The Book Breeze March 2015 by The Book Breeze

Reviews, Interviews, New Releases

Marianne Evans Vol 5 Issue 3

Faith Affirming Fiction

March 2015

Articles

• The Art of Writing Part 1 Craft & Creativity by Barefoot Academy

Author Interviews DANITA CAHILL

COLLEEN DONNELLY MARIANNE EVANS LYNN WILLIS

Review Columns Mystery Barefoot Reviews Roberta’s Ramblings

Sisters in Spirit Series

Romance Jackie’s Jargon

Young Adult Shannon’s Space Erotica The Play Room

Paranormal & Mystery The Book Breeze

And New Releases!

turn the page c

d Marianne Evans - Faith Affirming Fiction

Marianne Evans is a multi-award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction with over twenty titles to her credit. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create. Readers laud her work as: ‘Riveting.’ ‘Realistic and true to heart.’ ‘Compelling.’ Devotion, earned the prestigious Bookseller’s Best Award from Greater Detroit RWA as well the Heart of Excellence Award from Ancient City Romance Authors. She also earned wins for Best Romance of 2012 from the Christian Small Publisher's Association and the Selah award for best Novella of 2013.

Happily married and the mother of two, Marianne is a lifelong resident of Michigan who is active in a number of a number of Romance Writers of America chapters, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President.

Tell us about your new release and why you chose this setting.

My new release is part of the Pure Amore ‘Book of the Month’ subscription service offered by Pelican Book Group. It’s titled ‘Date Night’ and here’s a bit about the story: Ethan Miller’s family has done… what?

Tell us about your characters:

Ethan Miller is committed to Christian mission work and service to the people of Honduras. A gifted ophthalmologist, he donates his services and time twice each year. For the time being, he’s happy to be single. Sure, marriage and a family are part of his future plans—but for now that’s where they belong. In the future. Natalie Gibbs is an interior designer who’s hitting her stride at the design firm of Mathers & Mathers. A tender-hearted romantic, she’s eager to find her forever love, but refuses to compromise her beliefs and ideals in the process. She meets Ethan by chance at a dating event and is fascinated by his servant’s heart and the work he does in Honduras.

His profile is plastered on MingleInFaith.com. Now, this career focused, happy-to-be-abachelor is forced to endure an episode of speed-dating.

Interior Designer Natalie Gibbs is on the dating circuit, eager to find “the one,” but she has strict rules about the manner in which she’ll embrace a romantic relationship. She wasn’t even supposed to meet Ethan Miller—but God had other plans.

Ethan spends a month each year in Honduras, offering eye care to the underprivileged. He senses a sweetness to Natalie that prompts him to invite her along on the next mission trip.

The voyage leads them far from their home base of New York City, but straight into the hearts of the Honduran people. Slowly, Ethan’s heart is swayed toward the idea of love. But Natalie’s mission work teaches her about a love that reaches far beyond romance. What’s God’s plan? Should their hearts combine—or does He want them to serve…and learn...from one another—and an extraordinary date night?

I chose the settings of New York City and Texiguat, Honduras because of the extreme contrast, which forms part of the story-arc of Date Night. New York is urban sprawl, up-to-the-minute living, trends and pressures. Texiguat, Honduras is primitive, an area of the world desperate for helping hands and God’s Word.

What do you hope readers take with them after reading your work?

I hope readers come to realize the beauty of authentic, pure love and the joy of serving the under privileged and marginalized.

What makes the book uniquely yours?

The setting and the circumstances of the novel are very dear to my heart because my brother and sister-in-law perform the kind of mission work I describe in the pages of Date Night. Their research assistance was invaluable, and I’m thrilled to shine a light on the good work they do. They inspire me! What’s next for you?

My book Then & Now will be releasing soon as part of the Pure Amore imprint. It’s a reunion love story set in Northern Michigan, which is a part of my home state that I love! My second release with Harbourlight Books, titled Forgiveness, will also hit bookshelves soon. Forgiveness takes a hard look at the idea of forgiving those you love, those who strive to earn your trust after they’ve hurt you in a very deep and direct way by their actions. The book also centers on redemption from alcoholism and shares my passion for Nashville, Tennessee and Christian music. I’m super excited about this release which will happen later this year! After that, I have two proposals under consideration that I hope to share more on soon! What is the one question you wish an interviewer would ask you? Continued next page

Interview with Marianne Evans continued

Hmmm…that’s a really good question! I’ve visited a number of folks via magazines, blogs and the like—I’ve had to answer any number of questions, both serious and humorous, and can’t say there’s much that’s been missed. How about: What’s something most people don’t know about you?

And the answer would be: I’m a collector of antique salts. My sister-in-law got me hooked on these small treasures made of glass, or metal or porcelain. They come with small spoons and were used at the dinner table in the era before pourable salt. You’d use the spoon to chip off granules of salt and sprinkle them over your food. Here are the links to my publisher and my social media locations: Pelican Book Group: www.pelicanbookgroup.com Website: www.marianneevans.com Blog: www.marianneevans.blogspot.com Facebook Reader Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/MarianneEvans/308711716744 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarEvansAuthor Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/marianneevans Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marevansauthor/

New Release

CALL DOWN THE MOON

Book 1 in the Soulmate series

By Mary Gillgannon

Spicy Reincarnation/Time Travel Romance Released by The Wild Rose Press

In the ninth century, Irish warrior Connar fell hopelessly in love with Aisling, one of the Nine Sisters, a group of priestesses skilled in healing. When Aisling came to a tragic end, he used magic to travel to the future to be reunited with her. But Aisling, now Allison Hunter, a free-lance writer in Denver, doesn’t remember her previous life. Which means Connar has to get her to fall in love with him all over again

IN THIS ISSUE Articles

Barefoot Writing Academy Presents: Creativity & Craft by Mahala Church . . . Page 4

Author Interviews

DANITA CAHILL . . . Page 7

COLLEEN DONNELLY . . . Page 14 MARIANNE EVANS . . . Page 2

LYNN CHANDLER WILLIS . . . Page 11

Review Columns

Mystery Barefoot Reviews . . . Page 10 Roberta’s Ramblings . . . Page 13 Romance Jackie’s Jargon . . . Page 6

Young Adult Shannon’s Space . . . Page 15 Erotica The Play Room . . . Page 16

Paranormal & Mystery The Book Breeze . . . Page 16

And New Releases!

Barefoot Writing Academy Presents:

Creativity and Craft by Mahala Church

Do you hesitate to start writing because of confusion about what to say, where to start, and how to shape your ideas? Read on. •There is not a wrong way to write. New books do (at times) break the rules.

•There are no yardsticks with which to measure success in writing. What makes you happy might not make me happy. •Creativity is the ultimate enigma. One of the universe’s greatest mysteries.

Over the next few months, I will share writing information in five categories. Use any or all of them, and you will learn something about writing, and perhaps find that what worked for another might work for you. 5 Categories

1. There is creativity and there is craft. 2. There are stories and there are plots. 3. There are tools to help with writing. 4. There is a plethora of methods for writing. 5. There are good books and good websites on how to write. 1. There is creativity and there is craft.

Craft includes all those things we learned (and may have forgotten) in school, plus extras: grammar, punctuation, sentence and paragraph structure, phrases and clauses, alliteration, syntax, parallelism, dialogue tags, adjective and adverb use.

There are excellent resources online to check yourself. One of my favorites is easy to use and is now available in a book format. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

You cannot break the rules until you understand the rules. If you are rusty, I recommend a middle or high school English book, not a college-level one.

Craft also includes some of the art of writing basics—be forewarned! Some break the standard rules of writing in the classroom. Writing fiction and writing an academic piece of fiction are two different things. Examples of the differences include: leaving off a comma so the “beat” of the sentence reads well, stand-alone phrases, and starting a sentence with the word But or And. Sadly, in my estimation, many books are foregoing quotation marks (often to impress us with the author’s risk taking skills), but that practice pulls readers from the story to determine if someone is speaking.

Examples:

“And while you’re absorbing this, would you mind if I ate one of those pieces of pie?” small blessings by Martha Woodroof

“So you see, Alma, I could not become a minister after hearing of this. Nor a student. Nor a son. Nor—it seemed— a living man.” The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth George “It was getting late and I had to catch the ferry.” The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant. Creativity is more subtle. This is where the struggle presents itself to all writers. Where do we get ideas, point of view, voice, themes, tension, feelings, characters?

You may be pleased to know that no one understands the creative process: painting a picture, throwing a pot, penning a piece of music, or writing words that go together in a new and magical way have no basis in logic, no algorithm, no formula. Some authors claim to have a muse that sends their ideas by special delivery. Stephen King says he finds his ideas on a lower shelf in K-Mart. Wherever you find your creativity, it is the beginning of a journey of the mind, a journey of creativity, a journey to discover who you are.

The creative process is as ethereal as any sprite, angel, aura, or fairy.

Some people see and hear their characters. Charles Dickens had lengthy discussions with his, assuming a different voice for each as they debated plot points. For some, the characters come first and then they write the story around them. For others, an idea intrigues them or a plot crystallizes, and they create characters to bring the story to life. Some writers initially see the opening of the story and others see the end. Obviously, the best stories have a cohesive theme with which the audience identifies. What is a theme? A theme is the idea, moral, or value that the story explores. Continued next page

New Release

Creativity & Craft Continued

Did you know that 99.9% of all stories have a moral component? It may not be blatant, but it’s there. Here are a few for you to mull over: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen In the Blood by Lisa Unger My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult The Seeker by R. B. Chesterton Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

What would a class be without homework? Have some fun and list some of the themes (cause and effect) that Dickens explores in A Christmas Carol. How about To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee? And one more for good measure: The Hunger Games (book 1) by Suzanne Collins.

Make a list and I’ll provide some answers in April’s newsletter. Here is a hint: themes are usually a phrase such as: love is the greatest power on earth, courage overcomes fear, revenge is bittersweet (those comments on a book jacket). How would you define the theme of your work in progress (WIP)?

As an author, you may revise the theme of your WIP as often as you do the first paragraph, but it is imperative to stabilize it as soon as possible to give your work focus as you create it. You want it to make sense, lead somewhere, and have a point. More importantly, why should readers spend time reading it if it has no destination? Tip: What do you want your reader to see, know, and learn? Why?

Next Month: 6 Key Elements to develop a story worth reading

Mahala Church is a freelance editor and writer for Written Word, her company that focuses on authors and other small business types who clamor to stay ahead of the pack. She pens weekly blog posts for a diversity of clients, including herself, and reaches out to writers through Barefoot Writing Academy, a division of Written Word, leading workshops, teaching classes, and providing individual mentoring. A published author of short stories, non-fiction, and book reviews, she lives in the crazy world of rescued dogs, kids, and turtles, one of whom prefers strawberries with his grits.

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TEXTING ALL HEARTS (Boxed Set) Bliss Brant, Lorelei Buckley, Debra Jupe, Darah Lace, Linda LaRoque, Nese Lane, Susan JP Owens

Genre: Multi-Genre, Time Travel Romance, Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi Romance, Romantic Suspense, and Contemporary Romance Released March 1 in ebook only. Sweet to erotic M/F and M/F/M.

What do rodeos, otherworldly encounters, exotic dancers, bondage, hot sex, refound love, and time travel have in common? Besides romantic, edge of your seat fun and intrigue, they all evolve from a single text. Seven multi-genre novellas that promise to heat your nights and warm your hearts.

Written Word

works with an international group of clients, providing writing and editing services. Specialties: • Editing manuscripts (line, copy, substantive) • Ghostwriting • Developmental coaching for fiction and non-fiction • Business writing and editing, blogging, and web articles • Press releases and marketing tools For more information on specific services, see Written Word pages at www.lyricalpens.com. www.lyricalpens.com www.twitter.com/mahalachurch www.facebook.com/mahalachurch

Jackie’s Jargon ONE MORE SECOND CHANCE - Lobster Cove Series Jana Richards The Wild Rose Press, Inc (February 6, 2015)

In One More Second Chance, Jana Richards captures the feel of small town America to a tee. Richards expertly immerses the reader in the fictional town of Lobster Cove, Maine while telling the love story of Julia Stewart and Dr. Alex Campbell.

Julia is exactly where she wants to be. She moved back to Lobster Cove with her five-year-old daughter where she is able to help care for her aging parents. She’s the principal at the local high school and is content with her life. Her plans don’t include falling for a man, never mind one who has every intention of moving back to San Diego.

Alex took the position in the emergency room in Lobster Cove to help pay off his student loans. He has no intention of staying in a small town with a cold climate. He yearns to go back to San Diego after his contract is up. Then he meets Julia and treats little Ava for a broken bone. As Alex earns the respect and trust of the local residents, he starts to rethink his priorities.

One More Second Chance is a well-written book filled with a range of emotions. Alongside the budding romance, Richards delves into topics like political struggles over a daycare at the high school, handling aging parents, and standing up for what you believe in. She expertly handles the theme of secrets and misunderstandings—from those bits of information withheld to protect those you love to forming opinions based on what you want to believe.

This second chance story from the Lobster Cove Series will not disappointment readers who enjoy immersing themselves in a book and caring about the characters who populate the novel.

Jackie McMurray and her husband live on a macadamia nut farm on the island of Hawai'i where they feed a clowder of cats and a flock of hodgepodge chickens. In a past life, she was an elementary school teacher; currently, she writes contemporary romance from the Hawaiian Islands and beyond under her pen name, Jackie Marilla.

READ, PONDER, REPEAT

ROMANCE REVIEWS BY JACKIE MCMURRAY

LOVE LEAST EXPECTED (Anthology) Featuring Nine Authors Publisher: Valerie Twombly (Feb. 3, 2015)

Love Least Expected is an eclectic collection of nine short romances with stories ranging from sweet to spicy. This collection is a great way to sample the distinct writing voices of nine authors and a variety of romance subgenres. Every story offers a place to find love unexpectedly—from a garden in India to the circus to a psychiatric hospital and everywhere in between. There are two historical romance selections—Under the Mango Tree by Meredith Bond and Rolf’s Quest by Aubrey Wynne. Under the Mango Tree is a coming of age story set in 18th century India. Her story explores the differences in dating rituals between two cultures. Contrast that to Rolf’s Quest, an Arthurian tale of securing your heart’s desire without the benefit of magic.

The two Southern romances, Roses are Wrong, Violets Taboo by Kris Calvert and The Trouble With Never by Isabella Harper, are both glimpses into longer versions of the stories. Calvert manages to make feeding one another seafood a sexy encounter while Harper writes a very sensual scene at a barn dance.

Love’s Not Viral by Nessie Strange, Taking The Plunge by Kishan Paul, and Keep Calm And Eat Chocolate by Michaela Miles represent contemporary romance. In Love’s Not Viral, Strange concocted a scenario where a woman is held captive in her own home by a Hollywood star. The reader is willing to suspend belief long enough to buy into the plotline and watch the budding romance between the heroine and the Hollywood star’s brother. Taking the Plunge deals with addiction and guilt and protecting one’s heart. This story will also be continued in a future release. Miles sets her story in one of the most unusual places for a romance—a psychiatric facility. The hero and heroine both have to change in order to let go of their past lives.

The only fantasy selection, Alphabetical Disorder by Katie Stephens, takes place at the circus. It’s fanciful, fun, and downright imaginative.

ValerieTwombly offers up Fall into Darkness, a paranormal story to be continued later in 2015. The story centers on an angel who is stripped of his wings and sent back to earth to find his humanity. Twombly engages the reader with her expert world building and just right pacing.

A Chat with Author

Danita Cahill

Danita Cahill is an award-winning writer and photographer. She lives in the Pacific NW on a small Oregon farm with her husband, two sons, and their menagerie of animals. Besides running children to and fro and caring for her gardens, critters and family, Danita stays busy eating dark chocolate, working on magazine assignments and dreaming up love stories for her next books.

A member of the Central Oregon Writers Guild and the Willamette Writers Guild, Danita grew up on the Oregon coast. She's had several interesting occupations, including working as a crab shaker at a fish plant, owning and operating a retail plant nursery, working as an artist for a porcelain ceramics studio and covering the crime beat for a daily newspaper.

Tell us about your new release and why you chose this genre. I write romance because love is all that really matters. Affection for family, friends and community, and all the other noble stuff like faith, hope, kindness and generosity – it’s all based on love, right? On the flipside, love can produce a stampeding herd of negative emotions – jealousy, anger, hatred and heartache. Conflict is what drives a story, what keeps it interesting. Negative emotions add delicious conflict.

There is much conflict for heroine Leah Poole in COWBOY, REMIND ME, my newest release. Readers see a dark side to Leah’s fiancé that Leah doesn’t see. Her overwhelming attraction to her fiancé’s cowboy brother riddles Leah with guilt. And memory problems brought on by trauma don’t help matters for her. COWBOY, REMIND ME is a sweet, clean contemporary western romance and the fourth title in the Bellham Romance series. Bellham Romances are connected through characters and locations, but each can easily be read as a standalone book. Tell us about the different genres you write.

My first book, MIST, is a paranormal romantic suspense. I’ve also got two humorous nonfiction titles out and have five humorous nonfiction stories included in two anthologies. My nonfiction writing urge comes from decades of writing for newspapers and magazines.

What do your life experiences bring to your storytelling?

I’m a small-town girl. Literally and at heart. All of my reporting experience is with community newspapers. Firsthand, I’ve seen how small towns operate – the politics, the gossip, and the way community members band together to help one another in times of need. Altogether, it’s distressing and touching, frustrating and amazing. I wanted to share that genuine, small-town atmosphere and emotion in a series. So, I created Bellham – a small fictional town tucked into the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. To give my characters and readers a change of scenery, I’ve also come up with

Bellham’s sister city, Pine Creek, a little fictional mountain town in Western Montana. COWBOY, CONVINCE ME is set mostly in Pine Creek. I’m an animal lover. I keep a horse, 10 alpacas, two guinea pigs, a couple of dogs and too many cats. Or maybe they keep me – I’m still trying to figure that one out! You’ll find many animals in my stories, including those on cattle, horse and alpaca ranches. Bellham also has an animal mascot – a duck named Harvey. Harvey is a charmer and a real hoot to write. He makes at least a cameo appearance in each Bellham Romance.

As for writing contemporary westerns, it’s a perfect fit. I’ve had horses nearly my entire life. The horse currently in my heart is a chestnut mare named Koko. My daughter rode Koko in 4-H and entered her in horse shows. For over six years I rode Koko as a volunteer deputy with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Posse. Our main mission was doing wilderness search and rescue on horseback. But we also did mounted, armed security for local events, and rode in parades. My daughter is grown now. She works on a cattle ranch and is a horse trainer and a barrel racer. Her husband rides bareback broncs in a northwest rodeo circuit. I’m immersed in the western/cowboy lifestyle. What social media do you participate in?

I have Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and Linked in accounts. I dabble in Twitter. But Facebook is my top social-media love. You’re most likely to catch up with me there. What’s next for you?

I’m working through the final draft of the next Bellham Romance, COWBOY, CONVINCE ME. It’s very closely connected to COWBOY, REMIND ME, but is Shay and Denver’s story. Shay and Denver have wriggled their way deep into my heart the same way Leah and Clay did as I wrote their story. My hope is that these cowboys and cowgirls touch the hearts of readers, too.

Suzanne Lilly Sweet Romantic Suspense for Young Adults

Historical Romance

Contemporary Romance with Supernatural Elements

Marin and Brock must both face their deepest fears and fight with their very lives to save the town they love.

Will Aspen run from her dark secret, or fight for the love she found in Honey Creek?

When Mariah Davis finds a pair of sunglasses that give her the ability to see the future, her life changes in dramatic ways.

http://www.suzannelilly.com

Two strangers with dreams must work together to survive in California’s gold rush days.

Lucinda and George’s story continues during the 1850 flood of Sacramento.

Two men, one woman ... FAIRY TALE WEDDING...

Leah Poole never wanted a fairy-tale wedding, so when she finds herself smack dab in the midst of planning her own big, over-the-top wedding she starts to shut down. Nothing feels right. She can’t even find a suitable wedding dress. HE LOVES ME...HE LOVES ME NOT...

Leah loves her fiancé, Colton Rafferty. She’s been fond of him since they played together as children. Leah can’t believe he’s chosen her to spend his life with – Colton is a handsome, successful, wealthy businessman, while Leah’s a full-figured, lowincome, hometown cowgirl. But as Colton and Leah’s wedding date draws nearer, it feels less and less like they’re a match made in heaven, and more and more like they’re a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces.

THE COWBOY BROTHER…

Colton’s brother, Clay, is a rodeo cowboy, an Oregon ranch hand, and a temporary maintenance man at Pine Creek, Montana’s grand old Milton Motel – the venue where Leah and Colton plan to exchange their vows. Bumping into Clay over and over surfaces a flood of buried memories, and Leah starts questioning herself. Is she marrying the right brother? And will she figure out the answer before she’s exchanged vows with the wrong man?

New Releases

THE SWAN’S SWEET SONG By J. Arlene Culiner Spicy Contemporary Romance Released Jan 23 by The Wild Rose Press in print and ebook

FOREVER IN HOLLYWOOD By Jovana Rodolaki Contemporary Romance Released Feb 18 by The Wild Rose Press in print and ebook

Romance

SON OF A SINNER By Lynn Shurr Spicy Sports Romance Released by The Wild Rose Press March 13 in print and ebook

ALPHA IN DISGUISE By Afton Locke Sizzling Paranormal Romance Released March 6 by Decadent Publishing in ebook

BREAKING ALL BARRIERS By Cait Jarrod Spicy Romantic Suspense Released by The Wild Rose Press March 13 in print and ebook

THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE By CJ Fosdick Spicy Mainstream American Historical Released March 18 by The Wild Rose Press in print and ebook

A MURDER OF MAGPIES By Judith Flanders Mystery Released Feb 24 by Minotaur Books

WHAT THE FLY SAW Detective Hannah McCabe Mystery By Frankie Y. Bailey Mystery Released March 3 by Minotaur Books

DEAD HANDSOME A Buffalo Steampunk Adventure By Laura Strickland Spicy Steampunk Romance Released Feb 27 by The Wild Rose Press in print and ebook

A GENTLEMAN’S GAME By Rebecca Matthews Spicy sweet Historical Romance Released Feb 20 by The Wild Rose Press American Rose line

IMPASSE By Royce Scott Buckingham Thriller Released March 3 by Thomas Dunne Books Mystery Thriller XOM-B (Uprising) By Jeremy Robinson Science Fiction Thriller Released February 3 by St. Martin’s paperbacks

Barefoot Book Reviews FATAL RHYTHM R. B. O’Gorman Immaculada Books Medical Mystery/Thriller (1st in series)

R. B. O’Gorman strikes gold with his first medical mystery. When the number of cardiac patients dying during the graveyard shift in a Texas hospital begins to climb with no logical explanation, young resident, Dr. Joe Morales is tapped to replace his good friend working in the cardiac ICU. His brilliant friend, by all appearances, has not taken good care of the patients on his watch. Morales quickly realizes that something is terribly wrong in the cardiac ICU, something dark and strange, but none of his supervisors will listen. It’s clear that Dr. De la Toure, the elder statesman on the cardiac surgical staff, has lost his magic touch, and his patients are dying at an alarming rate - patients who should have done well in surgery. Add a hospital administrator determined to bring new life to the bottom line of the hospital, a lonely head nurse who is a sexual overachiever, and Morales’ fears that his indigent background will be discovered and he will fail like his friend did. The plot is more than intricate enough to fool the most intrepid reader. Like John Grisham and his expertise with legal mysteries, O’Gorman brings his expertise as a cardiovascular surgeon to the pages of this book. His writing is clear with sharp pacing and welldeveloped, believable characters. RISKY UNDERTAKING Mark de Castrique Poisoned Pen Press Mystery (Buryin’ Barry series)

The protagonist in the Buryin’ Barry series is delightfully different, beginning with his co-careers as an undertaker and part-time deputy and flowing through his unique way of viewing a murder scene and his interactions with his buddies and the townspeople. The book brought back memories of movies in the wild west of my childhood, oddly mixed with Miss Marple and Raymond Chandler’s books - all good things. Well-paced with dry humor and an absorbing story, the plot and sub-plots fueled my interest.

I don’t think Castrique missed any socio-economic group as he developed his thoroughly believable cast of unusual characters. Set in North Carolina, this unusual book incorporated Cherokee Indians, a Boston policeman, and a New Jersey hit man to take readers on more twists than a Chubby Checker record. A good read.

by Mahala Church

CAUGHT DEAD Andre Lanh Poisoned Pen Press Mystery/Thriller (Rick Van Lam 1st in series)

For anyone who lived through the Vietnam War or is a student of its history, this first book of Andre Lanh (aka as Ed Ifkovic who writes absorbing mysteries) will ring true. The children—who had the misfortune to have a Vietnamese mother and U.S. father who disappeared when his tour was over—suffered innumerable assaults mentally and physically. Rick Van Lam, one of these children, was sent to a Catholic Charity organization at the age of five and found his way to America. Like all people, Rick carries the pain of his past with him, but for Rick, his lack of acceptance in the Vietnamese community in Connecticut too frequently summons bad dreams. He has done well for himself, teaching criminal justice at a community college and working as a private investigator for an insurance company, but he is still treated as part of the Yellow Peril. He works to find the killer of a Vietnamese woman at the request of his friend, Hank, who is full-bloodied Vietnamese and helps him navigate between two hostile worlds. Lanh’s characters expertly develop the hostilities and rivalries rife from page one. Detailed settings effortlessly drew me into the scenes. A well-thought out, somewhat complex book with a winning, new protagonist. WINK OF AN EYE Lynn Chandler Willis Minotaur Books Mystery

Twenty years have passed since Gypsy Moran escaped from the small Texas town of his youth, and now, he is on the run from the bad guys who want to do him in. By page two, Willis has our attention in a big way. Twelve-year-old Tatum needs Gypsy to prove his father did not commit suicide. Gypsy’s sister, Rhonda, is positive he can do just that. Gypsy is exhausted after an eighteen-hour drive from Vegas, but when Tatum reveals the smoking gun—eight young women are dead, Gypsy is in. Gypsy’s sense of humor makes for prime material and I laughed aloud at times - a good read in my estimation. Tough guy on the outside, butter cream on the inside when it comes to a twelve-year-old boy who takes care of his grandfather and trusts his father’s integrity, Gypsy also likes beautiful, quip-popping women. He reminds me of Janet Evanovich’s character, Ranger, in her Stephanie Plum series. Willis is on to something good with her protagonist and ability to weave an exciting debut book.

Mahala Church is a freelance editor and writer and teaches creative writing for teens and adults through her Barefoot Writing Academy. An accomplished workshop leader and award winning author, Pushcart Prize nominee, and published editor, she enjoys all aspects of writing. An avid reader of both literary and commercial fiction as well as biographies and memoirs, she particularly likes books set in Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and the Deep South of the United States. You can follow her at www.lyricalpens.com.

Lynn Chandler Willis Uncovering the mystery, page by page.

Lynn Chandler Willis is the first woman in ten years to win the St. Martin's Press/PWA Best 1st Private Eye Novel competition. The novel, Wink of an Eye, was released November 2014. She is also the author of The Rising, a Grace Award winner for Excellence in Faith-based Fiction. She lives in North Carolina. Your latest release is WINK OF AN EYE introduces us to Gypsy Moran, a private investigator who has his own set of problems. What can you tell us about him?

Private Investigator Michael “Gypsy” Moran is a guy's guy, with a charming roguish personality women adore and a heart bigger than Texas underneath his tough-guy persona. Although street smart and by no means an innocent, he thinks with his heart way too much and that often lands him in trouble. He fled his tiny hometown of Wink, Texas after high school and eventually set up shop in Vegas. But after getting into some mob-related trouble in Vegas, he runs back home twenty years after he first left. His sister introduces him to a 12 year-old kid who wants to hire Gypsy to prove his father's death wasn't a suicide. Why did you choose West Texas as a setting? I love the ruggedness of the area. The isolation, loneliness and beauty. The character of Gypsy wouldn't have worked anywhere else. It's a 20 year process for him but he finally comes to understand the “nothingness” of the area is what he missed so much while living in Vegas. Is it a series?

His fans certainly hope so! I'm working on book two now and hope the publisher will see how much of a fan base he's developing.

Every author has a voice, what makes this book uniquely yours?

I'm a female writing in first person, male point-of-view. Gypsy has a really sarcastic side to him and an odd sense of humor so it's a lot of fun writing him.

Do you have a favorite mystery character by another author that you would like to meet in person?

Joe Pike and Elvis Cole. Love Robert Crais!

What social media do you participate in?

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and I blog fairly often at my website.

What’s next for you? NoBody's Baby, a romantic suspense, is finished and with my agent and I'm deep into Wink and a Nod: A Gypsy Moran Mystery. I'd really like to see Gypsy picked up as a series because he is such a fun character. I have all sorts of adventures for him planned! For more on Lynn visit her website:

Website (with buy links): http://lynnchandlerwillis.com/

Love, Hawaiian Style by

Jackie Marilla

From the author of Josh Whoever comes a new mystery.

Paul is a simple outdoorsman with a volatile artist wife--until Marta disappears and her body is never found. Paul finds a message in her last painting telling him that she faked her death to draw attention to her paintings.

An insurance investigator questions a $5M policy Marta took out shortly before her death and an enforcer shows up demanding that Paul pay him the $5M Marta stole from his casino. A gallery in Arizona claims to have new Marta paintings.

Paul goes to investigate, followed by the insurance investigator, the enforcer, and a young new-age girl determined to help Paul forget his dead wife.

ÂŠ 2015 The Book Breeze Page 12

Roberta’s Ramblings by Roberta Rogow

My Ramblings are taking me all over the world!

THE RICHEBOURG AFFAIR, by R.M. Cartmel (Crime Scene Books, 2014,$15.00) takes us to the Burgundy region of France, known for its superlative wine and long history of bloodshed. Commandant Truchaud finds both when he is called home to his brother's funeral. He has questions that must be answered: what, exactly, was the cause of his brother's death? Why is his neighbor so insistent on buying the family's vineyards? The wine business is rife with corruption, and Truchaud must expose a fraudulent wine scheme and a family scandal before he's finished. French policing is complex, but Truchaud is a dogged detective, who isn't afraid to face his superiors when he knows he's right. A tour of the French countryside, with murder and mayhem thrown in!

Felix Francis has taken up where his father, Dick Francis, left off, covering the British horse-racing scene, and DAMAGE (Putnam, 2014,$24.95) deals with the changes in the system of regulating what has become a multinational million-pound industry. The British Horse-racing Authority has replaced the aristocratic Jockey Club, which had the reputation of sweeping indiscretions under the upper-class rug, but skullduggery rears its head anyway. Horses are testing positive for forbidden substances, throwing racing results into chaos. Investigator Jeff Hinkley is called in to find out exactly what is going on. Are the test results accurate, or is it all a giant scheme to get blackmail money from the BHA? Who is behind the doping, if doping is going on? Why would a small-time crook murder a bookmaker in broad daylight at a race meet? Jeff uses all the tricks of his trade to find the answers, and comes up with a stunning discovery that leads to a thrilling chase and a final, devastating revelation.

THE LONG WAY HOME, by Louise Penny (Minotaur, 2014, $24.99) continues the story of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, now retired to his idyllic village of Three Pines in Quebec, Canada. There he can enjoy his wellearned retirement and try to forget the devastating events that led to his leaving the Surite de Quebec. However, crime seems to follow Gamache, even to this remote village, and he answers the plea of his neighbor, Claire Morrow, when she asks him to find her missing husband. The trail leads from a college in Toronto to a desolate village at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, where a vicious murderer lurks. A portrait holds a devastating secret in this psychological thriller, that reveals the depths behind the veil of Canadian politeness. Cathi Stoler's KEEPING SECRETS (Camel Press, 2014, $14.95) takes us to New York City, where Laurel Imperiole and Helen McCorkendale find that love leads to murder, as they pursue a friend's fiancé who seems to have multiple identities. Laurel's love interest and Anne's seem to connect with Mafiosi and a n elaborate scam involving politicians, cops, and identity theft. It takes more than New York's Finest to untangle this web of intrigue! Laurel and Helen are a good team, but they have no luck with men, Stay tuned for more adventures for this New York duo. Roberta Rogow is a retired librarian who enjoys books with characters that grab you, often set in exotic places or in other times. She reads a lot of historical mysteries, but also enjoys Alternate History, and has been known to indulge in an orgy of“cozy crafty” mysteries, set in small-town America or villages in Great Britain. Her latest release, MAYHEM IN MANATAS is the follow-up to MURDERS IN MANATAS.

The adventures of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) and Arthur Conan Doyle in late 19th-century. Victorian mysteries with nostalgic fun and spunky characters by speculative fiction author Roberta Rogow

Colleen L Donnelly

Colleen L. Donnelly grew up in a rural environment, but during and after college she began to spread her wings to experience other places and other cultures. She finally realized she could have her cake and eat it too, by buying a place in the country and working for a college where every culture possible passes through.

Even though Colleen was born with the creative urge to write, it wasn’t until after college and after kids that she finally sat down to take it on as a semi-career. True to what’s predicted for beginning writers, she had to write about five novels that were rejected, before her sixth was snatched up by a NY publisher.

Still working and still writing and still lending a hand to now grown up kids, Colleen believes that life is good. Your latest release is ASKED FOR. Tell us about it. “Asked For” is built around unraveling family morals, this one told from two points of view, Lana’s and James’, mother and son bound by a man who wanted neither one of them. Lana was a young girl when Cletus asked for her, full of dreams of someday being special when she became someone’s bride. James, Lana’s youngest son, dreamed of playing baseball and making his father proud if Cletus would ever come to one of his games. Cletus wanted only a wife, nothing so foolish as a bride, an uncomplicated woman who would give him sons. As Lana gave birth to more daughters than sons, last of all to James who looked nothing like Cletus, Cletus’ detachment and anger increased until it culminated in him deeming James as “That boy” the one who wasn’t even his. As Lana’s and James’ parts of the tale build from this family’s beginnings to the eventual climax where choices are revealed, we see everyone’s obstacles and the coping mechanisms they chose to survive what nature and nurture had unfortunately given them.

Tell us about your characters. In “Asked For” Lana is almost a child when Cletus asks for her. She goes into an arranged marriage with illusions that turn into delusions even before her wedding night is over. Full of determination to do what’s right, the way her grandmother taught her, Lana gets little reward for her efforts. Buoyed by her love for her children, and the gentle reminder of her value offered by two men who see the beauty beneath her worn exterior, Lana marches forward gaining the strength she needs to not only endure, but to survive the life Cletus gives her. James knows the love of a mother, the moral support of a local businessman, and the rejection of the one man that matters – his father. As he grows, James untangles what is truly him from what isn’t. His needs suffer great disappointment, but in the end define who he truly is – whether he is “That boy” or Cletus’ son.

Why is the setting important? I have a tendency to write in the past. I love that setting because it forces my characters to act and grow without the aid of modern conveniences. I want them to get up, travel a path, chart a course through obstacles rather than receive a text message with an easy answer. I’ve been told that my settings become characters, and maybe this is why

– so my heroes and heroines are forced to interact with their settings to achieve their goals.

Who were your heroes growing up and how do they affect our storytelling? I have to admit that villains in my life may have more to do with my storytelling than heroes, now that you ask. Hmmmm, that’s kind of embarrassing and I may have to ponder this some more. But I write from dilemmas, and the people who created those situations for me or those around me, have stuck in my mind and are now “types” in my novels. That said, who did I turn to as a child for help from these foes? Family members, a few close friends, teachers, and God – not necessarily in that order. I know that list seems cliché, so let me also say a large cast of fictional characters inspired me also – from movies and literature alike. I did learn, though, that heroes can’t and/or won’t always do what you want, but many times what we want isn’t what’s best. Darn. Do you have a favorite mystery author? I’ve read Agatha Christie more than any other, but I’ve also read a fair amount from these authors - Wilkie Collins, Poe, Sue Grafton, John Sanford, and Janet Evanovich (when I need some comic relief).

What’s next for you? I’m in the final stages of editing my next book. As of now, it’s called, “Love on a Train,” but sometimes my working title vanishes right before I submit it to my publisher, and another, more creative title, takes its place. This tale is a post-World War II story of a young woman who falls in love on a train with a soldier who has recently returned from battle. The intensity of her passion for him causes her to write their story, a work of non-fiction that becomes fiction when she realizes he loves another. Her obstacles are the loss of that love, the family shame she creates by adding a fictionalized happy ending to her story and publishing it as romance, and the “good provider” she finds herself engaged to while her heart still belongs to the man she fell in love with on the train. After this book is out, I have a number of novels on my hard drive from the days I was learning to write. Good stories are buried in there, they just need matured and cleaned up, something I plan to do after “Love on a Train” is out.

Shannon’s Space

YA Reviews by Shannon Kennedy BLOOD RED (Elemental Masters #10) by Mercedes Lackey DAW Books ~ June 2014 ~ 4 Stars

Did you ever want a grown-up or rather a New Adult version of Little Red Riding Hood? Then, you’ll enjoy this version of what happens when young Rosa goes to visit her teacher and discovers the woman has been murdered by a werewolf in the prologue of this book. Adopted by a Hunt Master, Rosa grows up to be a “Hunter” in her own right. Years later, she’s smart, strong, independent and willing to save the day from vampires, evil werewolves and anything else that threatens the Earth. This particular series revolves around people who can control the proverbial elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water and as an Earth Master, Rosa depends on her allies, brownies, fauns etc to help defeat any adversaries. She winds her way through Germany, Romania, Hungary and Transylvania, not just a young woman on a quest, but also one who is learning who and what she is in a that same quest for her identity although this isn’t a true “coming of age” novel. She has a career in a time when most women are expected to marry. More at home in hunting gear than a ball gown, Most of the other books in this series have been set in England, but the setting for Blood Red feels authentic. Rosa seeks her prey in places where vampires and werewolves have been known to roam. While she notices when young men are handsome, her focus isn’t on finding a romantic partner – it’s more on finding a trustworthy one. Is Markos, the hereditary werewolf someone she can trust or he someone that she’ll have to kill when he proves to be evil?

A good setting and a strong female lead made this a welcome addition to the Elemental Masters series. Mercedes Lackey has a gift for dialogue and description. The parallels to the classical fairytales were also effective. However, at times the ongoing narration slowed the pace of the story. Yes, the reader needs to know that the various Elemental Masters keep the world a safe place. No, we don’t really need to hear again and again that Rosa is much more comfortable and occasionally complacent about her breeches and boots rather than the customary dresses that most young women wear. A major difference was the lack of a central romance in the plot and some readers may miss it especially since the other books in the series usually included a terrific love match. Despite the occasional redundancies and too much description at times, this still was a good addition to the series and one that will be fun to re-read since it’s definitely going on my “keeper” shelves.

THE TRAGIC AGE by Stephen Metcalf St. Martin’s Press ~ March 2015 ~ 5 Stars

Well written with good descriptions, this book will appeal to older readers but isn’t for younger ones, especially since it deals with death, sexuality, suicide, crime, mature language. Billy Kinsey isn’t a typical character in a young adult novel. A struggling high school senior he can’t decide what comes next, perhaps because he’s an insomniac – someone who can’t sleep at home. He doesn’t take his prescribed meds and pretty much blames everything wrong in his world on the death of his twin sister. And there is a great deal that’s wrong in this teen’s world. He hasn’t learned that with life comes a certain amount of choices and that people are responsible for the choices they make. Instead, he’s opting to play the “blame game.” His parents won the lottery and moved away from “real life” to a neighborhood that is more status conscious. Dad is a practicing alcoholic and Mom focuses on being one of the “girls” – playing tennis and doing Pilates with her friends. As long as Billy tells them what they want to hear, they are content with how he appears to be doing. And Billy knows this better than anyone. He is a cynical, jaded narrator who doesn’t always tell the truth or at least spins it into various “what if” scenarios.

This is one of those books that will undoubtedly end up as classroom literature in high school. It’s a train wreck in action and it becomes impossible to stop reading. Again, this book is exceedingly well written. The language flows. The descriptions are incredible for the most part. It’s a tragedy in several parts, but perhaps the hardest thing to deal with is the fact that there aren’t any likeable or sympathetic adults. Perhaps, this is another aspect of Billy’s own character – he can’t see any redeeming values in them. Yet, paradoxically one would think that there would be at least one “honest” adult in his world.

His friends are nearly as disconnected from each other and their families as the hero. At times the girls in this book feel one dimensional and a bit clichéd, especially when it comes to Denzie, the young, hot Latina. We also never really get to know Gretchen, the girl that Billy likes. Again, this could be directly attributed to the fact that Billy isn’t a reliable narrator, yet this remains one of the best, literary YA novels that I’ve read in a long time. This debut novel may not be a comfortable read, but it will become a classic and it will be interesting to see what comes next from author, Stephen Metcalf.

Shannon lives on the family farm, a riding stable in the Cascade foothills, where she organizes most of the riding programs and teaches horsemanship around her day-job as a substitute teacher. She writes books in her spare time, mainstream western romance as Josie Malone for SirenBookStrand and young adult novels for Black Opal Books and Fire & Ice YA. She’s a member of RWA, YARWA, the Greater Seattle RWA and Evergreen RWA chapters.

A-ROUSING SUBJECT

them.

Needless to say, the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey among women of all ages as sparked much discussion, and even debate. Does it and other erotic fiction fly in the face of modern feminism? Since I have no shame, I freely recommended the books to anyone who would listen. Then I found myself also defending the books, mostly to those who had not read

I find it bothersome that women might feel bullied into defending their choice reading material or their enjoyment of sexually explicit material. Erotica is meant to arouse, not to be the great American novel or a politically correct public service announcement. Feminism, or as we called it back in the day, Women’s Liberation, has liberated women in many areas, including the enjoyment and expression of our sexuality. We still may not be getting paid as much as a man, but at least at the end of the work day, we can go home and feel sexually empowered with or without a partner. As a sixty-five year old widow, curing up with a good book of erotic fiction is what lets me know I am still a living, breathing sexual being. All women, all feminists, should celebrate the upswing in erotica written for and mostly by women. Are we still to be judged and victimized by a double standard?

I recently read an article by Lisa Gabriele, who writes erotic novels under the pseudonym L. Marie Adeline. After her book S.E.C.R.E.T. (first in a trilogy) was published, it was labeled a “feminist take” on Fifty Shades of Grey, or feminist erotica. She ponders why for some readers “feminism” and “erotica” are mutually exclusive terms. She believes “all erotica - in all of its 50,000 shades - is feminist. Why? Because it exists.” I wholeheartedly agree with her. REVIEW

S.E.C.R.E.T. by L. Marie Adeline is the first book in a trilogy. It is the story of Cassie Robichaud’s journey to not only sexual emancipation, but to leading a more vibrant and fulfilling life. When we first meet Cassie, she is a young widow, who had a disastrous marriage. She is leading a low profile life as a waitress in a New Orleans cafe and living in an apartment building known as the “spinster hotel.” She stumbles upon a notebook left behind in the cafe, which leads her to an encounter in which she is invited into the world of S.E.C.R.E.T., a club of sorts for women to explore their sexual fantasies.

Many readers will identify with Cassie in one way or another. I was about her age when I was a divorced, single mom. Cassie is likable, but she is insecure and naive, which can be grating at times, but as the story unfolds, so does Cassie. The writer does a good job of developing Cassie’s character, but I would have liked the character of her boss, Will, (and her secret crush) to have been brought out more, Of course, this is a trilogy so there is more to come.

The erotic, sexual sequences are well written and many of them touch on what is considered to be common sexual fantasies of women. They are basically all one night stands of varying scenarios. They are sexually explicit with a touch of romance, but on a “hot/arousal” scale of one to ten, I would give them a five. I think for me the lack of seduction makes them a little more clinical. It is an intriguing idea to have sexual fantasy partners picked out for you by a sisterhood, like a fairy godmother. Will I read the second book? Most likely.

LOW MIDNIGHT by Carrie Vaughn Tor Books Urban Fantasy

Cormac, the Kitty Norville series' most popular supporting character, stars in his first solo adventure.

Carrie Vaughn's Low Midnight spins out of the series on the wave of popularity surrounding Kitty's most popular supporting character, Cormac Bennett, a two-minded assassin of the paranormal who specializes in killing lycanthropes. In his first solo adventure, Cormac, struggling with a foreign consciousness trapped inside him, investigates a centuryold crime in a Colorado mining town which could be the key to translating a mysterious coded diary…a tome with secrets that could shatter Kitty's world and all who inhabit it. With a framing sequence that features Kitty Norville herself, Low Midnight not only pushes the Kitty saga forward, but also illuminates Cormac's past and lays the groundwork for Kitty's future.

Ah, Cormac, one of my favorite characters in Vaughn’s series was the main subject in this book with Kitty making a couple of cameos. Yes, it was Vaughn’s typical good storytelling but the book kind of fell short for me and I think it was because Cormac is not a very complex character, unlike Kitty, even with Amelia trapped inside him. I found the book okay but not one of my favorites and not worth the $7.99 price tag. Continued on next page

Hidden Series by Colleen Vanderlinden LOST GIRL BROKEN HOME STRIFE NETHER Building Block Studios LLC Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

THE KILL SHOT (Jaime Sinclair Novel) by Nichole Christoff Random House LLC (March 17, 2015) Mystery

Brooks is a Molly telepathic vigilante with a few secrets and a mysterious past. Determined to make something of her bizarre powers, she devotes herself to saving those who need her most. One night, she's followed by a powerful being in a pickup truck, and her world will never be the same. Finding herself thrust into a world full of supernatural beings she could have only imagined, Molly learns how powerful she really is, and how much she stands to lose. So, I was wandering around Facebook one day and I saw this book, LOST GIRL, offered for free so I grabbed it up and started reading. I didn’t stop reading until I had plowed through the entire series.

I loved that the main character was named Molly. May sound odd, but so often writers feel the need to give their strong female characters tough names like Charlie but I liked the girly aspect of “Molly” because we women can be tough and feminine. I loved the diversity of characters especially in the love interests. I don’t want to give anything way, but her love interests were like her - tough and gentle. The storyline revolved around the Greek gods, which was a nice switch up from the usual, no worries though, the plot still had the vamps, witches and shifters you’d find in most urban fantasies.

Don’t judge these books by their uneventful covers, there is plenty of action and emotion on every page. The pace is fast, the characters well developed and I loved that what spurred Molly on was finding lost girls and boys.

Colleen Vanderlinded has a winner in this series, which concluded with book 5 – NETHER but I wouldn’t be surprised so see spin offs from this wonderful collection of characters.

BTW, the first book in her new series, SHADOW WITCH RISING, was just released. I will definitely dive into that one as well.

Jamie Sinclair’s father has never asked her for a favor in her life. The former two-star general turned senator is more in the habit of giving his only child orders. So when he requests Jamie’s expertise as a security specialist, she can’t refuse—even though it means slamming the brakes on her burgeoning relationship with military police officer Adam Barrett. Just like that, Jamie hops aboard a flight to London with a U.S. State Department courier carrying a diplomatic pouch in an iron grip.

And … she’s back! Jamie Sinclair takes on another case this time at the request of her father, and boy isn’t he just a bundle of warm fuzzies. As Jamie struggles to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad, she battles through her emotions regarding her father, her be-still-myheart boyfriend, Adam Barrett and someone from her past.

Just like her first novel, THE KILL LIST, Christoff delivers another fast paced, tight story with plenty of twists and turns and surprises. A definite must read.

And yes, there is a third book coming. I’m positively giddy.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of The Book Breeze. Contents of this emag are repeated on our blog throughout the month. For more information on how you can be a part of The Book Breeze visit our website at: http://www.thebookbreeze.c om/For_Authors.php