PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor by Melanie Dobson

Book Review

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor by Melanie Dobson was an amazing story.  I was confused through the first part of the book but once I caught on to what was going on and who was who it was better.  I was confused about who was who and how they were related to each other.  Even though I was confused through part of the book I still didn’t want to put it down and because I loved the characters and the whole premise of this book was amazing.  I loved Libby from the first time she appears right up until the end of the story.  I think I loved her because she was so innocent and I loved that quality about her.  I loved seeing the all the different generations and how they dealt with a lot of the same things that the older generations went through.  I loved Maggie and how she tried to keep her daughters from going through the same things she went through and even though she tried her children dealt with the same things that she did.  If you are looking for a book that makes you think than I know you will love this book as much as I do.

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor

About The Book

Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor (Howard, June 2015)

When Heather Toulson returns to her parents’ cottage in the English countryside, she uncovers long-hidden secrets about her family history and stumbles onto the truth about a sixty-year-old murder.

Libby, a free spirit who can’t be tamed by her parents, finds solace with her neighbor Oliver, the son of Lord Croft of Ladenbrooke Manor. Libby finds herself pregnant and alone when her father kicks her out and Oliver mysteriously drowns in a nearby river. Though theories spread across the English countryside, no one is ever held responsible for Oliver’s death.

Sixty years later, Heather Toulson, returning to her family’s cottage in the shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor, is filled with mixed emotions. She’s mourning her father’s passing but can’t let go of the anger and resentment over their strained relationship. Adding to her confusion, Heather has an uneasy reunion with her first love, all while sorting through her family’s belongings left behind in the cottage. What she uncovers will change everything she thought she knew about her family’s history.

Award-winning author Melanie Dobson seamlessly weaves the past and present together, fluidly unraveling the decades-old mystery and reveals how the characters are connected in shocking ways.

Set in a charming world of thatched cottages, lush gardens, and lovely summer evenings, this romantic and historical mystery brings to light the secrets and heartaches that have divided a family for generations.

Melanie Dobson

About The Author

Melanie Dobson is the award-winning author of thirteen historical romance, suspense, and contemporary novels. Two of her novels won Carol Awards in 2011, and Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana won Best Novel of Indiana in 2010. Melanie lives with her husband Jon and two daughters near Portland, Oregon.

Find Melanie online: website, Twitter, Facebook

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Weekly Wrap-up

Weekly Wrap-Up

It has been a crazy week for me to say the least.  Next week might be crazy as well because I might end up having to go to jury duty which is something I want but it will make blogging next week next to impossible so I have to try and get all my blog posts written this weekend so I don’t have to worry about anything being late.

Her Sister’s Shoes by Ashley Farley

Mercy House by Adam Cesare

Blue Wide Sky by Inglath Cooper

Exile by Sally Ann Melia Book 3

Beyond The Ashes by Karen Barnett

Bum Rap by Paul Levine

Part One of Aoléon The Martian Girl​ by Brent LeVasseur

Dying Brand by Wendy Tyson

Writers Workshop-Some Great Books

Those are all the posts from the past 2 weeks.  Next week I have 4 book reviews due so be on the look out for those if you are looking for a new book to read.  I hope you have all had a great week and I will see you next week.

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Dying Brand by Wendy Tyson

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Dying Brand by Wendy Tyson was a book I wasn’t sure I was going to like but I ended up reading it in one afternoon and loving everything about it.  I have read one other book by this author but to be honest I don’t really remember that book.  This is the third book in the series but you don’t have to read the other books to understand this one but some of the smaller plot lines might be easier understood if you had read the other two books before this one but you don’t have to read them first.  Anyway let’s get on to the review of this book.  As I said before I loved this book but there were spots that could have been cut out because they just slowed the story down but all in all I loved the story.  I was a huge fan of the characters and the author writing.  She made me feel as if I was there with the characters and I could understand the choices they made even if I didn’t agree with them.  Allison at times did get on my nerves but that usually happens when the main character is female.  This book made me want to go back and read the other two books in this series.  If you love mystery books than I would for sure recommend this book to you.

dying brand

About The Book

When image consultant Allison Campbell attends an award ceremony to honor a designer friend, she’s thrust into a murder investigation. Only this time, it’s personal.

A former boyfriend is dead, slain on the streets of Philadelphia. His widow claims he was meeting with Allison, yet Allison hadn’t spoken to him in years. Nothing about his death—or life—makes sense. When compromising photos from their past arrive at Allison’s office, they raise more questions than they answer.

Driven to find justice, Allison deconstructs the image her ex had created for himself, looking for clues about the man he’d become. As her hunt for the truth unveils secrets, Allison’s past and present collide—with deadly results.

wendy tyson

About The Author

Wendy Tyson is an author, lawyer and former therapist whose background has inspired her mysteries and thrillers. Wendy has written four published crime novels, including Dying Brand,the third novel in the Allison Campbell Mystery Series, to be released on May 5, 2015.  The first in the Campbell series,Killer Image, was named a best mystery for book clubs in 2014 by Examiner.com. Wendy is also the author of the Greenhouse Mystery Series, the first of which, A Muddied Murder, is due to be released just in time for spring 2016.  Wendy is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers and she is a contributing editor for The Big Thrill, International Thriller Writers’ online magazine.  Wendy lives near Philadelphia with her husband, three sons and two dogs. Visit Wendy at:http://www.watyson.com.

 

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Bum Rap by Paul Levine

Book Review

Bum Rap by Paul Levine took me back to the types of books I have loved for years and gave me a new author to add to my list.  I loved the author’s writing and the setting of this book.  I loved all the characters and their backstories as well.  This is the first book I have read by this author but I am so glad that I found him because I can’t wait to check out other book that he has written.  Steve wasn’t my favorite character because of how he acted.  I loved Jake & Victoria from the start of the book.  I loved the setting and I didn’t want to put the book down because it hooked me.  This is the genre that I love so I had high expectations for this book and this book lived up to all of them and surpassed most of them.  If you love thrillers than I would for sure recommend this book to you.

Bum Rap by Paul Levine

About The Book

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2015)

NFL linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter has had it with shifty clients, dirty prosecutors, and a legal system out of whack. It’s enough to make a man want to leave Miami and never look back—until he gets a call from Victoria Lord, the better half of hot local legal team Solomon & Lord. Her partner in life and law has been arrested for murder. What’s worse: the only person who can clear him has fled the city. Now it’s up to Jake and Victoria to track down the witness—a stunning “Bar girl”—before she’s roped in by the feds…or eliminated by the Russian mob.

Jake knows that if he doesn’t get to the witness first, his client’s case is lost. Luckily, he’s got some good advice from his college football coach: “Buckle your chin strap and hit somebody.” And sometimes, the only way to win a tough case is to do just that.

Paul Levine

About The Author

PAUL LEVINE worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist. His books have been translated into 23 languages; Levine has won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and has been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Macavity, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Shamus Award, and the James Thurber Humor Prize.

Connect with Paul

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Beyond The Ashes by Karen Barnett

Book Review

Beyond The Ashes by Karen Barnett was an interesting book.  I did review the first book in this series so if you want to check out that review you can click here and it will take you to it.  You don’t have to worry about reading that book first because they don’t have to go in order like the other series I am currently reading which is always nice.  I love reading historical fiction books because it gives you a peek into the lives of people who lived then and even though I know they aren’t really people I know there had to be people like the characters back then.  I loved following along with Ruby and she how she changes after she goes to San Francisco after her husband passed away.  This book takes place after the earthquakes and fires that happened in San Francisco in the 1900’s.  I loved this story because it allowed me to check back in with the characters I love so much from the first book and it also gave me more characters to love.  If you love historical romance novels than I would recommend this book to you.

Beyond The Ashes by Karen Barnett

About The Book

Beyond the Ashes (Abingdon Press, June 2015)

Where better to rebuild and face one’s fears than in 1906 San Francisco, a city rising from the ashes?

Ruby Marshall, a young widow, is certain she’ll discover new purpose assisting her brother Robert with his cancer research, but she doesn’t anticipate finding new love.

Dr. Gerald Larkspur dreams of filling his empty home with family, but he’d always hoped it would be a wife and children. In the aftermath of the great earthquake, the rooms are overflowing with extended family and friends left homeless by the disaster. When Robert’s widowed sister arrives, the close quarters seem close indeed.

Ruby and Gerald’s fledgling romance is put at risk when Gerald develops symptoms of the very disease they’re striving to cure. Together they must ask—is it worth a second chance at love when time might be short?

Karen Barnett

About The Author

Karen Barnett is the author of Beyond the Ashes, Out of the Ruins, and Mistaken. Named the 2013 Writer of Promise by Oregon Christian Writers, Karen lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing novels, she loves speaking at women’s events, libraries, and book clubs.

 

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Exile by Sally Ann Melia Book 3

Book Review

Exile by Sally Ann Melia part 3 was my favorite book in the series.  I kind of figured it would be because it wraps everything up and the book is none stop action from the first pages right up until the end of the book.  It find myself not wanting to read this book because I knew once I finished this story that it would be over and that always sucks for me.  It reminds me of why I still haven’t finished the last  book in the Divergent series because I don’t want to end so I am refusing to read the last book.  I loved this series of books because it remind me of Star Trek and I loved it because of that.  I am not usually a fan of sci-fi books but I am glad that I gave this series a chance because it is amazing.  If you missed my reviews of the first two books you can click here & here to check them out.  You do have to read these books in order because they used to be just one book but the split them up which I loved because it made them faster for me to read.  If you love sci-fi novels that I would for sure recommend this series of books to you.

Exile

About The Book

Guy Erma and the Son of Empire is a new three-part action adventure, set a long time ago on a planet far far away.

” Someone somewhere had decided Sas Darona plague could be used as a weapon.”

“They called them poison pills, and in some cases the glass eco-systems containing six venomous flies were displayed as part of contemporary interior decor.

Strange!” Karl Valvanchi mused, “When you consider the insects are practically unstoppable and breed exponentially into great clouds of death. These plague weapons went beyond deadly. They were planet-killers.”

13-year-old Teodor has found a way to escape from kidnap, how long before he is safely home?

13-year-old Guy Erma has run away from everything he has even known and no longer knows what the future holds.

Their adventure has forged an unexpected friendship, but do they really trust each other? Dare they share their darkest, deepest secrets??

The paths of Teodor Freyne and Guy Erma have now become one, their fate becomes that of the Empire they were born to when they discover a hidden terror.

Sally Ann Melia

About The Author

The author was born in Wallasey, England, in 1964, and moved to the South of France when she was eleven. She spent her teenage years living in the cosmopolitancity state of Monaco and became immersed in its many languages and cultures. An English girl in a French school, for three hours each week she would sit at the back of the class as her colleagues learnt English. To pass the time, she wrote stories. This led to a lifetime of writing novels, scripts, stories and articles.In her working life, Sally writes marketing communications and manages large international websites.

In 2010, Sally joined the Hogs Back Writers, a club located on the outskirts of Guildford, and she set about turning an old manuscript into this novel: Guy Erma and the Son of Empire. Sally currently lives in Farnham, and she is married with two children.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret