#FunStuff – Stunner (A Ronnie Lake Mystery #1) by Niki Danforth

The blurb reads,

“Beautiful. Bright. And possibly, deadly…

This is all Ronnie Lake knows about her potential sister-in-law, Julianna. But she’s determined to find out the truth about her wealthy brother’s new lover before he throws away his happiness, fortune, and quite possibly, his life. Who is this mysterious woman with two lives–and how deep does her deception go? 

As a divorced, downsized, 50-something, Ronnie finds herself becoming an “accidental detective” in order to get to the bottom of things. There are unexplained hang-ups when the phone rings. A disturbing package and sketchy characters appear at her wealthy family’s estate outside New York City. It all pushes Ronnie to step out of her privileged life and into a sinister world where people will do just about anything to escape their past. Is Julianna the most desperate of them all?”

 

So I requested this book from Kathy at I Am a Reader and then I completely forgot about it. That’s becoming one of my characteristics, to sign up for tours and promptly forget about them. I do plan on rectifying that and not let life get so much in the way.

And then when I got a mail saying the review was due, I found the book and started reading it. And I was HOOKED!

This is a great book and an amazing cosy mystery. I say that because things are sedate and sweet. It isn’t caught up in the action and fraught with tension. There are a lot of thrillers like that and I absolutely love the adrenaline rush that comes along with reading something like that. But I also love reading books like this one where the story slowly develops on its own and also has enough of juice to keep me hooked.

The thing that makes this book succeed is the protagonist. Ronnie is a great protagonist. She is committed to her family and loves them fiercely. And she has a little detective inside her, which makes her go and investigate when things fall under her radar of suspicion. And there are so many women like that who would want to hustle just to become a detective. Ronnie is almost likable in her simplicity and her desire to protect her family. And she is reckless. But her naivety is refreshing and often made me giggle. This was a fun book.

Ronnie suspects her brother’s girlfriend when strange things start happening. And Juliana is a mystery. Ronnie starts to work, trying to uncover her past and discovers Juliana to be having more layers than she imagined.

As Ronnie discovers Juliana’s past, she finds herself respecting Juliana but not being able to pin point what exactly bothered her. And the book follows a logical conclusion and a happy ending. Which was nice to read.

I picked this book up, sometime after my grandma’s death and I frankly needed something light like this. It helps to read just to distract and a cosy mystery is perfect for that. I do want to read more adventures of Ronnie in the future but I don’t think any more books have been published.

What I really liked in this book was the fact that the circumstances of your birth do not in any way determine what you will end up like. You can do anything you want. The world is your oyster. You don’t really need to move mountains but if you wish for something and work for it, anything is possible. That was a lovely message. That I can make anything out of myself. It all depends on me.

 

This is a nice book. You can definitely pick it up.

 

My Rating: 3.5/5

It isn’t a brilliant book and Ronnie was a little impulsive. And I felt the end did not play out too logically and I kind of felt the actual unravelling of the mystery was not too great. But that’s an after thought as I write this. I enjoyed the book when I read it.

#Thrilling – Servant of the Skull (Skullspeaker Series #1) by Edita A Petrick

The blurb reads,

The moment Gia’s hands touch a skull, the living history of the skull’s owner bursts inside her head. Indeed, for as long as her hands rest on the skull, she is a prisoner of its life-history. When she receives a field assignment in Greece to reconstruct skulls of three victims who perished in a plane crash, she thinks it’s just for identification purposes. But nothing could have prepared her for the kind of situation she walks into. There are just as many family members who want her to do her job as there are those who’ll stop at nothing to prevent it. When the skulls prove to be fake, and a woman’s body is found on the bottom of the cliff, Gia knows the killer would rather see her dead than let her confirm the victims’ identity

 

The blurb to this book was extremely catchy. And the prologue to the book was immensely attractive. I knew this had the potential to be a great book.

Gianna has always been special. She can touch skulls and learn their entire history in mere seconds. This sort of latent skill is dangerous and that’s precisely why Gianna gets into a field where she won’t have to deal with violent killings. Gianna works in museums, on private reconstruction projects, often where she won’t have to deal with violent deaths.

But her next assignment is something that throws a bit of a curve ball at her. She finds herself in Greece, bound by an onerous contract, to reconstruct skulls. A seemingly easy task, except somebody does not want the skulls to be found.

The book was very brilliantly set up. The mystery of the skulls and an ancient curse was something that kept my mind ticking throughout the book. I wanted to see what the mystery was with this book and that’s precisely why I continued reading it.

The discussions Gianna had while reconstructing skulls were fascinating and the mystery that had presented itself.

So, a family in Greece wants their father’s skull to be identified. His ex-wife needs it so that she can get some much needed funds from the will. The children want closure. And someone wants to make sure that Polyandros Laicos’s skull is not identified.

As Gianna went about connecting the dots, I connected the dots with her. I love those books that make you want to find out what happens and I read this book whenever I could. I absolutely loved Gianna as a character. I also wanted the plot to thicken and I definitely wanted to find out what was happening next. I wanted the threat to present itself and for Gianna to be embroiled neck deep in it.

I feel like the mystery in the book is excellent but the end was disappointing. I felt I wanted so much more to happen in the end. I guess I expected the book to give me something to go forward with, I wanted the end to be edgy, filled with thrills  but that wasn’t it. The end was pretty tame as compared to the prologue.

I don’t know what adventures will happen and whether it will feature Gianna. But while I was reading the end, I felt as though the epilogue and the book was done with Gianna. She suddenly left Greece after her work was done and there was nothing to suggest a continuity to the future books. I wonder though, what will come next, simply because the curse that binds the book together is a really fascinating one.

My Rating: 3.5/5

 

#Layered and Philosophical – The Stolen Life of a Cheerful Man by Dimitris Politis

The Blurb reads,

“The Stolen Life of a Cheerful Man explores the contentious yet universal themes of intolerance and understanding, discrimination and acceptance, violence and forgiveness. Dimitris Politis plunges boldly into the reality of contemporary Ireland, but from his own Greek perspective, creating an extraordinary mirror between the two countries, where glittering Aegean waves are crowned by Atlantic rainbows. The reader is drawn into the story through its exciting twists and turns, interlinked throughout by a fast cinematographic pace. An excellent contemporary example of black fiction, the novel voices a loud protest against social and historical stereotypes and warns of how intolerance and ignorance can lead to disaster. In today s world, where countless countries are mired in financial crisis and where many forget the importance of tolerance and acceptance of their fellow human beings, the author cleverly reminds us that difference and diversity are universally present, shaping our world. This unique novel prompts us to remember that we are all born different and grow up differently, making each of us special in our own way, whatever our circumstances.“

 

So then, the book starts off with Dimos, a man from Greece, coming to Ireland, his home, to find someone dead. It is established early on in the book that the main character is gay. And looking at the time at which this book is written, I feel Dimos was justified in feeling what he did about being gay. We only have talks about being homosexual coming out recently.

What follows then is a labyrinth of twists and turns as we deconstruct Dimos’s thoughts over about a decade. We learn about his life and how he finds himself embroiled in terrorist activities. We learn of his adolescence, when he finds love, only to get rejected. And we learn of how he finds love in an unknown corner in Dublin.

The book is long. At 322 pages, it felt a little too long when I read it. But never boring. I felt like a small child, putting together a big jigsaw puzzle. I wanted to finish the jigsaw puzzle soon, but each piece I got in the book were in different corners of the jigsaw. It kept me very interested.

I really kept thinking about a lot of issues when I was reading the book. I never really understood why some part of Ireland was British, and to that extent, I could understand what the terrorists felt when a part of your motherland is divided because of politics.

I felt Dimos’s struggle. Not finding an identity for yourself is harsh. It hurts to not understand who you are and where you are coming from. I feel in these days of instant gratification and instant judgement, it is harsh finding something good about yourself.

This book, in its own way, opened my mind to reading queer fiction. Whenever I read M/M fiction or lesbian fiction, I could never understand the deeper connection that went about. Those books focused on sex, pure and simple. And that part didn’t speak out to me. This book has opened me to the idea. I think that is the way I am, as a person. I keep looking for a connection between the characters. I want to know the emotions behind their decisions.

This book did make me think about life. I mean, we live life with such masks. And to what avail? The world crumbles around us as we speak, or as I type. Things happened in Dimos’s life which drove him to do things which he was not proud of. And he lived his life living with a mask to cover them.

The end, was brilliant. It tied the whole book down, small pieces at a time, closing in the puzzle. I was absolutely shocked by what was written and I so don’t want to give it away. Finally, a book with a great ending!!! Kudos!!

To end this review, I’m going to quote a poem by my best friend, Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha

Identity is not what I promise others
Identity is what I do when I am alone
Identity is what I think of others
Knowing all the hatred they’ve shown

Identity is what every wound reminds me
Identity is what I learn and what I pass by
Identity is what I see in the mirror
After giving my best try

Identity is what I make out of my given chance
Identity is what I accept and what I deny
No one else has control over me
Life is about me, and what I identify

Please give a shoutout to this talented filmmker and writer at founder@experimentalfilms.in

 

 

MY Review: 4/5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#Thrilling – The Shillingstone Witch (Fiona Frost #4) by Bon Blossman

The blurb reads,

“Fiona has no clue her bright summer vacation is about to darken. Children are disappearing from the small town of Shillingstone, and the townspeople blame a legendary nineteenth-century witch. Her world changes as she becomes the target of a depraved entity and finds herself drawn deep inside of a corrupt investigation involving supernatural beliefs she never knew existed.

 

OMG!! A slow internet connection means I lost my earlier review!!

Anyway, I absolutely loved this book. I crave for a good mystery novel and this one certainly fit the bill.

I sat curled one Saturday, with this book and then just kept reading it from cover to cover (well, ecover to ecover). AND I HAD TO! It was great!!

I literally left my work aside because I was so absorbed in the book. It didn’t take me that long to finish reading the book. But for the time I was reading the book, I was completely absorbed in it.

This book outlines Fiona’s fourth mystery (yet, the first book in the series that I am reading) and a quirky one at that. I’ve not seen many authors combine mystery and supernatural and I felt the author handled that well.

I think the reason that the book is intriguing is because all of us, at some level do not believe in the supernatural. We tend to disregard voices, ghosts or the like because it is not scientifically explained and Fiona is just like that.

It is ironic though, that a seemingly supernatural event draws Fiona to Shillingstone, to investigate the kidnappings happening there.

The rest of the book is chilling whenever the supernatural elements are involved. I try to solve every mystery that I read and I did not guess this one.

The reason I chopped one star off was the ending. Like the hit series, The Mentalist, this book spent a lot of time talking about the supernatural, the Shillingstone Witch, and the supernatural haunting Fiona. The actual kidnapper and his motive for the whole thing, was at best, weak.

It didn’t make sense for the culprit to have done what he did. And I felt the end was too abrupt. I could have used a little more.

I felt the explanation to the Supernatural was also weak and didn’t really tie up to the story. But it did provide interesting reading.

This book also provided a lot of food for thought in terms of a small town life. We always yearn for a small, easy going life but we don’t realise how integrated we are to the place we live in. It is only when we go and see an alternate lifestyle, that our own life looks a lot brighter.

But,but but!

I loved Fiona and Wolfe together. They make such a sweet couple. Wolfe reminded me of my special someone and that helped me warm up to the book a lot more.

I am definitely intrigued by Fiona and I do want to read more of her stories. So that is definitely a plus for me.

 

MY Rating: 3/5

Enid Blyton meets Paranormal- The Shadows (Poppy Farrell Mysteries #1)- Alyne de Winter

The blurb reads,

It is the Chilly time of year….
Darken your Halloween with this Paranormal Thriller: The Shadows!

From the moment she enters the world of her new boarding school, Blight’s Academy, teenage sleuth, Poppy Farrell, finds danger. From a strange encounter on a train platform, to evidence of a murdered student in the woods that surround the ancient, gothic buildings, life at Blight’s Academy grows more menacing by the day.

Poppy and her friends, Clair and Georgie, must outwit their Shadows, older girls assigned to mentor them, but who coldly follow them wherever they go, like their shadows. There is a dark secret at the heart of Blight’s Academy: disappearances, deaths, and conspiracies pervade the wooded grounds, flicker in the stained glass windows, tinkle like a music box lullaby through the turreted halls.

Enter the world of The Shadows where witchcraft is afoot. Young Adult or Old Adult, this story is guaranteed to send a shiver up your spine and keep you turning the pages far into the night.

Scroll up and grab your copy now!

 

The introduction to this book really intrigued me. I have grown up on Enid Blyton and St. Claire’s and Malory Towers. Reading those books opened up a whole new world of how boarding school life is and the camaraderie between girls was something I really wished I had. I’m a tomboy of sorts, I’ve always got along better with boys/men rather than with girls. And as the years pass, I keep wanting to make more friends who are girls. Anyway I digress. The book made those characters, the ‘Forms’, the subjects and the whole concept of boarding school so much more friendly.

This book begins with an introduction. For those readers who have not had the pleasure of reading one of Enid Blyton’s books about boarding school, get an idea about the British schooling system and the various grades and their names. I found this very friendly and I hoped that this would enable the readers to envision the students, their ages and hence their personalities.

The book introduces the reader to one of the most likeable characters I have read in a book, conspiracy theorist, lively and perceptive Poppy Farrell, who is starting out as a junior in Blight Academy.

The author does a great job of describing Blight Academy. You end up getting the chills as you recreate a creepy, very Adams Family like house which is scary to look at.

The author’s lucid and sparkling description of the Headmistress, Mrs. Wick, the disciplinarian, Mrs. Grimshaw and Poppy’s roommate Clair, instantly connect the reader to them. It makes you feel as if you are right with them.

Things aren’t altogether that right at Blight Academy. Poppy gets accosted by a student at a lone station and is warned to not go to Blight Academy. For some reason, every teacher at Blight’s is against Poppy. There are dark forces around. Sixth Form students shadow the First Formers and they take it quite far. Is there dark magic involved? Are lives of students taken for not being a part of the game? When souls are slaughtered in the name of the Devil, is even Britain’s foremost academy a safe place?

This book has all of this and more! It is a perfect accompaniment on a day when you want to take a trip down memory lane. Reading about school will make you remember your own school days, but the paranormal thriller that it is, it will snap your attention and hold on to it, until you finish the book!

I absolutely loved Poppy!! She is such an amazing character! It made me wish there were a lot more books in this series so I could have more of her. She is one of those characters from books, who you end up liking instantly and who stays with you for a while after you read about her.

At some point, I was actually a little scared. The book makes such a vivid world open up in front of you, it takes you into that world where there are so many unanswered questions and characters are so layered.

And the best part is, because this is a YA, it is written in a simple language, without life altering twists.

I am really good friends with the author, that being said, her charm in bringing the occult to common, day to day situations makes her one of those Indie Gems who is just waiting to explode on the big stage!!

My Rating: 4.5/5

 

Dreaming a Nightmare

Dreams

Fox Mulder (X-Files) once said,”A dream is an answer to a question we haven’t learned to ask.”

I say, “Dreams can be memories that are buried in the subconscious.”

It is widely believed that dreams are the mind’s way of sorting through our waking thoughts. They are another reality with which we can interact. Dreams provide a signpost and a different perspective on our lives. They transpire in sleep, when the subconcious is the most relaxed. They are offered to us free of charge, day or night. That is, until they turn into a nightmare, and then there might be a steep price to pay.

In many ancient societies, dreaming was considered a form of supernatual communication, a means to predict the future, or a warning of something about to happen. Some dreamers have been known to be able to manipulate their dreams.

Ever dream of another you? The Kid did, many times. His mentor was a rambunctious rascal and could do the weirdest things. Just who was this other charactor anyway? Was he really me, living a double life. Or did he exist in a parallel world?

Some of my dreams were very peculiar and made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Then, in a ‘blink of an eye’, one dream became a nightmare.

Did these dreams have anything to do with my story. You would think so.

Excerpt from “An Abduction Revelation”, Amazon: http://amzn.to/PwRRlc or Smashwords for the lastest edition on all ebook formats at: http://bit.ly/17yuf3G

 

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Love on the Run

Forbidden Love Story

ALL NIGHT LONG

Well, my friends, the time has come to raise the roof and have some fun. Lose yourself in wild romance . . . feel good . . . all night long.— Lionel Richie

Actually, it became a two day, two night romantic marathon. As soon as I laid my suitcase down, we fell into an embrace. No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t seem to get close enough to each other. There was no letting go.

Her touch set my body on fire. I thought I knew hot, but this heat reached a crucial boiling point in the blink of an eye. Our chemistry was explosive as a fourth of July celebration.

Clothing went flying in every direction, as we ripped each other bare. In a heart beat we were naked as two jaybirds as we dove upon the bed. The force of our love making soon knocked us onto the floor, as we scratched and clawed like two wild cats in heat.

We made love in every imaginable position and then some. When we attempted a pause to eat and bathe, they too became part of our activities. Passion cloaked and soaked our bodies and absorbed our souls.

I can’t continue describing our out of this world mating ritual. It’s the dad burn PG-13 rating thing again. I can say that we became one body, one mind, one heart, and one soul. We learned everything there was to know of each other, both emotionally and sexually. We became soul mates, as our hearts beat as one. We fell, head over heels, in love.

After two incredible exhausting days that I will cherish for the rest for my life, we had no other choice but to finally come to our senses and get back to reality. She had classes to attend and I had to return to work in Jeddah.

To be honest, it was a blessing in disguise, because I don’t think either of us could have physically survived another day at the pace we had set. It was extremely difficult to part, but we both knew I’d be back and that this was only a beginning to something very special.

We exchanged steamy love letters over the next few months. She would tease me by dabbing her perfume on her letters. It was agonizing to smell but not to be able to see and touch her. Needless to say, her letters had me climbing a wall.

I had to keep quiet about her, even though I felt the urge to shout to the world that I had found my princess and soul mate. I was able to share my glory only with my brother. Of course, he warned that playing with fire could cause severe burns, but my body and soul were already burning out of control. No amount of water or common sense could put it out.

This delicious peach was forbidden fruit from the land of enchantment. Our forbidden love would soon have us on the run. It would not be a happy story book ending.

Excerpt from…….”An Abduction Revelation”, available on Author website: www.thomaslhay.com  Amazon: http://www.amzn.to/PwRRlc or for the lastest edition in all ebook formats on Smashwords: www.bit.ly/17yuf3G.

 

The Inscrutable

The dictionary meaning for the word “inscrutable”: Incapable of being searched into or scrutinized; impenetrable to investigation. Not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable.

UFO and alien visitation certainly fall into these categories. Stories of UFO and alien visitation have been recorded throughout human history.

Despite subtle and highly robust physical and numerous indisputable evidence, UFO and alien visitation on Earth is thought to be fertile imagination of the human mind by most of Earth’s population. They are science fiction stories to intrigue and entertain our nimble minds.

Why, despite undeniable evidence, are we so skeptical to believe? Why are we unable to accept or comprehend alien existence? Are we that afraid of finding the truth?

Have government cover-ups been that effective? Governments are known to hide many facts from the public in other areas, so why do we believe them when they tell us there are no aliens among us. After all, they can’t have the human population believing that stuff. Think about it. If it were to be true, it could disrupt civilization as we know it. There could be worldwide panic. Governments could get overthrown. It would change the history and beliefs of mankind.

My story “An Abduction Revelation” will give you ‘food for thought’ on ‘the inscrutable’. It explores a compelling blend between mysterious entities and some seemingly true events.

Thomas L. Hay, Author

An Abduction Revelation – Latest edition available in all ebook formats at Smashwords: http://bit.ly/17yuf3G. Or Amazon: http://amzn.to/PwRRlc