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
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 |
This
is a wonderful book. It contains the
stories of several women in many walks of life who have pursued their dreams
and succeeded in reaching them. Each
story starts with the age at which the woman decided what she wanted to be when
she grew up, and then tells how she reached her goal. In some instances the women went to college
and got one or more degrees in order to pursue their dreams. In other instances they practiced daily at
athletics or music. There was even the
story of a woman who became a truck driver.
Yes—a woman who drives a big rig.
I’m pursuing my dream of writing and being published, and even I found
it inspiring and empowering. Thanks, Ms.
Rose.
