Book Spotlight: This I Promise You by Tressa Messenger

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

You only get one first of anything, and no matter the time, or space, or age, you never forget your firsts.

tipy coverWhen thirteen year old Nicky Moore’s parents decide to buy a small summer beach cottage at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, she thought her life would end. It didn’t matter the beauty of the area – land and water as far as the eye could see – she was bound and determined to make her family’s summer vacation as dismal as she felt. That was until she met a boy from down the beach; a beautiful boy, with the most intense brown eyes she had ever seen and a smile that could light the ocean on fire.

A summer that Nicky thought was doomed from the start, turned into a summer that she would never forget; one full of firsts. It was impossible for her to know years later how one seemingly little decision could change everything forever, but soon, as an adult, Nicky will find out that everything she once thought were real and the promises once made, were lost in a sea of inner turmoil.

Sit back and enjoy a guest post by Tressa. I was moved reading her words, and if the gorgeous, sun kissed cover wasn’t enough to make me want to read This I Promise You, Tressa’s story below sold me.

**************************************************************

I’m not even sure where to begin. How do you explain what an impact a story has on one self? This story is one so very special to me and I put a lot of tears into writing it.

After a friend of mine came to me and presented a book idea to me, which has happened many times since becoming a writer, immediately the story unfolded in my mind. I knew the exact story I wanted to tell. A story that I felt needed to be told. It is a story of finding yourself through young love and trying to maintain that love through life’s obstacles. This story is so very special to me because this story is about me and someone who was very special to me, my first love. I am truly honored to be able to share it with you.

My story is not very unlike the one you are about to read. I fell in love for the first time when I was just 13 years old with the most beautiful boy I had ever known, Jeremy Hayes Hewett. Some told me it was just a crush, a child’s fantasy, and some just dismissed it all together. They were all wrong. Yes, I was 13 and that is young, but I knew how I felt and they did not. He was a truly special person who had the biggest heart of anyone I had ever known. We dated the entire school year until I moved away at the end of the school year. We continued to stay in touch after I moved away, but long distance relationships are hard whether you are 13 or 31 and like so many long distance relationships it didn’t last. Slowly, the once constant letters and phone calls started becoming fewer and further in between until they stopped all together. I would always think about him from time to time though whether I was driving through his hometown, or if I heard a certain song on the radio. I sang our song “I Swear” every night for a year.

Finally, when I was nineteen, I contacted everyone that I could think of who knew him or would possibly know how to contact him, and since this was before advances in technology had taken off I decided to leave it up to the universe. If we were meant to be, then we would be. As the years went by the universe remained steadily quiet, so once again I grew impatient and took it upon myself to try and locate him once more. Unfortunately, this time I did find out where he was, but what I found out was the LAST thing I had ever expected to hear. My first love had been dead for three years after taking his life. The impact of his death left me in complete shock, and after the shock, there was guilt. I was utterly consumed by guilt because oddly enough, it had been exactly three years since I had last tried to find him, I felt guilty for not trying harder. I thought that maybe, had I known what he was going through I could’ve helped him.

Well, what I can’t do, as much as I wish I could, is go back and help him, but what I can do now is share this story in the hopes that it may help someone else. So, that is what I have done. He and I may have only had that one perfect year together when we were kids, but it was a time in my life I will never forget. I often wonder had he and I stayed together how would our lives have played out? People always say that if they could go back in time and change anything in their life they wanted to they wouldn’t change a thing. But if you knew that was the ending would you change it if you could do it all over again? I would.

**********************

Find Tressa www.tressamessenger.com
www.facebook.com/tressamessenger
www.twitter.com/tressamessenger

Yep, I hurried over to Goodreads to add this to my TBR list. I got chills from reading Tressa’s story. And isn’t the cover beautiful?

Fancy winning a copy? Enter a Giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Charlaine Harris Feels the Wrath of Readers

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

Charlaine Harris’ final book in her much loved and popular series about the telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse, from Bon Temps, Louisiana, was released this month. The reaction to Dead Ever After has been heated, to put it mildly. Hell hath no fury like thousands of women believing they have been cheated out of their happy ending.

dead 2dead

Harris’ supernatural series, known to many as the True Blood books and to even more as The Southern Vampire Mysteries, has been around for quite a few years. Like many others, I hadn’t heard of it until the HBO show, True Blood, aired back in 2008. I picked up the first half dozen books instantly and got reading. I was hooked. I adored the sassy, ballsy heroine, Sookie, and loved hanging out with her at her job in Merlotte’s and at home in her grandmother’s house. Her life may not have been easy, but it was exciting, surrounded as she was by shifters and vampires. Sookie’s adventures were a mellow form of escapism for me. Is Harris’ fiction epic? No. It’s not high quality, but she’s an entertaining writer and that’s why fans came back for more. We grew fond of Sookie and wanted to see what life had in store for her next.

However, the last couple of books haven’t been all that great. I only finished Deadlocked, the twelfth Sookie book, a week or so ago and could sum it up in one word, blah. Perhaps the author became bored with the characters after too many years and too many books, or maybe pressure from fans of the TV show got to be too much. Either way, it’s showing through her latest Sookie books. Since I didn’t love the last two books and book number 12, Deadlocked, was especially lacklustre and barely featured Eric – my absolute favourite of all Sookie’s love interests, I’m not going to be buying the last book any time soon. Perhaps when all the fuss and hatred (not an exaggeration – people are spitting mad) dies down, I’ll read it.

If you’re curious about the rage people are feeling after reading the final book, just go visit the reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. People are cancelling orders and demanding their money back in large droves. Fair enough some readers are annoyed by what they feel is less than quality writing, boring plots, continuity errors and so on, but those threatening to attack Harris and kill themselves because of the way Sookie’s story was wrapped up should consider therapy.

Check out this article:

The Guardian. Charlaine Harris threatened by fans over final Sookie Stackhouse novel

From reading Deadlocked, it was pretty damn clear who Sookie WASN’T going to end up with, so if that’s a big cause of the anger, I don’t get it… Anyway, I put it to you, Gentle Reader. Should an author of romantic fiction pay attention to what thousands upon thousands of readers want? Or should a writer stick to her own path, fan reaction be damned.

******************

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | 38 Comments

Film Review: Sunshine (Nightmare in Space)

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Okay, this isn’t really supernatural, but about half way through, it starts to feel like a horror movie.

Sunshine_posterCillian Murphy(28 Days Later), Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Chris Evans star alongside Michelle Yeoh and Cliff Curtis.

The sun is dying. The earth has been mined for all its nuclear material to make a very large bomb, the payload. The spaceship, Icarus 11, (Icarus 1 failed but they don’t know why) is on its way to deliver the payload into the sun and save mankind – all sounds a bit dodgy but suspend your disbelief and you’ll be fine. And of course in the vein of Deep Impact, Armageddon and every other space movie, things go very wrong. The difference between those movies and Sunshine is that Sunshine, for the first half anyway, is much more subtle. Because of its lack of action and almost arty quality, I think it suffered when it was released. Perhaps people were expecting comedy and explosion after explosion (Bruce Willis style) and they were a bit bored by Sunshine. I wasn’t.

This film is one of my favourites when it comes to space movies. As a kid I watched Space Camp almost weekly with my sisters. I was at the cinema with my dad years and years ago to see Deep Impact and I went to Sunshine with my dad too. We both thought it was great. The fact that it’s directed by Danny Boyle was a big selling point. 28 Days Later is one of the best horror films. The sense of how alone the astronauts are up there came through well. When they hear the distress sound from Icarus 1, the film really gets going. How could anyone be alive on that ship after seven years? Should they board the ship and take the second payload. Two bombs are better than one is the argument. Or should they stick to the mission? It’s up to Capa (Cillian Murphy) to decide as he’s the physicist. They board the ship, and Sunshine plunges into Horror territory after. They should have never veered off course. Hindsight is a bitch.

A sci-fi end of the world film it may be on paper, but really, it’s a drama. These people have been in space for over a year by themselves and know they’re most likely on a suicide mission. Their struggle to keep their minds on the job provides great tension. But they’re only human. They slip up, and realise, about the same time as the audience does, that they’re going to pay for their errors with their lives.

There’s a sun viewing room where the crew can sit and watch the blazing star. The sense of power emanating from the sun is impressive. The images of the sun, and there are a lot throughout this film, are gorgeous and dazzling. And on a final note, the music score is stunning.

Fantastic. *****

Who’s seen this one? Are you a fan of space movies?

**************

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Songs from TV Shows: Round One – Roswell

Posted on May 10, 2013 by
220px-RoswellCast2000-2001

from Wikipedia

Roswell was my second favourite TV show when I was a teenager, beaten only by Buffy. A big part of what made me adore Roswell was the music. I found so many great bands and musicians from watching Roswell that I’d never have heard of otherwise. If you don’t know anything about Roswell, click HERE to read my thoughts on the show.

Unfortunately, much of the original music didn’t make it on to the DVDs, something I was livid about when I got my boxsets of all three seasons. I couldn’t believe it when I read through the leaflet in the boxset explaining that for licensing reasons, some songs had to be changed. I was devastated, and to this day I don’t bother watching those DVDs. Thankfully, I still have my videotapes. I diligently recorded every episode.

Roswell ended more than ten years ago, but when I listen to music from it, I still get goosebumps and come over all nostalgic. The characters felt like my friends and when I watch Roswell, it’s like I’m back in secondary school and 17 all over again.

I’ve chosen a small sample of songs I came to love because of this show.

Amy Hit the Atmosphere by Counting Crows. This song played out against a desert backdrop in season 1. Poor Isabel learned that her brother hadn’t revealed their true identities as aliens to her mother. Isabel desperately wanted her mother to know who she really was, believing her mom loved her unconditionally and would accept them. (I don’t think this song made it on to the DVD)

Fear – Sarah McLachlan. “Fear” played during the pivotal moment in the pilot episode when Max saves Liz’ life by healing her from a gunshot wound.

Crash Into Me – Dave Matthews Band. Max and Liz admit their attraction to each other but don’t see a way forward for them because they’re too different. She’s human, he’s not. Very Romeo & Juliet.

Save Yourself – Sense Field. For all the teenagers facing peer pressure.

In the Air Tonight by Majandra Delfino. I couldn’t find the video on YouTube of Maria performing this on the show. My one gripe with that scene was that Michael (her on/off boyfriend) wasn’t there to see her shine.

Run by Collective Soul. “Run” played out against a heartbreaking and poignant moment between Michael and Maria.

I Shall Believe by Sheryl Crow. This would have been Liz and Max’s wedding song, had future Max not time travelled to break them up to prevent the end of the world. One of the most beautiful and heartbreaking scenes of all three seasons.

That’s just a tiny sample of the music featured on the show. Other songs I adored were “Colorblind” – Counting Crows, “Save Tonight” – Eagle Eye Cherry, “On Any Given Day” – Laura Webb, “40 Miles from the Sun” – Bush, “Brave New World” – Richard Ashcroft, “She Cries Your Name” – Beth Orton, “We Haven’t Turned Around” – Gomez and many many more.

Are you running over to Netflix? Just remember many of these songs didn’t make it, but you’ll still love hanging out with all the gang at the Crashdown cafe where Liz, Maria and Michael worked. Are there any Roswell fans in the house?

***************

Posted in TV Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Book Review: A Different Blue by Amy Harmon (Beautiful)

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

             A gorgeous read.

differentA Different Blue by Amy Harmon

Blurb from Goodreads: Blue Echohawk doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn’t attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don’t know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can’t love you back might be impossible.

Review: Stunning.

When I read the blurb for this, I picked it up immediately, but then I wasn’t sold by the first couple of chapters. I pushed on and soon realised what a beautiful, painful, tragic and hopeful story this was.

The writing was excellent, drawing me in to the unusual and turbulent life that was Blue’s. Blue’s character was powerfully evoked. She is a survivor. She doesn’t complain about her past. Her strength and compassion for others is evident, but she doesn’t see it herself. She dresses quite trampy, sleeps around and her self-esteem is pretty low. It shouldn’t be. She’s more intelligent and talented than most people, but her hard upbringing has left its scars.

The descriptions of her wood carvings allowed me to clearly picture every piece of art she worked on. The desert setting became a character in itself, tough, resilient but beautiful – just like Blue. I would have liked to see her relationship with Wilson move along somewhat faster, and at times I wanted to slap Wilson and tell him he was being a prat. Wilson’s sister, Tiffa was another vibrant character. I found myself wanting to hang out with her and Blue.

I couldn’t put this book down and when the pieces of Blue’s puzzle all came together in the end, I teared up. I’ll say it once more: Stunning. *****

Check it out on Goodreads and Amazon.

********************************

Has anyone heard of this? It’s quite a painful read at times, but worth it. 

************

Posted in Book Reviews, Various | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments