Gain Your Copy To Stand Beside Her Devised By B. Kristin McMichael Available As Paper Copy

loved this book. It was a good storyline with a twist I did not see coming, I do have mixed emotions about the twist, but I don't think I would like the story as much without the twist, I wish the author would have elaborated on the male lead a little more, I wanted to know more about him, However I still managed to fall for him, I would definitely recommend this book! First off, since Goodreads won't allow/I upped this to a, Personally, I feel it was a,. That isn't horrible by any means, I just didn't feel it was a fullstar read,

I went into this book looking for something a bit different than the usual read, The author had stated that ending was not typical so I was itching for the difference, Unfortunately, getting to that point was a bit bumpy,

The author provided me a copy in exchange for an honest review, It started off interesting enough, but I just couldnt get fully into the story, The main character Leila, is a very wellknown mischief maker aka “expert courier”, As stated in the book she was “a ghost to many and a legend to everyone else, “ To me she comes across as many things but I wouldnt label her a ghost, There were parts in the book that just seemed to contradict her awareness, One example is when the king picked her up, out of her bed and took her to the boat where she continued to sleep, Honestly, I would have seen her do some serious ninja moves and give the king a few bruises before someone calmed her down, Now that would have been believable,

The story itself is laid out nicely, Plenty of description, but not in an overbearing way, Sometimes too much going on in the story, trying to figure out who was who but all in all everyone had their place, Described with beauty, she can easily fool someone who is not knowledgeable of her toughness,

As the story evolves, so does the relationship between Leila and Nalick, The story starts off as one of adventure but the true story is the bond that binds the two and just how much he loves her, Along with the evolution of the characters, I found myself changing my perspective of the story, There was a tenderness that I didnt expect to feel, And yes, I went from cynical reader to one who rooted for the relationship and hoping that the ending wasnt what was prophesied by the seer,

I recommend this to anyone who likes a good love story with a touch of toughness that round out the characters, I recommend this to anyone who has felt a loss but has come out stronger, This is a book that will tear at your heartstrings but in a way that doesnt leave you devastated, SEE ALL MY REVIEWS ON MY BLOG: sitelink blogspot. com  TWITTER: MamaBookasaurus  Facebook/Tumblr/MySpace/Pinterest: MAMA Bookasaurs
Technically,rounded to

It really saddens me I had to rate this a two, There were five very important reasons why I had to lower my rating, otherwise I found it to be enjoyable, The premise was interesting. If these concerns were fixed, I'd rate it a four or a five, Please note I am NOT bashing the book, but giving constructive criticism,

Reason Number One: The Grammar
There seems to be a shocking number of books these days that have been published looking like they snuck past the editor's desk.
Honestly, editors are not scary people, Really. All the red marks on the page are your friends, Spellcheck can only do so much, Unfortunately, I found a large number of mistakes such as wrong tenses, missing or wrong words as well as misspelled words that hindered my reading,

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Reason Number Two: The Mythology amp The Details
I could not figure out if this was based on a historical time period or modern day.
She talked about swords, dresses and riding horses, which made me thinkth toth century, Then McMichael said one of the kids was playing with a toy car, CAR Not once in the book did they ride in a car, Then Leila wore pants and a sweater, which made me thinkth orst century, There was no clarification of the time period and culture,

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Major events were glossed over, How could they not prep Leila for her role as Queen She had been a street rat, a thief, a commoner, What about the royal events No one prepped her on what to do, Her leg injury Barely a mention, It was a tiny blip on the radar, Meanwhile, large amounts meaningless details were given to unimportant things, Or details were repeated repeatedly. The plot didn't seem to have much direction until late in the book,

Reason Number Three: The Lack of Will
Nalick knows the future because of the reports from his priest, So why does he lay down like a dog and take it This was the poem that kept itself on repeat in my mind while reading:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.


Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.


Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light,

by: Dylan Thomas

There is a Divine plan, but there is also Free Will, If I knew my left leg wass going to get run over by a truck, I would not get up that morning and say, "Oh! Today's the day.
Whoo hoo! Let's go crush a leg, " I would duck tape myself to my bed and watch TV all day long, Maybe wrap myself up in bubble wrap, Who knows. The point is, I wouldn't just accept it, I don't think anyone would, The future is not written in stone,

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Reason Number Four: Lack of Personal Perspective
If only I could have gotten into Leila and Nalick's minds.
The connection was lacking and left me unengaged, I didn't understand why every King wanted her and made war over her, She was poor, a criminal, a smart mouth and not of noble birth, What was the draw If Leila was this independent, lone wolf fighter, hateroftheindoors who refuses to stay put for anyone, . . then why would she drop everything so easily I couldn't get inside her head to figure it out, It just didn't make sense, There was just no real character development to justify what happened in the book, A twist towards the end had me shaking my head, Ugh. Squirms in seat Kind of sick, really weird and felt completely wrong, Realistic No way. The POV changed a lot and at awkward times in the writing, That didn't help me understand the characters,

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Reason Number Five: Lack of Dialogue amp Time
If Nalick was trying to get her to fall in love with him, he had to give the relationship attention and time.
That didn't really happen. He supposedly had this big, drastic character development, If there was one, it seemed hurried and unrealistic, He knew everything from the priest, so then wouldn't his attitude have already changed There

wasn't a build up to back any sort of relationship, The turn around was too abrupt, Leila should have been raging with internal conflict, yet there is no conflict of feelings shown, He did lock up and hit her best friend after all,

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Yes, there were positives, The pace was fast and fairly consistent, the premise was sound and there was a strong, fierce heroine, Leila was incredibly intriguing. Her past with Eric was tantalizing but all we were given was a skimpy appetizer, Lukewarm and vague. Flashbacks to situations with him would have greatly added to the depth of the book, Conversations from the past could have added much needed richness,

The action scenes were fun to experience, Leila was brilliant. Seeing how she handled situations was outstanding, Leila had a sharp sense of wit, Her fighting skills were impressive and I loved how she took on teaching,

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I think if she gave this a through going over with an editor on these concerns, she could have a winner on her hands.

I just have to say before I begin my review that I cried, Yes, I did. I cried at the end of this book, It was bittersweet and I cried because I was sad and happy at the same time,

This book follows Leila and her strong independent ways, She's a courier, the best the country has, She takes assignments and delivers things or takes things making sure no one knows she was there, It's part of her adventurous spirit, the one that doesn't want to settle down, and never be still,

But when her friend, Kay, is captured, she strikes a bargain with king Nalick, A bargain that she has to come to terms with it, Having had her heart broken by love, the story unravels just as the walls she's built up around her, preventing herself from becoming hurt again, But Nalick is persistent and truly loves her, It warmed my heart to see that he wasn't just trying to get into her pants, but honestly wanted her to be happy, So happy that he was willing to forfeit everything for her,

And the twist that is Anatolio can't be forgotten, How could it be, he's such a big part of it all, The friendship that develops between Leila and him is sweet and warms my heart,

The ending of this book is like I said: bittersweet, I love that the author did that, It definitely made me cry, my heart is still heavy the next day, but I love it, I was prepared for the ending, but I didn't want to read about it, if that makes sense,

Reader: if you want to read a book that is adventurous and sweet, this is it, Oh my gosh!!!! I was blown away by this novel!! In all honesty, that was the best book I have read this year, The characters were very well developed and the plot was amazing! Hearing the love story of Leila and Nalick was beautiful, The ending was very bittersweet, I won't reveal what happens because everyone seriously needs to read this book! I normally don't write reviews but this one defiantly deserves one, I can normally guess the outcome of the book but tho one kept me guessing until the very end! The children were adorable and Leila matured into a smart, young woman.
Her wisdom and grace were far beyond heryears, B. Kristen McMichael, bravo! I absolutely, positively loved this book! I couldn't put it down! I read it indays! I love how you incorporated the title into the ending of the book.
It made me cry like I have never cried before! I felt the love that both Nalick and Leila had for each other, It was so powerful and deep that, . . just . wow. THE FEELS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC! It was clean and very appropriate which I loved!stars! No!! AHHHH!! Just wow!,