Archive for the ‘reviews’ Category

Zerah’s Chosen Gets Its First Review!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Soleil Noir from Beyond the Invisible was kind enough to review Zerah’s Chosen!

“And it is one hell of a tale that Miss Santiago tells with a surprising amount of passion for a YA novel.

I’m not talking about eroticism, I’m talking about characters who believe in their causes. I’m talking about two teenagers in the throes of adulthood caught up in duty,honor and the expectations of others, but unable to deny their attraction and growing fondness for one another. [...] And as a bonus, the supporting cast were a fun lot! That always makes me happy.”

http://soleilnoir.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/zerahs-chosen-by-isabelle-santiago-a-review/

Looking for Book Money?

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Angela Korra’ti is holding an awesome contest!

Anyone who reviews or rates either any Drollerie Press work, and sends her proof that they have done so, will be entered in a random drawing for a $20 gift certificate to the book vendor of your choice. In particular, if you select Drollerie, this’ll be twenty bucks you can spend on a whole bunch of tasty on-sale ebooks!

Here are the types of evidence of reviews/ratings she will accept:

  1. Links to review posts on your own journals or blogs
  2. Links to review posts on appropriate forums
  3. Links to review posts on Goodreads, LibraryThing, or other similar sites
  4. Links to reviews on Drollerie’s site, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, or any other vendor where Drollerie works are sold
  5. If you’re a customer on a site where you may only rate rather than review a book, get her a screenshot of whatever you had to do to rate the book. (Be sure to blur out any personal information on the screenshot before you send it, though.)

Note also that while good reviews are shiny, honest reviews are shinier, so please be sure to post your actual, legitimate thoughts on the works in question! The important thing is that you help spread the word about Drollerie’s books.

She will accept entries until Saturday, October the 10th. Please send your entries either in the form of email to annathepiper AT gmail DOT com with the subject line “Review Contest”!

Reviews Galore

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Surfacing has been reviewed!

It received 3 cups of coffee from Coffee Time Romance:

This is an interesting story of love lost and found again. [...] The author does a good job of describing a woman torn between her soulmate and the man she promised to marry.

It received 4.5 books from Long and Short Romance Reviews:

The characters were well developed, making it easy to put yourself in their shoes. I especially loved the haunted feel of Paige’s character prior to Xen showing back up in her life. The author did a wonderful job describing the heroine’s thoughts and feelings, the words forming pictures as clear as day.

Star-crossed lovers, raw emotion, and a love that transcends times and space… Surfacing is a story about the love of a lifetime. Don’t miss out on what could be one of the best stories of your life.

I’m also up for Book of the Week at Long and Short Reviews! (Soooooo exciting!) Vote for me:

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/recentrev.htm

And finally, I got a great reader review:

Ms Santiago tells a story that makes you want to slit your wrist, jump of joy, and hold on to the ones you love all at the same time. [...] This book picks at your emotions like a vulture picking at it’s scavenged prey.

I Promised Myself

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

When I neared the beginning of my ninth month, I told myself I would not be like those television women who were in and out of the hospital/doctors with false labor pains, never really knowing what’s going on. I’ve read enough books, I thought to myself, Interviewed enough mothers to have a good idea when this should be the real thing.

Yesterday, I had contractions that got as low as 6 minutes apart. I was sick and miserable all day long. I was achy and tired. I went in to see the doctors twice. The first time, they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to check things out. They told me to call if things got more intense. They did. So I called. When I came back in, I was majorly disappointed to find that although the contractions were getting more severe, they weren’t doing enough in the laboring department. I was only dilated a centimeter. *major bummer*

Either way, today I’m feeling suprisingly calm and put together. I also have an unusual amount of energy. I’m guessing this is a good sign. So I’m taking the day to clean up and be sure the house is ready for another red alert.

In the meantime, I’m glad to tell you all that Surfacing has it’s first review.

Surfacing has the feel of a psychological movie mystery, alternating between fish-eye lens close-ups and hazy, unfocused wide angle shots. The story also utilizes flashbacks in a unique way, similar to diary entries except that they are also bits and pieces of the heroine’s fictional memoir. [...] Ms. Santiago has created an interesting novella of love lost, love returned, and the pain involved in making choices of the heart.

To read the entire review, click here!

And because yesterday was basically a frenzy of activity I hardly remember, I’m making up for the fact that I did not even offer a free copy of Surfacing! How rude of me.

So let’s make it easy, shall we? Anyone who comments on the blog will be entered to win. :) Sound easy enough?

Fleeting Thoughts

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

You know, during the day while I’m at work, I think up these ridiculous, rather humorous blog posts. Random things, really. Mutterings about people being swipe-happy (I don’t know why this irks me so much, it’s not that big a deal). Jokes about some of the people I watch in the cafe. Deep, life-altering theories on life that I have during bake time. Just about anything and everything.

By the time I get home though, well most of the things are long gone from my mind. They sort of fade with the wind as soon as I push past the doors. I swear, I’m going to bring a journal with me and just write them down so that I can prove to you guys that I don’t just disappear. I really think about you all quite often. I just happen to crash most days when I get back in. And if I’m not crashed on the couch with a book (or snoring) I’m trying to catch up on NaNoWriMo (which of course, I’ve fallen  behind on).

Yesterday, however, was just one of those days when no matter how well intentioned I felt, fate had other plans for me. I think it was trying to tell me to slow down. I’ve been running ragged since Friday. My energy level has had to stay up all the time, which means, I’m bound to crash. And it’s a long, slow fall to the bottom. Yesterday morning began with me late to work. Ended up with a flat tire in the pouring rain. Had to wait for AAA to come change it. I’ve decided I want to learn to change tires. As a self-sufficient girl, it makes no sense to have to wait for someone else to do it for me. That training begins ASAP.

Then, at work, we had two new trainees. Now, I’ve been there a little over a month now. I know my way pretty well (though I still stumble like a doofus every once in a while). Still, nothing could prepare me for training. While explaining things I’ve just started to do second nature, I realized just how absolutely inept I really am. That was a fun realization *note the sarcasm* ;)

By the time I got home, I felt beat. I sat down to read New Moon by Stephenie Meyers.  Yes, I’m already on New Moon. Well, I was. I finished it last night. I’m off to get Eclipse today. (This series is ridiculously amazing. Just when I think it can’t get better, Ms. Meyers manages to up the ante. The first few chapters of New Moon had me literally clutching my chest in agony. I absolutely LOVE that. *shakes head* What a masochist.)

That’s another thing I realized. Man, I devour books. I go through them as though I were starving for the next word, unable to stop once I’ve started. It’s never soon enough. And once I’ve finished, I peruse back through to reread my favorite parts nearly right away. I’m starting to feel like Augustus Gloup. :D Remember him?! Ha ha. Greedy little bugger.

Ok, now I swear there was a point to this post. Oh yes! Cinematic Royalty has been reviewed again! :D YAY!!! *does happy dance* Coffee Time Romance has been kind enough to review it, and here’s a little something from what they had to say…

Ms. Isabelle Santiago has written a moving chronicle of an actress’s life and the hidden secrets that haunt those in public life. [...] This story had me crying for both characters and any romance reader would too. Great Ending!

:D If you want to read the whole thing, just go here: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Cinematicroyalty.html

Anyway, now that I’m done babbling like three days worth of stuff, let me go make my blog rounds real quick before I rush back off to work. Maybe I will take my journal today. :-P