Excerpt from Challenging the Legacy by Genie Gabriel & A Free Book

Today I have an excerpt for you from a new womens fiction, "Challenging the Legacy" by Genie Gabriel, that was released last month. Genie is touring blogs to get the word out about the book.

For years Genie has been fascinated by the puzzle of why some people collapse under life's traumas and others emerge triumphantly stronger. These triumphs of the human spirit over the ugliest of adversities became the basis for her stories. Yet her dramatic stories have always contained touches of humor, and sometimes she has great fun writing romantic comedy novellas. However, in all of her stories, her passion for writing romance is an outlet for the powerful messages that people can overcome great difficulties, and true love can turn life’s heartaches into happily ever after.

Find Sheila online:

website
blog

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Excerpt 

Drawing a deep breath, Ruby related the story of becoming pregnant, of going to Tallie when she couldn't get through to Pierce, and leaving Marly for Tallie to raise.

"So I have a daughter you never told me about?" Pierce glared at Ruby.

"I tried to tell you--"

"And you left her with Tallie?"

Ruby's chin went up another notch. "I knew Tallie would be a better mother than I'd ever be."

"So the two of you..." Tallie's glance pingponged between Ruby and Pierce.

The stricken look in Tallie's eyes stabbed guilt into Pierce's heart. Well, she had been the one to desert him, dammit. And he had waited years for her to return before Ruby caught his eye. The same color hair as Tallie's. He made the mistake of thinking perhaps he could recapture that special feeling--or purge it from his mind and senses.

A glance at the frozen set of Ruby's jaw nearly deflected him from seeing the hurt in her eyes. A stiff drink would be good right now.

"This is all a bit of a surprise to me," Pierce said. The two women glared at him. "To all of us, I'd say."

The sound of cars coming up the driveway registered at the back of Pierce's brain, and he waffled between irritation and gratitude. Irritation because he wanted to sort out Ruby's story, and gratitude because he figured this was going to be the kind of emotional bloodbath he tried to avoid at all costs.

"Were you expecting someone?" Pierce asked.

Glancing at the grandfather clock standing in the hallway, Tallie pushed up from the couch with a frown. "It's too early--"

But a disturbance at the door interrupted her as a young woman with streaming red-gold hair pushed inside and hustled straight toward Tallie. "We need the safe room. Halo is exploding."

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Challenging the Legacy
Author: Genie Gabriel
Series: The Legacy Series #5

Publisher: Rogue Pheonix Press
Format: ebook
Genre: womens fiction
Length: 470 KB
Release Date: November 1, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon   All Romance eBooks   Barnes & Noble

Book Blurb (from the author):

Super-mom Tallie O'Shea took on eight adopted children and built a legacy of compassionate justice with her policeman husband. When he is gunned down, she doesn't think it's an accident. Then a former lover shows up and the lies from her past start unraveling. As dangers explode around her, can Tallie set things right before everything she loves is destroyed?

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Genie will be giving away a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour and a $10.00 Powell's Bookstore Gift Card to one commenter at every stop.

Also, Genie has arranged for another book in the series to be FREE at Amazon each Monday during her tour. Get "The Bodyguard" by Genie Gabriel free on Kindle every Monday through December 24th) here:  http://tinyurl.com/aot3veu
 

Review of The Purple Shroud: A Novel of Empress Theodora by Stella Duffy

Publisher: Penguin Books
Format Read & Source:  Trade Paperback from Penguin Books
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon    The Book Depository   Barnes & Noble

Book Blurb (from goodreads):  

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore, Stella Duffy’s chronicle of this amazing woman’s early years, delighted readers with its exquisite blend of historical detail and vivid storytelling. Now, The Purple Shroud chronicles Theodora at the height of her power, bringing the ancient world alive in another unforgettable, epic saga.


Theodora and Justinian have been crowned Emperor and Empress, but ruling an empire is no easy task. The two factions of Christianity are still battling for dogmatic supremacy, the Empire’s borders are not secure, and Theodora worries about the ambitions of Justinian’s two best generals. But the most pressing concern is close to home: Constantinople’s two factions, the Blues and the Greens, are beginning to unite in their unhappiness with rising taxes. When that unhappiness spills over into all-out violence, thousands are killed (including someone very close to Theodora) and many of the City’s landmarks are destroyed, including Theodora’s beloved Hagia Sophia. In the aftermath of the riots, Theodora guides Justinian in gaining back the love and trust of the people, her unerring instinct for what the people want proving invaluable. Justinian promises to rebuild the Hagia Sophia to be even more spectacular than before. Theodora comes to realize that being the Augusta is simply another role she must play, though the stakes are much higher and there is no offstage. It’s a role she was born to play. 

Quote:

 
Justinian went on, ‘I will not lose you, Theodora.’

She whispered, ‘No.’

‘Nor,’ he added, loosening his grip just a little, stroking his thumb along her fingers, ‘do I want to lose you to Narses’ idea of what a good wife should be.’

‘The eunuch likes his ladies to be quiet.’

‘It was the eunuch who brought me a grown woman in the first place. We had no call for a malleable girl. Perhaps he has forgotten that. The dutiful Theodora is too placid for our Palace and, I admit, less useful. I miss my adversary, my cohort. I need your mind and your energy more than I need your wifely obedience.’

Theodora smiled then. ‘But you do require wifely obedience?’

Justinian was not smiling when he answered, ‘Yes. A little.’

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Just as the blurb says, the first book was a marvelous blend of storytelling and historical fiction. Historical fiction is not my usual genre but the title and blurb caught my eye so I gave it a try. I was glad that I did; I didn’t want the story to end and knew I wanted more; I was delighted to hear Duffy was working on a sequel.

The Purple Shroud picks up about ten years after the first book. Justinian and Theodora’s marriage is still strong but there are problems in the empire.  The religious schisms are not lessening, there are political problems internally and externally, and even their closest advisers are a source of conflict. Theodora is less trusting than Justinian, which sometimes creates problems but Justinian is always Theodora’s first priority. Justinian values Theodora’s viewpoint and encourages her to think for herself even, and especially, when they disagree.

The first book focused on Theodora, her life, her struggles, and her emotions; this book is focused on Justinian and Theodora as a ruling couple. The story is told from Theodora’s point of view except for the very end. There’s a stronger emphasis on the religious and political struggles and oh, the political intrigue! I’m not usually a fan of books high in politics but Duffy has an engaging style and I was captivated the whole way through. Duffy doesn’t forget the personal side of Theodora’s story and she succeeds in making her real. Theodora wasn’t always likable, she made personal and political decisions that I found to swallow. In some respects, she is no longer that little girl who was an acrobat and actress, no longer the teenager who whored to provide for her family; she converted to Christianity, not out convenience but out of strong belief and those beliefs and her passion for her Church drive her actions. However, like many rulers, sometimes her religious morals are subjugated to her political beliefs and political necessity as well as her intense desire to protect Justinian. She does what she believes is necessary and believes that the end justifies the means. Her acting skills are useful as a ruler and she often thinks of her job as a role, a belief that sometimes creates problems for her.

Since this is fiction, Theodora’s emotions, motivations and behavior are a mix of fact and Duffy’s invention. Duffy does an excellent job of bringing Theodora to life and shining a light on this little known ruler. The writing is complex and the story captivating. “The Purple Shroud” is a fascinating and enjoyable blend of love story, political intrigue, and a look at early Christianity.

This review first appeared at BookTrib.

I received this book for review from the publisher.

Blog Tour Review of Chocolate Aftertaste by Liz Grace Davis

Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: April 2, 2012

Buying Links: Amazon    Barnes & Noble   The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

At her pre-wedding dinner, Nora Darkin, the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, discovers her fiancé is not the man she thought he was. As her father hoists his glass to toast them, she makes an announcement: there will be no wedding to her father's right-hand man.

Due to the fresh rift driven between her and her father, Nora escapes to the quaint town of Dreara. Determined to live her life her own way, she makes new friends and pursues her lifelong desire of becoming a chef. Ethan Danes, a neighbour with his own broken heart, helps soothe hers.

Just as Nora discovers what it means to be happy, and she begins to fall in love with Ethan, a woman from his past re-enters his life.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Not long after downloaded this book I got an email about a blog tour for it from Sizzling PR. Since I was planning on reading the book anyway, I thought "Why not?" so I signed up. "Chocolate Aftertaste" is part womens fiction and part romance. Nora spends much of the novel learning about herself and changing her life; she also re-examines her relationships with both her father and her fiance and makes new friendships. Along the way, she falls in love and also reconnects with an old flame. There's an HEA at the end, but Davis kept me on toes trying to guess who Nora would end up with.

I really enjoyed reading about Nora's life changes and her growth. I loved that instead of sitting around, whining, she recognized her contributions to her problems and set about making deliberate changes. She thought about what she wanted, took steps to make it happen, and dealt with the consequences. She was uncertain at times and still made some poor choices but overall, she moved forward while growing emotionally.

The love story part of the book was a little soap operaish at times. Over the course of the book, she is involved with three men, and is engaged to or seriously considers marrying each of them. Now, I liked Nora but she didn't strike me as a woman who would attract so many men. It felt over the top at times. Of the three men, Ethan gets the most story time. I would have liked more development of both Liam and Shane. Liam disappears from the story somewhat abruptly which surprised me. Given what we'd seen of him, I expected retaliation on his part and not just slinking away quietly. I disagreed with Nora's ultimate choice but I understand why she chose whom she did.

I enjoyed the book: it was a quick easy read, I liked Nora and could relate to her struggles, and Davis had a knack for drawing you in and keeping you reading. While I enjoyed the romance angle, my favorite part of the book was Nora's making a new life for herself; the choices she makes, the people she meets and befriends, the challenging relationship with her father, etc. I enjoyed "Chocolate Aftertaste" and will probably read it again.

I own this ebook.

Spotlight On: The Harbormaster's Daughter by Heidi Jon Schmidt

Sunbathing (or in my case, burning :D), ice cream cones, mini golf, and sand between your toes--- these are all fun things to do in the summertime on Cape Cod. The Cape is a gorgeous, comfy place to spend a lazy summer; I've enjoyed time spent there with family and friends. But for 16-year-old Vita Gray, living in the beautiful vacation town of Oyster Creek is more of a nightmare than a vacation. Cape Cod native, and author of "The House On Oyster Creek", Heidi Jon Schmidt brings readers a beautifully written tale of life, love, and loss in "THE HARBORMASTER’S DAUGHTER".

Set in Cape Cod’s small fishing village of Oyster Creek, readers meet 16-year-old Vita Gray, the illegitimate daughter of Franco Neves, a married fisherman of Portuguese ancestry; and Sabine Gray, an art restorer from “the other side of the bridge.” When Sabine is brutally murdered, Vita is adopted by Sabine’s closest friend, LaRee Farnham, who carefully shields her from the knowledge of the murder, and the huge rifts it exposed in the community. Now a teenager, Vita begins to emerge from her shyness and isolation, and she starts to learn the candid truth about the murder of her mother.

Inspired by the tragic murder of Cape Cod resident Christa Worthington in 2002, which made huge headlines here in Massachusetts, Schmidt brings readers the tragic and hopeful tale of a young girl on a search to find her identity, and more importantly to find out who her mother truly was and why she was murdered. Not only is "THE HARBORMASTER’S DAUGHTER" a coming of age story of a teenage girl, but a novel about the rich history and complex geography of life on Cape Cod.

Readers everywhere will connect not only to the beautiful scenery of Cape Cod, but to young Vita Gray, who truly begins to find herself after the death of her mother and the struggles she endures living in a small town. "THE HARBORMASTER’S DAUGHTER" will have readers laughing, crying and most importantly, wanting more.

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THE HARBORMASTER'S DAUGHTER
By: Heidi Jon Schmidt
Publisher: NAL Trade Paperback Original
ISBN: 978-0-451237873
Genre: FICTION, CONTEMPORARY
Format: Trade Paperback
Length: 368 pages
Release Date: August 7, 2012


Book Blurb (from goodreads):

On a freezing January night, LaRee Farnham answers a knock at her door to find a policewoman holding three-year old Vita Gray, whose mother has just been murdered a few miles away. LaRee raises Vita with fierce love and attention, while trying to shield her from the aftermath of the murder, which has deeply divided the historic village of Oyster Creek.

Born out of wedlock, Vita is the product of the town’s two very different cultures: the hardworking fishing families of Portuguese descent and the "washashores” from the mainland who’ve drifted to the coast for its beauty. At sixteen, Vita is shy and isolated, estranged from her father and bullied at school, but she is determined to come out of herself, step by step.

When the shocking details of her past surface suddenly, Vita feels utterly betrayed by those closest to her, and the fraught tension between Oyster Creek’s two cultures comes to a head. LaRee must ask hard questions about herself as a mother, while Vita turns to unexpected avenues to find meaning and discovers that the truth is almost never found in black and white....

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Heidi Jon Schmidt is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and author of four books, "THE HOUSE ON OYSTER CREEK", "THE BRIDE OF CATASTROPHE", "DARLING?" and "THE ROSE THIEVES".

Her essays and stories have been published in The New York Times,The Atlantic, Grand Street, Yankee, The Boston Globe etc., and heard on National Public Radio. Her stories have been included in The O'Henry Awards, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Twenty under Thirty and others.

She is married to the writer RD Skillings, and has lived in Provincetown Massachusetts for 25 years--long enough that she dared to set "THE HOUSE ON OYSTER CREEK" among the oyster farms at the tip of Cape Cod.

The Washington Post Book World has said "It is impossible to disentangle the comic from the tragic in Schmidt's writing. She is incapable of cliche."

Find Heidi online at:

Website
Facebook
goodreads

Review of The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

Publisher: Atria Books
Release date: March 13, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon      Barnes & Noble     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra—and lost for 2,000 years.

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances—and of her mother’s suicide—she moves to America, leaving the company in the hands of her brother Robbie. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac discovers a secret the House of L’Etoile has been hiding since 1799: a scent that unlocks the mysteries of reincarnation. The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

Reviewed By: Bea


Bea's Thoughts:

This was my first book by MJ Rose and I wasn't sure what to expect. It got a lot of hype, which often turns me off, but it sounded a little bit like a Phyllis Whitney or Nora Roberts book so I thought I'd try it.

It has a little of just about everything, for everyone: mystery, politics, current events, religion, reincarnation, intrigue, history, and romance! For the most part, the mix works though it's a lot to squish together. I was surprised at the predominance of the politics and current events; I had not gotten that impression from the book blurb. I also didn't realize it was part of her Reincarnationist series until I was poking around on goodreads for more info; that said, it worked perfectly fine as a stand alone.

I enjoyed learning more about perfume, it's history, how it's made, etc. and the historical flashbacks and reincarnation scenes were interesting. The religious/political/current events subplots worked less well; Rose made them work with the perfume plot but overall they felt grafted on and not a natural part of the story. She did seem to do a good job of research and also of not clubbing us over the head with information.

The romance portion of the story did not work for me at all. I should state that I am not a fan of exes reuniting; it so rarely works in real life and I've read damn few stories where I found it believable. Given what drove them apart, I didn't buy their getting back together not did I ever feel either the alleged passion or love.

Overall, this book was okay; I never really got invested in the characters or cared what happened. I'm not in a rush to read more by Rose, for whatever that may be worth.

I received a digital galley from the publisher for review.

Review of Say You'll Be Mine by Julia Amante

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: October 25, 2011
Buying Links:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Isabel Gallegos is only a handshake away from living her dream life. After years of putting everyone else's needs before her own, she's selling her family's vineyard and moving to a quiet cottage on the California coast. But just as she's about to seal the deal, a letter arrives from Argentina with shocking news: Her beloved cousin has died and Isabel is now the sole guardian of three young children. 

 Still holding on to her dream, Isabel travels to Argentina. There she meets little Julieta, the cherubic baby of the family; eight-year-old Adelmo, as hot-tempered as his sister is sweet; and ten-year-old Sandra, whose heart-shaped face and quiet confidence remind Isabel so much of her late cousin. She tells herself to let the children go, to leave them in the care of their grandmother or perhaps their long-lost uncle who abruptly reappears. Or should she listen to her ex-husband, who is suddenly at her side, urging her to give the children--and him--a chance?

 If she's willing to take a risk, three tiny strangers just might change Isabel's life in ways she's never imagined.

Teaser:

"He needs to be understood and loved. He needs us to be on his side, Isabel. Everything is new and scary for him, even if he tries to be tough."

"I know that." She resented that Nick felt he had to instruct her on how to deal with kids. What made him any more qualified than she was? The way he'd taken over when he had no right to do so made her angry. But then, a huge part of her was glad that he'd handled it, and that, made her even angrier. "But the children are my responsibility. My obligation to raise them the way I see fit. I don't want you to interfere again like you did today."

"They're not my responsibility or my obligation, Isabel. Sometimes people do things because they want to, not because they're supposed to."

 Was that a slap in the face? She tried hard to control her temper.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

I requested "Say You'll Be Mine" in part because of it's vineyard setting and in part because of it's storyline. The vineyard setting lived up to expectation, the rest was a mixed bag. The blurb is pretty accurate and in some respects sounds like one we've seen before: single character finds him/herself suddenly responsible for a relative or friend's child; can they cope, will they find love with the person who appears or reappears in their life and is all kinds of helpful. It's a plot line we've seen in womens fiction and in romance. This book was marketed as a general fiction title so I expected that it would be lighter on the romance, heavier on the family stuff and maybe a bit heavier on the literary side. As a result, I was discombobulated for about the first third of the book until I realized and accepted that I was wrong and adjusted my expectations. It read a lot like a Harlequin romance, which is not intended as a put-down. It simply wasn't what I thought I was getting.


Perhaps as a result of my mixed up expectations, I had a hard time getting into the book. I would put it down to eat, or feed the cat, or what have you, and I'd be reluctant to pick it back up again. Several times, I almost talked myself into giving up on it. In the end, I finished it. It was okay, but not one I expect I'll read again.


I had a hard time connecting with Isabel; while I understood her shock at becoming guardian to her cousin's children, and her struggle to come to terms with it, she was so adamant about not even trying, refusing to give up her plans and dreams, and jumped at the chance to dump them on someone else. She had to choose between her dreams and her obligations. I understood it intellectually, but emotionally, it just rubbed me the wrong way. They do end up living with her, for a while at least, and that was when I started to connect and to like her more. She makes mistakes, but she is genuinely trying, and she comes to care about them over time. Helping her is her ex-husband, who still works with her at her family's vineyard and even lives on the grounds. He forcibly inserts himself into her family crisis, against her wishes, and  of course, the kids love him and everything he does. Isabel, meanwhile, is the meanie who took them from their homeland; it doesn't help that she hadn't seen them in many years and they had no recollection of her at all. It's all very soap opera-ish.


The teaser above is a good illustration of Isabel and Nick's relationship (Nick being her ex-husband): she's insecure and defensive, he simply takes over, and they snipe at each other. That scene happens after one of the children, Adelmo, is physically attacked by an older boy at school who has been bullying him. He gets in trouble for fighting in self-defense and Isabel and Nick are called. The boy and his friends had been bullying Adelmo for a while, he had casually mentioned it to Isabel (he's casual because he doesn't want to seem scared or incompetent.), she dismisses it as unimportant, but when he tells Nick, Nick is there for him immediately. It was one of many instances where AmanteAmante's dismissal of that subplot. It seems to serve solely to help move along the Nick and Isabel, will they or won't they get back together plot line, and the Isabel is a horrible parent and doesn't want to be a parent plot line.

Now, the children have another relative who could take them in: their uncle Ramiro, their father's brother. But Ramiro and his brother Andres had a falling out before the children were born, and he's never been a part of their lives. He believes it's his familial duty to take them, and he also wants them to remain in Argentina, he does not want them moving to the US as they would if Isabel took them. At first Ramiro is presented to us as bad boy, wild and crazy and perhaps a criminal. Gradually Amante shows us that while that was his brother's perception of him, it's not an accurate representation. He can be very arrogant and condescending, as well as macho, but he has settled down and grown from the teenager that Andres knew. He has a law degree, a reasonably prosperous farm and lives a mostly quiet life. Because of things he did as a teen, and because Ramiro briefly dated Brenda, who later married Andres, his brother cut off all ties with him. Unlike Isabel, he wants the kids; like Isabel, it's a hard adjustment. I liked that Amante took Ramiro beyond stereotypes and showed us a multi-dimensional character. I felt that he was more developed than Isabel, who was stuck on 1) living her life, her way, on her terms, after spending so many years making her parents and other people happy, and 2) resisting Nick's intrusions into her life and his determination to win her back. Now Nick could be downright obnoxious, in my opinion, about shoving his way into her life and making decisions for her but her protests usually felt more token and not real. I should say that I am NOT a fan of the exes getting back together. In real life it so rarely works out, I can't help but feel it gives an unrealistic message and expectation.

So, not a bad book, especially once you know what you're getting, but not one that held my attention and not one I'll re-read. Although it sounded like a book I'd enjoy, it ended up not being the right one for me. 

I received a paperback from the publisher for review.

Review of Anne of Hollywood by Carol Wolper

Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Carol Wolper re-tells the story of Anne Boleyn set in contemporary Los Angeles. 

“I wasn’t prepared for the enemies. Had I been as gorgeous as a supermodel, or as rich as an heiress, or an actress with an Oscar to my credit, people would still not be happy that I had Henry’s attention, but they’d understand. What they resented was the king coupling with a ‘nobody.’” 


Skirts may be shorter now, and messages sent by iPhone, but passion, intrigue, and a lust for power don’t change. National bestselling author Carol Wolper spins a mesmerizing tale of a twenty-first-century Anne Boleyn.

Wily, intelligent, and seductive, with a dark beauty that stands out among the curvy California beach blondes, Anne attracts the attention of Henry Tudor, the handsome corporate mogul who reigns in Hollywood. Every starlet, socialite, and shark wants a piece of Henry, but he only wants Anne. The question is: can she keep him?

 Welcome to a privileged world where hidden motives abound, everyone has something to sell, and safe havens don’t exist. With her older sister Mary, a pathetic example of a royal has-been, Anne schemes to win her beloved Henry in the only way that gives a promise of forever—marriage. Success will mean contending with backstabbing “friends,” Henry’s furious ex-wife, and the machinations of her own ambitious family, and staying married to a man who has more options than most and less guilt than is good for either of them will take all her skill. Anne will do anything to hold on to the man—and the lifestyle—she adores, however, even if sticking your neck out in Hollywood means risking far worse than a broken heart. With Henry’s closest confidante scheming against her, and another beautiful contender waiting in the wings, Anne is fighting for her life. Can she muster the charm and wit to pull off her very own Hollywood ending?

Teaser:

I wander around looking for my brother. I should explain that even though Henry and I sat side by side together during the reception dinner, we don't feel the need to stay attached the whole night. Now that the word is out that we're living together, my instinct tells me I've got to be extra careful not to crowd him. We're in love, no question about that, but as a director friend of my father's once said, passion only lasts a thousand nights. If there's any truth to that at all, I want to do everything I can to stretch out the shelf life of our passion; I know that with a king, the shelf life can be considerably shorter. I also know that now that it's public, people will be looking to pounce on any signs of trouble, ready to interpret anything other than the conventional displays of coupleness as a sign of impending failure. My challenge is to not buy into anyone else's interpretation. To do so is to play by a rulebook that will spell doom for me. Of course the problem is, there is no rule book for women in m y situation and how could there be? The rules change every day depending on the king's mood. I'm on my own when it comes to figuring all this out but my intuition tells me not to get too needy. I can't look like I want to catch the bouquet. Not yet anyway.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:


Gallery Books was doing a blog tour for this book's release but the dates didn't work for me so I had to pass. But the book sounded so intriguing that I decided to see if my library had it. Happily, they did, and I was able to read it.


Although I enjoyed it, I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't buy it. I doubt that I'll re-read it. It helps to have at least a passing familiarity with King Henry the VIII and his wives. I am not sure that this story would held up well read solely on its own. Wolper takes the historical figures who are most important to that historical event, updates them, and gives us a modern spin on the tale.


Wolper's style is easy, and the story is a quick read. That's part of the problem, there's not enough depth. It's shallow and only skims the surface. Now, you could take that as indicative of our current society and how events play out, but in the story, it leaves the reader feeling a bit confused and wondering that the big deal is. I never understood or saw Henry's appeal. Although he's the linchpin that the story revolves around, he himself is peripheral to the story. We see little of him in the story and there's only one chapter told from his perspective. The bulk of the book is told from Anne's viewpoint, with some chapters from Theresa Cromwell, Henry's assistant, and Cliff Craven, a washed up actor who ends up working for Theresa. While these chapters get us inside their heads, they fail to adequately show why Anne becomes so hated and despised or why Henry is allegedly so charismatic.


Wolper does show us, quite clearly, how gossip sites and magazines have pervaded our society and affected how decisions are made and people's perceptions are formed. Overall though the story lacks depth or bite. It is a breezy, enjoyable story of one woman's attempt to improve both her and her family's lives by attaching herself to a powerful man. The ending veers sharply from what happened historically. I couldn't decide if I liked the ending or not. Sorry for the vagueness,  I don't want to spoil it for you. "Anne of Hollywood" reads like Wolper channeled Joan Collins writing her version of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn except it lacks Collins' bite, wit or sharp eye. But it's a pleasant, engaging, breezy story that would be perfect for a day at the beach or a plane ride.



I borrowed this book from my local library.

Excerpt From The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the novel, The Legacy of Eden, by newcomer Nelle Davy. It's a multi-generational saga of a farm family in Iowa and their trials and tribulations. It is also the debut novel for author Nelle Davy. It's available now in trade from MIRA Books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nelle was originally born in St George’s Grenada under the name Janelle (which she always hated and immediately shortened when she went to University). She moved to London when she was nine months old because her grandfather was English and her parents supposedly wanted a better life. She got a scholarship to Sir William Perkins School for girls where she had a wonderful English teacher Mrs. Wells who encouraged her constantly in her love for books. She went to Warwick University to study English with Creative Writing where after swearing she would never marry, she met her future husband. She did a masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College Dublin and then moved back to London in 2007 where she almost immediately began working in publishing. After working at Pan Macmillan she moved to work at a literary agency while also writing and pursuing a career as a novelist on the side.

She is 27 years old and The Legacy of Eden is her first novel. She has finished writing a second novel based on the civil rights movement in Louisiana in 1963. She still lives in London with her husband and still works full time in publishing.

So far, she has not had a meltdown…



For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm. 

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land, or the memories.

Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name. Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family... and her own part in their mottled history. 

 "Our farm was like the world when people still thought it was flat. And when you left it, it was as if you had simply sailed too far and fallen off the surface into the void."

The Legacy Of Eden

By NELLE DAVY 

ISBN: 9780778329558

Published by: MIRA BOOKS

Genre: FICTION, GENERAL, WOMENS

Format: Trade

Length: 400 pages

Release Date: JANUARY 24, 2012

***********************************************************************************

There were times when I think she would have gladly allowed things to degenerate into the spectacle of recrimination and blame that I so desperately hoped to avoid, but she never pushed it. When the time came, and I think we always knew it would, she would have nothing to fear. She was the betrayed, not the betrayer.

And now, here we finally are, because the one time when she expected me to revert to type and walk away I wouldn’t. The irony was not lost on me as I put the phone back on its rest. I know what she thinks—that I’m being deliberately contrary, hurtful, cruel. The rational part of me knows I have no right to blame her for thinking this—haven’t I proved myself to be all these things already? But I am still furious with her, because I so want to be able to do what she is asking and leave the farm to its fate with no regrets, and I can’t. Then I could show that what happened—what I did—was a mistake, it wasn’t me. I can change. I have changed.

To read another excerpt, go here: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/#axzz1jM00daMN
 

Review of The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

Publisher: MIRA Books
Release Date: January 24, 2011
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm. 

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land, or the memories.

Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name. Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family... and her own part in their mottled history. 

 "Our farm was like the world when people still thought it was flat. And when you left it, it was as if you had simply sailed too far and fallen off the surface into the void."

Teaser:

"We are all alone," my grandmother had told me once. "No one feels our aches with us, or our pains or our joys. We are like islands floating in a sea together but that's all, we are still just an island, so close we can touch each other, smell each other, but always from a distance."

My Thoughts:


Since I can be picky about the grammar and such in books, I want to note that the copy I read was a paper ARC. Since it was an ARC, it contained a number of incorrect words (Davy frequently used "tendered" for "tended"), missing words, typos, etc. that presumably were caught and fixed before it went to final print.

Apart from that, I enjoyed the story. Davy would drop little hints here and there, and sometimes those hints would be expanded upon and sometimes those hints would be all we would know about why or how something happened. The desire to know more, to see if I would learn all of the secrets kept me reading. Secrets, as Davy shows, are time bombs waiting to go off, causing ever-expanding ripples of damage. The story starts in the present day, told in the first person by Meredith, then jumps to the past, told in third person omniscient, then back to the present. Both viewpoints are told in every chapter but the break between and change in perspectives is clean, with no confusion. The third person omniscient allowed for details that we might not have gotten otherwise, but I felt as if I never really got into Lavinia's head, or understood, in the beginning anyway, what made her tick. Lavinia is the driving force in this story, the events flow from her actions and decisions. Initially, at least, her motivations were a bit weak, we weren't shown much insight into her behavior but as the story goes on, Davy makes them clearer.

Lavinia is hard, unsentimental, manipulative, and though she can read people sufficiently to manipulate, she utterly lacks sympathy and empathy. It's all about her and if she can't coerce or seduce you to her side, then she'll blackmail or break you, whichever best serves her end goal. The seduction, I should note, is not sexual; she could, when it suited her, be pleasant and kind, on the surface anyway, and before long, her victims were following her happily, with not a clue what they were getting themselves into.

With a matriarch such as Lavinia, it's no wonder that the Hathaway family is dysfunctional. The farm, and the family's reputation, are all that matters to Lavinia and she does her best to see they are priorities for the rest of the family, no matter how miserable they are. As long as the farm is prosperous and the family's reputation unstained, personal happiness is irrelevant. The pace lagged in places and the writing was occasionally pretentious, but it's a fascinating look into the disintegration of a family - obsession, secrets, jealousy, love, hate, desire - all of the things we do in the name of love or the desire to better ourselves, no matter the cost. Forgiveness, in real life, doesn't come easily, nor does it in the story. The survivors, Meredith and her sisters, have been mostly estranged for years, and dealing with the farm's dissolution re-opens scars. There's not a happy ending, Meredith and her sisters don't make up, life doesn't become all rainbows and ice cream.

If you like family sagas, multi-generational stories, with some soap opera elements to them, you might like this book. It reminded me at times of Steinbeck's "East of Eden", though it's been many years since I read that one.


To read excerpts from this book and see who else is participating in the blog tour, you can look here: . http://booktrib.com/?page_id=152294&preview=true

I received a paperback ARC for review.

Review of "Theodora" by Stella Duffy

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Release Date: September 27, 2011

Buying Links:  Amazon     Abe Books

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Roman historian Procopius publicly praised Theodora of Constantinople for her piety-while secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her as ruthless and power hungry. So who was this woman who rose from humble beginnings as a dancer to become the empress of Rome and a saint in the Orthodox Church? Award-winning novelist Stella Duffy vividly recreates the life and times of a woman who left her mark on one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, little-known figure from the dusty pages of history. 

Teaser:

Well trained, Theodora knew better than to lower her market value. Time after time when she didn't feel like it and she didn't want to - perform or f**k or greet or charm or act or dance or smile - time after time when, no matter how she felt, she rose from her bed and washed and put on her makeup and combed her hair and dressed for the part and stepped out on to the stage that was theatre or bed or family or stranger or - as it had been here in Apollonia - the Governor's mansion. New stage, new Theodora mask, same old strength required. Theodora was nineteen years old, sick to death of carrying on, and she carried on.

My Thoughts:

I don't currently read a lot of historical fiction, though I have gone through phases where I do. This one was interesting, an actress who went on to become an empress? One I'd never heard of? It seemed worth trying. I'm glad I did. It sat in my TBR pile for a few months and I wish I'd picked it up sooner. It's a well researched novel but I never felt as if I was reading a treatise or an info dump. Duffy does an excellent job of writing a fictional version, based on what seems to be solid research, and really making us see and feel what  Theodora saw and felt. She was not always a likable person, but the fictional Theodora, at least, recognized and admitted her faults.


"Theodora" is at times a dense read, with all of the background and the different time period to familiarize yourself but I was hooked from the beginning and cared about Theodora and what happened to her. The book ends as she is crowned empress, leaving me going, "But...but...what happened next? What kind of empress was she? Was she happy?" So, I must, it seems, hunt out books, probably non-fiction, to get my answers. Theodora had a remarkable life, very full, and it's a pity that she is not better known. I strongly recommend this book.


I received an eARC from the publisher.

Giveaway & Review of "The Kingdom of Childhood" by Rebecca Coleman

Publisher: Mira

Release Date: September 10, 2011

Buying Links:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman; sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's sextramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zachthe elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is, for Judy, only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets.

Rebecca Coleman's manuscript for The Kingdom of Childhood was a semifinalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. An emotionally tense, increasingly chilling work of fiction set in the controversial Waldorf school community, it is equal parts enchanting and unsettling and is sure to be a much discussed and much-debated novel.

Teaser: Dreams had this effect on me: I knew where they ended  and reality began, but they tended to bring ideas into an area where the circles overlapped, making the absurd seem more feasible.

My Thoughts:




When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued by the Waldorf school setting and appalled at the topic. Appalled because it's not an easy topic to think about or discuss, and because as a teacher, I take it personally when one abuses their power and their children's trust in such a manner, not because I thought it was inappropriate.  An adult female who has sex with a teenage boy is sometimes looked on as something to brag about, as somehow ok, even adult males who have sex with teenage girls is sometimes considered ok. But people overlook the fact that there's an inherent imbalance of power in such a relationship and if the adult is an authority figure, like Judy in the book, then the situation is worse. There are reasons for the legal concept of statuatory rape. I was intrigued by the setting because I teach pre-school. I had heard a little bit about our local Waldorf school but really knew nothing. Reading the book was a good opportunity to learn more. The school I teach at draws from Reggio Emilia, constructivism, emergent curriculum and Piaget for it's educational philosophy and curriculum.

So I approached this book with both curiousity for it's setting and trepidation for it's uncomfortable topic. It's a topic that is potentially explosive, and certainly controversial, and I hoped that Coleman would handle it with care and sensitivity. Happily, she tackles it realistically and in an unflinching manner; there's no sentimentalizing, and the book is a compulsive read. The characters are well-drawn, with both Judy and  Zach coming across as real and authentic. The characters aren't black and white, but realistic shades of gray. Each one is flawed in some way, each one has both dreams and baggage that simultaneously lead them forward and cripples them. Coleman explores complex ethical issues with a clear and unflinching eye. The reader is forced to look beyond their assumptions and biases and examine what is happening and how it happened. It's dark, intense, and makes you think.

The story is told in alternating viewpoints, shifting between Judy and Zach. There are also flashbacks to the year that Judy lived in Germany as a child, a year that had a dramatic and lasting impact on both her and her family. We also get flashbacks into Zach's life in New Hampshire, where they just recently moved from. Coleman takes the past and present and shows us how the events of the past lead to current events in our lives. We are shaped by our past, even when we don't realize it. There are quite a few layers to this story, and Coleman deftly manages them all.

Reading the book was similar to slowing down to watch a car crash - you have some idea of what you'll see, you know it's likely to be horrible or gruesome but you can't turn away, it's a compulsion that you can't resist. With all of the events that happen, especially towards the end of the book, the story could easily have veered into soap opera or talk show territory but Coleman avoids those traps and we get a hard hitting, painful, but exquisite look at the disintegration of a family, of a grown woman, of innocence and trust, and what it means to be a child.
One of Coleman's strengths in this story is her language and her way with words. Alternately dark, lyrical, intense, and stark, she paints vivid pictures in your mind:

Since my husband had exchanged his libido for entrance into his Ph.D. program three years before.....

I needed this weekend with Russ, if only to refocus my mind from the ever-growing list of men my subconscious was plundering.

But he felt compelled to support her anyway, based on a bit of wisdom taught to him by his dad: never side against a strong woman, because it never ends well.

Cats are the servants of the moon goddess. Only evil people can't tolerate them. It's like garlic and vampires. (I have a cat, and I enjoy vampire books, so this one made me smile.)

 Something inside my chest felt pinched, bunched up and tied with a tight string. I think it was the place in my heart where the joy of youth had once been: a phantom pain.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Courtesy of Meryl L Moss Media Relations, I have one print copy to give away to a US resident. The book will be mailed directly from them to the winner.

Guest Review of a Banned Book: SlaughterHouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Genre: Fiction
Publisher (this edition):  Dial Press Trade Paperback; Reissue edition 
Publication Date (this edition):  January 12, 1999
Reasons given for banning: depictions of sex, profanity
Buy Links: Amazon     The Book Depository
 
Book Blurb (from Amazon): 

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden. 

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

 Our Guest Reviewer:

Author and performer Jillian Lauren grew up in suburban New Jersey and fled across the water to New York City. She attended New York University for three minutes before dropping out to work in downtown theater, where she performed with Richard Foreman’s Ontological Hysteric Theater, among others.

She is the author of the novel, PRETTY, and of the New York Times bestselling memoir, SOME GIRLS: My Life in a Harem, both published by Plume/Penguin. SOME GIRLS has since been translated into fourteen different languages.

Jillian has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Flaunt Magazine, Opium Magazine, Society, Pale House: A Collective and in the anthologies My First Time: A Collection of First Punk Show Stories and Tarnished: True Tales of Innocence Lost.

She has performed at spoken word and storytelling events across the country and has been interviewed on such television programs as The View, Good Morning America and Howard Stern. She was a featured dancer with the infamous Velvet Hammer Burlesque. As a performer, she has recently worked with directors as diverse as Robert Cucuzza, Steve Balderson, Lynne Breedlove, Austin Young, Michelle Carr and Margaret Cho. 

Jillian recently premiered her solo performance piece, Mother Tongue, at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles.

She regularly blogs at TODAY Moms and at her site. Jillian is married to musician Scott Shriner. They live in Los Angeles with their son.

Jillian's Thoughts: 

I have rarely been quite so tickled as when I learned that my memoir, Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, had been banned. It seemed glamorous to me, placing me in the illustrious company of the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Some Girls has been banned in at lease two countries- Brunei and Dubai. I only know this because of the emails I’ve received from readers who live there and managed to get their hands on a copy anyway. 

Reading those emails filled me with a sense of gratitude. I wrote my sometimes-scandalous book without a second thought because we live in a country that has freedom of the press. But perhaps that sense of gratitude is misplaced. I escape censorship because my book flies under the radar by dealing with such obviously taboo subjects as teenage prostitution. No one is suggesting that my memoir go on the shelf of a school library. But if the recent publication of the altered version of Huckleberry Finn is any indicator, censorship is still very much a relevant issue in this country, First Amendment or no. 

This week is Banned Books Week. Here’s an excerpt of what the American Library Association website has to say about it.
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

In celebration, I decided to revisit an old fave of mine from this list of the Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century.

Because so many of the challenges happen through the public school system, I chose an author who was deeply influential to me in high school. I was rather surprised to learn that Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five has been challenged as recently as 2007, because from my recollection, Slaughterhouse Five wasn’t exactly Naked Lunch or Story of the Eye. 

I reread the book and STILL couldn’t figure out what was so controversial about it. So I looked it up. Slaughterhouse Five has been repeatedly challenged, banned and even burned for such crimes as irreverence (which is apparently inherently offensive), profanity and the depiction of sex.


Slaughterhouse Five is about the life of a man named Billy Pilgrim, whose defining experience is surviving the WW2 bombing of Dresden. The structure of the book is organized around the idea of time travel. The non-linear juxtaposition of moments creates a sense of absurdity and fatalism that form the book’s central themes.

As I watch my three-year-old son begin to sort through the complexities of what makes up a joke, I’m reminded of the essential place of humor in organizing the human experience. Vonnegut was perhaps my first real exposure to the use of satire in addressing complex existential quandries. Satire was an important tool for me in learning to think about otherwise unthinkable atrocities. 

After 20-odd years, it was a pleasure to revisit Vonnegut. His unique voice was transformative for me as a young reader and has remained influential to me as a writer.
 

Review of "The Little Bride" by Anna Solomon

Publisher: Riverhead Trade

Release Date: September 6, 2011

Buying Info: Amazon     The Book Depository


Book Blurb (from ):

When 16-year-old Minna Losk journeys from Odessa to America as a mail-order bride, she dreams of a young, wealthy husband, a handsome townhouse, and freedom from physical labor and pogroms. But her husband Max turns out to be twice her age, rigidly Orthodox, and living in a one-room sod hut in South Dakota with his two teenage sons. The country is desolate, the work treacherous. Most troubling, Minna finds herself increasingly attracted to her older stepson. As a brutal winter closes in, the family's limits are tested, and Minna, drawing on strengths she barely knows she has, is forced to confront her despair, as well as her desire.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to like this book. The premise was interesting - a young Jewish girl emigrates to the US as a mail order bride and what she finds isn't what she expected. As if emigrating to another country with a different culture and language aren't challenging enough, she's off to marry a man she's never met and basically knows nothing about. There were so many possibilities here that I was sure I'd like the book. But, although Solomon is an evocative writer, especially with description, the book fell flat for me. I had a hard time finishing it, I didn’t really enjoy reading it. 

It's a well written book, with delineated characters, evocative descriptions and enough historical detail to add depth and atmosphere without drowning you in it. But, I was never able to connect with Minna. She is walled off emotionally for much of the book, and our lives are so different that there were few commonalities. As a result, with no connection of any kind, much of the time I simply didn't care what happened.Additionally, Solomon's writing could be very dry, it ranged from almost lyrical to dry as dust. 

"The Little Bride" is in some respects a coming-of-age book. Minna, despite a hard life, is, at times, not as mature as you might expect of a girl her age, in her circumstances; at other times, she seems mature, if not wise, beyond her years. We see her grow, change and mature over the novel.

The very first chapter was promising as we see Minna undergo her exam to be approved as a bride for the service that she signed up for. There's a physical exam and some mental tests and we see, and to a lesser extent, feel her anxiety, her discomfort and her shame while she is stripped, poked, prodded and treated as lesser. The disconnect that we see between Minna and what's happening made sense under the circumstances but that disconnect continues all through the book. It may be that Solomon was trying to show us her isolation and alienation with this technique, but in my case, it left me unable to connect with or care about Minna. I don't think I'm adequately explaining why it didn't work for me, I don't seem to be able to accurately put it into words. 

A few random samples of Solomon's descriptions:

The horse and mule, hitched together, formed a maimed, listing beast.

 She tried not to be annoyed that the talk of an attack had passed, too; that the glitter in the streets wasn't broken glass but the fog's residue, lit with sun; that she had not been anointed a refugee.

 But before she could find God, or even the sky, her eyes were drawn to an open window, where, next to a tall red geranium, a thick, strong arm was waving.

In the end, this was a decently written story, and Solomon has a gift for description, but it was also dry and often emotionless.

I received this paperback from the publisher for review.