Category: Reviews-Meryl Moss Media

Title: The Book of Lost Fragrances
Author: M.J Rose
Publisher: Atria Books
Pub Date: March 2012
Pages: 416

Source: I received a copy of the book for my honest and sincere review from the publisher.

About the Book
Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances–and of her mother’s suicide–she moved to America.

Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with its financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing–leaving a dead body in his wake–Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L’Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation – or is it just another dream-infused perfume?

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

I was super excited when I got asked to take part in this book tour because this sounded like a story that would be right up my alley and honestly a story about fragrances I am there. Something you might not know about me is that I love fragrances and admit since having a child I don’t buy that kind of stuff anymore but when I see little samples or I get samples I am in heaven. This ranks up there with my love of books.

I have to admit that I haven’t read any of M.J Rose’s other books but have heard some amazing things about then and eventually I will get to read her other books.

Did you know that certain scents can evoke memories? I have to agree because I have experienced this numerous times. My aunt use to wear this one kind of fragrances and occasionally I sometimes get a whiff of the scent and know that she is near. Although its been awhile since that has happened.

I really enjoyed the story and there were several times I was sitting on the edge of my seat because of the suspense. When I started to read this I made it a point that I would read it slowly to take it all in and several times I had to stop myself from reading too quickly.

M.J did and excellent job with her writing in this book. You can see she did her research on art, fragrances and on reincarnation. It was a fantastic read and this is usually not my kind of book (because its historical fiction) but I loved it and I think its because there was also some romance, mystery and suspense. Whats not to love about a book like this?

When I was doing my research I discovered that this is suppose to be a part of a series (The Reincarnationist is the title of the previous book) but I didn’t know that when I was reading it because it felt like a stand alone although I could see at times that it felt like I was missing something. Granted it didn’t make that much of a difference but if  you like to read books in order then you might want to read that one before this.

Each of the chapters are told in a different point of view and it goes from one time period to another, and locations. This might sound  complicated but its not because I found the story ran smoothly and added so much to the story line. Each chapter is clearly marked.

After reading this book you will never look at perfume the same way again. You can see that there is alot of work that goes into making perfume. I loved reading how when you make perfume that their are certain ingredients that is used to create feelings and stir emotions. Should you wonder about any terms M.J has take care of that, in the back of the book is a glossary.

I think if you are looking for something different to read or want something different to read then I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.

Title: The Iron Knight (book 4 The Iron Fey Series)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Pub Date: October 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 368

Source: I received an advance reader’s copy from Meryl Moss Media for my participation into the promotion of this.

About the book:
My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn’ darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.
 
Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl—smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.
 
With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end—a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan’s side.
 
To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I have to send out a huge thank you to Meryl Moss Media for contacting me and asking me if I wanted to be a part of the promotion for The Iron Knight.

I was thrilled to have been asked because I actually had the previous books in The Iron Fey series sitting on my shelves waiting to be read but I wanted to wait until all the books came out so that I could devour them one right after the other.

Once again Julie takes us into the vivid world she has created for the Iron Fey series filled with such great description. I think this would make an excellent tv series or perhaps a movie.

I loved the series and I loved how this book included sitting on the edge of your seat excitement that left you with the feeling of not turning the page fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. That is one thing I loved about the book along with the fact that it touched on friendship, adventure and a little romance.

If you read the previous books in the series you would know they are told in Meghan’s point of view but The Iron Knight is told in Ash’s point of view and I loved this because in the previous books we never really got to find out more about Ash so this was perfect knowing what he really like. I would have to say that Ash is my new favorite character.

This book picks up where the Iron Queen left off.

One of the things I always was left wondering was what really went on between Puck and Ash to cause so much rivalry between them and finally getting the answers it all made sense. So it was nice to see them both on this journey together because you got the insight to what turned this once friendship into a rivalry.

Will this journey that Puck and Ash are on restore that once friendship they had or is it just going to continue as a rivalry?

Will Ash make it back to Meghan?

Before reading this book I wasn’t big on mythology and lore but I found myself to be really enjoying it and whenever a creature would be mentioned i found myself to be googling it and reading up on it so no only was this book good but it was also educational.

 About The Author:
Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, when she was nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks is at an all- time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyperactive Papillon.

Be sure to check out http://juliekagawa.com/.

Other books in The Iron Fey series are:

• The Iron King
• Winter’s Passage (e-novella)
• The Iron Daughter
• The Iron Queen
• Summer’s Crossing (e-novella)