Storming by K.M. Weiland

Storming
A Dieselpunk Adventure
by K.M. Weiland

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Published: November 2015
Publisher: PenForASword
Genre: Action, Adventure, SciFi, Steampunk
Paperback: 454 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
Flying a biplane, especially one as rickety as a war-surplus Curtiss JN-4D, meant being ready for anything. But in Hitch's thirteen years of experience, this was the first time "anything" had meant bodies falling out of the night sky smack in front of his plane.

In the high-flying, heady world of 1920s aviation, brash pilot Robert “Hitch” Hitchcock’s life does a barrel roll when a young woman in an old-fashioned ball gown falls from the clouds smack in front of his biplane. As fearless as she is peculiar, Jael immediately proves she’s game for just about anything, including wing-walking in his struggling airshow. In return for her help, she demands a ride back home . . . to the sky. Hitch thinks she’s nuts—until he steers his plane into the midst of a bizarre storm and nearly crashes into a strange airship like none he’s ever run afoul of, an airship with the power to control the weather. Caught between a corrupt sheriff and dangerous new enemies from above, Hitch must take his last chance to gain forgiveness from his estranged family, deliver Jael safely home before she flies off with his freewheeling heart, and save his Nebraska hometown from storm-wielding sky pirates. Cocky, funny, and full of heart, Storming is a jaunty historical adventure / dieselpunk mash-up that combines rip-roaring steampunk adventure and small-town charm with the thrill of futuristic possibilities.

PeekAbook:



My two-bits:

Lots of aerial scenes both stunt and serious flying in a small town setting with its set of colorful characters.

I liked the character growth with the main character, Hitch. He was one of those unsuspecting and unexpected heroes with a bit of a transformation that was fun to see.

For this story, I was more interested in character development than the steampunk part (which was on the light side).

A few illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book.

About the author:

K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. She is the IPPY and NIEA Award-winning and internationally published author of the Amazon bestsellers Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel, as well as Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic, the western A Man Called Outlaw, the medieval epic Behold the Dawn, the portal fantasy Dreamlander, and the historical/dieselpunk adventure Storming. When she’s not making things up, she’s busy mentoring other authors on her award-winning blog. She makes her home in western Nebraska.

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* review copy courtesy of author

Stacking the Shelves - 12.19.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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For Review:

Storming
by K.M. Weiland
A Dieselpunk Adventure
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads -giveaway, expires Dec 21

Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix
by Erin Seidemann
-Memoir, Travel
courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2015 @booksparks #FRC2015 -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

Twelve Days in December
(A Hearthfire Romance)
by Michele Paige Holmes
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Historical, Romance
Amazon | Goodreads

A Midwinter Ball
(Timeless Regency Collection)
by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Michele Paige Holmes
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Historical, Romance, Short Stories
Amazon | Goodreads

That Girl, Darcy:
A Pride and Prejudice Story
by James Ramos
courtesy of eBooks for Review -get free ebooks to review (here) -Thanks!
-Jane Austen, Romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
From Library: audio

Wishin' and Hopin"
A Christmas Story
by Wally Lamb
-Holiday, Humor
Amazon | Goodreads | my rating: 5
Wally Lamb, the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone, delivers a holiday treat with Wishin’ and Hopin’—an unforgettable novella that captures the warmth and joy of the holiday season. Poignant and hilarious, in a vein similar to Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story and David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries, Lamb’s Christmas tale focuses on a feisty parochial school fifth grader named Felix Funicello—a distant cousin of the iconic Annette!

=====> A treat to listen to for the holiday season with scenes from the 60's and hilarious school Christmas show episode.

UNBOXING:

From Uppercase package (details & signup):
A hand-selected young adult book & fun bookish item, delivered monthly #UppercaseBox

NOVEMBER Box includes:
- Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
- Signed bookplate from Eric Lindstrom
- Wood Cherry Blossom Bookmark from Mitercraft
- 2016 YA Quotes Calendar (Uppercase exclusive)

Not If I See You First
by Eric Lindstrom
-Disability, Romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
The Rules:

Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened--both with Scott, and her dad--the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

Combining a fiercely engaging voice with true heart, debut author Eric Lindstrom's Not If I See You First illuminates those blind spots that we all have in life, whether visually impaired or not.

Won from contest:

Various Quirk-ish swag
from Quirk Books - Thanks!
=====> Especially love the tote bag - book themed ones are so cute AND come in so handy these days.

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Joined this...

Clean Slate Read-A-Thon
January 10-18, 2016
sponsored by Latte Nights Reviews, Novel Ink & Lost in Lit
Details & signup (here)
=====> Looking forward to catching up.

AND listened: online - podcast

Serial
Season 2, Dustwun
-nonfiction | website
In the middle of the night, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl grabs a notebook, snacks, water, some cash. Then he quietly slips off a remote U.S. Army outpost in eastern Afghanistan and into the dark, open desert. About 20 minutes later, it occurs to him: he’s in over his head.

=====> SO excited that this podcast has started up again. Episodes one and two are available to download.

AND watched: on DVD

Dark Places (2015)
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Screenplay by: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Based on book by: Gillian Flynn
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks
-Drama, Mystery, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 4
Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.

=====> Followed the book pretty well.

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Writers: Kay Cannon, Mickey Rapkin
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld
-Comedy, Music | imdb | my rating: 4.5
After a humiliating command performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.

=====> Just as entertaining as the first one with more glitz.

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