#USAtodaybestsellingauthor – Page 5

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Susan Wiggs – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

The ultimate holiday gift from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs: a delightful novel about a Christmas transport of rescue puppies that’s guaranteed to warm readers’ hearts.

Brenda Malloy wants nothing to do with Christmas ever again. Last year, Brenda and her husband rushed their beloved dog Tim to the emergency vet on Christmas eve. The good news: Tim survived after the vet cleared the obstruction–a pair of women’s lace undies. The bad news: the undies were not Brenda’s.

A year after the breakup, Brenda has put her life back together. She’s trained for a marathon, is writing a children’s novel, and she’s found purpose and healing as a volunteer with a dog rescue organization in Houston, Texas. The rescue partners with a program in Avalon, New York–a small, snowy town deep in the Catskills. Now Brenda is arranging the transport of rescued dogs from Houston to Avalon—just in time for a merry Christmas with their forever families. Brenda’s friends worry about her driving a van two thousand miles with twelve dogs in crates, but she shrugs off their concern. How hard can it be? She knows the way, and she’s just looking to escape the Christmas overload for a while.

But a blinding snowstorm, an escaped mutt, and a life-saving encounter with Adam Bellamy—a single dad and paramedic—means Brenda has to stay in Avalon longer than she planned. As she drops off each precious pup at their new homes, some of the comfort and joy of the season begins to creep up on Brenda despite her determination to avoid the holidays. Perhaps you can bring Christmas into your heart after all…if you have the right furry friends to guide the way.

My Review:

Yes, this time of year, it’s understood there’ll be sweet Christmasy winter-time romance stories, dripping with sentiment, and time-honored storylines. Add in twelve dogs and it’s bound to be a winner.

Brenda Malloy has been soured on Christmas—there’s been more than one tragedy with that timing—and she views each coming Christmas with a sinking heart. Brenda, however, has an outlet that she’s found satisfying revolving around a dog rescue. So far, her biggest challenge is the paperwork involved in gleaning good applications and pairing them with appropriate dogs looking for their furever homes.

While being an advocate for the doggos, she generally works out of her home. This year she’s been volunteered to help drive twelve dogs (including her own) to the northern regions for placement in time for Christmas. The trip went beautifully until the winter storm hit just outside of their destination resulting in a serious accident with her co-worker in the hospital and one canine escapee.

As luck would have it, the eye-candy paramedic (Adam) who rescued her is also the recipient of one of the dogs intended for his son—he’s divorced. Also, luckily, his mother is another recipient and she is very well to do, advocates in her own way offering bath and bedroom quarters while Brenda waits out the storm and their van is restored to serviceable.

Lately, I can’t seem to avoid romances, some of which have gotten quite steamy. This one stayed more generally G-rated while Brenda fought her ideas of the north, the weather, the town, and her attraction to the EMT. She managed to connect with the recipients of the dogs and deliver them to almost all the right people, finding one slight mismatch that she resolved well. The reader is treated to a little info regarding the dogs and the homes they went to and for about the first 75% or so of the book, I thoroughly enjoyed.

Then, I’m not sure what happened. While the first two-thirds was well-paced, well-plotted, and engaging, the last third got gooey, bogging down with the romance (her refusal to accept an insta-love), with a drop in reading level from adult to adolescent.

Well, grrrr….

Undaunted though and because I enjoy books about dogs, I’ll look for other novels by this author. In the meantime, if a simple romance with predictable storyline is your jam, you may very well enjoy this one.

I received a copy of this book from my handy dandy library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Friendship Fiction, Holiday Fiction, Christmas Holiday Romance eBooks
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: ‎ 0063253518
ASIN: B0BSFRMS2R
Print Length: 254
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Susan Wiggs - author — Susan Wiggs – author

The Author: [Amazon] I like to believe I am the person my dogs think I am.

I phone my parents every day, as they are elderly and adorable, and they read me stories every day of my freakishly normal childhood. I was a writer before I learned to read, by creating scribbles on paper and dictating the stories to my saintly mother. You can see examples here: https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/104585203815605467940/albums/5587379107269629729?banner=pwa&partnerid=pwrd1.

Untold eons later, I still read and write everyday and I’ve gotten very good at it. I live in a ridiculously gorgeous place in the world–an island in Puget Sound, Washington where we have a lot of the same flowers you grow in the UK. But bigger slugs. Much bigger slugs.

I have lots more to tell you, so please join me on Facebook and check out pictures of my dogs and tell me what’s on your mind. https://www.facebook.com/susanwiggs

[Goodreads] Susan Wiggs‘s life is all about family, friends…and fiction. She lives at the water’s edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers’ group in a 17-foot motorboat. She serves as author liaison for Field’s End, a literary community on Bainbridge Island, Washington, bringing inspiration and instruction from the world’s top authors to her seaside community. (See www.fieldsend.org) She’s been featured in the national media, including NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” and is a popular speaker locally and nationally.

According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with “refreshingly honest emotion,” and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is “one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book.” Booklist characterizes her books as “real and true and unforgettable.” She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. The Winter Lodge and Passing Through Paradise have appeared on PW’s annual “Best Of” lists. Several of her books have been listed as top Booksense picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.

The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book. Readers can learn more on the web at www.susanwiggs.com and on her lively blog at www.susanwiggs.wordpress.com.

The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O’Neal – #Audiobook Review – #Women’sFiction

Book Blurb:

In this sumptuous novel, Barbara O’Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we’re all hoping to find…

It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for—the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is—and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.

My Review:

Damaged main character Elena Alvarez horribly down on her luck manages to land a coveted position of chef in a struggling upscale restaurant in Aspen, a posh ski area of Colorado. Okay, she does have some real cred, but recent history describes a horrific accident in which she alone is the survivor, losing both her boyfriend and sisters.

Her new boss is Julian Liswood, a divorced player with a young daughter who relocated to Aspen hoping to find a wholesome area for his daughter to grow up and himself yet another unique and singularly successful upper-class restaurant. (Yes, he’s filthy rich.) To this end, he pretty much hands over the restaurant, menu and all, to untried, untested, and physically limited Elena.

I must admit that once again I was suckered in by a cover with a dog on it, who does prove a fun character, btw. Elena was raised by her abuela and is therefore capable of speaking with much of the Mexican staff (many of whom might or might not be working legally in the US). She has replaced the chef apparent who exudes attitude.

I was intrigued by the blurb, and although I’m not a Foodie, do not watch cooking shows, and limit my time in the kitchen, thought it sounded like an interesting book.

The atmosphere of Aspen is detailed beautifully as a year-round mountain resort. Indeed, the recipes as recited with complete directions all sound pretty good. There were themes of ghosts, immigration politics, physical challenges, male-dominated service field, and romance both straight and gay.

It was the straight romance that went from romantic to pornographic that shut me down. Intimacy descriptions became graphic. Too bad, as the storyline was an interesting one and tackled some serious issues. The conclusion didn’t provide anything not already expected.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Women’s Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
ASIN: B0CL12HM6P
Listening Length: 12 hrs 43 mins
Narrator: Moniqua Plante, Jacob York
Publication Date: November 28, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Lost Recipe for Happiness [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Three stars

The Author: Barbara O’Neal is the author of more than a dozen award-winning, bestselling novels, including the runaway bestseller, When We Believed in Mermaids, which has been published in more than 20 countries and spent many months on the Amazon Charts, as well as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Washington Post bestseller lists. Barbara lives on the beach in rugged Oregon with her husband, a British endurance athlete who vows he’ll never lose his accent and their zoo of cats and dogs. You can find more information on her newsletter and where to find her on social media at barbaraoneal.com.

Rivers of Wrath by Jean Grainger – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret – Book 3

in Historical Irish Fiction

Book Blurb:

When Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret rolls into a sleepy Irish seaside town, their eccentric and theatrical presence stirs up a flurry of excitement—the public clamouring to buy tickets for the greatest show in Ireland.

Set against the backdrop of a relentless war for Ireland’s freedom, the stakes are higher than ever for Peter Cullen and his troupe as they try to stay out of the conflict. But as they soon discover, that’s a luxury nobody can afford. As well as fighting the forces of occupation, some people are using this time of chaos to settle old scores, and it seems the cabaret has gathered some sinister enemies. With danger lurking around every corner, Peter must fight to protect all he’s worked so hard to build.

Rivers of Wrath is the third book in the Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret Series.

My Review:

Ah, the Roaring Twenties and the continuing saga of Cullen’s Cabaret. The performers are lead by Peter, one of the original members who include Nick, Enzo, and Two Soups. May married Peter and they are expecting their first child. She found her niche in administration while Peter continues to orchestrate the program.

This episode clamps down on much of the troubles of the time, the mayhem created by the Black and Tans. May’s brother, David, has never been the same since his return from the war. Peter’s sister Maggie joins the cabaret and they finally acknowledge Nick’s aristocratic status with an extended visit to Brockleton, the estate he inherited and accepted effectively blocking his cousin Harvey from controlling the property. Aida makes an extreme sacrifice.

From escalating political tensions to interpersonal tensions between members of the cabaret, the storyline builds the tension and adds twists and turns the reader doesn’t expect.

There continues to be deceit and deception while the plot veers into left-center field. Impossible to predict the author’s next move, only that her well plotted narratives will reveal an emotive, heart-rending conclusion in Book 4—whether or not it’s the avenue you’d prefer traveling.

Such a dark and immersive departure from her loving, supportive family dramas, this one digs deeper into the darker side of the deadly struggles between the Irish and the English and paints a stark realistic picture of Ireland during the twenties.

I thoroughly enjoyed Book 2, A Beautiful Ferocity that ended with a cliff-hanger and knew Book 3 was going to get serious. Then I received a review copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Irish Fiction, Historical British & Irish Literature, Women’s Sagas
ASIN: B0CJFVCLHR
Print Length: 312 pages
Publication Date: November 28, 2023
Source: Author
Title Links: Rivers of Wrath [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

The Author: JEAN GRAINGER – USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS.

WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE

Hello and thanks for taking time out to check out my page. If you’re wondering what you’re getting with my books then think of the late great Maeve Binchy but sometimes with a historical twist. I was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971 and I come from a large family of storytellers, so much so that we had to have ‘The Talking Spoon’, only the person holding the spoon could talk!

I have worked as a history lecturer at University, a teacher of English, History and Drama in secondary school, a playwright, and a tour guide of my beloved Ireland. I am married to the lovely Diarmuid and we have four children. We live in a 200 year old stone cottage in Mid-Cork with my family and the world’s smallest dogs, called Scrappy and Scoobi..

My experiences leading groups, mainly from the United States, led me to write my first novel, ‘The Tour’. My observances of the often funny, sometimes sad but always interesting events on tours fascinated me. People really did confide the most extraordinary things, the safety of strangers I suppose. It’s a fictional story set on a tour bus but many of the characters are based on people I met over the years.

[Truncated]

Many of the people who have reviewed my books have said that you get to know the characters and really become attached to them, that’s wonderful for me to hear because that’s how I feel about them too. I grew up on Maeve Binchy and Deirdre Purcell and I aspired to being like them. If you buy one of my books I’m very grateful and I really hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you don’t, please take the time to post a review. Writing is a source of constant contentment to me and I am so fortunate to have the time and the inclination to do it, but to read a review written by a reader really does make my day.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris – #Audiobook Review – #TBT

Teachers’ pick

Book Blurb:

A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes the story behind the picture is worth a thousand more.

2 CHILDREN FOR SALE.

In 1931, near Philadelphia, ambitious reporter Ellis Reed photographs the gut-wrenching sign posted beside a pair of siblings on a farmhouse porch. With the help of newspaper secretary Lily Palmer, Ellis writes an article to accompany the photo. Capturing the hardships of American families during the Great Depression, the feature story generates national attention and Ellis’s career skyrockets.

But the piece also leads to consequences more devastating than he and Lily ever imagined – and it will risk everything they value to unravel the mystery and set things right.

Inspired by a newspaper photo that stunned readers throughout the country, Sold on a Monday is a powerful novel of ambition, redemption, love, and family.

My Review:

Okay, if you want to cry foul, I’ll understand. It’s not fair to come in third or fourth on the same theme and be discounted because it’s become so familiar. I get it.

And really, when the CE read The Ways We Hide last year, he loved the writing style and the storyline (historical fiction but not this premise).

The narrative begins with a sign that journalist Ellis Reed comes across in his search for a story. He takes a picture of two children on a porch with a for sale next to them. Then he doesn’t think too much more about it until Lillian Palmer working for the same newspaper sees the photo and it grabs her. She has a four-year-old herself, and single and struggling, can identify the heartbreak that must have ensued with the decision.

Lillian shows the picture to their editor who feels it could be built into a good topical story—it’s 1931 after all—and everyone can speak to the desperation the Great Depression has spawned. The problem is, the photo is destroyed. It’s the quest for getting another shot of the kids that starts the whole ball rolling with the discovery that the kids are gone. Sold?

I was listening to the audiobook. The plot was familiar and the pace was slowed somewhat by the relationship between Ellis and Lillian. While they pursued the whereabouts of the children, they made a few gut-wrenching discoveries, something all too true at the time. (Guess I could identify just a little here as my own mother was taken to an orphanage when my grandparents found themselves unable to care for two young girls. My mother’s experience was one that left her a bit embittered the rest of her life.)

I confess there were times when I felt more of an emotional connection than others regarding the children, but never really did fully engage with either the male or female MCs. As usual, I felt the romance in some part let down the main thrust of the story. Who were the kids? What happened to their mother? Where did the kids go? Not so young they didn’t remember their circumstances—how are they coping?

The author does paint a circumspect picture of life during those depression years. There were some interesting support characters and for the most part a good ebb and flow of tempo. The conclusion pulled most strings together and provided a happy resolution for the budding couple.

This novel was a book club choice for the quarter. I didn’t tie it to the review the CE wrote last year at first, although it was apparent from the blurb that it would mirror Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours and Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds both of which I loved.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library for the club read. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mysteries, Family Life Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 1492663999
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1492663997
ASIN: B07GL3G1DX
Listening Length: 9 hrs 48 mins
Narrator: Brian Hutchison
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Sold on a Monday [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

The Author: KRISTINA MCMORRIS is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and six historical novels, including the million-copy bestseller SOLD ON A MONDAY. The recipient of more than twenty national literary awards, she previously hosted weekly TV shows for Warner Bros. and an ABC affiliate, beginning at age nine with an Emmy Award-winning program, and owned a wedding-and-event-planning company until she had far surpassed her limit of “Y.M.C.A.” and chicken dances. Kristina lives near Portland, Oregon, where she somehow manages to be fully deficient of a green thumb and not own a single umbrella. For more, visit KristinaMcMorris.com.

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

Secrets of the Greek Revival by Eva Pohler – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

Like Nancy Drew meets The Golden Girls!

Ellen and her two best friends share a mid-life crisis by hatching a plan to renovate an 1860’s Greek revival in the nearby historic district of San Antonio. Although Ellen isn’t one to believe in ghosts, she comes face to face with something inexplicable in the attic. Her ghost-enthusiast friends convince her that they must help the spirit find closure, and as they dig deeper into the past, they uncover a shocking history that someone in the neighborhood doesn’t want exposed.

But Ellen and her friends don’t give up easily. They realize they’ve been called to give voice to the invisible women who suffered behind the walls of the house for decades.

The books in this series may be read in any order.

My Review:

You don’t get many books geared toward older protagonists, so the blurb got me. Yes, I do enjoy ghost stories and expected the “golden girls” to be well into retirement. They were certainly written as if they were, but surprise, still working in their fifties.

I was expecting a ghost story and got—well—sorta, but not. I was expecting wonderful description of the building’s architecture and features. Apparently, it didn’t have original kitchen cabinets and I still don’t know what it was really supposed to look like. I hoped the ladies might be intelligent enough to pull off a rehab—but it’s good they had more money than sense as they changed the original idea for the Gold House to a museum.

Ellen is the lead MC and we know little about her except that her sex life is almost non-existent and she is having marital problems. (Really.) Sue and Tanya are not wholly developed except that Sue is pro-ghost and enjoys a good séance. I was introduced to “Goofer Dust,” the first I’ve heard or read of it, an old Black American hoodoo formula composed mainly of graveyard dirt, snakeskin, and powdered bones.

The writing style is simplistic with a slow burn. Not a lot of description, background, or character development, and none of the three ladies were particularly compelling or engaging.

The plot shift from ghost to wild child to pregnant woman with a boyfriend is swift and head-spinning. No real sympathetic characters and some were downright distasteful. A lot of tell, not show and the plot bogged down more than once by reading portions of a journal. What was eventually disclosed was a downer as well as the shift (again) of what they were going to do with the place.

I received a free copy of this book from the author through a promo on Instagram and next time will research more before I bite. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Occult Supernatural, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Occult Horror
Publisher: Green Press
ASIN: B019ATLCWG.
Print Length: 255 pages
Publication Date: December 12, 2015
Source: Free Instagram Offer
Title Link(s): Secrets of the Greek Revival [Amazon]

The Author: After earning her Ph.D. in English and teaching writing and literature for over twenty years, Eva Pohler worked diligently to become a USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels in multiple genres, including supernatural mysteries, thrillers, and young adult paranormal romance based on Greek mythology. Her books have been described as “addictive” and “sure to thrill”–Kirkus Reviews.

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Visit Eva’s website for FREE resources, such as a Greek names pronunciation guide, Underworld map, and a printable reading log. You will also find free ebooks and other cool stuff: http://www.evapohler.com.

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See Ms Pohler’s bio to see a complete listing of her books.

Quarter to Midnight by Karen Rose – #AudiobookReview – #TBT

Book Blurb:

Discover New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose’s brand-new series set in the sultry city of New Orleans and featuring a tough team of high-end private investigators who are after justice—no matter what they have to do to get it.

Good cops. Bad cops. Only one will win.

After completing her tours with the Marines in Iraq, Molly Sutton knew she could take down any bad guy she met. But when a family tragedy exposes the dark side of her local police, she joined up with her former CO Burke Broussard, who left New Orleans PD to set up a private investigative service for people who couldn’t find justice elsewhere.

Gabe Hebert saw the toll that working for the NOPD took on his dad and decided instead to make a name for himself as one of the best young chefs in the French Quarter. But when his father’s death is ruled a suicide after a deliberately botched investigation by his former captain, Gabe knows his dad stumbled onto a truth that someone wants silenced.

Gabe goes to his father’s best friend, Burke, for help. Burke assigns the toughest member of his team, Molly, to the case. Molly can’t believe she’s being asked to work with the smoking hot chef whose chocolate cake is not the only thing that makes her mouth water. Sparks fly as they follow the leads Gabe’s dad left them, unraveling a web of crimes, corruption, and murder that runs all the way to the top.

My Review:

I sure wish books came with the same kind of ratings as movies do. If they did, I might not have opted to listen to steamy sex scenes that greatly prolonged an already lengthy novel. This one went well beyond “romance” and straight to the sheets with sufficient description to curl your hair—or depending on who you are—heat in other places.

I chose the book because of the location, New Orleans, which I thought would be fun and reading the blurb, a good crime thriller mystery as well. There is suspense but after the hook and good start, high body count.

There is more than one POV that switches back and forth occasionally, putting you in the head of the perp, and in the meantime, the two main characters Molly Sutton and Gabe Hebert get to know each other really well.

An ex-Marine, Molly joined her former CO in his private investigation service. She is delighted when she is paired with Gabe, an accomplished chef, in the investigation of his father’s death. He is convinced his dad would never take his own life and neither could guess just where or how high this examination could take them.

Once again, the romance begins too quickly and escalates into the forefront of the storyline. When they surface, they pursue any leads that might have come their way even when it appears that the stakes are ever higher and they’ve ruffled feathers along the way.

Some very interesting support characters, although I also tired of the boy’s story of being saved during Katrina by the sacrifice of his mother, an oft-repeated backstory becoming very familiar.

Generally, it is fast-paced, well-plotted, descriptive, and atmospheric of the region. But Lordy, is it long! Could it be cut in half? If I hadn’t been multi-tasking as usual while listening, I’d have skipped through those graphic sex scenes. The narrator did a fine job with the accents and Southern drawl and I don’t think there are too many themes the author missed from murder to secrets and corruption.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery Romance
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN: B09MDT37QL
Listening Length: 21 hrs 41 mins
Narrator: Lee Osorio
Publication Date: August 2, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Quarter to Midnight [Amazon]

The Author: Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published more than twenty-five novels and two novellas. Her twenty-sixth novel, QUARTER TO MIDNIGHT, will be released in 2022.

Karen’s books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London’s Sunday Times, and Germany’s der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa (#1) and Australia!

To date, her books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than thirty years.

Autumn at Rosepoint Pub

Danger in Numbers by Heather Graham – #Audiobook Review – #TBT

Book Blurb:

On the edge of the Everglades, an eerie crime scene sets off an investigation that sends two agents deep into a world of corrupted faith, greed and deadly secrets.

A ritualistic murder on the side of a remote road brings in the Florida state police. Special Agent Amy Larson has never seen worse, and there are indications that this killing could be just the beginning. The crime draws the attention of the FBI in the form of Special Agent Hunter Forrest, a man with insider knowledge of how violent cults operate, and a man who might never be able to escape his own past.

The rural community is devastated by the death in their midst, but people know more than they are saying. As Amy and Hunter join forces, every lead takes them further into the twisted beliefs of a dangerous group that will stop at nothing to see their will done.

Doomsday preppers and small-town secrets collide in this sultry, twisty pause-resisting thriller.

My Review:

Sometimes an audiobook is better because of the narrator’s talent and sometimes it just makes it a bit tougher to multi-task and follow along when it switches POV or timelines. In the case of this novel, the latter.

Two special agents are thrown together in the investigation of the savage way in which the deaths of two women harken back to the possible comeback of a cult experienced years before. Amy Larson of FDLE is teamed with experienced Hunter Forrest of the FBI to find and hopefully stop the start of the gruesome killing before it really gets a foothold in the Florida Everglades.

Apparently a religious, white supremacist cult, it is led by a charismatic and dynamic individual who holds his followers in a tight-fisted setting. Bids to escape or deny his bidding are dealt with swiftly and deadly.

Of course, there is a growing romantic interest between Amy and Hunter as they gradually gain insight into the members and location; secrets held quietly by the local community. Arguments are made regarding the brain-washing of members and their unwavering allegiance to the leader, as well as references to well-known recent tragic similar factions.

Okay, as this was my third (unintentional) book with the same plot and similar devices, arguments, and characters, my attention waned until I became aware of the switch in POVs and played catch-up a few times. It was a matter of déjà vu and a strong idea where it was going, the romance unnecessary to the familiar plot.

Some graphic descriptions are stomach turning and I couldn’t get engaged with either main character. It is well-plotted and paced, but been there, done that…and was left a little cold.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Police Procedural Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
ASIN: B08HSQB45S
Listening Length: 8 hrs 37 mins
Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
Publication Date: March 23, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Danger in Numbers [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Heather Graham, majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over two hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages. She has written over 200 novels and has 60 million books in print. She has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, and she is also proud to be a recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers and was also awarded the prestigious Thriller Master in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf Region. She is also the founder of “The Slush Pile Players,” presenting something that’s “almost like entertainment” for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

#ThrowbackThursday

The Women by Kristin Hannah – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.
“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.

My Review:

This one has got to be the author’s best and I’ve read many of them. Absolutely gripping from the beginning, the hook is there and no way can you put the book down.

While neither my hubby nor I were “boots on the ground” in ‘Nam, my hubby chose the Navy rather than be drafted into the Army as he would have landed into the middle of the jungle over there very quickly. The draft was an unwelcome interruption to our university plans and landed him instead in a support location close by where I was later allowed to join him. We met many nurses. And, yes, the reception when we finally got back home April of ’70 was unkind (to say the least).

OMG, the memories this brought back! We were there when the Pueblo was captured, when Bob Hope entertained the troops, and the Stars and Stripes gave little indication of the turmoil back home. The change in our country when we returned was shocking.

So this novel, immersive from a woman’s point of view, the nurses who saw and saved the casualties (that they could), both reminded me of the military I witnessed and informed as well in graphic descriptions the trauma both men and women were experiencing.

The main character, twenty-year-old Frances (Frankie) McGrath, has seen her affluent family send her brother to war, earning his place in her father’s study, the “Wall of Heroes.”

She decides she must go as well, serve with her newly minted nurse’s degree and license but is wisely refused in the Navy and Air Force. No problem with the Army who promptly delivers her with little training into the thick of it where she discovers it was not the Army she signed up for. Horrific casualties; sights, smells, sounds never-ending.

Hannah paints an accurate picture of the desperate understaffed situation, the shocking living conditions, the lack of adequate equipment, and the appalling weather.

Her hooch is shared by Ethel and Barb who become close-knit friends and allies throughout the remainder of the narrative. Together, in country, they handle the artillery fire, heat, casualties, and sexism.

“…We age in dog years over here, Frank…”

The nurses work through exhaustion, deplorable conditions, save those they can and when not actively in the OR, share their nursing skills in villages. They work tirelessly, doing what they can, and learn to cope through whatever means possible.

Exposed to the same Agent Orange the men are will have catastrophic effects on the women as well.

After two tours, her welcome home didn’t happen. She was met with derision, a nation sharply divided, a shocking atmosphere. Even her own family appeared to be ashamed of her service. Assimilation did not go well. She is left with severe PTSD and told by the VA that there were no women in ‘Nam.

“Some women had worn love beads in the sixties; others had worn dog tags.”

The characters felt real, the scenes so graphic you could smell them, choke from the clouds of napalm, smell the blood. I heard those songs of protest again. So powerful. Try as I might, could not stop the tears.

The horrible loss.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and St. Martin’s Press through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. I really enjoyed the last Hannah book I read, The Great Alone, but this powerful book will go to the top of my favorites list for the year.

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Women’s Domestic Life Fiction
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
ASIN: B0C1X97LW7
Print Length: 480 pages
Publication Date: February 6, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Her newest novel, The Women, about the nurses who served in the Vietnam war, will be released on February 6, 2024.

The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore’s bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.

In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.

In 2015, The Nightingale became an international blockbuster and was Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week.

The Nightingale is currently in pre-production at Tri Star. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke.

A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

©V Williams

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