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Category: Literature & Fiction

Review: Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart

[ 4 ] September 9, 2011

Reviewed by Erin McKibbin

Annie Darling owns a very popular mystery bookstore on the Florida island of Broward’s Rock. Like most isolated towns, the families of Broward’s Rock have been there for generations and everyone knows each other. So, it is no surprise that when the island’s oldest and most trusted legal firm hits hard times and lays off its receptionist, Annie is called on by her close friend and asked to hire the recently unemployed Pat Merridew. What does turn out to be a surprise is that the grateful Pat dies of a Percocet overdose just a week later and the police rule it as a suicide. Even more surprising is that while Annie does her own digging into Pat’s death (she refuses to accept that it was suicide), she inadvertently becomes a witness to Pat’s former employer’s murder.

Glen Jamison’s family and law firm had been on Broward’s Rock for several generations. A generally respected man, he had the sympathy of the entire town when his wife passed away and the shock of his family when he remarried a young attorney. Never quite getting along with Glen’s children or sister, the new Mrs. Jamison is further villanized when she makes the tough judgment calls to fire Pat Merridew and Kirk Brewster (a young partner in the firm). Her husband’s murder only adds to her unpopularity with the town. But who could have done it? Her sister-in-law? Her step-son? Her soon-to-be ex partner in the law firm?

Carolyn Hart creates a riveting mystery in the traditional genre with Dead by Midnight. Her characters are lovable and multi faceted against a backdrop of American life that is so familiar yet so rare. An expert in her craft, Hart weaves a story so intricate and captivating, you can’t put it down until you know “who done it.”

Rating: 4/5

Erin fell in love with the written word as a small child and subsequently spent most of her life happily devouring literature. She works as a freelance news, marketing, and technical writer as well as a full-time researcher/investigator in the sign industry. Erin lives just outside of Cleveland, Ohio enjoying the beauty of life with her children and grandchildren.

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

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Review: The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

[ 4 ] September 8, 2011

Reviewed by Elizabeth Talbott

Eve falls for mysterious and secretive Dom in a whirlwind romance in France. They buy an old, crumbling farm called Les Genévriers and at first all is well. Dom is happy playing and writing music and Eve is happy reading and writing. The idyllic summer passes and winter arrives along with some strange happenings and dark mysteries.

Dom’s previous wife vanished and Dom refuses to talk about her at all, leading Eve to assume the worst and try to uncover the truth. The strange happenings increase in frequency, creating even more tension between the couple. The past of Les Genévriers is also entwined in the mystery. Eve must figure out both Rachel’s fate and the fate of the previous inhabitants before the same fate befalls her and Dom.

The Lantern is a beautifully written story. The lyrical descriptions and the historical setting really drew me in and I was engaged in the story very quickly. The setting in the French countryside is breaktaking and creates a unique atmosphere for this modern gothic tale.

The story is told in alternating points of view: by Eve in modern times and Benedicte in the past. Both tales are interesting and have their own shares of mysteries to sort out. Eve needs to find out about Dom’s secrets. Benedicte’s problems don’t become apparent until pretty late into the book. Her narrative jumps around in time and covers her childhood to old age. Her family goes through misfortune after misfortune from her father’s death to her abusive brother leeching off the family to her sister going blind. The stories subtly intersect with some objects and small events until the very end when the two stories connect in a significant way. Benedicte and Eve are both compelling characters that I enjoyed following throughout the novel.

I did have a few problems with the book. The story moves very slowly in some parts. Even though the language is beautiful, it gets a little tedious when nothing is really happening. Dom wasn’t really likeable or fleshed out. One of the big problems was his utter refusal to tell Eve anything about his past. It seems kind of ridiculous in a modern setting for him to be so obstinate when his actions were obviously hurting his relationship. Even though Eve and Dom were supposed to be in love, I felt that their love was not portrayed in a believable way before their relationship started to break down. The plot was pretty predictable and I found the ending anticlimactic.

The Lantern is a unique book that brings the gothic novel to the present. The masterful writing flows easily and creates memorable images with florid descriptions. The novel definitely has some flaws, but kept me interested throughout and I would definitely read more from Deborah Lawrenson.

Rating: 4/5

Elizabeth is a student at Cal State Long Beach. She laughs a lot, loves cats, and lives for music and books. You can read her blog here: http://titania86-fishmuffins.blogspot.com/

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

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Review: Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow

[ 5 ] September 8, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

29-year-old suburban California divorcee and single mom Veronica Czaplicki shares an uncanny physical resemblance to pop star and actress Haley Rush. Their outer resemblance is where their similarities end. While Haley is enjoying life in the fast lane with glamorous Hollywood parties and is linked romantically to hottie co-star Brady Ellis, Veronica is struggling to gain control of her finances and recover from the humiliation of her husband leaving her for a much older woman. Haley’s and Veronica’s worlds collide when a chance encounter between Veronica and Haley’s manager, Jay, presents Veronica with an opportunity she just can’t refuse.

For $100 an hour, Veronica will make public appearances as Haley. To look even more the part, Veronica receives an incredible makeover that helps restore her confidence. The more immersed she becomes in Haley’s world, the more Veronica puts her son Ben and her best friend Nina on the back burner. Veronica is sure everything will work itself out, especially when Brady Ellis expresses a romantic interest in her–as Veronica Czaplicki! Trouble begins to brew when Haley seizes the life Veronica could have had. It’s a case of mistaken identities as Haley and Veronica find out if the grass is truly greener on the other side.

Just Like Me, Only Better is a light, romantic comedy that was an enjoyable read from beginning to end. Veronica is an extremely likable heroine, even if she is a little too naive and trusting of people that are obviously out to exploit her. At times I wanted to sit her down and talk her through the messes she kept getting herself into, but in the end Veronica pulled herself up and became a stronger person by learning from the embarrassing mistakes she made. Getting to live like Haley, even though she became herself at the end of the day, exposed Veronica to experiences and people she otherwise never would have known. I was empathetic to Haley as well, and was relieved that Carol Snow did not write her as a total train wreck.

Carol Snow’s writing is sweet and to the point, but I felt that Veronica’s “voice” was just a bit too mature for her age. I’m only two years younger than Veronica, but in several situations, Veronica used specific phrases that I felt an older woman would have been more likely to use. It’s a small criticism, and not one that will keep me from reading more of her books. Fans of Sarah Pekkanen, Irene Zutell, and Emily Giffin are sure to find a new favorite in Carol Snow.

Rating: 3.5/5

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 Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: To Die for by Sandra Byrd

[ 7 ] September 7, 2011

Reviewed by Shannon Hopkins

In the 475 years since the beheading of Queen Anne Boleyn, her story has been told and retold by countless historians and storytellers in attempts to exonerate and vindicate, or to further vilify. Contemporary writers have increasingly posited that the Queen was falsely accused and convicted through political maneuvering by her rivals at court; no matter what one believes, however, her story continues to rivet those who hear it.

But what of those who lived in the Queen’s shadow? While writers have shed light on some of the Queen’s most notorious family and friends, little attention has been devoted to others who lived in her orbit, whose lives were impacted by her triumphs as well as her downfall simply by knowing her. Sandra Byrd’s To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn tells the story of Anne’s rise and fall through the eyes of Meg Wyatt*, her childhood friend and lady-in-waiting whose own life also hangs on Anne’s favor with the king.

Meg Wyatt is in love with Will Ogilvy, the heir of a neighboring family and friend to the Wyatt and Boleyn families. When Will leaves for school with Meg’s brother Thomas and Anne leaves for the French court, Meg is left to care for her ailing mother, at the mercy of a controlling father and her sneering brother Edmund. Meg faces one disappointment after another from that point, including Will’s decision to take holy vows and her own marriage by proxy to the aging Baron Blackston. However, as Anne catches the eye of Henry VIII, she calls Meg to the English court and opens up a world of possibility to her.

All is not well for long, though, and as the reader travels through the familiar tale of Anne’s ill-fated royal romance the connection between her fate and Meg’s is sadly all too easy to see. While Meg visits clandestine reform meetings and struggles to retain her independence, Anne becomes ever more desperate to bear a son and keep the King’s love so that she can avoid the danger looming about them all.

While Anne’s fate is all too familiar, the success of Byrd’s story lies in Meg’s unexpected path to everything she thought she never wanted. Meg is such a vibrant character that she emerges from Anne’s shadow and takes her rightful place as the heroine of the novel; as such, the title could more accurately be “A Novel including Anne Boleyn, but really about Meg Wyatt” – and so much the better.

To Die For is an exciting and heartbreaking journey through one of the most tumultuous periods in the Tudor dynasty. Byrd’s clear and expressive writing style and her steady pace throughout give this book a priority place on the historical fiction shelf.

Rating: 4.5/5

*Meg Wyatt’s real name was Anne, but was changed by the author for the sake of narrative clarity.

Shannon lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her fianc é and a room full of books that she peruses when she isn’t trolling Apartment Therapy for new decorating ideas. In her free time she enjoys maintaining her blog, The Writer’s Closet, planning her wedding, and baking tasty gluten-free treats.

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

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Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

[ 5 ] September 6, 2011

Reviewed by Erin McKibbin

“You humans are biological machines designed to create ever more intelligent tools. You have reached the pinnacle of your species…where you have fulfilled the destiny of humankind and created your successor. You have expired.” – Archos

At the end of the “New War,” Cormac Wallace of the Gray Horse Army unearths something inexplicable: a black box much like those on airplanes buried in the ground by the artificial intelligence that was the backbone of the robotic uprising around the globe. In this black box, Archos the 14th captured moments leading up to “Zero Hour” and beyond; honoring the human race it sought to destroy by studying the initial responses when machine turned on man and chronicling humanity’s attempts to wipe out the robot army bent on extermination.

Wallace calls it the Hero Archive. He painstakingly translates the data in the box into a chronicle so that everyone “will know that humanity carried the flame of knowledge into the terrible blackness of the unknown, to the very brink of annihilation…and we carried it back.”

Daniel H. Wilson creates a chilling futuristic novel with Robopocalypse. Set in the near future,  Wilson describes a society that has built a race of machines and robots to function as servants and tools in just about every aspect of the modern human world. Some are utensils designed to operate without supervision. Some are very human looking, designed to function as maids and aides for families. Some are just children’s toys. But one thing they all have in common is their ability to tie into a data network, one that is compromised and taken over by a malevolent artificial intelligence. This AI “sets the robots free” and arms them with tools and weapons for the sole purpose of wiping the human race out. What this AI does not understand is that humanity is not designed to surrender.

Robopocalypse is a fantastic and bloodcurdling portrayal of what could happen if humanity continues to play god with its creations.

Rating: 5/5

Erin fell in love with the written word as a small child and subsequently spent most of her life happily devouring literature. She works as a freelance news, marketing, and technical writer as well as a full-time researcher/investigator in the sign industry. Erin lives just outside of Cleveland, Ohio enjoying the beauty of life with her children and grandchildren.

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

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Review: A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher

[ 5 ] September 6, 2011

Reviewed by Vera Pereskokova (Luxury Reading)

Set in early 20th century Idaho, A Vote of Confidence tells the story of Guinevere (Gwen) Arlington and her bid to become one of the first female mayors. Gwen is very beautiful and can have her pick of eligible bachelors, but her intelligence leads her in a different direction. She is determined to make her own way in the world – even if that means remaining single – and gives piano lessons and writes articles for the local paper to earn her own living.

When Cleo, Gwen’s twin and polar opposite, first encourages her sister to run for mayor of Bethlehem Springs, Gwen balks at the idea. However, the more she thinks about what she could do for the town and her own qualifications, the more she becomes convinced that she’s the superior candidate. When the local lawyer with questionable morals backs Gwen’s candidacy and a rich newcomer, Morgan McKinley, throws his hat into the race, things get more complicated than Gwen ever expected – and not just in politics.

A Vote of Confidence is the first installment in Robin Lee Hatcher’s The Sisters of Bethlehem Springs series (followed by Fit to Be Tied and A Matter of Character). The story itself is very predictable and the resolution to all conflicts is skimmed over and limited to one page. Nevertheless, A Vote of Confidence is a cozy and enjoyable – if not terribly exciting – read, and will likely appeal to fans of Christian historical fiction.

Rating: 3/5

No review copy was provided; review based on reading a personal copy of the book. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock

[ 3 ] September 5, 2011

Reviewed by Rachel Mann

Always the Vampire, by Nancy Haddock, is a fun contemporary Southern vamp murder mystery, a bit in the style of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Always the Vampire is the third in Haddock’s series about Francesca, a recently revived vampire who lives in Florida; she’s interested in a part-werewolf named Saber, and she rapidly becomes involved in magical happenings.

I hadn’t read the first two books in the series, so I found a few of the details about the characters’ lives slightly confusing; however, that might just be one of the problems of jumping into a series partway through. Haddock does provide context for readers who are new to the series, but since this is her third book about Francesca, it would be unfair to expect no references to previous events or ideas that had occurred in the first two books. After reading the third book, I’d like to go back to the first and learn more about what brought Francesca to the place she’s reached by this point in the series.

Francesca, or Cesca as she’s usually called, is an entertaining heroine who shies away from many of the details of her vampire nature. She doesn’t like to drink blood, preferring “Starbloods” to human blood, and even though she’s an ancient vamp by many standards, she doesn’t know a great deal about vampire lore; for example, she doesn’t know how to change someone human into a vampire, or “Turn” someone. It will be interesting to see how this lack of knowledge about Turning comes up in later books, since Saber has already asked Francesca to think about turning him. As their romantic relationship becomes more serious, it’s hard to imagine how Francesca could avoid Turning her lover; if he wants to spend eternity with her, how can she deny him that?

The world Haddock’s created is one where hardly any vampires feed on humans; if anything, wizards and other magical beings are the ones to truly be feared. Most of the vampires who show up seem like they’d be pretty fun to hang out with–like the former Marine and current dance instructor Ken, who’s quite entertaining.

The jacket copy on Always the Vampire makes it sound as though it will focus a great deal on Francesca’s relationship with her friend Maggie, a human who is getting married. Yet the plot focuses most on defeating a wizard named Starrack, who’s created a terrible entity called the Void. Francesca must defeat both Starrack and the Void, and in her struggle to do so draws her away from Maggie and the everyday elements of a wedding. I found myself wishing we could have heard even more about Maggie and Francesca’s friendship, and spent more time on the dynamics of Maggie’s wedding. Maybe, though, this friendship will be explored even more later on in the series.

Rating: 3.5/5

Rachel, who has a Ph.D. in English, is a freelance writer/editor and a voracious reader. You can talk to her about books at http://twitter.com/writehandmann.

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

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Review: The Year Everything Changed by Georgia Bockoven

[ 11 ] September 4, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Elizabeth, Ginger, Christina, and Rachel are four strangers who share one thing in common: Jessie Reed is their father. While Elizabeth and Christina have vague memories of the man who abandoned them as young children, Ginger was adopted and Rachel believed he never wanted her. Decades later, all four women receive a letter from Lucy Hargreaves, Jessie’s lawyer, informing them their father is dying and wishes to see them one last time before it is his time to go.

When each woman accepts the first class plane ticket to Sacramento, they are unaware of each other’s existence. The knowledge that they are all half-sisters further increases the hatred, betrayal, and anger that nearly all of them feel for their father. Despite the fact that their meeting is something they never wanted, Elizabeth, Ginger, Christina, and Rachel learn that they need one another more than they could ever have known.

The question I kept asking myself while reading The Year Everything Changed was “why haven’t I heard of Georgia Bockoven before?” I was completely caught up in this tale of unlikely sisters bonding and healing after so many years of pain and resentment for a father that they had never really known. In each of the women, I saw a little bit of myself, but I felt that I most identified with Ginger, who was in love with a man that could never love her the way that she loved him. My heart went out to Rachel, who discovered her husband was cheating on her the exact same day that she finds out about her father. I even liked Jeff, Rachel’s cheating husband, and was rooting for them to find their way back to one another.

Elizabeth and Sam are happily married, and would do anything for their children. Unfortunately, their youngest daughter, Stephanie, has a strong sense of entitlement and has never lifted a finger to accomplish anything for herself. Christina is the hardest to relate to because she is so abrasive and mean-spirited, but underneath that tough exterior she is pretty soft.

I enjoyed sharing these women’s struggles and their triumphs, and will definitely read anything written by Georgia Bockoven. The Year Everything Changed is a book you don’t want to miss–but when you read it, make sure you have tissues nearby!

Rating: 4.5/5

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 William Morrow Paperbacks. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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