Tammy

Biography

I love to read all kinds of books but most of my reads are found in the genres of
Paranormal, Supernatural, Magic, Modern Mythic stories, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, P.I. Detective Cop Fiction, Suspense, Thrillers, Adventure, Combat Action, Young-adult fiction, Science fiction, Dystopian, apocalypse, post apocalypse, LGBT Fiction.

Where to find Tammy online

Smashwords book reviews by Tammy

  • A Marked Past on March 24, 2012

    First things first, I received a free copy of this book by the author (via goodreads.com group Shutup and Read) for a fair and honest review. Now what to give this book in rating. This book, to me, was a better then average read. So I am giving it four stars. There are some great parts to this book, and some not so great parts. I will try to share what I felt were the best and the not-so-best. I loved the way the writer unraveled the story. The detailed descriptions, and the fullness of the characters. It was easy to imagine myself inside the town of Salem, sitting in the classrooms, listening to the teachers. I could hear the crunch of the gravel at the church, smelling the pines, and the feel the cool spring air. It takes a true talent to transport the reader into another world using only words. Kudos to Leslie Deaton for the use of her talent. The characters (be they good or evil) were relatable. You could see the good and bad in just about everyone in the town. The details added to the characters helps make the town come alive. Who didn't have at least one teacher like Madame Dorsey with ...'had a helmet of light brown hair that curled in around her face, and she wore way too many floral prints.' I enjoy books with a good vs bad battle, and is a book has that covered with good villains, good heroines/heroes and combat battle scenes that were page-turning-exciting Now for the maybe not so good part. The emotional ups and downs, mostly downs of this book. The first four chapters were spent with the passing of Lylas' father. This was almost a deal breaker to me, but I had agreed to read it, so I pressed forward and I am glad that I did. Once Lyla and her mother (finally) move to Salem, the story starts to unfold. I am, however, disappointed in that the book ends in an emotional down note. Having struggled to get into the book (because it was so emotionally draining) I found the ending off putting. I think the title of chapter 27 captures the books emotional tone perfectly.. Coming full circle. This is a good book, the writing is wonderful, the characters are endearing, I just wish it had something of a happier note to end on. So do I recommend it? Let me ask you this, Why do you read fantasy fiction? Is it for an emotional ride with 'good vs bad' battle and tear jerking experience? Is it for romance, lighthearted story line with a feel good ending? If the first, then 'yes' this is a book you will want to read. If the second, then maybe you should skip this one.
  • Moa on March 29, 2012

    First things first, I received a copy of this book free from the author via goodreads.com group Shut up and Read for a fair and honest review. I give this book three stars. I found this book to be a combination of Nancy Drew meets The Ghost Whisperer meets Eckhart Tolle. Hillary goes to visit her sister and her niece in Hawaii for her high school graduation present from her parents. Hillarys sister, Molly, and niece Heidi are grieving the recent loss of Molly's husband (Heidi's father) Steve. While dealing with her own issues (the strain of being bullied in high school), Hillary meets Moa, an ancient spirit who manifests as a seven year old child. Moa has been watching and waiting for Hillary because it has been fated that Hillary would help Moa defend an ancient portal (gateway to the other side of death). During the adventure Moa teaches Hillary about many New Age (metaphysical) practices. It was hard for me to warm up to this book. The style of writing, stream of consciousness, third person narrative mode was not one that I am used too. As Moa narrates she jumps from Hillarys history to her own with little separation. I found myself having to re-read sections, locate the separations of the narrative. As the book progressed and I trained myself to watch for the jumps, this was less of a problem. In my view, this book was a new age metaphysics fiction book first and a mystery second. I do not mind reading metaphysics books. However I found that the Wiccan Practices and explanation of the metaphysical belief structure took over as the theme of the book, weakening the mystery side of the book. I never felt pulled into the book. I tried to think of why and the only reasoning I came up with is there is too much narrative. I like to 'feel' a part of the book and to me the way that happens is to read what the characters are feeling, thinking, reasoning. Having Moa do all the explaining of Hillarys' feelings seemed distant and failed to capture my attention. The end result, for me was that I was unable to relate to the main characters. Those who I think might find an interest in this book are readers who like metaphysics, and mystery.
  • Dimension Shifter on April 01, 2012

    I got this because it was a free book and I liked the summary. I give this book three stars. Really I want to give it less, because I am so frustrated with the second half of the book which spiraled down pretty badly, leaving me annoyed with the book and struggling to finish, and dissatisfied when I did. But I will give it a three for the plot and first half. Kyrin is able to shift between dimensions and is on the run from men who are hunting her for her ability to use magic and other 'crimes' that she has committed. While on the run, she shifts into the dimension of Paragoy, a land of plenty ruled by a peaceful god, Sithias. Because when she first entered into Paragoy she had been fatally injured, and then was healed by the priests and the king of the land, she becomes an indentured servant for one year to repay the king for saving her life. She finds the people there are kind, and offer her friendship, but because her own god Daemionis (a cruel and petty god) is ever watching her and has installed in her a complete distrust of all people she is too fearful to trust the people of Paragoy. She feels unworthy of normal human feelings such as compassion, tenderness and love. In the dimension that Kyrin comes from men oppress and beat the women, often forcing them into marriage, then losing interest in them when they become pregnant and casting them out. Kyrin has vowed never to marry or have children. Things get complicated when she begins developing romantic feelings towards the king and he towards her. She begins to feel even more conflict because the demands of her god Daemionis for human sacrifices bumps up against the peace loving god Sithias rules for his followers. She must fulfill a year of service to the king of paragoy to be able to leave the kingdom, but can not help but be changed by the ways of the paragoy people. Ok what I liked, I think the first half of this book was good. I liked the idea of a multidimensional universe, and shifters between the worlds gave us (the readers as well as the author) a chance to play out the differences of morals, values, and worship practices. But I quickly got tired of the caustic views of Kyrin regarding the issues of marriage, love and children in spite of what she sees and learns from the people of paragoy. The book covers two and a half years of time. It seemed to go on and on after the original concept of the book ran out. Nearly the entire second half of the book was one long and painfully (to the reader) drawn out internal struggle of kyrin. SPOILER ALERT THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH PLEASE SKIP IT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ***In the end the author failed to have kyrin grow into maturity and learn her choices were wrong (in short allow 'good to win') rather she (the author) forced kryin into everything that she claimed that was wrong in the dimension that kyrin was from. The practice of Human sacrifices, forcing women into marriage, forced sex upon women, forced pregnancy.. oh wait that last one is the next book **** *** END OF SPOILER I believe she did that so that the series could easily continue, but it was a bad choice if you ask me. I was so frustrated that I spent soooooooooooooo much time on a book that in the end went horribly wrong. Ugh! I was uncomfortable with the ending or really lack of ending so I went back to smashwords to look at the sample of the next book. Judging from the sample, the series continues with more of the same. Kyrin playing ignorant, helpless, and child-like in her maturity. Do I recommend this book? ... No, not really it was more frustrating read then it was fruitful one.
  • Frost on May 17, 2012

    First things first, I got a free copy of this book from the author via Goodreads group Shut up and Read, for a fair and honest review. I do not know the author personally. I give this book five golden stars. Ok folks honestly I am going to sound like a crazed fan but this book is amazing. I do not give five stars very often, I have high standards and this book met those standards. I got hooked into the storyline, pulled into the characters plights, absorbed into the world of the novel. The author does a great job with creating characters that you can bond too, and cheer on (or boo for the villains). The descriptions used in this book are perfect. I could easily visualize the village of Iceliss, isolated and locked away in a frozen landscape. The twist in the book, was sufficiently foreshadowed without being over done. I loved the feel of a good Zing in a book. If I were to find one fault in the book, it would be that it was too short. (195 pages) I recommend this book without any hesitation to readers of the dystopian, science fiction, young adult, and adventure genres.
  • The Campsite on June 18, 2012

    This short is only 6 pages long, but it was an enjoyable spooky little tale. I can not say much about the story without giving it all away so I'll refer you back to the synopsis, and say it reads like a campfire story. I think anyone who likes to listen to a scary campfire story would enjoy this. I would tag this as spooky, short, aliens, science fiction.
  • Jungle Law on June 18, 2012

    I have to say that this books adult-content rating is appropriate, it reads: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. I had not paid much attention to that warning when I started reading it, a shape shifter, LGBT romance genre sounded like a good read. This actually is a good read. I liked many parts of the storyline: the guardian leopard shape-shifter protecting the jungle, the rescuing of the 'innocent' young man, them falling for each other and well I can't say more without giving the ending away. However there are two things that take away from this book for me, they might not be bothersome to others though. The first was that the author says 'the boy' is a year into his manhood. I would hope that the author is implying that manhood is 18 and hence 'the boy' is 19 years old, if not than this is disturbing. Throughout the whole story references are made to the 'youthfulness' of the boy, but I decided to take them in comparison to Kannans age, whom is stated have been old enough to have produced cubs more then once. This story follows a tread that I have noticed a lot lately in the gay romance genre, of having a large age differences between the lovers, like twenty plus years and having one of the partners being just barely out of their teens. I do not care if we are talking m-m or f-m relationships, that does not sit right with me. It smacks too much like ... well, let's just say that it creeps me out (again, just my thoughts on that). The next issue that I had with the book, was the fact this is listed as erotic when it should be listed as X-rated. I can not stress this enough, there are way too many graphic details to be anything less then an X-rating. Again I will say not everyone will agree with my review, but excluding the two issues that I have with the story it is a good read. If you over look the age thing, skip over (or exclude) the overly detailed sex, then you would have a perfect five star gay shape-shifter short story.
  • Occupy LOL Street Volume 1 on June 22, 2012

    I really did not like the cheesy photos in this version of a comic strip. It was hard to read the print, the whole presentation (style) was weak and did not work for me. This book is clearly written 'for' a certain audience. Now that I have finished it, I find myself thinking of a quote by Cass Sunstein “To become an extremist, hang around with people you agree with.”
  • The Island - Part 1 on June 25, 2012

    Please note that these are just my thoughts on this story, and I am more less typing out what I would say to this author about this particular book. Others may have a different reading experience/ expectation then my own. I struggled with how I would review this book. In the end I decided there was no way that I could write a review of this book without using spoilers so be advised ***this review has SPOILERS.**** I had thought the book would be more like its' description of an action adventure zombie apocalyptic storyline that somehow included dragons, after all that is what the synopsis promises it would be, however the book that I just read was not that. While I was puzzling what to write in the review, the quote "As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." came to my mind, so with that I am writing this review off the story that is, not the story that should be, might be, or could be. I give this novella 2.5 out of 5 stars, but since that isn't an option I am pushing this up to three stars. There are some typos/grammar issues with this story but not so much as to be too distracting. The characters: As they currently stand, Most all of the characters are standard 'stock' characters of the genre (the sheriff, the shy mysterious youth, the grandmother who seems to be hiding things). The only exception being the protagonist, William whose back-story is painfully detailed. The pace (flow) of the plot is slow and steady. The promised plot (end of times, surviving the apocalypse) never takes place inside this novella. When I realized this story was likely not going in the same place as the synopsis and I started to think of 'the plot' as being one of a man describing a fishing exposition, I was able to push through to the ending. Other then preparing for the character to be emotionally wounded, generally isolated from society as a whole, and on an island with everything he'd ever need and then some (including a band of misfits) this book had no point to it. It could have been easily chopped down by 1/3 its current length with no noticeable difference. Plot resolution: none. I once had a conversation with a young author of a popular episodic series available on another e book site, about what episodic novellas were and how to review them. He told me that they are to be thought of similar to television episodes in a larger series. My trouble with his series, and with this book being a part one of a book is this: Each episode of a TV series as 'mini' plots that are introduced in that episode and while the episode runs these mini plots have all the steps that any normal movie (or in this case, book) would have [Plot exposition, character crisis, plot twists, and (plot) resolutions] without these steps they are is no 'hook' to keep the reviewer (reader) interested and coming back for more each week. In addition to the 'mini' plot each television episode adds to the over all series plot (character developments, twists in storyline and so on) again to keep us interested in finding out where the series is going. This novella fails to provide a 'mini' plot, resulting in the feeling that it is little more then a very long plot exposition. If the future episodes are to be judged based on this novella, then the book as a whole does not look promising. The pace is too slow, the action in non-existence, the details are way more then needed, the characters are both too shallow and too detailed. This is only the second time that I have said this to an author, but this story is a case of 'too much talking and not enough action' and way too much information. Where is the apocalypse? Where are the Zombies? Where is the struggle of the fight? You have your guy way too prepared, with his only problem being that he might run out of ice? Seriously? You have your character an expert on boats and navigation, but he has been camping/boating once with his father? The trouble with over thinking your characters and their crisis is the same as over parenting, you have to let them fail for them to grow. You have to let them be inexperienced and make really stupid mistakes for the to be an emotional/physical crisis for your character to experience and grow. After all it is through the characters failures that we (the reader) bond to the characters. Example: If the ugly duckling did not experience his embarrassment and shame of not looking like a duck, then the fable would have taught nothing and it would be just a story of a swan, who looks like other swans his age, and grows up to be like every other swan. Personal faults, moral failures, and character crisis are the glue of the storyline, without them (or without enough of them) the story becomes trivial and pointless. Ok I have probably over hammered those points. This story is flawed, but there is a story in here somewhere. One last recommendation to the author (and I have already hit on that once but here it is again) unless something directly affects the plot execution there is no need to go into a lengthy description of it. Allow your readers to fill in the details on the nonessential elements, otherwise your story is too wordy.
  • See Right Through on July 28, 2012

    Is there such a thing as Six stars? This novella surely has won its place in my favorite book shelf. Simply put this novella is an amazing romantic love story. Following Devins revelation of his feelings for his long time friend Sam was a thrilling and emotionally moving read. Although the story is fairly short, I found the plot to be well developed. The dialogue between the characters being the most believable and endearing that I have read in a long time. I was so able to connect to this cast of characters, that I long to read more about them. This is the first book that I have read from Sara Winters. I found this novella so enjoyable that I plan to read everything this author puts out. I got this book when it was free, however I would happily have paid for this one. The adult contents warnings are appropriate for this novella as it contains a m-m erotic scene.
  • Me, Myself and I (Dark Reflections Series Book 1) on Sep. 18, 2012

    I read this book earlier this summer but never got around to writing a review so here it is. I liked this book a lot, yet this is one that has me begging to have it expanded. The characters are fresh. The plot original. The single sex scene extremely erotic. The story leaves one wanting more.
  • Elysium Part One. Another Chance on Feb. 18, 2013

    From what I understand, this is the first segment of a 3 part work. As such, a large portion of this segment was spent introducing the characters and building up a mystery about the 'actual' events that led to the apocalypse. The characters are well developed by the time the segment is finished. The plot however is still unclear. We can tell by the characters conversations that things are not as they seem, but the author is holding the mystery back from us. The ending of this segment is mid-scene which does not work well for me. I feel that readers of episodic post apocalyptic stories may find this to be an enjoyable read.