Booking Through Thursday: Mood Reading

Today's prompt: Does your current mood affect your reading? Affect your choices? I know there are plenty of books I enjoy, but only if Im in a particular kind of mood–or books that can lift me out of a bad mood without fail. Surely I’m not alone?

I was recently thinking about this very thing! I was looking through my TBR stack for my next read and as I was mulling over choices, I kept thinking, no, I'm not in the mood for that book, or that author, or whatever the case may have been. I even thought, well, what exactly IS it about my mood that I don't want to read these books? Sometimes I just want a simple, uncomplicated read, other times I'm not ready to commit to a series and just want a stand-alone story. But I'm not sure I could pinpoint a specific mood I have to be in to read a certain book. Of course, if I am feeling a bit down, I will usually look for an author that I know will either cheer me up or make me laugh. I think it may be more difficult to assess why I may NOT want to read a particular book at any given time... Perhaps I should pay more attention to how I'm feeling and what's going on in my life when I'm making my reading selections -- it would probably be an interesting study!

Booking Through Thursday is hosted by Deb. Be sure to click on over to see other people's responses!

REVIEW: Safe in His Arms by Colleen Coble

Series: Under Texas Stars #2
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Release Date: January 2013, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Format: eBook (Kindle)
Source: Downloaded as a freebie from Amazon.com

Sometimes it takes a stranger to see you as you really are.

Born and raised on sprawling Texas land, Margaret O’Brien prides herself on her competence as a rancher. But her father believes she’s made for more than just dawn-to-dusk work. He wants her to have the love of a good man, to raise children, to build a life. But Margaret gave up such dreams years ago. She’s convinced no man would have her, that the ranch is her life now.

So when Margaret’s father hires Daniel Cutler as a new foreman, she’s frustrated and suspicious. Then an overheard conversation links him with a gang of bank robbers, and she’s downright worried. Daniel swears he’s not involved, but Margaret’s not convinced. She knows the man still has secrets. But would a criminal be so kind and talk so convincingly of his faith? As a series of tragic “accidents” threatens all she holds dear, Margaret must decide what to trust: her own ears, her best judgment... or what her heart keeps telling her.

MY THOUGHTS
I'm a sucker for Western historical fiction, there's no doubt about it. I love romances with cowboys -- always have! Even though I've not read the first book in Coble's Under Texas Stars series, as with many Christian fiction series, this book works well as a stand-alone read -- more so than many other series I've read, in fact. Coble's writing is engaging and easy to read, and in addition to the love story, there is a bit of mystery to this novel, as well.

I will admit this is one of those rare instances that I wish I still gave ratings in half-star increments. I probably would actually give this 3.5 stars instead of 4 stars -- 3 stars seemed too low since I did enjoy most of the story. I liked the feeling of satisfaction and contentment that I felt by the time I finished the book, but the romance was perhaps just a teeny bit too formulaic -- the handsome cowboy falls in love with a plain Jane who just can't understand why he would. I don't mind that storyline, but it is often hard to make it feel fresh with so many stories out there along those lines. And then you've got the action-packed last third of the book... Multiple incredible events occur so rapidly in such a short span of time, it is really just a bit too unbelievable -- exciting, but perhaps a little ridiculous, as well.

With all Christian fiction, my basic requirement is that I don't want to be preached to. I suppose you could say, well, after all it is Christian fiction so what do you expect?  Nevertheless, it is possible to write an inspiring story without preaching. Thankfully, it seems fewer authors choose to preach and instead focus more on actual story-telling, but with definite Christian overtones and themes. Coble falls into the non-preachy category, so on that basis alone it was likely I would enjoy this book!

Read this book if you like...
- Christian fiction that isn't too preachy
- Historical fiction set in the early Western frontier
- Books by Tamera Alexander, Kelly Eileen Hake, Janette Oke (and other authors whose books tend towards Western inspirational fiction)

* Originally read in February 2013.

Teaser Tuesdays: After the Funeral

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! (If you're on Goodreads, I've included a button to add the book to your list just below the teaser!)

After finishing a couple of fantasy books in my TBR pile, I was in the mood for a little mystery... Specifically, mystery that has a touch of humor and amusing characters, which Agatha Christie's books always do!

"As you know," said Mr. Entwhistle, "I am the executor of Richard Abernethie's will--"

He was interrupted.

"I didn't know," said Cora Lansquener brightly. "Are you? Did he leave me anything?"

~ page 21 of After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

REVIEW: The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale

Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: August 2005, Luna Books
Format: Trade Paperback, 411 pages
Source: Purchased from Books-a-Million

Can the Queen who has once done the impossible ever be free?

After awakening the "Waiting King" -- the one destined to free her country from the long occupation of the Han -- Maura Woodbury thinks her duty to her country completed. But Maura's task has only just begun. Rath, once a notorious outlaw, has no magic, and thus no power to expel the invaders from their kingdom. Yet the people expect a miracle. And so Maura, still new to using life-magic, is their only hope . . .

Maura must journey into the unknown, searching for a magical staff -- one that will grant the awakened king one grand wish. But separation from her consort breeds jealousies, devastating secrets and ties to an intimate enemy. Stricken by doubt, Maura and Rath are tempted to ignore the call of fate -- but what will happen to the country if they do?

MY THOUGHTS
After finishing The Wizard's Ward, which I enjoyed, I knew I had to go ahead and finish out this two-book story with The Destined Queen, and conveniently I had the second book close at hand. By the way, if you haven't read the first book, there will be some spoilers in this review... I had admitted to worrying that I wouldn't enjoy the second book as much as the first because the anticipation of the eventual romance between Maura and Rath wouldn't be there. And while it wasn't, Hale was adept enough with her story-telling that there were other events that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout much of the book.

Maura and Rath, as the Destined Queen and Waiting King, embark on another series of adventures -- first to the Vesten Islands, where they are called once they learn the truth about themselves at the end of the first book. On the islands, they are married and plan out the remainder of their quest to save Umbria from the destruction of the Hans. We meet the Oracle of Margyle, who was an unexpected character (you'd have to read the story to find out why!) and managed to unwittingly cause some mischief as oracles often do when sharing their prophesies.

Nearly half of the story actually sees Maura and Rath apart from each other, so at least there is the anticipation of their eventual reunion! Hale managed to surprise with some twists throughout the story -- Maura learns some shocking truths about her heritage that you can only imagine would be used against her in the form of blackmail. I was happy with how Hale chose to resolve that bit of the storyline, though... Maura remained true to her portrayal as a strong heroine, in the end. I will say that the portion of the adventure with Maura and Rath apart from each other was a bit slower than the rest of the book. We alternate between their points of view and it just didn't seem like the story advanced much during Rath's chapters as it did during Maura's. Overall, I did enjoy The Destined Queen as much as The Wizard's Ward!

Read this if you like...
- What I like to call "lighter" epic fantasy
- A bit of romance thrown into your adventure (it's not over the top)

**This is my third book towards the #TakeControl March 2013 TBR Challenge

Suddenly Sunday/Sunday Salon:Indie Author Event!

Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea @ The Muse in the Fog Book Review. The purpose of Suddenly Sunday is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week. If you would like to participate, just grab the button and link back here.

Last week I talked plenty about what's been going on at my blog, so today I'm going to gab about the fun event I got to go to this afternoon!

Today I was lucky enough to attend an indie author Meet & Mingle at Copper Coin Coffee in Woodstock, GA. If you've been by the blog lately, you've probably seen me mention it a time or two in reviews and other posts. :-) Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures while I was there -- I know, what was I thinking?! Perhaps I didn't want to go completely fangirl on everyone, haha! I had such a great time chatting with everyone that I didn't want to keep other people from enjoying the same opportunity. But it was such an awesome format, very informal and friendly -- seriously the best book signing I've been able to go to! And well, I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty fun to hear, "You're not just Melissa, you're Melissa's Bookshelf!" I just wish I'd been able to attend both days of the event, but I left the coffee shop today feeling like I had made four new friends!

I'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to Into The Night Reviews and Literati Literature Lovers for hosting such a fantastic event -- especially so close to home for me! Between working from home and spending time with my daughter, I probably don't get out as much as I should and it is difficult to go to most of the events I hear about that tend to be farther away, so today was a real treat!

Who did I get to meet? (BTW, you can click on their names below to visit their websites and learn more.)

~ Nichole Chase, author of The Dark Betrayal trilogy, Flukes, which I've reviewed here, On Christmas Hill (short story), and the soon-to-be-released Suddenly Royal, which I preordered today! Be sure to visit her website to learn more about her books.

~ S.R. Johannes, whose book, Untraceable, I reviewed earlier this week. I plan to read the second book in this series, Uncontrollable, soon -- got my signed copy today, of course! The third book will be out this summer, can't wait! She's also written several other books -- you can see the complete list on her website.

~ Michelle Muto, author of three books, including The Book of Lost Souls, which I reviewed recently. For more information about her other books, including her very popular horror title, The Haunting Season, please visit her website. I just picked that one up today and look forward to reading it soon!

~ Sarah M. Ross, who has written Awaken, the first of her Patronus series, and for which I have been totally remiss in writing a review! But suffice it to say if you are looking for a fresh take on angels and demons, you should definitely give this series a try. Ross has also written several other titles you can see on her site.

I was so lucky to get to spend quite a bit of time chatting with all four of them -- they were all so friendly and gracious, and each had interesting stories to tell. I hope you'll take a look at some of their titles -- many are available for a bargain price in eBook format, which is a great way to give them a try! I have so much respect for independent authors -- theirs is not an easy path to travel, but the passion these ladies all have for their work is undeniable! Thank you to all of you for taking the time to chat with me and share a little about yourselves and your passion for writing!!

While I didn't take any pictures of the event, I will leave you witha  picture of all the signed books I picked up and the swag I got! :-) Yep, in addition to some books I've already read, I just added some more books to that ever-growing TBR pile!

What about you? Have you gotten to go to any fun bookish events or book signings recently?