Year of the Dragon Sneak Peek Chapters available on Wattpad.com!

Read three sneak peeks into the upcoming Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters #3)!

Available on Wattpad.com here.

Meet the Yongs! At the end of Year of the Tiger (Changeling Sisters #2), Raina briefly meets her father, the head of a mysterious hi-tech organization. Now in Year of the Dragon, Raina meets the half-siblings she never knew she had with the support of Citlalli:

Chapter 7: The Pearl: Meet Yong Heesu, Raina's younger half-sister, the cheerful Summer Dragon!

Chapter 10: Yong Enterprises: Meet Raina's father, Yong Mun Mu, the fire-breathing Guardian of the East Sea, and Yong Sun Bin, his temperamental eldest daughter, the vicious Winter Dragon.

Chapter 27: The Energy Dragon: Meet Yong Ankor, Raina's older half-brother and Sun Bin's fraternal twin, the studious and sarcastic Autumn Dragon (Upcoming)

Year of the Dragon will be published in March 19, 2016 on Amazon.com.

December 2015 Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses 

By Sarah J. Maas 

~Book Review~

*Warning! Major Spoilers!!!*

SENSUOUS, DARK, AND TUMULTUOUS…this is a sexy retelling of Beauty and the Beast featuring the brutality and seductiveness of the mysterious Fae. I greatly enjoyed the second half of A Court of Thorns and Roses the most.

Feyre (neat name) kills a wolf in the forest while hunting for her starving family. This wolf is actually a Fae. Tamlin, a Fae Lord who can turn into a lion-like beast, arrives at her doorstep and demands she pay for the death of his friend: either she is to come with him to live forever in his Fae court, or he will kill her.

Decisions, decisions.

Feyre arrives in the Fae Court. Now, she is rather brash and tends to do the opposite of every warning she receives about surviving in the dangerous Fae world, but hey, at least she encounters plenty of cool, creative Fae creatures lurking in the woods. The sexual tension grows between her and Tamlin, especially after a very provocative Fae mating ritual.

*Wiggles eyebrows*

However, Maas throws in a second mysterious and handsome Fae during the ceremony, who saves Feyre from some lust-driven Fae. Rhys is a Fae from the Court of Night, which is currently overtaken by a power-hungry Fae Queen. This Fae Queen is slowly overtaking the entire realm, and Feyre discovers that it is her destiny to stop her.

Why Tamlin would ever forgive Feyre for killing his good friend at the beginning bothered me throughout the entire first part of the book. However, the second part of the book moves much faster, and I enjoyed the trials she goes through to win Tamlin’s freedom. There were some dark turns there, particularly when Feyre was told to kill three innocent Fae to save Tamlin’s life, and I didn’t think Maas would go there. It begged a great question—did those three innocent Fae deserve to die just so Tamlin and Feyre could be together for the sake of “true love”?

Rhys was awesome and definitely captured my interest. *Ahem, move over, Tamlin*. I felt like the story just got started in the second half. I loved the twist on Feyre’s sister and how their sibling relationship developed. Maas’s ability to capture a dark, brooding mood hanging over the Fae realm was sensational. Overall, I’m sure we’ve just received a glimpse of the immersive and seductive Fae world Maas created, and I can’t wait for Book 2: A Court of Mist and Fury! Read this while you’re waiting for Karen Marie Moning to come out with the next installment in the Faefever series.

Recommended for fans of: Karen Marie Moning, Richelle Mead, and Jenna Black

Upcoming Book Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Noteable and Addictive Netflix Original TV Series

EVERY WRITER NEEDS THEIR OWN TV SERIES to get inspiration from and to relax to...or just to become hopelessly addicted. I'm still pretty new to Netflix, but I quickly learned that their original series are highly worth checking out. Here are my favorite binge-worthy Netflix Original TV series that I finished in less than a week (...and some of them in days...) Great for procrastinating on your novel!

My Top Netflix Original TV Series Picks


1. Peaky Blinders

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Sam Neil, Helen McCrory

One-line plot: Think Boardwalk Empire set in Birmingham, England--except charismatic gang leader played by Cillian Murphy is pretty damn fine (sorry, Steve Buscemi).

Why it is binge-worthy:

From the opening notes of the historical drama's theme song, "Red Right Hand," performed by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds to the sweeping shots of the dreary, gaslit city where everyone gets away with everything, Peaky Blinders is engrossing and full of enough  backstabbing to make a Lannister clap in approval. Cillian Murphy plays the charming, enigmatic Thomas who is haunted nightly by the horrors he endured in the trenches fighting for the Crown during World War I. During the day, he runs the small Irish gang known as "the Peaky Blinders." However, Thomas upsets the balance of power when a crate of weapons falls in his lap, which he calculatingly uses to expand the gang's territory to the Races and to London itself. Meanwhile, you remember Alan from Jurassic Park? Well, actor Sam Neil resurfaces here, except there is nothing warm and fuzzy about him as the Crown's agent who ruthlessly hunts down anyone connected with the Peaky Blinders. On the brink of Irish Revolution, the IRA has plans for Thomas, as well. Character development, tension, and double-crossing are on fire in this highly compelling series, although from the amount of whiskey they consume, I'm most concerned for the Peaky Blinders' livers.


2. House of Cards

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michel Gill

One-line plot: To Donald Trump: Kevin Spacey already ran for president

Why it is binge-worthy:

Francis "Frank" J. Underwood played by Kevin Spacey has a deceptively warm and kindly Southern drawl that makes his increasingly treacherous run for the presidency even more shocking. The viewer doesn't want to believe just how cutthroat the House Majority Whip is. However, a few episodes in, and Frank's plots have already swallowed the lives of the unbalanced Representative Peter Russo and the inquisitive, budding journalist Zoe Barnes as he reveals the depths of depravity he will sink to in order to get his revenge on the man who cut him out of his chance at Secretary of State: none other than the President himself. Meanwhile, his equally ambitious wife, "humanist" activist Claire Underwood, upholds her calm exterior while ruthlessly pursuing her own agenda in the world of politics. It is horrifyingly riveting to watch the pair acsend to power, leaving behind the strewn bodies of pawns and opponents alike without any regard except for themselves. This show is a fantastic political thriller and raises the stakes each season.


3. Narcos

Starring: Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal

One-line plot: The 80s stache: a valid place to hide your cocaine?

Why it is binge-worthy:

Set in the beautiful jungles of Columbia in the 1980s, Narcos is the dramatization of the life of cocaine drug dealer Pablo Escobar, who rose to rule the Medellín Cartel and even ran for president. The show gives equal screen time to the charming and merciless drug lord's rise to power, the Columbian government's dilemma of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the personal vendetta of one American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent who lost his partner to a shoot-out with one of Escobar's thugs in Miami. The tension is incredible, but you learn early on not to get attached to any of the Columbian officials who try to take a stand against Escobar. Miami agent Steve Murphy has an interesting relationship with his new secretive partner, Javier Peña, as they quickly spiral downwards to use any means necessary to gain ground against Escobar's cartel. Meanwhile, the dynamics of Escobar's family life and threats from rivals evoke the myth of Icarus and how high one man can fly before he will inevitably burn. No one is painted as altruistic or saintly; everyone has their personal motivations and gets down and dirty to get what they want, which only makes the show more addictive. Using real-life footage of Escobar's political campaigns was a nice touch. There's only one season so far, but it already inspired me to research this turbulent time in Columbia's history!


4. Marvel's Jessica Jones
 
Starring: Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, Eka Darville

One-line plot: Never has mind control been so scary.

Why it is binge-worthy:

You remember actress from The B In Apartment 23? Now picture Krysten Ritter as an action hero with super strength and "flying with style" type abilities. Yes. It is awesome. Jessica Jones' personality is a snarky "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which is tempered by her best friend, Trish Walker. The villain is ultra-terrifying: a remorseless sociopath named Kilgrave who takes control of people's minds and orders them to do whatever he wants. He develops an obsession with private eye Jessica Jones, and the show goes dark. Some movies and TV series have featured "mind-controlling" superpowers before, but Marvel's Jessica Jones does not shy away from showing how terrifying that would actually be. The mood is a malignant cityscape where you never feel safe. Although slow-moving in places, overall, Jessica Jones focuses on character development. However, when action sequences happen, it is hard to tear your eyes away.


5. Marvel's Daredevil

Starring: Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll

One-line plot: Fighting crime by night never gets old

Why it is binge-worthy:

Charlie Cox plays Matt Murdock, who fights crime by day as a moralistic lawyer and hunts down those who evade the law by night using his enhanced senses. Matt is the son of a famous boxer. He idolizes his father, but then has an accident as a young boy that leaves him blind. However, there is more to his father's past than he knows, and Matt is taken under the wing of a secretive society where he is taught how to develop his senses and kick some major butt. The flashbacks are well-integrated into Matt's present day adult like in Hell's Kitchen, which is currently under siege by the compelling businessman Fisk. Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of Fisk makes him an excellent first season villian: he has fists and knows how to use them, but he also had an intriguing romantic storyline with an art gallery owner who grows to support his bid for power. Matt also is surrounded by a gang of interesting characters who have begun to demonstrate a flair for supernatural abilities, which hints at new twists and original contributions to the superhero genre in the seasons to come.



What have been your favorite Netflix original series? Let me know below!

November 2015 Book Review: City of Bones

City of Bones

By Cassandra Clare 

~Book Review~

*Warning! Major Spoilers!*

THIS BOOK IS A CHORE. The writing is clunky, and the characters are flawless and can do no wrong.

In City of Bones, Clary and her friend Simon sneak into a New York night club and notice some suspicious tattooed kids drag someone into a back room. Clary goes to help, and discovers that the baddies are actually the good guys—Shadow Hunters, who have in fact taken a demon prisoner. She is particularly drawn to the tall, blond-haired, and sarcastic Jace because he is hawt.

Since Clary can see the demons, she discovers her destiny as a Shadow Hunter to face the villainous Valentine and learns about a whole magical world with werewolves, vampires, and demons in NYC.

If you are going to read any of the books in this series, then this one is probably the most entertaining. I tried to read the other books and couldn’t. There was so much telling instead of showing. The villains grow even more predictable, if that is possible, and the angst slowly killed me as the world shrank to revolve entirely around Clary and Jace’s lustfest.

In City of Bones, there is still an aura of mystery, and the introduction to the Shadow Hunter world is fun. Of course, the power-hungry villain Valentine is nothing original. Clary is a generic placeholder for any female in America who has super-special abilities. However, she is topped by Jace, who is worshipped by every organism dead or alive because he is ultra-powerful and cool.

I’ve heard the stories that the character of Jace was inspired by Draco Malfoy from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Now, I like that Clare recognized, “Hey, what would happen if I were to make a little sh**head like Malfoy into the main love interest?” It’s an interesting question. Malfoy was so riveting in Harry Potter because he was so wrapped up in his family’s pretentious snobbery. His moments of redemption were few and far between. We liked him because Rowling never tried to excuse his actions. He was a brat and there were moments throughout Harry Potter when he paid for it.

Clare always makes excuses for Jace. He’s an a**hole but he is always forgiven by everyone because of his amazing-ness. Clary falls for him instantly because he is so undeniably irresistible.

I found him very, very resistible because all of this is told to us but never shown. A huge part of the letdown of these books is the writing style. It is clunky with irrelevant details that create passages unimportant to the plot or chapters that are just plain boring. Simon is a nerdy cliché. Alex had the potential to be an interesting quiet and thoughtful type, but his romance with the 800-year-old warlock Magnus Bane felt creepy and very lust-driven. Isabelle was the most interesting character to me, yet she was often reduced to being the jealous female opposing Clary for the guys’ attention.

In summary, I did try and continue The Mortal Instruments series to see if it improved, but I couldn’t get into the other books. The feeling that this series was a pale imitation of Harry Potter and Star Wars just wouldn’t go away.

Recommended for fans of: Stephanie Meyer, Christopher Paolini, and Lauren Kate

Upcoming Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas