[ARC REVIEW] The Comic by G. Hingorani

 

Title:  The Comic

Author:  G. Hingorani

Genre:  Romance / Drama / Humor

Year Published: 2024

Number of Pages: 87 pages

Date Read: 4/14/2024

Publisher:   G. Hingorani

Source:   eARC (Publisher)

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language, Sexual Situations, Drug Use and themes of suicide)

Buy on:  Amazon 

I would like to thank the author G. Hingorani for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow…just wow…I am totally at a loss of words for this book…So, when I received a copy of the book “The Comic” by G. Hingorani, I was not expecting this book to suddenly have a massive shift in tone halfway through.

The book is about a famous comedian named Calvin “The Comic” Everswood and even though he puts on a funny façade whenever he is doing his stand-up gigs, he is secretly suffering in his life as he suffers from drug addiction and ended up pushing away all of his former friends.  Now, not only is Calvin dealing with his stand-up comedy shows, but he also tries to recover from his drug addiction, while trying to rekindle his relationship with his old friends.

Wow…just wow again…. When I started reading this book, I thought that this was going to be a humorous book about the life of a comedian.  Even though this book does have some humorous moments with Calvin’s stand-up act, the story suddenly becomes a tragedy once we are introduced to Calvin’s drug addiction and how it is ruining Calvin’s life.  G. Hingorani’s writing in this book is spectacular as it details the downward spiral of Calvin’s life, as he gets addicted to drugs and he ends up losing his friends because of it.  It really made this story extremely intense and sad to read through and I was always hoping for Calvin to try to turn his life around and become a better person.  I also like the fact that this book did a great job at detailing the dangers of drug addiction and how it can ruin your life.  I also loved the fact that G. Hingorani set up the book as a stage play as it made the book easier to read and it really made the story stand out to me.

This book does contain some strong and suggestive language that might be a bit uncomfortable for some people.

Overall, I really loved reading “The Comic!”  It is such a dark and sad book about the dangers of drug addiction that many people should definitely check out!

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• One Way Ticket to Earth by Daniele Vaccaro

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[BOOK REVIEW] One Way Ticket to Earth by Daniele Vaccaro (@DanieleAuthor)

 

Title:  One Way Ticket to Earth

Author:  Daniele Vaccaro

Genre: Science Fiction / Family / Drama

Year Published: 2023

Number of Pages: 25 pages

Date Read: 1/29/2024

Publisher: Daniele Vaccaro

Source:   eARC (Author)

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Discussions of Suicide)

Buy on:  Amazon 

I would like to thank author Daniele Vaccaro for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, I had received a copy of a short story from author Daniele Vaccaro and this book was called “One Way Ticket to Earth” and man, it was such an emotional and fantastic read!

The story starts off with a young boy named Max who ends up dying and his death ends up badly affecting his parents. But suddenly, Max ends up being reincarnated as an alien being named Sveern and he ends up on a faraway planet called Anturn.  During his time on the planet Anturn, Max longs to return back to Earth and go back to his parents, but the alien beings on the planet Anturn forbid him to return to Earth.

Can Max find his way back to Earth?

Find out in this emotional story!

Wow!  I was quite amazed by how unique and emotional this story was! Daniele Vaccaro does such a fantastic job at writing this story, as this story is full of emotional moments and some surprising twists!  I never would have thought that I would read a story that started off with parents grieving their child’s death and then, the second half of the story focuses on said child being reincarnated as an alien being who lives on another planet.  This is such an interesting and unique premise to the usual story line about the death of a child and how the parents struggled with their child’s death, except that in this case, said child is reincarnated as someone else.  I especially loved all the emotional moments throughout this story, especially the moments where Max’s parents are saddened by their child’s death as those moments hit me so hard since I lost a lot of loved ones over the years.  Also, seeing how Max is homesick for Earth and his struggles with being on a different planet are also emotional moments that can strike a chord with anyone who has to move away from their homes to a new place and are struggling with getting used to their new location, while missing their old homes.

Overall, “One Way Ticket to Earth” is a truly fantastic short story about dealing with the loss of a loved one and also trying to get used to a new home.  I would highly recommend this short story to anyone who wants to read a book about dealing with the loss of a loved one.

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[ARC REVIEW] The Coyote by David B. Bond

 

Title:  The Coyote

Author:  David B. Bond

Genre: Mystery

Year Published: 2023

Number of Pages: 234 pages

Date Read: 11/11/2023

Publisher:   David B. Bond

Series: Young Detective Choo Murder Mystery #1

Source:   eARC (Publisher)

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon 

I would like to thank Squeedeal for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, it has been a while since I last read a mystery novel and thankfully, author, David B. Bond, has given me an extremely intriguing mystery novel called “The Coyote” and man, was this such an interesting mystery novel to read!

The book starts off with a couple who were walking in the streets together when all of a sudden, the woman named Lana was murdered by a female passerby and Lana’s death ended up traumatizing her husband.  It was then that Lana’s husband decided to go on a murdering spree to avenge the death of his wife Lana and he ends up murdering any woman who has blonde hair.  This string of murders has attracted the attention of the police force and the police ended up hiring a young and capable detective named Choochai Sirisi, also known as Choo, and Detective Choo ends up spending most of the book trying to find out who has been murdering all of these innocent women.

David B. Bond has done a fantastic job at writing this book!  I loved the way that the characters are written, as each character are extremely interesting and I especially loved the main character Choochai Sirisi himself, as he is shown as being an intelligent and nice detective who tries his best to get the job done.  I also loved the fact that this story takes place in Thailand as I love reading books that take place in different countries and it was awesome seeing how the culture of Thailand is like.  Another thing that I loved about this book was just how exciting this book was.  David B. Bond has done a brilliant job at making the book both intense and exciting at the same time as we follow Choo’s determination in solving this murder case and trying not to get killed by the murderer.  I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat, hoping that Choo would not get killed by the murderer while he was solving the case.  I also loved the plot twist towards the end of this book as I did not see that coming and it really made the entire book even more enjoyable to read!

For anyone who does not like violent content, this book revolves around a murder and so, there are many graphic depictions of dead bodies, such as maggots crawling over the dead bodies, that might be a bit nauseating for some readers to handle.  Also, for me personally, I felt that the ending of this book was a bit rushed as there were some plot threads that were left hanging.  But, since this is the first book in the “Young Detective Choo Murder Mystery” series, it does make sense to leave some plot threads hanging in order to solve them in the next book.

Overall, “The Coyote” is a fantastic murder mystery that you should definitely read!  Even if the mention of dead bodies might be a bit much for some readers and the ending was a bit rushed, this murder mystery novel does a fantastic job at keeping readers entertained from beginning to end and it is definitely a murder mystery novel that is worth reading!

 

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[ARC REVIEW] The Agitated Agenda by Candace N. Ford (@PRbytheBook)

Title:  The Agitated Agenda

Author:  Candace N. Ford

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Interracial Romance

Year Published: 2018

Number of Pages:  260 pages

Date Read: 2/9/2019

Publisher:  Above the Line Press     

Source:  Physical ARC (PR by the Book)

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Some Language, Death and Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank the author Candace N. Ford and PR by the Book for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man! How long has it been since I last read a romance novel?  Since the middle of 2018?  A long time then!  Anyway, when PR by the Book sent me a copy of Candace N. Ford’s latest book “The Agitated Agenda,” I was a bit surprised by this since it is rare that I would receive a copy of a romance novel just as they are being released!  So, I just read this book and I have to say that it was one of the most shocking yet heartwarming stories I have ever read!

Priscilla Richardson was a young African-American woman who was trying to the graduate at the top of her class at Georgetown Law School.  Even though Priscilla had suffered a tragic loss when her mother died in a car accident, Priscilla still tried to move on and make it her goal in life to work in one of the most prestigious law firms and become a partner within five years. When Priscilla finally got into a law firm, she meets up with a young Caucasian man named Tom Ward and the two automatically fell in love with each other.  After staying a year at the law firm and with Tom, Priscilla started feeling sick and her illness got so bad that her best friend Sylvia had to take her to the hospital.  It was then that Priscilla discovers that she is pregnant and she starts panicking due to the fact that she never planned on being a mother and that the pregnancy came out of nowhere.  Now Priscilla has to discover for herself that not everything in her life will go according to plan and that she has to make the best of her situation and restore her faith in God to help her get through this unexpected turn of events.

Wow!  I am beyond amazed with this book!  Candace N. Ford has done a great job at writing this book as all the characters and the events were so relatable to me!  It is rare that I read a romance novel that actually takes a more realistic look at how romance works in the real world and how sometimes life throws curveballs at us that we were not prepared for.  I also loved the way that Candace N. Ford threw in so many twists and turns to the plot as I was not expecting Priscilla to go through so many horrible situations, which included the death of her mother early on in the book.  I really loved Priscilla herself as she is probably one of the most relatable protagonists, I have ever read in a romance novel!  I actually felt bad for Priscilla throughout the story as she had made big plans for herself and was prepared to follow through them.  But there were many unexpected situations that happened to her that prevented her from following her dreams.  I actually related to Priscilla through her ordeals as I myself had also made some plans for myself once I left college, like getting a high paying job from the get go.  But, when the recession hit, my plans ended up being put on the backburner when I could not find a high paying job due to the job market taking a hit during the recession.  But like Priscilla had to do in this story, I had to make the best of the situation and just hope that my life got better from that point forward and have faith in myself during that time.  I especially loved the fact there is an interracial relationship in this book (between Priscilla, a black woman and Tom, a white man) as it is rare that I see interracial romances in romance novels.  Priscilla and Tom’s relationship with each other was the highlight of this book as their relationship felt so genuine and I loved the fact that Priscilla and Tom are always there for each other, especially when Tom was trying to help Priscilla deal with her unexpected pregnancy.

The reason why I took off a few points from the rating was because I felt that the narrative jumped around a bit too much at some points, as there were too many events happening, that it got a bit hard to follow the story at times.   I also felt that the climax was a bit too abrupt since I was getting used to the turn of events that had just happened and then the climax suddenly introduced a new problem for Priscilla that came out of nowhere.

Overall, “The Agitated Agenda” is a truly shocking yet heartwarming story about the importance of true love and keeping your faith, that I think romance fans will enjoy!  Now, let us hope that a sequel gets made soon because that cliffhanger is brutal!

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[ARC REVIEW] Immortal Flame by Jillian David (@JillianDavid13 , @Crimson_Romance)

Title:  Immortal Flame

Author:  Jillian David

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2015

Number of Pages:  136 pages

Date Read: 4/7/2018

Series: Hell to Pay #1

Publisher:  Crimson Romance

Source:  eARC (Reading Alley)

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Gory Violence and Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank Reading Alley and Crimson Romance for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have a bit of a confession to make:  I actually had this pretty little ARC on my shelf since 2016 and I still had not read it…until now!  After I finished reading “Immortal Flame” by Jillian David, I was seriously whacking myself in the head for not reading this ARC much sooner!  “Immortal Flame” was a truly fantastic paranormal romance read that made me want to read more from this series!

Peter Blackstone is an unusual person because even though he served as a veteran in World War II, he still looks extremely young for being a vet from World War II.  That is because in 1945, when Peter’s wife Claire was dying of a deadly sickness, Peter traded his soul to the devil, Jerahmeel in order to save Claire’s life.  But, in trading his soul, Peter is now a hired killer for the devil and he must go out and kill every bad person in the world so that way Jerahmeel would be able to feed on the souls of the people killed in order to survive.  At the same time, a young doctor named Allison La Croix seems to possess the ability to be able to see people’s deaths when she touches a person, which causes her so much turmoil since she wanted to live a normal life for once.  One day however, Peter ends up getting into a car accident and when he is taken to the hospital to tend to his wounds, Allison stumbles upon him and when she touched Peter, she starts seeing images of death that overwhelms her to near insanity.  It was then that Peter discovered about Allison’s powers and he tries to help Allison control her powers so she will not see people’s deaths too often every time she touches someone.  Unfortunately, Jerahmeel starts seeing that Peter and Allison are developing a close relationship with each other and he decides to send out one of his minions to kill Allison so Peter will never back out of his contract.  Now, Peter and Allsion will have to avoid Jerahmeel’s minion in order to not only survive but to save their love for each other in the process!

Wow!  I was quite impressed with this book! Jillian David’s writing was quite entertaining and sexy as heck as I found myself reading through this book rather quickly due to waiting with anticipation at how Allison and Peter’s love will survive Jerahmeel’s attempts to separate them!  I loved the way that Jillian David created this creative world as I was intrigued by the fact that the devil is apart of this world and it brings a sense of danger to this world as the characters have to watch their backs whenever the devil gets HUNGRY. I also loved the way that Jillian David wrote both Allison and Peter as I find their relationship to be quite realistic and at times tragic due to the state of their situations.  I actually felt bad for both Allison and Peter as they both wanted to live normal lives, but their powers make things difficult for them and I was wishing throughout the whole story that they both get their happily ever after.  I really loved Peter’s character as he is shown to be quite courageous, caring, strong and SEXY and I loved the fact that he is willing to put his life on the line if it means protecting Allison at all costs.  I also loved Allison herself as despite her fearing her powers, she is shown to be just as caring as Peter as she also tries to protect her loved ones from her powers and from any evil force that might befall her.  And the sex scenes are full of PURE SIZZLE that I was fanning myself every time a sex scene comes up between Allison and Peter!

For anyone who does not like gory violence or sex scenes, there are some explicit sex scenes that readers can skim over if they do not like reading sex scenes.  Also, the gory violence in this novel are a bit graphic and even disturbing as I found myself cringing a bit at how gruesome the violence towards certain characters were.  Also, and this is a bit of a small nitpick, but I wished that Allison would have done more in this novel than just worry about her future and fearing her powers as I wanted to see her actually fight against the bad guys using her powers.  Oh well, maybe we will see some of that in the later novels!

Overall, “Immortal Flame” is TRULY one paranormal romance that every paranormal romance fan should definitely check out! And, after I found out that this was apart of a series, I was SQUEALING with delight when I found out that there was a second book in the series that features Dante, which I got to pick up as soon as possible!!!

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