Monday, July 11, 2011

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass
Hourglass is an extremely difficult book for me to review because I don't want to give anything away. So many things in the book are not as they first appear to be and it is the revealing of their true nature that allows the book to make such an impact. Myra McEntire has fantastic timing - knowing just when to reveal things and when they need to stay hidden a bit longer.

The main character, Emerson, is a bit hard to like because she is so strong-willed and emotional. She pushes people to their limits at times but you can also tell that she can be fiercely loyal once she trusts you. Michael is harder to get to know at first as he is clearly hiding things from Emerson. He is mysterious but likeable and their interactions and pull toward each other seem very genuine. As other characters were introduced, I was afraid some of the relationships were going to get complicated and include the overdone love triangle but so far things seem to be working out in other ways.

Hourglass is mainly a fast paced book with one slow section in the middle where Emerson must be introduced to several other people and brought up to speed on certain events. This is a bit of an info dump in a way but the book quickly moves back into the action.

Overall, the story is strong, the writing is enjoyable, and the characters grow on you. I will definitely be looking for the next book in this series to see what happens next.

I received Hourglass from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for providing my honest review.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.

Friday, July 1, 2011

OTL: Mega #Swagbucks Friday


Search & Win


The first Friday of each month, I post about Swagbucks.  That is because every Friday means Mega Swagbucks for searching (but I don't want to overwhelm people with reminders every Friday)!  Haven't tried Swagbucks yet?  It is super easy - simply use the Swagbucks search engine to do your normal Internet searching and sometimes you will be rewarded with Swagbucks which can then be redeemed for some great prizes. My theory is that if I'm going to be searching the Internet anyway, I may as well get rewarded for doing it.

My favorite prize is the Amazon.com gift card.  I earned almost $200 in Amazon.com gift cards through Swagbucks last year which is how we paid for Christmas gifts.  There are also tons of other gift cards available or you can redeem for various merchandise as well.

On Fridays, Swagbucks gives out more Mega Swagbucks (anything over 10) than usual which means you can earn your desired prizes even faster.  The most I've gotten from one search so far is 59 Swagbucks.  I'd love to hear if one of my readers finds a high value one today or any other day!

Swagbucks has added a lot of options for getting bucks on a daily basis even without searching.  There are Special Offers, Daily Polls, Surveys, Tasks, Swagbucks TV, and games to play.

With all of these great ways to earn Swagbucks and get gift cards or other items that you really want, what are you waiting for?!  Sign up and start searching :-)

Swagbucks links contained within this post are referral links and I will earn some Swagbucks if you sign up using those links.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Bookstore links are generally affiliate links and I do earn a small amount for each purchase. Other affiliate links will be noted in the post.