Tag: Review

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Discover the heirloom that unlocks a door to Ireland’s medieval past…

Santiago collage KINDLE SALE!!!  $0.99/£0.99 Amazon US & Amazon UK

‘Two couples separated by four centuries are bound by one golden cross…’

A mysterious heirloom, once worn by a Knight of the Spanish Armada, holds the secret to a past life. When Amanda Morrison receives this unusual gift, it marks the beginning of an extraordinary journey into the past, which will challenge her beliefs and open her heart.

An epic story full of historical intrigue and parallel lives, The Cross Of Santiago is a book for anyone who believes in the transcendent power of love.

REVIEWS for The Cross Of Santiago

Four star review for The Cross of Santiago from Trish at Between My Lines here.

Overall, this book has a little bit of everything; an epic romance, adventure, great locations, well researched historical fiction and some dream interpretation.   The mixture of the two stories leads to a snappy, well paced story that kept me excited and invested in the plot.

Official OnlineBookClub.org review for The Cross Of Santiago here.

“The Cross of Santiago” is an intelligent and well written historical romance book. I love historical fiction with a bit of romantic story-line thrown in and this book sure fits the bill. The beginning looked promising and what followed didn’t disappoint.

Check out the reviews for The Cross Of Santiago on Barnes & Noble here.

The Cross of Santiago is a heart-warming, astonishing novel of love and destiny.

I read this novel over a rainy weekend and lost myself completely in it’s charming story, which was full of twists and turns.

Mira’s enchanting review on Forever Book Lover here.

It’s clear the author knows a lot about the time period, and she managed to change the setting to make the reader really feel like they went back in time.

The characters and plot were complex and intriguing enough to capture, and hold, my attention.

Amazon reviews for The Cross Of Santiago can be found here.

As a debut novel it is praiseworthy and as historical fiction goes, I would have to compare it with others I’ve read in the genre such as Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follet and Kate Mosse. All in all, a great read if you’re into romance and adventure with some informative history to boot, The Cross Of Santiago comes highly recommended.

Evie recreated the city perfectly, making me think I was there. The adventures in this book made me stay put and read it all in a heart beat!

Read Goodreads reviews for The Cross Of Santiago here.

I have never read a story like The Cross of Santiago and Evie Gaughan’s attention to detail is amazing, particularly when writing about the historical part of the story.  Readers of historical romance will be hooked on Amanda and Xavier’s story.

Evie Gaughan also has a good sense of humor that shows through her characters.  A good portion of The Cross of Santiago takes place in the 1500′s so if you like historical fiction, you’ll like this book. But that’s not all…it has adventure, romance, and humor.

Posted on in Writing

Would you steal another writer’s work?

Put - The - Manuscript - Down - Bradley!
Put – The – Manuscript – Down – Bradley!

The Words is a 2012 movie written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, which pretty much went under the radar.  Well, under my radar anyway – which is highly unusual because it stars the not-so-bad-looking Bradley Cooper (who also happens to be a pretty brilliant actor :))  and it’s about a struggling author, trying to get his manuscript published (ring any bells?) I was intrigued by the premise; an author who keeps having his work rejected, stumbles across a leather portfolio in an antique shop in Paris (as you do) which only happens to contain the most amazing manuscript he’s ever read.  And therein lies the conflict; what should he do?  There is no name on the manuscript, and it is so old that the author is probably dead by now.  Would anyone ever know if he passed the writing off as his own?

  This is a fantastic movie for writers, as it gives a great insight into the publishing world and what lengths authors will go to, to have their work published.  We all hear how important it is to create an ‘author platform’ and one wonders if publishers put this ‘platform’ above the actual writing.  Cooper is perfect for this role, as he embodies that whole romantic notion of what being a writer is.  He acts as though the world owes him a living and really cannot cope when things don’t work out as he had planned.  And bless him, he always looks so guilty, which isn’t a good look for a literary thief!   Jeremy Irons brings a sense of gravitas to the historical aspects of the film and delivers the great line,

“Do you think you can steal a man’s life and expect there’ll be no price to pay?”

The plot was so thoroughly engaging, so very thought-provoking that I’ve watched it several times since. Plagiarism is a huge issue at the moment and I think this film raises a lot of interesting questions.  I won’t give away anymore of the plot, so as not to hinder your enjoyment, but here is the blurb just to whet your appetite 🙂

The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There’s only one catch – he didn’t write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man’s work and for placing ambition and success above life’s most fundamental three words. (CBS Film)

You can read my 100% original novels here, but please don’t copy them 🙂 : The Mysterious Bakery On Rue de Paris (7) - Copy Amazon US   Amazon UK   Barnes & Noble   iTunes  Kobo

Amazon US   Amazon UK   Barnes & Noble   iTunes   KoboThe Cross of Santiago-Amazon - Copy

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4 Star Review

4.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly good, 21 Jan 2014

 

Just thought I’d post the most recent review for The Cross Of Santiago on Amazon.  It’s always a delight to see a new reader enjoying my book 🙂

I liked the way the historical material was brought. It was also a surprise; for the first half of the book I had no idea this topic would appear; I find it very original to wait so long with introducing an important theme. I especially appreciated the difference in tone, atmosphere, etc. between the historical and the contemporary scenes, that was very skilled and made the story very credible. Naturally I loved that the story is set in Galway, where I live. I liked the contemporary parts because they gave me a glimpse into contemporary Irish lives (I am not Irish).

Posted on in Blog

The Importance of Blogger Reviews

So I asked myself the question… what made me pick up my latest book purchase (which was ‘Where’d You Go Bernadette’ by the way)?  Was it the cover?  Not really, it looks kind of cartooney and not really my thing.  Was it the title?  Nope, I can’t say it really grabbed me or begged to be read.  So what is it doing here, sitting upon my ‘to be read’ shelf as I type?  Why am I secure in the knowledge that I’m pretty sure I’m going to like this book?  What made me hit the ‘Buy’ button?  Reviews.  I ALWAYS google reviews on a book before I buy it – even if the blurb has my name written all over it and even if I’ve already read books by that author, I check out the reviews.

In fact, I do that with all my online shopping… if I’m buying a camera online, I want to know what other people thought of it first.  Is it a shoddy model that takes crappy pictures, but looks the biz on the outside?  Or is it a good value 16 mega pixel from a reputable brand?  I don’t mean to sound like I’m trying to reinvent the wheel here, but my point is I think we can underestimate the importance of reviews when it comes to self-publishing.

When someone comes across  your novel on Amazon or wherever, the first thing they are going to do is check out the reviews and so it’s time to get cracking on finding all those wonderful people out there who take the time to review books, free of charge, just because they love reading and want to offer their opinion.  Note:  they are opinions and as we all know, opinions can differ, so don’t be surprised to find some people less than enamoured by your book.  It’s life (let’s see if I’m so diplomatic when my turn comes….”What do you mean you don’t like it?!!!)

So how to connect with these valuable readers?  Well to be honest, I’ve been having a bit of a hard time finding bloggers – not because there aren’t enough of them, but because there are too many, and it’s hard to know where to begin.  So I came across an extremely helpful link that lists bloggers who reveiw self-published titles called  The Indie View.  It’s gonna take me a while to get through that list, because again I think it’s important to find reviewers who are interested in your genre.  A bit like sending out your submissions to publishers (ah, remember those heady days?!), you’ve got to send it to the right ones.

Anyone with any tips, advice, tales of woe to add – please do.  It’s a subject I will be coming back to, including Blog Tours – the joy of touring your book from home, woohoo!  I’ll put on the kettle 🙂