THE GIRL MADE OF COOL by Alan Fox

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THE GIRL MADE OF COOL
Author: Alan Fox
Source: Author submission
* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*
  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: StoryFocus Communications (July 14, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0976227622
  • ISBN-13: 978-0976227625
SYNOPSIS:
Author ALAN FOX writes love stories, filled with a sense of awe and wonder, and set against a brutal world. “THE GIRL MADE OF COOL” is his vibrant new novel and the centerpiece of this collection. Here, Fox tells the story of a young man and woman who are falling in love with each other, but the young woman doesn’t know it. She believes that she’s falling in love with the man’s far more handsome, more perfect friend. … As the story unfolds and deepens, we see how these two highly talented young men must suffer, struggle, and wage battle to woo this young woman. This, as all the while, she grows into an ever greater beauty, a more charismatic personality, and an all-the-more alluring woman. … This, as all the while, this young lady grows to become an elegant woman made of shining love and elusive cool. — Also featured here in this collection, you will find: The Novel “HELL HAS BLUE SKIES” — A love story about intense relationships in an office, whose unusual line of business is to train people to become ‘world-class experts.’ And the short story “THE LOVELY LADY AT THE LOVE MUSEUM” — A colorful tale of romance and high-level maneuvering in the big city.
MY THOUGHTS:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read a movie script?  Well, in this book, the way the author set up the storytelling was like reading a script.  Each scene had a set up so you knew what to expect in your mind when trying to picture it.  That alone, I thought was pretty cool.  The characters didn’t seem to spark my interest though.  It could have been because I was so focused with setting up each scene in my mind, that I just didn’t give the characters a chance to click.  The way it was written, just didn’t seem to flow for me.  I love the idea of the book and the new spin on writing style for it though.  A great book with a triangle that is slightly different than the normal.  
MY RATING:


 
  A Good Book and Read! Perfect For Rainy Days
From the Library!

FRAGILE by Chris Katsaropoulos

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FRAGILE
Author: Chris Katsaropoulos
Source: Smith Publicity
* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*
  • Paperback: 212 pages
  • Publisher: Luminis Books (October 15, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 193546227X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1935462279
SYNOPSIS:

Amelia Geist, Holly Schenck, and Tris Holloway are all broken–in one way or another.

In a lifelong act of penitence and defiance, Amelia Geist has remained a virgin and saved herself for Tris, her first love, who abandoned her more than fifty years ago.
A few weeks from retirement, Tris Holloway has led a separate life of his own in the hills above Silicon Valley, sealed by inertia within the confines of a loveless marriage and shattered by his decision to leave Amelia.
The only person who can repair the rift between Tris and Amelia is Holly, a single mother without means, who is trying somehow to mend her life while laid out in a hospital bed, a victim of her own suicide attempt.
The stories of Tris, Holly, and Amelia are presented in Fragile as broken fragments, woven together by profound truth and an astonishing connection that transcends the boundaries between this world and the next. 
MY THOUGHTS:
I loved the blurb about this book.  The way the author could combine 3 stories and turn them into one entire story that intertwines had me curious to see how he would accomplish this task.  
I will say that I liked the book.  The characters were interesting and seemed real.  The part I didn’t like was how it jumped around so much that it left me with a lot of confusion.  One minute we are reading about one character, and then the next sentence we are off to another character.  It is not an easy book to read unless you have the time to read it straight through until the end without interruptions.  If you set it down,  you can easily get confused to what was happening when you left the story.  
It is a great plot concept, and the characters can be interesting, but the format just threw me off too much. Like I said though, not a bad book, just be prepared to be able to devote yourself to reading it all at once.
MY RATING:


 
  A Decent Read.
Has Some Drawbacks Though.

Unknown Authors vs. Big Time Authors

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Today I wanted to start a discussion and get some thoughts from other readers.  When you are cruising around your book blogs, are you more likely to buy books from authors you have heard about, or do you like to find books by authors that you have never heard of before?
For me, I like to find new authors.  They are like finding diamonds in the rough.  It is hard to fathom why so many wonderful authors are still struggling to be picked up by major publishing companies.  Now, I understand those big companies can only sign on so many wonderful authors due to money and demand.  Wouldn’t it be great though if they had a program for new authors?  Maybe one new author a month to offer a contract to? 
If you are a follower of my blog, you will notice that I do a lot of reviews for authors that are not only from small publishing companies, but they aren’t as well known as some of the bigger authors.  Does that mean they are horrible writers? No.  It just means that they haven’t been discovered yet.  I feel that every book that is written is someone’s hard work and effort to open a new world to someone in the joy of words.  That is why on my blog I strive to not only review huge authors, but the little guys as well.  Just because I haven’t heard about them, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a chance to share their work as well. You would be surprised at how many of the books have made my favorites list.  
For example, RIVER OF TEARS by Michele L. Montgomery is still my favorite book of 2009.  I have read that book 3 times and the words still send my emotions into overdrive and tug at my heart.  It is a book that has stayed with me and I still have not found a book that touched me as much as it did since then.  It will probably be my favorite book of 2010 if I keep re reading it over and over again.  This author was one that I had never heard of, the cover was not fancy with half naked men on the front, and I still wanted to read it.  A true diamond in the rough was found.
I have also read and reviewed several books from Tierney O’Malley and Tory Richards.  Both of these wonderful authors have several books out.  Do a lot of people know about them? No. Well, if you are a big publishing company you need to wake up and snatch them up before you lose out on some amazing writing!  They both have a wonderful talent for writing romance and the details are great.  
Chastity Bush is another writer who I have read for several times.  Each book I have reviewed is from different genres so I know this author does not have a problem writing.  She can put a story together wonderfully and she can write on different subjects. I have read paranormal, romance and historical from her.  Not bad for an author as young as she is.
This is just a small sample of what is out there waiting to be discovered.  I believe that if given the chance, an unknown author to you, could easily become a well loved author for yourself as well.  So my challenge for everyone is this– the next time you are out shopping for books, pick up a book from an author that you haven’t heard of before.  Whether it be from a regular book store or from an online small house publishing company, you never know what kind of diamond you will find.  You just might be reading the next Nora Roberts, Stephen King or James Patterson.

WEEKLY CONTEST/GIVEAWAY

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Here is this weeks giveaway contest.
  At times, there will be more than one book, but most of the time I will be featuring a weekly giveaway of one book. For these giveaways, I will NOT contact you if you win.  I will announce the winner and you will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don’t hear from you.  the book will be passed to the next winner in line. 
Now here is the book(s) for this week and the rules will follow after the description:
Holy Smokes  Light My Fire

Fire Me Up  You Slay Me


Set of 4 USED copies of the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister.  You can find the descriptions of each book on her website found here: Katie MacAlister

GIVEAWAY RULES:
1. You must be a follower to enter.
2. Contest is only available to the USA.  Sorry, but limited funds at this moment in time. This could change later.
3.  Leave a comment on this post.

OPTIONAL:

4. Mention the contest on your blog for extra entry. (Please post the link in a separate comment to qualify.)
This contest is open until 2/22/2010 with the winner being announced on 2/23/2010.
Good luck!

Weekly Giveaway Winner

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The winner for the weekly giveaway of Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands is:
 
You have 48 hours to claim your prize.  Just email me at:
djsfoxylady@gmail.com
with your mailing address.
Please include in the subject line: WEEKLY GIVEAWAY WINNER
 
Next contest will be up shortly!