Being With Him by Jessica Inclan - review

I got this book at Tote Bags and Blogs from a very generous author - Jessica Inclan. If you haven't been to this blog I urge you to go there; it is a very interesting and fun blog.

Here is a little bit about the book:

Mila Adams has always known she was different. It’s not just that she’s a Mission District bohemian artist in rarefied San Francisco society. No, it’s that for as long as she can remember, she has had the ability to shift time, and who would believe that? Certainly not the obnoxious blind dates her mother keeps foisting off on her. Mila can’t help feeling there’s someone out there for her, a soul mate who might understand her unique ability. And when she looks into the dark eyes of financial whiz Garrick McClellan, time feels as if it has opened up on its own—and this time, Mila has nothing to do with it.

Any man would lust after a beauty like Mila, but the moment Garrick touches her—feels her shifting time just as he can—he recognizes her as his partner in power. Their connection is immediate, passionate, raw, and beyond anything either has ever experienced. But who are they? What is this gift that joins them so intensely? Are there others like them? And why do they feel that time is running out?

This book is a first in a trilogy. I didn't do a lot of research on the Internet about it, I liked the sound of it (and the cover is pretty great). I thought it's another fantasy or paranormal story. Was I wrong :) It is actually SCI FI book. I was very surprised how things turned out in the end.

But to start from the beginning. I liked two main characters Mila (which is pretty common name in Croatia, btw) and Garrick. They sounded very believable and real. Their instant connection bothered me a little, but these things often do bother me in any book - I just don't believe in instant attraction :( sorry. Halfway through the book things started to become very interesting and intense. Who are Mila and Garrick, why do they have all those special powers etc? I got hooked. I love Sci-Fi books, movies ... name it. So I read the other half of the book in one evening or should I say night. At first there aren't many side characters beside nosy mother and aunt but later on we meet many interesting people who will be explored more in other two books.

The time travel always intrigued me, and I really enjoyed how Ms Inclane explored and explained it.

All in all I love this book, I love the style of writing - it was very smooth. I like how story involved and became more and more believable. I like the connection between.... ah, I can't say between whom because then I would ruin all the suspense :)

And I liked the cover, although I think that cover and back cover blurb should have given some kind of indication that this book is Sci-Fi not paranormal, so that people who are buying the book wouldn't be mislead.

If you want to find out more about the author and other books in this trilogy (INTIMATE BEINGS and THE BEAUTIFUL BEING) I suggest you visit author's page.

Waka Waka

This is something to brighten your whole day :)



Isn't he perfect!?

Have a great day!!!

The Winner

Thank you all for reading my reviews :)
And the randomly chosen winner of my contest is........

Blodeuedd

Congrats!!!

You have 5 days to contact me or I will have to choose another winner.


I hope all of you are having a great week.

The Gladiator - review and the last chance for entering the contest

So I had a few rough weeks at work and at college. I was at the international fair (in another country) for five days and when I came back I had two exams to take. I passed one and I don't know the results for the second one - I wrote it yesterday.  I had really good time during the fair. We had business dinners with interesting people, I met few younger colleagues with whom I had a great time, and we even had a field trip by train! We rode in an open wagon (very slowly of course :)) and saw magnificent nature all around us. We had great lunch in the country and all in all had great time. Here are a few pictures.

This was our wagon - we even had live music :)

The old town we saw from a distance

We passed through some tunnels (they were dark:))

We saw some magnificent waterfalls

Ate by the water

And took a few pictures. I forgot to mention I had no hat and since the train moves at about 8 mph it was a windy ride so I put my shawl around my head to protect my ears :) 

But, this was the first time I had a chance to look at my blog. And I have one more review to write and then the contest is closed. So lets get to work.

The book is The Gladiator by Carla Capshaw (btw, this book is the prise in my contest). Here's a little bit about it from Ms Capshaw's website.

Set in ancient Rome, Caros Viriathos is an ex-gladiator who has everything except inner peace. When he buys Christian slave girl, Pelonia, on a whim, he never expects her or her faith to turn his life upside down and win his heart.

I heard about this book a few months ago and it had good reviews so I decided to buy it. I don't normally read too many books with religious thematic but in August I read the two of them - The Gladiator and Madman (you can find my review of Madman here) and I enjoyed both of them.

The Gladiator tells a story about early days of Christianity when it was forbidden to believe in Christ. I love the main character - the ex-gladiator Caros Viriathos. He was a real alpha hero. He wasn't all charm and beauty but a real man with real problems. He bought Pelonia who is in fact a noblewoman that was sold by her uncle into slavery. Caros threats her well and they become friends. Soon he finds out that she's no common woman and that she's a Christian - a fact that could cost them their lives if discovered. Caros is also very troubled by his past. He was a gladiator from very young age and he had to kill many Christians in arena to survive (hose days Christians were used as pawns in Gladiator games). He's afraid that Pelonia will hate him when she finds out about it. Pelonia is another strong character in this story; she's smart, witty and doesn't take her newfound situation permanent. She's certain that she will find a way out of it.

I won't go any dipper into the story since I don't wish to spoil the book for you. But don't think this is some book that preaches Christianity - it doesn't. The story is about love, faith and character. It questions what would one do for his believes and loved ones; how far would he go; and how strong your character is. It is truly inspirational historical book. I recommend reading it.

I really like Ms Capshaw's website, so if you want to find out more about her and her books please visit it (if for no reason than to see how beautiful it is).

And since I love this book so much I will give one commenter the brand new copy of The Gladiator. All you have to do is leave a comment here. For extra entries, just comment on my previous reviews here and here. Every comment you leave gets you an extra entry. The contest is open until Monday evening (09/20/2010), and I will announce the winner on Tuesday. So stay tuned. It will be the winner's responsibility to get in touch with me. Contest is open to all who can receive a book from The Book Depository.

This sums up my vacation read :)