Category: Book Corner

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Avon (August 29, 2006)
ISBN # 0061150142
512 pages
Author Website

My Grade: B+

Plot / Premise:

I’ve decided to copy and paste the plot summary from the below source. I always feel like I don’t do plot summaries justice and I’m only regurgitating what other people have said and … okay, fine. I’m lazy. I’d rather concentrate on character development and writing style.

From Wikipedia

Chris and Emily, teenagers from two neighbored and very close families, have been as close as siblings since birth, but as teenagers their relationship develops into a romance. When they are seniors in high school, however, both families are called to the hospital: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot to the head, and Chris says the two had intended to carry out a suicide pact.

Every other chapter is a flashback to Emily and Chris’s childhood life, leading up to the night of Emily’s death. Some scenes include flashbacks on Emily and Chris’s life while they were young (best friends) through their teenage years as lovers. It is revealed that, as a result of a dare made by Chris to go into a men’s restroom, Emily is molested as a child. It is also discovered that she was impregnated by Chris, but she never revealed it to him. It is also revealed in flashbacks that Emily’s feeling for Chris were more sisterly, yet she felt pressured to be with him in a romantic way due to the closeness of their families. She also felt uncomfortable having sex or being touched due to the molestation. She wanted to go to college, not raise a baby and she thought she’d brought shame on her family by becoming pregnant. She went for an abortion but couldn’t go through with it in the end as it was a male carrying it out and it brought back flashbacks of her being molested. It was all of these things that made her suicidal.

Overall Thoughts:

If there is one author I aspire to be, it’s Jodi Picoult. I’ve always loved her writing – she seems to have perfected the art of balancing characters with plot and she seems to sense when her readers are getting restless because she will suddenly, and sometimes without warning, veer the plot off in a different direction thus leaving her reader with wide eyes and a shocked demeanor.

I can appreciate her writer’s instinct.

One of the biggest things I enjoy about Picoult is her talent of tackling sensitive moral issues without coming off as too preachy. This is right up my alley. I’ve ALWAYS been interested in this type of writing and my personal goal, as a writer, is to leave the reader thinking about the story and/or the issue behind the story. I’ve learned, in my 44 years on this earth, that life is definitely NOT black and white and I think all too often our media, even other people, sometimes would like us to believe that it is.

But at the same time, even though those moral lines are sometimes blurred, ultimately, decisions have to be made and people have to live with those decisions. Not to mention the trickle down effect of that decision on those characters directly affected.

The sensitive issues in this story?

How far would you go for the person you loved? Would you kill the person you loved if it meant that person would truly be happier?

Can a deep and intimate friendship morph into a romantic relationship and not feel weird?

That’s exactly what happens to Emily in this story. Her and Chris grew up together as brother and sister, and even though Chris’ feelings matured into love, Emily’s did not. And yet, she loved Chris will all her heart, just not in a romantic way. The last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt Chris, so she succumbed to Chris, both physically and emotionally, thinking everyone sort of expected them to end up together, so she would follow the plan.

Only in doing so, she crossed that invisible line of what felt right and she soon sunk into a deep depression. Rather than disappoint everyone in her life, hurt Chris, or be stuck in a life she did not want, she turned to thoughts of suicide.

I’ve personally dealt with this very issue. I dated a guy that I had been friends with for several years back in high school. But as soon as we officially became a “couple”, things felt off – just wrong on so many levels so that eventually, I not only destroyed the relationship, I annihilated our friendship, too. So, on some level, I could relate to Emily’s delimma. Definitely not her feelings of suicide, but her feelings of being trapped and wanting to get out, but not wanting to hurt anyone in the process of getting out.

At the risk of repeating myself, or the blurb above, I thought I’d take some of the negative Amazon feedback and address a few of the issues that people had with the story. I like debunking (or debating, you pick the verbiage) other people’s opinions mainly because it challenges me to look at different issues from another angle.

Responding to Negative Reviews:

None of my questions were answered and not in the good way where it’s left to your imagination. The characters are superficial. We never get beneath the surface with any of them and least of all Emily.

Apparently, this person is not a very careful reader because if anything, we got to know the characters very well – especially Emily. Since Emily dies at the beginning of the book, Picoult alternates the time line from chapter to chapter – past, present, past, etc. So in essence, the story moves ahead one step, and then takes one step back. I personally like this writing style because it offers a richness to the characters that might otherwise not have been there if she had stuck with a traditional forward-moving story. She could have done flash backs, but given the fact that the story starts AFTER the climax of the story, that would have been tedious. Placing present time in a chapter and past events in a chapter allowed the story to flow – like a see-saw in a playground.

And because Picoult devoted so much back story to chapters, the reader is given ample time and insight into Chris and Emily’s state of minds. This is simply not a valid criticism, in my opinion.

Although it was beautifully written, I felt cheated, ripped off, and let down at the end. The plot was not sufficiently developed through to the end. There were too many blanks to be filled in, too many loose ends, too much left unsaid and undone. There was far too much drama and not enough substance.

Which is a heck of a lot better than too much substance and not enough drama – who wants to read a story without drama? Drama is what MAKES the story. Duh.

And to say that this story had too many loose ends is just silly – the entire story is interwoven like a tightly integrated quilt, if anything, I thought Picoult spent too much time on character thoughts/feelings and not enough time moving the story forward. And as far as too many blanks – as a reader, would you rather have the author TELL you the story, or SHOW you the story? Picoult does an excellent job of balancing both and if this reader couldn’t fill in obvious holes, then I would suggest this reader work on his/her reading comprehension because I felt like Picoult did an excellent job of laying the groundwork and then stepping back to allow the reader to navigate the terrain.

Emily feels trapped by Chris and is more or less sickened by their sexual relationship, I felt it was inappropriate. Chris, who was supposedly so in-tune with her feelings, seems to purposely ignore her fairly obvious signs of discomfort. Towards the end, it felt abusive.

That was Picoult’s intent – to make the reader uncomfortable because it was an uncomfortable position to be in. It wasn’t inappropriate, it was realistic. Now if the characters truly had been brother and sister, I would have stopped reading after the first few pages, but the fact that they were not made the situation more realistic in my opinion. Who hasn’t had a friendship where one person wanted to take it to the next level and the other did not? It’s an uncomfortable situation to be in.

However, I will agree with the part about Chris supposedly being so in-tune with Emily’s feelings and yet not sensing what was really bothering her. I didn’t quite buy that part either, however, given the fact that they were 17 and inexperienced in both worldly things and in all things love, it worked.

I guess I don’t understand the “small town” mentality but it seems a little sick that the parents never wanted anything more from their children than for them to fall in love and live happily ever after without ever experiencing what else is out there. The writing is also quite mediocre and the trial is not very credible.

Apparently, this person is not a parent because that’s ALL a parent wants for his/her child – to fall in love and live happily ever after. And the writing was anything but mediocre, though to be fair, referring to a flush as “bright red flags” several times did get old. And the trial? Was one of my favorite parts. It really built the drama and I thought Picoult did an excellent job of presenting both sides of the story through the courtroom scenes. In fact, I felt the threads of the story were drawn even tighter with the courtroom drama because it allowed the reader yet another opportunity to piece the story together – just as if the reader were one of the jurors.

I have done extensive reading on the issue of teen suicide. This story misses a great opportunity to address this national problem.

Ah. Now this one I can agree with. I think Picoult romanticized suicide a bit too much and a more impressionable mind might actually walk away from this book thinking suicide is a viable option for when times get tough. I agree that she could have used this opportunity to get out the message that suicide is a serious and completely unacceptable alternative to any problem.

And while we’re on the subject of things I didn’t care for in this story – the ending was completely and totally contrived. I fell like Picoult compromised the story in order to give her publishers, and the readers at large, a “happy” ending. Given this story and what happens to this character, not to mention the damning evidence against him and what is proven (even with testimony), the ending was a disappointment and in my opinion, a cop out.

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By the way, I have this book for sale in my book store if you would like to purchase it. It’s only been read once and is in excellent condition.

New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)
by Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown & Co, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
ISBN # 0316024961
608 pages

My Grade: B+

Blurb:

Recovered from the vampire attack that hospitalized her in the conclusion of Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005), Bella celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend Edward and his family, a unique clan of vampires that has sworn off human blood. But the celebration abruptly ends when the teen accidentally cuts her arm on broken glass. The sight and smell of her blood trickling away forces the Cullen family to retreat lest they be tempted to make a meal of her. After all is mended, Edward, realizing the danger that he and his family create for Bella, sees no option for her safety but to leave. Mourning his departure, she slips into a downward spiral of depression that penetrates and lingers over her every step. Vampire fans will appreciate the subsequently dour mood that permeates the novel, and it’s not until Bella befriends Jacob, a sophomore from her school with a penchant for motorcycles, that both the pace and her disposition begin to take off. Their adventures are wild, dare-devilish, and teeter on the brink of romance, but memories of Edward pervade Bella’s emotions, and soon their fun quickly morphs into danger, especially when she uncovers the true identities of Jacob and his pack of friends.

Plot / Premise:

I confess. I’m not a big vampire person. In fact, before this series came out, I had no desire to read anything remotely to do with vampires.

Actually, I still don’t.

But I succumbed to peer pressure, and I read Twilight. (You can read my review here). And since I started the series, it would be so irresponsible of me not to finish the series so … here we are. New Moon.

I’ve never read a book where one of the main characters was missing throughout 3/4 of the book. Edward dumps Bella and disappears for much of the book. Only, he’s not really gone because Bella goes berserk, perhaps just a little insane, without him and the reader is subjected to chapter after chapter of her pathetic pining.

But more on Bella, and the rest of the characters, in a moment.

After Edward dumps Bella, for her own good, our heroine sinks into a deep depression. And the only person who is able to distract her enough from her misery is Jacob Black, a good friend from her past with a very dangerous secret.

A portion of the story is devoted to Bella trying to figure out the secret and once she has, to dealing with the secret. And even though Jacob’s secret of morphing into a gigantic werewolf is bizarre, it’s really only one more bizarre thing that Bella is forced to deal with in her life and she takes it all in stride.

Though Bella develops deep feelings for Jacob, her heart still remains loyal and faithful to Edward – who continues to remain MIA in the story up to this point.

It’s not until one of the vampires, Victoria, returns to seek revenge for her dead mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight, that Laurent soon arrives. Laurent had “run” with Victoria and James in the Twilight story but didn’t care for their primitive and cruel ways and went his own way. But he returns (loneliness? curiosity?) only to encounter Jacob and his “pack” of werewolves – who are the vampires mortal enemies, I might add. Though we never see Victoria, it’s heavily implied that she’s near and seeking revenge, which only makes Jacob and his pals that much more devoted to protecting Bella from both Victoria and Laurent.

Through a series of miscommunications, Edward is led to believe that Bella has committed suicide. This in turn severs his will to “live,” which is ironic considering the man is immortal. He then makes plans to have a powerful vampire clan, Volturi, destroy him. Bella finds out about his plans and rushes to Italy in order to stop him.

She is successful, however the Volturi now give Edward an ultimatum – either Bella is transformed into a vampire, or she must die. She has seen their secrets and there really is no other alternative.

When they return to Forks, the Cullens vote in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward’s dismay. However, Edward gives Bella a choice: either she lets Carlisle change her after her graduation, or, if Bella agrees to marry him, he will change her himself.

Characters:

I will confess, the characters were compelling. It wasn’t merely their supernatural abilities but I think Meyers did a good job of making them sympathetic and easy to relate to.

Her male characters were very strong, protective, and confident which rendered them sexy, because ultimately, that is what females want in a man. However, they all had an element of weakness that not only provoked an element of compassion, but made them more “human”, if you will. I personally loved her male characters.

Actually, I liked all of her female characters too, except for Bella.

I found myself getting VERY IMPATIENT with Bella’s inability to function after Edward left her. Even though I understand, and can appreciate, that Meyer wanted to make sure her readers understood that Bella was devastated by the loss of her one true love, I thought Bella’s devastation was just a bit over the top and I wanted to throttle her on a number of occasions.

In fact, I found the whole obsessive love slant a bit … stifling and maybe even just a little alarming, truth be known. I believe that every woman, deep down, has an inbred need to be desired, treasured and loved completely. There is something so sexy about being in a relationship where you can be completely yourself and still be loved completely. And the blood-sucking aspect of this story gives it a dark and forbidden element, yet another sexy element and one that I think transforms this type of story into something decadent and delicious – to be pursued and wanted for all time? Is a heady proposition.

And yet, it’s precisely this type of dark and dangerous love story that makes me wary from the very beginning. It’s one thing to jump into that dark, erotic hole to see where it takes you, it’s an entirely different story trying to claw oneself back out again and bask in decent, healthy sunlight once more.

But I suppose that’s the appeal behind stories like this one – the fact that most of us don’t dare jump into that hole but are left wondering, what if? It’s a chance to strap oneself into a safety harness and lower oneself into that hole knowing full well that by simply closing the book, we will be jerked back into a safe reality.

But still. Bella’s inability to normally function without the love her life left me uneasy. It’s precisely this sort of obsessive, all-consuming love that gets people into trouble and though it looks attractive on the surface, it’s often convoluted, dense and sometimes unpleasant under that surface.

Writing Style:

I’ve read mixed reviews on Meyer’s writing – some either love the simplistic nature, or others are so turned off by the simplistic nature they can’t get past it and just enjoy the story.

Here’s what I say about that: the story is being told from a 17-year old girl’s point of view. And even given the fact that Bella is pretty intelligent and ends up using words that some didn’t think was appropriate for a 17-year old (for example “absurd”… I can see a teenage girl saying this, especially if she was trying to appear older than she really was) it worked for me.

The writing itself was pretty good, I thought. It flowed. Meyer does a good job keeping the story moving so that I never really got bored or found myself skipping whole sections to get to the good parts. And given this is a young adult novel, I thought her writing style fit the genre – people who complain about the way she writes, at least this specific series of stories – are forgetting the YA classification, I think. I would never expect to open a YA novel and then expect to read Henry James, for example. In fact, I daresay, if the writing were even 1/8 as convoluted as James, many young people wouldn’t get past the first page.

So, I didn’t have a problem with Meyer’s writing style because she was writing for her audience. And I think that is a key element for all writers to keep in mind when they write their stories – keep the audience in mind. People who complain about her writing style are looking for something that is not there – at least, not in this type of novel.

I’d also like to point out that Meyer did an EXCELLENT job of building the sexual tension between Bella and Edward. I found myself tensing up and really wanting them to give in to their desires and do the deed, and yes, I was disappointed when they didn’t, but I ended up admiring Meyer’s writing style even more because she accomplished what she set out to do – establish several levels of tension between Bella and Edward.

Sex wasn’t Meyer’s goal here. She set out to tempt us into the unknown. This story was about passion, about an all-consuming love, about controlling our baser instincts and about dealing with forbidden love.

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Tuesdays are all about reading and writing around here. You just read the reading part, now how about a little writing exercise?

So, I stumbled on some people talking about National Novel Reading Month and after doing a little research and not finding anything “official”, I thought I would do my own little NaNoReaMo.

So, here’s the dealio:

I pledge to read four novels this month (which will be tough given the holidays and so forth – but come on, curling up in front of a fire and reading? What better excuse do you need than that?)

I will not only read these books, I will post a review on these books AND THEN give them away to four lucky winners for Book Swap in January!

And since I just finished writing 50,000 words in 30 days, I’m SO DONE with writing and SO IN THE MOOD to read for a bit.

Here are the books I’ll be reading this month:

Book One: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Description: I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES…
For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning. . . .

Book Two: The Time Traveler’s Wife by

Description: A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger’s cinematic storytelling that makes the novel’s unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.

Book Three: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by

Description: It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.

Book Four: Vision in White (The Bride Quartet, Book 1) by Nora Roberts

Description: Wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be’s brother…an encounter that has them both seeing stars.

A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac’s type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her way to her own happy ending.

If you would like to participate in NaNoReaMo, please feel free to do so! In fact, read the same books as I am and then we can discuss what we liked, or disliked, about the book! (A sort of mini-book club!).

My tentative reading schedule:

December 1 – 8: New Moon
December 8 – 15: The Time Traveler’s Wife
December 15 – 22: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
December 22 – 29: Vision in White

Happy Reading!

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Who’s up for a book swap?!

In the past, I’ve participated in the Buy a Friend a Book program, and though that is an excellent program and I’ll probably participate in the future, I won’t be participating as often.

Why?

Because I have a ton of books (a whole tub full, actually), that I need to get rid of.

And that, my friends, is where you come in.

If you would like one of the books listed below, please email me a mailing address (US mailing addresses only, please) and I’ll pop that in the mail. I’ll be sending it via media mail (it’s cheaper), so please allow 14 days to reach you, please.

True to Form by Elizabeth Berg Taken	Tangled up in Daydreams by Rebecca Bloom	Performance Anxiety by Betsy Burke	Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark	Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards	The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen	Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber	The Sweetest Taboo by Carole Matthews	Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks Taken	Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

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If you have one, or more, books you’d like to swap with someone, and you’d like to pay it forward to an online friend, then please read this page.

Are you participating in the Book Swap? Please put your permalink URL (the link to the actual Book Swap post, not your blog!) in the Mr. Linky script below. Thank you!

Have fun!!

Kevin and I just finished watching “Twilight.” I had actually seen it before, but he hadn’t. I wasn’t sure if he would like it, given the, um, subject matter, but to my utter surprise, he loved it. He liked how the author took an evil aspect and made something good out of it. And he likes love stories — is this man for real?!

Anyway, the move reminded me of the “Twilight” book review I wrote and I thought I would re-publish it, just for kicks.

Watching the movie makes me want to give more Twilight books away. Perhaps I will … closer to Christmas. 🙂

This was originally published December 2008.

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I’m embarrassed to say, I succumbed to peer pressure.

I’m not proud of this fact, but there you have it.

This is especially painful for me to admit because I pride myself on not really conforming to what is generally popular; I form my own opinions, thank you very much, and if I happen to agree with the majority then it’s because I happened to agree and not because I felt the need to belong to a certain group, wanted people to like me, or I was too afraid to be different.

So, to say that I succumbed to peer pressure is, well, not exactly something I will ever admit to – at least, not very often.

But I finally caved, I had had enough. I eventually cried uncle and yes, I read “Twilight”.

When the buzz first started, I wasn’t all that interested. I don’t generally read young adult stories to begin with; I think Harry Potter might have been the last time I had even picked up a YA book SINCE my young adult years. I immediately dismissed the genre – not my bag man.

Not interested, thanks.

But the enthusiasm for this book grew to the point that it once again caught my attention. There were enough people blogging about it that I decided to give it a closer look.

And then I found out it was about vampires.

Strike two. Now I REALLY wasn’t interested. I had no desire to delve into that super natural realm. None. I don’t understand how someone can be attracted to strange, inhuman beings. It sort of freaks me out, if you want the truth. That’s the biggest reason I could never swallow the fantasy genre – the thought of being romantic with an alien being just totally grosses me out. Let me reiterate: it completely turns me off.

I simply don’t “get” it. It’s not my bag of tea. I would rather spend my time reading about flawed human beings who eventually live happily ever after than about forbidden love with a creature who doesn’t possess human DNA.

But whatever, to each his own.

So once again, I fought the curiosity.

But then, I participated in this past Bloggy Giveaway. And I thought it would be fun to give something away that people obviously wanted – the Twilight Saga books. Even though I hadn’t read them, I knew other people wanted to read them, so, I bought them and set them up to give away on my blog.

I had over 200 people put their name into the pot. The response caught my attention and I finally gave in to my snooty attitude and bought my own copy of “Twilight.”

It took me nearly a month to finish it. Not because it was a terrible story, but because I was in the middle of NaNoWriMo. I actually had no intention of even starting the book until after the challenge was over, but I had to take my oldest son in for an orthodontist appointment so I grabbed the book to pass the time.

It immediately sucked me. (Pun intended).

And I’ve been sitting here wondering exactly why.

A. I don’t care for YA stories in general. They are, well, juvenile, for lack of a better term. Not only in premise but in the writing itself. And that’s okay, they are supposed to be – the target audience is 13 to 18 year olds after all.

B. I don’t really like vampires. They are creatures steeped in evil and I tend to avoid evil-based premises.

So, the fact that I ended up liking this book? Was puzzling to me.

The majority of responses to this book have been positive. People loved it. But there are a few who didn’t care for it at all and the reasons they cited are certainly valid, but I think they’re missing the bigger picture here.

Two of the biggest reasons were:

1. The writing was too simplistic and rife with slang.

True. But the story is being told from a 17-year old girl’s point of view. And even given the fact that Bella is pretty intelligent and ends up using words that some didn’t think was appropriate for a 17-year old (for example “absurd”… I can see a teenage girl saying this, especially if she was trying to appear older than she really was) it worked for me.

The writing itself was pretty good, I thought. It flowed. Meyer does a good job keeping the story moving so that I never really got bored or found myself skipping whole sections to get to the good parts.

2. They didn’t have sex.

This was the biggest complaint among those that didn’t care for the story. And even though I too ended the book feeling frustrated for our heroine, I believe that was the whole point. Again, this was a YA book. What sort of moralistic message is Meyer sending if she has her characters have sex?

True, it might not have been very realistic given the activities of our youth today, but really, it was the only option open to Meyer given the genre she wrote the story in. I believe she would have received a lot more flack if she had allowed them to do the deed.

I’d like to point out that Meyer did an EXCELLENT job of building the sexual tension between these two. I found myself tensing up and really wanting them to give in to their desires and do the deed, and yes, I was disappointed when they didn’t, but I ended up admiring Meyer’s writing style even more because she accomplished what she set out to do – establish several levels of tension between Bella and Edward.

Sex wasn’t Meyer’s goal here. She set out to tempt us into the unknown. This story was about passion, about an all-consuming love, about controlling our baser instincts and about dealing with forbidden love.

Hence the very clever cover – an offering of a red, juicy apple – the forbidden fruit.

I’ll be honest, I bought this story. There was something deliciously decadent about reading a story filled with darkness, seduction, temptations and dangerous attractions.

I think Meyer did an excellent job balancing the various elements just mentioned with the stringent guidelines imposed upon her when deciding to write this story in the young adult genre.

I think, in some ways, this story wouldn’t have been as powerful if she had chosen to write it for a different genre. The fact that she left us thirsty for more Bella and Edward is a testament to how well she succeeded in tempting our baser instincts.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

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After writing this review, I stumbled on Summer’s excellent post, “Edward and Bella: True Love or True Lust?” and honestly, it’s a brilliant dissection of a rather disturbing attraction. I highly recommend reading it.

I have to say, this love story, nay, this character OBSESSION makes me want to write something equally steamy.

What did you think about the Twilight book or series? I haven’t read any further than the first book so please, no spoilers. 🙂

Congratulations Dianne F.!!

THANK YOU to everyone who visited and commented! We’ll do this again in July!

Keep Reading!!

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IT’S TIME!

Yep, it’s that time once again – time to give a book away for no good reason!

So how does this work, you ask? Here’s the short version, I’m participating in the program and would love to buy someone a book of their choice ($15 max). If you would like to put your name into the pot and win a free book, please enter your name in the comment section below. If I draw your name April 9th then I’ll buy you a book!

1. Each comment you leave in the comment section counts as one ticket. (One comment per day, please).

2. Subscribe to my feed, receive another ticket. (Please leave separate comment if subscribed).

3. Follow me on Twitter, receive another ticket. (Please leave separate comment if following).

Winner will be announced on Write From Karen after 11:00 a.m. (U.S. central time) April 9th.

And … if any of you are feeling generous and would like to buy ME a book, I’ve included a link to my Amazon.com wish list to make it easy for you. 😀

Easy-smeasy, right?

Want to learn more? Read the long version.

Please help spread the word! Copy the code below and paste it into your blog today!

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<a href="https://writefromkaren.wordpress.com/free-book/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2338927374_6bcac880da_o.jpg&quot; alt="Win a FREE book at writefromkaren.com" /></a>

Open to U.S. addresses only.

If anyone is participating in BAFAB week, please let me know! I also love to win free books! 😀

Guess what time it is?

It’s time for another Buy A Friend a Book week!

Yep, I’m going to randomly pick a reader out of a hat and send him/her a book of his/her choice from Amazon. No, no, not right now. April 9th.

Okay wait, instead of explaining it all over again, just click over here and read more about it.

In the meantime, mark your calendars and be sure to come back April 2nd and put your name in the comment “pot”. It’s not everyday someone offers to buy you a book for no good reason!

(I’m sorry, this is only open to U.S. addresses only).

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Banner Code:

To include this button (130 pixels wide) in your post or sidebar, copy and paste this code:

<a href="https://writefromkaren.wordpress.com/free-book/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2338927374_6bcac880da_o.jpg&quot; alt="Win a FREE book at writefromkaren.com" /></a>