Review: Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190mph by Kimberly Montague

Kimberly Montague’s first novel, Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190mph is a romance centered around the racing world and focusing on central character Alexis’ love for Seth, whose father has been her and her brother’s guardian since her parents died. The novel focuses on not just the beginning of the relationship but what follows and covers an extended period of time in order to fully establish the characters and their connections These family relationships and their impact on Alexis and Seth’s romance are a focus of the novel, as is the scrutiny and judgment of others, and it is this broad range of interconnected themes which, for me, makes this novel more interesting than a conventional romance.

Alexis, who narrates the novel, is not perfect; she is at times selfish, manipulative and childish, and it is often these flaws which cause her many of the problems she has to overcome. It is these flaws though which make Alexis an interesting and appealing character and which got me involved in the plot of the novel. Montague’s writing engaged me in her character’s emotions, which are well described and believable, although the dialogue is at times less so. As with many first novels any flaws in the beginning are far overshadowed by the end of the novel, where Montague’s writing becomes natural, original and enjoyable.

Montague’s husband races and her familiarity with this world allows her to explain the interesting parts in just enough detail that it doesn’t bore those with little knowledge of or interest in racing like myself. This focus also adds interest to the novel as Alexis must reacquaint herself with the racing world, and those for whom it is a living, if her romance with Seth is to have any hope. Romance is not a genre I usually read but the engaging characters, interesting focus and broader focus on relationships outside of the main couple’s romance helped me to really enjoy Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190mph.

Stats
Title: Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190mph
Author: Kimberly Montague
Style: Romance
Price: $2.99
Date of publication: January 25, 2011
Length: 100,000 +
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle)

Thanks to Kimberly Montague for sending me this novel for review, I am always happy to accept works from authors for review. These reviews are conducted following the guidelines on the policy page.  

Review: Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale

Linda Ash's children's novel Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale is an innocent but intelligent tale. Written in the classic style of children’s writers such as C.S. Lewis the language is evocative of another age. Rose is a young girl who accidentally falls into another world, where her grandmother used to be queen and where she is quickly heralded as the new royalty. The novel span's Rose's three years in this world, while she awaits her grandmother's return and learns to be a leader, as well as a young woman.

The novel covers a large time span, achieved by skipping over periods in order to focus on important events. Through this, Ash has created a story which is quick paced but still clearly illustrates Rose's development from child to young woman. Even in later parts of the novel, when Rose is older, the tone remains suitable for a parent to read to a younger child or for an older child to read by themselves. Ash uses the difficulties Rose must overcome to present many moral messages, which are easily identified but rarely feel forced or didactic.

Ash's characters are appealing and realistic, even the mythological beings which, along with Rose's happily ever after ending, make this story 'a fairy tale'. Even the minor characters and protagonists are well defined and described, having morals of their own to present. The novel's plot, characters and themes make it one which I think most children would enjoy, but even as an adult I found the story of Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale to be exciting and engaging.

Stats
Title: Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale
Author: Linda Ash
Style: Fantasy/ Young Adult/ Children
Price: $2.99
Date of publication: January 10, 2011
Length: 110,000 +
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle)

Thanks to Linda Ash for sending me this novel for review, I am always happy to accept works from authors for review. These reviews are conducted following the guidelines on the policy page. 

Review: Hitching to Aurora By Jay Lake

Jay Lake's humorous short story Hitching to Aurora chronicles (very briefly) Ross Weil's attempts to leave the drug-dealing business and the perils and possible benefits of picking up midget hitch-hikers. Fast-paced and well-plotted, this story is short enough for a coffee break without feeling rushed or sparse.

Jay Lake is most well known for his science-fiction, fantasy and horror novels, many of which have been recognised with nominations and awards, and this short story ably blends sci-fi with humour and true-history elements. While Ross is the central focus, his red-neck pursuers and the aliens he encounters are all convincingly described through quick character sketches.

At under 5000 words for 99 cents you may think that you are better off buying a longer novel for the same price but this short story by an experienced author is, in my opinion, worth the cost and will allow you to consider whether Lake's fast-paced, graphic style is for you.    

Stats
Title: Hitching to Aurora
Author: Jay Lake
Style: Sci-Fi/ Humour
Price: $0.99
Date of publication: February 21, 2011
Length: < 5000
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle)

Review: Flyday by Laura E. Bradford

Throughout Laura E. Bradford’s novel Flyday, central character Thomas Huxley has to put up with a lot, including breakups, family dramas and assassination attempts, and has had to deal with a lot before it has even begun. Set in a future, seemingly utopian, society the adventure novel centres around concepts of time travel and explores ideas of relationships, patriotism, and responsibility as Huxley overcomes challenges in every area of his life, some of which he can’t even remember.

Bradford’s characters are engaging and appealing, and this is one of the many strengths of her novel. While the novel focusses on Huxley, his relationships with his fiance and her friends and family often have a great effect on him and these characters drive much of the plot. Huxley’s memory loss, due to an unknown event in his past, complicates things and Bradford develops his character through his discovery of past events and actions. Some of the characters’ actions are not well justified at the time they occur but any dissatisfaction I felt at this was generally resolved by the conclusion of the novel.

The plot mostly follows Huxley’s actions, even when he time-travels, although it occasionally focusses on a a minor character in order to give further development of the plot. As a result the plot is very complex and while at times I was aware of the deliberately confusing narrative structure I never felt confused myself. The second half of the novel, where Bradford begins to bring the many strands of her narrative together, is especially good and demonstrates her clear plan for and control of her plot. Through a complex plot and deliberate and thoughtful development of characters, Flyday explores important themes in a light and original way.

Stats
Title: Flyday
Author: Laura E. Bradford
Style: Sci-Fi/ Fantasy
Price: $0.99
Date of publication: January 12, 2011
Length: 25 000 +
Can be found at:
Smashwords (Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, Plain Text & Online)
Amazon (Kindle)