Pranksgiving by Elle Druskin

Blurb:

Kidnapped! Or is that birdnapped? Someone in Liberty Heights snatched Jerome, star of the Ledbetter Turkey commercials. Who? Why? Holding Jerome for ransom? Cutting Thanksgiving dinner costs? Join the hunt for Jerome and celebrate Thanksgiving—Liberty Heights style!

Review:

Since Pranksgiving is a short-story, Ms. Druskin did not bring any new residents to Liberty Heights, unless you count Jerome, the celebrity turkey.  And he lives about twenty miles out of town, so I’m not sure he counts, even though his owner, Elmer Ledbetter is a client of Haley Marx’s public relations firm. And who kidnapped him isn’t exactly a mystery, either, since we’re treated to a hysterical account of the crime.  The fun is in chasing down the bird when he escapes from his captors.  Half the town is after him for various reasons.

Haley wants to catch Jerome to appease her client, so she goes in one direction while Jake, her husband, goes in another, and she enlists their best friends, Dana and voice-over genius Hank Axelrod as well.  The birdnappers want him back for the same reason they stole him in the first place:  Mr. Ledbetter announced Jerome was doing his last commercial for the turkey farm, and they feared Jerome would be the Ledbetter’s Thanksgiving entrée this year.  Not only are they trying to retrieve him, but they post news of his imminent demise and a grass-roots “Save Jerome” organization shows up to protest.  Ledbetter posts a reward, and other people start hunting Jerome in hopes of earning the money.  Thanksgiving is nigh and Liberty Heights is in chaos, as usual.  Could romance be in the air as well?  Maybe.  All things are possible in Liberty Heights.

I’m running out of good things to say about this series.  These people, while slightly screwy and wacky have become good friends.  Actually, they’re pretty normal compared to most of my real-life friends.  And they live in a town that’s almost as magical as Hogwarts considering the fact that when you enter the town limits, something warm and wonderful happens to you and you suddenly find it normal to have a huge deaf dog hanging around the Chinese restaurant, or a French-speaking parrot quoting Victor Hugo, the local doctor riding around town in full cowboy togs, or the candle-shop owner consulting with her psychic beagle, or a group of ladies taking over the local fire house for pole-dance classes.  I always feel a little sad when I finish a book or short story in the Liberty Heights series.  The vacation is over and I have to go home.  Back to the real world where not all of the books I review and edit are as funny and warm or well-written.  Oh, did I forget to say it?  Even though Thanksgiving is over, buy Pranksgiving.  You can always use a good laugh session!

Length:  95 Pages

Price:  $2.00

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/museitup/romance/pranksgiving-a-liberty-heights-thanksgiving-short-story-detail

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.

Thanks for visiting. RIW

The Midwife’s Revolt by Jody Daynard

 Blurb:

The Midwife’s Revolt takes the reader on a journey to the founding days of America. It follows one woman’s path, Lizzie Boylston, from her grieving days of widowhood after Bunker Hill, to her deepening friendship with Abigail Adams and midwifery, and finally to her dangerous work as a spy for the Cause. Much has been written about our founding men. But The Midwife’s Revolt is unique in that it opens a window onto the lives of our founding women as well.

Review:

The Midwife’s Revolt had such a ring of truth, I forgot it was fiction and thought Lizzie Boylston truly lived.  It was only when I read the author’s acknowledgments at the end that I realized Lizzie was fictitious.  She could well have existed, however, as she and Abigail Adams (our second First Lady) reflect the efforts of women behind the scenes during our long struggle for independence from Britain.  Lizzie is widowed early in the fighting and orphaned when her Tory parents’ ship wrecks en route to England. She is fiercely independent—delivering babies, nursing the sick, maintaining a farm, and finally donning men’s clothing to spy on the Tories.  When someone poisons guests of her neighbor, she sets out to solve the mystery.  I’ll admit, Ms. Daynard even had me stumped on that one, and that’s not easy to pull off.

Finally, if you follow this blog, you’ll know that one of my biggest pet peeves is when historical fiction lapses into modern idiom.  Ms. Daynard passed that litmus test with flying colors.  If she’s anything like me, she must have driven her family crazy while she was writing this book.  I’d be willing to bet she slipped into Colonial idiom in her everyday conversations, forgetting to return to the twenty-first century when she finished writing each day.  Brava, Ms. Daynard!  She certainly took me back to the eighteenth century, into the lives, loves and struggles of the women who helped us win the Revolution!

Length:  440 Pages

List Prices: 

Paperback:  $18.95

E-Book:  $4.95

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Midwifes-Revolt-Jodi-Daynard/dp/0615590624/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1367695575&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=the+midwife%27s+revolt

Thanks for visiting.  RIW

The Warwicks of Slumber Mountain by Cheryl B. Dale

Lindy Rand, almost eighteen, hears voices from distressed creatures that others don't. But she isn't crazy. She's a clairaudient.

After fleeing her stepfather's abuse, she lives with her grandmother at the bottom of Slumber Mountain owned by the wealthy Warwicks. Scattered throughout the world, clan members drift in and out of the mountaintop mansion like wraiths. People say they’re different. Maybe even witches. Cross them and your children sicken, your garden withers, your dog dies.

Lindy avoids them until one night The Voice makes her rescue GARETH WARWICK from drowning. When she takes him to the mansion, his aunt plies her with tea that puts her to sleep. Then the aunt proposes a trade: in return for fame and fortune, Lindy will loan her soul to the Warwicks. They need her clairaudient ability to communicate with the mountain.

It’s wrong to give away her soul, but Lindy wants desperately to be like other people, untainted by a sordid past. Maybe if she becomes successful, someone like Gareth can love her.

In a weird, erotic dream, Gareth takes her into the heart of Slumber Mountain and brings her back. But she’s dreaming. And it’s only a loan. She’s not really giving away her soul.

I’m fascinated by the paranormal, and as a Wiccan, I respect the energy of the Earth.  The Warwick’s give witches a bad name.  But, a book needs a good villain and Eleanor Warwick is a great one.  What she doesn’t understand is, you can take the girl out of the mountain, but you can’t take the mountain out of the girl.  Lindy was raised by her grandmother, and she learned those lessons well.

Eleanor may think she’s responsible for Lindy’s success as a model, but getting an agent to sign a girl only goes so far.  A reputation for showing up on time, clean and sober, professionalism, and being easy to work with is what keeps a person on magazine covers for ten years.  Listening to her financial advisor and investing wisely is what builds her fortune.  A lot of pretty faces come and go.  A lot of cover models come in from the sticks and spend their money as fast as it comes in.  Not Lindy.  When she returns to Slumber Mountain, she can hold her head up with the wealthy Warwicks.  She’s their equal, even though she still feels like little Lindy, the barefoot girl from the cabin at the base of the mountain.

You’ll love Lindy, hate Eleanor, and wonder about Gareth.  But mostly, you’ll enjoy this book.  The Warwick’s need her.  But the Mountain needs her more.  And you have to read the book to find out why.

Length:  230 Pages

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=484&category_id=174&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.

Artful Dodging; The Torpedo Factory Murders by M.S. Spencer

Waiting out the rain, Milo Everhart takes stock of her widowhood and the handsome man standing in the door to the bar.  Little does she know she will meet that man again and again under both passionate and terrifying circumstances.

Tristram Brody waits for his date, too conscious of the beautiful woman sitting by the door. Little does he know that she will hate him for trying to destroy her beloved art center, and even suspect him of murder. Nor that she will be drawn inevitably into his arms.

Little does either of them suspect they will be embroiled in not one, but two murders, in which the fate of the Torpedo Factory, an art center housed in an old munitions factory on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, will be decided.

This is the third book I’ve read by M.S. Spencer and it did not disappoint me.  Her books are tightly written, her characters well-drawn and she keeps me guessing who did it right up until the end—which is difficult to do, because I usually guess at least halfway through.  But when you read her biography, you can understand how she manages it.  Ms. Spencer is well-educated, well-traveled and she brings a wealth of experience into her writing, along with a finely-honed sense of the craft.  Bravo.  I highly recommend this book.

Length:  202 Pages

Price:  $5.99

Buy Link:  Secret Cravings

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 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.

The Burning Seal by Jenna Storm

Detective Danni Keegan is plunged into a dark, demonic world where survival depends on deciphering the connection between ritual killings, and a demon terrorizing her for a “gift” she wasn’t even aware she possessed. She must unravel her dreams of another woman who lived during ancient times and battled a bloodthirsty demon—the same demon who now hunts Danni. The loss of her body and soul looms imminent as her only chance to destroy the demon depends on changing her new partner’s convictions. He is a sinfully sexy man, who exudes power and self-assurance with the ease of breathing and has an iron-willed determination not to believe in the paranormal.

 The Burning Seal is not the kind of book I normally read, because the horror genre gives me nightmares if it’s well done. Thanks, Ms. Storm.  I believe I won this book by commenting on a blog.  Why do I read everything I win?  Oh yeah—I’m a compulsive reader.  I wonder if there’s a 12 Step group for that.

At any rate, if you don’t get nightmares from well-written books about demons and murder, I highly recommend The Burning Seal.  If you do, I suggest you don’t leave comments for Ms. Storm on her blog tour.  Send her e-mails instead.  ;-D

Length:  350 Pages

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  MuseItUp Publishing, Inc.

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 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.