A Prayer Heeded

After finishing A Silent Prayer by Samreen Ahsan last week, I had to pick up the sequel so that I could see how the story would end.  I must say, I was not disappointed!

In A Prayer Heeded, the story of Adam and Rania continues.  They must develop their relationship based on complete trust.  Rania's troubled past is always hanging over her like a dark cloud, and she is afraid to hope that Adam could be the one to save her from that.  If he is the one, he will have to have faith, something that is not easy for a former atheist to do.

This is a beautiful spiritual romance.  Adam and Rania are soulmates, but they have many obstacles that they must overcome in order to truly be together.  Adam must overcome his stubborn refusal to believe in things he cannot see.  Rania must put her complete faith in Adam, and after all of the abuse that she has been through, will she be able to do this?

Reading this novel left me with warm fuzzy feelings.  It is nice to read a story about all consuming love that is spiritual and emotional.  This book series has won numerous awards, and I am very glad to have had the chance to read it.  If the author has managed to be so successful on her first published works, I am very excited to see what kinds of things we will see from her in the future.

A Silent Prayer

I was given a free ebook copy of 'A Silent Prayer' by Samreen Ahsan in exchange for an honest review.

Adam Gibson is Toronto's most eligible bachelor. He is rich, young, sexy, and a notorious womanizer. He sees Rania walking outside his office building, and is absolutely smitten. But Rania is different from all of the other women he has been with. She is not interested in any type of relationship, and her strong beliefs forbid her to have relations with any man other than her husband. She is modest and very spiritual. As she and Adam develop a friendship based on trust, they fall in love. There is a darkness to Rania however, that she is afraid to reveal to Adam. The story ends in a cliffhanger, to be continued in book 2.

It is so refreshing to read a love story where people remain true to their personal boundaries. There is still magnetism and attraction, the story is still steamy even though there is no sex. This is an amazing love story about two people from different spiritual and cultural backgrounds growing together. There are many spiritual/paranormal events that are left unexplained at the end of the story, presumably to be explained in book 2. Once I started reading this book, I truly had a hard time putting it down. I will definitely be reading book 2.

My only criticism is that the story ended in a cliffhanger. I enjoy books that are able to stand on their own and am not a huge fan of the 'to be continued' endings that seem popular right now. I understand why authors do it, it is just frustrating as a reader to have to wait to get your hands on book 2 to see what happens, especially if you are as engrossed in Book 1 as I was with this story.

I definitely recommend picking up a copy of this book so that you can see for yourself.  I can see why the author has won so many awards for this book series.  Book 1 is only .99 cents on amazon.com right now, I hope you love it as much as I did!

Aesop's Fables

I decided to pick up Aesop's Fables and give it a go.  I honestly thought that I was picking up a book of fairy tales, but was pleasantly surprised by the short quick and familiar tales that were in this book.

Description:  So many stories that we consider modern have their roots in Aesop's fables.  They truly are timeless.  This is a collection of tales that is appropriate for any age, the lessons that they teach are simple and useful in everyday life.

What I liked:  I recognized a lot of the tales, some I had heard or seen in children's picture books, others in movies, tv shows, cartoons, etc.  I had no idea that the stories were written such a long time ago.

What I didn't like: It was hard to read this in one sitting.  Because the stories are so short, I found myself either constantly re-reading entire tales or falling asleep after I had read a few of them.

Would I recommend this?:  Absolutely.  I think that every person should spend some time with this book at least once.

You

I received a free advanced copy of You by Caroline Kepnes as part of the Goodreads giveaways.

"You" is the story of Joe who is an obsessed, deranged stalker/serial killer.  He sees Beck, has an innocent interaction with her, and becomes absolutely obsessed with her.  He goes into stalker mode.  He follows her activities on facebook.  Steals her phone so that he can read her emails.  Obsessively checks her twitter feed.  Finds her address.  Watches through her windows.  Sneaks into her house.  Kills her boyfriend....

This story is told in the first person, so the main character is relating all of these events as if they are normal which adds to the creepy factor.  It is not a romance.  It is a view into the mind of a very sick individual.  He seems normal to everyone who meets him.  A real nice guy, innocent manager of a book store.

After reading this, I found myself checking the privacy settings on all of my social media accounts, making sure my curtains are fully drawn at night and double checking the locks on my car and house when I go inside.  This is an unforgettable, chilling tale.  I still have goosebumps.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

This book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been on my to-read list for such a long time, I finally decided to pick it up.  I wish I had done that sooner, I thought this story was fantastic.

The Hound of the Baskervilles had me terrified, the story had me guessing and every book that I read has me loving Sherlock Holmes more and more.

This story has Holmes and Watson investigating the death of Sir Charles.  His family has been plagued by the legend of the devilish Hound of the Baskervilles for generations.  The family fears the moor at night, they stay indoors so as to not tempt fate.  Sir Charles buys into the legend wholeheartedly, making all attempts to avoid the moor and making plans to move away from the area.  So why then is his dead body found out there late at night, the night before he is to move away?  Even more intriguing, why are there paw prints from a hound close to the body?  Holmes must solve this mystery before the heir to Sir Charles' fortune meets the same fate.

The Geography of Pluto

 I won a copy of this book as part of a giveaway.

The Geography of Pluto by Christopher DiRaddo is the story of a young man named Will who is a geography teacher living in Montreal. He is really struggling to get over the breakup of his relationship with his boyfriend Max. He makes half-hearted attempts at moving on, but can he? Will's mother is also facing struggles of her own. She is a cancer survivor, but the cancer looms like a dark cloud over them, always threatening to come back.  

While the story is about a young gay man, it is not a coming of age story.  I started reading this book expecting it to be a long drawn emotional tale about how a young man discovers himself.  I was presently surprised and very wrong in my original assumptions.  It is so beautifully written, I was captivated. It is about grief, love, and the beautiful city of Montreal. At times I found myself cheering for Will, other times he made me frustrated. It is definitely a story worth reading.  

The Man Within (Breeds #2, Feline Breeds #2)

I read the book The Man Within by Lora Leigh earlier in the month of August but didn't get around to putting my thoughts down until now.

Ever since she was a little girl, Roni has always been protected by her friend Taber.  He has captured her heart.  They are finally going to get together.  Then he brushes her off and never wants to see her again.  Her heart is shattered.  They spend months apart, then the news of the Breeds gets released.  She finds out that he is one.  Her father finds out as well when he sees the mark on her neck.  Her dad would do anything to sell her out, and he does.  This throws Roni back into Taber's arms, and his kiss seals the deal.  Even after months apart they are drawn to each other.  They are in a mating frenzy, chemically drawn to each other.  Nothing but pregnancy will make it stop.

This second book of the Breeds series felt a lot like rehashing the same things that happened in the first book.  There was not much of a plot and the mating frenzy had already been the main event of book 1.  There was the story line about Roni's father but even that I found weak.  All that being said, I did find it hard to put the book down.  I really do want to continue to read the series, I just hope that the other books have a bit more of a story to them.