Reviews of Semper Audacia, The Christmas Village, and Once Upon a December Nightmare

I've had my Kindle for two weeks now, and I love it even more than I thought I would. I'm totally sold on it. And, just like I'd hoped, the Kindle has allowed me to catch up on the works of some of the great writers I've met here in the blogosphere.

When I first wrote about the Kindle, I planned to start writing reviews of the books I read. But I've since discovered that I really stink at writing reviews. :D When I enjoy something, I find I don't have much to say beyond the fact that it was great and I really enjoyed it. Not exactly scintillating.

So I don't think I'll be writing regular reviews on the blog after all, but I still wanted to post about the first three stories I read on my Kindle, and give a big round of applause to the authors.

My reading list for the last few weeks included Semper Audacia by M.Pax, The Christmas Village by Melissa Goodwin, and Once Upon a December Nightmare by Cherie Reich.

 Semper Audacia is described as a "space opera," and I have to admit that I'd never read a space opera before, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. This story turned out to be an excellent introduction to the genre, and I loved being transported to an entirely different world while I was reading. Semper is a dark and haunting tale, and I was completely taken in by the protagonist Leda and her heroic "last stand" to save her world. When I finished the story, I hated to say goodbye to Leda, as she was such a strong and memorable character.

 It's hard to imagine a better story for this time of year than The Christmas Village. If you have fond memories of an old-fashioned Christmas, or just love the traditions of the holiday, this is a must read. I was totally enchanted by the village of Canterbury and, like the main character Jamie, I wished I could visit there myself. The story also provides a good reminder to be careful what you wish for, and I can imagine that young readers would really identify with Jamie as he learns some valuable lessons about life. The story is full of holiday magic, and is sure to leave its readers smiling.

 Once Upon a December Nightmare is a spooky, suspenseful story involving four young people lost in the woods on a frigid December night. In spite of the novel's short length, the characters were all very well developed, and I felt for each of them as they struggled to deal with their situation. I read the book in one sitting and did not want to put it down, which is always a sure sign of a great story. As the title suggests, this tale is indeed a nightmare, and quite scary, but it also offers touches of humor by playing with horror movie cliches. It's a fun and atmospheric mystery, with a killer ending.



Kudos to all Mary, Melissa, and Cherie for these great reads! I'm looking forward to reading more from all of them, and highly recommend their work.

It's been fun to finish my first round of Kindle stories, and I'm now moving on to Watching Willow Watts by Talli Roland. This is one I've wanted to read for a while, as I had such a good time participating in Talli's launch party back in September.

I look forward to reading many more books by fellow bloggers in the months ahead, as for me there's no better time to curl up and read than cold winter evenings. I'm so glad again to have this opportunity to discover so many great writers I may never have found otherwise. :)