Tag Archives: William Morrow

The Midwife Of Hope River – Patricia Harman

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Midwife Patience Murphy has a gift: a talent for escorting mothers through the challenges of bringing children into the world. Working in the hardscrabble conditions of Appalachia during the Depression, Patience takes the jobs that no one else wants, helping those most in need—and least likely to pay. She knows a successful midwifery practice must be built on a foundation of openness and trust—but the secrets Patience is keeping are far too intimate and fragile for her to ever let anyone in.

Honest, moving, and beautifully detailed, Patricia Harman’s The Midwife of Hope River rings with authenticity as Patience faces nearly insurmountable difficulties. From the dangerous mines of West Virginia to the terrifying attentions of the Ku Klux Klan, Patience must strive to bring new light and life into an otherwise hard world. – Publishers Website

I really enjoyed this book, until that is the end of it came and I felt like the main character did something that was completely out of character at least I thought it was out of character for her to do.

She has survived so many difficulties, overcome so many obstacles in her life, then to continue a relationship with one of the other characters in the book that they didn’t even really discuss; they just continued on with it, how it should progress, they didn’t discuss their feelings about one another, it just seemed as though the author needed to (in my opinion) end the book and didn’t have any other things to share about the couple.

Maybe it is me being in this modern world and all, I’m not sure.

Overall, it was a gorgeous book, written with a sense of the time period – the ’30′s. It had genuine parts of what it was like to be a midwife back in the day.   I was quite enthralled with it.

I just thought the ending of the novel could have been written better than it was.  I hope to read more from Patricia in the future.

Reading Guide – Patricia’s Website – Browse Inside – Goodreads – Facebook – Twitter

 

#24 – The Confession – Charles Todd

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Scotland Yard’s best detective, Inspector Ian Rutledge, must solve a dangerous case that reaches far into the past in this superb mystery in the acclaimed series

Declaring he needs to clear his conscience, a dying man walks into Scotland Yard and confesses that he killed his cousin five years earlier during the Great War. When Inspector Ian Rutledge presses for details, the man evades his questions, revealing only that he hails from a village east of London. With little information and no body to open an official inquiry, Rutledge begins to look into the case on his own.

Less than two weeks later, the alleged killer’s body is found floating in the Thames, a bullet in the back of his head. Searching for answers, Rutledge discovers that the dead man was not who he claimed to be. What was his real name—and who put a bullet in his head? Were the “confession” and his own death related? Or was there something else in the victim’s past that led to his murder?

The inspector’s only clue is a gold locket, found around the dead man’s neck, that leads back to Essex and an insular village whose occupants will do anything to protect themselves from notoriety. For notoriety brings the curious, and with the curious come change and an unwelcome spotlight on a centuries-old act of evil that even now can damn them all. – Publishers Website

This was my first foray into Inspectors Ian’s world and I wasn’t disappointed.  Continuing on after Ian has come back from the War, he’s back at Scotland Yard when he talks to someone who says  a murder has happened.  Yes, someone comes forward to tell him of a murder that has happened – 5 years earlier.   When this  person passes away suddenly and floating in the river, Ian takes a trip to rural village outside London to see if he can find any clues about who this person was who came to him, when a whole can of worms opens up that Ian isn’t so sure of.  Through the bends of the narrative, Ian sleuths out the people involved, the lies, the deceit, and what is behind it all in a historical mystery that will have you hooked until the end.

Then of course there is Ian himself – shattered and broken from the War and the nightmares that never seem to go away…

Charles’ Website – Facebook – Excerpt – Fun Stuff

#23 – Bloom – Finding The Beauty in The Unexpected – Kelle Hampton

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Love me. Love me. I’m not what you expected, but oh, please love me.

That was the most defining moment of my life. That was the beginning of my story.

From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, a thriving photography career, and great friends. When she learned she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Brett, were ecstatic. Her pregnancy went smoothly and the ultrasounds showed a beautiful, healthy, high-kicking baby girl.

But when her new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her two-year-old sister, Lainey, had at birth. As she watched friends and family celebrate with champagne toasts and endless photographs, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome—a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle’s fear and pain were vanquished by joy, as she embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.

With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, Bloom takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella’s first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. As Kelle writes, “There is us. Our Family. We will embrace this beauty and make something of it. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky.” – Publishers Website

I have to say there was a lot of talk of this book on twitter, so I knew that I had to get it and read it for myself to see what all the hype was about.  At about page 10 I was bawling like a baby, just imaging what the parents of this beautiful baby were going through.  When having my own children, there were a few really scary moments especially with my 2nd and 3rd child, so I have some idea of how they were feeling; but nothing could I imagine prepare anyone for something like this.  I have to admit, I was really enjoying the memoir up until near the end and Kelle was coming around, she had taken on this almost over the top mother of this beautiful child, who nearly goes overboard.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have close friends that have children with disabilities, and have cared for children who have severe and not so severe ones in my education as a health care professional, I realize that you can take on enormous projects and do it with grace, but I found Kelle to be nearly super-human in a sense in the book.  Hands down you will be bawling the ugly cry for sure.  Just make sure you have the tissue box ready.  Oh, one more thing…The photographs are absolutely STUNNING !! it is a gorgeous book !

Kelle’s Website - Reading Guide – Facebook – Twitter – YouTube – Excerpt

#22 – Sidney Sheldon’s Angel of the Dark – Tilly Bagshawe

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It was his first big murder case—and one of the bloodiest and most violent crimes LAPD detective Danny McGuire would ever encounter. Andrew Jakes, an elderly multimillionaire art dealer, had been brutally murdered in his Hollywood home, his lifeless body tied to his naked young wife. Raped and beaten, the lovely Angela Jakes had barely survived the attack herself. Gazing into her deep, soulful eyes, Danny swore that he’d find the psychopath behind this barbarous act. But the investigation didn’t turn up a single solid lead, and within days of Angela’s release from the hospital, the stunning young widow—Danny’s only witness—had vanished.

For ten years Danny McGuire could not forget the sweet face of Angela Jakes and the terrible crime that had shattered her life; his obsession with her nearly cost him his sanity. Now in France, thousands of miles from the past—with a new life, a new job with Interpol, and a ravishing new wife—he’s happier than he’s ever been . . . until he meets Andrew Jakes’s estranged son, Matt Daley.

Curious about his father’s murder, Matt has been digging into the cold case—and made some shocking discoveries. Three killings nearly identical to his father’s have taken place across the globe. The victims were elderly, newlywed millionaires, their young wives assaulted. And in each case the widow, the sole beneficiary of the will, donated her newfound wealth to children’s charities and then vanished. Could it be true? Had the Jakes killer struck again? If so, Danny knows he must tread carefully or risk losing everything for good.

The evidence points to a single killer—a brilliant and ruthless criminal who travels across the globe under a string of assumed identities, cleverly keeping one step ahead of the law. Joining forces, Danny and Matt pursue this intriguing shadow from Los Angeles to London, New York to Italy and the French Riviera, in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse filled with promising leads and frustrating dead ends. When another murder fitting the profile occurs, Matt heads to Hong Kong, hoping to get answers from the latest widow, Lisa Baring, and perhaps uncover the hard evidence they need.

But Matt becomes besotted with the irresistible beauty, nearly derailing the investigation, and Danny wonders whether Lisa is truly a victim or something more sinister. When a break in the case sends Danny to Mumbai, he knows he must act quickly, for the clever killer is poised to strike again.

A fast-paced story full of mystery, glamour, excitement, and spectacular twists that build to a stunning ending, Sidney Sheldon’s Angel of the Dark is quintessential Sheldon from first page to last. – Publishers Website

I was looking forward to this book, since Sidney Sheldon or rather the genre that he had meticulously made into a best-selling series had been great.  I was a bit disappointed with this one.  Tilly Bagshawe has taken over the series from the master after his passing, and I have to say it was a great premise, but for me, it fell short in its delivery.  Smaller than the earlier books, I just kind of thought it a bit rushed in its delivery, some things weren’t described in detail as much as it had been before.  I think that fans of Sidney and his work may find it a bit different, but Tilly does a grand job of attempting to integrate his style of writing and hers into one cohesive style.  For me, I’m divided.  Although, I was excited to have a chance of reading some Sidney Sheldon style mystery/thriller/detective type book, for me it just left me going huh?at the end of it.

Tilly’s Website – Sidney’s Website – Browse Inside

 

#23 – Voyagers of The Titanic – Passengers, Sailors, Ship Builders, Aristrocrats, and The Worlds They Came From – Richard Davenport – Hines

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Late in the night of April 14, 1912, the mighty Titanic, a passenger liner traveling from Southampton, England, to New York City, struck an iceberg four hundred miles south of Newfoundland. Its sinking over the next two and a half hours brought the ship—mythological in name and size—one hundred years of infamy.

Of the 2,240 people aboard the ship, 1,517 perished either by drowning or by freezing to death in the frigid North Atlantic waters. What followed the disaster was tantamount to a worldwide outpouring of grief: In New York, Paris, London, and other major cities, people lined the streets and crowded around the offices of the White Star Line, the Titanic’s shipping company, to inquire for news of their loved ones and for details about the lives of some of the famous people of their time.

While many accounts of the Titanic’s voyage focus on the technical or mechanical aspects of why the ship sank, Voyagers of the Titanic follows the stories of the men, women, and children whose lives intersected on the vessel’s fateful last day, covering the full range of first, second, and third class­—from plutocrats and captains of industry to cobblers and tailors looking for a better life in America.

Richard Davenport-Hines delves into the fascinating lives of those who ate, drank, reveled, dreamed, and died aboard the mythic ship: from John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthiest person on board, whose comportment that night was subject to speculation and gossip for years after the event, to Archibald Butt, the much-beloved military aide to Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, who died helping others into the Titanic’s few lifeboats. With magnificent prose, Voyagers of the Titanic also brings to life the untold stories of the ship’s middle and third classes—clergymen, teachers, hoteliers, engineers, shopkeepers, counterjumpers, and clerks—each of whom had a story that not only illuminates the fascinating ship but also the times in which it sailed. In addition, Davenport-Hines explores the fascinating politics behind the Titanic’s creation, which involved larger-than-life figures such as J. P. Morgan, the ship’s owner, and Lord Pirrie, the ship’s builder.

The memory of this tragedy still remains a part of the American psyche and Voyagers of the Titanic brings that clear night back to us with all of its drama and pathos. – Publishers Website

Since it was the 100th Anniversary of the fatal accident that sank the Titanic along with most of its passengers, I thought it would be interesting to see how they lived 100 years ago.  I have to say and be perfectly honest, I think the people who served the people as well as the third class passengers had much more interesting stories then the first class passengers and the people who were in charge of the ship building.  Not that having money isn’t a bad thing, the lower class passengers/employees had more of an interesting background.  Where they were going, where they had come from, where they running from something, What was behind their going on the ship to America? That sort of stuff.  It wasn’t the how much money I have more than you, or wether their honeymoon was cut short.  I found it interesting how the decisions were made about how many lifeboats compared to how many passengers were on the ship that had originally piqued my interest.  It was quite the impressive work the Richard had put into this book.  If you are a fan of this sort of genre, I think you should pick this one up.  It may be some of the same information you have heard before, but it was interesting to see how they lived, what they were striving for, before the ship sank on that night.

Richard on Goodreads

 

#12 – The Look of Love – Mary Jane Clark

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A Piper Donovan Mystery – Book Two

Piper Donovan accepts when the owner of Elysium, an exclusive spa and plastic surgery center, offers her an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to create a dazzling and unique wedding cake. The job also gives Piper the time and distance she needs to sort out her feelings for handsome FBI agent Jack Lombardi.

The ultra-luxurious spa caters to the rich and famous in need of a little “refreshing”—a nip here, a tuck there, a little Botox, a little detox. Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, Elysium seems picture-perfect: the grounds, the staff, even the guests. But no sooner does Piper arrive than a guest is brutally murdered in one of the private bungalows. Someone, it seems, wants to make sure Elysium’s beautiful director, Jillian Abernathy, never gets to walk down the aisle. Piper soon discovers that beneath the glamorous surface of this idyllic oasis lies an ugly truth—and a cold-blooded plan for murder. – Publishers Website

Mary Jane does it again!  With her new series, Piper is invited to create a wedding cake for Jillian Abernathy who is just as famous as her parents in the Hollywood realm.  But when someone is murdered, everyone knows they are out for Jillian, and not anyone else.  But Why?!?

I really enjoyed Mary Jane’s latest novel.  It was a quick, entertaining read with that pizzazz that she uses to keep you engrossed and entertained.  It will appeal to those who don’t like those real gritty mystery, suspense novels.  It is geared more to the younger generation of women, but male readers may enjoy, as well as the older woman who have enjoyed Mary Jane’s earlier novels.  I look forward to reading more from Mary Jane in the future!

Goodreads – Book Tour – I Interview MJC – HC Interview – Mary Jane’s Website – Facebook – Piper Donovan Facebook – Read an Excerpt

 

 

#11 – The Face Thief – Eli Gottlieb

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Gottlieb introduces the mystery of the charismatic Margot, a promising journalist who morphs—with stunning panache—from a high-achieving affluent twentysomething into a grifter making her living preying on the weaknesses of men.

Having studied the ancient Chinese art of face reading, she becomes an expert at reading people and is also able to rearrange her look and persona with uncanny skill to fit any social situation. She is an avenging angel, shattering marriages and draining bank accounts.

What drives her quest to deceive and disarm? Exploring this question, The Face Thief moves fluidly forward and back in time, drawing vivid portraits of Margot’s rocky childhood and her adult victims: an amiable, newly married man enticed into a catastrophic fraud; an esteemed teacher outwitted by his most dangerous student; and a well-meaning New York City cop tripped up by his belief in redemption.

Ingeniously constructed and exquisitely written, The Face Thief swirls a hypnotic dance of predator and prey, creating a contemporary landscape where the educated are violent, the beautiful ugly, and the well-intentioned hapless. And yet we never give way to despair, because the protagonists of the book push back against the maelstrom and attempt tirelessly to right their toppled lives. Rich in suspense, psychological depth, and nuance, The Face Thief confirms Gottlieb’s standing as “a master” (Denver Post) and, in the words of essayist Phillip Lopate, “an enthralling stylist who[se] . . . characters are shockingly, electrically alive.” – Publishers Website

I was looking forward to digging into this book,  heard so many good things about it online and from the publishers.  I was a bit disappointed, I will explain in a bit.

Opening the book is the story of an unknown woman in the hospital regaining consciousness.  Her name isn’t known at the time, but as you read further, she has this uncanny ability to deceive people to get what she wants.  It was cryptic, getting you deeper and deeper into the novel.  At one point, I thought that it was going to be a really good ending, the suspense was adding up getting bigger and bigger as the end neared.  Just at the point where the plot was going to show itself, at least for me, it fell flat on its face on page 211.  I did finish the book, but was a bit disappointed at how the author had or hadn’t made the ending with more of a bang so to speak.  If you read the novel, I think you may agree with me…It would have been a far better book if the ending was more thought out.

Goodreads – Eli’s Website – Browse Inside – Reading Group Guide

Evidence of Murder – Lisa Black

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evidence of murderTheresa Mclean returns to the spotlight after her fiancé was killed during a bank robbery that went horrifically wrong.  In her deep grief that hasn’t abated even a bit, nothing even work seems to get her out of it.  It is as if she is just going along with whatever is going on… no feeling, no ambition, no determination, and no strength.

A case comes along that has them all stumped, Jillian is found dead on a beach, no forensic evidence, nothing to show why she is there, but she is.  She was just married to a man who is in the gaming community on the rise after his first game garnered huge success, and while his business is off the ground, her death to Theresa is more than just a suicide, she has a feeling it was murder, but how can she prove it?

When the police, Theresa, and all of the forensic scientists have come up clueless, Theresa decides there is more to this then what they all see.  She takes it upon herself and against the opinions of others that it is just what it is, a suicide.  But in the back of her mind, it is murder. And why would someone murder Jillian, she has stopped her escorting even before she got married, could there be a date that she had or her former boss have something that didn’t want to be uncovered?

Theresa uncovers something that is worrisome, her newborn daughter has inherited a rather large sum of money from her great grandparents, could this be possibly be the motive?

After Lisa’s first book Takedown hit the shelves last fall, and I was so enamoured about it, I was really looking forward to this one, to see if she wowed my senses, and in one way she did, but in another way she didn’t.  Although this novel was a slower pace compared to the bank robbery scenario of her last book, this one took the back seat for me.  It seemed to take more of a slower pace, one that had focused more on Theresa more than the actual crime itself that she was writing about.  Granted, the action aspect was there once it did take prominence in near the end of the story line, but for me it was a bit of a miss.  It was well written, but it just didn’t resonate with me as much as her first novel did.

Lisa Black’s debut novel Takeover – My review

HarperCollins / William Morrow


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Guardian of Lies – Steve Martini

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guardian of liesPaul Madrini doesn’t know it yet, but he is going to be fighting the fight of his life – outside the courtroom.

After meeting a young Costa Rican woman at the market, who he befriends he thinks nothing of it until he receives a phone call, but doesn’t remember her name after she is arrested for murder.  Until he sees her face.

In this latest installment of Steve Martini’s character Paul Madrini, thinking it is one of those run of the mill murder cases (but then again I don’t think Paul knows run of the mill murder cases), he goes ahead and takes her case, and finds out more then he ever imagined – it involves not only murder, but the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the last name which is associated with a Russian extremist that hasn’t been seen since the late 1960′s.

As he investigates further, he and his team find themselves delving deeper and deeper into a plan that was concocted back thirty years ago which also involves a nuclear bomb, thousands of lives are at stake, if they only knew where they were and where the bomb was.

I have read Steve Martini’s work for years now and for me, it doesn’t get old.  Along with the action, the clues, and the questions posed come along at a breakneck pace that will have you reading without any sense of time going by trying to find out the answers to the questions they ask themselves as the storyline develops.  Paul Madrini is not only a master in the courtroom, he is also a master outside of it along with the team he has compiled to complete the investigations and come to a conclusion.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I have a feeling that Paul Madrini will be doing things differently in the future….

Listen to an audio excerpt

HarperCollins

Buy the Book – Amazon / chapters.indigo.ca / Borders / Books A Million


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Dying For Mercy – Mary Jane Clark

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dying for mercyIsn’t this cover so elusive ?? I love the cover !

Mary Jane Clark is back with a new book.

Eliza Blake is in the middle of yet another murder mystery, along with her colleagues and Mack.

On St. Francis Di Assisi Day, Eliza is invited to a prominent friends home in Tuxedo Park (an exclusive gated community) which they just renovated after returning to New York from Italy.  On that night as they are all enjoying the atmosphere and company with many more guests the host is found dead in his greenhouse.  Unknown  to the guests and his wife (Retired Senator) it is staged, with clues which they don’t know about yet, are hidden that will ultimately uncover the secrets that he has been keeping for not only his friends but his family as well.

Throughout the novel, the descriptions of the lavish redecoration highlight the house as well as the clues that he has left in the wake of his death.  Will Eliza be able to uncover and solve the clues? There is more to the eye then just the “face” value” which they quickly come to a conclusion, which is also revealed to the people that want the secrets kept hidden.

I started this book just after noon time last week,  I have to admit I was so pulled into the plot, the clues, storyline, as well as all of the characters had me not wanting to put it down for even a minute.  I felt it eying me from the table when I was doing other things.  Being continually engaged in such a manner the time literally flew by, and by the time I finished the novel (about 11pm the same day) I was shocked at how fast and how engaged I was into the storyline and the complex  plotting that Mary Jane knows how to weave into her novels.

Along with her experience in television, she masters that area  as well as the expert precision of keeping you on the edge of your seat until the final page has been read.

HarperCollins / William Morrow

Mary Jane Clark’s Website

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The Doomsday Key – James Rollins

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14_english_the_doomsday_key_hb0In this 6th installment of the Sigma Force novels, James Rollins certainly knows how to write a great thriller.   And they certainly know how to put things together, even if they have resorted to working with one of their nemesis.

Alerted to a strange phenomenon where a Vatican archaeologist, a Princeton geneticist, as well as a US Senators son is killed all in a matter of days, all in different parts of the world, the Sigma Force sure has a lot to know about all three in a short matter of time, while travelling all around the world.

The cause of these deaths? It seems as though some kind of puzzle that hasn’t been solved for thousands of years, though when it was people were killed in that instance as well.  It all goes back to a book that had all of the population of England, the areas of habitation, and places marked as “wasted”, known as the Doomsday Key”, as well as another fact of those times – a Druidic Pagan cross that has been burned into the skin of the people killed or assassinated.

As the sigma force are dispatched to all parts of the world to solve the clues as they are presented to them, some characters come back into play, but as usual can they be trusted?

As the seperated teams within sigma force work to solve the puzzle, more and more clues come to them that they even imagined possible, and time is running short to solve who and why is doing this, and at what cost to human kind.

I really enjoyed the book, the action sequences, along with all of the clues and how they were incorporated into the storyline were quite interesting, and factual as he states in the book.  The places and historic figures are real, it is the storyline that is fictional.  It would have )at least I would think) that all of these situations would have taken a lot of time to scope and plan out as the book was written, as well as the research to take it from just an idea to a full fledged manuscript must have been a feat in itself.

It will not only engage your fix for the thrill and adventure, it will also have your brain excercised as well, thinking about the historical references and artifacts that are mentioned in the book that will satisfy your hunger.

I look forward to reading more of James’ work in the future, it was a great book that satisfied my hunger for the adventure, history, and thrill.

Buckle Up!

HarperCollins

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