Sage’s Book Review IV, The Highlander Series by: Karen Marie Moning

Sage’s Book Review IV, The Highlander Series by: Karen Marie Moning.

Romance, intrigue and sexual indulgence entwine for a delicious tale that highlights the fact that love conquers all, including the ever-powerful and meddlesome Fae of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. 

On April 24, 2012, Karen Marie Moning released a new edition of the novella In to a Dream (with bounce material), featuring a 21^st century woman who is obsessed with a magnificent man.  The only problem with her love affair is that he has only appeared to her in her wild and passionate dreams.  Jane Sillee assumes that he was simply a figment of her imagination.  As a writer, Jane attempts to write him out of her mind until the tapestry that features him arrives at her doorstep and transports her to the 15^th century Highlands of Scotland.  Jane was greeted with a bitter and remote version of her beloved (the star of her dreams), Aedan MacKinnon – named Vengeance – who had no remembrance of her whatsoever.

In to a Dream (with bounce material) also incorporates over one hundred pages of bounce material, including a deleted scene from Kiss of the Highlander, a proposal for a never published romance novel, an alternate opening version of The Dark Highlander, and a sneak peek at artwork from the upcoming graphic novel, Fever Moon.  This is a total must-read!

For the past couple of months, my subconscious mind has been living in the Highlands of Scotland during my journey through that tales that Moning spins. Her heroes are all tormented souls with haunting past and powerfully spectacular warriors -absolutely stunning sculptures of men and all 100% alpha male.  The heroines are not only attractive, but also strong, intelligent and passionate women with an unforgettable past in their own right.  Together with their Highlander by their side, they conquer the issues that are keeping them apart.  The Highlander Series – an eight book collection –is a chronicle full of myth and magic, time travel, a whole lot of sexual tension and steamy whoopee that serves to make the reader want more and more.  The tales are all intertwined, and many of my much loved characters returned throughout the series, magnifying that each character has their own story.

Sage's Book Review III: N. J. Walters, Christina's Tapestry

N. J. Walters, Christina’s Tapestry book review III by: Sage Spelling.

Magic, myths, romance, and hot steamy whoopee with two alluring warriors…now that’s my kind of read!

Christina Beaumont, in Christina’s Tapestry by N. J. Walters was having a predominantly bad day when she noticed a beautiful woolen tapestry of two striking warriors in a store window that she could not bear to be without. She spends her entire life savings to attain the tapestry but doesn’t know that it will change her life forever. The tapestry is magical and transports her to Javara, a world that resembles medieval times. When she arrives in Javara she meets warrior brothers of the House of Garen, Jarek and Marc who seek to claim her and teach her the legend of the magical tapestry.

In Javara women are scarce and Jarek and Marc must compete to make Christina their wife. She is faced with making a decision, but must decide her fate in only three days time. In order to make her decision, she must first make love to both brothers, together and separately as they both indulge her body to earth shattering pleasures. Boy oh boy is it sizzling hot love making! When the magical tapestry returns, Christina has the choice of choosing a husband or returning home to her life.

N.J Walters creates a world filled with desire and sexual indulgence as she draws the reader into the mystical world of Javara. Christina’s Tapestry is the first in the Tapestry series by N. J. Walters. There are five other scorching Tapestry books in the series, all of which will be on my to-be- read list!

Sage's Book Review II: The Harry Potter Series, by: J.K Rowling

My Love Affair with the Harry Potter Series by: J.K Rowling, From the Beginning
by: Sage Spelling.


The Harry Potter (HP) seven book series by J.K Rowling is my addiction! I have been obsessed with the series since 2002 when my children’s literature professor added Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to the class syllabus. I remember thinking, you have to be kidding but after I read the first three chapters - I was completely hooked!

The tale stole my heart instantly by explaining Harry Potter’s heart breaking tale of his cruel upbringing by his muggle (non-magical) aunt and uncle (Vernon and Petunia Dursley).
As I read I thought the Dursleys need their behinds kicked for the horrible way they treated poor Harry but my prayers were answered when a half giant (Hagrid) broke down the Dursley's door. Hagrid told Harry that he was a wizard and he was to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn how to use magic!

My love affair with the Harry Potter series is based on the infatuation with the magical world that J.K Rowling created. There were many elements of good vs. evil, humor, sadness, friendship and most of all of love. This was just the beginning of my love affair with the Harry Potter world, there were six other books, three of which I waited in line for at midnight with my many fellow Potter junkies!

I whipped through books 1-4 within the same month that I got my hands on the first one; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4). It was like I couldn’t get enough. Each book seemed to get better and better. I would rush home, not answering my phone as I kept my nose buried inside my precious world.

The world that J.K Rowling built astonished me, owls as the postal service, magic wands that you must be fitted for, expensive flying broomsticks with cool names like Firebolt. A game played on broomsticks with flying balls called Quidditch, chocolate frogs that run way before being eaten and every flavor jelly beans with flavors like ear wax and vomit! Ghost walking the castles, a school curriculum including Charms and Transfiguration where the professor can turn into a tabby cat!

While reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6), I was livid as I witnessed Harry's loss of two men that were like father figures to him due to the violence of Voldemort. The story was unfolding before me but it still left me filled me questions and I hoped that the next book will answer them all.

My questions were, indeed, answered in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) when I returned home at 1:00 AM after waiting in line at my local bookstore. I stayed up reading all night until the following morning, and must have cried a dozen times as I read the many deaths and sadness that jumped off the pages from the very first chapter. When I  finally reached the chapter entitled Nineteen Years Later, all my questions were answered but I still felt cheated somehow, as though there should have been more. After I read the book once more, I realized I would never be satisfied; the world JK Rowling built was one that I could never get enough of.
The Harry Potter Series is one of the most enchanting stories that I have ever read, it took me through a rollercoaster of emotions but I wouldn’t have had it any other way!
I was ecstatic to learn that JK Rowling is working on a book for adults; there is no news of when this book will be on the shelves but I look forward to reading the new adventure that she creates for me! If you’re interested in visiting the Harry Potter world, the complete set is now available in Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Nobles Nook formats.  

Sage's Book Review I: A Year to Remember, By Shelly Bell

Have you ever read a book and related to the Hero or Heroine’s issues? Have you read a story and thought…hey, that’s me! I totally get it! That’s how I felt when I read A Year to Remember, By Shelly Bell.

Food addict, overweight, single, dateless, and without any decent martial prospects; Sara Friedman is a bridesmaid at her younger brother’s wedding that takes place on her 29^th birthday. Her brother’s wedding combined with turning 29, has forced her to re-evaluate why she is still single.

Has she set quality standards that couldn’t possibly be met by a Jewish man? Should she reconsider the qualities she required in her mate and listen to her family, who didn’t understand the reasons why she ended the only few relationships she had?

As her insecurities plagued at her, Sara was forced to make a impromptu speech, but her drunken state has her announcing to 300 wedding guest that she was jealous of her brother for finding his soul mate and promised that she too will be married in exactly one year, by her 30^th birthday. Ouch!

When you didn’t think anything good can come from a night like the one Sara had endured, her drunken condition leads her in a dark room where a mystery man steals a kiss. The playful but passionate kiss ignites her in a way she had never felt before, leaving her confused and yearning for more. After her tempter cooled from the mystery man’s kiss, she contemplated why he stayed anonymous? Was he embarrassed of her? The thought left her feeling alone and she confessed that she truly wanted to find her soul mate.

Now you’re probably thinking it can’t get any worse right? Wrong!

The reality of her intoxicated speech hits Sara hard when she learns her speech somehow landed on You Tube and a national morning show offers to follow her during her quest to find and marry her soul mate in one year’s time. With the help of her best friend Missy, she accepts the challenge and begins her search. Sara’s search leads her to a cross road, is she to follow her heart or fulfill her promise to marry by her 30^th birthday?

Situations like a food addiction, feeling overweight, being single or dateless without any decent martial prospects in clear view are issues ordinary women and men endure. Shelly Bell’s heroine Sara explores these emotions as she finds herself and faces her internal demons. Characters like Sara are inspirational and their learning experiences can sometimes help a reader through their own demons. For me, A Year to Remember gave me hope that my soul mate may just be under my very own nose!

I can’t say anymore, I want you to read the book but I will give you one small hint: Sara finds out who kissed her in the dark room and she was not in the least bit disappointed!  Neither was I!

Check out Shelly Bell’s website for information on purchasing the book at:  http://shellybellbooks.com/

Introduction Blog

Welcome to Sage Spelling’s Bookshelf and thank you for stopping in!

 I would like to introduce myself, my name is Sage Spelling and I’m a Romance Writer from Michigan. I love movies, but let’s face it; lately I haven’t seen one worth the hype it claims to be. I have never really liked TV, other than a few TV shows based on books like Once upon a Time and Games of Throne, I rarely turn on the TV.

 I spend most of  my free time reading and  my love for books has driven me to a new love; writing and making my vivid imagination in my outlandish mind come alive.

 My personal goal is to become a published and esteemed author as I strive to create stories that fascinate readers and captivate them into unforeseen worlds. In their journal of reading the world I create, I would like the reader to uncover their hidden passion and desires and to discover that undying love, concurs all. Yes, I’m a Happily Ever After kind of girl. I would love to take my readers where they have never been before, as other author’s have done for me.

 This is a blog page for book reviews from my own personal library. I plan to showcase a novel or series, short story or a novella that catches my eye every month and in my review, you will learn about the hero and heroine, my feeling towards their characters and the stories plot.

All the stories showcased on Sage Spelling’s Bookshelf will be Romance based but will share other types of genre. As a compulsive reader, I tend to read Paranormal, Erotica, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, and Woman’s Fiction and yes, even Young Adult.  

 I would love your suggestions on books you would like me to review and showcase on my blog. The first book from my library I will be A Year to Remember by Shelly Bell, stay tuned for my review on March 10, 2012.