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.

I love getting random emails from authors asking me to review a book, especially when the book is something I probably wouldn’t have normally picked up or even known about.  Stretching the mind is a good thing!

Ed Brodow contacted me about reading and reviewing Fixer which is fiction but loosely based on his Grandfather’s life in New York in the early 1900′s and especially dealt with the Jewish population in New York.  He graciously sent me an e-book copy to read.

From the slums of the Lower East Side to New Orleans, the Vatican, and the bloody battle of Belleau Wood, Fixer is the spellbinding tale of a fearless politician with a limp and a thirty-eight who is faced with an impossible choice between his career and his integrity.

Harry Leonnoff, uneducated son of Russian Jewish immigrants, overcomes the poverty of the Lower East Side, a crippling bout with polio, and rampant anti-Semitism to become the admired Robin Hood of Depression-Era New York. He helps four mayors get elected, saves nine innocent black men from the electric chair, and comes to the aid of immigrants and the poor. But the enmity of Fiorello La Guardia may be too much even for Harry Leonnoff to fix.

 Ed was also kind enough to let me interview him for this review.

SBR:  What made you decide to write a book loosely based on your Grandfather’s life?

EB: My grandfather was the most extraordinary human being I’ve ever met. His story is remarkable and yet no one alive today knows who he was. That has always disturbed me. For about 40 years, I’ve thought about telling the story. Why it came avalanching out when it did — about five years ago — I am not really sure, but better late than never. Incidentally, I would have written a memoir if I’d been in possession of enough facts, but I wasn’t so I made most of it up.

SBR: How long did it take you to research the facts you needed for your novel and then write the novel itself?

EB: I did all the research and wrote the first draft in seven weeks. It just came flying out. Whoosh! Then I spent two years polishing it.

SBR: What is your biggest obstacle when writing and how do you overcome it?

EB:  I am a wonderful story teller but my style is economical (which I’m proud of, by the way). Sometimes I gloss over the details. My solution is to (1) carefully organize my ideas and outline the chapters; (2) do lots of research; and (3) answer the question, “What does the reader want to know?”

SBR:  What actors would you choose to play your main characters in a movie version of your book?

EB: Everyone tells me that Fixer would be a great movie. For Harry Leonnoff, I could cast Daniel Day-Lewis (I have a feeling he would ace it), Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks, or Nicholas Cage (he seems to understand that New York ethnic thing). For Fiorello, Jack Nicholson (he’d be great because he is short and has a great sense of humor), Paul Giamatti, John Malkovich, or Christoff Waltz.

SBR: Who are two of your favorite authors and what are you reading now?

EB: Jim Harrison and Hemingway, both fabulous story tellers. I’m reading Off to the Side by Jim Harrison.

My Review:

My normal preferred genres of books usually doesn’t include historical novels.  I don’t know why, but maybe the writers didn’t really impress me with their descriptions…or maybe I just got older and my tastes changed (kind of like they do with food).  Needless to say, I truly enjoyed reading Fixer and getting a taste of what it was like in the early 1900′s in New York and what it was like to be an immigrant and Jewish on top of that.  Politics were a whole different game back then and it was fascinating to learn about positions that don’t exist any more, but perhaps they should.

The author takes you through a very historic period in New York and the dark and seedy underbelly of politics.  While the book is fiction, there is some truth to the story.  He weaves a tale that makes you feel like you are there and living in that moment and can imagine what it was like to be an immigrant at the turn of the century.

This story really grabbed me and kept me entranced with the characters and how they overcame adversity for their time.

I definitely recommend this book and give it 2 thumbs up!  If you have a Kindle or other E-book reader it is a steal at $2.99 on Smashwords.

Last week I received a few books to add to my TBR (to be read) mountain!  I am a sucker for new cozies and these are two that arrived this past week:

Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells (aka Linda Palmer)

Quickstep to Murder by Ella Barrick

Cooking and ballroom dancing…what better settings for some new reads?!

Today I am reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly for my book club.  We are meeting on Sunday and watching the movie and discussing the book…nothing like waiting until the last minute to read the book, right?!

So something I just learned by looking at the author’s website….there are several books with the same character – Mickey Haller.  I didn’t know this was a series….guess I’ll be picking up the rest to read at some time in the near future because I know I have had a hard time putting this book down to do work or go to sleep at night!

Synopsis from the dust jacket:

Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn’t recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him.  But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.

Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind.  Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers – they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list.  For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence – it’s about negotiation and manipulation.  Sometimes it’s even about justice.

A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up  in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high paying client in years.  It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case.  And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.

Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face to face with evil as purse as a flame.  To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal – this time to save his own life.

I like to read books by first time authors and especially when that author is a sorority sister!  It just seems like there is something special reading a book by someone that has a connection to you in one way or another.

Ellen Cardona wrote Brownie Fix to help deal with the postpartum depression she experienced after one of her pregnancies. Through her writing, she found that postpartum depression was real but conquerable, especially when one has the help of some dark chocolate and even darker humor. When Ellen is not writing, she teaches literature to college freshmen and attempts to help them understand the writing process, though they think she’s crazy because of her love for literature and writing.  She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a PhD in Humanities with a specialization in Literature. Even though she has published several academic works on Ezra Pound, she could not ignore her true passion as a fiction writer. Ellen lives in Richardson, Texas and continues to learn daily from her husband and two children. In good times and bad, she still enjoys her brownies.

I was also able to interview Ellen to see how she felt about being a published author!

SBR: Since this is your first book, how does it feel to be published?

EC: It feels like I’m finally doing what I am supposed be doing, writing.  It’s scary to release a book out to the public because some people will like it and some will not, but I can’t imagine not taking that  step and releasing it. I don’t want to the play the “What if” game.  Writing and now publishing feels right.

SBR: How long did it take to write your book and then get it published?

EC: It took me three years to write this book, and it took me a year to find a publisher, and then another year to “let her go”.  Never in my life did I think I would self-publish because two years ago, it was looked down upon.  All of sudden, when I signed the contract with my publisher, ebooks took off and writers started to self-publish.  Even agents started their own publishing houses with ebooks and paperbacks.  Never say never, but I don’t think I’ll ever sign with a publisher again.  Iplan to self0publish all my books now, and I am very excited about this opportunity.

SBR: Do you have another book in the works?

EC: Yes, I have to plish it and then have my “test” readers go over it for any weird plot and grammar issues.  I plan to release it next year.  It’s called The Return of Raven and it is the first book in the Triology of Raven.  The Return of Raven is about the birth of a goddess, who has long been forgotten, and how she comes to terms with who she is and her fate.  Set in today’s time, it’s a coming of age story, except she becomes a goddess.  Add a love triangel with ahunky guy and battle of good vs. evil, and I have a fun, fun story and trilogy.  I can’t wait for The Return of Raven to be released to the public.

SBR:  Tell us why we should read your book in 1 -2 sentences.

EC: Brownie Fix is a story about postpartum depression mixed with chocolate and some dark humor.  It’s a bit offensive and funny, but there is a common thread that many women can relate to: how hard it is to find yourself again, your true self, when you’ve lost it or really never even known who you were in the first place.

SBR: Who is your favorite author and why?  And from that author, what is your favorite book?

EC:  Hard Question. My favorite modern author is Stephen King and his book, The Shining. It’s the scariest book I have ever read. I have to add a book that is the basis for my writing: Virgil’s Aeneid. The Aeneid, which I had to translate with much grumbling from Latin to English in high school, showed me how literature is put together with rhythm. I think that’s where I learned how to write with rhythm and develop my voice. The mythology in the book is the cornerstone for the books I write. The characters in the Trilogy of Raven are based on Greek gods, and the characters in Brownie Fix are based on Greek and Roman gods. Can you find them?  (SBR – I found at least 1!)

SBR: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

EC: Chocolate chip cookie dough.  I’m a digger for the cookie dough.  Don’t give me a gallon of that ice cream because I will stand over it and spend all my time digging, and there will be nothing left except vanilla ice cream and big holes.

SBR: What do you do in your free time?

EC: I’m a runner an da cyclist.  Right now, I’m training for a marthon, and I’m coaching a running class, which is so much fun. I also ride a tandem, a bicycle built for two, with my husband.  Believe me, it takes communication skills to ride that tandem, and we go very fast.  Also, I spend my time in the evening as a chauffeur for my children.

Synopsis:

Chocolate. Love. Sex. Really, what else could a woman want in life? For Persey, the heroine of Brownie Fix, her days are fun-filled until what is normally one of life’s most fulfilling experiences, the birth of her son, leads her straight into a dark state of postpartum depression.

Wandering in her own postpartum hell, Persey meets people that are absurd, like the swinging neighbors who want a little more than a cup of sugar and a group of mothers who become whipped up in worship to a climactic furor. On top of the madness, she keeps seeing a yellow-toothed old man who acts like he wants to breastfeed from her. Or is it her imagination? Add the voices in her head that become louder and louder, and it’s little wonder that Persey reaches for brownie mix to soothe her insanity.

Buckling under the pressure and lack of sleep from motherhood, Persey experiences the five stages of grief that lead her to uncover a buried secret, and gradually she begins to heal with the help of her family, friends, and, of course, brownies.

 My Review:

I don’t think I realized when I first started this book that the main character was suffering from postpartum depression.  I noticed it was very dark pretty quickly, but that didn’t stop me from becoming engrossed in the storyline right off the bat!  I started the book with the intentions of just getting a quick peek since I needed to finish another book first…well about 4 chapters later I put it down!  There are many times during the book that I just wanted to shake Persey and tell her to go get help!  That she was depressed and what she was feeling was normal but not normal.  But I like a book that engages the reader with the characters and can put themselves in the character’s shoes or related to them somehow.

Overall I’d give the book 3 1/2 stars and definitely recommend it to everyone!

Author Darcie Chan is an attorney and lives in northern Westchester County, New York, with her husband and son. In her spare time, Darcie enjoys reading, writing fiction, gardening, playing piano, and cooking.

The Mill River Recluse is her first novel and I believe it is only available as an e-book.

Synopsis:

Disfigured by the blow of an abusive husband, and suffering her entire life with severe social anxiety disorder, the widow Mary McAllister spends almost sixty years secluded in a white marble mansion overlooking the town of Mill River, Vermont. Her links to the outside world are few: the mail, the media, an elderly priest with a guilty habit of pilfering spoons, and a bedroom window with a view of the town below.

Most longtime residents of Mill River consider the marble house and its occupant peculiar, though insignificant, fixtures. An arsonist, a covetous nurse, and the endearing village idiot are among the few who have ever seen Mary. Newcomers to Mill River–a police officer and his daughter and a new fourth grade teacher–are also curious about the reclusive old woman. But only Father Michael O’Brien knows Mary and the secret she keeps–one that, once revealed, will change all of their lives forever.

Review:

A friend was kind enough to loan this to me from her kindle to mine.  In fact she loaned me two books, this one second, but told me to read it first, that it was her favorite.  Sometimes I believe people when they say things like that (and sometimes I don’t) but am I glad I listened to her!  This book kept me on the edge of my seat in various parts of the book wondering if Mary was going to be ok, why did the priest take spoons and was that police officer as creepy as it seemed?  I liked how the story jumped around in time and how we learned the history of Mary even though she was mentioned often in the “present” portion of the novel until the end.  Darcie does a great job at bringing all of the characters to life and interweaving their lives.  Nearly everyone has some sort of secret.

I give this book 4 stars and if you have a chance, pick it up for your e-reader.  It is a bargain at $0.99 on Smashwords!

Heads You Lose is a joint collaboration between Lisa Lutz (known for The Spellman Files series) and David Hayward (He writes poetry and has a editing/writing company).  The authors each write a chapter and then hand it off to the other.  In between the chapters there are comments about what is written and David’s foray into some alternate reality where there are strange reality shows. 

This is the official book overview from the website:

From New York Times–bestselling author Lisa Lutz and David Hayward comes a hilarious and original tag-team novel that reads like Weeds meets Adaptation.

Meet Paul and Lacey Hansen: orphaned, pot-growing, twentysomething siblings eking out a living in rural Northern California. When a headless corpse appears on their property, they can’t exactly dial 911, so they move the body and wait for the police to find it. Instead, the corpse reappears, a few days riper … and an amateur sleuth is born. Make that two.

But that’s only half of the story. When collaborators Lutz and Hayward—former romantic partners—start to disagree about how the story should unfold, the body count rises, victims and suspects alike develop surprising characteristics (meet Brandy Chester, the stripper with the Mensa IQ), and sibling rivalry reaches homicidal intensity. Will the authors solve the mystery without killing each other first?

My Thoughts:

I was given this book to read from a friend in my book club a few months ago but just picked it up this week.  I had been told that the authors alternate writing each chapter but she didn’t tell me that there were comments in between each chapter and footnotes!  I have laughed my way through the whole book while trying to figure out who is committing the crimes.  I especially loved chapter 14.  I’m not going to say why, that would spoil the fun.  But if you pick up this book to read, don’t jump to that chapter, you won’t understand the humor.

I definitely recommend this book if you want a little mystery but a lot of humor too.  It is definitely light hearted and the interaction between the two authors between each chapter also gives you some good insight into why they wrote what they wrote, well sometimes.

Kate White is best known as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and several bestselling career bibles including Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead…but Gutsy Girls Do and 9 Secrets of Women who Get Everything They Want. Then in 2002 she decided to try her hand at mystery novels and scored a hit with If Looks Could Kill featuring Bailey Weggins. There have been several follow up books in the series which have also hit the bestseller list and the books have been optioned by Lions Gate Pictures.  Then last year she wrote Hush which I reviewed and now she is back with The Sixes and it is another page turner!

From the back of the book:

Phoebe Hall’s Manhattan life is unexpectedly derailed off the fast track when her long-term boyfriend leaves her just as she is accused of plagiarizing her latest best-selling celebrity biography.  Looking for a quiet place to pick up the pieces, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach in a sleepy Pennsylvania town at a small private college run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johns.

But behind the campus’s quiet cafes and looming maple trees lie evil happenings.  The body of a coed washes up from the nearby river, and soon hidden secrets begin to surface among the students:  rumors of past crimes and abuses wrought by a disturbing secret society known as The Sixes.

Determined to find answers and help Glenda, Phoebe embarks on a search for clues – a quest that soon raises dark memories of her boarding school days.  Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer.  But with truth comes a deeply terrifying revelation: the past can’t be outrun…and starting over can be a crime punishable by death.

My Review:

When I was asked to review this book I had this feeling that it would hook me from the first chapter and I wasn’t wrong.  I belong to a sorority but The Sixes are nothing like a sorority and don’t cross them because they won’t forget it and will seek retaliation even if it is subtle!  There are many characters thrown in to the mix and while you might think one person is involved in the happenings on campus and in town, you might be right and you might be wrong.  Kate brings to this story a mix of complex characters and entertwining their lives so that you don’t know who is a good guy and who isn’t.  I found myself going back and forth on various characters and who might be involved and I was right on a few but not all!  There is even some romance thrown in, but not without some suspicion on Phoebe’s part.

I definitely recommend this book and suggest you pick it up when it comes out on August 2nd.  Or you could win a copy here!

So here is the contest:

I have been given 2 copies of Hush and 1 copy of The Sixes to give away.  I will sweeten the pot and also offer my copy of The Sixes (ARC).  So that is 4 books that I’m giving away!  It is open to all residents of the US and Canada.  Just leave a comment so that you can be entered.

I will even offer a 2nd entry if you blog about it or post it on Facebook.  Just leave a second comment with your blog listing or your Facebook posting link.

The contest will close on Sunday, August 7th.

Kristin Elizabeth Marshall, a graduate of Boston University with a degree in Psychology, has burst into the literary world with her first book.

From the back of the book:

Set in the historic and familiar context of what is arguably the most iconic American Family, The Eternal Waltz of Jacqueline Kennedy portrays through elegant, lyrical prose a single ethereal day spent in eternity.  Jackie Kennedy, together with her husband and children for one final treasured day, takes us on a literary tour-de-force, a spiritual journey that unfolds as she reflects on her life.  She examines both her immeasureable joys and her personal tragedies, not only the loves and the losses that spring from the timeless universality of family, but those that arose from that turbulent, triumphant, and uniquely American era surrounding John F. Kennedy’s brief presidency.

I will admit that when I first started reading this book I wasn’t sure what to think or if I would even like it, but as I continued on through the author’s vivid imagery of the day, I was drawn into the story and almost felt like I was right there next to them as they played in the garden or sailed on the boat or ran through a rainstorm to seek shelter.  This book also provokes the reader to ponder things such as sand and how Jackie explains to Caroline that we are all crushers of rock and coral and we all create sand. 

We all know that if you read to children that it will encourage them to enjoy the written word from a young age.  As the author states in one chapter:  The children devour the words like edible sweets.  The books, nourishing food for their hungry young souls.  That is what books should be, food for their souls!

There is a chapter called The Famine and the Feast which relates a story of Caroline having a tea party with her dolls from various countries.  Although the dolls do not have names, they sit next to each other and do not complain about who they are sitting next to or that they are all fed from the same cup and spoon.

Take a break from reality and pick up this book and get swept away in a day with the Kennedys.  You will be glad that you did!

So now for the fun stuff – I am giving away the copy of this book that the author sent me to a lucky winner.  This contest is open to residents of the US and Canada.  Just leave a comment here on my blog and why you might like to read this book and on Friday, July 29th I will choose a lucky winner to experience the day caught on paper.

John Howard Reid is a prize winning author and writing contests judge.  He has also worked as a publisher, editor, critic and bookseller.  As a fiction writer, Reid first achieved fame in England and Australia for a series of detective novels, all featuring a Miami police sergeant named Merryll Manning, who made his debut in “Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island” set in the Florida Keys.

John was once again kind enough to send me copies of this book to read and giveaway here on my blog.  Thank you John!

He also agreed to a mini interview.  John has quite the background so I wanted to know more about that part of his life.

SBR:  You seem to have done a myriad of jobs within the publishing world, was there any one that stood out (good or bad)?

JR: The lower you are on the publishing ladder, the more frustrating your job. You recommend manuscripts, you go to bat for authors, but all your recommendations seem to fall on deaf ears. So the higher your position, the more influence you have. Readers are on the bottom rung. Editors have more say. But when all’s said and done, the Publisher has the final word.

SBR: You have written a variety of books, is any one type your favorite?

JR: At heart, I’m a film buff. I like to write thrillers, but I enjoy watching movies more!

SBR: What made you choose Australia for the scene of this novel since Meryl is from Florida?

JR:  I started to write the Merryll Manning thrillers 30 years ago. At first the setting was one of my own invention. Under the influence of a certain TV show, I changed the locale to Miami. Yet still no-one showed any interest. Then I had a lucky break. I was working for an Australian company. They had signed a well-known British author for a series of thrillers. At the last moment, however, the author’s agent switched to a rival publisher. I told the Board, I would fill the breach myself. They accepted my offer, but insisted I change the setting. I couldn’t do it for the first novel, but I could make the change to Australia for “The Health Farm Murders”. In fact, it would be a big advantage, particularly if I researched the area thoroughly. So that’s what I did.

SBR: There are currently 3 Meryl Manning novels, do you have plans for more?

JR: Right now, I’m re-writing “Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven”. This is set in a small town called Tenterfield in the north of New South Wales. This will be followed by “Merryll Manning Has His Price”, set in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Then we are back for good in the U.S.A. in “Merryll Manning’s Brush with Death”. There are actually 14 novels in the series, of which 13 were published in a wide variety of editions (hard cover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, Large Print) in England, Australia and other British Commonwealth countries. But not until now in the U.S.A. See this webpage for complete details.

SBR: What books are currently on your nightstand?  (or what are you currently reading?)

JR: My current nightstand books: “Leonard Maltin’s 2010 Movie Guide”, “Fat Ollie’s Book” by Ed McBain, “Biblia de Jerusalen Latinoamericana”, “El Sobrino del Mago” (The Magician’s Nephew) by C.S. Lewis, my own “Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD”, and the latest issue of “Scarlet: The Film Magazine”.

SBR: You sponsor a writing contest, do you see a lot of potential in these writers and have any gone on and continued writing/publishing?

JR: Many of our contest winners have gone on to carve out significant literary careers. I’d particularly mention Susan Keith, Debbie Camelin, Helen Bar-Lev, Johnmichael Simon, Elaine Winer, Guy Kettelhack, Judith Goldhaber, Marie Delgado Travis, Noble Collins, Ned Condini, Fred McGavran, Laurie Gough. Many others!

Synopsis:

Merryll Manning has traveled to Australia for some R&R at a health farm in a small town.  There are only men there during this week and they start dropping like flies and only Merryll seems to be able to get to the bottom of the situation and reveal the murderer for who they really are before someone else loses their life.

The book review:

I had read the first Merryll Manning book so I knew that this one had to be similar, characters running around and many red herrings that led me down many wrong paths in trying to guess the killer.  Trust me when I say it was the last person I expected!  I am very glad to have the list of characters in the front because I couldn’t keep them straight…they were in and out of the storyline fairly quickly and the list is very helpful.

This was also interesting because the cast of characters was all men save the policeman’s daughter and the proprietress of the health farm.

While it is good to read the first Merryll Manning book, it isn’t necessary to enjoy this book and the twist and turns you will encounter.

The Giveaway:

I will be giving away 3 copies of this book.  To win, just leave a comment.  This is open to US & Canadian residents and the contest will end September 19th.