House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure

October 7, 2015

House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure was a great book. I loved this book because it gives you enough information and details to understand the story but it doesn’t give you so much that you get bogged down in the details. I hate reading books where you get lost in all the details and I was so happy that this book wasn’t like that. I loved almost everything about this book and the one thing I didn’t like was how long of book that this was. I have been having a hard time reading bigger books lately so I would read it for awhile and then pick up another book for awhile and come back later. This was a great historical novel and one that I think you should look into reading if you love historical novels.

About The Book

In 1886 New York, a respectable architect shouldn’t have any connection to the notorious gang of thieves and killers that rules the underbelly of the city. But when John Cross’s son racks up an unfathomable gambling debt to Kent’s Gents, Cross must pay it back himself. All he has to do is use his inside knowledge of high society mansions and museums to craft a robbery even the smartest detectives won’t solve. The take better include some cash too —the bigger the payout, the faster this will be over.

With a newfound talent for sniffing out vulnerable and lucrative targets, Cross becomes invaluable to the gang. But Cross’s entire life has become a balancing act, and it will only take one mistake for it all to come crashing down —and for his family to go down too.

About The Author

Charles Belfoure is the nationally bestselling author of The Paris Architect and is an architect by profession, with a specialty in historical preservation. He graduated from the Pratt Institute and Columbia University, and has written several architectural histories.http://www.charlesbelfoure.com

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Avalon: a Heartwarming True Cat Story by Vanessa Morgan

October 6, 2015

Avalon: a Heartwarming True Cat Story by Vanessa Morgan was such a good book to read. As most of you know I am a total cat person so when the author contacted me about reviewing this book I knew I had to. I can’t say no to books written about cats because they always make me laugh and I can imagine whatever is going on happening with my own cats. Now that being said I am so glad that neither of my cats are as crazy as Avalon but I still couldn’t help but laugh at the things that he did because I could totally see some cat do everything he did and more. I like the author couldn’t/wouldn’t get rid of my cat just because they were acting all sorts of crazy. If you are an animal person or if you want to read a story that will leave you smiling than I would for sure recommend this book to you.

About The Book

Some cats need nine lives to make a difference. Avalon only needed one.

From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost impossible for her to leave the house. Avalon was so incorrigible that even her landlord ordered her to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon’s demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and insecurities, and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty, Avalon transformed into a tender feline, and even landed a major role in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for his human companion.

Avalon is a memoir for anyone who has ever been obsessively in love with a pet.

About The Author

Vanessa Morgan is an author, screenwriter, and blogger. Two of her works, The Strangers Outside and A Good Man, have been turned into films. Her short film script Next to Her is currently in pre-production. When she’s not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, digging through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats.

“Vanessa Morgan has the gift of pacing and spookiness” – Scott Nicholson, author of They Hunger and The Farm

“A startling new voice in horror” – Lucky McKee, director of May and The Woods

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The Methuselah Project by Rick Barry

October 2, 2015

The Methuselah Project by Rick Barry was a very unique story. One of my favorite time periods is WWII and I love how this book was able to involve WWII and the present day. This book was so unique and I loved it even more because of that fact. Books tend to follow the same type of patterns so I can usually figure out what is going to happen before the books ends and because this book was so different from anything I have read before I didn’t figure it out until it was ending. There were also parts of this book that made laugh out loud because of how the situation played out. I loved this book and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone because it is one of those books that has a little bit of everything in it.

About The Book

Nazi scientists started many experiments. One never ended.

Roger Greene is a war hero. Raised in an orphanage, the only birthright he knows is the feeling that he was born to fly. Flying against the Axis Powers in World War II is everything he always dreamed–until the day he’s shot down and lands in the hands of the enemy.

When Allied bombs destroy both his prison and the mad genius experimenting on POWs, Roger survives. Within hours, his wounds miraculously heal, thanks to those experiments. The Methuselah Project is a success–but this ace is still not free. Seventy years later, Roger hasn’t aged a day, but he has nearly gone insane. This isn’t Captain America–just a lousy existence only made passable by a newfound faith. The Bible provides the only reliable anchor for Roger’s sanity and his soul. When he finally escapes, there’s no angelic promise or personal prophecy of deliverance, just confusion. It’s 2015–and the world has become an unrecognizable place.

Katherine Mueller–crack shot, genius, and real Southern Belle–offers to help him find his way home. Can he convince her of the truth of his crazy story? Can he continue to trust her when he finds out she works for the very organization he’s trying to flee?

Thrown right into pulse-pounding action from the first page, readers will find themselves transported back in time to a believable, full-colored past, and then catapulted into the present once more. The historical back-and-forth adds a constantly moving element of suspense to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

About The Author

Nazi scientists started many experiments. One never ended.

Roger Greene is a war hero. Raised in an orphanage, the only birthright he knows is the feeling that he was born to fly. Flying against the Axis Powers in World War II is everything he always dreamed–until the day he’s shot down and lands in the hands of the enemy.

When Allied bombs destroy both his prison and the mad genius experimenting on POWs, Roger survives. Within hours, his wounds miraculously heal, thanks to those experiments. The Methuselah Project is a success–but this ace is still not free. Seventy years later, Roger hasn’t aged a day, but he has nearly gone insane. This isn’t Captain America–just a lousy existence only made passable by a newfound faith. The Bible provides the only reliable anchor for Roger’s sanity and his soul. When he finally escapes, there’s no angelic promise or personal prophecy of deliverance, just confusion. It’s 2015–and the world has become an unrecognizable place.

Katherine Mueller–crack shot, genius, and real Southern Belle–offers to help him find his way home. Can he convince her of the truth of his crazy story? Can he continue to trust her when he finds out she works for the very organization he’s trying to flee?

Thrown right into pulse-pounding action from the first page, readers will find themselves transported back in time to a believable, full-colored past, and then catapulted into the present once more. The historical back-and-forth adds a constantly moving element of suspense to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

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The Hollow Man by Paul Hollis

October 1, 2015

The Hollow Man by Paul Hollis was a book that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I love books like this one most of the time because it makes them super fun to read. I love trying to figure out what is going to happen before the end of the book. If I am being honest I couldn’t figure this book out before it ended and that means I loved it even more. I was drawn to the main character from the first page and I had to know what happened and if he managed to figure out who was trying to destroy Europe. He reminded me of Jack Reacher from the books written by Lee Child’s and since that is one of my all time favorite series of books I couldn’t help but love this book. If you love mystery books than I know you will love this one!

About The Book

A terrorist’s plot, the assassination of a prime minister, holds the key to an apocalyptic plan to destroy Europe’s economy. It’s impossible to stop, but one man doesn’t know enough to think the world can’t be saved. He’s no hero; not clever or capable, talented or tested. The Hollow Man is just trying to survive in an uncertain climate where terrorism is changing the rules of how we live.

The Hollow Man won 2nd place in World’s Best Story Contest.

About The Author

Having lived in twelve states and eventually working in all fifty, he fell in love early with seeing the world on someone else’s money. Since then, he has lived abroad nine years while working in forty-eight countries, spanning five continents. These experiences helped Paul Hollis bring his own unique viewpoint to his mesmerizing thrillers.

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The Truth About Caroline by Randi M Sherman

September 30, 2015

The Truth About Caroline by Randi M Sherman was a fun book to read. I really enjoyed this story and I am not 100% sure why but I didn’t want to stop reading until I had finished this book. There were parts of this book that made me laugh because I could actually see something like that happening. I loved the parts that had to do with her outfits that her lawyer gave her to wear to court and I wish this book would have had pictures in it because they would have been amazing. This was another new author to me and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the story but after I was a few chapters in I really started to enjoy this book. I really felt like Caroline was a real person and she also seemed like someone who I would love to be friends with. This was a super fun chick lit book and everyone who enjoys chick lit needs to check out this book.

About The Book

Honesty has always presented a problem for Caroline.

Manipulating situations and navigating around blunders and deceptions have become second nature to Caroline. She could justify every lie she has ever told, and any truth she ever stretched. Honesty and revealing secrets would only keep her from moving forward with her life. What good would it do anyhow?

Even all of those bad financial decisions, flawed relationships and questionable life choices seem like child’s play compared to being arrested for the solicitation of her husband’s murder, and what follows. Could someone figure out Caroline? And what would happen if someone did?

About The Author

With an eye for detail, an ear for well-tuned dialogue and an incredible grasp of the obvious, all honed while performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and improvisational theater in San Francisco, Sherman adds just enough bawdiness to deliver character-driven contemporary novels that will have the reader laughing, thinking and even connecting with the characters in her books

Writing has been a part of Randi’s life since she was a teenager, one hundred and fifty thousand years ago. But being pragmatic and realizing that she preferred having an income, living indoors and eating regularly, she reluctantly put her dreams on hold and entered the corporate world, yet never left behind her sense of humor and creative storytelling ability, skills which were not always appreciated during budget and strategy meetings.

Now, after living indoors for a while and eating regularly, albeit too much, Randi has picked up her pen again and her third novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT CAROLINE is here. It is the continuation to her second novel CAROLINE STARTS OVER (2014). Randi’s first book PAULA TAKES A RISK was released in 2012. Look for Randi’s next novel THE LOBBY, Spring-ish 2016.

Randi lives in the California wine country. She would never claim to have a genius IQ, the body of a super model. However, she can spell “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Randi maintains a trim, well-toned body that is cleverly concealed beneath twenty pounds of soft protective layering and she has the appetite of a bird (vulture).

Things that Randi cannot live without: people to laugh with, her car horn, a gym membership where there are chubby women who break into a sweat while putting on a jog bra, wine, waist capes, and her wife, Carol.

Randi can live without: mean-spirited people, liver, left-overs, communal dressing rooms, tight underwear, and people who point.

Randi is five-foot-seven.

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Excerpt

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Love’s a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

September 29, 2015

Love’s a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay was a sweet love story. I loved this book because it was super sweet and not only that but it was a shorter book and I love reading shorter books in between some of the more intense books that I have been reading and reviewing lately. I can’t say enough great things about this story. This is the first book I have read by either of these authors and I can’t wait to read more by them because they did a great job of making fall in love with both of the characters and the entire story. If you love romance novels than you don’t want to miss this story.

About The Book

Grad student and future marriage counselor Aly Brewster had a perfect childhood with perfect parents. Now she’s heading into her own perfect life: Finish her Master’s. Build a successful practice. Husband at twenty-six. But when her parents blindside her with the news they’re getting divorced, her perfect world shatters.

Actor Nick Armstrong has been in love with Aly since they met during freshman year. He’s happy to accept his assigned place in her Friend Zone because it lets him be close to her. But it’s been over five years—time to move on. Then the usually-unflappable Aly comes to him begging for help to save her parents’ marriage. Nick has the perfect plan: fake an engagement to each other to inspire her parents to fight to save their marriage. And who knows? It might trigger Aly’s feelings for him. But when Aly takes the ruse to the next level—planning a wedding in her parents’ backyard and hiring additional actors to play his family—enough is enough!

As the lines between acting and reality grow decidedly blurred, these two improvised fiancés must decide: are they going to finish the play…or exit stage right. Alone.

About The Authors

Rene Gutteridge

Rene Gutteridge is the author of eighteen novels, including Escapement, Possession, Listen, Never the Bride (2011 Carol Award Winner), The Boo Series, The Storm Series, The Occupational Hazards Series and My Life as a Doormat, a Women of Faith selection for 2006. She has a degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in screenwriting and twenty years of experience writing, directing and publishing comedy sketches. She writes in both comedy and suspense genres. Her upcoming releases from Tyndale House Publishers: Heart of the Country, Misery Loves Company and Old Fashioned. From B&H Publishers: Greetings from the Flipside co-written with Cheryl McKay.

Cheryl McKay

Cheryl McKay has been professionally writing since 1997. Cheryl wrote the screenplay for The Ultimate Gift, based on Jim Stovall’s novel. The award-winning film stars James Garner, Brian Dennehy, and Abigail Breslin and was released in theaters by Fox in 2007. Cheryl also wrote the DVD for Gigi: God’s Little Princess, another book adaptation based on the book by Sheila Walsh, as well as the Wild and Wacky, Totally True Bible Stories audio series and books with Frank Peretti. Her screenplay, Never the Bride, has been adapted into a novel for Random House Publishers and was released in June 2009. She also released Finally the Bride: Finding Hope While Waiting, the non-fiction version of Never the Bride. She penned the film script for “A Friend for Maddie”. She recently released her autobiography, Finally Fearless: Journey from Panic to Peace. Cheryl and her husband live in Los Angeles.

Visit her website: http://www.purplepenworks.com or the ministry she runs with her husband, finallyone.com