Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Historical, Review, women on June 15, 2020

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.

One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England’s finest novelists. Now it’s home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen’s legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen’s home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.

 

AudioBook narrated by Actor Richard Armitage

 

The full unabridged text of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY was read by the distinguished English film, television, theatre and voice actor Richard Armitage for the audiobook recording. Best known by many period drama fans for his outstanding performance as John Thornton in the BBC television adaptation of North and South (2004), Armitage also portrayed Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit (2012 – 2014).

 

 

Amazon | B&N | Book DepositoryIndieBound | Audible | BookBub

 

Praise

 

“Just like a story written by Austen herself, Jenner’s first novel is brimming with charming moments, endearing characters, and nuanced relationships…Readers won’t need previous knowledge of Austen and her novels to enjoy this tale’s slow revealing of secrets that build to a satisfying and dramatic ending.”Booklist (starred review)

“Few things draw disparate people together so quickly as discovering they love the same writers. Few writers cement such friendships as deeply as Austen does. I believe that the readers of Jenner’s book will fall in love with the readers inside Jenner’s book, all of us thinking and dreaming of Austen the whole while. What could be better? Nothing, that’s what! A wonderful book, a wonderful read.” ―Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club

“Fans of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society… A charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal.” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris

 

 

 

 

Review

 

If you are a Jane Austen aficionado then you will enjoy the references to her books and characters peppered through this book about The Jane Austen Society that was formed in the 1940s in her hometown of Chawton.  While all of the characters are fictional and the events leading up to the formation of this group may not be how it really happened, it was eye opening to see so many who cared about an author and her works and be invested in her writings.  I was intrigued by how many times these characters read her books and commenting on the new nuances they discovered and debating Austen’s thoughts while writing the book.

But this book is about more than Jane Austen.  It is about finding new friends, relationships, misunderstandings, and perhaps renewed faith and interest in life.  The cast of characters ranges in age but there is a connection between all of them, which is not surprising for this small village in England.  I enjoyed most of the characters but there were a few that were despicable but that is to be expected because not everyone can be nice.  However, those characters gave the story a little more depth and gave you someone to root against as events unfolded.

There are parts of the book that I’m disappointed by some actions of several of the characters.  While some I sort of understood in the grand scheme of life, a different choice would have resulted in a different outcome for the society.  While reading the book, I felt like I knew some of the characters better than others.  There were some that I wanted to know more about, such as Mimi.  I felt like the surface was just scratched in her case and there was more to understand about her character.

I will admit that I haven’t read any Jane Austen books that I recall but now I am intrigued and maybe one day I’ll pick up one of her books to see if I can unearth the same sort of observations as others have over time.

We give this book 3 1/2 paws.

 

 

 

 

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About the Author

 

Natalie Jenner is the debut author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY, a fictional telling of the start of the society in the 1940s in the village of Chawton, where Austen wrote or revised her major works. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in English Literature and Law and has worked for decades in the legal industry. She recently founded the independent bookstore Archetype Books in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.

 

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Review, women on May 14, 2020

 

Synopsis

 

Three women, from coast to coast and in between, open their mailboxes to the same intriguing invitation. Although leading entirely different lives, each has found herself at a similar, jarring crossroads. Right when these women thought they’d be comfortably settling into middle age, their carefully curated futures have turned out to be dead ends.

The sender of the invitation is Willa Silvester, who is reeling from the untimely death of her beloved husband and the reality that she must say goodbye to the small mountain town they founded together. Yet as Willa mourns her losses, an impossible question keeps staring her in the face: So now what?

Struggling to find the answer alone, fiercely independent Willa eventually calls a childhood friend who happens to be in her own world of hurt–and that’s where the idea sparks. They decide to host a weeklong interlude from life, and invite two other friends facing their own quandaries. Soon the four women converge at Willa’s Montana homestead, a place where they can learn from nature and one another as they contemplate their second acts together in the rugged wilderness of big sky country.

 

 

 

 

 

Review

 

This story follows 4 women, friends by association in some respects, that spend some time in Montana trying to figure out their next path in life – or their So What Next. These are all women in their 40s and maybe early 50s and I can understand how they might be trying to figure out their path in life. There has been the death of a spouse, divorce, grown children, affairs, and much more that has affected these women’s lives and they have to decide where they want to go next. These few days together also forced them to be honest with themselves and those around them. I can’t believe how much Willa wouldn’t tell the people in town about what was going on when it wasn’t her fault. She would rather be a martyr and sell her town vs talk to the people.

While I am the age range of these women, I’m not sure I could totally relate. My life has taken twists and turns over the last 6 years, but nothing like what these women have experienced. However, their camaraderie is admirable and while they may not get along or push and pull at each other, it is all a part of the process.

The ending was just right and a few surprises but not too many.

The descriptions of Montana were amazing and I could picture Bison Butte and other locations in my mind. It is definitely a place I would like to visit one day.

My only complaint is that there was no good place to stop. Each chapter is about 25% of the book. While I know it reflected each day, a way to stop without stopping in the middle of the chapter would be appreciated. There are also quite a few f* bombs and while it might be appropriate at times, I thought some could have been cut out and not affected the story in any way.

Overall we give 3 – 3 1/2 paws.

 

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Cozy, Giveaway, mystery, Review on May 7, 2020

 

 

 

 

Mousse and Murder (An Alaskan Diner Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Berkley (May 5, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages

Synopsis

 

A young chef might bite off more than she can chew when she returns to her Alaskan hometown to take over her parents’ diner in this charming first installment in a new cozy mystery series set in an Alaskan tourist town.

When Chef Charlie Cooke is offered the chance to leave San Francisco and return home to Elkview, Alaska, to take over her mother’s diner, she doesn’t even consider saying no. After all–her love life has recently become a Love Life Crumble, and a chance to reconnect with her roots may be just what she needs.

Determined to bring fresh life and flavors to the Bear Claw Diner, Charlie starts planning changes to the menu, which has grown stale over the years. But her plans are fried when her head cook Oliver turns up dead after a bitter and public fight over Charlie’s ideas–leaving Charlie as the only suspect in the case.

With her career, freedom, and life all on thin ice, Charlie must find out who the real killer is, before it’s too late.

 

 

Amazon – B&N  – IndieBound

 

Review

I think this is going to be a fun series.  I don’t think that I have read a series set in Alaska, so I enjoyed learning a little more about the state and the landscape.  I have visited Alaska but it has been at least a decade.  The rural setting, the diner, and this picturesque town invite the reader and wishing that it was a real place to visit.  I’m sure there are several small towns like this one in Alaska, just not quite.

The cast of characters is small but complements the story.  Not all characters are given in depth lives in the story, but there is potential for them to become more a part of the cast in future books.  It is a shame that Oliver is killed right off the bat because I felt like there was more to his life that we could have learned about him and his past to understand why he was killed.  When the truth is revealed at the end about the “why” I felt like there should have been a little bit more.  I did figure out the killer only because almost all of the other characters had been eliminated.  Charlie seems to spend a lot of time away from the diner investigating Oliver’s murder, leaving her staff to manage the diner.  I did chuckle at the Trooper swearing in Charlie and friends as deputies.  It didn’t mean a hill of beans but, as Graham said, it made you feel better about nosing around in potentially unsafe places.

If you like cats then you will like Benny.  I was intrigued by this device that would feed him but also had a camera and other electronic toys for Charlie to play with him from the diner.  It was a good way to keep Benny entertained, and perhaps even Charlie and her co-workers.  Benny also saves the day in the end but you’ll have to read the book to find out how.

The story is not fast paced but will get you to where you need to go in due time.

We enjoyed this book and give it 3 1/2 paws.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Camille Minichino is turning every aspect of her life into a mystery series. A retired physicist, she’s the author of 28 mystery novels in 5 series, with different pen names. Her next book is “Mousse and Murder,” May 2020, by Elizabeth Logan. She’s also written many short stories and articles. She teaches science at Golden Gate U. in San Francisco and writing workshops around the SF Bay Area.

 

Website * Facebook * Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway

 

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Review, Romantic Comedy on May 5, 2020

 

 

Synopsis

 

Mia might look like a Millennial but she was born yesterday. Emerging from a coma with short-term amnesia after an accident, Mia can’t remember her own name until the Siri assistant on her iPhone provides it. Based on her cool hairstyle (undercut with glamorous waves), dress (Prada), and signature lipstick (Chanel), she senses she’s wealthy, but the only way to know for sure is to retrace her steps once she leaves the hospital. Using Instagram and Uber, she arrives at the pink duplex she calls home in posts but finds Max, a cute, off-duty postdoc supplementing his income with a house-sitting gig. He tells her the house belongs to JP, a billionaire with a chocolate empire. A few texts later, JP confirms her wildest dreams: they’re in love, Mia is living the good life, and he’ll be back that weekend.

But as Mia and Max work backward through her Instagram and across Los Angeles to learn more about her, they discover a surprising truth behind her perfect Instagram feed, and evidence that her head wound was no accident. Who was Mia before she woke up in that hospital? And is it too late for her to rewrite her story?

 

 

This book originally slated to be published in May 2020 but has been pushed back to January 2021.

 

Pre-order on Amazon

 

Review

 

This reminded me of a book I read a few years ago where a teen lost her memory and had to figure out who she was from her phone.

Mia wakes up in the hospital with no clue who she is and her only clues are her social media accounts and apps on her phone. Thankfully the nurses are nice at the hospital and charge up her phone for her. Once she is awake, the hospital boots her out with nowhere to go or any clue as to her identity. You have to suspend disbelief because I can’t believe a hospital would do that to someone.

The rest of the book is Mia trying to remember who she is, how she ended up with memory loss, and what she is meant to do in this life.

I thought the book had some really enjoyable parts and some that were just ok. Mia did get on my nerves…how can she wear the same dress for 5 days? I get that she has no money, but there are a few characters that could have loaned her a few bucks to buy a new outfit. I did like that she was appalled once she learned more about her true self and it seems like getting hit on the head and losing her memory maybe wasn’t such a bad thing. It was a path of rediscovery for Mia and to perhaps make a better life for herself.

I’d give this book 3 – 3 1/2 paws.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Sam Tschida (pronounced cheetah) is a rom-com author. She lives with her gang of children, a couple of poorly behaved dogs, and one handsome man. When she’s not writing she is probably making lasagna. Just kidding. Who knows what she’s doing, least of all Sam. The only guarantee is that she is actively brainstorming her next book. And if we’re being honest, it’s pretty likely that she’s not making lasagna, unless it’s the frozen kind. Shout out to Mrs. Stouffers!

Besides living the dream writing books, she edits other peoples’ books and teaches writing classes, but she is a Pisces so we might as well call it what it is, therapy. So boiled down, Sam is an unlicensed therapist who also writes rom-coms.

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, mystery, Review on November 1, 2019

 

Synopsis

Alex Simpson, an ex-police officer, decides after a bout of typhoid fever to take a break in a serene and therapeutic environment. The last thing he expects is to be called upon to solve a murder at the Kinging Guest Lodge. But that is what happens, when the delectable and vivacious Maria Marshall is found dead in her bedroom, murdered at midnight.

The gallery of characters living at the guesthouse and thrown into the mix, do not make his task of solving this chilling and brutal murder any easier

 

 

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Review

This is a short mystery set in Nigeria.  This is important to note since the language and flow of the book is written by someone that is multi-lingual so it might seem stilted if you only speak one language.  There were some phrases that confused me because I am from the US and the wording was not what I was used to reading.  For example, we use the phrase “million dollar question” and the book has it as “million Naira question”.  Naira is the currency in Nigeria so it would make sense to use that versus dollars since the book is not set in the US.

The cast of suspects is small but the author did a good job of leading the reader down multiple paths until the killer was revealed.  It was quite surprising because this was one character I didn’t suspect.  I felt that the author did a good job describing the scenery and I was able to picture the various characters in my mind.

If you are looking for a short read this might be a good choice.  We give this 3 1/2 paws.

 

 

About the Author

The author, John Ukah is a banker who was educated at the University of Benin in Nigeria. This is his first book.

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, fiction, Review, Short Story on October 24, 2019

 

Synopsis

“Dreams of Lake Drukka” and “Exhumation” explore the unearthing of horrific, long-buried family secrets. Journeying into the darkest recesses of the past, these stories depict the dire consequences of discovering the truth.

Writing about this duology, author Mike Thorn says: “It was only in retrospect that I could see the connections between these two stories. When I revisited them for publication, it struck me that they work well as companion pieces. Both plots depict unfulfilled pacts with supernatural undercurrents, both include journeys to uncover unresolved familial trauma, and both pivot around the revelation of repressed memories. I wanted to explore the relationship between setting and atmosphere in these pieces, and to depict horror within internal and physical ‘sites of trauma.’ The characters are grappling with painful memories / experiences that have held them back, consciously or unconsciously. One story focuses on a character who is the agent of her own revelations, whereas the other story sees someone whose agency is quickly and brutally taken away.”

 

 

 

Review

This book is comprised of two short stories.

The first is called Dreams of Lake Drukka and reminds me of someone making a deal with the devil and it was now time to pay the price.  It is a little creepy but was well written but definitely could have been developed into a longer tale.  Of the two stories, I preferred this one.

The second is called Exhumation.  This is one bizarre story!  I’m not even sure how to describe it but let’s just say that Abel is “forced” to remember some times from thirty+ years ago and they aren’t pleasant memories.

If you are into weird and outlandish stories, you might enjoy these two.  Won’t take long to read, maybe 15 minutes depending on how fast you read.

We give these stories 3 1/2 paws.

 

About the Author

Mike Thorn is the author of Darkest Hours and Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies and podcasts, including Dark Moon Digest, The NoSleep Podcast, Turn to Ash and Tales to Terrify. His film criticism has been published in MUBI Notebook, The Film Stage, The Seventh Row, Bright Lights Film Journal and Vague Visages. He completed his M.A. with a major in English literature at the University of Calgary, where he wrote a thesis on epistemophobia in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness.

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Literary, Religious Fiction, Review, Romantic Comedy on August 31, 2019

 

Synopsis

As he did with Creator and Satan’s Psychotherapy and Cure, Jeremy Leven has once again created pure magic with this hilarious, moving, and thought-provoking tale of a man who abandons all to search for Perfect Love. And what could be more perfect to love than the Messiah, who now reappears in the prophesied Second Coming as a knockout young female. Declared to be the God of All Gods, She (her name is, in fact, She) beckons our protagonist, the somewhat bewildered Max Pincus, on a journey which is part Canterbury Tales and part, it becomes increasingly evident, a tongue-in-cheek reworking of the New Testament, from virgin birth to Sermon on the Mount, to… well that would give away what Leven has carefully crafted in this extraordinary tale.

Ultimately a love-story, along Pincus’s journey to find the new young female Savior, he finds himself attracting a growing cast of self-proclaimed apostles (who, it appears, are neither called nor chosen, but don’t especially care), including Rosalie (questionably a – not the – Virgin Mother), Theo Wainwright (an antique dealer who is seeking a satisfactory explanation for the recent passing of his wife of many decades), Sister Gloria Gloria (who keeps the assembly on the most devout spiritual path), Florence (the owner of a New England Bed and breakfast who longs for a life that can be called special), her husband, Sparky (a romantic without the normal bounds one might expect with this designation), his brother, Elliott (along with Sparky, the inventor of the gigantic – and perhaps lethal – Singing Machine, a device with a will of its own and a continually morphing and haunting song which leads all who join Pincus to seek out the new Savior to explain the song’s true meaning, dragging the Singing Machine along with them as they go), Meyer Steinmeyer (a philosopher seeking to define with great precision the exact moment a girl becomes a woman and whose nationality and accent seems to change depending on his mood and the weather), and The Thaumaturge (the father of the present Virgin Mother, who may or may not have been responsible for the possibly immaculate conception and who is a fervent anti-synoptic, having an extensive list of reasons why the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are not to be taken seriously).

But it is the budding romance between the Savior and Max Pincus which drives the story, as the so-called apostles attempt to determine whether She is, in fact, the Savior, in which case they have strong reservations about Pincus dating her.

At the end, Leven ingeniously leaves us with a tale which puts us in the midst of what might have been occurring had we been among the original apostles as they encountered the Messiah, and he suggests a world which might have been had the true intentions of the Messiah been realized. It is a comedy of the highest order.

Review

This was an interesting take on what might happen if there was a second coming.  However, this second coming isn’t like anything you could imagine.  The book follows a band of characters that in a way could be like the apostles to Jesus.  There is even a virgin mother in the merry group.

This book is billed as a comedy and while there are funny parts in it, I didn’t think the book was hilarious unless you take it as tongue-in-cheek.  When I first started reading the book I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the book because the first 10% of the book felt very abstract and I wasn’t sure what direction the book would take.  I’m glad I stuck with the book because the story really picked up for me and I was curious to see how the story was going to end.

I think you have to look at this book as a journey and it is challenging our beliefs in God, religion, and humanity.  Do we take everything at face value or should we dig a little deeper into life and its meaning?  I enjoyed the interchange between She and the rest of the group because she did challenge their thoughts and beliefs and perhaps made them consider other possibilities other that what had been fed to them all their life.

I wondered about Max Pincus and his feeling that he was meant to be in a relationship with She.  I think it was more than we ever experience as humans and transcended everything.  The ending confirms that thought and I liked how the author wound everything up for the reader.

Overall we give this 3 1/2 paws.  The path was long but gives us much food for thought.

About the Author

Jeremy Leven, author of THE SAVIOR AND THE SINGING MACHINE, is an acclaimed screenwriter, novelist, and Hollywood director.  His novels, published in 17 languages, include Creator and Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S.  He wrote and directed the films Don Juan DeMarco (with Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway) and Girl on a Bicycle and has written the screenplays for The Notebook, Creator, The Legend of Bagger Vance, My Sister’s Keeper, and Real Steel, among others.  Leven was educated at St. John’s College, Harvard University, University of Connecticut, and Yale Medical School where he was a fellow in the Department of Psychiatry’s Child Study Center. Prior to film and fiction, he has been a Harvard faculty member, a Professor of Psychopharmacology, and Director of a Mental Health Center. Leven divides his time between homes in Connecticut and Manhattan. He is currently working on a non-fiction book, a play for Paris on François Premier, as well as a screenplay for Tom Hanks.

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Cozy, Giveaway, Monday, mystery on June 24, 2019

 

 

Death by Dissertation (Cassandra Sato)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Nebraska
Emerald Prairie Press (April 17, 2019)
Paperback: 355 pages

Synopsis

Ambitious Cassandra Sato traded her life in Hawai’i for a dream position as Student Affairs VP at Morton College in tiny Carson, Nebraska. She expected the Midwestern church casseroles, land-locked cornfields, and face-freezing winters would be her biggest challenges, but it’s her job that’s rapidly becoming a nightmare.

A deaf student is dead and the investigation reveals a complicated trail of connections between campus food service, a local farmer’s beef, and the science lab’s cancer research. Together with her few allies, Cassandra must protect the students caught up in the entanglement.

Dealing with homesickness, vandalism, and a stalker, Cassandra is trapped in a public relations disaster that could cost her job, or more. No one said college was easy.

Just $0.99 through June 30th!

 

Review

This was a good start to a new series about a woman from Hawaii that takes a job in Nebraska….now you have to be thinking like I was…are you kidding?  WHY?!  But later in the book, we learn why and the support she had to make the move to advance her career.  Of course, things aren’t going quite as she would have expected when a student is found dead on campus.  This book tells the journey of trying to solve the murder, keep her job, and stay alive.  Yes, you read that right, stay alive.  She has a stalker that means business.

This book is very detailed and I thought the author did a good job on character development and providing just enough information to keep the reader engaged but not so much detail that a reader might lose interest.  The mystery surprised me a little bit at the end but not too much.  There was something about this character that just stood out to me but I didn’t know this character was also the killer.  Just seemed like there was something off.

I felt for Cassandra and the prejudice she ran into in the smaller town of Carson, Nebraska.  Yes, she was different than the rest of the town but you would have hoped they would have embraced her and welcomed her diversity.  Perhaps in future books.

The book did seem to move at a slower pace until the end where it really picked up steam until the killer was revealed.  There are some comedic moments especially when she visits the farm to check on the cows wearing a suit and heels.  Someone should have told her to change clothes or at least shoes.

There are some potential love interests for Cassandra should she choose to let loose and live a little and not focus so much on her career.  Sure the career is important but so is living life.

The only strange thing I noted when reading this book was when Cassandra would slip into this Creole dialect.  I didn’t know that there was such a dialect as Hawaiian Creole but apparently so.  Some of the phrases were odd, especially when she mentioned getting “chicken skin”.  I can only assume she was referring to what most of us might call “goosebumps” but she did use goosebumps in the book so not really sure what she meant.  There is also 1 f* bomb in the book which surprised me as that is not a word commonly used in a cozy.

Overall we enjoyed the book and we give it 3 1/2 paws.

About the Author

Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her deaf friends. As an American Sign Language Interpreter with more than twenty years of experience, Kelly’s worked in college classrooms for fifteen different majors. From traipsing across muddy farm fields to stomach-churning medical procedures, and stage interpreting for famous figures, Kelly’s community interpreting interactions number in the thousands. Unfortunately, once she’s stepped away from the job, she usually forgets 90% of what happened. Which helps her keep confidential information safe, but also makes it really hard to grocery shop for more than 5 items without a written list.

Kelly wants to live in a world filled with peace, love, and joy, where people who can hear learn enough sign language to include deaf people in everyday conversations and work. Where every deaf child has early access to language and books with characters like them, and dark chocolate is cheap and plentiful.

When she’s not interpreting or writing, you can find Kelly cheering for her favorite Husker teams or training for half-marathons because she really likes dessert.

Her first mystery, Death by Dissertation, released April 22, 2019.

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Giveaway

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, mystery, Review on May 11, 2019

Synopsis

Too shy to reply? The Comeback Kid will do it for you!

In this hilarious take on the modern-day detective story, Frank “The Comeback Kid” Davenport has made cozy living finishing arguments for people too embarrassed to speak up for themselves. But when a beautiful young woman hires him to tell off her dad, he quickly discovers that this job will be unlike any he’s had before. If he’s going to finish it, the unlikely sleuth will have to hunt her father down himself. The only problem? Ruthless killers are also looking for him, and now Frank is in their sights. His only hope is to find out why the dad skipped town before his life, career, and floundering love life are ruined.

Fans of Douglas Adams and Christopher Moore will love this uproarious thrill ride.

Review

What an interesting career choice – delivering witty comeback lines for those that couldn’t think of them at the time.  And to think people paid money for that service!

This book has several things that check my list – mystery, humor, and characters that may seem normal on the surface but are anything but that once you delve into their characters.  Frank is an unassuming guy with a few close friends.  He is the most stable character in this book.   Then there is Lucky (real name unknown) that hires Frank to find her father but isn’t quite honest about anything.  Lucky is also a bit off the wall personality wise.  I think she has good intentions but sometimes I wondered about her motives.  These two are the main characters but there is the supporting cast of Richard/Ricardo (Frank’s ex’s current beau), Eddie (Frank’s friend), and Kate (Frank’s new girlfriend and perhaps his redeeming grace).

While it may seem like there is one mystery to solve, I think there are actually about three but they are all tied together.  Where is Lucky’s father?  Who is beating up Frank and others to find Charles Smith?  Why do they want Charles Smith?  Finding the answer to these questions will either bring them close together or tear them apart or both.  I was surprised by how some of the stories turned out, definitely wasn’t something I was expecting.  I enjoyed the humor peppered throughout the story and the wackiness of several characters.

I could see another book following this one with more adventures between Frank & Lucky.  I would be interested to see how Frank’s relationship with Kate progresses.

We give this book 3 1/2 paws.

About the Author

Jack Roach lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and three children. He likes hang gliding, BASE jumping, and the fact that bios don’t have to be true.

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Posted in 3 1/2 paws, Giveaway, Middle Grade, Review on May 9, 2019

Book Title: Free Pizza by G.C. McRae
Category: Middle-Grade Fiction, 360 pages
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Publisher: MacDonald Warne Media
Release date: May 1, 2019
Content Rating: PG (No sex or drugs, just mild expletives such as “hell” and “damn”.)

Synopsis


Brian McSpadden is always hungry. Does he have a disease? Worms? Does it have something to do with his being adopted? He spends his days at his crazy friend Danny’s house, hoping for snacks, but nothing seems to fill the void.

​Then Brian receives a mysterious birthday card that says, Free Pizza. He soon discovers the card has nothing to do with food and everything to do with the big questions in his life: where did I come from, why did my mother give me up and is there anyone out there who will like me the way I am?

Review

I found this to be a well written book that explores what some kids may be experiencing in their lives.  Brian is adopted, and while loved by his parents, he wonders how he fits into the family after his parents had two biological children.  The parents never hid the fact from him which I appreciate.  However, I did find it odd that his mother would conspire with his biological mother for them to meet when he was just twelve with no word to Brian asking if he would like to meet her, just “Hey Brian, your bio mom is calling tomorrow at 11 and you get to talk to her”.  Granted Brian wants to meet his biological mom and get to know her so that is a positive to the situation.

Brian has two younger brothers and one has a nose that consistently is running.  The mom in this story is beyond frugal and I feel sorry for Brian not being able to have as much to eat as he needs.  Thankfully the father steps in and tells her to feed the kids!  The younger siblings can be a hoot but annoying at the same time for Brian, but that is the way it is in most families between siblings.

Brian and Danny are co-conspirators in normal adolescent behavior that somehow Brian gets blamed for or roped into situations that he was not an active participant.  I did chuckle at some of the escapades such as Danny falling onto a greenhouse and the work they ended up doing for the neighbor that owned said greenhouse.  There was a little bit of a mystery to the situation such as who really was this neighbor, what were his employees searching for, and who was the mystery woman Danny saw in the house?

This story covers a myriad of situations that a child or teenager might experience and would give them a character to relate to if they read this book.  It might spur some conversations between parents and their children.  There is mild profanity that I wish the book did not include.  It seems like our children are becoming spewers of profanity at younger ages and I wish it was not included in their books.

Overall we give it 3 1/2 paws and think that this book could be good for a pre-teen trying to find himself and seeing what other kids his age are experiencing.

 

About the Author

G.C. McRae is the bestselling author of two young adult novels, three illustrated children’s books and a collection of original fairy tales. His writing is fall-down funny, even when the theme is darker than a coal-miner’s cough. McRae reads to anybody at any time, in person or online, for free, which probably explains why he meets so many people and sells so many books.

In his latest work, Free Pizza, McRae spins the highly emotional themes from his decidedly unfunny childhood into a brilliantly comic yarn. After being given up for adoption by his teenage mom back when single girls were forced to hide unplanned pregnancies, his adoptive parents didn’t exactly keep him under the stairs but, well, let’s just say, there were spiders.

A lot has changed since then. McRae’s own children have now grown and he runs a small farm with his wife, who is herself an award-winning writer.

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Giveaway

Prizes:

Win 1 of 15 prizes from the author of “Free Pizza”. Two winners will receive a print book. Three winners will receive a print book + $20 Amazon GC and 10 winners will receive an ebook copy of Free Pizza (open to USA & Canada / 15 winners total)

(ends May 25, 2019)

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