ARR - Ugly Beautiful by Seanpaul Thomas Cairns

UGLY beautiful by Seanpaul Thomas Cairns

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Time Taken To Read - 3 hours

Blurb From Amazon

Jason, a tormented soul and small town, womanizing gangster, double crosses his only friend and does a runner with a suitcase full of drug money, disappearing into the heart of the gorgeous Scottish highlands to lay low in a secluded cottage and start a new life.

On his second day of hiding out Jason discovers the mysterious body of a young and hauntingly beautiful woman lying unconscious at the bottom of a nearby hill. The woman though has no memory of who she is or how she even ended up there. So Jason carries the beauty back to his cottage, tenderly nursing her back to health and gradually gaining her trust and friendship by confessing his own past crimes, misdemeanors and infidelities, while also coaxing the woman to unravel her own forgotten past and tormenting mad visions... But doing so without the hindsight of the chilling, terrifying and sickening horrors which are about to be unleashed.


'Strong language and graphic scenes of violence in parts.'

My Review

First thing I have to say this novel starts with some pretty bad language and the theme stays for most of the book (I felt this was overdone and didn't really add to the story to be honest). Jason is a thug, a small time gangster who basically screws over his partners and does a runner with the money. Whilst hiding out he finds what he thinks is a dead body only to discover a beautiful woman who has no memory of who she is or what has happened. what follows is a journey of self discovery for Jason and an abundance of horror you couldn't imagine.

The book goes along at an ok pace but your sitting not sure of which direction it is going to go or if your going to like it. The skin crawling, stomach turning side of the book comes out well over the half way mark and if you liked movies like the hills have eyes, hostel etc you will love what follows.

I did like that your not left hanging and most of everything is explained for you. I didn't like the overuse of bag language which doesn't normally bother me but in some parts it just felt overdone and not required. The writing itself is easy reading and the story whilst it has undertones of something else going on isn't hard to follow which is always a bonus. Overall it had it's moments but if you like gore and graphic scenes this is the book for you and at only £0.99 on amazon.co.uk (kindle) it is definitely worth a read, 3/5 for me.

Thanks so much to the author for introducing me to his work and giving me the opportunity to review this book. I would be tempted to read something by him again.

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Review - Haunted Love by Cynthia Leitich Smith (ebook)

Haunted Love by Cynthia Leitich Smith

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 1 hour

Blurb from goodreads

Spirit, Texas, is a town of secrets, and as the new owner of the local haunted movie theater, Cody Stryker is juggling more than his fair share. When a mysterious new girl comes to town and runs afoul of the ghost that lives in his theater, Cody's caught in the middle and needs to figure out exactly who he can trust. HAUNTED LOVE is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, and BLESSED. This story includes a sneak preview of Cynthia Leitich Smith's latest novel, DIABOLICAL, which unites characters from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell

My Review

This book is so short I could have read it in 10 minutes (I started it when out hence taking the hour). We have a vampire, a ghost and "normal" people who flit in and out of the story. Cody has bought the "haunted" local movie theater and a new girl offers to help get it running and sorted. Soon it seems maybe there is something to the "haunted" rumors and Cody has to keep the new girl safe from both himself and the ghost.

To be honest it is hard to write a lot about it as it is so short that just about anything would give the story away. The thing I liked was it gave you a different spin of how the vampire came to be, however there is a lot unanswered or that could have been elaborated on. I would love to have read this as a novella or even a full novel as it has so much potential but you need a lot of background of pretty much all of the characters. I did like it but felt it was just getting started when it ended and it rushed along at breakneck speed at the end so 2/5 for me. However this book is free on amazon and some people love tiny stories like this so give it a try.

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Author giveaway While I'm still Myself by Jeremy Lane (ebook)

For 24 hours only

To win please fill out the form below and for an additional entry just leave a comment on this post. Feel free to share and spread the word, 24 hours only.

Click here to contact me via my email link


My thoughts on it http://www.alwaysreading.net/2011/11/review-while-im-still-me-by-jeremy-mark.html

Authors website http://jeremymarklane.com/while-im-still-myself/

Review - Freaks by Tess Gerritsen (free ebook)

Freaks by Tess Gerritsen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb from goodreads

In this free Rizzoli & Isles short story from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, a bizarre death comes with a supernatural twist. Homicide cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have seen their fair share of mortal crimes, but the death of Kimberly Rayner may qualify as inhuman in more ways than one. When corpse of the emaciated seventeen-year-old girl is discovered next to an empty coffin in an abandoned church, mysterious bruises around the throat suggest foul play. Caught fleeing the scene is the victim's closest friend, Lucas Henry, an equally skeletal, pale teenager who claims he's guilty only of having a taste for blood-a craving he shared with Kimberly. But the victim's distraught father doesn't believe in vampires, only vengeance. And now, another life may be at risk unless Rizzoli and Isles can uncover the astonishing truth.

My Review

Kimberly Rayner is found dead in an abandoned church with some spooky surroundings. Her friend is busted running from the scene and quickly apprehended. Did he kill her? Her father is convinced and with his freaky appearance and wild claims he seems like the perfect suspect.

It is a ridiculously quick and small read. I personally don't think it is up to Tess's normal high standard and found the characters I normally love (Maura and Jane) flat and not of their usual quick wit. The other characters that feature in this short story you don't get a feel for or to know them really at all due to the size of the story.

However it is free, a tiny quick read and has a nice wee twist at the end so 3/5 for me.

Available for free on amazon.co.uk

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