Angelina Kerner
Author
Book Review: The Land of Stories (A Grimm Warning)
Book Title: The Land of Stories (A Grimm Warning) 
Book Author: Chris Colfer
Source: Bought at Barnes and Noble
Rating: 5 Dragon Paws 
For my review of book 1, go here: The Land of Stories (The Wishing Spell)
For my review of book 2, go here: The Land of Stories (The Enchantress Returns)
Please don’t read this review if you haven’t read the first two books. There are some spoilers.
This book happens after time passes and the twins haven’t seen each other in a long time… a year? I actually wasn’t paying attention if it was a year or two, though they are now 14 years old. Alex is the next Fairy Godmother. Conner is the next Grimm, that is until stories of the Grimm get out about the two stories that Conner turned in class. However, the third story is a warning and Conner gets to travel around Europe to try to get back to the Land of Stories, along with his crush and a new friend. Let’s not forget the sassy Grandma Pearl.
This novel was a really fast read. A lot happened and I was surprised that Chris was able to put all of those ideas into one book, well two because unlike the other books, it ends on a cliffhanger so good thing book 4 is already published and I’m not waiting for it. The portal is open and the twins get reunited and work on saving the Land of Stories once again… this time from the French. It’s always about the French!
The cliffhanger was surprising and I already started reading book 4 where the story becomes more hectic, but I’m looking forward to it. It was good to see the twins growing and trying to make the right decisions. It was also nice that Chris added more characters who have access to the Land of Stories. It made things easier for Conner when he was stressed out over what would happen to his sister and all of his friends.
Stay tuned for my reviews for the rest of the books in the series. I have a lot more to say about book 4 already, but can’t so stay tuned.
Recommend to middle grade kids and adults who love fairy tales.
Book Review: The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (Nocturne Falls #1)
Title: The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (Nocturne Falls #1)
Author: Kristen Painter
Source: Downloaded free Kindle book from Amazon.
My Rating : 5 Dragon Prints 
I have to confess a couple of things. First, I’m not into vampire stories. The only decent vampire story that I liked was by a fellow self- published author called The Bathory Curse. Second, I secretly love Happily Ever After stories, though don’t tell that to anyone. It’s a secret. Third, the cover of The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (Nocturne Falls #1) is beautiful, though the guy is ugly. Good thing my imagination fixed Hugh’s image for me. 😉
This novel is about a young woman who witnessed a crime. She figures that taking some woman’s identity can help her survive her ex-boss and ends up being a bride for a vampire… though it takes a while for her to learn that Hugh is a vampire. She also didn’t figure on falling in love and staying in the Halloween town.
This paranormal romance is a nice story to read by the fire with ice cream and popcorn. It sent me into giggling fits a couple of times because of a couple of fun scenes and it is beautifully written. I am truly a fan of romance, mainly because romances tend to end well and at the moment, I am all too happy to read about something happy. This story has enough of paranormal and even better enough of scenes with normality in them, like Delaney wanting to cook for herself, dreaming about owning a sweets shop, and her witty conversations with the women in Hugh’s life. Let’s not forget Hugh’s awesome rook.
I highly recommend to the readers (18+ years) who have an interest in paranormal romance, witches, fae, and vampires. You guys will love this. There are more books in the series which are for sale on Amazon and involve other paranormal couples of the Nocturne Falls. I am still debating on reading them.
Book Review: Forever Charmed (Halloween LaVeau #1)
Book Title: Forever Charmed (Halloween LaVeau #1) 
Book Author: Rose Pressey
Source: Downloaded free Kindle book from Amazon.
Rating: 4 Dragon Paws 
This is another great one that is available on Amazon to download for free about witches, vampires, covens, and something called the Underworld. What drew me to the book was the main heroine, Hallie or Halloween. I’m not sure how she is, but I do know that Rose made her easy to relate to. It was a first time for me to read about a witch who was bad with magic so it was a new experience.
Hallie inherits her grandmother’s house, which she turns into a bed and breakfast. Soon after, she gets three visitors, and all of them are hiding things from her. And, only one of them paid for the room so Hallie didn’t even make any real money off of them. Besides inheriting the house, she inherits three books which create a whole new turn in her life. Basically, I really liked the story.
The story is written well, with interesting twists, and hot men. However, the reason why I did not give it a five dragon paw rating was because it was a little slow for me. There was a moment that probably we all were waiting for, to meet Mara and that zoomed fast. I didn’t think that it would be that easy and expected to see more of her, though, maybe we will be in the next books. I am interested in buying the rest of the books in the series ($3.99 on Kindle), but not right away.
I highly recommend to the readers (18+ years) who have an interest in paranormal romance, witches, and spooky houses with secrets.
Book Review:Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft: A Humorous Paranormal Romance (Jane Madison Series Book 1)
Title: Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft: A Humorous Paranormal Romance (Jane Madison Series Book 1)
Author: Mindy Klasky
Source: Downloaded free Kindle book from Amazon.
My Rating : 5 Dragon Prints
Now, this is what I call fun writing. Mindy made everything fun in her first novel in the series about Jane Madison and her being a witch. There was only one moment that confused me on what happened to her magic, so if you guys have read the book, maybe you guys can help me.
There’s a scene at the Blue Cottage and Jane released a lot of magic. I’m not sure on how her familiar Neko (which means cat in Japanese, not sure if it’s obvious or not) helped her get a hold of herself after releasing a lot of magic. How did he help her?
As already mentioned, this was a free book to download from Amazon. The rest of the books to download cost $2.99 to $4.99 and I will be buying them on my next paycheck. It’s a really easy going story about a twenty-eight year old woman who learns about herself after she discovers her powers. With help from her warder, familiar, and family, she realizes that she can be strong, beautiful, and proud which I think all young women should feel like. All of us, ladies, need to feel confident about ourselves and this book makes you feel good so if you want to feel good, have a good laugh, be entertained by a mischievous cat who really loves magic, this book is for you.
Neko is a great character and I wish I had him around.
I recommend this novel to women who like reading young and new adult paranormal romance.
Flowers of my past
This photo was taken at Hearst Castle, CA. I visited the castle not too long ago. I took lots of photos – of the rooms, libraries, art, and landscape. However, the most beautiful photo for me was were the lily pads. My grandmother lived about two hours away from Moscow, Russia. she lived in a small village that had a small lake between her village the village over. I used to love watching the lily pads and sometimes my uncle would take up in his boat for a closer look. Visiting the castle brought back good memories for which I am thankful.
The D_ _ G _ N Tree
Two weekends ago, I visited the Big Basin, Ca. As I was hiking with my mother, we stumbled upon this tree. Now, it only took me seconds to figure out why I liked it so much. I mean, come on! That is a totally amazing looking dragon tree! A great memory to have and I plan to visit him soon. ^_^
Book Review: Striker Jones and the Midnight Archer (Striker Jones #2)
Title: Striker Jones and the Midnight Archer (Striker Jones #2) 
Author: Maggie M. Larche
Source: Received as a gift for an honest book review
My Rating : 5 Dragon Prints
This is a wonderful continuation, following the kid detective, his crush, and our favorite characters from book 1. This time, all of the chapters, happen during summer and throughout the year and a lot happens… especially there’s progress with the crush.
I’ve never been to camp as a kid. We either had no money or I didn’t know of any camps close by. I had, however, been a counselor for a kid’s theatre camp and learned about games, how kids can be kids, and that magic shows are fun. It was nice reading about different camp activities, being introduced to new characters, and I’m glad that Charlie stayed Charlie. It made me feel like a kid and want to join in the fun, especially the water fights and seeing lanterns. It was nice to see Striker solving mysteries and seeing what happens after each mystery got solved which was different from the first version.
I also enjoyed the illustrations. If you guys know me, I love illustrations in books! Seeing beautiful illustrations which introduced the chapters made it more fun to read.
This is a great read for parents and middle grade kids. Go Striker!
PS: I still think that Striker is the young version of Shawn Spencer from Psych. ˆ_ˆ
Book Review:Striker Jones: Elementary Economics for Elementary Detectives
Title: Striker Jones: Elementary Economics for Elementary Detectives 
Author: Maggie M. Larche
Source: Received as a gift for an honest book review
My Rating : 5 Dragon Prints
This is a one fun book. A parent can have their middle grade kid chapter by chapter to read because each chapter has a lesson. I found Striker Jones to be the young version of Shawn Spencer from Psych. The link goes to IMBD.
Shawn is one of the main characters in the show and I found him entertaining. Striker seems to the young version of him, except Striker uses his skills of observation for events that kids can relate to.
A couple of my favorite chapters involved, shoe prints in concrete, the scarfs for Christmas, eggs hunt, arcade… if I keep going… you guys won’t have anything to look forward to. The ending was terrific ^_^ It’s one exciting ride.
I recommend this to parents and kids in middle school. Stay tuned for book 2 review coming up soon.
Plans for my third book
Hey everyone,
Book 3 is in the works and by book 3 means that it would be my third published book.
Blurb:
Zack Maxwell. Falling in love with him was supposed to be the easiest thing ever. It was supposed to happen instantly. Or so that’s what everyone said because he claimed that he’s my soulmate.
Seeing him in the flames brought me to Thame from the nether world. Talking to him sent new sensations that built on the bond from birth. However, I would have to fight to be with him.
My aunt tells me of my destiny of taking her place as the head of the phoenixes. For that to happen, I need to have my soulmate by my side. Zack’s father has other plans and a competition for my hand in marriage is announced to happen during the Red Festival.
I am forced to play my part, but I am strong, modern, and smart. The rules are set and if I don’t like the winner, I have a right to challenge him. If Zack fails to win, I’ll fight one of the other seven princes for a chance to be truly happy.
But, my greatest challenge may lie within the static voice that appears out of nowhere when I am alone, scaring me to the core. What is that voice? What does it want? Does it belong to one of the princes? What will happen when it gets revealed?
So far I have:
- 11 chapters.
- Character profiles
- Descriptions of locations
- Diagrams
- Books for research
- 50 page drawing pad
- new colored pencils
- Chapter summaries
What you think? Coming along nicely?
Angelina Kerner 