book blog by Heena Rathore-Pardeshi | Of Whiskers And Words
Author: Heena R. Pardeshi
Heena is the author of the award-winning novel Deceived. She works as the novel critic and the chief editor at a local publishing house in Pune, India. She is an animal lover as well as an animal activist.
She loves books, music and wine. Travelling and learning about new cultures is an integral part of her life.
She is presently learning Piano and French language.
She lives in Pune, India with her beloved husband and 6 cats.
There are three rules to staying an assassin at the corporation of Covert Operatives: (1) your parents must be deceased, (2) your contracts must remain confidential, and (3) you must be under the age of eighteen.
After a murder mission goes awry a month before her eighteenth birthday, Covert Operatives assassin Jane Lu finds herself caught by the federal government and forced to spy for the CIA while remaining in Covert Operatives. Once her spying mission is over she will be allowed to live a civilian life without facing criminal consequences, a life she’s only dreamed of having.
As Jane leaks information to the CIA, she uncovers secrets with enough power to both destroy Covert Operatives and her own boyfriend, Adrian King, who’s next in line to be CEO of the company. When her identity as a double agent for the CIA is discovered within Covert Operatives, she must decide where her allegiance, and her heart, truly lies.
Thanks a lot to all of you for all the love and appreciation!
As the criteria for all the awards is different, I’m answering some questions and listing 7 facts about myself. You can also read the separate posts for Liebster Award and Most Influential Blogger Award.
1. What do you look forward to most when you first wake up?
My 20 minutes meditation ritual. It calms and prepares my mind for the rest of the day.
2. Are you a ‘night’ or a ‘day’ person?
I’m a day person, to be exact, I’m a early morning person. I love to have some alone time!
3. Why did you start blogging?
It was just a random thought, but it seems to have changed my life completely.
4. What was the last thing you Googled?
Really? I-phone 6….psssstt….
5. Flowers or chocolates?
Flowers (lilies and tulips)
6. What has been your favourite blog post to write?
Author:Heather BeckRelease Date: June 23, 2014
Series: None
Genre: YA | Paranormal-Romance | Shapeshifters- Werewolves
Edition: e-book (epub)
Pages: 296
Publisher: Enchanted Publishing
Interest: Requested by author
Source: Author (Thanks, Heather!)
To buy Frostbitten click here.
Blurb
Great beauty hides dark secrets…
Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Lockhart has never led an easy life, but when she starts getting into serious trouble, she’s sent to live with her grandparents in Cedar Falls. The small, picturesque town hasn’t changed since she visited four years ago, with one exception – the presence of a handsome, mysterious boy named Frost. Despite warnings from her grandparents and friends to stay away from Frost, Anastasia can’t deny their attraction, and the more time they spend together, the deeper in love they fall. Unfortunately, Frost has a secret that is beyond Anastasia’s wildest imagination, and she soon finds herself in the midst of a supernatural legend that has haunted Cedar Falls for years.
Can Anastasia and Frost’s love really overcome anything, or are their fates much darker?
Review
Positives:
Frostbitten is a well written book. What really makes Frostbitten a good book is Heather’s writing. I can’t stress enough on how much I liked it. It’s a lovely book that has all the elements a paranormal book should have. Right from the beautiful and stubborn young girl to a gorgeous and loyal werewolf, from a caring BFF to a rich and jealous bitch (who makes Anastasia’s life a living hell!) The mystery involved is also quite good.
I really liked Cedar Falls and I’d love to get answers about it’s past in the next instalment.
Negatives:
Even after liking this book I can’t ignore 2 facts. First, that it was really hard to connect with the leads. I mean they are well-explained and all, but still they felt very far-off. And secondly, this book has some really odd similarities to Twilight: A girl whose life is hell, meets a gorgeous guy who takes comfort in solitude, and falls in love with him. She finds out about him being a shape-shifter and then accepts the truth in no time. They they stand together against the world. Overall it’s totally like Twilight except for the fact that Frost is a werewolf and secondly he was unaware of his past.
Conclusion:
I understand that as this is the first part, establishing the basics is very important and in this book it’s been done quite neatly (well, except for the characters.) I guess that the next part is going to be better, so I’m looking forward to read it 🙂
We went to an amazing Travel Fest on Sunday and had an amazing day there inquiring and planning travel to various places we had in mind for the next year, including, Rann Of Kutch, Himalayas of Jammu & Kashmir, Nepal, Andaman and Nicobar and of-course, Europe.
To end the perfect we went out for dinner at our favourite restaurant and Vishal surprised me with a bunch of light pink roses. They were so adorable and smelled so good that I was totally mesmerised by them. It’s a big deal for me as I’m not a rose-lover! Vishal gets me only out-of-the-world beautiful roses (Last to last time he got me light blue ones! He’s so thoughtful, I really love him!)
I absolutely love flowers and it really breaks my heart to throw them away after a while
Author: William Golding
Release Date: 1954
Series: None
Genres: Classics|YA|Brit-Lit|Adventure|Dystoia| Sci-Fi
Pages: 230
ISBN NO.: 978-0-571-20053-5
Publisher: Penguin India
Blurb
A plane crashes n a desert island. The only survivors area a group of schoolboys. At first they revel in the freedom and celebrate the absence of grown-ups.
Soon though, as the boys’ fragile sense of order begins to collapse, their fears start to take on a sinister, primitive significance. Suddenly, the world of cricket, homework and adventure stories seems a long way away. The boys are faced with a more pressing reality – survival – and the appearance of a terrifying beast who haunts their dreams.
Author:Nora Roberts
Release Date: February 1, 2009
Series: Donovan Legacy
Genre: Paranormal| Romance | Fiction | Contemporary
Pages: 328
ISBN NO.: 978-0-263-87187-6
Publisher: Penguin India
Preceded by: Entranced (Donovan Legacy #2)
Followed By: Enchanted (Donovan Legacy #4)
Blurb
Boone Sawyer never expected to move next door to a woman who looked like one of the fairy princesses he often wrote about. Anastasia Donovan had a serene kind of femininity that would
I changed my blog’s look again! lol! It’s gets really confusing whenever I try to freshen up TRB’s look. There are so many great themes, but the only thing that stops me is my choosy attitude.
I’m thinking of buying a theme but I have no clear idea what it should look like. That’s the reason I keep changing the blog design. I know, it can be a bit irritating to visit TRB in a week and find the entire look changed. But please bare with me for some more time as I’m getting very close to the permanent look for TRB.
When Colin Leventhal leaned out his bedroom window on the night of May 12th and said goodbye to his girlfriend, he never expected it would be forever. But when Sarah Evans goes missing that night, Colin’s world unravels as he transforms from the boyfriend next door to the main police suspect. Then one year later, at her memorial service, Colin makes a phone call that changes everything. Is it possible that Sarah is still alive? And if so how can he bring her back?
As Colin struggles with this possibility, across the street, Sarah’s little sister, Claire learns how to navigate the strange new landscape of life without her sister. While her parents fall apart, Claire remains determined to keep going even if it kills her.
THIS IS SARAH serves as a meditation on loss, love and what it means to say goodbye.
Author: R. M. Ridley
Release Date: June 28, 2014
Series: None
Genre: Science-Fiction | Paranormal Thriller | Crime
Edition: e-book (epub)
Pages: 232
Publisher: Xchyler Publishing
Interest: Requested by author
Source: Author (Thanks, Mr. Ridley!)
To but Tomorrow Wendell click here.
Blurb
When predictions tell Wendell Courtney he’s going to die, he turns to the one man he hopes can help. Jonathan Alvey’s no stranger to the strange. But, unlike the private investigator’s run-of-the-mill zombie cases, he can find no trace of magic around Wendell, and no hint of an adversary. Alvey certainly has magic and wits enough to solve the mystery, but is his offering to the insatiable dragon black sufficient? Or is Wendell truly destined to die?
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker & Nicole Kidman
Release Date: 11 February, 2011
Running Time: 117 minutes
Language: English
Plot Summary
A prominent plastic surgeon meets the woman of his dreams only to find their future thrown into jeopardy when his playboy past comes back to haunt him. Danny (Adam
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
When transsexual starlet Aisling is murdered, Detective Geraldine Meyers is assigned the case. With help from medical examiner Dr. Rachel Hunter, Gerri realizes this is no ordinary killing. While she might not want to call in over-eager anthropologist Dr. Kinsey DanAllart, the detective is forced to trust her friend’s expertise in symbology, even though doing so means admitting “weird” things might be happening in Silver City. As the three friends unravel the mystery of the dancer’s death, one thing is made absolutely apparent—something isn’t right in their new home town. And someone is doing everything they can to make sure the truth doesn’t come out.
In Silver City, sometimes friendship can be murder.
Welcome to the first Nightshade Case, a series of twenty-one episodes in twenty-one weeks. Please note: this episodic series is based on the television show model, with screenwriting notations and shorter formats. There will be a complete mystery each week, with cliffhangers only occurring in the full season story line.
Author: Stephen King
Release Date: 1981
Genre: Thriller | Horror
Pages: 420
ISBN NO.: 978-0-340-95270
Publisher: Hachette
BLURB
Cujo is two-hundred pond Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. The Cujo chases a rabbit into a bolthole- a cave inhabited by some very sick bats. What happens next, how Cujo becomes a horrifying vortex, inexorably drawing in all the people around him, makes for one of Stephen King’s most terrifying, heart-stopping novels yet…
REVIEW
Positives:
Being a Stephen King’s fan, I knew even before starting the book that I’m in for another horrific journey. And believe me when I say I wasn’t disappointed! King is one of the best authors I’ve ever read and this book is yet another masterpiece. The characters were very well built and so was each and everyone’s background story. I loved Tad, Vic and Brett and of-course Cujo (just as an individual character and not personally.) The story establishes and takes direction slowly and steadily and prepares you well enough for what comes next, an unexpected emotional roller-coaster ride. As the story progresses, and as it’s King’s speciality, you come to know each and every character personally and can very well understand their psychology, actions and reactions, in this case, including a dog (Cujo). That said, King’s description of Cujo’s emotional state and things from his point of view, are the best things about the book. At the end I started to feel sorry for his condition and also the end.
Negatives:
The only thing wrong about the book was the ending. It ended on a very bad note. I’m not disclosing the end here, as it will spoil the end for some readers, but I’ll just say that the end really freaked me out! And for that only I’m cutting back on 1 star.
Conclusion:
Cujo is an amazing book with lots of drama, thrill and horror in equal proportions. It’ll be an excellent read for the genre’s lovers but if you hate strong emotional and bad endings, then you’ll better do without it!
Opening Line: ‘Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine.’
Highlights: King’s story-telling.
Low-lights: Ending.
Memorable Quotes: “Nope. Nothing wrong here.”
“Surely they had passed the worst. All the luck had been against them, but sooner or later even the worst luck changes.”
“…it was amazing, wasn’t it, how bad you could hurt when there was nothing physically wrong.”
Memorable Paragraph:
‘Maybe he was as mad as he said he was, but she could see only a species of miserable fright. Suddenly, like the thud of a boxing glove on her mouth, she saw how close to the edge of everything he was. The agency was tottering, that was bad enough, and now, on top of that, like a grisly dessert following a putrid main course, his marriage was tottering too. She felt a rush of warmth for him, for this man she had sometimes hated and had, for the last three hours at least, feared. A kind of epiphany filled her. Most of all, she hoped he would always think he had been as mad as hell, and not . . . not the way his face said he felt’
Final Thoughts: Yet another great book for King’s fans.
Hello friends, this week’s prompt is Lemon. And the theme is ‘text and type’. As I love sketching textures, I decided to do a simple piece for my first post. I haven’t even doodled since December’13 and so this is more like a warm-up. I hope you’ll like my work and do not forget to share yours with me.
Thanks Spoonflower for making me get off my ass and start drawing 🙂
I’ve reviewed one of the best books that I’ve ever received for a review, The Universe Builders. Do read my review at JC’s Book Haven. I strongly feel that if you like Hobbit and the likes you’ll definitely love this one. To win a free e-book of The Universe Builders, enter in the giveaway. I can’t wait for the next instalment to hit the market. If you’re interested buy this book at Amazon.
Hello friends and bloggers! Yesterday was Raksha Bandhan but I spent most of my day sleeping as I had a severe headache. I was feeling a bit low (God knows why!) so I thought of doing something special for myself (Yes, I do believe in keeping myself happy.) That’s why today I went ahead and dug in the blogs that I truly adore and through and through I came across a new blog Spoonflower. It’s a creative blog for people who adore art. The folks at Spoonflower host a creative challenge called SpoonChallenge: A Month Of Drawing. This challenge is super fun as the folks at spoonflower gives the topics and the participants are supposed to draw that, in any interpreted form.
Anyone who reads my blog knows that I love drawing (if not, you can read about it here: Rediscovering My Love Of Drawing). I’m not a pro in drawing but some of the sketches really inspired me. And after a lot of struggle I’m finally over “what others will say about my drawing!” So I’m taking part in this beautiful challenge starting tomorrow. I’ll be posting my drawing here and I really hope that you all like them. I’m taking part in this challenge for fun and because sketching is my way of calming my mind.
If you also love doodling then join me in this fun challenge.
If you also participate, don’t forget to share it with me and also I’d love to see your drawings, so share the links to your posts in the comments section 🙂
Hi and welcome to Showcase Sunday, a weekly feature hosted by Books, Biscuits & Tea. It’s aim is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders each week.
I have a lot to share and as I stumbled upon this feature I couldn’t resist the temptation!
Here’s the list of books I got approved from Netgalley for review:
With all the review requested books piling up on my virtual-shelf, I’m really not getting time to read the books that I’ve issued from my library. I’m constantly trying to have a strict schedule for each and every book, but with Rakshabandhan (Rakhi) on 10th August, I’m failing to do so. Though I want to read as much as I could, I’m still looking forward to 10th August as my family will be coming over to celebrate Rakhi in Pune. I’m hoping with all the cleaning and preparations, I’ll be able to make enough time for reading and reviewing the books I’ve already got my hands on.
To be honest, I love being busy, and being busy with reviewing books is really a dream come true!
Author: Olga GodimRelease Date: May 2014
Genre: Adventure | Fantasy
Edition: e-book (epub)
Pages: 271
Publisher: Champagne/Burst Books
Interest: Requested by author
Source: Author (Thanks, Olga!)
Buy: Amazon
Summary
Darin, a mercenary officer, lives in Talaria, a kingdom surrounded by a magic-resistant spell. While some people wish to break the spell and invite magic back into the country, the fanatical sect of Cleaners is determined to prevent the return of magic. Darin doesn’t agree with the Cleaners’ doctrine but he doesn’t dispute it either. He is a soldier, not a philosopher. Then he accidentally overhears the Cleaners’ hidden agenda to destroy all magic workers in Talaria, including witches and elves, and his orderly life is turned upside down. His sweetheart is a witch, his daughter is a half-elf, and he has many elven friends. He can’t allow the Cleaners’ murderous scheme to succeed, can’t allow innocents to suffer from the rabid zealots. But what can a lone mercenary do against a horde of extremists? His only choice lies in trickery and deceit to outsmart his enemies. And the anti-magic spell on the border suddenly becomes his only ally.
Review
**Spoiler Alert**
The book starts with Captain Darin Barclay saving a women (a witch) form a bunch of cleaners in a fair in Coll, Talaria. Talaria is an imaginary kingdom whose borders are bound by a spell that prevents magic to enter inside the kingdom. Anything that has magic or anyone who can perform magic (elves and witches) can not enter the spell-bound boundaries of Talaria. Darin Barclay is a courageous 24 year old, dangerously handsome, captain of the Eagles, who has sworn to protect the people of Coll, Talaria. Cleaners are a nasty bunch of people who are against magic and all the magical people and want others to follow their Gods and believes. A few elves and witches who live in Talaria can never leave it’s borders because if they do so they’ll never be able to return because of the spell. These good-natured elves and witches are constantly haunted by the cleaners to leave Talaria.
This books takes the reader through the adventurous journey of Darin Barclay in saving elves from cleaners and in doing so, saving numerous lives, including that of his daughter Leatanis (who is half elven) and his love Ana.
Olga Godim captures the reader’s imagination effortlessly. This light-hearted story has just the perfect amount of adventure, magic, emotion, drama, morals and most of all courage. I would like to quote this book as a “no-nonsense adventure”. Right when you think something is going to go wrong with Darin’s plans, he successfully pulls off each and every plan neatly. This really made me wonder about a reader’s unnecessary need for twists and turns, just so that they have something to think about. And this is where Olga Godim, for me, has given this book a new, very positive, direction. The story runs smoothly and at a quick no-fret pace.
My father gifted me a German Shepherd pup when I was 15 years old. I named him Tiger. He was my best bud and the best thing in my life and I was very connected to him emotionally. But after my parent’s separation, I had to leave Tiger with my dad and move to another city (it is one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to do!) I had a really tough time getting over this and swore not to get another dog until I was independent, so that no one can take him away from me ever.
After my marriage to Vishal, we were busy getting settled in our new life. Also because of Vishal’s work, we had to travel a lot. So finally, after 3 years and 6 months of our marriage, everything’s into place and we are planning to get a pup. My first choice was obviously German Shepherd but Vishal, being a cat-lover who never had a dog before, thought to get a small breed pup first. So we decided to get a beagle. I was happy with beagle too, but Vishal knows me too well to get trust my fake smile. After going through Tiger’s pics on my study room’s walls he told me that we can get a German Shepherd if I want. And so, finally we are getting a German Shepherd pup 🙂
I’m really happy to announce that I’ve joined JC’s Book Haven, a wonderful book blog run by Jaclyn Canada, as a book reviewer. I’m really looking forward to reviewing for her. As everyone knows that I love reading and reviewing, this is really huge for me. I’ll be helping out Jaclyn with the review requests that she receives for her blog. I’ll be doing around 2-3 reviews for her blog each month and will be posting the respective links here on TRB. Do visit them and share your thoughts. I’d love for all my readers to read my reviews there as well!
The Reading Bud 