Tuesday, April 28, 2020


Bloodline Origins
By
Iuliana Foos

I'm not generally drawn to read paranormal or stories about vampires but this book was a pleasant surprise to me and I really enjoyed it. I grew up watching the cult tv drama series "Dark Shadows" so I was curious as to what this story would be like. Would there be a Barnabas or Angelique? What would instigate a vampire's need to "feed"? What could Ms. Foos write that would be different from any other book based on vampires? Would it be just another "biting" attack on innocent victims? Oh, it is far from all that and so much more. The writing is very well done with the character development and descriptive scenes. It was so easy to visualize what I was reading into images in my mind. It was like stepping into the pages. This book was a fresh and unique twist on any preconceived ideas I had about the vampire culture and mythology. For me this was a "good" verses "evil" tale with a passionate love story done with subtlety. From the beginning scene of this book, my heart was pounding and adrenaline rushing.

I love the characters of Ana and Andree. Ana has felt she's never really fit in or belonged and she's felt out of place. She's been fascinated by vampires and has had an inner yearning to become one...but do they even exist and how would that even happen? Until one evening her life takes a turn she never expected when she's saved from attackers and taken to the Third Coven of Queen Emelia De Croix. Ana feels and knows this is where she belongs. Andree is the queen's son and as soon as he's entered into the story, the attraction he has to Ana is overwhelming. Love at first sight overwhelming. I loved the way their love story developed through the pages of the book. The attraction and chemistry to each other is intense, romantic and heart-throbbing. They belong together but she's human and what will it take for them to have their HEA? Ana is different and the vampires who come into contact with her sense it right away. "There's something about her "presence" that is strong. Is this Ana's fate or is this her destiny?

There is so much detail in this story. It's written so well that I would forget I was reading the book. I was in the pages myself. This author has a vivid way of bringing the reader into the world she's created. One so different from what I expected. The title of this book, "Bloodline Origins" is perfect for the story between the covers. It's the beginning of what's to come. This is a great debut novel that sets up a continuation for the characters. The ending was perfect and left me satisfied but also yearning to know where the story goes from here.

I want to thank Ms. Foos for the gift of a copy of her wonderful novel. Again, it's not something I normally would have picked up to read but the story is original. It's a non-stop, page-turning, creative adventure into a unique vampiracle world full of the unexpected. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my heartfelt own.

Sunday, April 19, 2020


Answer Creek
By
Ashley Sweeney

""Wagons, HO!" is the rallying cry at dawn, and again after nooning. "Gee, haw, walk on, steady now," these, too, are trail words." Oh, the hopes and dreams the pioneers who embarked on the Oregon-California trail had. The visions of the "promised land" that swirled in their minds as they packed their lives and treasured possessions into covered wagons. Along with all the possible foods and supplies they should need to make the 2,200 mile trek. They are aware of the dangers and hazards but there's a future ahead and sheer determination will drive them through. Nothing could possibly deter them from their destination....then reality hits and the journey becomes one of sheer will to reach the California paradise. Not all who embark are fortunate enough to see the final journey's end. This is the story of Ada Weeks and her grueling pilgrimage across the western frontier. The story of a fictional character placed in the middle of the true, ill-fated, Donner Party expedition. I remember learning about this infamous story in school and how horrible it sounded for people to have had to endure what they did. Ashley Sweeney took me back through time and brought me into the midst of the wagon train traveling west. She so descriptively writes the reality of how it was. I was struggling and suffering right along with Ada. Nothing in my prior imagination came close to how much endurance and strength this would have taken. She strips away the "romanticism" of pioneering and traveling across the plains and mountains of the unsettled western territory and brings the reality of it front and center. "Ada's boots flap, slap, feet oozing with open sores. It's one foot, then the other: six, twelve, eighteen miles per day through clouds of black gnats and dust." "Walking, Walking, Walking".

Ada is an amazing character. I really felt what she was going through. The trials of trail life with all it's devastation, loss, death, and hopelessness. The feelings she went through being stranded in the Sierras...desperation, everyone for themselves kind of survival. The hunkering in a snowbound cabin with nothing to eat but scraps of shoe leather and blankets. The horror of what the Donner Party and the pioneers went through is so vividly described by Ms. Sweeney in the pages. My mind struggled to grasp just how desperate it was. Ada's conscience and caring for the people touched my heart. Her desire to want to take care of the others was filled with compassion. The delirium of being so cold that she couldn't even think made me feel like I wanted to lay down in the snow and just go to sleep. Ada brought so much to the true story and what it was like. Her character revealed more truth to what really happened than what the sensationalized news accounts were about. I learned so much about this event.

I truly had an experience reading this novel. One that I will keep in my heart for what the early pioneers went through to make their hopes and dreams happen. It also gave me an appreciation for how much detail and research Ms. Sweeney put into this novel. It's one that is so well written. This book is a great reason why I love historical fiction. I was taken back into the setting and into a historical event as though I were living it myself. It's an intense, extraordinary and riveting account of the events that took place on the Donner Party wagon train to California.

I want to thank Netgalley and Ms. Sweeney for the great opportunity and honor of reading this novel. It most certainly is a five star plus read for me. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my heartfelt own.

Friday, April 10, 2020


The Last Bathing Beauty
By
Amy Sue Nathan

Betty Stern has so much hope and excitement for the summer of 1951! She's graduating high school and has plans to attend Barnard College in New York to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion editor in the fall...but first she has the whole summer ahead to have fun and make lifetime memories at her grandparent's summer resort, Stern's Summer Resort, where she works and helps them out. Her grandparents have raised Betty since she was a very small girl after her parents abandoned her with them. "The summer Boop was four, her parents had dropped her off in South Haven for the weekend-a weekend that lasted seventeen years." She is so excited to be spending her last summer with her best friends, Georgia and Doris before going out on her own. The summer has so much promise for a young woman and maybe catching the eye of "a boy who made her heart shudder". This is her summer with Abe Barsky.

Flash ahead to 2017. After a lifetime of family and life, Betty, who is known as Boop, is together with her best friends once again reminiscing about the summer of 1951 and the events that took place. Her granddaughter, Hannah, is also part of this little group as the memories are being recollected. There are secrets, mystery, and surprises I didn't expect. The question of what actually happened that summer. What were the events that lead up to the "Miss South Haven" bathing beauty contest and why was it the last one ever held? The story is intertwined between the two time lines in an intriguing and page turning blend with a need to find out what happened.

I love the characters in this book. Betty, as a young girl with zeal and love of life to when she's an older woman, Boop, who has questions and a desire for Hannah's life to be different than what hers became. The supporting characters are perfectly intertwined to create a story of connections and relationships that tugged at my heart. As others have said, this story has a Dirty Dancing aura in the resort atmosphere. The writing took me into the scenes and held me there as if I were experiencing it myself. Then jumping into the story of 2017, I felt the emotions of Boop as she faced her past with resolve, painful memories and the desire to bring the truth out after all those years. Ms. Nathan beautifully wove the two stories together to bring it to a surprising ending that touched my heart.

I enjoyed reading this book so very much. It was a great way to escape into another time and place for me. It is wonderfully written with so many passages that speak of what "life" is and what choices can result in the direction a life can go. These two passages were profound to me:
You should own all pieces of your life, good or bad," Hannah said. "They make up who you are."
"Sometimes it takes a long time to get things right." Boop said."

I want to thank Netgalley, Lake Union and Ms. Nathan for the honor and privilege of reading this wonderfully touching and special story of relationships, family love, forgiveness and hope. All opinions and thoughts in this review are my heartfelt own.

Christmas Memories By Nancy Carey Johnson If I could fill my  Christmas stocking with goodies and stories it would be filled to over flowing...