Synopsis

 

Lyle is a struggling teenager with low self-esteem. His poor decisions reinforce his reputation as a troublemaker. Marylin arrives at a new high school and navigates the challenge of fitting in. When Lyle sets his eyes on the new girl at school, he is smitten. He is determined to win Marylin’s affection.

Eventually, Lyle convinces Marylin to give him a shot, and a relationship follows. Their story together is filled with obstacles, but their commitment to one another provides the foundation for a lifetime of happiness. Together, they dream of a family and a destination to gather friends and loved ones. Against all odds, they secure both.

A Yellow House In The Mountains is a story of overcoming adversity. Lyle and Marylin lean on each other to build a legacy never to be forgotten. Challenges come early and often, yet, their determination and faith push them forward in pursuing their dreams.

The events of October 21, 2020, were historical and costly. By the end of the day, more than 193,000 acres and more than 400 homes were consumed in the East Troublesome Fire, Colorado’s fastest-moving fire in history. Lyle and Marylin understood living in their mountain paradise had risks. How would they prepare? What actions could they take? Did their preparations make a difference when the fire arrived on their doorstep? Their approach to the oncoming fire was consistent with their approach to other challenges in their lives…they faced it together.

 

 

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Excerpt

 

The investment in a new business, plus the expenses of a new home were mounting. Even though he was only 35 years old, his schedule wasn’t sustainable and it finally caught up with him. Lyle suffered a stroke.

“Marylin, he must slow down,” the doctor explained. “He’s lucky you got him here so quickly or the damage done would have been more severe.”

“I thought strokes only happened to old people,” Marylin replied.

“Generally, that’s true. But, there are other causes. Has he been dealing with difficult work issues? Is he under any stress?”

“He’s been working multiple jobs for years. Stress is what drives him,” Marylin explained.

“Not anymore. He needs to slow down a bit.”

Lyle’s speech was impacted only for a short time. Fortunately, his mobility and memory remained intact. After a few days of rest, he felt good enough to return to the fire station but upon his return home, he found his spouse waiting at the door.

“I want you to sell the business. I need you and it simply isn’t worth risking your health by holding three jobs,” Marylin said.

Lyle understood his lifestyle wasn’t sustainable but was driven by his ambition to provide well for the family. “But Punk, we have so many financial obligations,” Lyle countered.

Anticipating his concern, Marylin shared her solution. “I’m going to find a job. With the kids all in school, I’ve got time and want to help.”

Reluctantly, Lyle agreed to support Marylin’s efforts.

She began with a search through the newspaper want ads. While there were many offers of employment, most required a college degree or minimally, graduation from high school. With neither in her resume, Marylin was drawn to the ads in the restaurant and service industries. One job stood out from the others as it offered a significantly higher wage and referenced additional compensation from tips. Excited to pursue the job, Marylin called and set up a time for an interview. On the day of the interview, Marylin carefully dressed in her Sunday best attire. She was a hard worker and determined to impress the potential employer. She drove about 15 minutes to East Colfax Avenue to an office building surrounded by numerous restaurants, bars, and motels. As she entered, a young receptionist greeted her.

“I’m here for an interview,” Marylin shared.

“Great. Have a seat. Mr. King will be with you shortly,” the receptionist instructed.

As she waited, she couldn’t help but notice the numerous photographs and awards on the walls. She thought, Mr. King must be a very important individual. Marylin recognized many of the celebrities and political figures from TV and newspaper articles. Feeling a little intimidated, her exploration of the photographs was interrupted by the receptionist, “Mr. King will see you now.”

As she entered the office, she was in awe of the spacious accommodations. Mr. King stood from behind his desk and walked towards Marylin, extending his hand. “So, you’re looking for work?”

Marylin energetically responded, “Oh yes, with my five children now in school, the timing is right, and we can use the extra money.”

“Hmmmm. I don’t think you’d be a good fit for the job,” Mr. King explained.

“But, I’m very good with people, I work hard and know I could be successful,” Marylin persuaded.

“Yes, but,” Mr. King began before Marylin interrupted.

“Can you just give me a chance? You really won’t regret hiring me,” Marylin pled.

Thinking carefully, Mr. King paused. Leaning back in his leather chair, his eyes looked up and down, carefully evaluating Marylin’s appearance.

Why is he looking at me like that?

He then instructed, “Let me see you dance.”

“Dance?” Marylin questioned.

“Young lady, do you know the kind of work you’re here for?” Mr. King inquired.

“Yes, the ad said something about serving in a restaurant,” Marylin stated.

Mr. King then clarified, “Well, we do serve food and drinks, but we’re hiring strippers. I can see you’re not the type.”

Embarrassed, Marylin realized she was in an interview with the owner of Sid King’s Crazy Horse Bar. Later, she was even more shocked to learn of Sid King’s reputation as the “Sultan of Striptease.”

It wasn’t long before Marylin decided she needed to secure a GED. With a degree, her options would expand.

 

 

About the Author

 

Glenn Hileman is the CEO of Highmark School Development and has spent over fifteen years living in Bountiful, Utah. His love of Grand Lake, Colorado led to him purchasing his parent’s home in 2020. His family is actively working to restore the property from the devastation of the East Troublesome Fire. In doing so, they hope to honor the legacy of his parents. “A Yellow House in the Mountains” is his first book.

 

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Synopsis

 

When a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, the Christie sisters and their cat Agatha call on all they’ve learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist in this new series debut.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She’s recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their friendly bookshop cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge with cozy fireside seats and panoramic views. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintery whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.

He was a mysterious stranger who visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders were disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man’s identity shocks the town. Many residents knew of him. Quite a few had reason to want him dead. Others hide secrets. The police gather suspects, but when they narrow in on the sisters’ close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries, and they’re not about to let the situation snowball out of control. The Christie sisters must summon their inner Miss Marples and trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Ann Claire earned degrees in geography, which took her across the world. Now Claire lives with her geographer husband in Colorado, where the mountains beckon from their kitchen windows. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking, gardening, herding housecats, and enjoying a good mystery, especially one by Agatha Christie.

 

 

I am not a huge reader of YA books…of course this is coming from the person that LOVED Hunger Games and can’t wait to see the movie.  Anyway, YA books generally aren’t a category I read but I was intrigued when author Del Shannoncontacted me about reading his book, Kevin’s Point of View.  The cover art is courtesy of a child that read the book and sent it to Del.

Del was also kind enough to allow me to interview him!

What inspired you to write this story?

There were quite a few influences and inspirations for the Kevin’s Point of View. My own daydreaming and imagination is probably the most prominent inspiration. When I was a kid I was constantly daydreaming and imagining myself as a wide range of characters – Dracula clamping onto the neck of my unsuspecting mother, Evel Knievel jumping nearly anything I could find with my bike, Reggie Jackson hitting home runs during the World Series, or my absolute favorite, Indian Jones, crawling through caves in search of undiscovered treasure.

Another huge inspiration was Saturday morning cartoons. Saturday morning was THE BEST time of the week and I would religiously watch Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby Doo, the Super Friends, and the Looney Tunes, which were my favorites. There were two Looney Tunes cartoons that I especially liked, called Boyhood Daze and From A to ZZZ, and they stared an obscure character named Ralph Phillips. Like me, Ralph was a perpetual daydreamer and always imagined himself in some wild adventure. The cartoons are on YouTube and they’ll make you laugh.

I need to make sure I also mention the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip as an influence. Calvin was also a wild daydreamer and his alter ego, Spaceman Spiff, was in my mind when I created Kevin’s alter ego – Captain Disaster.

I saw in the video interview that it took you 10 years to write and then about that many years to publish which you decided to self-publish, how did you stay so patient during that time?

I definitely didn’t stay patient in the 10 years of writing and 10 years looking for a publisher. It’s been incredibly frustrating at times and I gave up dozens of times, but eventually I would always come back to the story, fiddle with it, make a few edits, and keep writing. At one point I decided to cut an entire character (Mr. Neumann), which required me to rewrite or completely delete about 6 chapters. What kept me going was the response I would get from kids when I’d go to classrooms and read the story to them. While I was writing I would beg my teacher friends to let me come to their classrooms to talk about writing and to read from whatever I was writing at the time to see if the kids enjoyed it. After one of these classroom visits I received this huge stack of thank you notes, including one from Ruben Quintana who drew a picture on the cover of his card of Kevin jumping out of the bathroom window completely naked. I LOVED this card and would go back to over and over when I would get discouraged or receive another rejection letter. I read the card quite often because I’ve received well over 100 rejections. Sigh…

If Kevin’s Point of View were to be made into a movie, who do you see playing some of the major characters especially Kevin and Scratch?

Even though he’s British, Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) reminds me of what I think Kevin looks like. And if Sean Penn were 30 years younger he’d make an excellent Scratch. But my real preference would be to have actors who aren’t widely known to play all the characters. It would enjoy seeing actors relatively unknown to the broader public playing characters created by someone DEFINITELY unknown to the broader public.

How were you able to get the schools to put this book in the library?

I asked them. Most libraries love getting free books, so I donated the book to them. A few bloggers have also been donating the book to their local school libraries after finishing their review. Other bloggers are also teachers and they’ve shared the book with their school libraries.

What book(s) are on your nightstand right now?

A Voyage Long and Strange, by Tony Horwitz is my current read. It’s a book that looks at all the explorers who ventured into the Americas (Vikings, Columbus, Conquistadors, etc.). This probably sounds a little strange for someone who enjoys writing fiction, but I really enjoy reading non-fiction. I’ve devoured all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, and also really enjoyed Entanglement (a book about quantum physics) by Amir Aczel. But I do enjoy fiction and religiously read Carl Hiaasen’s books.

Synopsis from the website:

Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary twelve-year-old dealing with the ­aftermath of his father’s death in a mountain biking accident near their home in Boulder, Colorado. To escape from his emotional turmoil, Kevin has ­developed his imagination into a dangerous foil and a powerful ally. While he antagonizes his mother and sister through his superhero antics on an average Wednesday ­morning, his ability to escape inside a character’s head becomes critical to his ­survival after his life is once-again turned upside down a year after his father’s death.

A mysterious package arrives in the mail, Kevin and his best friend are hunted down by a ruthless villain set upon world domination who is determined to ­retrieve the package, and after enlisting Kevin’s teenage sister and her pizza-­delivery boyfriend in a battle for control over time itself, the secret of Kevin’s whole existence is revealed to him by a source we never expected.

My Thoughts:

WOW! pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book.  While geared towards a younger reader, it definitely sucked me in to the story line pretty much right away.  Kevin is an interesting child with a great sense of imagination (which I think some kids lack today).  I find it amusing that he is able to outwit the bad guys by morphing into an alter ego from the cartoons he watches.  The ending had quite a twist that I wasn’t totally expecting.  Part of it I had a feeling would happen but not the rest.  I think that this book would appeal to the middle school child with Kevin’s crazy antics and his wild imagination.  All in all I give it 5 stars and 2 thumbs up.

The Giveaway:

Now for the fun part!  Del sent me a copy of his book to read and review and now I want to give it away to one of my followers.  It is pretty simple, fill out the form below (US residents only) by Sunday, April 1st and I will choose a winner at random and send it out to you.

Colleen Collins is a PI by day (so she knows of what she writes!) and is also an award-winning author who’s written 20 novels and anthologies for Harlequin (including a romantic paranormal thriller for Dorchester, writing as Cassandra Collins). Her books have placed first in the Colorado Gold, Romancing the Rockies, and Top of the Peak contests, and placed in the finals for the Holt Medallion, Coeur de Bois Readers Choice, Award of Excellence, More than Magic, and Romance Writers of America RITA contests.

 

Book blurb:

Just as washed-up criminal defense attorney, life-long Deadhead (nickname “The Zen Man”), and current PI Rick Levine decides to get relicensed as a lawyer, he’s charged with killing one and ends up in the slammer with a half-mil bail.

Released on bond, Rick and his girlfriend Laura have 30 days to find the real killer. In the course of their investigations, they dig for dirt among Denver’s shady legal backrooms to its tony corporate centers. Dodging bullets, a kidnapping, trumped-up charges and the FBI’s unwanted intervention, Rick and Laura continue tracking key suspects who have motive…eventually learning that true redemption begins at home.

 My Thoughts:

It has been awhile since I read a book with a male protagonist.  Lately I have been reading romance books or cozy mysteries where the main character is a woman.  This was definitely a nice switch.  I’ll say right off the bat that I did figure out “whodoneit”.  Now it is not because it was obvious..in fact, I was never 100% sure that it was who I thought because of the many red herrings tossed into the mix.  But it was just something in my gut that said X was the killer. (thought I was going to spoil it didn’t you?!)  There was a great mix of characters and side story lines that just added to the history of Rick and how he got to be who he became in this story.  The story has a good mix of mystery and suspense and even a little humor.  There are many clues that might help you figure it out before the end of the book…depends on if you can decipher them!

All in all I give this story 2 thumbs up and 4 stars.

The Giveaway:

Colleen has been kind enough to offer an e-book copy of her novel.  You can get it in a format for the Kindle or the Nook.  No e-reader? No problem. You can read The Zen Man on your computer, iPhone, iPad and other devices — you can even read it in your Web browser!

She will also send the winner a t-shirt (L or XL).

So sign up today!  This will close on Sunday, March 18th.

Delphi Brent is a self assured young woman who has the opportunity to travel to Colorado for the summer before starting a job in Maine.  However, her parents are not keen on this idea because of an accident nine years previously that left Delphi with a large scar on her leg and the death of a son of long time friends, Robert & Annie Laughlin.  What no one knows is who was driving the car and what really happened….or at least they are not saying.  What Delphi doesn’t expect is to fall in love with one of the Laughlin boys and for her world to turn upside down and will the secrets cause her to lose out on a chance of love and happily ever after.  

I read this book in about 3 days (at night) and could not put it down.  I really enjoyed the wit of Delphi and her reactions to Noreen, the fiancee of Bobby Laughlin, who thinks that Delphi is there to make good on a crush from 11 years ago when she was 15. I liked how she stood up for herself and didn’t let anyone get her down.  However, in the same respect, Delphi didn’t give others a chance to break down the walls around her heart.  That is until several people mentioned to her that Tam Laughlin looks at her like there is no one else in the world.  The power of suggestion!  Despite her reservations, she finds herself enjoying Tam’s company and getting closer to him until it finally ends in a kiss…but what a kiss!

Delphi also makes friends with Dave the vet, who has a secret of his own that surprisingly no one else figures out.

And then there is Bobby, the oldest brother who is engaged to Noreen and is it really for love or to join their ranches?  And is his heavy drinking masking anything else?

This was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it!

Author – Maggie Sefton
Published – 2005
This may be the only book in this series since the author seems to be focusing on a knitting cozy series. My husband is a real estate broker so I was interested to see how this book would compare to what I see him do on a daily basis.

Kate Doyle is a relatively new real estate agent (they call her a broker but that may be a Colorado term because it doesn’t mean the same thing in Texas) after getting a divorce 3 years prior and needing a new career. One of her friends is getting a divorce (and it doesn’t look like it will be pretty) and she is helping them sell the house. She comes back for some sigatures from the husband and finds him dead in his home office. Not what she was expecting. The most logical suspect is the wife, Amanda, but that is Kate’s friend and she knows that Amanda couldn’t kill her husband. So she sets off to figure out who did it and why.

Let’s just say that I didn’t figure it out until the end when the clues were all put together.

Overall it was a decent book and I could see the interpersonal relationships developing, but I probably wouldn’t look for a 2nd book by this author. But maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised!