Jacqueline's review of A Man of No Magic by Radi Redev

Reviewed by -- Jacqueline Driggers

Book Review of -- A Man Of No Magic

By Radi Radev  

My overall star rating -- from 1-5

Where to get it:

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Of-No-Magic-ebook/dp/B00CBHMOYA/

About the book:

The protagonist Marcus was born an outsider. He could not cast even a single spell. People like him are one in a thousand in his home kingdom.

People of no magic are declared to be outlaws, whereas price is put on their heads.

The main character is rejected by his beloved Melissa, who was born a witch, just like almost everyone else in the Kingdom of Balkh. On top of that, he is banished from his birthplace, that is his village.

Marcus is determined to become a wizard at any rate.

Therefore he is bound to go through numerous battles and adventures.

Book creation ratings:

Overall total -- 30 out of a possible 30

-- Story & characters --10

-- Cover & title --10

-- Editing -- 10

* based on a 1-10 scale with:  1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10, very good.*

My 5 point review:

-1- A short book, but a very good one

-2- Loved the story of a man who was an outcast in his own land

-3- A story for those who don’t fit in.

-4- A story of searching and determination

-5- This is a writer with talent.

What's it like to be a man of no magic in a place where others commonplace to magic?  Miserable, that's what it is.  You have to be stronger in other areas.  This is the life of Marcus.  You must be good at swordplay, and fighting; for you may have to fight often.  Battle magic with brawn.  And in the beginning of the book, brawn wins.  Even over a stupid, drunk warrior who didn't know better but to stop while he was ahead.  He didn't know well enough to be wary of Marcus.

But then the village turns on him in the night.  Branded and exiled, and he must always be on his guard, unless he can remove the brand they put on him.  So determines his quest.  A quest to become a magician, and erase the burned in word from his forehead.

The book is short, but quite good, and very enjoyable; showing the writer's talent.  A writer to follow.

Reader Recommendations

Genre -- fantasy, paranormal, science fiction

Age recommendations --15 and up

Sex content rating -- none

Violence rating -- moderate

Please pardon our dust . . . .

Isn't that the kind of sign they put up when they're renovating a business that people are still frequenting, or still shopping at?  Well, I feel like I need to have had that sign up on my blog for the past 3 months.  Because there's been some changes going on here.

This blog got it's start back in September of 2011.  Back then it was:
J's Facebook app review.  Well, as you can easily tell, it's changed a lot since then.

It was almost a year later, in September of 2012,  that I started doing book reviews.  That was when I discovered the free kindle for pc app, and my love for reading got reawakened.

Somewhere along the way, the name of the blog changed to JD's Leisure Zone; and that name stuck until this year when I tweaked the name a bit to reflect the changes that have taken place.

I'd noticed that a lot of book review blogs would post that they weren't taking on new book review requests, because they had all that they could handle.  I understood that.  Since I hung out my book review shingle, I developed a list of book review requests a mile long.

Well, I got busy with other things, and my list of books I had agreed to review got in quite a mess.  Then, about the last half of December of last year, 2013, I got an idea.  I had seen where other book review blogs had review teams - a group of people who reviewed books for that blog.  So I thought, 'What if I added a team to my blog?'  And so that's just what I did.

Well, the whole thing came together a lot quicker than I anticipated that it would.  I had nothing put in order, or anything else.  But, I had a review team.  So since then, I've been trying to get things put in order and sorted out.  And I'm almost there.

One of the things that got done was to change the name of the blog slightly.  It went from being JD's Leisure Zone to The Leisure Zone to reflect the new team.  Coming up within the next 2 months, we plan on having a grand reopening event to introduce the new and improved blog and it's review team to the world.

I want to thank everyone for their patience,
I want to thank those people who have decided to become a part of my review team,
and I want to thank the authors who send us books to review.

Watch for our reopening event soon.
-- Jacqueline Driggers
head reviewer and blog owner

Shawna's review of -- A Knight of Passion by Tarah Scott

Reviewed by – Shawna Hembree      

 

Book Review of  --  A Knight of Passion By Tarah Scott 

My overall star rating – 3.5

Buy the book on Amazon

About the book: 

Lady Riana Ellis will risk the fires of Hell for those she loves.

Can she let a man do the same for her?

As whore for the Duchess of Arundel, Lady Riana Ellis keeps her sister safe from the duke’s lascivious desires. Now the duchess demands that Riana murder the man already sent to her bed.

Sir Bryant Cullen determines to have the duchess’ whore. Her land is a prize, but it’s her secrets he wants. Once he knows what she knows, he will control one of the most powerful houses in Scotland. And she will be his.

Book creation ratings:

Overall total – 21 out of a possible 30

-- Story & characters --8

-- Cover & title --7

-- Editing -- 6

* based on a 1-10 scale with:  1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10, very good.*

My 5 point review:

-1- It gets down and dirty from the very first page. Would have liked to have a little lean to.

-2- It isn’t a bad afternoon read. It’s just short and sweet (sexy I mean.)

-3- This has some interesting sex scenes and it doesn’t disappoint if that is what you are looking for. Some very explicit language is used.

-4- I can relate sort of. As for doing all for the sake of “Love.”  Very heartfelt and joy is found in the characters lives.

-5- It definitely has a “Happy” ending. Love reins over all. It will make you feel good to have read it.

Reader Recommendations

Genre – Erotica, Historical Romance

Age recommendations – 17+

Sex content rating – It’s Hot, Hot, Hot

Violence rating – just a tad

Maegan's review of Curse at Zala Manor by BBH McChiller

Reviewed by – Maegan Schaefer          

Book Review of – Curse at Zala Manor

By: BBH McChiller

My overall star rating -- from 1-5

Buy it at Amazon

About the book:

It's almost Halloween, and twelve-year-old AJ Zantony's world is threatened by an ancient curse that releases wicked pirates who had been trapped for centuries in his Aunt Zsofia's creepy mansion, Zala Manor.

The pirates--a vampire count, a pegleg skeleton, and a zombie--have three goals: to find a lost treasure, unleash the restless dead from their graves, and to settle a very old score by destroying the Zantony bloodline.

AJ has to stop them before midnight during Aunt Zsofia's annual Halloween party. Except he has a big problem--monster phobia! He's scared to death of monsters. But if he doesn't act fast, the streets of Craggy Cove will be crawling with zombies.

Will AJ overcome his fear and stop the monsters or bail out? Will Craggy Cove become Zombie Central? Who will be alive when midnight tolls? (from Amazon)

Book creation ratings:

Overall total --  30 out of a possible 30

-- Story & characters -- 10

-- Cover & title --10

-- Editing -- 10

* based on a 1-10 scale with:  1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10, very good.*

My 5 point review:

-1- I starting reading this book in the morning and had a hard time putting it down. I ended up finishing it that same night.

-2- The characters are well developed. You really became absorbed with how the characters would end up and what might happen to them.

-3- This book is a mystery. I liken it to the Nancy Drew books I read growing up, except this one deals with real monsters.

-4- BBH McChiller really kept this book to an elementary school level; wonderful for kids just starting to learn to love to read.

-5- This book has it all from dark, creepy tunnels to hidden passageways, keeping you on your toes till the end.

Reader Recommendations

Genre -- mystery

Age recommendations – 8+

Sex content rating – none

Violence rating – not really much of that

Creepy rating- just enough to keep you reading to the end

Michael's review of Grave Vengeance by J. Thayer McKinney

Reviewed by – K. Michael Gibson

Book Review of – Grave Vengeance

By J. Thayer Mckinney

My overall star rating -- 4

Author website

Buy her books on Amazon

About the book: 

The Book follows Essie, a civil war era lady whom sheds her female roles to seek vengeance on those that did her family harm.

Book creation ratings:

Overall total -- 23 out of a possible 30

-- Story & characters -- 9

-- Cover & title -- 7

-- Editing -- 7

* based on a 1-10 scale with:  1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10, very good.*

My 5 point review:

-1- The storyline was fabulous especially for those whom love period based fiction.

-2- The characters were well developed and fit the era they were portrayed 

-3- Imagery was well defined but allowed the reader to extrapolate the scene.

-4- The only downside I would have to give the work would be in editing, I noticed a few mistakes, primarily a shift from the first to third person perspective.

-5- Overall, Grave Vengeance is a hauntingly wonderful jaunt into the past! 

Reader Recommendations

Genre -- Fiction

Age recommendations – YA to Adult 

Sex content rating -- NA

Violence rating -- Mild

Interested in my reviewing your book?

Just follow the link and fill out the form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13KoPI8OJRvMpscPpgjUGJfuP4g2W7ET3at9D3OuvFIA/viewform

Free book alert!

Check it out!  

-- Honey to Soothe the Itch -- 

by Kris Austen Radcliffe

Available free from Saturday, 1/11 - Wednesday, 1/15

** Please share, thanks **

http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Soothe-Itch-Austen-Radcliffe-ebook/dp/B00EVCBL9W/

Shawna's review of The Vampire of the Church by Laleh Canaan

Reviewed by – Shawna Hembree

Book Review of – 

The Vampire of the Church

By Laleh Canaan

My overall star rating -- 4

Buy it on Amazon

About the book:

A story of vampires, angels, and a human who is enticed to enter their world.

Rumor has it that a vampire has been imprisoned in a cathedral in the small town of Brighton, New York.

Merlyn Marshall, a twenty-something-year-old woman who has grown up in an average family in New York City goes to Brighton, not for the winter vacation but to escape her own personal problems, not knowing that her life is going to change forever, for better, for worse.

What people say turns out to be true.

Merlyn will meet the mystery man; a man with abilities that no man can ever possess...

Book creation ratings:

Overall total --  23

-- Story & characters -- 8

-- Cover & title -- 7

-- Editing -- 8

* based on a 1-10 scale with:  1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10, very good.*

My 5 point review:

-1- The format is that of a daily entry in a journal. It does move in order over a short span of time.

-2- The characters are okay. It could use a little more depth.

-3- Overall, It kept my attention and I was anticipating what would happen next.

-4- I was sad that it just ended abruptly. In a snap, it was just over.

-5- I hope the following books, as this was part 1, will finally bring a resolution (a happier ending) to the characters.

Reader Recommendations

Genre – Paranormal Romance

Age recommendations –17+

Sex content rating – was not all that descriptive

Violence rating – vampires=blood and violence