The Widow’s End by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

September 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

WIDOWS
The Widow’s End by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical
Length: Short Story (65 pgs)
Heat Level: sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

When widow Katie Lafferty arrives at the Pythian House, a home for widows and orphans, she has little hope for the future. She soon learns the reality offers more grueling work than she could have imagined. One of the few bright spots in her daily drudgery is Latin Master Everett Brown at the school across the street. As Katie struggles to conform to the rules and settle into her new life, she looks forward to her chance meetings with Mr. Brown When she fails to meet the standards of the home, her future becomes even more uncertain. If she has a knight in shining armor, it’s Everett Brown.

Katie never expected to be widowed so soon. She also had no idea that her husband was so far in debt…

This author has picked an interesting subject to write about. I had never heard of a Pythian’s Home for Widows and Children before. To set a romance in this setting was very entertaining.

Katie has no choice. She no longer has a home, has only the clothes on her back and she has no source of income so her only choice is to accept the aid of the Pythian’s Home. After all, if her husband hadn’t been in good standing it’s likely her only other choice would be to act as a prostitute. She travels to the closest home and hopes for the best.

Ms. Murphy writes a nice, easy romance tale that flows well and makes you smile. Katie has troubles, but she is bound and determined to get over them and go on with her life. The author makes her kind and thoughtful with a bit of rebelliousness mixed in. Katie will need all of that if she’s to live in this home and not be ground down.

Katie’s love interest is the teacher next door. It’s a one room school and the children from the home attend classes there. Everett has fallen out of favor with the home because of an incident with the boys. However, he’s nice enough to Katie. He also grows quite fond of her.

This is a short story, so it seems the romance was a bit rushed but Katie has lived all of her life properly and as she should. It may be that finally being free let her spirit loose.

I really like how Ms. Murphy ended it. It’s a bit corny, but it made me smile. After all, we have hopes and dreams. And who wouldn’t like a white knight to whisk them away? Give this book a read; I know you’ll enjoy all the antics in it.

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Glowing Dim as an Ember by Iyana Jenna

September 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

DOG
Glowing Dim as an Ember by Iyana Jenna
Publisher: Alfie Dog Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Length: Short Story (7 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

14 year-old Etienne keeps getting flashes of someone else’s memories. Dancing bears and painted wings are not exactly the things he meets every day especially since he is just a homeless boy living on the cold streets of Paris.

Is it better to have no hope for at all the future than it is to entertain false hope? Lowered expectations can be depressing, but Etienne has learned the hard way what happens when manufactured emotions deflate.

After years of neglect and malnutrition Etienne is almost ready to give up on life. No matter how hard he works he never seems to get ahead. I was drawn to his quiet, worn out spirit immediately, especially when a series of mysterious events stir up his last flicker of hope. At fourteen Etienne is old enough to know how the world really works now, and I was torn between cheering him on and wincing at the thought of him being disappointed by the cruelty of others yet again. Within a few short paragraphs I felt as if I’d known this character for his entire life and could predict exactly how he’d react to almost any outcome. It takes skill to develop a well-rounded narrator this rapidly, and I will definitely be on the lookout for more of Ms. Jenna’s work in the future.

This story packed an incredible amount of background information into a small number of scenes. Seven pages simply wasn’t enough space to fully cover all of the subplots that Ms. Jenna includes. Expanding it into a novella would have allowed more time to explore the character’s backgrounds as well as the the emotional ramifications of Etienne’s discovery. All of the subplots the author introduces are fascinating, and even though I thought the introductions of them were rushed I completely understand why she felt the need to mention them. The plot is richer and far more interesting because of this decision, but I wish I would have been given more time to absorb all of the surprises she packed into it.

The age recommendation for this piece is somewhat flexible. There is nothing inappropriate here for the 12+ age group, but it will probably resonate more with older students who are more likely to have processed bittersweet experiences in their own lives. I definitely would not recommend it for anyone under 12, though, due to the detailed descriptions of a certain character’s troubled past.

I’ve been mulling over the fate of every single person in Glowing Dim as an Ember since I finished reading it. This is a good choice for anyone who likes character-driven stories that are full of rapidly shifting plot twists.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

I Know What Gay Is by Foxglove Lee

September 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

LOVE
I Know What Gay Is by Foxglove Lee
Publisher: Prizm Books
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (15 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When the couple next door asks Jay to babysit, he can’t help wondering… why him? Did they hire Jay as some kind of queer role model because they suspect little Sarah is gay?

At the park, when Sarah and Jay run across the guy he’s been pseudo-stalking, Sarah insists she’s a boy. Darien’s sheer sexiness makes Jay pretty brain-dead, and he can’t think what to talk about except how Sarah wants everyone to call her Frank. The funny kid reminds Darien of his transgender cousin. Could Sarah be trans, too? Should Jay talk to her parents? What if they say it’s none of his business? What if they fire him?

Well, then he’ll just have to spend his summer watching Darien work in the park, sweaty and shirtless…

Babysitters are supposed to play games with and cook healthy lunch for their charges. Jay never expected his summer job would include more serious responsibilities.

Despite Jay’s reluctance to temporarily stand in for his neighbour’s nanny he clearly has a way with kids. His willingness to listen to Sarah’s unusual requests and their warm relationship made me like him instantly. The crush Jay develops on Darien adds depth to the plot, and I cheered for what I hoped would happen between them as they slowly get to know one another better.

One of the issues that is heavily discussed earlier in the plot is never resolved. I hoped to see a final scene in which the characters at least begin to figure out how and when they will address it. Had the author included such a conversation this would have easily earned a much higher rating.

The pacing and character development in this piece were excellent, so it was a little difficult for me to figure out why such an obvious question was left unanswered in an otherwise compelling story. While I have no idea if the author plans to write one or more sequels to this book, it makes me wonder if this is why I Know What Gay Is was written the way it was. Will we hear more from Jay and his determined little neighbor in the future? I certainly hope so!

I smiled my way through I Know What Gay Is. It’s a gentle, funny tale that was as appealing to this adult reader as I suspect it will be for its intended audience.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda E. Brunstetter

September 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HALF
The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Publisher: Barbour
Genre: Contemporary, Inspirational, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (320 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Amish widow Emma Yoder’s first quilt class brings the most unlikely people together. there’s Star, a young woman yearning for stability; Pan and Stuart Johnston, a struggling couple at odds in their marriage; Paul Ramirez, a young widower hoping to find solace in finishing a quilt; Jan Sweet, a rough and tough biker doing some creative community service; and Ruby Lee Williams, a preacher’s wife looking for relaxation when parish problems mount. But as these beginning quilters learn to transform scraps of material into beauty; their fragmented lives begin to take new shape with the helping hands of each other and the healing hand of God.

Emma Yoder is a widow and while her family is willing to care for her and take care of expenses, she wants her own income. She’d also like to have a little company. She decides to hold a quilting class; Amish people are famous for their quilt work. Surely someone would pay to come to learn the skill from her, wouldn’t they? Yes, they would. But she had no idea who they would be…

Ms. Brunstetter has written over 45 books about Amish life, and most are romances. I’ve read a few and was happy to see she had another one out. I quilt a bit and thought the combination of Amish, Englishers, and quilting would be entertaining; it was.

Emma’s daughter is flabbergasted by the group that shows up for class. When she asks Emma if she’s serious about teaching the class, Emma digs in and says yes. When she meets her class, she has a second thought over the wisdom of doing it. She has a young Goth girl, a single man 7with a baby, a biker, a black preacher’s wife and a bickering couple in the room. She perseveres and tells them what supplies they need and how to prepare for the next class.

These folks all have a problem of some kind. Emma can sense that and it doesn’t take long before she’s trying to help them. She offers simple, common sense advice. She doesn’t care what religion they have or if they don’t, but she offers a few Christian references for reassurance. The women in my family could always tell if something was bothering you and they “fixed it”, too. In this case, Emma suggests and they must decide if they wish to take the action to make their life better.

While she’s teaching class and the classmates are working on their personal problems, Emma suddenly has a man trying to date her. I really enjoyed how she escorts him out of the house, doesn’t invite him in, and tries to ignore him. He’s persistent and when she gets ill, he takes over her class. Discovering he has created his own quilting designs makes her wonder what else she doesn’t know about him.

This is slow paced story with a description of several lives, almost soap opera-like. It’s sweet, things work out for everyone, and Emma gets a new husband. The most ironic connection involves the biker and that was most believable because it was so unexpected. The other solutions were almost too easy but his was the kicker in the story.

I enjoyed Ms. Brunstetter’s story and it will be a good choice for anyone who likes Amish, quilting, or life stories. Why not give it a try?

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Granted Wish by Iyana Jenna

September 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

DOG
A Granted Wish by Iyana Jenna
Publisher: Alfie Dog Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (5 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Being told over and over that he is too young to have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend as the case may be, 15-year-old Kyle sends a wish to whoever up there willing to grant it.

There are few things more irritating as a teenager than desperately wanting to experience something that authority figures don’t think you’re ready to try.

No sooner does this tale begin than a clever twist upends everything I thought I knew about Kyle and his life. Figuring out what had actually happened kept me on my toes as the plot progressed and earned Ms. Jenna her newest fan. It’s difficult to discuss what happens to Kyle without inadvertently giving away spoilers, but suffice it to say that I was impressed by how much information I gleaned about his personality and character in such a short period of time.

This piece was written in present tense which made the dialogue feel stilted in certain scenes because so many different things were happening simultaneously. Writing it in the past tense instead would have allowed more time for the author to explain what was going on. It also would have eliminated several awkward phrases that distracted me from an otherwise gripping series of events.

Ms. Jenna supplied just enough information to wrap up the plot satisfactorily, but I still finished this tale wishing I could know what happens next. Kyle’s reactions to what happen to him are so flustered and realistic that I hope she will consider revisiting him when he’s a few years older. He is a memorable character whose quirks could provide enough fodder for a novel’s worth of adventures.

There are some stories I hope will never end, and A Granted Wish is one of them. This is a quick, satisfying read that I’d recommend to anyone else who is hearing about this promising author for the first time. It is a great introduction to what I hope will be a large body of work from her in the future.

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The Goats of Santo Domingo by Robert McEvilla

September 25, 2013 By 7 Comments

Cover_The Goats of Santo Domingo
The Goats of Santo Domingo by Robert McEvilla
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Genre: Historical, Mainstream
Length: Full (222 pgs)
Heat: Sweet
Rated: 3 stars
Review by Rose

Whenever John Romero was asked if he was wounded in Vietnam, he always got a confused look when he replied that his eye was lost in Santo Domingo.

A former baseball player with just six weeks left to serve in the army, John’s plans for making a comeback are interrupted when his unit is deployed to the Dominican Republic, and he finds himself in a combat situation. While dodging bullets, he meets a beautiful Dominican woman, the aloof, Ramona. She inflames the private passions of the paratroopers that view her from their command post. Romero plots a course to win her affections, but the political intrigue and the carnage in the streets of Santo Domingo conspire to thwart his every move, forcing him to make a drastic decision.

John Romero’s plans to return to the United States and once again take up his career as a professional baseball player are thwarted when his unit is deployed to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to aid in the military action. While he’s there, he’s intrigued by Ramona– a Dominican woman who sits in front of her house daily and reads.

The book is told from two points of view–and the voices are well-writen enough that the transitions are clear. I have to give the author credit there. When the segment is in John’s POV it sounds very different than when the story is being told from Ramona’s POV.

I can’t call this a romance, however, even though that’s the category the publisher puts it in. Yes, the characters have an interest in each other–they may even love each other. But, for the majority of the book they are apart. There are two brief scenes with them together and, even then, they don’t interact much. The ending is a bit atypical of your regular romance as well.

The writing is good and the story kept me interested. If you are like military novels, this may be the book for you because the detail about the military action and the men John serve with are really well-done. I could see this as a movie–and would enjoy it as a war movie. The scenes played out clearly and were well described.

There’s a bit of a mystery involved as well as one of the men John serves with is killed just before he’s to be sent home and there’s some fear on John’s part that he might be implicated.

Rather than romance, this book is more a “slice of life” look at one man and one woman caught in a moment of time affected by war–and the devastation it can wreak on people’s lives. Go into it expecting that, and you won’t be in the least disappointed.

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

Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

September 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

NIGHT
Starry Night by Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Full length (226 pgs)
Heat Level: sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

’Tis the season for romance, second chances, and Christmas cheer with this new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a megabestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.

Carrie is a journalist. She’s been a society page columnist and gets to go to all the major events with the upper class beautiful people. She hates it…

Finn Dalton has written a book about Alaska and how to survive in the wilds. No one has been able to find him to interview him. When Carrie says she’s going to quit the paper and the society page because this is not what she wants to do with her life, her editor offers her a new challenge. Find Dalton, interview him and he’ll give her a promotion and a new assignment. It won’t be easy to do but Thanksgiving is coming and she can use that time to hunt. She takes the challenge.

Finn doesn’t trust women; they lie and they leave. It happened with his mother and then with his girlfriend. He’s through with women. He likes living in his solitary cabin; he doesn’t need people in his life. But he has to use a pilot to get in and out of his cabin and that pilot decides he needs to meet Carrie.

Carrie tries to weasel his story out of him but he’s not talking. She makes friends with his dog and that makes him mad. Hennessey is supposed to protect him, not be mesmerized by the first woman that pets him. The only thing they have in common is a card game; they both can play cribbage.

I like the banter between the two, and how she has a conversation with the dog that somehow draws Finn out and makes him speak. Ms. Macomber makes you feel like you’re there.

This is a sweet romance with some misunderstandings and a clash of lifestyles. As always, everything ends up happily ever after. But that’s why we read Ms. Macomber’s work, isn’t it? She always delivers a good story with true love winning and that’s the way I want it, don’t you?

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Happy Birthday, Klutzface by Foxglove Lee

September 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HAPPY
Happy Birthday, Klutzface by Foxglove Lee
Publisher: Prizm Books
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (19 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It’s a comedy of errors when Laura prepares a romantic dinner for Mila’s birthday. Laura isn’t the world’s best cook to begin with, but when everything goes wrong in the immaculate home Mila’s supposed to be house sitting, the trouble’s only just begun. Laura and Mila wanted an evening of domestic bliss. Will their glimpse at adult life drive them into each other’s arms or drive them apart completely?

All Mila and Laura want is to share a romantic birthday dinner. Surely there are only so many accidents that can befall them while they’re cooking!

This is the funniest thing I’ve read in 2013. Mila is so worried about accidentally damaging her aunt’s property that every time something unfortunate happens she panics and overreacts. Of course panicking doesn’t do anything to clean up any of the messes that happen, but her over the top reactions were the best part of this tale. My favourite gag involves everything Mila and Laura attempt to do to turn off a fire alarm that keeps shrieking at the worst possible moments.

There are some issues in these character’s relationship that are brought up but never really resolved. While I certainly wouldn’t expect them to fix all of their problems in a short story, I would have liked to see Mila apologize for some of the comments she blurts out when Laura is injured early on in the plot. Mila’s comments felt out of place in an otherwise lighthearted and playful peek into their lives.

With that being said, Laura and Mila clearly have a warm and loving relationship. Their senses of humor are so well matched that they know when the other one is blowing off steam, and I truly don’t believe either one was offended by her girlfriend’s temporary bad mood.

Happy Birthday, Klutzface is an unforgettably hilarious tale about what happens when one tries to hard to impress a new girlfriend. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever awkwardly stumbled through an experience that should have been much less complicated than it actually turns out to be.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Remember Me by Amaleen Ison

September 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

ME
Remember Me by Amaleen Ison
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Genre: Young Adult, Suspense/Mystery, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (46 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Sera isn’t living. She’s existing—barely. Bedbound by illness, she has no memory of life before the freezing barn she now calls home. A mournful song haunts her dreams and hints at a past not completely buried—one she’s desperate to uncover. Yet Father’s whirlwind visits to draw blood and administer medication don’t provide answers. He only confirms the one thing she already knows; she’s dying.

A lonely death without ever knowing her past seems inevitable until a sudden, mystifying return to health coincides with the arrival of a boy in the opposite out-building. The inextricable pull to the stranger, and the broken memories that storm her mind when he’s near, warn of a history quite different to any she could have imagined. If she’s to uncover the truth she craves, she’ll have to decide whether knowledge of the past is worth forfeiting her second chance at life.

Sera can’t unravel the mysterious origins of the boy who arrives at her father’s farm one day without first remembering what her life was like before she got sick. The problem is that nothing she’s tried so far seems to be working.

In less a paragraph I felt as if I had tumbled into Sera’s blurry mind. Her initial confusion spurred me to formulate a half dozen theories about what might have happened to her, and even after I was fairly certain that I’d figured out her mystery I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the page as she discovers it for herself. Ms. Ison’s descriptions of the dilapidated, freezing cold barn Sera has lived in for as long as she can remember were so vivid I had to bury my toes under the comforter as I kept reading.

It was little too easy to predict what had actually happened to Sera, but this is a minor criticism of an otherwise unforgettable tale. It would have been extremely difficult to change this without deleting the most achingly beautiful scenes in the plot. The author made the right decision in providing these clues because the passages they were embedded in played in major role in what earned this book such a high rating.

I was surprised, though, by how Sera reacts once she begins to find answers to her questions. Her response adds depth to her character and it helped me empathize with her conflicting emotions even more than I did earlier on in her journey. Some of these experiences prompted the 14+ rating as they may prove to be slightly too intense for younger readers.

Remember Me is a wild ride. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that effortlessly swirl several different genres together into a well-written, imaginative adventure.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Cats and Cowboys by Ruth J Hartman

September 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

CATS
Cats and Cowboys by Ruth J Hartman
Publisher: Astrea Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story(76 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rated: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snapdragon

Lanna Kirby and her cat, Gordon, flee Indiana when her racecar-driver boyfriend publicly humiliates her. A job in a small Texas post office seems far enough away and a good place to start over. Lanna’s through with men, for sure. That is, until a handsome cowboy strolls in.

Jackson Harrington is a cowboy who loves his ranch, but wishes he had someone special to share it with. Lanna gets under his skin in lots of ways, but that’s not all. Jackson hates cats!

Will they be able to ignore each other and their growing attraction, or will one of them get over being stubborn and give in?

A good looking cowboy is indeed, as promised, featured in Ruth J Hartman’s Cats and Cowboys. He’s tall and handsome, and weathered to where he looks exactly as we readers imagine him. And, exactly like main character Lanna Kirby, we fall in love with him instantly. What a perfect leading man… for about two seconds. Then Jackson suddenly isn’t quite so perfect and things go rather downhill from there. In fact, they head toward a right personal sort of skirmish if you can believe it – but its Texas and cowboys will be cowboys.

The Postmistress’s moody, roly-poly cat Gordon has as much personality (and aversion to dieting) as any human person. The local small-town folk seem a little out of their depth with a crazy cat lady taking over the PO, but take over she does; she and the cat. Gordon doesn’t take a shine to everyone, and no matter where we imagine this potential romance heading, he might just be hissing it off in another direction. These orange varmints will make their wishes known.

Hartman’s Cats and Cowboys is funny and charming. Any romance fan will enjoy, but cat-lovers will be especially tickled.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,
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