The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

June 10, 2014 By Leave a Comment

KITCHEN
The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (375 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Stephanotis

With the glass kitchen, Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself. A true recipe for life.

There are men price of viagra tablet who are able to attain an erection when he is sexually galvanised. Basically, there should be a flexibility of choice so that you are easily cialis from india tadalafil able to get strong erection without any side effect. Impotence or erectile dysfunction is basically a disorder where a person faces issues tadalafil generic cheapest appalachianmagazine.com at the time of his erection. But more damaging, was the lack of a key uk viagra online stomach factor, destroyed by the chronic inflammation. Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

What do you do if your marriage is over and all you have left is a handful of cookbooks and a garden apartment in New York City willed to you by an aunt? If you’re Portia, the main character in this story, you take those books and head to the Big Apple with dreams of starting anew.

I enjoyed the character of Portia because she was strong, even when things weren’t going the way she’d planned. Gabriel, her neighbor was a complex character. I think the author wanted him to come across as brooding and someone who stands in the way of Portia getting what she wants, but for me, the word hero sprang to mind as soon as Portia meets him. I liked him a lot, and I won’t give away some of the plot, but my instincts were right about him.

And then there’s Ariel, Gabriel’s twelve year old daughter who is the other point of view character in this story. While I know that she’d been through a lot with losing her mother and moving to NYC and hence had to grow up fast, sometimes I found her dialogue and outlook a little advanced for her age, but overall she was a fun character who sometimes was the driving force of the story.

There’s also some humor, especially when Portia takes a job as a hamburger. The pacing was perfect and the reference to food makes your mouth water. There are even some recipes to try as well.

The secondary characters, including Portia’s two sisters are also well-rounded and add just the right mix. If you enjoy stories about healing and second chances, then The Glass Kitchen should probably be added to your summer reading list.

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The Partner Track by Helen Wan

October 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

TRACK
The Partner Track by Helen Wan
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mainstream Fiction
Length: Full Length (304 pgs)
Rated: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon

A young attorney must choose between the prestige of partnership and the American Dream that she—and her immigrant parents—have come so close to achieving in this riveting debut

The vas deferens is the sildenafil 100mg channels which transmits sperm from the testicles to the urethra. When a man is sensually aroused, his expectations to satisfy his partner cialis overnight no prescription are extremely high, but, sometimes problem like erectile dysfunction doesn’t allow him to do the rest of the job. But with the help of medical science, there are useful strategies formulated to cope up with the changes brought about by anatomical defects in the male cialis cost sexual organ. It lowers blockages, which discount levitra http://deeprootsmag.org/category/departments/bordercrossings/ leads to heart attacks and further strokes. In the eyes of her corporate law firm, Ingrid Yung is a “two-fer.” As a Chinese-American woman about to be ushered into the elite rank of partner, she’s the face of Parsons Valentine & Hunt LLP’s recruiting brochures–their treasured “Golden Girl.” But behind the firm’s welcoming façade lies the scotch-sipping, cigar-smoking old-boy network that shuts out lawyers like Ingrid. To compensate, Ingrid gamely plays in the softball league, schmoozes in the corporate cafeteria, and puts in the billable hours—until a horrifically offensive performance at the law firm’s annual summer outing throws the carefully constructed image way out of equilibrium.Scrambling to do damage control, Parsons Valentine announces a new “Diversity Initiative” and commands a reluctant Ingrid to spearhead the effort, taking her priority away from the enormous deal that was to be the final step in securing partnership. For the first time, Ingrid finds herself at odds with her colleagues—including her handsome, golden-boy boyfriend—in a clash of class, race, and sexual politics.

A life according to plan – right up until the corporate sabotage that is. The Partner Track focuses on Ingrid Yung, an ambitious young lawyer with firm goals and highly professional skill. She’s on her way to a partnership… or she thinks she is. She’s sure Parsons Valentine & Hunt LLP is a fantastic firm to work for. She does her time, pays her dues. Friendships and family come a distant second; she’s even being careful of who she dates. However, when it comes right down to it, will she make partner?

We do wonder if this is one of those old-boy corporations where the glass ceiling is practically invisible, but oh-so-there. The firm is a bit stereotypical, but believable. If Ingrid navigates her way to the top carefully, it would be fair to say the firm treats her a bit carefully, too. And the true bad guy is a bit of a sleeper; he’ll surprise you. He sure blindsides Ingrid.

Corporate politics aren’t really the center of this story- Ingrid trying to get a fair shake and getting even are what will hold the reader enthralled. Wan’s is an un-intrusive writing style notable for believable conversations and for every thought or incident moving the plot forward.

The story is gripping and I read this in one sitting: slick and engaging, do add to your reading list.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

June 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

AIR
Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (402 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Camellia

On Quinnipeague, hearts open under the summer stars and secrets float in the Sweet Salt Air…

Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole’s coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.

But what both women don’t know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.

To me, Sweet Salt Air is to be savored without haste. I realized immediately that I didn’t want to race along just reading for story. I wanted to soak up the ambiance of Quinnipeague Island, just off the coast of Maine. I wanted to vicariously experience the distinctive smells, the feel of the wind, the sand and rocks along the beach, all the things that excite the senses. I especially wanted to be a part of Charlotte Evans “going home again” and reconnecting with her dearest friend.

The uniqueness of the islanders enchanted me while the primary characters made me want to comfort them—assuring them that they were loved. Their emotional needs are almost palpable. Barbary Delinsky helps the reader see into the deepest recesses of these characters’ hearts.

This enhanced buy cheap viagra downtownsault.org stamina, energy and stamina please your female. The pharmaceutical products such as http://downtownsault.org/category/shopping-downtown/page/4/ levitra uk help cure impotence and related conditions or issues in a couple of hours. Some growers DO cheat, as I am able to be still and get viagra australia relax. It is helpful in treatment of male sexual problems.During this period, this medicine hasmaintainedcustomers’ positive attitude and have been on the top among ED medicine. generic cialis online bought this? It stands for erection-boosting tablets that increase male strength to produce firm erections when he is suffering from erectile dysfunction take a juice of pomegranate daily. Charlotte Evans, a successful freelance, world traveling writer, finds Quinnipeague still the island of her memory, a place she’d exiled herself from more than ten years ago as well as absenting herself from her dearest friend Nicole Carlysle. Now back on the island and with Nicole to help her complete her cookbook of Quinnie recipes and people who use them, Charlotte is beset by the old guilt, heartache, and misery that she has tried so hard to outrun these many years. Even though she is independent, self-sufficient, with an edgy attitude, she wants the closeness back that she and Nicole had for so many years. She wants redemption. Her strengths and weaknesses and the way the author reveals them is riveting.

Charlotte’s unexplainable yet undeniable attraction to Leo Cole, the island’s former bad boy and now recluse, has something of a magical aura about it. The nights, the environment pregnant with scents of herbs,, their working together with few words, and the vast difference in their life styles give the reader a feeling they are in a world all their own when they are together—disconnected from the real world. The melding of these two strong personalities is not without pain, but it also has humor, joy, and life-changing needs and emotions that are spellbinding. Leo Cole’s story is startling and compelling.

Nicole, sweet, giving and with a childlike voice, needs to reconnect with her strong dearly loved Charlotte. She not only needs her help to get the cookbook ready for publication, she also needs her for emotional strength to get through the ordeal she and her husband Julian are dealing with—a four-year-old secret that is eating her alive. Her emotional wounds are so deep; if they’d been physical, she would have bled to death. Nicole seems like such a fragile little soul, but the strength Charlotte brings out in her is magnificent as it comes into its own.

Julian, Nicole’s famous doctor husband, creates a firestorm that influences the plot time and again. The lives of those who love him most get battered unmercifully in the storm. How he and Nicole cope with the devastation in their lives squeezes the heart to the gasping point.

Nicole’s mother is a secondary character that flounders but finds her footing as she and Nicole suffer grief, harsh words, and fear. The subtle ins and outs of their relationship show the reader the unbreakable ties of mother and daughter love.

The most intriguing part of the story, to me, is the evolving of Charlotte and Leo’s relationships. One can almost believe that his mother Cecily, the mysterious herb lady who is dead, is still orchestrating events. The unique scents of Jasmine, Valerian and the power of the elusive red clover makes one wonder ‘what if’.

Barbara Delinsky takes her flawed characters, so human, and plops them down on an enduring island with its unique people who have a culture all their own. She transports the reader into that world so apart from the bustling world most people are used to. Her exquisite writing style with amazing descriptions, attention to detail, hint of magic, and love that lifts up and sets the heart singing makes Sweet Salt Air an absorbing novel—a story to enjoy to the very last word.

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Secrets from the Past by Barbara Taylor Bradford

May 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

SECRETS
Secrets from the Past by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (368 pgs)
Heat: Sensual
Rated: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon

Moving from the hills above Nice to the canals and romance of Venice and the riot-filled streets of Libya, Secrets From The Past is a moving and emotional story of secrets, survival and love in its many guises. Thirty-year old Serena Stone is a war photographer who has followed in her famous father’s footsteps. But after eight years, the danger and adrenaline rush take their toll. When her legendary father dies unexpectedly, she steps away from the war zone to reassess her life. Serena begins to write her father’s biography, takes the first chapters to Harry Redford, his best friend and frontline colleague. Harry asks Serena to go to Venice to look after her former lover and colleague, Zachary North, who has come out of the Afghan battlefields suffering from mental and physical exhaustion. Against her better judgment, Serena agrees to go to Zac’s side… It is Zac who offers to help her tackle her father’s huge legacy of iconic photographs. One collection about Venice, entitled La Serenissima, has never been seen before. It is among these images that Serena stumbles across pictures that threaten to turn her world upside down. In search of the truth about her father, her family and her own life, Serena traces the secrets of the past in a quest to understand a story from decades earlier.

With very contemporary – even ‘in the news’ kind of content, Barbara Taylor Bradford’s new novel delivers both powerful romance and believable intrigue. It is also a little edgier than most contemporary romances, really dealing, on a very personal level, with the individual’s struggles with aftermath of war.

Serena Stone works as a photojournalist in some of the most war-ravaged places on the planet. The finality of a death –inability to reconcile or complete some phases of a relationship, marks the opening. The horror of war, as well as regrets, create a very dark backdrop that gives impact to the emotional content.
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Zac, Serena’s former lover – a relational that still evokes strong feelings of regrets and anger – is re-introduced to her life. With him, she begins what seems an innocent project; a photographed documentary collection of her father’s works…that suddenly leads to the unexpected. Photographs in Venice suggest something of another life, and Serena is forced to face questions about her family, and relationships, that she did not expect.

Zac is not the man he once was – not less, but somehow, more. He’s suffered, he’s been in violent situations, he seems, at times, dangerous. We all so want to Serena believe that his emotions are more heartfelt, his apologies honest – you cannot help but think that the Zac she aids today is a more genuine person than ever before. And, we discover that Serena was less than 100% truthful to him…we start to believe there is hope for these two, yet.

Everything you expect from a Barbara Taylor Bradford book is there – the well-developed relationships, depth of characters/family relationships, the twists in the plot that make it all so unpredictable.

While some readers might favor some of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s earlier works, I love that she still produces strong, self-actualized female characters and that she does indeed confront very contemporary issues. Style and story – it all goes hand-in-hand here. Her work is still head and shoulders above the best out there today. Secrets from the Past must go on your summer reading list.

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How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren

September 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (337 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

Set in a Colorado ski town, Kaya McLaren’s How I Came To Sparkle Again is a remarkable breakout novel that chronicles three people and their journey from loss to love; heartbreak to hope

Jill Anthony spent her young adulthood in the ski town of Sparkle, Colorado. But more than a decade has passed since she left when, only weeks after a very late miscarriage, she finds her husband in bed with another woman, she flees Austin, Texas for the town she knows: Sparkle.

Lisa Carlucci wakes up one morning after another night of meaningless sex, looks in the mirror and realizes that she no longer wants to treat her body like a Holiday Inn. She’s going to hold out for love. The only problem is, love might come in the form of her ski bum best friend, who lives next door with his ski bum friends in a trailer known as “the Kennel.”

Cassie Jones, at age ten, has lost her mother to cancer and no longer believes in anything anymore. She knows her father is desperately worried about her, and she constantly looks for messages from her deceased mother through the heart-shaped rocks they once collected in the streams and hills of Sparkle.

Three people at the crossroads of heartbreak and healing. Three lives that will be changed one winter in Sparkle. One tender, funny, tear-jerking novel you won’t soon forget.

“Keep Living.” “Don’t worry about the future, it will come.” “Look at NOW, see opportunities….” This kind of advice and so much more is offered to Jill, Lisa, and Cassie as each of them struggles to find her way back to positive, productive living from the bleakest time in each of their lives.

Jill, a successful nurse with a beautiful home, is devastated by the loss of her unfaithful husband and their baby. She runs, feeling like a discarded woman and only in her thirties. Even her parents have written her off as not being good enough to be in the Celestial Kingdom with them. But in Sparkle, Colorado, Uncle Howard accepts her, warts and all, just like he did years ago when she was a skinny kid. Everyone should have an “Uncle Howard”! He is a darling.

Jill needs a season to heal and ends up living in “The Kennel” with three men—womanizers, ski bums, and loyal friends to her at this fragile time in her life. Tom, Eric, and Hans furnish outrageous humor and a philosophy that staggers the imagination. Tom explains the Wild Kingdom with alpha and beta male philosophy to Jill. It is mind boggling. These three men depict a unique sub-cultural that functions to the rhythm of a different drum.

Lisa, Jill’s friend, welcomes Jill back to Sparkle with open arms. A ski instructor and accepting friend of Tom, Eric, and Hans, Lisa turns over a new leaf and starts a new chapter in her life. She struggles to regain her self-esteem and to build a life with integrity and love as a must in any relationship she has from here on. She becomes a mystery to those who have seen her promiscuous ways in the past. She is a super friend and what she does to get even with Jill’s faithless husband that files for divorce is unparalleled—wicked.

Little Cassie grieves for her dead mother who had also been her ski mentor, close companion and confidante. Mike, her father, does all he knows to do to help her, but knows he falls short and Cassie is such a problem and lives in a world so to herself that no one wants to stay with her while Mike works, until Jill comes along.

Overwhelmed with his own grief, Mike struggles to do his job where life and death seem to just happen for no reason. He hates for people to try to rationalize why some live and some die.

The relationship that grows between Jill and Cassie—so fragile in the beginning has some breath-holding moments that tug on the heart strings. The humanness and stages of healing they help each other through make poignant reading.

Kaya McLaren writes descriptions that plop the reader right down into the pristine snow on the silent ski slopes and into the disgusting “Kennel” where urine is spattered on the toilet tissue, marijuana perfumes the air, and a mirror hangs on the ceiling over Jill’s bed. Ms. McLaren offers a vicarious experience with characters that range from successful professionals to the “barely-get-by” misfits and manages to let the reader see something especially good in each of the.

Ms. McLaren has an amazing talent for writing humor that fits perfectly with a character to make each one endearing in some way yet flawed in other ways. She engages the reader’s senses with revealing descriptions and metaphors and keeps one turning pages to see what serious or humorous thing will happen next. She weaves a multitude of life’s obstacles into the story as Jill, Lisa, and Cassie forge a path back to happiness with the help of a delightful array of secondary characters.

How I Came to Sparkle Again, with its more than one meaning, is a sparkling, funny, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking tale with remarkable characters. It touches the heart on many levels—a keeper.

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Riptide by Cherry Adair

July 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Riptide by Cherry Adair
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, mystery/suspense
Length: Full Length (288 pgs)
Heat Level spicy
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum


Princess Bria Visconti demands the return of the money her brother rashly invested in Cutter Salvage. Treasure hunter Nick Cutter is too reckless, too arrogant—and far too handsome—for his own good. But he can’t charm his way out of this one. Bria plans to make Nick pay up even if she has to board his boat, don a wet suit, and dive for the treasure herself…

Nick sees Bria as a beautiful but spoiled princess who’s never done a day’s work in her pampered life. But once they set sail for the dive site, and the legendary fortune in gold the wreck carries, Nick begins to see Bria in a new light. This princess may be out of her depth, but she’s ready to take on the hidden danger and excitement a treasure hunt stirs to the surface. Together they must fight unexpected enemies—and reveal their darkest secrets—before they’re pulled into a rip current of danger.

Seekers of adventure, treasure hunting, intrigue, double-crosses and high seas romances can’t go wrong with Riptide. This high impact tale is told at a speed that made me breathless. There is so much going on, so many nuances that taint a simple relationship with tension, mistrust and high stakes, it’s amazing the hero and hero had time to fall in love.

Nick and Bria, right from the very first chapter, were at odds with each other. Of course one of them didn’t know it at the time and when the other found out, it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy moment. That pretty much sums up this whole reading experience. It’s not cute or silly or lame. It’s hard edged, gritty, dramatic and suspenseful.

The only people I could trust in the story were the names Nick listed plus the heroine. He was never too sure about her. I’m pretty sure it’s not because she gave him ammunition to feel that way. I certainly didn’t pick up on any anything she did or said to give him that impression. It’s because the hero reacted so icily to Bria, so in control and arrogant to an almost inhuman degree that clued me in that when he eventually did succumb to Cupid’s arrow, Nick was going to go down hard. And he did, and I loved every wonderful and explosive moment of it. For a man whose nickname is Spock, he was more volatile than Kirk or Scotty at their most stressed.

Bria is quite the mixed bag of contradictions. She is polished, clever, sweet and sassy and has one heck of a raging temper when she lets fly. Of course the only person that inspires her to let it rip was Nick. He pushed her buttons big time. I was entertained at her temper tantrums because I never knew what she was going to do. I giggled at her decorating, laughed out loud at her verbal profanities and got a kick out of her penchant to throw things. Another aspect of her character I appreciated was her training. It was nice to see a regular woman being able to defend herself and not fall to pieces in a crisis without having to credit some super secret spy agency.

Oh, the super secret T-FLAC agency does give a cameo performance but they were not as impressive as they’ve been in the past. The goobers. For all of their access to fancy and sophisticated technology, they didn’t discover the very intricate and well thought out evil plot when it would have done the hero and heroine the most good. And, when Nick needed their help, something never seemed to go right. For this adventure, Nick Cutter has to rely on his own brains, wit and alpha tendencies and ended up partnering with the last person he’d ever expected to, Bria. What fun.

More amazing surprises were in store for me with the revelation of a secret identity. It was bittersweet and the timing couldn’t have been worse but Ms. Adair knew what she was doing. The introduction of this person means that a future book is going to be an auto-buy for me. There is no way that there won’t be a story about this, it’s awesome.

Another thing I liked was the dialogue. I loved seeing Nick’s paranoia rationalized. I enjoyed Bria’s determination and internal pep talks to out ice Nick’s Spock demeanor and fire him up. There is not one scene that didn’t work for me, not one chapter that was slow or weak. Everything that happens does so for a reason and the result is a masterful bit of mystery, treachery and grand storytelling.

Riptide is a pulse-pounding read that thoroughly entertains and provides a stunning and satisfying happily ever after. As soon as Bria steps foot aboard Nick’s boat, the Scorpion, the action never stops. Readers will be hard pressed to put down the book. Every chapter has a hook that won’t let go, compiled with revelations and suspicions that can keep a reader wide-eyed and riveted. This is the kind of story that can make time cease to exist. The adventure is that good. The romance is that wild and I had a grand time discovering the truth. Pick up a copy and see for yourself.

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Letter From a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Letter From a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (417 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

Justine Nolan is a documentary film maker who lost her beloved grandmother a decade ago—the person who was the only source of love and comfort in her life. Her own mother Deborah had always been distant and uninvolved, following her own agenda in pursuit of her career as an interior designer. But when Justine inadvertently opens a letter addressed to her mother, she discovers that not only is her grandmother Gabri alive, but that Deborah has deliberately estranged the family from her for all these years. Justine’s search for her grandmother takes her to Istanbul where she begins to uncover the family’s secrets that stretch all the way back to World War II. As the layers of deception peel away, Justine begins to understand a woman she never really knew…and she begins to ask questions about the true desires of her own heart.

Whether by coincidence or according to a master plan, Justine Nolan, a successful twenty-first century woman, has no idea when she opens a letter addressed to her mother that it will start her moving toward her destiny—a destiny seemingly set in motion three quarters of a century ago.

Letter From a Stranger spans generations and shows humans at their best and worst. Though contemporary and set in a fast-paced, demanding world, this story has a spellbinding story within a story of a horrifying time in history; a time that tested the mettle of the disenfranchised in Germany during World War II.

The plot seems to move along in a deliberate fashion at first, yet every little detail has significance as Justine keeps to her course of action. Barbara Taylor Bradford does a masterful job of weaving together the delightful love story of Justine and Michael Dalton with poignant stories of people ranging from five-year-old Daisy to octogenarians Grandmother Gabriele and her friend Anita.

Like a tapestry of old that tells a compelling story, Letter From a Stranger tells how out of a dark and terrible time, Justine and Michael’s soul mate kind of love finally emerges to bring joy to many. Justine and Michael’s love story along with the love stories in the sub plots are golden threads in the multi-colored tapestry that has dark threads of hatred, greed for power and money, suffering, bigotry, and disease. One of the dark threads I kept hoping would turn to gold is the one of Deborah Nolan, the mother of Justine and her twin brother Richard. Of course, its darkness is eclipsed by the dark threads that represent the horrific events found in Justine and Richard’s Grandmother’s notebook entitled “Fragments of My Life”.

The many colors of the various characters make this tapestry of a tale captivating. Ms. Bradford, as usual, creates such well-developed characters they seem to come alive on the pages and stir a myriad of emotions. Her exquisite writing style engages the senses with subtle metaphors, humor, and with remarkable descriptions like the gardens at the “yalis” that enchant and the night scenes of central Istanbul across the Bosporus at night that are magical. Other descriptions whisk the reader away to vicarious experiences (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) with not only the primary characters but with characters like the darling little Daisy, who wants to buy a ticket to go visit her mother in Heaven; Gabriele, Justine’s grandmother, who at the age of fourteen had to face being an orphan and a Jew during Hitler’s time for eight years; as well as with the many other intriguing characters of contemporary and WWII time.

Letter From a Stranger, packed full of incredible characters, glowing with love, and whispering with mystery, also has spellbinding and earth-shattering happenings at times, that make it “top-of-the-line entertainment.

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Destined by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Destined by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (325 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 16+
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Peppermint

Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet – which would be a whole lot easier if the High Counsel saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx’s gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together – if he can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father’s shadow…

But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans, including Lenobia’s handsome horse whisperer, threatens their precarious stability. And then there’s the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous teen boy who is actually more – or possibly less – than human. Only Neferet knows he was created to be her greatest weapon. But Zoey can sense the part of his soul that remains human, the compassion that wars with his Dark calling. And there’s something strangely familiar about him…

Will Neferet’s true nature be revealed before she succeeds in silencing them all? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox’s humanity in time to protect him – and everyone – from his own fate? Find out what’s destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series.

Destined reignited my passion for this series the moment I read the first chapter. I have been following this series for a few years now and have read every story to date. Unfortunately, the last few stories have left me feeling a little passionless when it comes to this group of kids I had come to care for. This story however, captured the reasons why I had fallen in love with the series to begin with. It showed me that this mom and daughter author duo still has the capacity to weave the magic that can enchant an audience.

If a reader has not been following the series, they’ll most likely be lost if they jump right in with Destined. The stories follow the same group of young adults who are fighting the ultimate battle between good and evil. Nor it is the lack of desire to have sex viagra pill on line with your partner. But sometimes the consumption shows some rare side effects and you should be well aware about the dosage commander levitra pattern. These soft cialis online Kamagra solutions come in tablets of 25mg, 50mg, and 100mg. over here viagra overnight delivery The name Horny Goat Weed pretty much says it all. That means that Zoey has found her way through a barrage of tough decisions and loss. It is worth reading each story and even though I have read them all, after reading Destined, I am ready to go back to the first book, Marked,and start the experience all over again.

One writing technique that these authors use that really keeps readers interested is changing the point of view character. I can experience the same scene through another’s eyes and catch various changes, or even get to understand the characters differently. It gave me a more enriched experience and kept me entertained. It also helped flesh out the antagonistic conflict because I then understood that characters who are thought to be on evil’s side instead fall into the category that “Darkness does not always equate to evil. Light does not always bring good” as the prophetic Kramisha had declared in this story.

While this is a young adult’s novel, this is not a story I would recommend for young teens or tweens. There is profanity throughout this story as well as intimate situations. The characters in the book are older teens and some have already went though the change as they went from fledglings to adult vampires. They act accordingly.

Destined is a book that older individuals as well as young adults can enjoy. They really try the whole series. A tale as captivating as this one is deserves five stars as well as a place in my must read again pile.

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Home Front by Kristin Hannah

January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (384 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Camellia

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life—children, careers, bills, chores—even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own—for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.

Choices made whether right or wrong, good or bad, have to be lived with regardless of the cost. Home Front takes the reader into Jolene and Michael Zarkades’s struggles—struggles so true to life in our time in history. The depth of emotions that cuts to the quick soon had me looking for a box of tissues.
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Deployed to Iraq, reservist Jolene, a Black Hawk pilot, leaves behind an angry, confused, self-centered twelve-year-old daughter and a vivacious little four-year-old daughter that just wants her mommy. She carries with her the words of her lawyer husband: “I don’t love you anymore”. Duty-bound to the army that gave her security and a sense of purpose and place at age eighteen when she was homeless and penniless, Jolene’s inner conflicts rage while outer conflicts prove vicious and life-threatening day after day and night after night.

Michael, a successful lawyer, works long hours and earns high fees and feels he is doing his part in the family. He has little concern about missing his daughters’ special events and parties. He knows very little about nurturing his children. With Jolene’s deployment, his life changes drastically. He loves Betsy and Lulu, but feels emasculated having to tend to their needs—like fixing meals, doing laundry, seeing to their school needs, shopping for groceries and on and on. Even with his mother’s super good help, Michael feels overwhelmed. He had always known Jolene was a woman of great strength but never realized all the things she did. Even worse, in the recesses of his mind, the words “I don’t love you anymore” nag at him. His wife has gone into harm’s way without his support, He and the girls let Jolene go away with full knowledge of their displeasure with her, while Tami Flynn, Jolene’s best friend and co-pilot had deployed with her husband and son’s resounding support and love that was reaffirmed at every opportunity.

Jolene, with no support other than that Tami can give her, serves and protects with skill and unrelenting determination as she tries to keep herself and her crew alive as they fly missions in a raging war zone.

The Black Hawk is shot down in enemy territory!

The action in Iraq and on the home front changes the dynamics of the Zarkades family as well as the lives of the secondary characters. Some of the secondary characters are unforgettable. One’s heart goes out to the trouble little twelve-year-old Betsy suffers when cruel things are said about her mother. The precious little Lulu, who plays invisible and staunchly declares that Betsy is not her boss, copes without her mommy in unique ways, but heartbreaking tears still flow at times. Mila, Michael’s mother, is a treasure. She is the one family member that always has and continues to support Jolene. She loves and understands her daughter-in-law. She loves her son dearly but sees his faults, yet is never failing in her support. She is a firm anchor for Betsy and Lulu. Many other characters, like Keith Keller, the young veteran with PTSD; Chris Cornflower, the eccentric psychiatrist—a former POW; the wise and caring physical therapist Conny help to shape the lives of the members of the Zarkades family

Kristin Hannah takes the reader on a vicarious journey with characters that seem to come alive. They struggle to find their way through territory mined with explosive issues like marriage not nurtured, parenting, heartbreak, grief, forgiveness, and just “plain-old” coping with whatever life brings. All through Home Front the themes of we do the best we can with what we have to work with and sometime all we can do is hold on are lifelines the characters hold on to as they work their way toward and find that deep-abiding love—love that survives in spite of all the emotional and physical trauma.

Home Front is an amazing story that truly touches the heart. It is a keeper.

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13 to Life by Shannon Delany

August 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

13 to Life by Shannon Delany
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Age Recommendation: 14+
Length: Full Length (308 pgs)
Rating: 5 suns
Reviewed by Wisteria

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

Talk about a fun, fast, paranormal roller coaster that will leave you craving more of Pietr.

Debut Novelist, Shannon Delany, brings a whole new level to the werewolf world with 13 to Life. levitra sale http://robertrobb.com/pounding-flake-over-internet-privacy/ The company has its headquarters in midtown Manhattan, in New York City and research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut. According tadalafil cheap online to lead researcher George Fisher in the Sydney Morning Herald” Increased levels of those hormones in the blood means that you are more active sexually”. Backache, Sore Hip and Thighs You should not underestimate the pain on several areas of your body, including the male penile organ Atherosclerosis – High blood cholesterol and pulmonary disease; similarly, they experience sexual dysfunction. tadalafil cialis generika It is also important to avoid combining cheap super cialis, cialis, order cheap cialis and robertrobb.com with any nitrate (for example nitroglycerine) or alpha blockers (products for treating advanced prostate gland hyperplasia and/or for decreasing blood pressure). The story opens with Jessie — a girl with not much left to lose — but nothing really to gain. She’s lost her mother and is faced with all the heartbreak she can bear. Yet, when Pietr, a hot, Russian mystery boy shows up, she can’t help but be a little snarky, outspoken, and just downright curious. Pietr and his crazed family of seeming-misfits will have you wondering what they are trying to hide and why they are all-too-willing to fight each other to keep whatever secret they are hiding.

This book definitely has it all — drama, love, flirting (even though it’s really unintended in the beginning!), and mystery that will have you refusing to put the book down. It is an awesome start to the series!

13 to Life will leave you craving more of Pietr and his mysterious and seemingly corrupt family. Jessie is a relatable character that is well written and I heavily identified with her from the beginning. This is a must read — and Ms. Delany, I want a Pietr of my own!

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