Book Review: For Better or Worse (The Ginger Barnes Main Line Mysteries Book 8) by Donna Huston Murray

 

For Better or Worse 

(The Ginger Barnes Main Line Mysteries Book 8)

by Donna Huston Murray 

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Men have once again become an issue for amateur sleuth Ginger Barnes–men who mistreat their wives, men suspected of murder, and men who ask her out.
While working on a DIY project at her newlywed daughter’s house, a bag of bricks is thrown from the neighboring third-story window. Next, pops that sound like muffled gunshots have Gin racing for her phone. Eric, who lives in the house with his grandmother, claims she’s obsessed with mystery novels. Yet after the septuagenarian falls down a flight of stairs, she’s so frantic to keep Eric away that Gin must intervene. Was the fall actually attempted murder?


In her husband’s eyes, Cissie Voight can’t do anything right. Gin occasionally helps the frazzled young mother, and when she needs a dresser carried upstairs, Gin brings Eric along. Bad move! The electricity between the two new acquaintances sparks a chilling premonition. This time Gin’s good intentions will produce grave consequences–for everyone involved.
 
Recommended for fans of Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich.
 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

A transparent haze of colorless hair exposed the shape of the tiny woman’s skull while sagging puffs of flesh made her appear to be melting.

 

Photographs were snapped as if baby Jack were the reincarnation of Elvis.

 

‘My mother doesn’t cook,’ Chelsea tried to explain. ‘She makes food.’

 

My Review:

 

I could kick myself for not noticing this series until it reached the eighth installment, but while prior knowledge was not necessary as the book stood well on its own, I am sure I would have gleaned great delight in having also read the first seven as well.   I was well pleased and reveled in this engaging and cleverly crafted mystery that was chock-full of quirky and intriguing characters. Written primarily from a first person POV, I adored the tactless and curious Ginger, her inner musings and insightful observations were ceaselessly amusing and entertaining. Ms. Murray’s writing and storylines were interesting, pleasantly delivered, easy to follow, well-paced, and often delectably humorous. Each character was colorfully detailed in a knowable manner. I enjoyed every page and greedily want to read all her words.

 
 
About the Author
 

 

 

Donna Huston Murray’s eight cozy

 

mysteries feature a woman much like herself, a DIY headmaster’s wife with a troubling interest in crime. FINAL ARRANGEMENTS, set at Philadelphia’s world-famous flower show, achieved #1 on the Kindle-store list for both Mysteries and Female Sleuths. The first in Murray’s new mystery/crime series, WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU, garnered Honorable Mention in the 23rd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.

At home, she assumes she can fix anything until proven wrong, calls trash-picking recycling, and, although she should probably know better, adores Irish setters.

Donna and husband, Hench, live in the greater Philadelphia, PA, area.

Book Review: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

The Wife Between Us

by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

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A novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.

Assume nothing.

Discover the next blockbuster novel of suspense, and get ready for the read of your life.

TEASER TRAILER 1

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Nick had waited tables alongside Nellie for a year, until he moved to Seattle with his band. Slick Nick, they’d all called him, although a few heartbroken women in his wake had modified it to Nick the Prick. He was the hottest guy Nellie had ever dated— although “dated” wasn’t an accurate description of their encounters, since most took place in a bedroom.

 

Nellie’s favorite part of the day was show-and-tell, which was predictably unpredictable. Once Annie had brought in a miniature Frisbee she’d found in the medicine cabinet. Nellie had returned the diaphragm to Annie’s mother at pickup. “At least it wasn’t my vibrator,” the mother had joked, instantly endearing her to Nellie.

 

I was happy, I think, but I wonder now if my memory is playing tricks on me. If it is giving me the gift of an illusion. We all layer them over our remembrances; the filters through which we want to see our lives.

 

My Review:

 

The Wife Between Us was brilliantly crafted, ingeniously written, and diabolically clever. I was instantly sucked into the hypnotic vortex of the narrator and remained enthralled with my Kindle while taut with tension, intensely curious, and helplessly intrigued.   These frighteningly talented authors lured me into several traps and forced me to see the main characters under a completely different lens multiple times. My opinions were constantly shifting and I was frequently conflicted and challenged. I couldn’t decide whether to pity, admire, or revile the main narrator, nor could I tell if she was depressed, crazy, a vulnerable fool, or fiendishly devious. It was perfection. I am in awe of the stellar wordcraft and have an intense yearning to reread and savor this stunning tale one more time.

MEET THE AUTHORS

 

Greer Hendricks spent over two decades as an editor. Her writing has been published in The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. The Wife Between Us is her first novel.

Sarah Pekkanen is the mother of three young boys, which explains why she writes part of her novels at Chuck E. Cheese. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true.

Her website is www.sarahpekkanen.com and please find her on Facebook Instagram and Twitter @sarahpekkanen!

Book Review: The Single Girl’s Calendar – A fantastic, feel-good Rom Com by Erin Green

A task a day to cure a broken heart.

Esmé Peel is approaching thirty with some trepidation, but hope in her heart. If she can just get her long-term boyfriend Andrew to propose, she will have ticked everything off her ‘things to do by the time you’re 30’ list. She didn’t reckon on finding another woman’s earring in her bed, however, and soon she finds herself single, homeless and in need of a new plan. Her best friend Carys gives her the perfect present – The Single Girl’s Calendar – which has a different cure for heartbreak every day:

Day 1: Look and feel fabulous with a new hairstyle.

Day 2: Step out of your comfort zone and try something new.

Day 3: Reconnect with friends and enjoy!

Despite thinking it’s a bit of a gimmick, Esmé hasn’t got any better ideas, so she puts the plan into action. By the end of week one she has four new male housemates, and despite a broken heart she is determined to show Andrew she can do more than survive, she can thrive…

From the bestselling author of A Christmas Wish. Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Carole Matthews.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Sadie. Esmé instantly hated the name, adding it to the shit list of her life.

 

She and Andrew were finished. She wanted it to be dignified, she wanted a clean break. As long as his testicles fell from his body after having caught a serious, yet incurable, STD which he had instantly shared with Sexy Sadie during their love tryst.

 

I’m sure she’s heartbroken at the thought of less washing, less ironing and an end to the stream of blondes sneaking down her staircase at the weekend…

 

Seven was the luckiest number. Seven colours in a rainbow. Seven dwarves helped Snow White. Seven days in a week. Even, seven horcrux in Harry Potter.

 

Esmé’s forte was mentioning the elephant in the room during difficult situations. Andrew’s granddad had a prosthetic leg due to his diabetes – how many times had she unconsciously referred to pirates and wooden legs whilst visiting?

 

Esmé tucked into every course with gusto, despite the evident scorn of four svelte models on her table, who simply pushed their forks around their plates without lifting a morsel to their mouths. Esmé proudly scraped her plate clean… The room seemed to be full of beautiful stick insects and wide shouldered hunks, all with shiny coats, clipped nails and good teeth.

 

 My Review:

 

I adored this amusing, quirky, and ingenious story from beginning to end. My interest was immediately snagged by Ms. Green’s crisp, enticing, and entertaining writing style; but it was the peculiar, eccentric, and intriguing characters that held me rapt to my Kindle. I couldn’t get enough of this superbly written, well-constructed, unpredictable, and cleverly contrived tale. It was divinely cheeky, irreverent, witty, humorous, emotive, and observantly insightful. I smirked, giggle-snorted, and laughed aloud during this delightful and engaging tale; it was found treasure.

About the Author

Erin was born and raised in Warwickshire, where she resides with her husband. An avid reader since childhood, her imagination was instinctively drawn to creative writing as she grew older. Erin has two Hons degrees: BA English literature and another BSc Psychology – her previous careers have ranged from part-time waitress, the retail industry, fitness industry and education. She has an obsession about time, owns several tortoises and an infectious laugh!
Erin’s writes contemporary novels focusing on love, life, and laughter. Erin is an active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and was delighted to be awarded The Katie Fforde Bursary in 2017. An ideal day for Erin involves writing, people watching and drinking copious amounts of tea.

For more about Erin, visit her website: www.ErinGreenAuthor.co.uk
Twitter: @ErinGreenAuthor
Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/ErinGreenAuthor

Book Review: Crazy Sexy Notion by Sarah Darlington

Crazy Sexy Notion

by Sarah Darlington

 

My former best friend…is now a hooker… 


MICK 
After a terrible breakup, the crazy notion hit me to look up my childhood friend. With half a country between us, I haven’t seen Raven since the day my dad rushed in and saved me from the Sandy Hill Trailer Park. But I loved Raven as a boy, and now I need to find out if I could love her as a man. Only problem: her profession. 
Come to find out—she’s a prostitute. 

RAVEN 
Mickey Lawson 
Yeah, I hate that guy. 
Really, he’s only a faint memory now, but at one point in time he meant everything to me. 
My protector. My savior. My best friend. 
I was ten. 
Then he left. 
Now he’s back. 
Fifteen years too late.

**CRAZY SEXY NOTION is a standalone.**

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

It didn’t help that this man had to be straight up handsome, too. Like Clark Kent handsome… He even had on dark frames, as if he really were trying to channel Clark Kent up in the front seat. Good thing I’d always been a Batman fan.

 

I had a feeling I was about to see the side of him that turned smart girls, like Sandra, stupid.

 

His blue eyes were sincere and kind, staring at me like I hung the moon in his eyes. He knew the worst about me and…still, he’d only ever looked at me with adoration.

 

 I knew my life was never going to be the same… You aren’t the little girl I remembered—you’re so much more.

 

 My Review:

 

I have only read two of Sarah Darlington’s books, but I plan to remedy that as soon as is humanly possible. She has mad storytelling skills. Her characters tend to be uniquely quirky train wrecks, less than admirable and deeply flawed screw-ups, and some have even been absolutely obnoxious and cringe-worthy. However, despite their countless poor choices, missteps, and transgressions, I find myself a bit tense with conflict before pulling toward them and wanting good things to happen for them to balance out the poor hands they had been dealt, and such was the case with the low-rent/trailer-park raised waitress/part-time hooker character of Raven in this engrossing tale.

 

Raven was jaded, temperamental, impulsive, easily angered, crass, and impatient. She was also beautiful, highly sensual, and a survivor. She was doing the best she could muster given her limited opportunities and heart-breaking history.   The writing and storyline of Crazy Sexy Notion held me captive, even when I wanted to give the exasperating characters a hard pinch or whack to the head I couldn’t stop reading and finished the book in a day. Prepare for lots of expletives, characters you’ll want to smack, heart-squeezes, sizzling sensual scenes, and an addictive tale that proved hard to quit. I can’t wait to see who and what Ms. Darlington conjures up for me to love/hate next.

 

About the Author

 

Website 
Twitter
Goodreads

Sarah Darlington grew up traveling the United States (Navy Brat here!)—although, she’s called Virginia home for most of her adult life. She’s the proud mom of an intelligent 5-year-old boy with autism, who makes every day an adventure, and a 1-year-old red-headed little girl who is as fiery as her hair color. She believes in true love, soul mates, unicorns, rainbows, and that Hogwarts really does exist. Before having kids she worked as a flight attendant. And when she’s not writing, she’s busy plotting her next grand adventure (aka vacation).

Spotlight and Giveaway: Follow Me Back by A.L. Jackson

Follow Me Back

A stand-alone romance in A.L. Jackson’s Fight for Me series…

Coming February 5th

 

Photo: Sara Eirew
Ahh, you guys!! I am so thrilled to unveil the cover of FOLLOW ME BACK!!! I am absolutely in love with this gorgeous, sexy cover created by the incredible Letitia Hasser of RBA Designs with photo cred going to the amazing Sara Eirew. The image is absolutely SPOT-ON for my vision of Kale Bryant, the super sexy, swoony doctor in FOLLOW ME BACK.
I fell for this book and these characters HARD ((YES, YES, there’s a chance it may be my favorite!)). There is just something so sweet gliding beneath all the sexiness that drew me deeper and deeper into these characters with each line I wrote! I absolutely CANNOT WAIT for you to meet Kale and Hope on February 5, 2018!
DETAILS:
TITLE: FOLLOW ME BACK
SERIES: A Fight For Me Stand-Alone Novel
RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2018

WHAT’S IT ABOUT, YOU ASK…

The next seductive, unforgettable stand-alone romance in the FIGHT FOR ME series from NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author A.L. Jackson . . .
 
Kale Bryant. Arrogant. Gorgeous. Commanding.
This ER doctor is married to his job. His only vice is one-night stands and short-lived flings. He learned a long time ago loving someone isn’t worth the risk.
Harley Hope Masterson. Beautiful. Brave. Sweet.
The owner of a small coffee shop knows what it’s like to struggle. Embroiled in a bitter divorce, she’s threatened with losing everything.
When Kale accepts a new position down the street from Hope’s shop, he begins to question every wall he’s built around his heart.
He wants her in a way he hasn’t wanted anyone.
One touch is fire.
One kiss, and he’s spinning out of control.
But taking her won’t come without consequences.
Hope is in for the fight of her life. One neither of them saw coming.
Now Kale must decide if loving her is worth risking it all.
She will fight with everything she has.
But sometimes even hope needs a hero . . .

 
Don’t miss our amazing giveaway going on to celebrate the FOLLOW ME BACK Cover Reveal!! Grand prize includes a Kindle Fire HD 8, a signed Show Me the Way Paperback, plus a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card!! Heck yes! 

 

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, and BLEEDING STARS novels. Watch for A.L. Jackson’s upcoming novel, FOLLOW ME BACK, the second stand-alone novel in her brand-new FIGHT FOR ME SERIES.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson – Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

Connect with A.L.

Facebook: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonPage
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Bookbub: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonBookbub
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Book Review: The Wake Up by Catherine Ryan Hyde

The Wake Up

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

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From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a hauntingly emotional novel of how one man’s life changes forever when he rediscovers his ability to feel the pain of others.

Something has been asleep in forty-year-old cattle rancher Aiden Delacorte for a long time. It all comes back in a rush during a hunting trip, when he’s suddenly attuned to the animals around him, feeling their pain and fear as if it were his own. But the newfound sensitivity of Aiden’s “wake up” has its price. He can no longer sleepwalk through life, holding everyone at arm’s length. As he struggles to cope with a trait he’s buried since childhood, Aiden falls in love with Gwen, a single mother whose young son bears a burden of his own.

Sullen and broken from his experiences with an abusive father, Milo has turned to acting out in violent and rebellious ways. Aiden can feel the boy’s pain, as well as that of his victims. Now he and Milo must sift through their pasts to find empathy with the innocent as well as the guilty, to come to terms with their deepest fears, and to finally discover the compassionate heart of a family.

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

He wished he had a better bead on the greater worries, but they eluded him. Just shadows. Ghosts. Unknowable and indistinct. And yet so very . . . there.

 

He felt utterly unequipped to go home. Forcing himself back into a world that had put him in some role of authority felt akin to turning a puppy loose on a busy highway.

 

Aiden watched her go. As he did, it formed in his head, wordlessly, that she was a gift being given to him. Something rich and good coming into his life to make up for Milo and the rest of this mess. To give him back a little of the peace that was being stripped down and hauled away.

 

It’s a turning-point moment in people’s lives, when you look yourself in the face like that and realize that who you are, and who you become, and what you do seem to rely on a combination of factors that are partly out of your control.

 

She had been slimmer and better dressed before Grandpa died last year, but some thread within her had been working its way loose since then.

 

It’s like he drew all the curtains and I can’t see in. I know he must be in there somewhere, but I feel like I haven’t even seen him for two years… This little missing person.

 

 My Review:

 

I am intensely frustrated with my inability to articulate the supreme level of expertise, quality, and poignancy of this compellingly written story. I was immediately captivated by the superlative writing and remained riveted and enthralled with every smartly honed sentence. Written from a third-person POV and crossing several timelines in memory, the ingenious and emotive storyline was highly eventful and densely packed with heart-squeezing, throat-burning and eye-stinging observations and staggering insights. Her well-crafted storylines were powerfully detailed, thoughtfully plotted, slyly observant, and pulled sharp visuals that kept the characters moving smoothly behind my eyes. The story was brilliantly paced, well-constructed, and flawlessly executed. I was totally mesmerized and continued to ruminate over the characters and story long after putting my Kindle to rest and attempting sleep. I had also saved four pages of favorite quotes. Catherine Ryan Hyde has mad skills and a new fangirl. I. Am. In. Awe. Five-Stars is not enough, it deserves at least ten!

Catherine Ryan Hyde

Goodreads  Amazon  

I am the author of more than 30 published and forthcoming books, including ALLIE AND BEA, SAY GOODBYE FOR NOW, LEAVING BLYTHE RIVER, ASK HIM WHY, WORTHY, THE LANGUAGE OF HOOFBEATS, TAKE ME WITH YOU, WHERE WE BELONG, WHEN I FOUND YOU, WALK ME HOME, SECOND HAND HEART, DON’T LET ME GO, and WHEN YOU WERE OLDER.

I’m an avid hiker, traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, and have released my first book of photos, 365 DAYS OF GRATITUDE: PHOTOS FROM A BEAUTIFUL WORLD.

I am co-author, with fellow author and publishing industry blogger Anne R. Allen, of HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE: A SELF-HELP GUIDE.

My novel PAY IT FORWARD was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries. The paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. Simon & Schuster released PAY IT FORWARD: YOUNG READERS’ EDITION in August of ’14. It is suitable for kids as young as eight. A special Fifteenth Anniversary Edition of the original PAY IT FORWARD was released in December of ’14

You can learn much more about me at www.catherineryanhyde.com