I hoped to continue to bring you reviews for books written by self-published authors. Unfortunately, I have not been able to dedicate the time necessary for this endeavor and that is not fair to the authors who are looking for timely reviews. I would like to thank the authors who entrusted me with their work. I have written reviews for many wonderful books and I hope you will find time to check them out. I have the reviews archived for future reference. Comments are welcomed and encouraged on individual reviews in the archive.
First, let me say, this is a growing blog site and over time my review policy may have to change. I am currently only interested in ebooks by self-published authors in the following genres:
YA paranormal fiction
adult paranormal fiction
urban fantasy
Political satire (think Christopher Buckley)
Humorous fiction (think Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, A. Lee Martinez)
chick lit
romance
Let me caution those sending romance - I don't like books that make me sad or cry. It's just not my thing. I'm sure there are wonderful books out there with lovely messages which have sad endings but I feel there are enough things in the world for me to cry about, I don't need to add to them. I've seen things in my previous line of work that could break your heart in two and I'm ready to move past as much of that as possible. If it helps, I don't watch sad movies either. Does this make me shallow? I don't think so but who knows. Also, steamy, sexy romance is fine but I do not read rape scenes. All sex must be consensual. So, please do not send me a book that includes any form of rape (male or female) because I will not read any farther.
I will make every attempt to enjoy your book, but if after three days of honestly trying to get into it I find that it's simply not a book for me, I will not do a review. I will still try to advertise your book by placing it on my Not My Cup of Tea But It Could Be Yours page. There will only be the cover image and the published synopsis listed, no review or rating from me.
I will do my best to review books in the order I receive them, but depending on my mood and what genre I feel like reading at the time I sit down, I may not always do this. Please don't take it personally. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a romance rather than starting another YA paranormal book or vice versa.
As for my reviews, I will use a 1-5 star scale:
5 stars - I love it, I wish I wrote it, I'm jealous of your talent and I'm going to tell everyone I know about your book
4 stars - it was a great book, I'm going to tell everyone I know that they should pick up a copy and I hope you write more so I can read your next book
3 stars - it was good, I enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone who asked about it
1-2 stars - I won't post these reviews. If I did not enjoy the book or I couldn't finish it, I will send an email to the author and explain what it was I didn't like in as nice of a way as possible. I know my ego can take a beating if criticism of my work is too harsh and I don't feel the need to be overzealous in my critiques of your work, just honest and forthright.
1-2 stars - I won't post these reviews. If I did not enjoy the book or I couldn't finish it, I will send an email to the author and explain what it was I didn't like in as nice of a way as possible. I know my ego can take a beating if criticism of my work is too harsh and I don't feel the need to be overzealous in my critiques of your work, just honest and forthright.
Finally, we want people to see your review. To help with that, I would love to have you recommend this blog site to your friends and family and if possible, add a link to my home page from your blog. You can also like my main page on Facebook. I will post your review on the following sites in addition to mine if they are applicable to your ebook: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and goodreads.com.
Please email me requests that include the title of the book, the genre, a cover image and a synopsis.
**Please do NOT send me links to view a synopsis of your book on another site. (This is good advice when sending review requests to most reviewers.) This gives me the impression that you think your time is more valuable than mine. It really doesn't take any longer to cut and paste a synopsis than it does to put a link address in your email.**If I would like to review your book, I will get back to you within a week or so requesting a PDF or epub file. If I am not interested, I will also contact you to let you know that. My email address is: bonnielamer1@hotmail.com
My thanks to every author who wants to share their work with me. Reviews on this site are strictly my opinion and I do not receive any compensation for them other than a review copy from the author and enjoying a good book.
