A Reader Goes in Search of Ares—A Non-traditional Review of “Of Heroes & Hay Bales” by V. L. Locey

I think it’s fitting to give Of Heroes & Hay Bales a non-traditional review. After all, V. L. Locey gives readers a very non-traditional rendition of the Pantheon of Greek Gods.

I hated, yes actually hated, Greek mythology in high school. At least in the manner in which it was presented. I couldn’t keep anybody straight, what with all the marrying and fooling around with sisters, mothers, half-sisters, uncles, brothers, etc. etc. And there was way too much blood and guts to make any of the stories appealing to me.

With her Gods and Goats trilogy, V. L. Locey has done what no teacher ever could—make me love Greek mythology.

Ares, the Greek god of war, and Libby Simons, Pennsylvania goatherder and young widow, are the main characters in the trilogy. They develop a love that is passionate, fiery, and yet very sweet. Who knew Ares could have such a tender side?

In this spring’s Of Heroes & Hay Bales, the follow-up to last year’s Of Gods and Goats, Libby takes on a new set of challenges as Hades, god of the dead, continues his evil quest to bring the entire world under his control. Libby is aided by an assortment of gods in addition to Ares. There are Ares’ twin sons, Phobos and Deimos, Ares’ daughter, Harmonia, and a number of other gods and creatures that would give any mortal nightmares for the rest of their lives.

I was so taken with how different the gods were from what I remembered from high school, that I decided to take a ride out into the mountains to see if I could find Libby’s farm.

Locey gave me directions and last week, Husband and I took off on our quest to find the gods, and the goats. Locey explained that she had an appointment in town that morning, but Libby would be happy to show us around. (Husband said he wanted to see the animals, but I suspect he wanted to make sure that I didn’t fall under Ares’ spell as Libby did.)

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A Reader Reviews–”After the Fog” by Kathleen Shoop

After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop

Kathleen Shoop’s first novel, The Last Letter, told the story of a young mother who was thrust from a comfortable life the city into the very harsh life of the unsettled prairie. It was a tough read but well worth the effort. Shoop pulled no punches in detailing the graphic details of a hard life before our modern conveniences, but it was necessary to understanding the characters.

After the Fog is a similarly tough read, as Shoop again hides no hardships from the reader, but as in The Last Letter, After the Fog is also worth the effort. 

Using a true event in Donora, PA (outside of Pittsburgh) in 1948 as a backdrop, Shoop delivers another deeply powerful story of a strong woman determined to make the most of a difficult life.

Over five days in October 1948, Donora experiences a temperature inversion that captured the sulfuric acid, nitrogen dioxide, fluorine and other poisonous gases that spewed forth from the mills’ blast furnaces. The resulting sicknesses of the residents were initially attributed to asthma, but as the days went by, community leaders realized that the discharges from the mill were most likely to blame. The fog finally lifted on October 31 when the rain came, leaving 20 people and hundreds of animals dead.

Shoop presents us with Rose Pavlesic and her extended family. Working in the mills is hard and dangerous, but it provides a stable and relatively comfortable life. Still, Rose is determined to see her teenage son and daughter go on to something better.

As the community nurse, Rose goes from home to home, providing health care and education to the residents of Donora. With the funding for her position in jeopardy, Rose approaches the wife of the mill supervisor for a sizable donation, only to uncover a heartbreaking secret that Rose had believed was long buried.

It is within that framework that we follow Rose as she fights to keep her fellow residents safe and healthy, while her family is falling apart right before her eyes.

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A Reader Reviews–”Last Diner Standing” by Terri L. Austin

My suspicion was right. As I wrote in my review of Terri L. Austin’s first book, Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends, I thought the heroine was falling for the bad guy. I didn’t have to get very far in Austin’s new release, Last Diner Standing, to learn that my hunch was right.

Last Diner Standing

Rose is still reeling a bit from the escapades detailed in Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends when a frantic phone call from her study buddy Janelle, who has landed in jail, shakes things up again. Seems Janelle’s ex has been bashed over the head and is in a coma. And the cops are saying Janelle did it. Trouble is, she didn’t.

After reaching several dead ends in her search for bail money for Janelle (sorry for the bad pun), Rose gives in and calls Thomas Sullivan, the hot bad guy. He had called Rose several times since their last scrape was over, but Rose was resisting her growing attraction to him. Seeing Janelle’s young children fighting sickness in front of the Christmas tree, crying for their mama, Rose turns to Sullivan for help.

The cops are so sure Janelle clobbered her ex, they don’t bother looking for any other suspects.  Rose knows from her previous experience with the cops that it’s a waste of time trying to convince them that there’s a laundry list of folks who would like to see the ex dead, so she heads off on her own to catch the killer.

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A Reader Reviews—Portrait of a Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart

In Portrait of a Dead Guy, Larissa Reinhart introduces Cherry Tucker in a good old-fashioned who-dun-it. There are traces of sweet romance and a bit of suspense, but at its heart, Portrait is about  finding out who the murderer is.

Cherry Tucker is a formally trained starving artist who chooses to move back to her rural Georgia roots rather than join some swanky artist colony in someplace “cool”. Cherry ekes out a living by combining chasing commissions for portraits with visiting her grandfather and sister at mealtimes.

When Cherry hears that the richest family in town wants a portrait of their murdered son in his coffin, Cherry can’t help herself from going after the job aggressively.

All Cherry has in mind is to paint the portrait and collect the sizable commission. But when she is conked on the head late at night alone in the funeral home with the deceased, Cherry makes it her mission to track down her attacker. She cranks up her efforts when the roommate of one of her friends is the next one to die. Think Jessica Fletcher transformed into a twenty-something, somewhat flighty Southern girl.

Forgive me the bad pun, but Reinhart paints a portrait of Cherry in words as well as Cherry paints in, well, paint. Bless Cherry’s heart, she is a fine mess. As sweet as her name, yes, but sweetly flawed. She simply can’t choose between two lovers; she goes back and forth between Luke and Todd as quickly as the clock ticks away seconds. Although in her defense, I’d find it hard to pick one of these fellows over the other myself. Cherry dukes it out verbally with the cousin of the deceased, who is an artist in her own right. Cherry is quite open about what she thinks about Shawna’s so-called artistic talent, not hesitating to call her out in public or private about the tackiness of what Shawna calls “paintographs.” I couldn’t always decide whether to cheer Cherry on or scold her!

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A Reader Reviews–”Diners, Dives & Dead Ends” by Terri L. Austin

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT—I may be giving too much away in this review. I’m not sure I could talk about one of my favorite things about the book without revealing too much. I tried not to, but it’s possible, so if you don’t want to take the chance, stop reading now.

I’ve read thousands of books in my lifetime of reading (yes, I am that old), but Terri L. Austin’s debut novel, Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends, gave me a first—I fell in love with the bad guy! And I have a sneaking suspicion that Rose Strickland, the heroine in Austin’s new series of Rose Strickland Mysteries, may be doing the same thing. That possibility alone, not even considering the great characters and clever plot line, is enough to make me put Austin’s future books on my to-read list before they’re even released.

Austin’s crisp and clear writing is the perfect framework for Rose and her assorted friends and family to shine through. Although Rose is the star of the show, Austin creates a great group of supporting characters who quickly drew me in.

Rose, a struggling waitress and college student, is thrown for a loop when her dear friend Axton mysteriously disappears. When no one in authority takes her missing person report seriously, Rose determines to find him herself, convinced that he is in danger.

Rose knows she’s on the right track when her apartment is ransacked and she is stalked, then briefly abducted, by the aforementioned bad guy. I don’t think Rose realizes that she’s slowly falling for the villain, and I’m still not sure that Austin is actually telling the readers that she is. I just may be projecting my own attraction to the scoundrel onto Rose. Hmmm…

I’m not a very big fan of series, as anyone who has read some of my book reviews knows. But the Rose Strickland Mysteries is the kind I do like—this first book stands well on its own; all plot lines (all quite clever) are resolved well, with no cliffhangers waiting for the next installment. If no other books ever follow, I feel completely satisfied with this one. But Austin artfully lays the groundwork for being able to imagine Rose taking on new challenges in the future. And my own guess is that the bad guy will be back behind some new shenanigans. At least I hope so.

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A Reader Reviews–”Hungry Heart” by Brenda Gayle

It’s been several months since I reviewed a book for a Novel Publicity blog tour. Brenda Gayle’s Hungry Heart proved to be worth coming back to the reviewers’ ranks.

In true romance novel fashion, Hungry Heart features a strong independent heroine, a to-die-for hero, and a happily-ever-after ending. But there was plenty of intrigue and danger between the covers to keep me turning the pages, including a twist I didn’t expect. 

Actually, I was proud of myself for figuring the twist out early in the story. But although the twist was the backstory for the plot, the unfolding of the story was not so easily apparent. Gayle released pieces of the story in just the right doses, chapter after chapter, to keep me planted in my comfy chair until the end.

The main character, child advocate Nora Cross, did make it a little difficult for me to like her. I didn’t take it personally, though, as she tended to have that affect on people. The hero, Hunter Graham, saw through Nora’s toughness to her vulnerable, and sometimes sweet, core. It was touching to watch him as he unwaveringly pursued her, determined to create a happy ending for the both of them.

At times, there was too much going on at one time for me to keep track of. There were some interesting sub-plots that were not quite fully developed and were tied up a little too quickly, and too loosely, for my taste. I would have preferred fewer side stories, with more depth to the ones that were left.

Overall, I enjoyed following along with Nora and Hunter as they discovered the best in each other, and persevered through the dangers around them to come to an ending that surprised them both .

Novel Publicity Blog Tour Notes

Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of The Hungry Heart? Well, there are two ways to enter…

1. Leave a comment on my blog. One random commenter during this tour will win a $50 gift card. For the full list of participating blogs, visit the official Hungry Heart tour page.
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest! I’ve posted the contest form below, or you can enter on the tour page linked above.

About the author: 

Brenda Gayle has been a writer all her life but returned to her love of writing fiction after more than 20 years in the world of corporate communication—although some might argue there was plenty of opportunity for fiction-writing there, too. A fan of many genres, she is drawn to contemporary romance and enjoys writing deeply emotional stories with elements of mystery and suspense.Her first book, Soldier for Love, was a recommended read by a number of reviewers. Her new book, The Hungry Heart, is the first in her Heart’s Desire series, which chronicles the difficult road to finding love and family acceptance for the three Graham cousins. Brenda lives in eastern Ontario with her wonderful husband, two fabulous children, two Siberian Huskies, a rescued cat, and assorted aquatic wildlife.

Connect with Brenda on her website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Get The Hungry Heart on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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A Reader Reviews—”Open Heart” by Emlyn Chand

Open Heart, the second of five novels in Emlyn Chand’s Farsighted Series, picks up where Farsighted ends, but with a twist.

The narrator of Farsighted is blind high school student Alex Kosmitoras, while the narrator of Open Heart is his friend Simran Shergill, known as Simmi.

As a reader who is not a big fan of series, I found this twist to be very enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t read series; it’s just that I find many of them unsatisfying. I have so many books on my to-read list that I can often lose track of which book comes next in a series and end up not reading it. That in turn sometimes leaving me feeling unsatisfied, not having enough resolution in the previous book. I prefer series in which each book can stand pretty well on its own, even with a continuing story and characters, in case I don’t get any further.

The Farsighted Series, at least the first two books, aren’t quite as freestanding as I like, but from the start of Open Heart, I was hooked. Having a different character narrate this story gives it a whole new perspective on the ongoing story line. Not only did it quickly pull me in, it also made me determined to make sure I keep track of when each new book in this series is released, as I understand that each future book will be narrated by a different character.

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Emlyn Chand’s “Open Heart” Release Day

I’m so excited to welcome Emlyn Chand to my blog today, to help with the launch of her latest release, Open Heart, the second book in her Farsighted series.

Follow these links to a word from Emlyn herself and an excerpt of Open Heart :

http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/05/open-heart-release-date-farsighted-freebie-fan-goodies-and-splash-into-summer-giveaway/

 http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/04/open-heart-1st-chapter-reveal-and-autographed-hardcover-giveaway-of-both-open-heart-farsighted/

Bio and Contact Links - Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). Since then, she has always loved to hear and tell stories. When she’s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity. Learn more about Emlyn at www.emlynchand.com or by connecting with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or GoodReads.  Don’t forget to say “hi” to her sun conure Ducky!

To help you pass some time during this holiday weekend, also check out these links for some great goodies that Emlyn is sharing with us:

Farsighted Book Trailer – http://youtu.be/tZjskE5zjzM

Character Quiz – http://www.emlynchand.com/quiz/

Boyfriend Quiz – http://www.emlynchand.com/boyfriend/

Open Heart Playlist–http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/05/the-story-behind-the-open-heart-soundtrack-plus-awesome-bollywood-tunes-for-your-hearing-pleasure/

Desktop Wallpapers – http://www.emlynchand.com/wallpaper/

And don’t forget, here’s how to get a copy of both books!

Purchase links for Farsighted

• Amazon US – http://amzn.com/B005WXFG54
• Amazon UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005WXFG54
• Barnes & Noble –  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/farsighted-emlyn-chand/1106607652?ean=9780983930839
• Book Depository – http://www.bookdepository.com/Farsighted-Emlyn-Chand/9780983930822

 Purchase links for Open Heart

• Amazon US – http://amzn.com/B0084H1262
• Amazon UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0084H1262

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The Books That Made Me Love Reading–”In the Night Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak

In memory of Maurice Sendak, who died this past week, I’m reposting a review of In the Night Kitchen. More than just a review of the book, this post is a commentary on how Sendak introduced me to the concept of censorship for the first time. I’d like to think he’d be pleased with my story.

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak was published when I was in high school. I was too old to read it as part of its target audience; a 15-year-old is far removed from preschooler.

But the book did leave an indelible mark on me.  It may not have shaped me as a reader (that die had been cast many years earlier), but it did awaken in me a strong loathing for censorship.

As a picture book, the emphasis of In the Night Kitchen was the illustrations. Sendak’s matter-of-factness in drawing Mickey, the main character, naked and anatomically correct (for the most part) set off a firestorm. In addition to the furor over the naked little boy, there were also accusations that there were sexual undertones to the story, but at age 15, I was clueless about that.

What I didn’t understand was how or why a book would be banned. In the 10 or so years that I had been reading, I had a bounty of books from which to choose. There was the public library, where I spent a great deal of time, the library at my grade school and then high school, not to mention the large collection of books at home. I had never been denied access to any of them.

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A Reader Reviews–”Of Gods and Goats”, V.L. Locey

Picture it—you’re a young widow woman, scratching out a living raising goats and chickens in the beautiful hills of rural Pennsylvania. You make lovely scented soaps from the goats’ milk, and sell the soap and chicken eggs at the local farmers market. Your trusty beagle and cat curl up with you at night, and you visit each morning with the mail man, listening to him deliver local gossip along with the U.S. mail. Sounds somewhat idyllic, doesn’t it? Don’t hold your breath.

The morning after a storm that must have rattled windows the next county over, Libby Simons awakes to find a huge hole in the roof of her goat barn. She wonders what on earth could have caused that damage. She doesn’t have to wait very long to discover that it wasn’t anything on earth that created that headache. None other than Ares, the Greek god of war, had come hurtling down from the heavens in search of Hades’ helm of darkness and landed smack on Libby’s barn roof. Well, he actually crashed right through the roof, but you get the picture of what sort of adventures Libby’s life will now hold.

Locey uses generous touches of humor to tell a story that is deeper and more poignant than it appears on the surface. She refers to her book as “romantic rural comedy” and it is, indeed, quite funny throughout. Told in the first person, our gal Libby has quite a gift for the turn of phrase. I love a book that has me laughing out loud, and Libby, er, Ms Locey, provides that quite nicely.

Libby was left widowed five years earlier by the tragic death of her husband at the hands of a drunk driver. Although barely in her mid-thirties, Libby believes she will never be able to let go of Matt and share her life with a man again. She tries hard to fight her quickly growing attraction to the hunk-a hunk-a burning love that is Ares, but I think most women would be hard-pressed to resist a male, god or otherwise, that Locey describes as possessing “shoulders …as wide as I was long with mounds of muscle that flexed with each movement…His back was corded and tapered, cutting down into a firm lean waist.” And as Ares himself says, “I am many things, Wee Bunting, but meager is certainly not one of them.” Somebody get me a fan and a glass of cold water.

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A Reader Reviews—“Honey the Hero” by Emlyn Chand

What do you do when you’re a young parakeet living in the Australian Outback and you long to explore your world? You become a superhero, that’s what you do.

At least that’s what Honey, the star of Emlyn Chand’s newly released kids book, does.

Inspired by a television show Honey watches through the window of a cottage on her travels, Honey decides to dedicate her life to helping other animals in need. The tricky part is who gets to decide if an animal really needs help.

Honey flits through the Outback, “rescuing” animals, only to find out they don’t quite see the need for help the way Honey thinks they do.

But Honey never gives up, and one day, she comes upon a lost dingo that truly does need Honey to rescue him.

Honey’s message is sweet in its simplicity. She stumbles the first few times she tries to help others, but helping has become her passion and she keeps trying until she gets it right. Not bad advice for birds, kids, and even we adults who read this book to the little ones in our lives.

Chand’s charming story is accompanied by equally cute drawings by Sarah Shaw. The pictures remind me of the styles used in comic books, which I think is quite appropriate given the premise that Honey is a superhero. Honey gives little ones the feel of comic book “save the day” heroes, minus the “bam”, “pow”, and “crack” of comics for older kids and adults.

Honey the Hero is the first in the Bird Brain Books series. Keep your eyes open for the adventures of Davey the detective and Poppy the peacock coming soon. Let’s see what adventures these two birds fly into!

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The Books That Made Me Love Reading Challenge—“Busy Day Busy People” by Tibor Gergely

When Emlyn Chand, author and publicist, introduced her year-long challenge for folks to re-visit the books they loved in childhood that made them love reading, http://emlynchand.com , I thought back not only to my own favorite books as a child, but to my children’s favorite books as well.

There was no bigger favorite for my daughter than Busy Day Busy People by Tibor Gergely. I wish I had a nickel for every time my husband or I read that book to our daughter. I could be writing this from my own private island, gazing out into the azure tropical waters.

Busy Day Busy People tells the story of the ins and outs of daily life. Through words and very detailed illustrations, we learn about people working in stores and hospitals. We see pictures of auto mechanics and circus workers. Farmers grow our food and chefs prepare it for us in restaurants. And construction workers build new buildings in the city.

Ah yes, those construction workers. I have never figured out why a two-year-old girl was so fascinated by construction workers, but my daughter adored them. A new car wash was being built not far from where we lived at the time. Every day, my daughter strongly insisted that we go watch them for a while. So every morning, we either walked up or drove by to see what progress had been made from the day before. And each evening, we read, again, Busy Day Busy People. She was so taken by construction workers that she named her first goldfish, you guessed it, Construction Worker.

Oh how we tried to get her interested in other books. She enjoyed listening to the other stories that we presented, but the evening reading session had to begin and end with Busy Day. We came to hate that book.

But in that way that families have, Busy Day Busy People became a sort of mantra in our house. Even now, when our daughter is thirty-one years old, my husband and I often say “busy day busy people” when the conversation turns to how busy we are on any particular day.

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A Reader Reviews–”The Spirit Keeper” by Melissa Luznicky Garrett

In the past year and a half, I’ve read many books in genres outside my comfort zone, young adult paranormal being one of them. I had taken a break from that genre recently, trying to get to more of the books on my huge to-read list. When Melissa Luznicky Garrett’s newest book, The Spirit Keeper, became available, though, I immediately wanted to read it based on how much I enjoyed her earlier work.

Although The Spirit Keeper is a new genre for Garrett, the quality of the writing is classic Garrett. With the explosion of self-publishing over the past several years, much is made of the quality, or lack thereof, of self-published books. Garrett is one of the many authors who can be held up as an example of the high quality available in indie books.

As I’ve come to expect from Garrett’s earlier books, Precipice and Turning Point, Spirit Keeper’s story is told in clean, crisp prose. In some indie-published books, and sometimes even in traditionally published books, I’ve had to train myself to push past awkward writing to get to the good story behind it. But Garrett’s writing is like makeup—the best made-up face is one that looks like there is no makeup at all. Garrett’s writing is so good, it seems as though the story is floating along on its own.

The Spirit Keeper tells the story of a teenage girl, Sarah, as she learns the secrets of her heritage as a Native American. After a tragic house fire that kills her mother and grandparents eleven years earlier, Sarah is taken in by her mother’s younger sister and brother, not all that much older than Sarah herself. Trying to shield her from the tragedy, Sarah’s aunt and uncle keep her past from her, but recent events and new neighbors make that impossible to maintain.

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Flying By the Seat of My Pants

Today’s post is experimental. I almost never write directly on the blog; I write what I want to say in a Word document first. Some days I spend more or less time polishing it than others, but I always do some reviewing and editing.

Not today. Today I have so much to do, and so little energy, that I will either write directly here or not at all.

I had a nice chat with my Daddy on Skype this morning. I told him I was getting ready for work. Work? Daddy was confused. I retired nearly four years ago. But yes, I am working again. A dream job for a writer and voracious reader! I am now working at our tiny town’s awesome indie bookstore, From My Shelf Books ( http://www.wellsborobookstore.com/ ). They moved from a small, basement-level space to a large, airy, building on the best corner of downtown Wellsboro, and I’m happy to say that I recently joined the staff.

Daddy kept insisting that I didn’t really grasp the concept of retirement, if I was preparing to go to “work.” I was finally able to convince him that since the point of retirement is to be able to do what you enjoy, I had a firm grasp on how to spend my “golden years.” (Truth be told, I think I’m only as far as silver years, but that’s beside the point.)

Anyway, the conversation stayed with me, and it brought me back to some thoughts I’d had a while ago. It seems that I never, ever have enough time to do everything I “must” do. I have more books on my to-read list than hours in the coming year. There is a stack of books that either I want to read and review, or I’ve promised others I would review. And I swear, I will get to that biography of Albert Einstein that has been mocking me for the past eleven months.

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Interview with Brian Holers, Author of “Doxology” Part of the Novel Publicity Whirlwind Tour

Today I welcome Brian Holers, author of Doxology. I hope you enjoy meeting him as much as I did. Make sure to scroll all the way down to see the great promotional deals available to you!

Please enjoy this interview with Brian Holers, author of the literary novel, Doxology. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

1. Why did you choose to write about characters who set out to rediscover their faiths?

The characters in Doxology don’t really set out to rediscover their faiths—they simply rediscover them when everything else is lost. My two central characters, Vernon and Jody, uncle and nephew, are just living life as the story begins. Jody has a pretty good, interesting life, he has a stable job working for a nice family, he’s in love with the daughter of that family and works for the son and father. He has totally inserted himself into this family, and his life has promise. Only when he learns that his father is dying does he decide to return home, deal with things he has successfully avoided, and discover the great role faith has played in making him who he is. Vernon, conversely, is making his way through life, but just barely; the tragic loss of his son has made him a mere shell of the man he once was, and the greatest joy of his current life is his ongoing endeavor to show his disdain for God. Only when he fails in the one pitiful thing he has left, when he is broken down to absolutely nothing, is a return to faith possible. The story is entirely fabricated, without really a shred of reality, though I can recognize parts of myself in many of the characters. Particularly Jody’s girlfriend.

2. What was the inspiration for this book?

The inspiration for Doxology was the longstanding concept of “my brother’s keeper,” superimposed on the Jewish concept of “dayeinu”. Dayeinu is what Jews say during the Passover seder in contemplation of the many things God has done for us—the concept of “it would have been enough.” “If only God had led us out of the desert, dayeinu, it would have been enough. But no, God did something more.” In 2005, when I finally started writing, I worked on short stories and met twice a month with a group of other writers. When my wife and I decided to leave the country for a year, I figured, well I won’t be meeting with a writers’ group anymore, maybe I’ll just write a book. And I wrote the first several drafts of that book while we were traveling, from a smelly dive-shop hotel in Zanzibar, where I had to drag a rickety wooden table into our room and kick my wife and son out for the afternoon, to a beachfront room in Phuket, to the lobby of a YMCA hotel in Jerusalem, to a coffee shop with stale cookies in Malaysia, where my family and I helped build a Habitat for Humanity house during the day. And really that trip cemented for me the idea that anywhere you go, the stories are the same. We all care most about our families. There are so many good things God does for us.

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A Reader Reviews–”A Girl’s Guide to Dating Zombies” by Lynn Messina

Picture it—New York City 2020, twenty years post-zombie apocalypse. There is barely a man alive. Oh, there are males everywhere, but since the onset of the zombie plague in the year 2000, a variant strain of a zombie virus has turned just about every male on earth into a zombie. Women have been reduced to domesticating zombies or living without anything approaching male companionship.

That’s where Hattie Cross, a reporter for a National Inquirer-type newspaper comes in.

Hattie has perfected the art of dating zombies, and is eager to share her knowledge and experience with other women. Full of an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude, Hattie is determined to date zombies, and enjoy it.

That is, until, she meets a real man for the first time, and promptly vomits all over him. Wouldn’t you just want to die? But Hattie is tough; she doesn’t let her humiliation keep her from falling for this man, and in the process, detecting a conspiracy that threatens the very stability of the world.

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A Reader Reviews–”The Mancode: Exposed” by Rachel Thompson

Fair warning to my readers—ADULT CONTENT.  This review contains subject matter and language that you do not normally find on my blog. If you think you might be offended, you may want to skip it and wait for next week’s review.

Rachel Thompson gives the reader clear and emphatic warning at the beginning of The Mancode: Exposed:

• “The Mancode: Exposed has sex in it. If that offends you, move along. It’s sarcastic and snarky. If your sensibilities run toward the conservative, you might not want to read any farther. (Pssst: I also throw in the occasional well-placed curse word or two.)”
• “… this particular section, we talk bodies. If you’re comfortable deconstructing things like the penis or vagina, I’m your girl. Hang out, stay awhile. Put on your Pradas and let’s go, baby.”
• “… a #snarky bitch. Tried to warn you. If you can’t handle the snark, get out of the kitchen. I certainly did. **”

Well, I’m not easily scared, and so I stayed. I’m glad I did.

The Mancode: Exposed is witty, snarky, sarcastic, and sweet, all rolled into one fun, easy read.

That’s not an easy feat to pull off, but Thompson puts together an entertaining collection of essays on her take on the dynamics of men, women, and their interactions.

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A Reader Reviews–”Heart Surgeon, Hero, … Husband?” by Susan Carlisle

Susan Carlisle’s debut medical romance is a story of broken hearts looking to be mended, both literally and figuratively.

Hannah Quinn and Doctor Scott McIntyre had a short but torrid affair years ago, when Hannah was a student nurse and Scott a medical student. Their friendship had resulted in one night of passion, but Hannah was broken-hearted when Scott left their bed, and her, without a word.

Now, years later, Hannah finds herself sitting across a hospital conference room table from Scott, listening to him tell her that her two-year-old son needs a heart transplant. She had thought she would never see Scott again, much less as the mother of one of his patients.

Hannah is alone in the world for the most part. Her ex-husband, the baby’s father, has abandoned them, and her only relative, a sister, lives in California. Her only emotional support during baby Jake’s crisis increasingly comes from Scott.

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A Reader Reviews–”Stay Tuned” by Lauren Clark

Stay tuned, indeed, for a love story set against the backdrop of what goes on behind the scenes of a daily television news show.

There’s plenty of love to go around in Lauren Clark’s debut novel. Married love, parent love (spanning three generations), friendship love, career love. That’s a lot of love to balance, but Stay Tuned’s main character, Melissa Moore, does it all the while performing her fast-paced job as the producer of Macon, Georgia’s number one television news show.

Clark has the credentials to create a realistic news room; after earning degrees in English and journalism, she worked at news stations in upstate New York and Alabama. As a former news anchor, reporter, and producer, Clark expertly moves Melissa from producer to anchor after the two regular anchors have a very public meltdown on live television.

Melissa is thrown into temporarily anchoring the news broadcasts while she continues producing. At first she believes that she’ll be anchoring only until the station finds a permanent replacement, but Melissa comes to realize she loves being in front of the camera as much as she does working in the background.

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A Reader Reviews–”Proud Pants, An Unconventional Memoir” by Gregory G. Allen

In Proud Pants, author Gregory G. Allen crawls into the skin of his older brother, Johnny, and uses his own words to give voice to Johnny as he lies dying. Unconventional, certainly. Powerful, most definitely.

It would be difficult for anyone to read Proud Pants and not be moved by the story of Johnny’s life, and by the inextricable bonds of family, the lives of Johnny’s family, including Allen.

Those family bonds are a study in the cultural shift from the nuclear family of the fifties and sixties to the blended families of the seventies, eighties, and beyond. Johnny’s parents married young, perhaps too young, and quickly produced three children, of whom Johnny is the oldest. It takes only a few short years for the parents’ marriage to unravel; Johnny’s father takes him along when he moves out, and the two younger sisters stay with their mother.

Eventually, both parents remarry to partners who bring along their own children. The new couples then have children together, the result being a tangle of complicated relationships between parents, step-parents, full siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin, but Johnny seems to feel particularly unwanted and abandoned in the wake of the family dynamics.

As he moves through childhood, Johnny struggles with the feeling of being cast off by his birth mother. A variety of circumstances results in Johnny’s being bounced around among parents, step-parents, and grandparents, and even a home for wayward boys, for much of his childhood. Eventually, Johnny’s father settles into a stable relationship with a new wife, but not even  his stepmother’s devotion can fill the hole in Johnny’s heart.

In his pain and feelings of not fitting in anywhere, Johnny gets into trouble everywhere he turns. He smokes, he drinks, he steals, he skips school, he picks fights with just about every human being with whom he comes into contact.

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