Review To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblod

 Review To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblood

Midway through a series, which To Steal a Heart by Jennifer Youngblood is, don’t feel inadequate if you believe you’ve missed something. In the beginning, the feeling gnawed at me continuously.

Calm yourself and enjoy a classic summer beach read. If you add a glass of wine, no problem. If the sweat gleams because you’re lathered in sunscreen, likewise no problem.

Here’s a tip. Don’t count the twists and turns. If you’re put off by the pettiness and selfishness of high society circles, banish the thought. And remember this secret, if a heroine is bashed by an unfaithful or conniving lover in the beginning pages, and that “heel” then dates her former childhood friend, be prepared for revenge and enjoy the next page.

You’d earn a gold star if you believed the outcome was preordained because the ex-boyfriend was named Hector. Yes, the name is Greek. Homer in the Iliad describes Hector as “Breaker of Horses.”

Thus, why wouldn’t the modern day Hector, under the grip of a romance writer, “break” a woman’s heart? You may find additional allegorical references. Go to it.

Reviewer Donan Berg has earned three gold awards for his novels, a romance and two fantasy. He received an advance review copy for free and he leaves this review voluntarily.

Donan Berg Novels Lead Popular List

 A fellow author once said, the best marker of your writing ability is the length of time your novels remain popular with readers and other authors.

With that in mind, I recorded on May 12, 2021, what novels of mine were listed as most popular at www.authorsden.com. Then, today, July 28, 2021, I checked to see what novels topped their most popular rankings. (Novels are ranked in order starting with number one.) This exercise is not strictly scientific, but here are the results for Donan Berg novels only:

May 12, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense  Into the Dark

Top Romance                Alexa's Gold

                                      Abbey Burning Love  

July 28, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense    Into the Dark

                                        Adolph's Gold

                                        Baby Bones

                                        A Body To Bones

                                        The Bones Dance Foxtrot

Top Romance                  One Paper Heart

                                        Abbey Burning Love

                                        Alexa's Gold

As an end note, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, became the top popular novel of all genres on April 16, 2021 and has remained there, that's 115 consecutive days.

Thank you all for your purchase, reading and support. If you click the below link you'll find sample chapters of all Donan Berg novels, plus writing tips, articles and short stories.

Click here to begin your own survey of  Donan Berg Novels.

 

Let the first sentence grab you

 All praise is not homegrown.

Readers, and especially critics, are blown away by a novel's first sentence.

There are classics. Think Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. 

I ran across an introductory sentence today that impressed me so much I had to share.

In Last Light by J.N. Bake, the opening sentence reads as follows:

"Hell. As I pried my sword from his life-less body, I was sure that's where I'd be going;

that was, if I could actually die."

Doesn't that tell you a lot, yet still draw you in?  It did me. A fantasy? Or, a delusional killer?

Why chose?  You must read on.  I haven't read the entire novel, but I'm intrigued.

I went back to look at my own novels. (Proud to say that the last two have had gold medals bestowed upon them. The first a most popular www.authorsden.com novel for 93 consecutive days.)

Alexa's Gold starts with:  "'Rich men don't date exhausted women.'" Grandma's oft-repeated admonition ebbed into the minutiae of Alexa Hovey's grief."

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel starts with:  "Eta Dorcas pressed four fingertips into her right palm's flesh. She feared, if she looked, it could still be there."

One Paper Heart starts with: "The romantic flames of Alicia Danielson's sweet dreams flared into conscious panic."

Different genres please readers in multiple ways. For the author to gain that praise requires the reader to do one thing, i.e., read on with a sense of what comes next. That is, a fantasy, a romance, or a thriller with romantic elements.

It presents a tall order for the author. All readers may not have a critical vision when opening a novel, but below the surface there's an attraction. It benefits the author and the reader.   

Donan Berg's novel Alexa's Gold achieves 89 days as most popular.

It makes one humble.

Alexa's Gold, a romantic thriller, has achieved a record eighty-nine (89) consecutive days at the most popular novel on the Authorsden.com website. Click here to access Donan Berg's page: Authorsden.com .

In fact, four Author Donan Berg novels occupy four of the five top most popular novel spots. (December 27, 2018 Update: novels  Alexa's Gold, A Body To Bones, Abbey Burning Love, One Paper Heart. All are romances, except the mystery novel A Body To Bones.)

Alexa's Gold becomes the second Author Donan Berg novel to reach the highest pinnacle of popularity at Authorsden.com . As of December 27, Donan Berg novels are four of the top five.

The first was A Body To Bones. After rising to number one in July, 2018, A Body To Bones has in the past month challenged Alexa's Gold, rising as high as a runnerup.  Today, December 27, 2018, the former number one still ranks number two.

Both novels have free excerpts and signed copy availability at Authorsden.com .

Joining Alexa's Gold and A Body To Bones as top most popular books, all genres, are romances Abbey Burning Love and One Paper Heart.  The three romances are the top romances at Authorsden.com. Adolph's Gold, a police procedural mystery has ranked as high as number nine this December. (On December 27, it's number 12.) One Paper Heart was a 2016 Feathered Quill Gold Award First Place romance.

To all who have read either excerpts, entire stories or accessed any one of the five novels, thank you.

If you wish to enjoy these novels, there's an easy remedy.