Miami Days and Truscan (K)nights by Gail Roughton

Before I begin this review, I’d like to thank all of my fellow veterans for their service to our country, especially those who, unlike me, served in harm’s way.  And I would especially like to thank those who were injured as a result of their service, both physically and psychologically.  Often it’s the scars that don’t show that run the deepest.  Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Dedicated career girl Tess Ames is on her way to a working holiday in Jamaica. She thinks. But there’s a door that has other plans. A door to another world. A door that picks and chooses when it opens. And who's allowed to enter. Because those who come through that door are meant to come. Chosen. Selected. For a reason. So instead of eating salt-fish and dancing reggae, she ends up…somewhere else. In a world that runs on magic, portents, omens and the all-important Power Stones. She ain’t in Kansas anymore!

Has Tess been thrown to the wolves? Why was she chosen? Ah! That would be telling…

Unfortunately, Gail Roughton sent two of her books to me at once, so now I’m truly sleep-deprived.  Maybe I can catch up on some sleep before I read another one of her works.  ;-) 

Fortunately, Tess is not the first American to find herself crashing in the Bermuda Triangle and landing in Trusca.  Johnny McKay is with the Truscan patrol that finds her wrecked Cessna.  He translates for Dalph, the patrol leader, as they whisk her away to the walled city of Trussa, where she is required to pledge “her life and her fealty” to Dalph, who’s actually the king of Trusca.  Don’t eat anything when you read that part.  You’ll choke laughing.

Tess eventually settles into Trusca, and accepts their struggles against the war-mongering Prians as her own, as she realizes why the door chose to bring her into Trusca.  Of course, she doesn’t necessarily comply with all of the rules—she makes a few of her own.

Time travel fantasies aren’t normally my cup of tea.  I will camp out when I absolutely have to, but I really hate having to use porta-potties, let alone out-houses and I couldn’t imagine having to use a chamber pot.  Twenty-first century women settling into medieval castles in the name of love just make it difficult for me to suspend disbelief.  If I tried to use the bushes for certain things (as Tess does) I’d make a complete mess, and with my luck, I’d end up with poison ivy, oak or sumac.  Not to mention ticks or chiggers.  Nope—I like my creature comforts.  Of course, most of these heroines manage to fall in love with nobility and have servants to handle the most distasteful tasks.

It takes a great writer with a really kick-derriere plot to distract me from my objections to this genre and engage me enough to suspend disbelief.  It takes a Gail Roughton.  I laughed, cried, sat on the edge of my seat, yelled at the book and at Ms. Roughton, at Tess, Dalph, Johnny…  And again, I stayed up all night reading when I had to be at the VA the next day.  Then I overslept.  It’s okay, though—I still made it.  I highly recommend this book.  Just—if you’re going to read more than one of Ms. Roughton’s books, try to space them out.  They will keep you up all night.

Length:  225

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=369&category_id=8&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Yup, I really was in the Navy. 1971-1973