really is a very complicated situation and I could feel Lizzie's struggle with the emotions she was going through. It made me confused and angry and sad too. When Drew and Lizzie were together though, you could see and feel a connection. I think the situation was handled well by the writer. This was only the first part of the story so nothing was fully resolved. (The next part of the story, Vengeance, is told from Chelsea's point of view.) 

This was a very good book and I'd say I have to give it 4 stars!

<3 Amanda Leigh