Happy Release Week to ZADEKIEL (Path of Angels #2) by Patricia Josephine

Happy release week to Zadekiel, the second book in Patricia Josephine's fantastic Path of Angels series!

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The path is lost. 

With Michael gone, the mantle of leadership falls to Zadekiel. In this time of darkness, with tempers running short, Zade struggles to guide his brothers. Hope comes in the form of a green haired woman with a unique gift. She represents a way back to the path they lost when Michael disappeared. 

Zephyr fills books with cryptic poetry, a powerful compulsion, which is more a curse than a blessing. With no control over her ability, she struggles to live a normal life. When she meets Zade, he insists her ability is a gift from God. Reluctantly, she agrees to join the cause–it’s hard to dispute a man with wings. 

Now the path is found, but one question remains. Will it lead to further darkness?

~ Buy on Amazon US || Amazon Canada ~

~Patricia Josephine talks about characters of colour~

I have to admit, when I first started writing this series, I didn’t think much about the color of my character’s skin. I just wrote the story down. Michael was the only one I really knew what he looked like because his looks had to be so cliché. Blue eyes, blond hair, perfect smile. He was a pretty boy being the archangel Michael. Through Twitter chats and discussions with others about the lack of person of color (POC) characters, like with bisexuality in Snapshots, I wanted to help change that. 

Enter Zadekiel. 

I knew he would be African American. The name fits someone with dark skin so he was a natural choice. My next challenge was going to book one and making sure his appearance was described because people do tend to assume the character is fair skinned. I even do that. It’s important that everyone sees characters in movies and books they can relate to. Everyone can be a hero. Stories are how we discover that.

Michael (Path of Angels #1)

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~Buy on Amazon.com || Amazon.ca~

~About the Author~

Patricia Josephine never set out to become a writer. In fact, she never considered it an option during high school and college. But some stories are meant to be told and this one chose her. Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo and has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow.

Patricia Josephine writes young adult under the name Patricia Lynne.

Follow Patricia on Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Website | Wattpad 

What do you think? Have you read Michael (Path of Angels #1) yet? If you haven't, I highly recommend it, as well as Zadekiel. Aren't the covers for this series amazing?

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Favourite Quotes from Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Black Iris by Leah Raeder is a phenomenal book. It's dark and twisted and sexy, and completely different from anything else I've read, plus the writing is absolutely gorgeous. I was going to include some quotes in my review, but when I realized how many I had highlighted in my Kindle I decided to dedicate a separate post to my favourites.

*All quotes taken from the ARC of Black Iris, provided by Atria via NetGalley* 

“That’s the formula. Broken girl + bad boy = sexual healing. All you need to fix that tragic past is a six-pack. More problems? Add abs. It’s Magic Dick Lit.” ~ 10%

“Most of the time romance isn’t even about love, anyway. It’s about escape. Fantasy. Salvation from the mundane. It’s a racier version of religion and we all want to be saved. Save me from boredom, from exhaustion, from my undersexed body, from microwave dinners and reality TV, from going to bed alone or with a vibrator or a cat. Save me from my desperately ordinary life.” ~ 10%

“Hatred is a poison and you cannot carry it inside your skin without getting sick, too.” ~ 25%

“Falling for someone is like pulling a loose thread. It happens stitch by stitch. You feel whole most of the time even while the seams pop, the knots loosen, everything that holds you together comes undone. It feels incredible, this opening of yourself to the world. Not like the unraveling it is. Only afterward do you glance down at the tangle of string around your feet that used to be a person who was whole and self-contained and realize that love is not a thing that we create. It’s an undoing.” ~ 28%

“Strength is not in the body, it’s in the mind. It doesn’t lie in flexing your muscles and crushing those who oppose you. It lies in being the last one standing. By any means. At any cost.” ~ 31%

“Maybe I was trying to prove him wrong. Or maybe I wanted to be a monster on my own terms. If the world was going to constantly knock me down, I could at least choose the way I fell. Controlled descent.” ~ 47%

“Before I left I eyeballed myself in the foyer mirror. Aside from the dark petal of hair slipping over an ear I was pale as death. Ghost flower with see-through skin, my veins blue roots. A black iris blooming in snow.” ~ 60%

“Maybe all you need to pull you back from the ledge is to know someone would miss you if you fell.” ~ 60%

“Jealousy is the rust that eats away at morality’s hard steel. It’s cancerous, and once it starts it spreads and spreads.” ~ 62%

“She knew I was crazy. She was crazy, too. All writers are.” ~ 67%

“If I was gay...I wouldn’t need an asterisk beside my name. I could stop worrying if the girl I like will bounce when she finds out I also like dick. I could have a coming-out party without people thinking I just want attention. I wouldn’t have to explain that I fall in love with minds, not genders or body parts. People wouldn’t say I’m ‘just a slut’ or ‘faking it’ or ‘undecided’ or ‘confused.’ I’m not confused. I don’t categorize people by who I’m allowed to like and who I’m allowed to love. Love doesn’t fit into boxes like that. It’s blurry, slippery, quantum. It’s only limited by our perceptions and before we slap a label on it and cram it into some category, everything is possible.” ~ 88%

“Scars tell a story. My whole life was written on my body. How are you supposed to leave the past behind when you carry it with you in your skin?” ~ 93%

  

{GoodReads || Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}

It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn't worth sticking around for.

If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.

She's not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.

But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it's time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.

Which was the plan all along.

Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.

She's going to show them all.

   
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Review: Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Black Iris by Leah Raeder
Series: Standalone
Published: April 28th, 2015
Publisher: Atria
368 pages (eARC)
Genre: Contemporary New Adult/Thriller/LGBTQ
Acquired this book: Via NetGalley in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
{GoodReads || Buy this book: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}

It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn't worth sticking around for.

If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.

She's not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.

But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it's time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.

Which was the plan all along.

Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.

She's going to show them all.

Black Iris is one of those books I knew early on would be difficult to review, not only because of potential spoilers, but also because it’s hard to describe the way it made me feel. It was a total mindfuck that horrified me, turned me on, broke my heart, and ultimately left me completely satisfied. I know that sounds like an odd combination, but Black Iris is so complex, you can’t help but feel a mixture of emotions. It was dark, disturbing, sexy as hell, and beautifully written. Laney and her messed-up life wormed their way into my heart and mind, and I didn’t want to put this book down. I cursed being a painfully slow reader and the fact I need sleep to be a (semi)functioning human being, because I just wanted to find out what would happen next. I read as late as I could, jumping at every shadow and sound, and then having crazy dreams all night.

Black Iris is a book that left me feeling confused - not about the story itself, but about my own feelings. Laney is a character who could be hard to relate to for a lot of people. While I only had a few things in common with her, I felt a connection with her immediately. I think every writer understands, and has likely danced with, that madness that comes with being an artist and thinking differently from other people. I’ve gone through the highs and lows, and while not as all-consuming as what Laney experienced, I think it made it easier to understand the darkness in her. As for the confusion I felt: Laney did some horrible things. Things you wouldn’t normally condone, things that would get someone thrown into a psych hospital or a jail cell if they were caught. But somehow, as things unfolded through the course of the story, her actions started seeming almost justifiable, despite knowing they were wrong. She was masochistic and self-destructive and she wanted to make people suffer the way she’d suffered. She was neither hero nor villain, she was just a girl with darkness and poison and vengeance running through her veins, and she was doing what she thought she needed to do to, as messed up as those things were. Her actions, her behaviour, and her dark thoughts pushed me out of my comfort zone in all the best ways.

There were a lot of complex relationships in this book. I loved Laney’s brother, Donnie, and their relationship. Seeing the softer side of Laney added even more depth to her character and made me sympathize with her even more. As for the romance element of the book...I won’t go too in depth, even though every aspect of the story was somehow tied to Blythe and Armin, but I will say this: it was intense, sexy, destructive, confusing, messy, and beautiful. It shouldn’t have worked - they enabled each other, and they were like dynamite and a lit match, poised to explode and take down not only themselves but everyone around them, too. It was so unhealthy, and yet it did work - they understood each other and they needed each other.
 
Besides being a really unique story, part of what made Black Iris so amazing was Raeder’s gorgeous, lyrical writing. I wanted to crawl inside the words, wrap them around me, and stay there forever. I haven’t read many books like that lately, so I revelled in it, highlighting and rereading my favourite passages, and knowing I needed to bump Raeder’s debut, Unteachable, up on my TBR.

Black Iris is dark, surprising, twisty (and twisted), thrilling, and unique. It shocked me, pushed me outside my comfort zone, and kept me guessing from beginning to end. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time.

 

   

Have you read Black Iris? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? What's your favourite 'mindfuck' book or a book that left you feeling a range of hard-to-explain emotions? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

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Author Interview with Genevieve Graham

Today I'm pleased to welcome Genevieve Graham to the Ramblings of a Daydreamer.  She was nice enough to answer a few questions and share some fascinating information about her new release, Tides of Honour, as well as what we might expect from her next.

You're no stranger to writing historic fiction, but your MacDonnells series is very different from Tides of Honour. What inspired you to write Tides of Honour?

Yes, they’re definitely different from each other. Tides of Honour came from a completely different place—literally! As I was writing the MacDonnell series, my family and I moved from Calgary to Nova Scotia. At the time I was obsessed by all things 18th century, especially Scotland and the colonies, but moving to Nova Scotia introduced me to a whole new world. Unlike a lot of historical fiction authors, I am not a historian. Before I write a book, chances are I know nothing about the time period. When I write, I fall in love with a topic, then I research it to bring it to life. When we came here, I had never heard of the Halifax Explosion. I saw the CBC documentary “Shattered City” and thought it was fictional. I had never been taught anything about this horrific tragedy in school, and that, to me, is criminal. I had an excellent high school education, but can anyone explain why I’d never heard of the moment when the largest manmade explosion before Hiroshima happened, right here in Canada? The instant almost exactly one hundred years ago when 1500 people were obliterated, hundreds were blinded by a hailstorm of shattered glass, and over 8000 were left homeless? How can they not teach that in Canadian schools? I was determined not only to research the event, but to give it a life of its own and bring the memories of all those victims back to life. And of course, when I started looking into that December night in 1916, I reasoned that people from that era lived both before and after the explosion, so what of them? I expanded my research to include the Great War. And what of the men in the trenches? Didn’t they deserve a future? Didn’t they deserve to fall in love? That’s when I “met” Audrey, and she showed me what it was like in her world.

What kind of research went into writing Tides of Honour?

After watching “Shattered City”, I read Black Snow by Halifax author Jon Tattrie. (Note: Jon’s character, Tommy Joyce, eventually joined Danny’s battalion in Tides of Honour.) After that I went to the Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax and read through articles from the day after the Explosion. I’d never even stepped foot inside an archives department before, and I was mesmerized. In fact, that led me to visit the archives at Memory Lane Heritage Village in Lake Charlotte, just up Highway 7 from my home. While the Village represents history from the 1940s, the volunteers who work with the archives are full of stories from much earlier. By the time I met up with them, Danny Baker had started to take shape. I knew he’d been a fisherman, and I knew he’d survived the war, but not in one piece. So the volunteers took me back to the time of their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers, sharing stories from their lives. I visited hundred year old houses, and I watched videos from a hundred years ago. Oh, I love researching for my novels! 

Is there a time or event in history you haven't written about but would like to?

I want to do more with Canadian historicals, because I don’t think people know enough about the most interesting parts of our history. I’ve been working on a story about the Acadian Expulsion, leading up to the Plains of Abraham, which brought me back to my old stomping grounds of the 18th century, which felt good. I also received a message from a reader who said she was interested in learning about the RCMP, which is a real Canadian icon. I’d be interested in that, maybe…I also wanted to write something vaguely based on my husband’s grandfather, who emigrated from Poland to Halifax in 1928. We even found the records from when he arrived at Pier 21. Fascinating…but eastern European history is very confusing, as I discovered when I tried to write it before!

Who are some of your favourite historic fiction authors? 

Diana Gabaldon, Sara Donati (Rosina Lippi), Susanna Kearsley, Penelope Williamson, Jennifer Roberson … 

~*~*~*~*~

Thank you so much for chatting with me, Genevieve!

I just have to say that I never learned about the Halifax Explosion in school either. It was equally fascinating and horrifying to read about it in Tides of Honour. How had I never heard of it? How do we not do anything here to honour or at least recognize all the people killed and injured? All those orphans? So I'd like to thank Genevieve for writing not only about the Halifax Explosion, but for also giving a happy ending to a character who suffered so much through the Great War, then everyday life afterward. He may have been fictional, but he was very real to me, and his story was lived by many real men, heroes who sacrificed so much. Also, I love the idea of more books about points in Canadian history, and I would definitely read anything about the Acadians, since that's my own personal heritage!
 

Be sure to check out my 4-star review of Tides of Honour, an epic story of love, loss, faith, family, hope, and perseverance set against a backdrop of WWI France and Nova Scotia. You can also add it on GoodReads or buy it on Amazon or Chapters/Indigo.

Connect with Genevieve on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and GoodReads
 

Genevieve Graham and fellow Canadian author Susanna Kearsley are going on tour together from May 9th to 13th. If you'd like to meet these two fantastic authors (check out my review of Susanna's newest release, A Desperate Fortune), visit the Timeless Tour site for more information.

 

  
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Fantastic Friday #2

Fantastic Friday is a new feature here on Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Each Friday I'll showcase fantastic things from the past week - could be things I've done, places I've gone, a new song I like, a movie I've seen, books I've read, blog posts from around the blogosphere - anything at all!

• I hit 60,000 words in my current WIP, Something in the Air! I've been writing this book on and off for almost two years now and there are times when I feel like I'll never finish, but after hitting that milestone, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

• Tuesday was my mum's birthday. One of our favourite restaurants does a promo for a free meal on your birthday, so Mum, my sister-in-law, and I went for a girls' lunch. The restaurant is right by the bay, and we usually sit outside, but it was too cold, so the waitress took us to the back where we had a great view of the water from two sides. Mum ordered escargot for us to share (before you get grossed out, yes, they're snails, but no, it's not a big deal, at least not to me. My dad was French, so I grew up eating them and they're delicious) and we all got the restaurant's specialty, fish and chips. YUM. We usually have my almost-2-year-old niece with us, which makes meals out loud, chaotic, and rushed, so it was nice to relax, talk, laugh, and take our time. We had a great time. That night, my brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and niece came for dinner and cake (the birthday girl is so special, she got two cakes). It was a great day, and my mum felt really special and loved, which she is!

• Weekly Europe Countdown: 8 more weeks! Time is going so fast, it's unreal. I had a bunch of banking to do this week and the Euro was down a bit, so I got a bit of cash for the trip. The British pound is still a bit higher than I'd like (well, a lot higher, at $1.90), so I'm going to continue to keep an eye on it and hope it goes down even a few more cents before I get some pounds.

• I finally joined Pottermore and got sorted, and I'm in Ravenclaw! I guess I always thought I'd be Gryffindor, but really only because Harry, Ron, and Hermione were. Ravenclaw actually makes more sense since they're known for being clever and quirky, which is accurate for me. I wanted to know before I go to London, because when you visit Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, you can wear a scarf to have your picture taken, plus there's a gift shop and I'd like to buy something with my house emblem, so now I know! I told my friend Krista (who I'm going to Europe with) to join and get sorted and she was Ravenclaw too, which didn't surprise either of us since we're pretty much brain twins.

• I saw my first spring flowers this week! Last week was gorgeous - sunny and warm - but this week has been cold and windy, and it even snowed a bit yesterday. *gag* Spring is taking her sweet time coming, so when I saw these lovely, sunny daffodils I squealed and got unreasonably excited. I'm so ready for buds and blossoms and blooms.

So that's my fantastic week. What did you find fantastic this week? Tell  me in the comments below, chat with me on Twitter, or feel free to link me to blog posts, articles, pictures, songs, videos, or whatever you thought was fantastic that you want to share! Don't forget to enter to win a personalized 16x20" canvas from CanvasPop! I love my canvas, and I'm excited to share the love to one other lucky person.

   
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Review: A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley  
Series: Standalone
Published: April 21st, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
480 pages (ARC)
Genre: A mix of contemporary and historic fiction
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
{GoodReads || Buy this book: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}

 

{Read my review of The Winter Sea || Read my review of The Firebird}

For nearly 300 years, the mysterious journal of Jacobite exile Mary Dundas has lain unread — its secrets safe from prying eyes. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas has been hired by a once-famous historian to crack the journal's cipher. But when she arrives in Paris, Sara finds herself besieged by complications from all sides: the journal's reclusive owner, her charming Parisian neighbor, and Mary, whose journal doesn't hold the secrets Sara expects.

It turns out that Mary Dundas wasn’t keeping a record of everyday life, but a first-hand account of her part in a dangerous intrigue. In the first wintry months of 1732, with a scandal gaining steam in London, driving many into bankruptcy and ruin, the man accused of being at its center is concealed among the Jacobites in Paris, with Mary posing as his sister to aid his disguise.

When their location is betrayed, they’re forced to put a desperate plan in action, heading south along the road to Rome, protected by the enigmatic Highlander Hugh MacPherson.

As Mary's tale grows more and more dire, Sara, too, must carefully choose which turning to take...to find the road that will lead her safely home.

Susanna Kearsley earned a spot on my auto-read list after I read The Winter Sea and The Firebird. I fell in love with the stories, the characters, the settings, and Kearsley’s ability to move seamlessly between the present and the past and weave a story that’s full of romance, intrigue, and excitement. Her latest release, A Desperate Fortune, is no different.

This book started out quite slow. For about the first hundred pages or so it was hard to get interested or invested in either of the dual story lines. But I had faith in Ms Kearsley and was sure A Desperate Fortune would end up wowing me as her other books did. If it had been any other author, I would have set the book aside after that first night of reading, but by the next night when I picked it up again, the story picked up too, and I found it easy to get lost in the pages.

I liked Sara a lot, and found it fascinating how her mind worked. The portrayal of her life and struggles with Asperger’s was done really well. Her relationship with her cousin Jacqui, who was basically her champion, was also quite interesting. Jacqui understood how Sara’s mind worked and what her triggers were, and she wanted Sara to live as ‘normal’ a life as possible. She thought she knew what was best for Sara, and sometimes her idea of helping kept Sara sheltered and stifled, but it was obvious that it came from a place of love. You don’t see many close cousin relationships in books, and I enjoyed the dynamics between the two. I also really enjoyed the relationships Sara developed while she was working in France - Denise, Noah, and Claudine were all great characters and they each had something to teach Sara about life, love, and companionship. Then there was Luc. One of my favourite thing about all of Susanna Kearsley’s books is the romantic element. She sure knows how to write swoonworthy men! I loved how patient and understanding Luc was, and how he quietly made a place for himself in Sara’s life without pushing her. 

As with Ms Kearsley’s other books, it was the historic aspect of the story that grabbed my attention (and heartstrings) the most. Mary wanted more excitement in her life and she got it when she was asked to pose as the sister of someone King James had a special interest in. I loved how the story unravelled slowly, with the reader kept wondering about things as much as Mary was. Mary and her companions made a motley crew, and each of them had secrets to keep, partly for their own protection, partly for Mary’s, and sometimes just because that was their nature. The romance in the historic parts of The Winter Sea and The Firebird were amazing, so I was sure it would be no different in A Desperate Fortune, and I was right. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but once I realized what was happening, I fell in love right alongside Mary. I longed for more scenes with them together, and hoped everything would fall into place for them. As much as I loved Luc, it was Mary's love interest who really stole my heart. And just like with Sara and Luc, Mary's love interest quietly made a place for himself in her life. Their romance was slow and sweet and beautiful, and I could have continued reading about it forever.

Susanna Kearsley has written another incredible book. A Desperate Fortune is compelling, intriguing, romantic, and unique. There are so many little details in her stories that make you smile, touch your heart, and ultimately make her tales unforgettable.

Susanna Kearsley and Genevieve Graham are going on tour together from May 9th to 13th. If you'd like to meet these two fantastic authors, check out the Timeless Tour site for more information.

    

Have you read A Desperate Fortune? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Have you read any of Susanna's other books? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

  
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Review: Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham

Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham
Series: Standalone
Published: April 21st, 2015 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
432 pages (ARC)
Genre: Canadian historic fiction
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Warning: May contain spoilers
{GoodReads || Buy this book: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo}

A novel of love, loss, and honour amidst the horrors of war and its aftermath.

It’s 1916, and the last thing Nova Scotian soldier Danny Baker expects to find in war-torn France is the love of his life. Audrey Poulin is alone in the world, and struggling to survive the war in the French countryside. When Audrey and Danny meet and fall in love, it seems like the best version of fate.

But love is only the beginning, as Danny loses a leg in the Battle of the Somme, and returns home to Halifax with Audrey, only to discover that he’s unable to leave the war behind. Danny and Audrey struggle with their new life together, and must face not only their own internal demons, but a catastrophe that will soon rip apart everything they think they know about themselves and each other.

It’s no secret I love historic fiction. Books dealing with war aren’t my favourite, but the fact that Genevieve Graham is Canadian and this book has a Canadian setting (which is unfortunately rare) intrigued me. Tides of Honour was emotional, powerful, and heartbreaking. It was an epic love story, but it was also so much more than that.   

When Danny returns to Nova Scotia after being injured during WWI, he’s haunted by the war and missing part of one leg. His emotional and psychological scars, like many soldiers, are as painful as his physical ones. Life is the same, and yet completely different than when he left home two years ago. His brothers are growing up, his family treats him differently, and there are so many things he could once do that are no longer possible because of his injury. I liked Danny a lot - he was complex and had a lot of depth. His struggles, both physically and mentally, were very real. I kept tearing up at his descriptions in the first few chapters, and I found it easy to connect with him.

With so many changes and so much pain in his life, the thought of Audrey coming from France to Canada to be his wife kept Danny going. I really liked these two together. They had an instant connection, one that remained through the time and distance that separated them. They were one of those couples that seemed meant to be, and I rooted for them throughout the course of the book. The struggles they experienced, both together and separately, taught them a lot and made them grow. Life threw a lot of obstacles in their way, things that many people wouldn’t be able to overcome, but they were strong and persistent, and they fought through everything that came their way.

Tides of Honour wasn’t always easy to read in terms of content. Parts of the book got quite dark, and a lot of the scenes after the Halifax Explosion were pretty gruesome and disturbing, plus just utterly heartbreaking. And yet the story was so compelling and the setting so vivid, I had trouble putting this book down. Normally a book that’s 400+ pages would tell me close to a week (or more) to read, but I managed to read Tides of Honour in three evenings. I don’t remember learning about the Halifax Explosion in school, so I found it interesting (and completely horrifying and heart-wrenching), and it was obvious Ms Graham had done a lot of research, not only with that, but also with the aspects of the war we saw through Danny’s memories, flashbacks, etc.

Clearly I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So why only four stars? Parts of it (especially the parts from Audrey’s perspective) kind of dragged. It got repetitive at times, going over the same information over and over (like how Audrey had come from living with her mother in England to living with her cold, unfeeling grandmere in France). And while I thought the sentiment of the ending was nice and I was mostly satisfied, it felt a bit rushed. There were also parts that seemed unrealistic, with one thing in particular that really bothered me and seemed completely unnecessary and left a bad taste in my mouth. There were also times when the timeline seemed a bit off, like it felt like quite a bit of time had passed, but it would only be a day or a week or something. It felt a bit discombobulated.

Tides of Honour is an intense and compelling read about perseverance, hope, faith, love, and family, set against a Canadian backdrop that comes alive on the page. I felt a wide range of emotions while reading this story about timeless love and survival. I won a copy of Ms Graham’s Under the Same Sky from a Canadian reading challenge last year, and after reading Tides of Honour, I’ll be bumping it up on my reading list, and I’ll be eager to see what she writes next.

 

Genevieve Graham and Susanna Kearsley are going on tour together from May 9th to 13th. If you'd like to meet these two fantastic authors, check out the Timeless Tour site for more information.

 

    

Have you read Tides of Honour? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Do you enjoy books with wartime settings? Have you read any of Genevieve Graham's other books? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

  
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Remembering Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe

I was one of many little girls who grew up in the '80s and '90s wishing she lived in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea were staples in my house. Anne Shirley was a kindred spirit, Gilbert Blythe was one of my first fictional crushes, and I felt like I was meant to live in Avonlea and be part of the King family.

 

On Saturday when I heard that Jonathan Crombie, best known for playing Gilbert Blythe in the Anne movies, had died, I was heartbroken. Obviously Lucy Maude Montgomery gets credit for creating such a wonderful character, but Jonathan brought him to life on the screen. He was beautiful and boyish and charming and perfect. He could do it all - earnest, funny, cheeky, flustered, frustrated...and when he looked at Anne with so much yearning and affection and wonder, I dreamed a boy would look at me like that someday. In so many ways I grew up with Anne and Gilbert - the original movie aired in 1985, so I've been watching it my whole life. Then Anne of Avonlea came out in 1987, Gilbert made an appearance on Road to Avonlea when a beloved character died in 1992, and finally the Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story movie came out in 2000.

Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe has been part of my life forever, and now he's gone. My heart aches for his family, friends, and loved ones, and for the many fans who are mourning the loss of someone they probably never met, but who they've loved for so long.  

Thank you, Jonathan Crombie, for your messy-haired, sparkling-eyed, ridiculously charming portrayal of my dream man. Thank you for making me laugh, making me swoon, and making me believe that I'd get my own love story as epic as Anne and Gilbert's.

I went through four tissues watching this 6-minute video. That wink! That smile! The way he looks at Anne. His pride in her, and his patience despite her stubbornness. Oh Gilbert. <3

   
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Fantastic Friday #1

Fantastic Friday is a new feature here on Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Each Friday I'll showcase fantastic things from the past week - could be things I've done, places I've gone, a new song I like, a movie I've seen, books I've read, blog posts from around the blogosphere - anything at all!

• On Monday I posted my first ever product review! It was really exciting to be contacted by a company and asked to review something, especially considering that something was a gorgeous canvas with a picture of my nephews. Be sure to check out my 5-star review, plus  find out how to get 35% off your purchase at CanvasPop before April 30th, AND enter to win a free 16x20 canvas of your own.

• As of Tuesday, I'm into single digit weeks for my Europe trip - 9 WEEKS, 9 WEEKS, 9 WEEKS (2 months as of yesterday, the 16th)! I can't believe how fast the time is going. I should be getting all my travel documents in the next 6 weeks or so, which I know will make it seem really real.
• We had beautiful spring weather this week. On Tuesday, my mum, sister-in-law, niece, and I went down by the bay. The last time we went, there was still a ton of snow and the bay was frozen (here's a picture of me from that day, with the snowbanks half as tall as I am and the frozen bay). We played at the park for a bit, had a picnic lunch, and walked around. We saw a mama swan sitting on her nest, which was pretty cool. I can't wait to see her out with the babies in another few weeks. 

~Fantastic Celebrities~

• I watched the MTV Movie Awards this week. I feel so out of the loop because I haven't seen a single one of those movies, even though there are a lot I want to see. I was super happy to see Robert Downey Jr. win the Generation Award. I've loved him since I was a teenager, and I get all giggly and fangirly whenever I see him. Plus his speech...brilliant. "Dream big, work hard, keep your nose clean, be of service, and yes, because you can, define your generation." Love him!
• Speaking of Robert Downey Jr., I loved seeing the Avengers at the awards with Robert, and then on Jimmy Kimmel. I missed it when it was on, but luckily The Mary Sue posted highlight videos. They look like they have so much fun together and really love each other. 
• I loved Pink's response to haters about her weight gain. What is wrong with people, seriously? She looks fantastic and healthy and happy. Does it really matter if she's gained a bit of weight? Similarly, I love how Amy Shumer (who I'd never heard of until the MTV Movie Awards, and who I thought did a meh job of hosting, but looked great) shut down some misogynistic asshat about her size and how she wouldn't be believable as a leading lady in a romantic comedy. Um, really? Because she's a size 6 (!) and I'm...well, a whole lot of sizes bigger than that, and I want to see curvy girls on the big screen. I want to see a man go wild over a beautiful girl with curves, because we rarely see that on TV or in movies. That's a big part of the reason the Bridget Jones movies are among my favourites - I want to believe a man as smart and charming and good-looking as Mark Darcy could fall in love with me - curves, insecurities, flaws, and all. 

That's what I found fantastic this week. What did you find fantastic? Feel free to link me to blog posts, articles, pictures, songs, videos, or whatever you thought was fantastic that you want to share!

   
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