"Snowblind" by Christopher Golden

There is something about a snowstorm that makes you want to curl up inside by a warm fire with a good book, especially after shoveling out your truck for the 87th time this winter and what better book to read then  "Snowblind" by Christopher Golden.  It's snowing and the townsfolk of Coventry, a small New England town, are used to dealing with snow. They are equipped to handle this kind of weather event. No problem. That is...until an especially unusual snowstorm. A blizzard arrives and the citizens of Coventry are battening the hatches. Ella Santos is waiting it out in her restaurant, the Vault, along with TJ the restaurant's entertainer. He was supposed to go home and help his mother deal with the storm, but TJ and Ella have a mutual attraction and sticking around might bring them closer to acting on it. Elsewhere, Allie Shapiro, a local school teacher and her sons Jake and Isaac are spending an evening watching DVDs with her new boyfriend, Niko, and his daughter, Miri. The storm puts an end to those plans. In fact, all over town, people are having trouble making it home, back to family or friends. The police are experiencing some pretty odd occurrences one of which leads to a horrible tragedy. This isn't just any snowstorm it seems. It's the snowstorm from hell! And what is it that makes some people walk out into the snow? Are voices calling to them out there? And what does Isaac see outside the window of the room he and his brother Jake share? Something spinning and dancing and magical... something that seems able to reach out and slither in through the window screen. Big brother Jake doesn't believe Isaac. He's always making things up... or is he? This storm will change the lives of many people that night. And 12 years later... another storm is on the way.
This is as creepy and sinister a book as I've read in a while. You get caught up in the lives of the characters and how they go from dealing with the Christmas card/ snowman making kind of snow that gets kids a snow day off from school to the Moby Dick of  horrible, cold, white evil.
 This is a really good story! It's one you'll remember, and think about as it is also oddly thought-provoking. Good old NetGalley approved the galley for the Recommender and the book comes out this week right on the heels of another snowstorm, here in NH. If you do one thing this week... get a copy of Snowblind, and be prepared. You never know what's out there!

The Phantom's Opera: "Phantom of Valletta" by Vicki Hopkins

Christine is gone. Erik has freed her to marry Raoul. Now, alone in his lair, he despairs, feeling he must be dying of love, or the loss of it anyway. Then... an opportunity presents itself. The Royal Opera House of Valletta in Malta has been destroyed by fire and Erik decides to purchase it and give it, and himself, a new lease on life. Together with the Persian's servant, Darius, and Madame Andrea Giry, his long time friend, they will raise it from the ashes and he, Erik, the Phantom... will now have his very own Opera House to command!
This is a wonderfully original premise and very believable as you can imagine Erik's excitement at such a task no matter how daunting the destruction facing him. He has the knowledge as a world class architect to, eventually, bring his vision to life! Though it seems this jewel has been damaged almost beyond repair. Erik decides to do some fundraising and find investors to bring in the funds to make the hugely expensive reconstruction.

How he and his friends go about this makes for engaging reading. Will Erik forget Christine and move on with his life in this new place? Will anyone else ever take her place in his heart? Desiree', an opera house employee with an interest in learning the violin, perhaps?  There are other surprises in store for the reading audience so get a copy of Vicki Hopkins' "Phantom of Valletta"  and enjoy the pleasures of the Phantom's opera!

 

"Above" by Isla Morley

There is this girl. Blythe. She was going home from the Horse Thieves Picnic on a lovely July afternoon, not mentioning to anyone she was leaving early because her boyfriend stood her up, when she accepts a ride from Dobbs Hordin, the librarian at her school, who says her brother's been in a terrible car accident and he was to take her to the hospital. Instead, he takes her someplace else. She slowly realizes, as he keeps driving, away, away from home, from family, from her life, that her brother is not the victim of a terrible calamity. She was. She was the victim of a kidnapping! The someplace he takes her is a someplace she may never leave. He has brought her to a concrete space that turns out to be an abandoned missile silo.
Apparently, you can own a missile silo, and hide girls down there and no on will be the wiser. But, surely her parents will stop at nothing to find her. This gripping story takes twists and turns you don't expect, as Blythe tries to survive in her new "home", a home filled with a whole library's worth of survival information and supplies. Dobbs is a doomsday prepper and had targeted Blythe. He had chosen her as a smart girl, a pretty girl and one who would survive the end days with him as the end days were on their way. Blythe begins to understand that she is trapped with a crazy man.
Giving away too much information will spoil the surprises the author has in store for you, the reader, so let the Recommender just say you don't want to miss this one. Ms. Morley makes Blythe's dilemma all too real and draws you in to the claustrophobia of her existence and the choices she faces. It will keep you up reading and will make you go...Huh! What the heck? What just happened?" ...and keep reading. Because this is a brilliant and unexpected tale of survival. Whose survival is the question.
This title will be released in March so be on the lookout at your library or book store!

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review galley!)

Home Sweet Lair : "Destruction of Obsession" by Catherine Miller

The Recommender's husband recently commented on the Recommender's preference for reading Phantom fiction "How can there be that much to say about 3 characters?"  Indeed. The variety of Phantom fiction knows no bounds! I was scrolling through Amazon to see what I hadn't read and a title caught my eye. Destruction of Obsession,  by Catherine Miller, which turned out to have originated, as many great Phantom stories have, on a Fanfiction site. So, I downloaded it immediately!
It is a charmingly different follow-up to Leroux's classic. Christine has turned the scorpion and made the choice to save her beloved Raoul's life and marry Erik, her Angel of Music and the mad man who has wreaked havoc on the Opera House at large. And, so begins their life together. Can she learn to truly love the man who will now be her husband? She made her promise to him and being good to her word she attempts to fit into his world. He is kind to her and prepares her meals but doesn't force himself on her as she fears he might...and then, though he sees no need for it, to make her happy, Erik arranges for a real wedding, to be presided over by an actual priest. Hoping that this gesture will help her accept him as her true husband. That the priest is blind doesn't negate the bond that now legally unites Christine and Erik. When his lovely bride is attacked by the carriage driver on their return to the lair, after Erik leaves her alone... he rescues her and kills the driver. An act for which she finds she feels no remorse.
As she heals and he cares for her they make their way towards a comfortable domesticity and although Christine felt she could not open her heart to any but Raoul...she slowly seems to find that there is far more to the Phantom than she thought.
Using Leroux's third person self referencing voice for Erik, Ms. Miller brings him to life with all his passion and pain, his genius and madness. Christine begins the story as a frightened and confused girl of 16 and over the course of this story grows to be a young woman with passions of her own.
There are moments that might surprise you and, if you love the Phantom and Christine...you will be caught up in the author's original interpretation of this great love story. If you are in the mood for a Phantom fix... then be sure to treat yourself to this thoroughly addictive read!



"Chanson de l'Ange: The Angel's Song" by Paisley Swan Stewart

Paisley Swan Stewart wraps up her truly epic revision of the Phantom of the Opera with the Angel's Song. I reviewed the first part here. That version has been out of print and sought by Phantom fans for a while but the good news is that the whole saga is now available as a trilogy and any serious lover of the Phantom's story will want to own this gorgeous collection. I confess, I fell in love with Ms. Stewart's Erik right from the beginning and in the final book, without giving anything away, let me just say that he is, here, a complicated man and musical genius whose madness may shock you but whose longing and love for Christine will break your heart. He is a great romantic who would do anything, anything possible to win her but whose obsession might be too much, too grown up, for a young girl to deal with.
This story is beautifully imagined and truly romantic and the author breathes new life into the characters of Louise Giry and Meg and Raoul. The Paris Opera House comes alive with all its workings and drama on stage and behind the scenes and in the rehearsal halls. Erik's grotto is a unique take on his lair and described in such detail you can practically see the candles flickering and hear the organ playing and Ms. Stewart has written Erik some lovely music, music that you can imagine Christine singing and captivating the jaded Opera audience.
Christine has grown, over the course of this trilogy, from the little orphan girl taken in by Madame Giry to an amazingly talented young woman who is trying to sort out her feelings for the man who has been her Angel, teacher and protector and who she may not be able to live with but knows she can't live without.
I've read many Phantom books and the ones I've read I've loved. I've loved each take on Erik and each author's vision for the life he might have led, after the Leroux ending. Ms. Stewart's Chanson is like the Gone With the Wind of Phantom fiction. It's a journey that takes you to some dark places but is also filled with hope and light. It may make you cry out "Oh No!" (and it probably will. Just warning you!) and it may make you weep all over the pages (or e-book). It may make you feel a lot of things, but most of all, it is a testament to love and a love story that never dies.

 (video from Youtube, a Phantom of the Opera fanfiction-based video created at the request of Swansong/Swansinger. Music by Nathan Allen Pinard; sung by Bonnie Anne Pinard)

Phantom / Phantom Give Away!!!!!

Here's some exciting news!!! As part of the Pagan Writers Press 21 Days of Solstice Event, Author Laura DeLuca  and I have teamed up to bring you a fabulous Solstice giveaway!  Laura and I met a few months back when I reviewed her fantastic novel, Phantom. I LOVED her character Justyn Patko who plays the Phantom in a high school production in the book. You can read my review here and below is the illustration I did based on the story.

Since that initial correspondence, Laura and I have become virtual friends and we especially bonded over our mutual love of The Phantom of the Opera. To celebrate the holidays, we decided to join forces and bring one lucky winner to the Point of No Return with an amazing Phantom giveaway!

Some of you know I have an Etsy shop called  Saturday Chick, where I create unique and beautiful Phantom inspired jewelry. For the blog hop, I've  designed an amazing, one-of-a-kind charm necklace! Check out the photos to see all the details!
                                    
In addition to the necklace, Author Laura DeLuca is also offering a signed copy of her great YA Thriller Phantom! You'll fall in love with Justyn just like I did!  To enter, just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway will end on 12/21/13. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to reply. Thanks again to the sponsors for offering this fantastic prize.

 Buy Links: Amazon    Smashwords     Barnes & Noble

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also be sure to check out all the other stops on the tour for more giveaways, book excerpts, and lots more holiday fun.

"Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always" by Elissa Janine Hoole

Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always, by Elissa Janine Hoole, is filled with realistic characters and a thought-provoking story. It begins with The Three Best Words That Describe You, the first question on a survey making the rounds among Cassandra Randall's friends. She is at a loss as to how to answer, this, the first question... not to mention all the following ones. Cass is struggling to find her own identity as the non-religious member of a very fundamentalist religious family. Her best friend, Kayla, is leaving her behind in her wake of coolness and her brother, Eric, is harboring a secret that puts him in conflict his faith. Her family used to be kind of normal until a family tragedy brought them into the Joyful News fold that meets 3 times a week and maybe makes her parents and sister happy, but Cass is suffocating under their rules and intolerance.
Hoping to find her true self she decides to be open to new things, so when Kayla pushes her to fill in for a girl who did the layout for the student paper, but is currently in treatment for an eating disorder, she relents and takes it on, because it is a skill she possesses having worked on the Joyful News newsletter.
Then her English teacher requests the class follow Walt Whitman's example to "celebrate and sing themselves". One more thing Cass needs to deal with in trying to figure out who she is, really, on her own, outside the circle of friends and family. And, there's the boy, in the seat next to her in English class, Darin, who is funny and oddly appealing. Does he like her? Why would he?
Eric had given her $20.00 as a birthday present hoping she'll choose something she'd like rather than pick something out for her, so when Cass goes into the bookstore something unexpectedly takes her eye. A deck of Tarot cards. Are these what she needs to set her apart and make her someone unique? Someone interesting? Get a copy of Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always and follow Cassandra as she discovers more and more about herself in this engaging, addictive and highly recommended story!