FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
The Breathless by Tara Goedjen was a book I picked up on a whim because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. That being said I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book and I am glad to say that in the end, I did enjoy the book. There were times that I was bored with what was going on in the book but those times passed quickly, and I wanted to keep reading so I could figure out what was going to happen next. I know that one of the main reasons I like this book so much is because I wasn’t able to figure out how it was going to end and what was going to happen next. This book did make me want to read other books in the genre because I really enjoyed this book. If you are looking for a book in the horror genre that would be appropriate for teenagers, I would pick this one up and give it to them for Christmas.
About The Book
No one knows what really happened on the beach where Roxanne Cole’s body was found, but her boyfriend, Cage, took off that night and hasn’t been seen since. Until now. One year—almost to the day—from Ro’s death, when he knocks on the door of Blue Gate Manor and asks where she is.
Cage has no memory of the past twelve months. According to him, Ro was alive only the day before. Ro’s sister Mae wouldn’t believe him, except that something’s not right. Nothing’s been right in the house since Ro died.
And then Mae finds the little green book. The one hidden in Ro’s room. It’s filled with secrets—dangerous secrets—about her family, and about Ro. And if what it says is true, then maybe, just maybe, Ro isn’t lost forever.
And maybe there are secrets better left to the dead.
About The Author
Tara Goedjen has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama and grew up in the South. The Breathless is her debut novel. She lives and writes in Monterey, California. To find out more about Tara and her novel, follow @TaraGoedjen on Twitter.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Stairway To Paradise by Nadia Natali was an exciting book. I did find that I was bored from time to time as I was reading this book because people’s lives aren’t always super exciting. I did wish that the book went in chronological order instead of jumping around but that isn’t a huge deal, and I could see why they did it that way. When I started reading this book, I had no idea who all the people were even though they had prominent family members, so I just went into thinking it was a fiction book. I really enjoy the authors writing in this book, and after reading this book, I went and looked up more about this author and her family. If you are looking for a well-written memoir to read in the coming year, I think you will enjoy this book just as much as I did.
About The Book
Title: STAIRWAY TO PARADISE: GROWING UP GERSHWIN Author: Nadia Natali Publisher: RareBird Books Pages: 304 Genre: Memoir
Growing up as Frankie Gershwin’s daughter, the sister of George and Ira Gershwin, was quite a challenge. I didn’t have the perspective to realize that so much unhappiness in a family was out of the ordinary. But I knew something was off. My mother was often depressed and my father was tyrannical and scary, one never knew when he would blow up. I learned early on that I had to be the cheery one, the one to fix the problems. Both sides of my family were famous; the Gershwin side and my father who invented color film. But even though there was more than enough recognition, money and parties I understood that wasn’t what made people happy.
As a young adult adrift and depressed I broke from that unsatisfactory life by marrying Enrico Natali, a photographer, deeply immersed in his own questions about life. We moved into the wilderness away from what we considered as the dysfunction of society. That’s when we discovered that life had other kinds of challenges: flood, fire, rattlesnakes, mountain lions and bears. We lived in a teepee for more than four years while building a house. Curiously my mother never commented on my life choice. She must have realized on some level that her own life was less than satisfactory.
Enrico had developed a serious meditation practice that had become a kind of ground for him. As for me I danced. Understanding the somatic, the inner body experience, became my way to shift the inner story.
We raised and homeschooled our three children. I taught them to read, Enrico taught them math. The kids ran free, happy, always engaged, making things, and discovering. We were so sure we were doing the right thing. However, we didn’t have a clue how they would make the transition to the so-called ‘real world’. The children thrived until they became teenagers. They then wanted out. Everything fell apart for them and for Enrico and me. Our lives were turned upside down, our paradise lost. There was tragedy: our son lost his life while attempting to cross our river during a fierce storm. Later I was further challenged by advanced breast cancer.
It was during these times that I delved deeply into the somatic recesses of myself. I began to find my own voice, a long learning process. I emerged with a profound trust in my own authority. It became clear that everyone has to find his or her way through layers of inauthenticity, where a deep knowing can develop. And I came to see that is the best anyone can offer to the world.
Enrico and I still live in the wilds of the Lost Padres National Forest, a paradise with many steps going up and down, a life I would not change.
About The Author
Nadia Natali, author of the memoir, Stairway to Paradise: Growing Up Gershwin, published by Rare Bird, Los Angeles, 2015, and The Blue Heron Ranch Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Zen Retreat Center published by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA, 2008, is currently working on a second cookbook titled Zafu Kitchen Cookbook.
Natali, a clinical psychotherapist and dance therapist, specializes in trauma release through somatic work. She earned a master’s degree from Hunter College in New York City in Dance/Movement Therapy and completed another masters degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in somatic psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. Nadia is a registered practitioner of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (RCST) and is also a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) who trained with Peter Levine.
DanceMedicine Workshops is Natali’s creation where participants move through their trauma with dialogue and dance. She also offers the Ojai community, DanceMedicine Journeys. In addition to her private practice, Nadia and her husband offer Zen Retreats at their center.
Born into a famous family that was riddled with dysfunction, Nadia Natali made the choice to turn her life inside out and step away from fame and fortune. Against her parents’ consent she married an artist and moved to the remote wilderness in California. It was there that she found grounding as she and her husband raised and homeschooled their three children and opened a retreat center. As she gathered her own momentum, she enrolled in a doctorate program finally becoming a clinical psychotherapist specializing in psychosomatic work. She and her husband live in Ojai California.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Abuse of Discretion by Pamela Samuels Young was a fascinating book. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but overall I did like the book. I didn’t feel like I could connect with the characters, so I had a rough time reading it, but I did get through it. It did have spots where I didn’t want to put the book down but those times always passed after a few chapters. I did love getting a look at what the juvenile justice system might be like in the United States. I felt terrible for Graylin throughout most of the book because he got caught up in something that I am sure most teenagers in this country do and deal with on a regular basis. If you are looking for a book that takes place in current times than I think this book is the one for you. I tend not to like books that take place in the world we are currently living in because I am so tired of always hearing about things like this happening.
About The Book
Title: ABUSE OF DISCRETION Author: Pamela Samuels Young Publisher: Goldman House Publishing Pages: 352 Genre: Mystery
A Kid’s Curiosity … A Parent’s Nightmare
The award-winning author of “Anybody’s Daughter” is back with an addictive courtroom drama that gives readers a shocking look inside the juvenile criminal justice system.
Graylin Alexander is a model fourteen-year-old. When his adolescent curiosity gets the best of him, Graylin finds himself embroiled in a sexting scandal that threatens to ruin his life. Jenny Ungerman, the attorney hired to defend Graylin, is smart, confident and committed. She isn’t thrilled, however, when ex-prosecutor Angela Evans joins Graylin’s defense team. The two women instantly butt heads. Can they put aside their differences long enough to ensure Graylin gets justice?
Unbeknownst to Angela, her boyfriend Dre is wrestling with his own drama. Someone from his past wants him dead. For Dre, his response is simple—kill or be killed.
About The Author
Pamela Samuels Young has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. She set giant-sized goals and used her talent, tenacity and positive outlook to accomplish them. Pamela consequently achieved success in both the corporate arena and literary world simultaneously.
An author, attorney and motivational speaker, Pamela spent fifteen years as Managing Counsel for Toyota, specializing in labor and employment law. While still practicing law, Pamela began moonlighting as a mystery writer because of the absence of women and people of color depicted in the legal thrillers she read. She is now an award-winning author of multiple legal thrillers, including Anybody’s Daughter, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction, and her new release, Abuse of Discretion, a shocking look at the juvenile justice system in the context of a troubling teen sexting case.
Prior to her legal career, spent several years as a television news writer and associate producer. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from USC and earned a master’s degree in broadcasting from Northwestern University and a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of teen sexting, child sex trafficking, self-empowerment and fiction writing.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Seeds of Hope by Barbara Cameron is a sweet Amish fiction novel. I always enjoy books in this genre so I wasn’t shocked when I fell in love this this book. I have read several other books by this author so I hoped that I would enjoy this one like I did those books. I really loved that this book included more than just the typical Amish characters. I love when the authors bring in characters that are just “normal” people. I was a huge fan of Mark right from the start and I didn’t stop loving him. Miriam got on my nerves from time to time but in the end I did fall in love with her as well. If you love Amish fiction than I would recommend this book to you.
About The Book
Miriam Troyer has had a secret crush on Mark Byler since she was a teenager, but she knows they can never have a relationship: Mark is a big-city attorney and an Englischer. Her Amish community is too far removed from all he knows-and she loves her quiet way of life.
Mark has always loved his visits to his grandfather’s farm, but he’s convinced the Amish life isn’t for him. There’s so much of the world to see and experience, and the excitement of his successful law practice can’t be matched by the slow pace of life found back home in the country.
But when things go wrong and his firm distances itself from him to try to save themselves, Mark finds himself back at his grandfather’s farm. Could life in this simple world be worth living after all? Especially when the teenager he remembers has grown into a woman that could be his future. Suddenly, these two people whose lives seem so far apart may get a chance to really see each other for the first time.
About The Author
Barbara Cameron has a heart for writing about the spiritual values and simple joys of the Amish. She is the best-selling author of more than 40 fiction and nonfiction books, three nationally televised movies, and the winner of the first Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award. Her books have been nominated for Carol Awards and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award from RWA’s Faith, Hope, and Love chapter. Barbara resides in Jacksonville, Florida.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
The Solicitor by Sean Keefer had me hooked right from the prologue, and I didn’t want to stop reading it until I was done with the book. I can’t really pinpoint what I loved so much about this book, but I didn’t want to put it down while I was at work or when it was time to go to bed. This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout most of the book. I really liked the characters in this book because I felt like they could have been real people. I was kind of sad when the book was over because I feel like I was saying goodbye to friends. I don’t know that there is anything wrong that I can say about this book. This author has written one other book that I am hoping I will be able to read later. If you like to read mystery books, I know you will enjoy this book as much as I do.
About The Book
Title: THE SOLICITOR Author: Sean Keefer Publisher: Four Hounds Creative Pages: 386 Genre: Mystery
When you make your living fighting for justice, the last place you expect to wake up is behind bars.
Attorney Noah Parks has spent his life keeping people out of jail. When he’s charged with the murder of a candidate for Charleston County Solicitor he finds himself on the wrong side of the law for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
No longer fighting for others and now relying on the help of the few people he does trust, Noah must fight to clear his name and find the real killer before it’s too late.
His search will lead him through a maze of deceptions, lies, family turmoil and treachery that spans generations.
The Solicitor is set in historic Charleston and the surrounding South Carolina Lowcountry where under the surface things are not always as genteel as they appear.
While growing up in South Carolina, Sean didn’t realize it, but he was absorbing the styles, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies, dialects and the culture of his home. Add to this the time he spent traveling the other Carolina for school and then North America for work, he collected a vast array of experiences and observations from which to draw upon and bring together in his writing.
After studying law in North Carolina, Sean settled in Charleston, South Carolina and instantly became enamored with the people as well as the city.
One day he started writing and the words, generally, kept flowing. A page became a chapter which ultimately became a book known as The Trust. After this the process started again and The Solicitor was the end result. Hopefully, if you are reading this you either have, or soon will have, your very own copy of one or both.
The experience of taking two novels from conceptualization to print has been one of frustration peppered with increasing amounts of reward. Each step from the first words hitting the page to ultimately holding a book in hand has been a personal reward.
When Sean is not writing he practices Family Law and works as a Domestic Mediator and lives with his Wife and an ever-expanding pack of rescue canines – the current count is 4. As well, Sean can frequently be found wandering the lowcountry of South Carolina with his camera, playing guitar in assorted venues around Charleston or exploring the underwater world of the southeast.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Imperfect Justice by Cara Putman was a great book. The first thing I want to say is that if you don’t like to read books that have domestic violence in them than I would skip this book because that is a big theme in the book. I have read several other books by this author in the past, and I have liked the ones that I have read. I really enjoy books like this one, and I rarely find one that I don’t want. Like most books in this genre, I was able to figure out what was going to happen by the end of the book. It did keep me on the edge of my seat throughout the first half of the book, but even though by then I had figured out what was going to happen I still read it right through until the end because I had to know all of the details. I really enjoyed all of the characters in the book well everyone but Kaylene’s husband. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Christian legal thrillers. If you have read it what did you think of it?
About The Book
Arson wasn’t the only fire that ignited between them.
Promises shattered.
Lies spoken.
She was arrested.
He returned to the safety of his wealthy parents.
Almost ten years later, Hadley and Monroe are both specialists in the field of speech therapy. They meet again . . . thrown together to help a four-year-old-girl rendered mute after being rescued from a fire.
Years of secrets and anger beg to be set free as Hadley and Monroe try to push aside past hurts and find common ground in order to help the traumatized child and her family.
Can the love of Christmas past drift into the present, bringing healing and hope for all?
About The Author
Cara Putman is the author of more than 25 legal thrillers, historical romances, and romantic suspense novels. She has won or been a finalist for honors including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Cara graduated high school at 16, college at 20, completed her law degree at 27, and recently received her MBA. She is a practicing attorney, teaches undergraduate and graduate law courses at a Big Ten business school, and is a homeschooling mom of four. She lives with her husband and children in Indiana.
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