Title: It Takes Heart

Author: Tif Marcelo

Release Date: August 10, 2021

Publisher: Montlake

 

Synopsis

 

Heart Resort, a private resort in the Outer Banks, is a romantic getaway for couples but a hotbed of family drama for its proprietors, the Puso family. Brandon Puso, the youngest of the four siblings, prefers life on his own as a licensed contractor in DC after a falling-out with his eldest brother.

After a hurricane plows through the Outer Banks, Brandon has a change of heart. He returns to the resort to help with the grand reopening but encounters his big sister’s best friend, designer Geneva Harris, who’s there to do the same thing. But Geneva and Brandon have a secret. Years ago, they had a secret romance that ended in heartbreak.

With the resort’s future at stake, Brandon and Geneva decide to put the past aside and to keep peace with the family. But as their mutual attraction heats up, they have to decide if history will repeat itself—or if this time, love gets a second chance.

 

 

Amazon * B&N * IndieBound

 

Read for Free on Kindle Unlimited

 

 

A Heart Shaped Romance with Author Tif Marcelo

 

It was at the Romance Writers of America conference in 2019 when I came up with the idea for the Heart Resort series. Though I was under contract for a third contemporary fiction book (which would become my sixth novel), my first three books were romance novels, and an escapist series tugged at my shirt sleeves. My initial idea: interconnected destination romance novels with the setting as relaxing and lush as it could be, despite the romantic angst and family drama I knew my characters would be placed in.

Then came COVID-19. I had released my second contemporary fiction, ONCE UPON A SUNSET, and was in edits for IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY, and I was no longer under contract for future books. My need to escape heightened during the fear of lockdown. So, I dove headlong into the proposal of the Heart Resort series. At first, I thought of setting this book on an island in the Pacific Ocean but I could not make myself write it knowing that the borders were closed to travel due to the virus. Though I tried not to put COVID into my novels, still I needed to be realistic for the times.

Then the location dawned on me: our family’s most favorite vacation spot: the Outer Banks, or OBX. And especially south of 12: Nags Head, Rodanthe, Hatteras. On a printed map, I drew what would be the Heart Resort peninsula, connected to highway 12 via a land bridge.

Heart Resort is serendipitously heart-shaped. In the epicenter is the headquarters and the apartments of the four Puso siblings. Puso, which means “heart” in Tagalog—of course it does! Chris, Gil, Bea, and Brandon, the four Puso siblings, live and work on this resort. They are the heart, they make the resort and peninsula “go.” Though, we come to find out that they each have their own secrets and matters of the heart to contend with.

Everything on this peninsula is specific and special. Each home is named. Every employee is family. The view from every window is spectacular. And though they promise their clients their own version of the HEA, or the happily ever after, the Puso siblings clamor for theirs.

IT TAKES HEART, the first in the series, introduces Brandon Puso and Geneva Harris, former lovers reunited in their common mission to help rebuild the resort after a tropical storm. Neither knew the other was going to be there, and their first instinct is to run. But both are loyal to a fault, and soon they find themselves growing closer despite their best intentions. Surrounding them are a cast of characters, all with their stories to tell, all while trying make the resort successful despite throes of competition with another resort.

Love, loyalty, and business all in one peninsula located at one of the most gorgeous locations in the United States. Heart Resort is truly a place to read about to get your heart pumping.

 

It Takes Heart Excerpt

 

Brandon tripped over his own feet as his sister leapt from her chair.

“Now it’s my turn to surprise you.” Beatrice wrapped her hands around his bicep and pulled him toward the round table. She was laughing, enthused.

But Brandon, simultaneously exhausted from a fitful sleep and amped from laborious work that morning, could not grapple with what was before him. He was seeing a ghost. Or, rather, he was seeing the living, breathing apparition of the woman who had all but ghosted him.

He shut his eyes for a beat to clear his vision, but when he opened them and refocused, she was still there.

“Geneva,” he breathed out.

The Geneva Harris he’d fallen for four years ago after a stunning three weeks together. The same Geneva Harris who, after an argument, had left him to wake alone the next morning with her side of the bed all tucked back into place as if she’d never been there. Like she had been a vivid dream.

The memory yanked Brandon’s heart out of his chest, leaving a cavernous space. He’d had a myriad of feelings over the years after their breakup: loss, anger, sadness. Now, all he felt was nothing—was this shock? No, shock was the brick wall he couldn’t get around when his parents died. This felt like . . . emptiness.

He was dumbfounded even as he got close enough to reacquaint himself with the details of her face: her high cheekbones, which even without makeup carried a muted shade of pink; the one tiny mole next to her nose; and what he now knew was a forced smile because it was this exact same smile she had placated him with the night before she had taken off.

“Hi,” Geneva said.

Beatrice dragged him down to sit in the chair across from Geneva, then took the third seat at the table. “You remember Geneva, right?”

The cue threw him off his running thoughts. Time had passed. They were not in Las Vegas, but in Heart Resort. His family didn’t know about them. “Oh, yeah. Hey. Sorry, I’m just a little . . .” He stuck a hand out.

What looked like relief played across Geneva’s features. She shook his hand. “It’s okay. It’s the ocean air. Nice to see you again.”

Was it nice to see him? Had she hoped to see him? Did she know he’d be here?

“How long has it been for the both of you? Since we left for school?” Beatrice asked.

Four years, actually.

“Four years.” Geneva echoed his thoughts, eyes leaving his sister’s face, then down to her drink. “Chris and Eden’s wedding.”

“How could I forget.” Beatrice bumped her forehead with a palm. “I take that back. Of course I forgot—I planned that event and was probably stressed to high heavens. Now that was a whirlwind.” Then, to Brandon, in a change of subject only Beatrice could manage, gestured to their surroundings. “Did you want me to order? I assume that you’re here for lunch. Chef Castillo pivoted to feed us even if our restaurant’s closed. Oh, just as an FYI, our new Friday dinners are now at Chef Castillo’s and her sister’s eatery, south on 12.”

That took his attention for a beat. “A Filipino restaurant, down here?”

“Yep. So keep your Friday night free, both of you. It’s required.” She grinned. “So, what’s your poison.”

“Actually, I’m good.” Whatever appetite he’d had disappeared. “I spotted your golf cart and thought I would stop to say hi before my first meeting with the team.”

“Perfect timing! I was telling Geneva about your demo sesh this morning. You might have been exactly where Geneva’s was. She’s in Ligaya.”

Brandon had found it clever that the family had decided to assign a Tagalog word for each of the cabins, the yoga studio, and restaurant. It had been Gil’s idea, though taken right out their parents’ playbook of hammering their wooden sign at every residence.

“Ah . . . I was definitely next door, at Habang-buhay.” Brandon snorted at the irony, that he’d demoed a beach house that was named forever, and all that morning, she had been just beyond his reach in a cabin whose name meant joy.

She had been his joy, once.

 

 

Review

 

This is the first book in a new series about a Filipino-American family that has opened a resort in the Outer Banks of NC aimed at helping couples that are drifting apart come back together.

The book starts at a wedding 4 years previously and there is a hook up between Brandon and Geneva that didn’t last too long. Perhaps it was expectations, or lack thereof, or that they were too close since they were family friends. But whatever the cause, it takes time for them both to realize that maybe they shouldn’t have given up so soon.

While billed as a romance, the romance portion was very light in my opinion. I think it is more of a second chance at romance and Brandon and Geneva working out their issues with each other and on their own. Of course, keeping all of this a secret from their families….who aren’t as clueless as you might think. And what better place that the resort for couples that they are helping rebuild after a hurricane took down part of the buildings. Outside of the chemistry between the two, they have their own issues to work through including a lack of commitment and fear of the unknown.

I enjoyed the back and forth between all of the families but I have to say that Chris needs to lighten up. He is the oldest brother of the Puso family and runs the resort and he is a bit of a control freak. I had to laugh at some of the dialogue that involved his wife, Eden. She is an author and I think the funniest part when she said that her characters were not following the outline and were going rogue!  I have heard this from many authors that they have a plan and then the character decides to go down another path.

The book does go back and forth in time so that we can see what happened between Brandon and Geneva in the past. The book did feel longer than normal and while I enjoyed the book, it didn’t draw me in as much as other books. I did enjoy the story and the family and am curious what might happen for other siblings in this series. I did learn some new words that are Filipino which I really enjoyed. And of course the food discussions…left me hungry for more!

We give this book 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Tif Marcelo is a veteran US Army nurse who holds a BS in nursing and a master’s in public administration. She believes in and writes about the strength of families, the endurance of friendship, and the beauty of heartfelt romance—and she’s inspired daily by her own military hero husband and four children. She hosts the Stories to Love podcast, and she is also the USA Today bestselling author of In a Book Club Far Away, Once Upon a Sunset, The Key to Happily Ever After, and the Journey to the Heart series.

 

Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

Title: THE MYSTERY AT TURKELTON MANOR

Author: Kraig Dafoe

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 188

Genre: Middle-Grade Mystery 10 years and up

 

Synopsis

 

Twelve-year-old Nathaniel Jones wants to be a detective. Though his imagination tends to run wild, Nate knows something strange is going on and he is determined to figure it out. Hearing noises at night, the young detective sees a strange figure lurking about. The Turkeltons are rich and Nate’s grandfather is their groundskeeper. As a result, Nate gets to spend the summer on the manor grounds. With priceless art and expensive jewelry in the mix, and someone creeping around at night, Nate becomes determined to catch a thief. There’s just one problem; nothing seems to be missing.

 

 

 

Review

 

This middle-grade mystery will interest mystery loving kids. I have to admit, even I didn’t figure out all of the pieces until it was revealed to us in the book.

Nate has had a strong influence on him via his father and paternal grandfather since they are both in the mystery solving world as private investigators. However, this summer, Nate is visiting his maternal grandparents and they have a different outlook on life. That doesn’t prevent his detective skills from emerging when he thinks something is afoot next door at the Turkelton Manor. He isn’t wrong, but it takes some investigation and the help of some new friends to uncover the mystery but not without putting himself in a little bit of a sticky situation.

Nate seems to be an odd kid and doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. That is hard on him when it comes to befriending the Turkelton children, but it shows how hard it can be to meet new people at a young age when you are more of an introvert than an extrovert. Nate also has good deduction and reasoning skills despite not sharing that information with people that might be able to help him out.

I enjoyed the mystery, and as I said before, even I didn’t figure out all of the pieces of the puzzle. There is a lot of misdirection but that is what made the book fun.

I’m not 100% sure if I read an ARC, but there were some oddities in the book. When Nate was thinking about what he had seen or trying to figure out the mystery, it referred to him as the detective. It was like he had an alter ego or something. I did notice a fair amount of typos/spelling errors that may or may not have been caught before publishing.

Overall a good book and we give it 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt

 

Chapter One

 

Picasso, Dali, and Monet were just a few of the artists whose works graced the walls of Turkelton Manor. The museum-like display was worth a small fortune, but no ropes or security guards kept visitors from getting too close.

Around mid-day on Friday, Nate was riding his bicycle along the long paved driveway of the manor when he noticed a small white delivery van enter through the open gates of the estate.

Usually closed and controlled by remote, the twelve-foot double gate was currently broken, along with many other things at the estate, which its new owners were in the process of fixing.

The day could never be boring if Nate’s imagination had anything to do with it, but it seemed he rarely had to depend on his imagination to keep him busy for long, and this sunny summer day was no exception.

The vehicle had no windows except for the ones up front and, at first, Nate thought it might be Fed Ex, but a sharp glint of sunlight bouncing off the hood of the van kept him from seeing it had no Fed Ex markings, until it got closer and the glare went away.
Nate was always paying attention to the little things, and his observation skills often amused his family, but it never surprised them as Nate’s father was a police detective and his grandfather on his father’s side of the family was a famous private investigator. Family members commented that it ran in his blood.

The delivery van stopped just before it reached the detective and the driver got out and buttoned his suit jacket. The idea that he wore a dark suit struck Nate a little odd, as he was driving a delivery van. The man was small, around five feet, eight inches tall, and very lean. He looked to be in his late forties or early fifties as his hair was beginning to gray above the ears and recede at the top, but it was possible that premature graying made him look older than he was.

“Hello,” the stranger said politely as Nate stopped his bicycle and stood with it balanced between his legs. “I have a delivery of art for the Turkeltons. Do you know if they are at home?”

There was something in the man’s tone that made Nate think he sounded like a bit of a snob, but he wasn’t able to put his finger on it. The man spoke as though he had an accent, though only with certain words.

“I’m not sure,” Nate replied. “I know some people are working at the house though. Just follow the drive straight down,” Nate said, as he looked the direction of the house and pointed.

The man smiled at him. “Of course,” he said, looking down the drive. The man gave him a little bow and then he unbuttoned his suit jacket before hopping back into the van. As he slowly pulled away, he waved and smiled again.

The boy turned his bike and followed the vehicle down to the huge house looming in the distance. Pink Dogwood trees lined both sides of the driveway which ran pretty much straight down to the manor. The trees offered, aside from their visual beauty, an aroma that varied from day to day. This day they smelled as pretty as they looked, while other days the odor was downright unpleasant. Nate was familiar with these trees, but didn’t dwell too much on why their smell changed.

Through the trees, Nate could see much of the grounds. To his right, as he rode toward the manor, was a thick batch of woods. The many oaks and maples intertwined with various other trees struggling for sunlight through the thick canopy. Where the woods ended, a lush green paddock for the horses began. On the opposite side of the driveway was a large pond, or a small lake depending on who was referring to it.
The boy’s curiosity started getting the best of him and he wanted to see some of the art that was in the van. When the vehicle approached the circular round about in front of the house, the driver was careful not to hit the various other work trucks parked there or drive on the grass in the center. The house was under renovation and the construction crew was still hard at work.

Nate rode around the circle a couple of times after the man found a place to park. An empty water fountain sat in the center of the grass circle and Nate couldn’t help but think it was big enough to swim in, if it were full. He watched as the man made his way up the curvy brick walk that had low flowering shrubs on either side of it, and then climbed the steep wide stairs leading to the large front door of the manor.

 

About the Author

 

Kraig Dafoe was born in New York.  Kraig went back to college at the age of 42 earning his BA in English writing, and graduating cum laude from Washburn University in 2017. Deciding to continue his education, Kraig received his Master of Liberal Studies degree in 2019. Kraig is a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society, and The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

 

Website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Can you really have the best of both worlds?

He’s rich, successful—and has been faithfully married to his longtime girlfriend for nearly one gruelingyear. Because for Dr. Dorian Graham, too many women is never too much—no matter how loyal his wife, Shantae, has been since their college days. So when she proposes they celebrate their first anniversary by each spending a no-questions-asked, no-consequences night with their greatest temptation, Dorian is shocked, but can’t resist. Especially since Shantae’s wild-card younger sister, Reagan, is gorgeous, uninhibited—and the one who got away . . .

It turns out one sizzling night with Reagan isn’t enough. Yet the more Dorian takes, the more she demands—and the more he suddenly has to lose. Soon, with his mind games being used against him and his every move checkmated, Dorian will be forced to go all-in on one last desperate play to win. But winning might just be another way to crash and burn . . .

 

 

Amazon * B&N * Kobo

 

 

Review

 

This was an ok book until the last chapter and then *bam* the twists it hit me with was a shocker. I don’t know what category to put this book in because it is not romance, not really suspense/thriller, so maybe just fiction? Others have said romantic suspense…maybe.

Not many of the characters are likable. Dorian is a cheater, Reagan is a sleaze, and Shante appears weak. I really had a hard time finding anything redeemable about any of the characters except maybe some of the minor characters.

Shante has decided to give Dorian a hall pass for their one year anniversary. At first, he doesn’t want to do it, but he has this hardon for her sister, Reagan. Ummm, if I was given a hall pass I would not use it on someone I might see on a regular basis. But, had he not chosen Reagan, the ending wouldn’t have happened as it did. Reagan definitely doesn’t understand the concept of a one night stand and she continues to come on to Dorian and entice him into continuing a sexual relationship with her. This is not going to end well for anyone, and it doesn’t. I won’t spoil anything in case you wish to read the book, but everything is a hot mess until the very end, and even then I wondered about Reagan’s mental state. I still wonder about her mental state…she is definitely not stable.

While reading this book I wondered where it was possibly going and how it would end. Dorian gets his just rewards (my only “spoiler”) and there are some unanswered questions. The sex scenes are somewhat graphic and frequent. Maybe just a little over the top for my personal taste, but I’m sure just the right amount for others.

Overall I am giving this book 3 paws up. The ending was a surprise but looking back, maybe it shouldn’t have been. However, there really aren’t any clues as to how this will all end up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Briana Cole is an acclaimed author, motivational speaker, sex educator, and actress. Her novels are known for exploring unconventional relationships and making readers question all expectations about love, lust, and monogamy. An Atlanta native, she graduated cum laude from Georgia Southern University and is a proud member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Her motto and ultimate drive toward success is a famous quote from Mae West: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Maia is going to the race, but it’s early. She stops to look at her reflection in the pond. The reflection turns into another girl — a girl who is swimming — a girl who is a mermaid named Trezzie. Trezzie takes Maia’s hand and together they swim to her castle under the water. She gives Maia a piece of a plant that becomes a doorbell, so Maia can call her any time. The two of them skip stones across the water. Maia’s friend Fig shows up. “Where were you? Why weren’t you at the race?” Maia tries to explain she was swimming with her new friend Trezzie. Fig can’t see Trezzie and doesn’t believe her. Fig goes away mad. Trezzie resurfaces. Maia and Trezzie continue playing.

 

 

 

 

Review

 

This was an interesting story about a young girl who meets a mermaid and forms a friendship with her. However, when a classmate appears, the mermaid disappears and Maia’s classmate, Fig, doesn’t believe her. Is Trezzie real or a figment of Maia’s imagination?

I can see reading this book with young children and having a discussion about friendships and that you can have more than one friend and sometimes friends will not always believe you when you tell them something.

I did think that the story ended oddly, I would have thought there might have been more to Maia and Trezzie’s friendship story. Perhaps an explanation that only Maia can see her or why Fig couldn’t see Trezzie.

The illustrations are colorful and outline the events in the story.

We give this 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Lois Wickstrom earned her BA in biology with Chemistry and English minors. She is the creator of the Imagenie videos on YouTube and “Starting With Safety” available from the American Chemical Society. She also co-authored the Nessie’s Grotto Books with Jean Lorrah, and the Orange Forest Rabbit books with Lucrecia Darling.

 

Website * Twitter * YouTube * Facebook

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

In this inspiring biography, discover the true story of Harriet the Spy author Louise Fitzhugh — and learn about the woman behind one of literature’s most beloved heroines.

Harriet the Spy, first published in 1964, has mesmerized generations of readers and launched a million diarists. Its beloved antiheroine, Harriet, is erratic, unsentimental, and endearing-very much like the woman who created her, Louise Fitzhugh.

Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in segregated Memphis, but she soon escaped her cloistered world and headed for New York, where her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the art world of postwar Europe, and her circle of friends included members of the avant-garde like Maurice Sendak and Lorraine Hansberry. Fitzhugh’s novels, written in an era of political defiance, are full of resistance: to authority, to conformity, and even — radically, for a children’s author — to make-believe.

As a children’s author and a lesbian, Fitzhugh was often pressured to disguise her true nature. Sometimes You Have to Lie tells the story of her hidden life and of the creation of her masterpiece, which remains long after her death as a testament to the complicated relationship between truth, secrecy, and individualism.

 

 

 

 

Note from Leslie

 

In 1963, when Louise Fitzhugh was thirty-five and writing Harriet the Spy, about an eleven-year-old girl who lived in New York, I was also an eleven-year-old girl who lived in New York. Harriet lived on the ritzy Upper East Side, while my family of five had migrated from the Bronx to rural Long Island, to live closer to my father’s five-acre junkyard. His business, A&B Auto Wrecking, was located across the road from the Speonk train station—and, as I would later learn, about five miles from Louise Fitzhugh’s summer home in Quogue. Speonk was the train stop for Louise’s friends visiting from the city, a three-hour trip. Ursula Nordstrom disembarked there, as did Louise’s other friends, including actors, painters, editors, and all the other glamorous denizens of her intersecting literary and artistic worlds.

Fitzhugh and I were from different sides of the tracks, but we may well have crossed paths at Mrs. D.’s diner, which served as the train station waiting room. Mrs. D. wore 1940s-style housedresses, her hair in a net, as she fried hamburgers and brewed coffee in what had once been the narrow galley kitchen of a working railroad carriage. Whenever my father took me to lunch at Mrs. D’s, I’d order an egg cream and a tomato sandwich (BLT on white bread, hold the toast, hold the bacon), a combo I believed to be entirely my own invention. Now, I think it likely Mrs. D. served the same off-menu meal to others—perhaps even to a crop-haired, petite woman dressed in paint-stained overalls who was waiting for a train.
Harriet the Spy was originally targeted for children born during the end of the Baby Boom, in other words, readers then between eight and twelve, including me. But in 1964, when the novel was published, I knew nothing of its existence, and I would not learn about it for years. In sixth grade, I had left kids’ lit behind. I preferred to read novels that seemed to last forever, like The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone, and anything by Daphne du Maurier. I was a devoted reader of comic books and of Mad Magazine. To be honest, the most important literature in my life were the lyrics to Beatles songs.

Such was my tenuous and distant connection to Louise Fitzhugh, a state of affairs that would remain unaltered for another thirty-five years, until 1988, when I was hired to write an adaptation of Harriet the Spy for the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company. I read it through several times, stunned at how lucky I was—after all this time, and the many ways our rendezvous might have gone awry—to find her.

 

Follow the timeline of Louise’s life

 

Visual Biography

 

 

Review

 

I was intrigued by this book because while I have heard of Harriet the Spy, I have never read the book. I always love learning about authors and what their life was like and how they came to create their famous works and I now want to read the book that helped girls realize that they do not have to fit into a mold of what society thinks they should do and be in life.

Louise Fitzhugh led an interesting life and I felt like she never quite figured out where she fit in, or if she fit in at all. Her family appeared to be dysfunctional, but then what family isn’t today? Louise liked to have fun and didn’t let anyone bring her down, or at least that is my impression. She had dreams of what she wanted for her life, and it wasn’t to live in Tennessee. Rather, New York and Paris were two locations that called to her.

This book is very detailed about Louise, her writing, her art, and her family. There is a section that shares how her parents met and their relationship, however brief, and how that impacted Louise growing up. I felt that the book was well researched with all of the footnotes. Most of the information came from family and friends since Louise rarely gave interviews, but I felt like the details gave us an insight into her travels through life and love.

This is not a quick read and sometimes I felt like there was too much information, but I can imagine it was hard to know what to keep and what to leave out.

Overall we give it 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Leslie Brody is a creative writing professor and well-regarded biographer known for revealing the stories of delightfully complicated feminists in modern history. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Irrepressible (Counterpoint Press, 2010)—her biography of Jessica Mitford—saying, “Brody has made the world a better place by telling her saga so skillfully.” And Maya Angelou stated, “Leslie Brody reintroduced me to a friend I loved so dearly; told me stories about events I did not participate in, and it makes me jealous. Thank you for the book.” Her new book, Sometimes You Have to Lie, is the biography of Louise Fitzhugh, author of the groundbreaking children’s novel, Harriet the Spy. Brody reveals Louise Fitzhugh was every bit as complex, radical, and trailblazing as her beloved heroine.

Born in the Bronx, Brody left home at the age of 17 to become an underground press reporter in Berkeley, CA. After graduating from San Francisco State University, she became immersed in the theater and served as a playwright-in-residence at various theaters in San Francisco and Minneapolis, as well as a librettist for new work associated with both the Minnesota Opera and the Philadelphia Opera. She then returned to journalism, first as a contributing book editor for the Hungry Mind Review and then as a book columnist for Elle magazine.

In addition to her works of biography, Leslie Brody has written a memoir, Red Star Sister (Hungry Mind Press, 1998), which received the PEN Center USA West Award; and co-authored a book of essays with Gary Amdahl, entitled A Motel of the Mind (Philos Press, 2002).

She has held International Writing Fellowships at Hawthornden in Scotland (2004) and the Camargo Foundation (2005) in France. In the U.S. she’s been an artist-in-residence/fellow at the McDowell Colony, Centrum, Yaddo, Red Cinder Colony, Ragdale, and the Virginia Center for the Arts. She received her MA and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. Since 1998, she has taught Creative Nonfiction in the Creative Writing Department at the University of Redlands.

 

Website

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

While rummaging through the attic, high school senior, Jack Davies, is surprised to find his never-before-seen birth certificate, revealing a startling bit of information that changes his life. The story his mother told about his birth, he discovers, is revealed to be a lie, shattering long-held beliefs and the trust he had for her. Jack becomes obsessed with discovering the truth, leading him down a dangerous path. Faced with unanswered questions and confounding obstacles at every turn, Jack finds himself deeply enmeshed in an intricate world of national security and international intrigue. Relationships are tested as his every move is tracked by a group of mysterious people. Who are they? Whose side are they on? Who can he trust? And, most importantly, who will he ultimately become?

 

 

Amazon * B&N * Bookshop * Indiebound

 

 

Review

 

This debut novel combines a young man coming to grips that he does have a father with a little bit of intrigue and government spies.

Jack stumbles across his birth certificate and realizes his father does have a name. This sets him off on the path to find his father without tipping off his mother since she has told him all his life that she didn’t know his father. He is an enterprising young man and I was amazed at the amount of research that he did and how he was able to find places to go on the internet to find clues about his father. He meets a young woman, Cathy, at the university where his father attended and she becomes an accomplice in his search for his father since she is able to get him some information about his father, but most of it has been wiped out at the university.

This book has multiple storylines and jumps between the past and the present. It added dimension to the story to learn about how Linda and Stewart met and what they both might have gone through during that time and what led Linda to make the decisions she did for her and Jack. There is a fair amount of technical information regarding what Tom (Stewart’s new alias) is doing in Europe in the oil industry and trying to discover new methods to obtain oil from the seas. He runs into an old college friend that assists him in his endeavors in Saudi Arabia but has some own tragedies he deals with in this book. I don’t want to give away too much because one of these events plays a large role in how events unfold.

I have mixed feelings about Jack and his attitude. Part of me believes he is still immature for his age (18-20) but at the same time, he discovers a passion he didn’t know he had until Cathy points it out to him. His discussions/fights with his mother once she confirms she does know his father seem stilted. I can understand his anger at not being told the truth, but at the same time, he isn’t honest with her when he learned the truth that one day in the attic.  Linda did what she thought was right at the time and maybe knowing facts now she might have made other choices, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It takes Cathy and Stewart to point out the facts before Jack can see them clearly. He is very absorbed in how he feels without taking others into consideration. This feels pretty normal for a person that age.

The one thing I would have liked to have seen done in the formatting of this book was to put some sort of break when jumping storylines or timelines. I would read along in the chapter and then all of a sudden we were somewhere else or in the past. This was a little disconcerting because I had no warning and had to shift gears in my brain.

Overall this was a good book for a debut novel with multiple layers, varied plot lines, and complex characters. We give it 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Barry Eisenberg is the author of Primal Calling, his debut novel. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, among others. An associate professor of health care management in the School for Graduate Studies at the State University of New York Empire State College, he is also a health care management consultant and a former hospital administrator. An avid bicycle rider, Eisenberg lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amy.

 

Website * Instagram

 

 

Synopsis

 

 

Zakhi has known a tragedy in his life. A tragedy of the death of his mother. Her being killed in front his eyes for a reason he still does not understand.

***

Balz has known tragedies of his own. But that never stopped him from being mean and insulting to Zakhi…that all changes though all of his hatred becomes something else. Something he’s afraid of exploring.

 

 

Read for Free on Kobo

 

 

Review

 

This book was written by a South African author.

I’m not sure what category to put this book in. It is YA, there is romance, there is an exploration of new feelings (M/M), some adventure, and definitely some fantasy/sci-fi bits.

The story starts off with a young boy’s mother being killed and he goes to live with his aunt and uncle. He doesn’t understand that his mother is dead and runs out into the road and ends up being hit by a car and dying. Or does he?

The book fast forwards about 10 years and Zakhi is in his senior year and just wants to finish and leave. We are led to believe that he might be this young boy that possibly died all those years ago, but it is never really fully explained. Zakhi has a girlfriend, Zinzi, who happens to be the sister of Zakhi’s bully, Balz.

What follows is a journey between Zakhi and Balz and their feelings for each other. Balz is probably the most confused but Zakhi seems to take everything in stride.

Now the fantasy/sci-part has to do with two other characters that don’t seem to be of this world. Both are guys and one of them is pregnant, but they are there to make sure that Zakhi and Balz get together.

There is a twist near the end I didn’t expect but it made sense considering the above about characters possibly from another world.

This is definitely an interesting book, not one I would have picked up on my own. Because the author is from another country, I noticed some errors in grammar compared to what I would use in the US. The story can be confusing at times and I think if the author expanded the story it would help round out the characters and the storyline.

 

 

 

 

Title: UNEARTHING THE PAST

Author: W.L. Brooks

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Pages: 282

Genre: Romantic Suspense

 

 

Synopsis

 

A single mother and owner of the town diner, Charlie McKay couldn’t be happier with her life in Blue Creek. Taking care of everyone around her is a labor of love, but the secret she’s keeping about her daughter’s parentage lurks beneath the surface. With the scars of the past still not healed, Charlie isn’t interested in adding a man to her life, even if that man is the oh-so-tempting Craig Sutton.

Determined to own his own bar, as his father had, Craig Sutton is a man on a mission. But wanting to enjoy small town life is only one of the reasons he moved to the mountains of North Carolina. Whether meaning to or not, Craig can’t keep from getting involved with the McKay family, and the closer he gets to Charlie and her daughter the more entangled he becomes.

In Blue Creek secrets have always run deep, and someone is now trying to expose Charlie’s in a disturbing way. She isn’t the only one with something to hide, however, and deception threatens a possible relationship between her and Craig. As hidden truths are revealed and danger increases, Charlie must find a way to face the past or lose everything.

 

 

 

 

Review

 

This is the third book in the series and while it can be read on its own, I highly suggest reading the first two books.  There were many things I didn’t understand or get about the McKay family dynamic and the relationship between the sisters.  That aside, this story was quite intriguing and the suspense/mystery really kept me guessing.

Charlie is the focus of this story and someone is out to get her and her daughter, Mack.  Enter Craig who has moved to town to open a bar but has some ulterior motives of his own but he is quite interested in Charlie and her daughter.  Charlie is a bit gunshy when it comes to men based on some past history, so Craig has to work past those walls she has built up around her.

All of the characters bring an interesting twist to the story with their personality traits and flaws.  I suppose you could say that the McKay family is a bit dysfunctional and perhaps it is their upbringing since they were all adopted by the McKay family at various times in their life.  Fletcher is the most volatile in my opinion.  She is a police officer, yet she seems to fly off the handle the fastest.  This is a good and bad thing but makes for an intriguing character and I wonder what her story is and what events in her past created her character.

The mystery/suspense portion of the story is well crafted and if you can figure out who the perpetrator is before the reveal you are a better sleuth than me.  There really are not many clues other than it is someone tied to Charlie’s past.  I honestly had no idea who to suspect.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the number of f* bombs and other profanity.  I don’t mind some, but this had a bit more than I personally prefer.

Overall we enjoyed the book and give it 3 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt

 

Chapter One

Someone was in his bedroom. Craig Sutton feigned sleep, even though the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He rolled over, slid one hand beneath his pillow, grasped cold steel, and opened his eyes. He didn’t know whether to laugh or curse. Standing on the bed next to him was four-anda-half-year-old Mackenzie McKay. Her big black eyes were wide and unblinking. He released his weapon and sat up.

“Uh…hi.”

“Hi.” She twirled one of her white-blonde pigtails. Craig had come across Mack, the niece of his landlady, on a number of occasions. But…

“How’d you get in here, sweetheart?”

She pouted. “I’m allowed.”

“Well…I don’t think anyone told you, but because I’m staying here, you need to knock first.” Craig didn’t want to scare her or, God forbid, make her cry. He’d never been able to handle female tears, especially the tiny variety.

She crossed her arms. “Auntie Alex shoulda said.”

“I’m sure she meant to…How about you go in the other room while I change, and then I’ll take you to find your aunt.”

“Ohskay.” She jumped down and closed the door behind her. Craig went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and changed his clothes in record time. When he came out, he was surprised to find her sitting at the kitchen table, humming and swinging her legs.

Craig shook his head and smiled; the kid was adorable. “Ready, sweets?” “Yep!” She hopped off the seat and took Craig’s hand.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

W.L. Brooks was born with an active imagination.  When characters come into her mind, she has to give them life – a chance to tell their stories. With a coffee cup in her hand and a cat by her side, she spends her days letting the ideas flow onto paper.  A voracious reader, she draws her inspiration from mystery, romance, suspense and a dash of the paranormal.

A native of Virginia Beach, she is currently living in Western North Carolina. Pick up her latest novel, The Secrets That Shape Us- available now!

Website * Facebook * Goodreads

 

 

Title: THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME
Author: Leonard Bassed
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 108
Genre: YA

Synopsis

Leonard Bassed had no plan to write a novel titled THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME when he set out to create a movie script with a similar name.  “I had written the pilot script first and I kept the same ending for the novel…everything from the script I wrote found its way into the finished book version of ‘The Witch Port Video Game,’ said writer-singer-actor Leonard Bassed.  “I was able to spend more time developing the characters and their world…the whole thing was just such an organic experience and extremely enjoyable, creative for me.”

THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME tells the story through the lives of three ordinary teens who live in the fictional town of Cradle Creek, USA – a small town they hope to one day escape, attracted by the bright lights and promise of the Big City.  All three are students at a prestigious performing art school with hopes of one day making names for themselves in the entertainment world.

Mr. Bassed continued about his story, “A chance encounter the three have with a girl named Bianca Morris threatens to derail their plans. Bianca introduces them to an enticing video game, ‘The Witch Port Video Game’.  This encounter, coupled with the arrival of the MacQuoid brothers sets in motion a series of bizarre events that spins their lives into chaos and disarray as the three head into a world of sorcery with an ultimate fight for survival.”

As a young boy growing up in South Africa, Leonard dreamed one day of working in the arts.  He wanted to write, to act, to sing.  While drawn to acting and songwriting, he was also a good storyteller.  “The auditions I would go out for as an actor were never reflective of the kinds of roles I was after to play. It was this realization that led me to write the pilot script which I planned to pitch to TV and movie producers.  But, once I finished the script I’d grown too attached to the characters and the wonders of their world that ultimately led the script into the shape of a full novel,” he went on to say.

 

 

Purchase the Book

 

Praise

“While the book’s final moments leave us with a rather sudden, enigmatic ending, an endnote does indicate a sequel Witch Port Igniting the Coven on the horizon. For those who enjoy the entertaining literary chemistry that results from inquisitive teens and their foray into the mysterious world of sorcery, Bassed’s venture should prove an intriguing reveal.” –Pacific Book Review

 

“Filled with cheeky references to famous pop-culture stories of sorcery and mixed with some classic teenage angst, this book is a fast-paced, suspenseful story. The novel’s premise that some teenagers gain special powers through a video game is an updated, modern take on magic and suits the story quite well for a 21st-century setting. The author sets up the story mechanisms so that everything that happens through the students’ video gameplay also happens in real life. The author states that this novel was originally a screenplay, and those elements shine through, from the descriptive settings to the fast pace in which the action occurs on the page. It will be interesting to see how the protagonists grow with their powers in the sequel.” –The U.S. Review of Books

 

Review

This YA novella is a cross between Charmed (which is actually mentioned in the book) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and probably a few other teen movies filled with teen drama.  Since the book is shorter we don’t really get to know the characters that well except for Martin since he seems to be the main character.  What we know about him – he is gay, black, artistic (dancer, singer, performer), has some serious facial cleansing rituals, and has two best friends that are girls.  This trio likes to sneak out and do things they probably shouldn’t be doing including drinking.  I’m not quite sure how kids that are 15-16 can pass for legal age in a diner, maybe they look mature for their age?

The story was intriguing and I feel like there is so much more to learn about the characters, what will happen with these powers, who are they up against (demons, warlocks, sorcerers), and does Martin have powers that he needs to learn to control?  This book starts the reader down the path and whets your appetite for more details and what is going to happen next for Martin, Francesca, and Mackenzie.

While I enjoyed the story I do have a few issues with the book.  It is only available in print format (or at least that is how it was offered to me) but the font is TINY.  I had a hard time reading the book and had to make sure I had enough light.  Secondly, there would be multiple characters speaking in the same paragraph.  It was very confusing and it would have been better if the dialogue for each character speaking were separated into its own paragraph.  I do come across a few spelling and grammatical errors but nothing too serious.

Overall this was a good book and if someone enjoys YA books with the magical twist, then you just might enjoy this book.  We give it 3 paws up.

 

 

Excerpt

“I begin to hear an eerie chant being recited in unison as the first three naked women make it to the dark summit. Holding long, makeshift brooms, in their right hands, they chant: “Drink the flight broth, wood in hand. Burn the root …” An elderly woman with lanky hair picks up the goblet, takes a sip of its contents, and inhales the smoke of an already burning smudge stick. The chanting continues: “Then dive from the cliff…” This is perhaps the most startling scene I’ve ever witnessed. The woman runs off the edge of the cliff, seemingly to plummet to her death, but I hear “Not by wind nor by wings, airborne sisters thou shall soar.” Suddenly, the woman who vanished off the cliff reappears, hovering in mid-air on a broom. She begins cackling, and the louder her cackles, the higher she floats. Soon a host of other women mimic her actions, cackling into the night air.” – By Leonard Bassed

 

This is one of my favorite excerpts from my novel, ‘The Witch Port Video Game’ because of the imagery it conjures.

My novel begins with Martin’s recollection of a vision he once had. In the vision, women are seen diving off a cliff and flying on their brooms, true to the stereotypical portrayal of witches in the media and western folklore.

The women are depicted inhaling something resembling a smudge stick this leaves the reader unsure whether they’re indeed flying or having some sort of hallucinogenic experience brought on by the smoke.

 

 

About the Author

Writer-actor-singer Leonard Bassed was born in the town of Middleburg, Mpumalanga and raised in Johannesburg.  He started taking vocal lessons at age eight and studied drama throughout his high school years.  A mentor encouraged him to pursue an acting career.  Leonard went on to complete acting classes in both South Africa and later Los Angeles.  Currently, when not writing or singing, Leonard continues to study acting techniques with the renowned Margie Haber Studio in Hollywood. In his free time, he enjoys travel, reading and movie going.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

What if you could find the love of your life just by reading between the lines?

Single mom Fordham Price is juggling her job at a small publisher, her precocious ten-year-old daughter, and her feisty mother. She wants to find time for men, but after a series of dating disasters, her relationship status is still stuck at single.

As if her macchiato lite wasn’t already overflowing, a co-worker gets pregnant, and Fordham is expected to step in and deliver the company’s latest reality read from the Flowers from the Heart series. She must now supplement her own romantic misadventures with tales of cynical cat-ladies, identical-twin husbands, spunky monks, and countless other web-crawlers.
As she wades through the submissions, she finds one from a widower whose story gives her tingles in all the places she forgot existed. His words draw her in until she finds herself daydreaming about him more than she’d care to admit.

Could she have a love like that, or will her romantic fate be forever bound to her philandering ex-husband?

 

Review

This book has several aspects that I enjoyed – the multi generations living in the same home, a middle-aged woman trying to wade through the dating pool, and stories of how people met the love of the their life online (that is how I met my husband).  Fordham has a lot going for her despite being divorced and a single mom.  She has a job that she enjoys and has been given a new challenge – filling the shoes of a woman that just left and creating a book with stories of how people met online.  However, the deadline is looming and life keeps getting in the way of progressing very quickly with the book.  She has been told she might be out of a job if this book doesn’t perform well…no pressure!  Her dating life is interesting as it is filled with some guys that aren’t the brightest bulbs.  There is one ray of sunshine, David Prince, the principal at her daughter’s school.

The book has it comedic moments but I thought it was mostly when it involved Dorie, Fordham’s mom, or Whitty, Fordham’s daughter.  Whitty may be 10 but she is quite precocious and not to be taken lightly.  I loved how she was giving her mother fashion advice.  There was something wrong with Whitty when she was born but we don’t know what is wrong until about 1/3 of the way through the book.

While I couldn’t related to Fordham’s situation, I could appreciate what she was going through between work and trying to find a love.  Sometimes I wondered if she was trying too hard.

The book does move at a slower pace than I would have preferred but it was enjoyable all the same.  I do think that there was sometimes too much detail and the story felt bogged down in places.

We give it 3 paws up.

Guest Post

We all have dreams. As a child, mine was to have long polished fingernails, a sparkly diamond ring, a husband, kids, and a puppy. It was my firm belief that my children would be the luckiest on earth because I would love them beyond reason. My only other wish was to be a movie star, admired by all.

We all have dreams that change. As a child I loved movies, especially the ones where sultry, stunning actresses had to do nothing but stand in a room to have every man in sight desire them. Their allure was disarming and enviable and as I got older, I wanted to be one of them. As a teen, it became somewhat painfully obvious that a 5’2”, very bosomy, bottle- blonde was not exactly the ingenue Hollywood was banging down doors to find. I still watched movies with palpable yearning, but as a matter of practicality, I knew I would have to switch gears.

We all have dreams that change us. I went to college because I had no choice but to graduate and be a “something.” I had given up my dreams of being an actress and so I returned to my most organic desire -to be a wife and a mother. My first serious boyfriend didn’t feel ready to comply with my wishes and broke up with me. Shortly after, I met the guy I believed was Mr. Right. He transferred to my school so we could be together. It was all very romantic in the screenplay I was writing in my head.

We all have dreams that work-until they confuse us.  We got married. I went for my MA in English Ed so I could actually be a “something.” I loved words. The problem was I didn’t want to be a teacher or a journalist. I didn’t want to be anything that required punching a time clock or reporting to a boss. I wanted to write movies, but as far as I was concerned those were created in some far-off land by nameless sprites.

We all have dreams that shape us. I got pregnant and realized that being a mother was my truest calling. Except for the pen and paper that beckoned me in the wee hours, I was a mom all the way from colic to toddlerhood and then onto my next pregnancy, and my next pregnancy, and my next pregnancy. All the while, my movies kept me company. They reminded me, while my own marriage was unraveling, that true love was still out there.

We all have dreams that save us. I got divorced. It was a blessing, but destabilizing, nonetheless. I was no longer part of a couple. We divvied up the friends, but I got to keep the videos. The weekends I didn’t have the kids became my nights for take-out and romcoms. I needed to reinforce my childhood notions of love. I started dating, which I found was not the way to secure those notions. The more I dated, the more I needed my movies.

At some point, we all stop dreaming and start doing. One day, my sister said, very matter-of-factly, “just write your movie already.” Really? Maybe she was right. Maybe the only way I could have the love I wanted was to create it myself. I started writing a screenplay and while developing the main conflict, decided to reach out to my first serious boyfriend. I was in NY. He was safely tucked away in Florida. Maybe he would be able to explain why I was relationship-challenged.

We all have dreams that come true. My former boyfriend was now divorced and seemed to have been waiting for my call. We kept in touch and after a few weeks he said he needed to see me. Our time together convinced me to keep writing. Upon the advice of my late, treasured mentor, I novelized my screenplay and LOVE-LINES emerged. My boyfriend moved to NY, proposed, and after a mere dozen years of living together, we got married this past New Year’s Eve.

Keep dreaming.

About the Author

Sheri Langer is a chocoholic writer and editor who routinely feasts on romantic comedies. She’s been known to spontaneously reenact scenes from classic favorites like When Harry Met Sally.

A self-proclaimed moderately talented home-cook, Sheri spends a fair amount of time concocting dishes that can never be repeated. A creative rebel at heart, she has always colored outside the lines and has an instinctive aversion to recipes. To keep the calories from getting too out of hand, Sheri does step and aerobic workouts in the privacy of her bedroom, where no one has to be subjected to her lack of rhythm.

An avid word fan, Sheri frequently plays Just Words, Boggle, and Scrabble, mostly against the computer so she has excellent odds of winning. With her four kids all grown up, three of whom live in various locations across the map, Sheri and her guy, Brad, spend much of their downtime watching General Hospital and football, shopping, and pursuing the best ice cream on the planet. Much to the chagrin of their waistbands, they can often be spotted sitting on a bench outside their favorite creamery, eating obscenely overstuffed giant waffle cones.

Please feel free to connect with Sheri on social media. You can help her procrastinate by engaging in spirited exchanges or viewing pics of her great-looking family and ridiculously adorable cat, Zoe.

Website * Facebook * Twitter