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Category: Contemporary

Review: Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

[ 6 ] April 5, 2012

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova

Some called Luke Warren a genius, while others considered him insane. A renowned wolf researcher and conservationist, Luke ingratiated himself into wolf packs – living with them, feeding with them (often on raw meat) and playing a pivotal role in the pack dynamics. In some ways, Luke understood the animals better than he ever understood his own human family. Following his stunt/two-year departure to live in the Canadian forest with wild wolves, Luke’s wife, Georgie, walked away from their very one-sided marriage and his 18-year-old son, Edward, ran away from home and the father who never understood him. Luke’s only connection to his family was his daughter Cara, who chose to live with him instead of Georgie and her new family.

The disjointed family is unwillingly brought together when Luke crashes his car while driving Cara back from a party. Cara is seriously injured but quickly recovers, while Luke suffers traumatic brain injuries and remains unconscious.

Georgie rushes to the hospital to be with her daughter and Edward flies home to a family he left six years earlier. He must face his mother whom he chose to protect from the truth by fleeing, and the sister who blames him for the breakup of their family. More importantly, as his father’s of-age next of kin, Edward must make difficult decisions about Luke’s life. Should he continue his father’s life support in spite of doctors’ opinions about the hopelessness of the situation, or let his father die?

I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult – as can be evidenced by my previous reviews of Sing You Home and House Rules – but Lone Wolf fell flat for me. To begin with, I had a difficult time believing the whole wolf man/Mogwli aspect of the book. However, Picoult thanked Shaun Ellis, author of The Man Who Lives with Wolves, in her acknowledgements, so I’ll acquiesce that the concept may be plausible.

The wolf man aspect aside, I could not connect with any of the characters. Luke’s chapters describing his experiences with the wolves were the most compelling, if somewhat unbelievable, but it’s sad to say that the most exciting character was the one in a coma…

Picoult’s books have always surprised me with twists that were thrown in in the end, just when I thought I had everything figured out. The “big” family secrets that were continuously hinted at throughout the book were not all that “big” when they panned out. And while some twists were still present in Lone Wolf, they were not particularly surprising, and neither was the ending itself.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Atria/Emily Bestler Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

[ 2 ] April 3, 2012

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Susanna Kearsley made a fan out of me with The Winter Sea, and I have happily been reading every other novel of hers that I have come across. Mariana is the newest Kearsley title that I had the pleasure to read, but it lacked a lot of the magic and enchantment I discovered in The Winter Sea and The Rose Garden.

Mariana is the second book of Kearsley’s to be published, and explores similar themes to that of The Rose Garden. After Julia Beckett was given a sizable inheritance, she could not resist purchasing the historical Exbery home that she remembers from her childhood. Julia is drawn to this home, and the history of its former inhabitants, particularly that of Mariana.

Greyweathers, Julia’s new home, is said to have once been haunted by a specter called the Green Lady, who has not been seen for nearly 30 years. As Julia becomes acquainted with her new home, she starts to experience the past through Mariana’s eyes, discovering that she is Mariana reincarnated.

As always, I adored Kearsley’s beautiful prose and poetic language, as well as the vivid descriptions of countryside and landscape. Mariana didn’t have a lot of the romance that can be found in her later works; I just never felt fully invested in Mariana’s forbidden love affair with the dashing Richard de Mornay, or Julia’s interest in Geoffrey de Mornay, whom she believes to be Richard reincarnated.

I wish several of the supporting characters had had more page time, especially Julia’s fast friend Vivien, and Julia’s brother Tom. Those who are reincarnated are said to surround themselves in their new lives with people from their past, and I was a bit confused by who everyone was supposed to be. Some I figured out, but I was clueless to the rest.

Mariana has quite a few twists and turns, and an ending that I had considered, but never thought would come to be. Once it did, though, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me in a lot of ways, but mostly because I felt it wasn’t developed well enough to be a true reality.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Also by Susanna Kearsley: The Rose Garden and The Winter Sea

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Sourcebooks Landmark. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Keeper of the King’s Secrets by Michelle Diener

[ 1 ] April 2, 2012

Reviewed by Meg Massey

Susanna Horenbout is the royally commissioned artist to King Henry VIII. On what seems like an ordinary day, Susanna encounters a jeweler she’s known since childhood, and is stunned when he tries to kill her. This moment sets off a chain of events that pulls her and her betrothed, courtier John Parker, into a dangerous plot against the king.

The two soon discover that the French are planning to get back the Mirror of Naples, a portion of the French crown jewels given to King Henry by his sister. As John and Susanna attempt to pin down those responsible, they are tracked by a ruthless assassin, and matters are further complicated by tensions at court.

Fans of author Michelle Diener will recognize the names of beloved characters, Susanna and John, from her debut novel, In a Treacherous Court. Keeper of the King’s Secrets is the second in a series, and like the first novel, is based on the life of Susanna Horenbout, who was recognized as an exceptional artist during King Henry VIII’s era.

Action-packed from the very first page, this period drama provides an intriguing glimpse into the court of Henry VIII, and the ongoing tensions between England and France. This book has a little bit of something for everyone: plenty of romance for those seeking a love story, and twists and turns to intrigue a reader who loves a good thriller.

I would caution you that this novel should be read after In a Treacherous Court, so as to have a proper grasp on the back stories of these characters. I had not read the first novel before beginning this one, so it took a bit of re-reading for me to understand who was who and really sink into the story.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Also by Michelle Diener: In a Treacherous Court

Meg lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Ryan. Library professional by day, freelance writer by night, Meg writes about life, entertainment and everything in between on her blog.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Gallery Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone

[ 35 ] April 2, 2012

Please join Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours! 

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy below.

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova 

Desperate for a better life for his family, Hector hires a coyote – a name for individuals who smuggle people across the border – to take him from his home in Puerto Isadore near Oaxaca, Mexico to the United States. He leaves behind his young wife, Lilia, and their infant daughter, Alejandra, promising to send for them once he settles in and earns enough money to pay for their crossing.

Hector’s journey to “El Norte” is harrowing. He is locked in a tiny dark compartment below a truck carrying toys to the U.S. with many others. They have no sense of the time of day, or the day of the week or the direction they’re going, but share one hope – to make it safely to the other side. Along the way, Hector befriends a fellow countryman, Miguel, and the two make their way to Edisto Island, South Carolina, where Miguel’s cousin takes them in and helps them secure jobs.

Back in Puerto Isadore, impatient Lilia ignores her husband’s pleas to wait for safe transport, and accepts an ex-suitor’s offer to pay for her crossing. The man’s uncle is a coyote that agrees to take Lilia and Alejandra across, with less than honorable intentions. Before swimming across the Rio Grande, Lilia hands off Alejandra to a woman-smuggler who specializes in getting infants into the U.S. It is a desperate act with disastrous consequences.

I’ve never read anything – fiction or otherwise – on the subject of illegal crossings from Mexico to the U.S., and Michel Stone’s take on the issue made me really think about the circumstances that would drive someone to undertake such a dangerous journey. The Iguana Tree is compellingly and beautifully written; I kept turning pages to find out what would happen to Hector and Lilia, terrified at their situation. I could not imagine handing off my child to a stranger, but also understood that Lilia felt that she did not have a choice.

The Iguana Tree is a fictional story of one family making difficult choices in pursuit of a life in the Land of Opportunity, but I am sure it will ring true for many real life families who have made similar decisions. It is an amazing, but profoundly sad tale of the lengths people go to for love, for family, and for a chance at a better future.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Hub City Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
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Review: The Samaritan by Fred Venturini

[ 3 ] March 29, 2012

Reviewed by Marcus Hammond

Dale Sampson is an awkward, depressive, and confused young man who discovers he has the ability to regenerate tissue. The Samaritan follows Dale as he struggles with the uneasiness of early childhood through the confusion of finding a comfortable identity in adulthood.

As a young boy who is uncomfortable with his identity, Dale finds solace in any type of attention he can get. As a result of bullying, however, Dale is thrust into friendship with Mack, whom takes Dale under his wing. Mack’s brand of guidance comes in the form of lessons in how to score with girls and how to play baseball. Dale, however, prefers to hold onto a more chivalrous ideal.

In an event that would change the lives of everyone involved, Dale and Mack stumble upon another student raping a girl whom Dale had wanted to date. The rapist responds by committing suicide but not before he shoots all three, killing the girl and severely injuring both Dale and Mack.

As the dust settles from the tragic rape/murder/suicide Dale discovers he has an unexplainable ability to regenerate the fingers he lost. He eventually begins to test his power through self-mutilation and medical testing. Dale sees an upside to his gift, and decides to become a living organ bank. This, however, is not a selfless choice. In an attempt to reconnect with the love he felt for the murdered girl, Dale tries to get her twin sister to love him. She, however, wants nothing to do with Dale. This leads him to put his gift on display publicly by becoming the subject of a reality show, wherein he donates body parts to those who need them most. In doing this, Dale hopes the twin will see the good in him.

The Samaritan is odd to say the least. Dale’s superpower and subsequent selfish motivations represent a hyperbole for a growing list of those in need of organs and the struggle to make difficult choices. With that in mind though, there is no explanation for Dale’s superpower. It is hard to suspend disbelief enough to connect with the science fiction plot device.

The book is highly original and the prose is well written, but the plot devices and characters make The Samaritan a book for only the strictest of science fiction lovers.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

After obtaining a Masters in Liberal Arts and Literature Marcus has dedicated most of his time to teaching English Composition for a community college in the Midwest. In his down time, he spends time avidly reading an eclectic selection of books and doing freelance writing whenever he gets the chance. He lives in Kansas with his wife.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Blank Slate Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Mr. Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly

[ 3 ] March 28, 2012

Reviewed by Meg Massey

Sarah and Mia Castles are two sisters who share everything, including a love for Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy. But when a weekend away ends in the two of them falling in love with the same man, the sisters are torn apart, possibly forever.

Fast forward three years later, and obsessive compulsive Sarah is heading to the annual Jane Austen Festival. When she meets a wonderful man named Lloyd who shares her obsessive tendencies, she is afraid to trust in love after what happened in her past. And when she discovers that Mia is attending the same festival with her friend Shelley, she worries about running into her after not speaking to her for three years.

Going back and forth between the past and the present, author Victoria Connelly creates an exciting end to her Darcy Addicts Trilogy. As different as these sisters are, Connelly’s Sarah and Mia are loveable characters whose lives and romances will captivate any reader. And just like all of the previous installments, Connelly creates delightful secondary characters, particularly Shelley and Gabe, that bring just the right amount of humor and honesty to this romantic tale.

Fans of the Darcy Addicts Trilogy will love Mr. Darcy Forever and it’s a fitting end to the series. And despite getting some brief closure from storylines of the novels past, this is a stand-alone book that can be enjoyed without reading the first two books. I’m only sad that the series has come to a close. I can’t wait to see what Connelly comes up with next.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Also by Victoria Connelly: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy & A Weekend with Mr. Darcy

Meg lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Ryan. Library professional by day, freelance writer by night, Meg writes about life, entertainment and everything in between on her blog.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Sourcebooks Landmark. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

[ 3 ] March 26, 2012

Reviewed by Sarah Lelonek

Every once in a while I read a book and am pleasantly surprised by a fresh story and reading-style; The Thirteen by Susie Moloney was one of those books. Moloney takes a familiar topic, witches to be exact, and creates a new spin.

The Thirteen is set in a small community where thirteen women gave their souls in order to provide for their families and have everything they ever wanted. These women not only gave their souls, but had to give flesh as well to complete the transaction. All thirteen gave up a child or spouse in exchange for well-being.

The contract goes well until one of the thirteen’s husband dies. The woman, Chick, does not take the death well and decides to end the witches’ circle as well as her own life. Not only does Chick’s death hurt the other twelve, but the absence of a thirteenth member leaves the contract null and void. Terrible things start happening. One woman’s leg swells to the size of a water melon, leaving her dance career in shambles, while another’s fingers begin falling off one by one.

The only way to control the chaos is to find a thirteenth member who is related to the original thirteen. Luckily for these witches, a child of one member became pregnant at the age of 16 and took off.

The Thirteen is rich with twists and turns. I was never bored with the story, nor was I ever confused when the author changed points of view from chapter to chapter. She kept the story between the four main characters, which made the plot easy to follow.

Moloney used a unique writing style to give the reader insight into the characters’ thoughts and emotions. At first her breaks mid-sentence threw me off a little, but by the end of the story I grew to love them. The pauses within the text show light into how each character thinks.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who likes the supernatural. There are a few grotesque parts, but they’re done as tastefully as can be managed in such a situation. Moloney manages to connect the reader with her characters in an eery tale filled with plenty of surprises.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Sarah Emily Lelonek has a BA in English Literature from Kent State University. She is planning on attending Graduate School for English Rhetoric and Composition. She enjoys traveling and gaming while on breaks from working on her novel.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow Paperbacks. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Guilty Wives by James Patterson & David Ellis

[ 6 ] March 26, 2012

Reviewed by Melanie Kline

Abbie Elliot and her three best friends, Winnie, Serena and Bryah, take a girls only vacation to Monte Carlo. Life seems to be perfect for them there – they are in the most luxurious hotel they could imagine with poolside drinks and plans for some casino gaming in the evening.

The girls have high hopes for their trip to be the perfect getaway weekend with nothing but sun, fun and friendship. They meet some attractive men at a bar and continue on with them to the casino and an after party on another man’s yacht. The next morning, they awaken alone on the yacht surrounded by police, and are arrested for the death of the French President.

Guilty Wives follows these four women as they fight for their lives and try to prove their innocence with every card stacked against them.

I had very mixed emotions about Guilty Wives. In true James Patterson form, the story was intriguing and I loved every moment of the twisting, turning plot, but I could definitely tell that David Ellis played a large role in the writing of this book. There was paragraph after paragraph of wasted space used to overly describe places and things. And I understand that they were in France, but was it absolutely necessary to say everything in French and then again in English so that the reader would understand it? The trial also made me want to scream since the authors – or author – went on and on and on about how the legal system works in France. It took whole chapters to get the trial actually started and then it was over in the blink of an eye. Guilty Wives was definitely not what I had expected from a Patterson book.

All in all, Guilty Wives was a good read, although I definitely do not recommend it for anyone who isn’t already familiar with James Patterson’s work. This book was most certainly not up to his usual standard.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Little, Brown and Company. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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