Book Review: The Kingdom of Childhood

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin (UK) Ltd (4 May 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 1848450702
• ISBN-13: 978-1848450707

I suppose in the beginning it was a love story... The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman: sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother s extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organise a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realise is that their relationship is for Judy only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets.

Judy is a kindergarten teacher in her forties, watching her family unravel and feeling powerless to stop it. Zach is sixteen and struggling to come to terms with his mother’s affair. The miss-matched pair are thrown together whilst organising a fundraising for their failing private school. At first it is dangerous and intoxicating…Judy feeling alive once again, Zach getting his first tastes of pleasure. But their romance quickly takes a dark edge, an emotionally damaging and life-altering relationship that can only end in disaster.

The Kingdom of Childhood was exquisitely written, capturing the youth of Zach and desperation of Judy flawlessly. The author has a no-holds-barred approach to writing, letting the taboo topic fly free of its own accord.

Whilst it was brilliantly written, it is a book I somewhat regret reading, for the simple reason of how exhausted and disturbed it left me. It was very reminiscent of Lolita where an adult robs the youth of a child and feels no guilt whatsoever, only thinking what more they can gain.

I’m on the fence on how to rate this novel. Perhaps you will have to judge for yourself. 

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Book Release: Escaping Normal

I am so excited to say today is the day my book, Escaping Normal is released. It is available from Total-E-Boud Publishing here:

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1428 

Escaping Normal is a paranormal romance with a steamy side, so if you like the sound of that, read on...

Sammi is an intern for a TV talent show, hating life and desperate to escape the monotony, when her wake-up call finds her. A member of a band involved with the show, the dark and mysterious Blaine, shows an intense and sudden interest in Sammi. For the first time, she wonders if maybe she shouldn’t have been so eager for things to change.

With Blaine permanently fixed in her mind, she dreams of him—violent, bloody and intensely sexual dreams that only pull her towards him more. Sammi knows there is something uniquely different about Blaine—something she doesn’t know or understand…but something she wants.

Every second spent with Blaine is one spent with danger. But every second spent without him feels worse.

Sammi wanted to take a bite out of the big apple, but will she escape with her life before it bites back? More importantly...will she want to?

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Book Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire; Original edition (Nov 2011)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 1402260520
• ISBN-13: 978-1402260520

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

Natalie Stewart leads us through the story of Darker Still, a haunting romance with a dark edge. Natalie is different to other girls her age – she isn’t attending parties, dinners and events in the hopes of finding a suitable match. She has just returned home from boarding school at a convent where her abnormality was hidden from society. Natalie is a mute, and has been since witnessing her mother’s death at a very tender age.

But things are about to change for Natalie. When she overhears her father and his friends discussing a supposedly haunted painting of a rich and handsome British lord, Natalie is intrigued and gripped by the story…and knows she has to see the painting for herself.

Natalie was a charming character, and the story gothic and dark but with a loving romance to take the edge off. Darker Still had a mesmerising quality to it with a fascinating storyline. However, I found the fact that the book was written in diary format stilting and distracting. While their romance was tender and sweet, Denbury’s and Natalie’s journey to love felt false and rushed, like the reader was ‘told’ how they felt, rather than showing us and making it feel more lifelike.

Darker Still is a great read for YA romance fans who like a dark edge to their books. 

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