Paul's TOP FIVE Books Read in 2018

2018 was full of reading for me, but oddly enough I didn't read many non-graphic books. I read 75 of my 47 books for my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge, but only a handful of them qualified for this list. After 2 years of not succeeding I overshot my goal! Therefore, I'm setting my 2019 Challenge at 50 books. I'm hoping to get back to reading more novels so I'm not going to set my challenge too high. Since I read so many comics and graphic novels this year, I've made a separate post featuring my favorite reads: TOP COMICS OF 2018. There were a lot of great YA books released in 2018 and I'm hoping to get to some of them this year that I missed.  Below you will find the TOP FIVE books that I read in 2018. Click on the titles or cover pictures for links to my reviews!  

 MY TOP 5 BOOKS OF 2018

5.These Rebel Waves

4. The Belles

3.What If It's Us

2.Sightwitch

1.Black Wings Beating

What were your favorite books of 2018? What books are you looking forward to in 2019?

--PAUL

BLOG TOUR: A Hole in the Ice by McCallum J. Morgan - Playlist + TOP 5 + GIVEAWAY!

Happy Thursday! Today, we're really excited to be participating in the blog tour for McCallum J. Morgan's debut novel, A Hole in the Ice! We've got McCallum's playlist for the book, as well as his top five steampunk novels, and there's even a giveaway full of chances to win awesome swag, books, and a handmade Kindle cover. So make sure to enter for your chance to win via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post!

But before we get to all of that, how about a little information about A Hole in the Ice and its fabulous author?

About the Book

 Title: A Hole in the Ice
Author: McCallum J. Morgan
Publication Date: September 20, 2014
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing

Synopsis: Parsifal is a young man with an incredible secret – only, he isn’t quite sure what that secret is. All he does know is that it is something to do with a mysterious object that looks like a compass, but behaves like something from a different Realm.

As he sets off on a rich and decadent adventure across Europe with his eccentric, explorer uncle, Parsifal comes to learn one more thing about the mysterious object – there are people prepared to kill him to get their hands on it.

Accompanying on their epic quest for a mythical city inhabited by mermaids, is the bewitching Lady Vasille, unlike any woman, Parsifal has ever come across. Eloquent, beautiful and pistol toting, the Lady Vasille casts a spell over Parsifal that is both enchanting and destructive.

The question is, who can you really trust when the real world starts to slide into a fairytale?

A high epic Edwardian fantasy adventure, including Mermaids and other supernatural and fantasy creatures

Purchase Links: Little Bird Publishing | Amazon | Amazon UK 

About the Author

As a child, McCallum always wanted to write a book. He scribbled in notebooks, drew pictures, and lived largely in a world of make-believe. Into this fertile field a seed was planted. Notebooks began to fill and they didn’t stop. It was a soaring waltz with words among the silvery clouds and he loved it. He was thirteen. 

McCallum discovered the Institute of Children’s Literature and enrolled in their writing course, Writing for Children and Teenagers. For their second, advanced, course, he rewrote those bursting notebooks. Now McCallum is eighteen and working on the sequel, and enjoying every minute of it knowing that finally, it’s real. It’s not just a pile of notebooks anymore, it’s ‘A Hole in the Ice.’ 

McCallum still draws and occasionally attacks an unfortunate piece of fabric with a sewing machine. He may be spotted around his home town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, sporting his collection of bizarre clothing items, singing ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in French, or at the bakery near his home, drinking a caramel macchiato. His day job is log home finishing. He lives with his parents in a house perched on the hillside twenty miles south of the Canadian border and takes his tea with milk and sugar in a cup and saucer.

McCallum's A Hole in the Ice Playlist!

The first song is On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Strauss Jr. Parsifal mentions the song several times and he dances to it with Lady Vasille in Budapest. I love Strauss’s music, my favorite is actually The Emperor Waltz. I imagined a slower waltz, however, and Danube has some fairly rambunctious sections so I was looking for a slower version. I found a gorgeous 2001 recording by Robert Van Horne that fit the bill perfectly. I found it on Amazon (Album title Moonlight Piano) but it’s not on Spotify. Fortunately, Katie from Little Bird found this very similar version (thanks Katie!). 

The second song, Postcards from Far Away by Coldplay, sounds almost like something you’d hear in a Jane Austen film, which is how I imagined the society and some of the clothing in “A Hole in the Ice.” This song could describe the sleepy, sunlit Greisley. It could also be the sweet side of Lady Vasille.

Ruled by Secrecy by Muse. The title says it all. Each character has a secret, each’s actions is ruled by that secret and the importance of keeping it secret. Plus I love Muse. Worship might be a better verb.

Made for You by OneRepublic. Probably my favorite song by OneRepublic. I listened to this when I was writing. It also has associations with Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare because I bought the album and book around the same time and listened and read simultaneously, but that has nothing to do with its inclusion here. An added note: doesn’t the beat sound just a bit like a train chugging along? This can be the train travel theme song. 

The Scientist by Coldplay. I LOVE THIS SONG. And I listened to it while writing. :)

Now for the mermaids twinkling tune…drumroll. I have two options here. First I’ll steal one from the 1985 movie LEGEND. This cover version of the Tangerine Dream score by Brandon K. Verrett is piano (kisses thrown into the air) so we can imagine it’s sort of tinkly. Thus: The Dance. This is a magical, seductive song and so could also be Lady Vasille’s zeppelin waltz theme.

Option Two for the mermaids is Muse! The Gallery is creepy and that definitely fits the mermaids (okay, so The Dance is creepy, too). It sounds kind of tinkly!

Now, what I really want is for a movie to be made of “A Hole in the Ice” with score by Danny Elfman. He would write the most gorgeous mermaid theme. I love Danny Elfman’s music and I found this beautiful symphony he wrote called Serenada Schizophrana. I listened to it while I went through final edits for the book. It fits exceedingly well and was great mood music. Especially the sixth song, Bells and Whistles, I played that one every time I went through an action sequence. Along with number five, I Forget. This album is not available on amazon (You can get the physical CD there, which is what I did, but no download) and it’s not on Spotify and I don’t think iTunes has it either. So here’s a YouTube link so you can check it out, it’s gorgeous.

McCallum's TOP FIVE Steampunk Books!

1. The Matt Cruse Trilogy: Airborn, Skybreaker, and Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel. The setting are characters are so vivid. I just love these books. The story grabbed me and had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Lots of airships, too.

2. The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is one of the best story tellers I have ever read. This book is excellently written and gripping.

3. The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. The wild settings and super colorful characters are delicious. Nix’s characters are always brought to life vividly.

4. Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve. Bizarre settings, great (and extremely interesting) characters are the highlight of this imaginative book. It has the best first line I have ever read: “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”

5. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I ordered it for market research and was excited by the cool cover. The first line was a big disappointment, killing demons indeed. Not my cup of tea (apparently I did not know what the book was about :( ). But it turned out alright. Beautiful Victorian setting. The characters are really really great. It got a bit too raunchy for me, especially in the later books, but it’s a great read.

I hope my definition of Steampunk isn’t too loose. I think all of these books are listed under Steampunk on Goodreads…Airborn and Clockwork Angel are maybe more “traditional” Steampunk. The Golden Compass is full of alternate worlds and strange technology and Lyra’s world definitely seems older. The movie certainly makes it look Steampunk. Mortal Engines is a futuristic Steampunk and The Keys to the Kingdom books are just plain weird, but I think with all the old fashioned stuff it fits the bill. Steampunk is, after all, a variable genre. 

A big THANK YOU to Ashley and Paul for featuring me, Merci Beaucoup!

-----McCallum J. Morgan

The Giveaway!

So many awesome prizes here! Don't miss the opportunity to win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to McCallum for taking the time to stop by, and thanks to you for supporting him! Also, be sure to come back in a couple of days for some more exciting A Hole in the Ice content!

--Ashley & Paul

BLOG TOUR: The Blasted Lands by James A. Moore - TOP FIVE

Hi everyone! James A. Moore, author of The Blasted Lands (out last month from Angry Robot) stopped by today to talk about his Top Five First Contacts as part of the blog tour for The Blasted Lands! Both of us really enjoyed the first book in this series, Seven Forges and are looking forward to reading this sequel. You can find Paul's review of Seven Forges here, and be sure to look for Ashley's reviews of both books coming soon!

Before we get to James' Top Five though, here's a little bit of information about The Blasted Lands and James!

About the Book

Title: The Blasted Lands (Seven Forges #2)

Author: James A. Moore

Publication Date: June 24, 2014 (US/CAN)

                              3 July 2014 (UK)

Genre: Fantasy

Cover Art: Alejandro Colucci

Synopsis: The Empire of Fellein is in mourning. The Emperor is dead, and the armies of the empire have grown soft. Merros Dulver, their newly-appointed – and somewhat reluctant – commander, has been tasked with preparing them to fight the most savage enemy the world has yet seen.

Meanwhile, a perpetual storm ravages the Blasted Lands, and a new threat is about to arise – the Broken are coming, and with them only Death.

Buy the book!

UK Print & Ebook
Amazon.co.uk | Book Depository | Waterstones | WHSmith

North American Print & Ebook
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | BarnesandNoble.com | IndieBound.org

Global DRM-Free Epub & Mobi Ebook
Robot Trading Company

About the Author

James A Moore is the author of over twenty novels, including the critically acclaimed Fireworks, Under The Overtree, Blood Red, Deeper, the Serenity Falls trilogy (featuring his recurring anti-hero, Jonathan Crowley) and his most recent novels Blind Shadows as well as Seven Forges and the forthcoming sequel The Blasted Lands.

He has twice been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and spent three years as an officer in the Horror Writers Association, first as Secretary and later as Vice President.

The author cut his teeth in the industry writing for Marvel Comics and authoring over twenty role-playing supplements for White Wolf Games, including Berlin by Night, Land of 1,000,000 Dreams and The Get of Fenris tribe. He also penned the White Wolf novels Vampire: House of Secrets and Werewolf: Hellstorm.

Moore’s first short story collection, Slices, sold out before ever seeing print.

He currently lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Meet him on his blog.

Article ‘A Nuclear Winter in a Fantasy Realm’ at a Fantastical Librarian

WWW | Twitter

Top Five First Contact Stories

by: James A. Moore

I love a good question that I’ve never run across before and this one qualifies. 

What are my top five favorite First Contact stories? Heh, heh, heh. 

Have you noticed that most first contact tales don’t end well? It’s true. If they did, the story would get boring very fast. Think about that for a moment and you’ll understand why few of mine have a happy ending—and I need to clarify here that those words do not mean they have a sad ending, either. Just different. Of course there’s more to it, isn’t there? The tales are often meant to be thought provoking, whether or not the authors were aware of it. I believe a lot of writers, most fiction writers, really, absorb what is going on in the world and then unconsciously allow it to filter into their stories. The world we live in impacts us in a thousand small ways on a daily basis. How could it not have an influence on the stories we tell?

The best example I can give off the top of my head in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS by Jack Finney. His tale was written and set in his modern day setting, which at that particular point was the height of the Cold War tensions. The rumors of spies among us were prevalent in stories and in the news and the threat of nuclear holocaust was real and very prevalent in everyone’s minds. But as Stephen King pointed out in his pop culture exploration DANSE MACABRE, one of the largest reasons that Finney’s novel was a resounding success was because it fed on a paranoia that was already there. The enemy wasn’t someone in a uniform with a weapon. The enemy could be anyone walking down the street, from your closest neighbor, to a member of your family, to the grocer who ran your local deli. Paranoia personified. What a delicious, chilling concept. 

Several of my choices will likely qualify more accurately as “Invasion” tales. They are first contact, but again, they don’t always end in a happy place. 

Currently at the top of my list is the ten part television series called ALIEN ENCOUNTERS, which is an interesting blend of hypothetical situation and current state-of-the-art discussion. The concept is simple: a ten part series that shows exactly one potential first contact scenario and how we might react to it. The twist is that the one scenario is very carefully designed to not look like an attack and to, rather, leave the potential for a friendly first contact wide open. 

I say currently, by the way, because I am notorious for changing my mind. 

The series isn’t even finished yet and we already have genetic mutations, super-computers changing the way we can function in the universe and the possibility of solving all of the world’s problems. It’s an interesting twist. 

More interesting to the science geek in me is that a lot of the guest speakers on the show are scientists working in advanced theory and working with new technologies that, by God, seem to border on the impossible. It’s nice to get an overview of how much the scientific community is changing and a chance to guess at what lies ahead for us. 

For the second choice of first contact movies, I’ll have to go with ALIEN, the movie by Ridley Scott. It’s a twisted little affair, isn’t it? It’s also a perfect example of merging horror and science fiction. Somewhere in the vast darkness of outer space a ship hauling ore to a mining colony is intercepted and sent to answer a distress call. The call, rather than coming from another mining ship or a commercial freighter, comes from a ship abandoned a long time ago and neither the original inhabitants or the things left behind are human. 

And what they encounter is not interested in being friendly. Taboos are shattered all over the place with that movie. You have what amounts to a rape scene, but instead of dealing with the standard sequence for the first time in my experience (and possibly the first time in a Hollywood movie) you deal with not only the symbolic act of rape but the impregnation and delivery of a nightmare given birth by a male of the species. Add in the gorgeous cinematography and the directorial skills of Ridley Scott and you have a masterpiece of a movie.

One that I think I have to include simply because it was a phenomenal piece is CHILDHOOD’S END by Arthur C. Clarke. It may not actually be first contact, but it is definitely a defining moment in the history of mankind. Several movies have taken advantage of the design of the ships, the scale of the ships and the way the gigantic vessels showed themselves in CHILDHOOD’S END, which starts with truly enormous spacecraft moving into position over several major cities and then simply staying there for many years before anything at all happens other than the attempts by human beings to communicate with or deter the invaders.

When the aliens do speak, they don’t tell us that they are here to take over the world or that they are here to help us, they simply explain that the rules are changing and that anyone who fails to follow the new rules will suffer for their transgressions. 

An amazing book and very highly recommended. 

Historically speaking there are, of course, several tales to be told, but one of the best of them all is H.G. Wells’ amazing WAR OF THE WORLDS. It’s been told, retold and reimagined a zillion times but any way you cut it, the story is a brilliant example of what happens when a technologically advanced race comes along and decides to take what they want. 

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, based on the short story “Farewell to the Master” by sci-fi author Harry Bates is a scary and potentially amazing tale. Just when we, the human race, have decided we are big enough and bad enough to claim the stars, other races from the stars come down and warn us off acting so damnably human. 

Honorable mention in the science fiction department, goes to MONKEY PLANET by Pierre Boulle. It’s better known to most people by the movie title Planet of the Apes. Why I liked the book so much is because it does a wonderful job of showing the horror that the astronauts encounter on what they presume is another world, a place where apes evolved intelligence and where humans are little more than lab animals for experimentation. The irony is there and so, frankly, is a hearty dose of horror. 

Raymond E. Feist absolutely caught my attention when I was ready to burn out on fantasy books completely with his RIFTWAR series. What a brilliant notion! An inter-dimensional invasion in a fantasy series! And he made it work so very well. My biggest argument with the books is that they are currently unavailable on the Kindle as it has been years since I read them and I’d love to have copies that were easily accessible. 

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND is a fine example of a first contact with a different twist. We all know the story well enough, I expect, but consider the sense of wonder and the absurd. Again and again Alice is confronted not just by animals and animated items, but by creatures that have, at best, a dubious concept of sanity. Small wonder the tale has lasted as long as it has and been told so many countless times. 

Another story that always sticks with me is L. Frank Baum’s THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Seriously. Laugh if you will but the stories are designed around a sense of wonder. Dorothy finds herself in a new world with some of the most unusual and outlandish characters ever created and if you have never actually read the origin of the Tin Woodsman, you might well realize that some seriously dark stuff goes on in those books. They’re delicious.

Alan Dean Foster could probably get dozen first contact credits in science fiction, but one of my favorites of his always been SPELLSINGER. In the story a would-be musician finds himself transported to a world where animals evolved sentience and opposable thumbs and humans don’t exist. A society of humanoid animals exists and its rules are often very different. God help the fool who gets into trouble with the equivalent of riot police. They know how to end a fight without ever drawing a sword. The setting is familiar and completely knocked off kilter and that would be enough, but to add to the fun our resident deadbeat musician finds that if he can sing it, he can make magic with it. He has a gift that few others have: his songs are sorceries. The adventures are fun and frightening and heart-wrenching. Highly recommended. 

One more suggestion for you: Robert Aspirin’s MYTH SERIES, starting with ANOTHER FINE MYTH. A sorcerer’s apprentice finds himself face to face with the demon his master just summoned at the same time that his master is murdered, leaving him without a teacher and the demon without a way to get home. What starts off as a light-hearted fantasy takes a half twist into science fiction and, oddly enough, has some of the scariest moments I’ve ever read involving a sorcerer.  

Anyway you look at it, first encounters are fun to deal with. They can be approached with a completely serious face as they are in Larry Niven’s RINGWORLD, or they can be a bit more on the humorous side as they often are in Fred Saberhagen’s BERZERKER series. They can deal with the political climate of a world and the realization that all is not as it seems, which was very much the case with H.Beam Piper’s excellent LITTLE FUZZY, or they can be a slow descent into madness and the impossible as they were with H.P. Lovecraft’s stories of the Elder Gods, such as THE CALL OF CTHULHU and A SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. The notion of running into something new and alien can stretch into mind-altering experiences and slapstick alike. That’s part of the fun, really. 

First Contact stories fascinate me. Think about it for a moment, you wander through your life with a certain sense, especially in this modern day and age, that it has all been done and all been seen. Now imagine what it must be like to run across something or someone so completely different from anything you’ve ever experienced before that you are staggered by the contact. 

It must be like being a child all over again. What do I mean? Children see the world with eyes that are constantly awestruck. Look at a toddler looking at the world and you’ll see what I mean. Everything is new. Everything is either going to be wondrous or horrifying because mundane comes later. Everything is magical, unless it is sinister, and even then there’s still that chance.

I’ve always said the best stories reflect on and consider life in all of its aspects. We have, all of us, run across almost every type of first encounter, from the first time we saw a puppy to the first time we ran across a swarm of bees or that most wondrous and terrifying first encounter: running across a member of the opposite (or same) sex, finding a never-before-experienced attraction and setting out to explore the myriad possibilities. 

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Thank you to James for stopping by to discuss his Top Five First Contacts, and to you for taking the time to read about them! Don't forget to get your copies of Seven Forges and The Blasted Lands, as you will definitely want to read them ASAP!

--Ashley & Paul

BLOG TOUR: The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick - TOP FIVE

Hi everyone! Craig Cormick stopped by today to share with us his Top Five Star-Crossed Lovers in celebration of the release of The Shadow Master,out soon from Angry Robot! We're really excited about this book (alternate histories, star-crossed lovers, steampunk, and assassins? Yes please!), and can't wait for it to be out in the world. Check back later this month for our reviews!

But until then, here's a little about the book and Craig, and of course his Top Five! There's also an extract from the book for you, thanks to the lovely folks over at Angry Robot :).

About the Book

Goodreads

Title: The Shadow Master
Author: Craig Cormick
Publication Date: June 24, 2014 (US/CAN)

3rd July 2014 (UK)

Synopsis: In a land riven with plague, inside the infamous Walled City, two families vie for control: the Medicis with their genius inventor Leonardo; the Lorraines with Galileo, the most brilliant alchemist of his generation.

And when two star-crossed lovers, one from either house, threaten the status quo, a third, shadowy power – one that forever seems a step ahead of all of the familial warring – plots and schemes, and bides its time, ready for the moment to attack...

Assassination; ancient, impossible machines; torture and infamy – just another typical day in paradise

UK Print & Ebook
Amazon.co.uk | Book Depository | Waterstones | WHSmith

North American Print & Ebook
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | BarnesandNoble.com | IndieBound.org

About the Author

Craig Cormick is an award-winning author and science communicator who works for Australia’s premier science institution, the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He is a regular speaker at science communication conferences and has appeared on television, radio, online and in print media.

As an author he has published over a dozen works of fiction and non-fiction and over 100 short stories. His awards include an ACT Book of the Year Award and a Queensland Premier’s Literary Award.

His most recent book is the young adult novel Time Vandals (Scholastic, 2012).

You can find Craig online at his website craigcormick.com

The Top Five Star Crossed Lovers
By Craig Cormick

So I’ve been asked to write about the top five star-crossed lovers, as my new book, the Shadow Master, has a Romeo and Juliet-type duo in it. 

Well, sort of.

But first, a quick description of the book: It’s a kick-arse tale of alternative history, love and conflict, madness and magic, with sword fights and mad clerics and assassins and bombs and magical shape-changers and dark catacombs and tall towers and an army of plague people – with everything except a car chase.  And through it all is this mysterious figure, the Shadow Master, who is manipulating everyone towards his own ends.

And yes, there are two young lovers, Lorenzo and Lucia, who are members of different warring houses: the Medicis and the Lorraines. And much of the book describes the efforts of the two to reach each other, dodging the mad monks, assassins, kidnappers and plague – and discovering that when they touch, magic happens. Real magic that changes the whole world about them! 

So it’s a bit like Romeo and Juliet in the sense that the city in my book, the Walled City, is a bit like Florence, and the era they are living in is a bit like the Renaissance. But it is alternative history and it is an alternative Romeo and Juliet. But the difference is that while the Renaissance was a definite movement in history, Romeo and Juliet actually have many different existences through history.

The two lovers in my book are actually influenced by an 18th Century Italian novel called the Betrothed (Il Promessi Sposi), written by Alessandro Manzoni in 1827. It has been described as one of the most famous novels in Italian, and the first dealing with Italian history, and was itself inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.

What? Is everyone copying off everyone else, I hear you ask? 

Well, maybe – as there is a theory that there are a very small number of different plots in the world and everything is derivative of something else. Anyway, the Betrothed is set in 1628 and tells of the plague years in Italy and the machinations of politics and church of the time – and the central characters are the two young lovers Lorenzo and Lucia.

I think it’s a fine example of early 19th Century YA lit, actually.

But since Shakespeare wrote R+J in the 1590s, I can hear somebody already pointing out, then Manzoni must have lifted his star-crossed lovers from it, yes?

Well, maybe yes, but maybe no. 

Now coincidentally I just happen to be researching Romeo and Juliet proto-tales for the sequel to the Shadow Master – the Floating City – which is set in a Venice-like city and uses the original Italian tales of Othello, the Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet within it. These are the original Italian stories that Shakespeare later adapted into his plays. Check them out sometime if you can hunt them down – they are fascinating in the ways that they are different to the more familiar Shakespearean tales. 

Look for: Luigi da Porto’s Giulietta e Romeo,  Ser Giovanni’s Il Pecorone (the Dunce), and Giraldi Cinthio’s Hecatommithi.

The earliest supposed Romeo and Juliet story – or our earliest European star-crossed lovers, is the tale of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written about the year 0. By the 15th Century the story had become ‘Mariotto and Gianozza’ and by the early 16th Century it had become Giulietta e Romeo. It was later translated into French in 1559 and then into English by Arthur Brook in 1562 as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. 

Starting to sound familiar?

In 1567 the Englishman William Painter released a collection of Italian tales, the Palace of Pleasure, that included ’The goodly History of the true and constant love of Romeo and Juliett’. 

And next in line comes Shakespeare, who, it can be argued, really breathed life into the two young lovers and their story.

But he certainly wasn’t the last person to use the story. Look around, modern variations on Romeo and Juliet include West Side Story, Gnomeo and Juliet and the zombie romance Warm Bodies, and the list goes on.

There are stories that move in slightly different directions too, such as the Irish lovers Diarmuid and Grainne, or variations on the Lancelot and Guinevere story such as Tristan and Iseult. 

But – I digress – I could go on all day about this and dodge the original question. So my list of top five star crossed lovers are:

5. Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala (get it, star-crossed *LOL*)

4. Romeo and Juliet and all their variations.

3. Buffy and Angel

2. Clearly Lorenzo and Lucia from the Shadow Master!

1. No competition for this one. My number one set of star-crossed lovers was me and my wife, until I talked her parents around (but that’s another story for another day!).

www.craigcormick.com

Read an Extract! 

Thanks again to Craig for taking the time to write about his favorite star-crossed lovers, and thanks to you for stopping by! 

--Ashley & Paul