jbronderbookreviews

The Summer Dragon (The Evertide – 1) by Todd Lockwood

Maia and her family raise dragons for the political war machine. As she comes of age, she anticipates a dragon of her own to add to the stable of breeding parents. Her peaceful life is shattered when the Summer Dragon—one of the rare and mythical High Dragons—makes an appearance in her quiet valley. Political factions vie for control of the implied message, threatening her aspirations, her aerie, her entire way of life.

The bond between dragons and their riders is deep and life-long, and Maia’s desire for a dragon of her own to train, ride, fly, and love drives her to take a risk that puts her life at stake. She is swept into an adventure that pits her against the deathless Horrors, thralls of the enemy, and a faceless creature drawn from her fear. In her fight to preserve everything she knows and loves, she exposes a conspiracy, unearths an ancient civilization, and challenges her understanding of her world—and of herself.

My Review

4 stars

Maia’s family have raised dragons for the government. But Maia would like to get her own dragon and with the larger than normal qits Maia and her brother have a chance to get one. But then the army shows up to claim the qits, they learn of another high producing aerie that has been attacked, and an army of Horrors (horrible mutations of dead dragons and their riders, things don’t look so promising for Maia. But when her brother and her spot the Summer Dragon it seems things are going to look up. Maia takes this is a sign that she will finally have her own dragon. But there are stronger forces that have been in play since ancient times and Maia is going to get more than she bargained for.

Maia is such a strong character that is bound and determined to get her own dragon. I loved how she was willing to work for what she wanted and that she was very open and honest. Maia seems to blame herself for her mother’s death and anything else that goes wrong. But she doesn’t let this stop her, it just gives her more motivation to keep going.

This is a great fantasy story with a feeling of hope even in the dark times. There are some moments that are rough but I love how they are used to show the variety of people’s reactions during dark times. Some rise and keep fighting while others sit down and give up.

This is the first book and what looks to be an epic story. I recommend this for everyone. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

To purchase The Summer Dragon make sure to visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Todd Lockwood’s website.

I received The Summer Dragon for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Read Full Post »

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

From the internationally celebrated author of the Original Sinners series comes a brand-new tale of betrayal, revenge and a family scandal that bore a 150-year-old mystery

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it’s to discover he’s been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it’s property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris.

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

My Review

5 Stars

Cooper McQueen recently purchases the very first and last remaining bottle of bourbon from the Red Thread Distillery. But after a one night stand, he waked to catch Paris Christie trying to steal the bottle claiming it is hers. So, Paris agrees to tell the story of the Red Thread distillery.

It is late 1970s and Tamara Maddox has just turned 16. Tamara is the heir to the Red Thread distillery but she is more interested in getting the attention of Levi Shelby, the stable hand. What follows is the history of the Red Thread Distillery and how Tamara fits into the family business and how she becomes the downfall of the distillery.

This is an amazing story. Just following the Maddox family could be made into a day time drama with all of the power, corruption, love, hatred, revenge, scandal, and everything in between. It is definitely hard to give a description of the book without giving too much of it away. But I will say this, just when you think you couldn’t be more shocked the ending will leave you speechless.

I have not read any other Tiffany Reisz books. But after reading The Bourbon Thief I will definitely will be checking them out.

To purchase The Bourbon Thief make sure to visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Tiffany Reisz’s website.

I received The Bourbon Thief for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Read Full Post »