Book Review: Dragon's Curse by HL Burke

I received this book free of charge in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own and I never commit to a positive review prior to reading.

Dragon's Curse on Amazon.com

I thoroughly enjoyed Dragon's Curse (The Dragon and the Scholar vol. I)  by H.L. Burke. I kind of accidentally stumbled upon this book when I was searching for other bloggers with similar interests. As I've said before, finding a good, talented, upcoming author is a bit like mining. You get a lot of dirt and junk, but occasionally you find a real gem. H.L. Burke is one of these rare gems, and I would give Dragon's Curse a solid 3.5/5 rating. (Not that this book is bad, I just have extremely high standards to give a 4 or 5).

If you enjoy fantasy novels and tales about magic, dragons, and a bit of romance, this is a good book for you.  The main protagonist, Shannon, is an adorable and stubborn scholar whose first assignment out of the academy (which is basically college) is to treat a neighboring king's poisoned dragon wounds. Although slightly nervous, Shannon is confident in her ability as a healer and is determined to prove her worth to her mentor at the Academy, a man named Martin. Shannon quickly discovers that all is not well in the kingdom of Regone and finds herself allied with a dragon to overcome some unexpected challenges, including an over-zealous would be suitor and an evil witch.

I personally enjoyed the strong fantasy plot of this novel.  While not exactly a brand new story, Dragon's Curse is told in a fun and inventive way.  I liked that Shannon is strong willed and mostly unafraid from the very beginning. Her intelligence and natural curiosity are her main strengths and not merely personality quirks.  I found the dialogue to be overall fairly good, although some of the conversations between characters felt almost too tongue-in-cheek or trite at times and I was unsure if what I was reading was supposed to be serious or not.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes epic fantasy and dragons.  It is also a good book for fans of romance novels, although romance is not the main theme of the book.  I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Dragon's Debt, and the third book, which is set for release later this year.

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Happy July 4th!

Happy Independence Day to my American readers! It's a busy day for my family, so here is a quick post with some links to FREE 4th of July and Patriotic themed crochet projects! Enjoy.

1. This patriotic bunting would be adorable draping the side of a little red wagon as you pull your little ones in a 4th of July parade or take them to a festival. It could also probably be made in a larger size and used as porch or patio decoration for a barbecue or party.

Patriotic Bunting

2. If the beach is more your style for the holiday, check out this cool 4th of July Beach Bag by Lily Sugar N' Cream. It would be just perfect to carry some sunscreen, towels, and maybe a cover-up for evening while you watch fireworks over the ocean or lake.

Beach Bag

3. These Stars and Stripes Cushions are just the right size to take along to a summer get-together. Add a little cushion to your lawn chairs or benches while showing off your patriotic spirit.  

Stars and Stripes Cushions

4. Use this patriotic granny square by April Moreland to create any number of 4th of July themed household decorations. Make a lot of them and join together to make a throw or blanket, or make them individually as trivets or dishclothes.

Patriot's Pride

5. Even though July is usually too hot for blankets, this Colors of America Throw by Redheart would be nice to keep the chill off while watching fireworks or sitting out on your patio late into the evening.  Make it during those long winter days so you don't overheat working on it during the summer.

Colors of America Throw

6. Last but not least, showcase Old Glory with this American Flag Afghan. Just big enough to cover your lap, this throw would be a beautiful decoration for your home.

American Flag Afghan

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Free Summer Fonts

Now that July is here, summer is in full swing.  July is a great month for outdoor entertaining and your parties and picnics can have some extra sparkle with customized printed menus, placecards, and decorations.  If you're having a big buffet style party, it's nice to print out some labels so your guests know what each dish is and if there are any ingredients they may want to avoid.  There are thousands of great free fonts out there so you can match your print-outs to whatever theme you want instead of just using plain old, boring Times New Roman.  I personally like to browse FontSpace to find new decorative fonts, but there are other good font websites too.  All you need to do to use these free fonts is download the .zip file, scan it for viruses (just in case!), and then open and install it.  They'll be ready to go after installation and are compatible with most common word processing programs. Most of the fonts available are licensed for personal use only, but if you want to sell your work you may be able to contact the artist directly and pay a fee for a commercial use license.

Here are some of my favorite free summer fonts:
1. Reed of Love

2. Sweet Nature
3. Summer Sunshine
4. Beach Type











And here is a sample menu printed with the BeachType font:

Book Review: Flabbergasted

Ray Blackston's Flabbergasted can best be described as enjoyable word vomit. The manic pixie cliche of contemporary romance meets the standard "character discovers faith in some near death experience" of Christian fiction. in this verbose novel. It takes a while to get used to the author's prosaic writing style, but the overall writing is not bad at all. The characters are likeable enough, and the setting is described fairly well. I like the simple, non preachy message about faith and coming to know God in a real and personal way. This book was first published in 2003 so some references feel slightly dated, but I would still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys lighthearted Christian romance novels. This ebook is currently free  on Amazon so you have nothing to lose except a few hours of reading time so go ahead and check it out! 

Flabbergasted

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Free Crochet Patterns: Beautiful Birds

The theme of today's free crochet patterns is beautiful birds! These are more advanced graphs because they contain many intricate details, but with enough patience and focus they should be doable for anyone with a knowledge of basic crochet skills.  As always, I created these patterns on www.stitchboard.com using designs I created with free openware fonts on www.fontspace.com. And again, as always, please only use these patterns for your own personal use. 

Peacock Motif

This first pattern is a gorgeous Asian inspired peacock motif.  It can be kept simple by working in one solid color on another solid color background, or you can personalize it more by making the feathers in an array of colors.  

Toucan Motif

This next pattern is a beautiful toucan bird in a jungle background.  As with the above peacock motif you can keep it simple by working the pattern in a single color, or make it pop by using different colors for each of the different elements of the motif.  

Eagle Banner

This eagle banner is only 100 stitches wide by 60 stitches tall so it is meant to be incorporated as part of a larger project.  It would look great in a patriotic themed afghan or perhaps as a very long decorative pillow.  

I hope you enjoy using these beautiful bird motifs.  If you are interested in a complete tutorial on how I make these gorgeous crochet graphs, check back in a few days for a walk-through on how to use the stitchboard.com free pattern wizard.  If you have any requests or suggestions for future patterns, feel free to let me know in the comments! 

Book Review: Michal (The Wives of King David #1)

I have been reading a lot of biblical fiction lately and have come to the conclusion that biblical exegesis is an under-utilized form of fiction.  I enjoy how the talented authors of this genre use historical and theological research to sort of "fill in the gaps" of well known biblical stories.  It takes a large amount of imagination to writing convincing dialogue and descriptions for a biblical setting, and Jill Eileen Smith does it well.  

I found the novel Michal to be original and well written, and although it was descriptive it was lacking a little bit in details. I also found the jumps in the timeline to be slightly confusing. It could have been improved by focusing on fewer periods of time. I enjoyed the resolution of the plot and the focus on what the characters learned through their ordeals, but it did tend towards becoming "preachy" and I disagreed with the emphasis being placed solely on Michal's sins while glossing over David's.

All in all this was a good read and I look forward to reading more from Jill Eileen Smith.

Michal (Wives of King David Book #1)

Pink and Blue Wedding Redone

I won't name any names, but last a month the daughter of a fairly high-profile "reality tv" family got married.  I'm  a huge advocate of weddings being about the bride and groom and what THEY like and want, but her wedding was a complete and utter hot mess. It looked like Pinterest went to the county fair, ate too much cotton candy, and then vomited everywhere.  The bride chose hot pink and malibu blue as her colors, which isn't too horrible when you consider she is 19 years old and should have a theme that reflects youth and fun and free-spirits.  However, this wedding could have been much classier and looked a lot better if it had been toned down just a wee bit.

Eyelander Photography Island Wedding

To start with, pink and blue aren't inherently clashing.  If you choose the right tones of each they can be very gorgeous and fun.  For early spring, pastels work beautifully together along with white or cream accents.  For hotter weather, navy and hot pink are absolutely rocking! Even hot pink and a bright blue like Malibu blue can work well together if you keep the number of design elements to a minimum and use a clean, bright white to accentuate the details.

Tiffany Blue w/ Pink Accents

Dog-Gone Darling Pink and Blue by The Wedding Chicks

The worst thing about this wedding in particular was how muddled and messy the colors looked.  Each of the bridesmaids wore a different style of "modest" satin gown in either blue or pink, making it look like a bunch of teenage girls decided to recreate the 80's.  I personally think it would have looked better if all the bridesmaids had been wearing blue dresses and carrying pink bouquets instead of alternating blue/pink and carrying mixed bouquets.  At the very least, if the dresses had been simplified and not enormous and poofy it would have looked much more elegant.  For example, this wedding pictured to the right has a kind of fun and shabby-chic atmosphere thanks to the varied shades of simple pink and blue bridesmaids dresses.  Still not my favorite look ever, but it looks clean and refined and not messy or immature.  I like how the bouquets are mostly pink and white with just a touch of blue thrown in, and all the colors complement each other.

If you're thinking about a pink and blue wedding check out my Pinterest Board for more classy inspiration and ideas.  

Navy and Pink Bridesmaids