Song Of Princes: Volume 1 (Homeric Chronicles) by Janell Rhiannon #GreekMythology @theravenangel

Today’s team review is from Shelley, she blogs at http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/

#RBRT Review Team

Shelley has been reading Song Of Princes: Volume 1 (Homeric Chronicles)  by Janell Rhiannon

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Author: Janell Rhiannon

Category: Greek Myth and Legend

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review:

I read Song of Princes: Volume 1 (Homeric Chronicles) as a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team.

I do love reading about Greek mythology, although it’s normally in a non-fiction format or as a modernised young adult fictional twist. So when I read the blurb for Song of Princes, I couldn’t resist. I also love the cover design.

Greek Gods, Kings, and Queens, Nymphs and Heroes – Song of Princes has it all. I struggled with the pronunciation of some of the names (which is fairly normal for me), so I ended up giving them nicknames – this made for a much speedier read! The tongue tripping aside, I enjoyed this unique take on a well-established legend.

The story starts with the birth of Paris and Achilles, building a picture of their lives through infancy, to manhood. Told from a variety of viewpoints the author steers the story towards the start of the Trojan War. I’m not sure on the historical accuracy, but the author does tell a compelling story, bringing to life mythical characters such as Zeus, Paris, Achilles, and Aphrodite.

The start of this book showed great promise, but the pace lessens as you get further in. The ending fell a bit flat for me which is why I awarded 3.5 stars instead of 4.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com also available free from Kindle Unlimited

Baby Girl Book 2 – Moonlighting In Paris by Elle Klass

Baby Girl Book 2 Moonlighting in Paris (Baby Girl, #2)Baby Girl Book 2 Moonlighting in Paris by Elle Klass

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Baby Girl Book 2 – Moonlighting in Paris is the second book in this short book series. Just 37 pages long it follows the next chapter in the life of a young run-away. I do think you need to read book one first then you will understand why Chloe has changed her identity to be Justine and why anyone would want to take a flight from New York to Paris via Moscow.

To read this as a stand alone book we aren’t told much about Justine. In the first book she began as a twelve year old and the book could be read by the YA audience. Justine has now grown older but I’m unsure of her age and the writing in this book is for a much older audience. Both books are ok for adults but they may miss on other potential audiences.

For me Justine’s leap from life on the run with Einstein to life with Didier was too easy a step with luxury and opportunities which were the opposite of her life in book one. With the story being short we are fed tit-bits about the search for her past and we are introduced to a possible stalker, who may or may not be a threat to Justine’s life.

Her story will continue in book three.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews

Echoes In The Darkness by Jane Godman

Echoes in the Darkness (Jago Legacy, #2)Echoes in the Darkness by Jane Godman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Echoes in the Darkness is an engaging Gothic horror romance. It gives you all the shivers and secrets of a forbidden past and wraps them up with a hot romance.

Dita Varga is on the run and when she gets to Paris she earns money by posing as a nude model, but she refuses to have her face painted in case her followers find her. When news arrives that those who seek her, are closing in Dita rashly accepts an offer from her flatmate to travel to England as his fiancé.

They leave behind them Paris, horrific murders of street girls and the only love of Dita’s life, an unknown man whom she spent one wonderful night with and never saw again. Eddie takes her to his family home in Cornwall, Tenebris or Athal House is his impressive ancestral home full of ghosts and dark secrets, but Dita feels like she is where she belongs.

Not long after their arrival village girls go missing and the fingers start pointing at Cad Vargo, in fact sinister happenings have always been connected to the Jago name. Bit by bit Dita discovers more of the family history and we wonder just how close to home more murders will come before the Jago madness gets the blame.

There were some beautiful descriptions and language used, some books I find myself sliding over the filler descriptions but this book kept me enthralled. Here’s an example of a line I loved “Nature’s clock was chiming the twilight of the year”. I also loved Dita’s beauty it shone out like a beacon against the darker side of the novel. Really enjoyed this, a great sequel to the first book, but easily a stand alone book too.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Good Deeds Week 11th – 17th August

Let’s get on with my next round up of Good Deeds from my year long challenge. If you are new to this page, back in April, I started one Good Deed a day on the day I started reading “A Year of Doing Good” by Judith O’Reilly. I’m thrilled to tell you that last week Judith agreed to come and be a guest author on the blog after the school holidays are over. As I’m planning  the Romancing September World Blog Tour for the whole of September, I’ll pencil in her interview for early October.

Good deeds

11th August – Finished reading a book today and posted my review on Goodreads for the author, I needed to finish the book so that I could send a set of questions to the author who is also taking part in our Romancing September tour. Have been really busy promoting the opportunity for authors to promote their work for free in two places across the world on the same day.

12th August – Doing Good Deeds for others is truly amazing my cup is overfloweth, well my inbox is! Romancing September has gone overboard and we’ve been inundated today with requests to join the tour. On top of that I’m sorting out guest posts for authors on my blog  for August  and October. Sent my daughter off to see friends with a box of cakes. Had an appointment at my chiropractor and confessed that my neck and shoulders were a mess due to spending too many hours at the computer. Brought a smile to his face when I told him it was all self inflicted due to this super addictive blog. Suggested he browse his table in the waiting room and pick up copy of Fleet Life to see my page of “Rosie’s Good Reads”, two plugs there, one for Fleet Life and one for me! Have been sending love and support across to America for a blogging friend facing some medical demons.

13th August – Posted a guest author interview for a hugely popular author, at the age of 14 Savannah Grace was taken backpacking for a year with her family, she kept a diary and wrote a book about their adventures, she then got the travel bug and has travelled all over the world. Check out her post here, I was so pleased I could introduce readers to her adventures. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2mb A busy day, but I still had time to pick up litter when I went for a walk to post a letter.

14th August – Took my son to the park for a game of tennis, picked up litter on the way out as a thank you for the lovely free facilities. Just had a phone call from my husband’s aunt who wants to pay us a visit on Friday afternoon, so I need to run around like a mad thing tidying the house as we are in school holiday mode. It will give me a great opportunity for a good deed because she wants me to help her find a cottage that her Grandmother used to live in. We laugh that this will be a royal visit! She’s of an era that oozes etiquette and she is a tour guide for Prince Charles’ gardens, so we’re pretty close with our label.

15th August – Did the grocery shopping today and gave a donation to a charity called “Children’s Hope Foundation” a charity for children with special needs.

16th August -Have done the Good Deed for my husband’s Aunt, I took her to visit some houses that her cousins and Grandmother lived in over 50 years ago. Sadly all has changed and there was little left of the places she knew, but she had tied it in with a visit in the morning to a house where her and her husband had once lived. She is 84 and wears me out with all her activities, she plans to fit in trips to Scotland, Anglesey and the gardens of Versailles in Paris all before the end of September!

17th August – Friends dropped by to pick up some books. I was extremely pleased when a conversation I had with the husband on Thursday encouraged him to visit his mother who has Alzheimer’s. She didn’t know who he was, but his guilt and fear had lifted and he was able to face his father once more.