Feb 26, 2024
Write a review for someone else’s book. Now write a review for one of yours.
Disclaimer: I had the pleasure of meeting Corey McCullough at a local book signing event last summer. I bought the book then, but procrastinating reading it until a month ago. The title of the book is what caught my eye. It fits the setting, the area I grew up in, well. I’ve been putting off writing a review for it, so when this prompt came up, it was the perfect opportunity for me to lose some guilt.
Rust on the Allegheny is not my normal genre of book to read. Generational stories often feel disjointed. This book doesn’t.
It didn’t take long for me to get into the story. McCullough found the right starting point, which can be hard to do. I won’t claim that I got sucked into the story and couldn’t put it down, but each time I picked it up again, it was easy to get settled back into the storyline.
The characters and settings felt like coming home—again. Having grown up in the area where the book is set, and having recently returned, I admit to spending time figuring out which local landmarks McCullough was referring to. When I couldn’t place one, it didn’t bother me, because I left the area when I was in my late teens, and I was never part of the local social scene.
It wasn’t just the local landscape that made me enjoy this book. The characters were realistically portrayed, and could have easily been my neighbors if I had stayed in the area. Shoot, now that I am back, they could be the folks down the street or someone I’ve chatted with at a local event. Also, I identified with the struggles of returning to an area that you thought that you’d outgrown.
I’m going to rate this book 5 stars. *****
Now write a review for one of mine.
This may be harder, being honest about something I worked hard on.
I chose Wolves’ Gambit to review, because I recently re-read it in preparation for writing a new book in the Free Wolves series.
This story isn’t your typical wolf shifter story. The protagonist, Lori Grenville, isn’t a brave, tall, dark and handsome alpha wolf-shifter rescuing his fated mate from an immanent life-threatening attack. Instead, she is small, female, and depends on her brains, not her non-existent brawn. There is romance in the book, but it’s muted and not the main theme.
It’s fun to see how Lori manipulates both her friends and enemies to accomplish her goals, and sometimes hard to tell the difference between them. It’s also interesting to follow Lori’s thoughts as she grapples with her own conscience and methods. I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog, and watching her succeed made my day.
If you are a fan of action, friendship and betrayal, and cheering for the underdog, Wolves’ Gambit is the book for you.
Naturally, I rate it 5 stars. *****
What books will the other authors on this hop review? I’m looking forward to finding some new books to add to my to-be-read list. Check out their posts by following the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
Feb 26, 2024
Write a review for someone else’s book. Now write a review for one of yours.
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
Great reviews, P.J. Some blog-hoppers found it difficult to write a review for their own book, and so I was glad to see that somebody else had done so other than myself!
Yes, it was hard to write my own and try to be un-biased.
A pair of good reviews. I don’t want to review my own work, I can’t really see past the flaws that I know exist.
Thanks, Richard. It was hard to write my own review, but I remember how much I loved the characters as I wrote them and was able to use them as the basis for it.
I needed a chuckle today and your line – Naturally, I rate it 5 stars. ***** was perfect.
Glad I could make you smile. 🙂