Mystical Circles by S.C. Skillman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Telling the story of Juliet, a freelance reporter hoping to sell a documentary about the Wheel of Love, an obscure sect of people living in the Cotswolds Hills of Great Britain, as well as potentially save her younger sister Zoe, the newest member from falling into the clutches of the man who leads this group, Mystical Circles at once both delivers and confounds. Mystical…
Angel of Death by Karen Dales My rating: 5 of 5 stars Karen Dales is a Mistress of storytelling and it is not hard to understand why this novel is award winning. Allow me to be honest: I received this series directly from the author in exchange for a review (and to help her celebrate her birthday). Even if I hadn’t received it for free, I would gladly pay her purchasing price for all three…
Sex Love Repeat by Alessandra Torre My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sex Love Repeat starts off with a no-holds barred proclamation: “I love two men. I screw two men. I am in a relationship with them both, and they are both aware there is another. That is all they need to know, that is all I let them know. They don’t need to know a name; they don’t need to know anything but that…
Desperation by D.W. Carver My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received a copy of this book directly from the author in exchange for an honest, objective review. While the cover alludes to the romantic nature of the story awaiting, it does not prepare you for the darkly beautiful connections between the three characters that bring them together. I was sucked into the story right away, immediately intrigued by the character of Kate. Carver’s experience…
Song of Simon by C.A. Sanders My rating: 4 of 5 stars Song of Simon began as a slow read for me. I could relate to Simon as an outcast sort of character with a terrible home life but I found it hard to like him much. It wasn’t until Simon is “drawn into the land of Algavar” that my attention was truly engaged. The world Simon is delivered unto is one of impressive depth…
The Hardest Thing in This World by Nicole Eva Fraser My rating: 5 of 5 stars *Note: I received a copy of this text in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.* Written and told from the perspectives of three women in a family of four, The Hardest Thing in this World is a more-than-worthy read. From page one I was engaged and riveted, absorbed in the writing and the story that unfolded. I simply could…
Do Not Disturb by A.R. Torre My rating: 5 of 5 stars The second Deanna Madden novel Do Not Disturb picks up a few weeks after The Girl in 6E ends story-wise. Having tasted freedom and the possibility of normalcy with a budding relationship with Jeremy, her UPS delivery guy, Deanna takes to experimenting with leaving her apartment on short jaunts with her new beau. The dilemma of the first book is left behind, rarely…
The Lucky Star House of Celestial Pleasures by Hank Kellner My rating: 5 of 5 stars The chuckles began at page one; the sometimes snorting laughter somewhere around page five. The Lucky Star House is a riot of a read – satire done right. Using a varied array of characters and preposterous situations in which to entangle them in, Kellner makes dozens of keen insights on the state of today’s society couched in off color…
The Anchor That Stopped the World by Agostino Scafidi My rating: 1 of 5 stars Note: I received a copy of this text in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. I was excited to start reading this book. With a title as bold and presumptuous as The Anchor that Stopped the World I thought for sure I was going to jump into a literary stunner. I could not have been more wrong. It is evident…
Whisper Gatherers by Nicola J. McDonagh My rating: 4 of 5 stars Having read both Echoes from the Lost Ones and then the following A Silence Heard, I was excited to hear McDonagh had written a prequel. Whisper Gatherers takes us back to NotSoGreatAlbion but in the days prior to Deogol’s abduction. As much as EftLO and ASH were chock full of a world far different than the one we know, this book retains that…
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