Love Diver Manga Review

Author: Row Miyuki
Artist: Row Miyuki

Genra: Yaoi

Year: 2009

Original Publisher:

Shodensha  

Volumes: 

 1 Volumes (Complete)

 Licensed (in English)

No
English Publisher

Summary
A master chef and the owner of the bar where he is about to begin working at, is actually high-school classmates. In the past, they had shared a kiss, the scent of flowers still clings onto the owner's body... The master chef who thinks about the past, is carrying complex feeling everyday?
Also, the owner is someone with his pheromones on high, and super popular with other men that one night, he was attacked by an unknown stalker! Decadent wine and love stories between adults...

My Thoughts on the Manga
I did enjoy this manga but it could have a bit more story line to it. It was sad that it suddenly ended when it did. The romance was slow because it did take the characters a few years before they found each other again and fall in love.

The plot was interesting, the two main characters knew each other from highschool. The owner of the bar actually kissed the chef long ago and was punched in the face because of it. The the feelings of the chef has changed over time and he became attracted to the owner and after a stalking incident they fall in love.

Design





I was a bit disappointed with the drawing style of this manga. It would have been a lot better if the author wanted to put detail into the drawings. So unlike other manga's with poor drawings skills I couldn't stand it because the plot was a bit poor so I focused a lot more on the way it was drawn. The guy with white hair is the owner of the bar and the black hair guy is the chef.

Rating
2 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Affinity Book Tour Oct 24 Blitz

Affinity
Author: Mary E. Merrell

ISBN:  978-0-9882973-1-9
Release Date: October 24th 2012

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Summary

The crows followed Talon around. Everywhere. When he graduated from high school, Talon moved to Sacramento to work with his Uncle Nate. The birds were there. He recognized the same straggly-tailed old crow that had followed him since junior high. Iris Yorita, who lived in his mother's neighborhood called their ability an AFFINITY, claimed it was a gift from God, and they should use it to help people. Iris' animal was the snake. Talon thought she was out of her mind. How could a bunch of mangy crows or slimy snakes help anyone?

When a thief targeted the people in his uncle's neighborhood, Talon became the main suspect. It was time to put Iris' theory to the test. Find out who was robbing their neighbors and clear his name. As Talon learned to communicate with his crows, it became clear that something more sinister than mere robbery was going on. It would take Talon, Iris, and their new friend Chloe, who communicated with raccoons, to discover what really was happening in Talon's new neighborhood.

Talon would discover how strong his ability was and how complete communicating with his chosen animal made him feel. He would meet more people with an affinity like him, each with a chosen animal of their own. By the time the mystery was solved, Talon would forge new friendships, learn not all was what it seemed and risk his life to save his friends.

Excerpt

Talon took his usual seat on the couch. The television was on but the sound muted. When his uncle returned, he held an old, jacked-up photo album, the cover propped open by yellowed papers. He stopped in front of Talon.

“Uncle Nate. Listen.” Talon stood up and met his uncle’s blue gaze and braced himself to be made fun of, for his uncle to laugh his ass off. “I can communicate with crows.” Okay. There. He had said it. First time ever.

“I know.”

“What?” Talon dropped back onto the couch, sinking into the cushion as he cradled Scraggy close to his chest.

“Well, I didn’t exactly know you’ve been talking with them, but I’ve known you’ve got some kind of weird relationship with them. I’ve been waiting for you to spill it, kid. I’ve seen those black buzzards following you around like they was waiting for you to croak or something.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Talon felt...disappointed. As if everyone knew except him. Like he was a big joke or something.

“Don’t get all butt-hurt. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

Uncle Nate plopped down next to Talon like nothing bizarre was happening. “Look at this.” He put the photo album on his knees, opened the worn cover and carefully put the papers and news clippings on the end table. Sticky paper held old black and white photographs in place as Uncle Nate flipped the pages.

“Do you know what our last name means?” he asked.

When Talon didn’t answer, Uncle Nate put the book on Talon’s legs, keeping far from the crow’s sharp beak and pointed to an old picture. He tapped his finger on the man standing there. Behind the man was a big, black bird perched on a fence.

“Our last name means crow or raven. It’s the genus for large black birds.”

Talon swallowed and took back all the crappy things he had just thought about his uncle.

“Your great-grandfather claimed he could talk to these birds. Everyone thought he was nuts. Our grandmother, your great-grandmother told us the family secret when we were in grade school. Your father and I. Of course, we were warned if we ever said anything the crows would come and peck our eyeballs right out of our heads.” He widened his eyes at Talon, took on a spooky voice and waggled both his hands next to his head. “Or you’d be driven crazy by the birds, oouuuuweee aaahhh.”
Scraggy cawed and struggled a little.

When Talon didn’t laugh or smile at his joke, he continued, “Your father and I used to imagine what it was like if we could control the birds,” he said in a soft voice.

“You don’t really control them.” Talon ran his finger across the picture of his great-grandfather. “It’s more like a connection with them.” He let his mind touch briefly with Scraggy, sending comforting thoughts. The bird quieted down.

“Right on. When did it start?”

“In middle-school.” Talon turned the page, looking for more pictures with a strange black bird.

“You won’t find anymore pictures of the bird. Believe me. We searched through this many-a-time.

But you might be interested in this.” He handed Talon a small black leather-bound book. “Your great-grandfather’s journal. It sounded like a lot of rambling to me, but maybe you’d understand. With your ability and all.”

About the Author

Mary E. Merrell lives in the Central Valley of California with her husband, two dogs and four cats. She has two grown sons, Everette Merrell and Richard Mickelson who is married to a great girl, Brooke. Mary has worked at various jobs, selling furniture, a meat company and a manufacturing company. It wasn’t until she started selling real estate that her Real Estate Paranormal Mystery Series came to life in that old, vacant home. She enjoys reading all types of genres and writes Paranormal Mysteries and YA Urban Fantasies. When she’s not writing, she’s working on her decorative planter business LivingCreations with her husband, gardening and playing soccer. Please visit her website to see what she’s working on next. www.maryemerrell.com, or contact her through Facebook and Twitter.

www.maryemerrell.com   

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10227711-mary-merrell

http://twitter.com/MaryMerrell7

Dark Seraphine's release day

             Dark Seraphine

Author: Kasonndra Leigh

ISBN: 1479384674 (ISBN13: 9781479384679)
Release Date: October 21st 2012

Genre: Paranormal

Summary

"Mom always says the angels walk among us. She forgot to tell me that sometimes they're not all fluffy and nice."

Seventeen-year-old Caleb Wood has seen people he calls the walkers since he was a baby. It didn't take long for him to realize something…no one can see these strangers but him. They never stuck around or tried to touch him. And they never said a word. That was until one day on the first day of class in his senior year when an incredibly gorgeous girl strolls into his life…and things are never the same again.

Soon Caleb realizes he has stepped into the middle of a growing conflict between two ancient groups. And his ability to see the invisible ones, the half-breeds that want to modify the human race, just might be the only hope both he and the mysterious, but infuriating, Gia, have of making it out alive.


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Without Kyle by my side, I now faced with heading into my Trig class too early. Nobody blazed a trail to be the first one sitting around and waiting on the teacher. Because of Kyle’s hormones, I faced looking super un-cool and nerdy. When you put those words together, you never came away looking sexy.

Stepping into the room, I immediately noticed that I was right. I headed straight for the back row. I turned around and almost wet my pants.

The new girl was sitting in a desk at the front of the room. She wore that same faraway look they always have, these Walkers do. I gave them that nickname because sometimes a ghostly film trailed behind them. It always reminded me of angel wings. Otherwise, I guess they might be considered plain old ghosts. To label them as spirits kind of took away from their magic. The mystery people were always super gorgeous, like this chick: slick, dark hair that stopped just below her shoulders, a long oval-shaped face, and nice skin. And they always wore something dark: black jackets, jeans, and a tee shirt.

To admit this girl made my skin crawl sounded sissy and weak. This wasn’t the time to be a wuss. Manning up, I squared my shoulders before I sat down. The little kid in me wanted to run away like a baby. But then she laughed. It was a high-pitched giggle, a normal girl’s chuckle. It surprised me. That wasn’t right. I couldn’t ever remember the Walkers laughing before.

“Go ahead and run. I’ll just simply find you like I always do,” she said, her face still turned toward the teacher’s wipe board.

Her voice was smooth like a forgotten song, a hypnotic one. I could listen to it all day long. But even super sexy voice didn’t change the fact that she pretty much read my mind.

“Have you decided whether you’ll run or not yet? I have an awful lot of things to take care of.” She turned her head the slightest bit to the side

My underarms prickled. I was glad that Mom forced me to start using the clinical strength deodorant this morning; to say I was nervous wasn’t even close to how I felt.

“Are you an angel?” I asked, my voice squeaking on the last word. What a dork. She didn’t frighten me too badly, but I wasn’t exactly ready to get her phone number either. As a little kid, I remember talking to a few of the Walkers. As soon as I hit my thirteenth birthday the ability to communicate with them disappeared. This was the first time I’d spoken to one in years.

“I hate to tell you this, but I’m not a ghost an angel or a zombie. Sorry.” She turned around to face me, an amused expression on her ridiculously gorgeous face. I inhaled sharply and held my breath. The word beautiful didn’t do this Walker-girl any type of justice. Her strange, dark eyes with the specks of blue and green inside the irises pierced into me.

I swallowed hard and found my voice. “So then, what are you? You’re not the only one I’ve seen or talked to. And why do I have the honor of being the stalked one?”

She made a light laugh and tilted her head. Her slick black hair flowed around her face as if it were made of silky thread.

“Others have come before me?” She seemed to have said it to herself rather than asking me. One thing I did know for certain. I was probably going to be committed to the loony ward after all of this. “I’m going to need your help soon, Caleb. So be ready.”

“Be ready for what?” I asked, crossing my arms and feeling just a tad flirtatious. A desperate idiot. Kyle was chasing Erica the Stiff. And me, I got some sort of angel girl sitting in front of me. A good man always knows when to aim for the right goal.

She glanced behind my head just before a sudden crash thundered behind me. My heart leapt into my throat. I jumped up and spun around thinking it sounded like gunshots. But I was being paranoid. It wasn’t a gun or anything at all threatening. The classroom clock had fallen. Bits and pieces of it lay all over the floor.

I groaned. “Oh hell. They’ll think I did this.”

“What in the world did you do, Caleb Wood?” a girl’s nasal voice asked me. I turned around to find Jillian Bowman and her tortoise shell glasses grinning at me. She was the last person I wanted to see. What, or rather who did I not find?—the Walker girl. She’d vanished.

Something hitched in my chest. I wanted to know more about her. I’d never gotten so intimate with them before.

She told me to be ready.

Exactly what did I need to get ready for?

Author

Release Day Party at 6pmEST at the Young Adult Teen Readers Group https://www.facebook.com/events/288064814642558/

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