If you're looking for a good romance novel to cozy up to, check out this one. It's great! Alicia and Roy Street are a husband and wife writing team, and they are a great one! If you've never read one of their books, then you have truly missed out. This one is about a ballet teacher and the father of one of her students. It's a great read that is not to be missed. Would make a great Christmas gift for someone who likes romance novels!
This is the second book in the De La Cruz family saga by
author Patricia Macias. For info on the
first book, check out my review link just above. And for those who may be wondering, no you
don’t have to have read the first book to enjoy the second. But I highly recommend that you do - read
both books, for the author has created a fascinating group of characters that
you get to know more about through these books.
This book is about two other members of the De La Cruz
family, Nicolas and Daniella. They are
cousins, and they fall in love. At first
they fight the feelings that they have for each other, knowing that it is wrong
for them to be in love, since they are cousins.
But eventually they can’t fight the feelings that they have for each
other, and give in to them. And this is
where the story really begins, for they must hide their relationship from their
family, which is not easy. For they come
from a very close family that is always in each other’s business. So how do these two forbidden lovers hide
their romance from their family?
Ahhh, now you know I don’t tell. To find out, you have to read the book.
This book and it’s predecessor are just part of a series
that the author has planned. I look
forward with great anticipation to the coming books in this series, and I
highly recommend both of the published books to readers everywhere.
Welcome to a new feature of the Leisure Zone! Each post, I'll spotlight a book that I've read and that I recommend. These won't be full-fledged reviews. Just a quick shout-out. Right now, I'm not sure how often I'll do these, so keep a watch on this blog for more.
The book, Goblin Spells Unicorns, is an absolutely charming
children’s book. If you kids like
wizards, goblins, and unicorns, then they will like this book. Check out this quote from the book:
Goblins are short, green, and bratty. Not one goblin
likes to work. They’d rather play all night and sleep all day in their
caves under trees.
This book is about 2 little goblins who work for a
wizard. Now the problem all comes in
when they get lazy and careless in their work.
And this leads to the creation of a unicorn, which leads to more
problems. In the end, the goblins learn
a lesson, and the unicorns win the day.
To find out just how all this happens, you have to read the book.
What makes this book even more special is the
dedication. Here are parts of it:
This book is dedicated to Super D from his mother and sister.
We wrote this together for him. Super D’s autistic and has ADHD
as well as speech and physical disabilities.
He says he’s a super hero, wants to fight bad guys, and save
people. All proceeds from this book will go to this hero.
The profits from sales will help buy him educational toys
and supplies, clothes, and a swing set for his back yard.
Super D also asked me to let you know that he is strong,
brave, and will save you from bad guys if you just ask.
So when you buy this book for your child, you are helping
out another child. It doesn't get more
great than that. You can check out Super
D’s facebook page via the link above.
Well, let's begin with a video that the author has that will give you an animated introduction to her book:
Talon, Come fly with me
Well this is an absolutely wonderful book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It isn't too often that you run across a book that you could recommend to readers of any age, but this one is it. One of the things that occurred to me as I was reading the book is how this book would be just great for a family reading time. If you have ever thought about having a family reading time or already have one, this would be an excellent book for that, as it would be appealing for everyone from kids to adults.
This book is about a young girl named Matica, who has a growth problem that makes her smaller than normal for her age. She lives in a small village up in the Andes in Peru, South America; with her mother and father and little brother. Her family had came there as missionaries from Australia.
Now this young girl has developed a friendship with, of all things, a pair of condors. She has a special place she goes, and she pets them, and even feeds them. They are her friends. Check out some quotes from the book:
Curious as he was, the condor dropped down to Matica as usual, but he wouldn’t catch the food.
She missed several heartbeats as she watched the huge bird. Is this really happening? she thought. Then her heart started to thud as if a fist was banging against her chest from the inside.
Matica couldn’t move. She was frozen stiff with fear and her face was as white as a ghost. The bird looked way bigger on the ground than he had looked on the branch.
It's an absolutely beautiful story. One of the things that I love about the book is the wonderfully close relationship between the girl and her father. Here are some quotes from the book:
Daddy, Daddy!’ Matica yelled as he scooped her up with his strong arms.
Cuddling and kissing her, he said, ‘My angel, my beautiful daughter. How was your day?’ He put her down again and sat on the bench.
‘D-a-a-d, you aren’t afraid of Tamo, are you?’ said Matica. Tamo watched him.
‘Well . . .’ he said, impressed, ‘I’m not so sure.’ He could hardly believe his eyes, this huge bird beside his little, fragile daughter.
The book is full of moments like this between the whole family. And I haven't even gotten to the real fun of the book yet. When the egg of the pair of condors is threatened by poachers, they let Matica take their egg and hatch it for them, and help to raise their baby. Let's check out a few more quotes from the book:
Looking at the bag in her lap as Tamo looked as well, she slowly peeled the bag away and revealed the egg.
Her mouth dropped open in awe. It was more than double the size of a chicken egg.
Matica put the egg back into the bag then joined her father. She laid the bag with the egg gently into the basket. The birds had followed her, standing close by.
Can you imagine raising a baby condor in your home? Well if you get this book, you don't have to. You can read about it! I must admit, this part takes me back to my childhood. I didn't raise a baby condor, but I did raise some baby chickens and some baby quail.
Well, I'm going to close with one more quote from the book, just to whet your appetite for reading it:
Tamo stood in the doorway.
Not really knowing what to do next, he looked from Mira to Aikon. Was he scared of his own boldness? But the sight of his chick pushed him on. Grunting deeply, he looked at the newborn hatchling and walked in boldly. First he kissed Matica on her cheek, then he bent his head to his chick, sniffed him and kissed him too.
Now you know you want to read it! It's an absolutely beautiful book, and it's rare when you find a book that can be enjoyed by the whole family. As a final gift to you the reader, I'm going to share the animated trailers for the second and third books in this series.
Well, someone has finally gone and done it! What is the it and the who, you might ask? The who is NBC, and the what is they have went and remade the old classic tv show, The Munsters. Now the original Munsters show aired on the CBS television network. Which brings on the question - why didn't CBS think of this? I mean, I think it's sort of cute. CBS had the original show, and NBC is airing the new show tonight, October 26th.
The new Munsters show is called Mockingbird Lane, and airs tonight as a Halloween special. The new show features as it's cast:
Jerry O'Connell as Herman Munster
Portia de Rossi as Lily Munster
Eddie Izzard as Grandpa (Sam Dracula)
Charity Wakefield as Marilyn Munster
Mason Cook as Eddie Munster
Beth Grant as Maryanne, the paraplegic, busybody neighbor
who takes a very keen interest in the strange new family next door.
Cheyenne Jackson as Scout Master Steve, a widower and leader
of Eddie's (Cook) scout troop who becomes smitten with Lily.
It should be interesting to see what NBC has come up with. I mean, recycling old movies and tv shows is nothing new, since it has become a very popular thing to do in Hollywood. I'm always interested in seeing what they do with it, and how they redo it, and how it compares to the old. For more info on the show, check out Mockingbird Lane's page on the NBC website:
If you wish to buy a book at the event, please email Melissa@MelissaFeldman.com and indicate how many copies you would like. This is to ensure that they have enough copies on hand.
