Month: January 2012

A Review of Twelve Days by Isabelle Rowan

Sequel to A Note in the Margin from Dreamspinner Press:

“Christmas can be a time of love and joy, but to three men at the bookstore called Margins, it also brings reflection on what was and what will be, highlighting the importance of home and family during a hot Australian Christmas. Their lives are intertwined by the bookstore, but individually David has difficulty reconnecting with the son he knew, John discovers something about the father who abandoned him, and Jamie braces himself for what he thinks will be his first Christmas on his own.”

 

My Review:

Twelve Days (A Note In The Margin #2) is a memorable return to the world of A Note In The Margin, one of my top favorites. Here it is Christmas time in Australia and the first Christmas together for John McCann and David, a man recently off the streets and recovering from a mental breakdown. For both men, Christmas is bringing up memories that are difficult for them to deal with. For David, especially, as he tries to reconnect with the son he left behind. Jamie the irrepressible bookshop employee (and son of the former owner of the store) is also dealing with his first Christmas alone. This wonderful story is all about family, recovery, and connections at Christmas.

Isabelle Rowan weaves the threads of these mens lives together is such a rich tapestry that you will forget that you are not actually there eavesdropping from the shelves of Margins. John, like myself, grew up in a climate where Christmas means cold windowpanes. blustery snow and mittens. But now he lives in Australia and the author gives you a real feel of what it must feel like to have Christmas mean air conditioning, cookouts, and cockatoos! The details she gives from the Christmas window at Myers brings back fond memories of the windows at Wanamakers in Philadelphia for me.

Ms. Rowan is to be commended as she makes you feel the fragile state of David’s emotional being in a manner that really brings home how tough, and frustrating it must be to come back from a mental and emotional breakdown. Not only for the person it happened to but for those around them who love them. For every step forward the person takes, there is always something lurking out in common view to trigger a set back. And David makes you think about the homeless men and women out on the streets. He helps personalize their plight and see them in a different light – the same way John saw David.
This book of course will send me running back to reread A Note In The Margin. I hope it will do the same for you. 4.5 stars

Cherish Your Name by Mary Calmes – A Review

Just as I was mourning the last of the Warder books, here is a warm and lovely Christmas story about Malic and Dylan. I will admit to a certain affection for this couple. Malic was a older hearth; a loner of few words and fewer friends until he found his Hearth in the person of Dylan Shaw. Dylan is young, adorable, loyal and totally in love with his Warder. Now its their first Christmas together as a couple and Dylan has brought Malic home to meet the family.

The opening chapter with its “Christmas with the Kranks” description of the Shaw house will have you snickering. This is deceiving as the Shaw’s Christmas cheer does not extend to Malic who they believe is too old for their son. Soon the house is full of holiday discord which Malic takes to heart and hearth, as it were. Soon Malic is beginning to doubt his relationship and Dylan. If you love this couple as I do, this is heartbreaking. Mary Calmes never lets you forget that the Shaws also think they are doing what is best for their son because Malic wants what is best for Dylan too. You will be frustrated and want to grind your teeth along with Malic as he confronts a family aligned against him. And you believe Dylan’s youthfulness as he gets involved with seeing old friends also home for the holidays. It will take a demon, a trap and a forgetfulness spell to spell out the truth to Malic about his Hearth.

Its wonderful, warm, and you get to see some of the other Warders as well which is always a bonus for me. But was this the end of the Warders? Hmmmmm.

While I was alternately cheering the couple on or lining people mentally up for stooge slaps, I also noticed that the author was leaving small hints that the series was not at end after all. Warders powers were ramping up…something was going on. So I posed the question to the author. Mary Calmes came back with a yes (but other sequels have to be finished first). So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the fans of the Warders and their Hearths. It looks like we might be seeing them all again.

From Dreamspinner Press: “Malic Sunden is in hell—only not literally… yet. As a warder, Malic is used to fighting demons and squaring off against all kinds of creatures from the pit, but this year he’s facing a new and terrifying prospect: Christmas holidays with his much-younger boyfriend and his family.

He loves Dylan, his hearth, but Dylan’s parents, the Shaws, are another story. They think Malic is a cradle-robber, among other things. At least their neighbor, Brad, seems to like him. Then again, maybe not. When Malic gets offered to a demon who wipes his memory of everything but Dylan’s name, it will take all Malic has to escape his new life in a hell dimension and return to the man he calls home.”

A Review of Enduring Instincts by S.J. Frost

I finished Enduring Instincts just last night and loved it. S. J. Frost has continued her universe of vampires and their Eternal Partners here with the 2nd book in her Instincts series. I thought her rockers were terrific (and yes, they still are), but I think her vampires are right up there in my affections.

As this book opens up, vampire Daniel Valente is still trying to recover from the events of the first book, Natural Instincts. His Master and former lover, Titus, has found eternal love with another and Daniel is trying to move on with little success. Ryunosuki Kimura returns to lend Daniel his support and more if Daniel is ready to accept it. But the young outlaw vampires have returned for vengeance and to try to overthrow the status quo of vampire society.

Daniel struggles with the nightmares of his past while dealing with the threats he helped create. SJ does a wonderful job in moving us with Daniel’s insecurities and pain. In SJ’s vampire society, you can live to be over 300 years old and still suffer from the vagaries of human emotions. Increased age and power doesn’t offset low self esteem, insecurities, and ambition of the human condition. Vampirism is rather a genetic mutation that enhances what is already present in the human form, for better or worse.

Her characters are layered, with all their flaws and demons to make them all the more accessible and understandable, even the “villains” of the piece. A truly satisfying read that I am hoping will continue as there are still some characters whose future is unresolved at the end. You don’t have to have read the first book to read this one but it helps in better establishing the plot and past events. Go, read, have fun! You will love it!

From MLR Press: Vampire Daniel Valente struggles to live on his own, now that his master, Titus Antonius Calidus, has found eternal love with another. Carrying mental and emotional scars, he lives in loneliness and feels as though he’s lost who he once was. Ryunosuke Kimura has known Daniel for hundreds of years, and loved him for many of them. Even though he believes Titus is the only one Daniel wants to give his heart to, when he hears Daniel needs his support, he rushes to be with him.With Ryu at his side, Daniel’s confidence returns, and with it, he sees the enduring love Ryu has always had for him. As they grow closer, new threats from old enemies arise, and if Daniel and Ryunosuke are to spend eternity together, they must first defeat the past.

A Review of Bounty of Love by Scotty Cade

I give this a almost 4. I really liked this book and Scotty Cade’s writing while at the same time repeatedly hitting my forehead with the desk. I liked it but it gave me a headache.

First off, the beginning of the book had me in tears. Scotty Cade builds up this picture of a loving family. Zander Walsh, his parents and his groom to be are out at the rehearsal dinner before their wedding. The interaction between Zander and his folks plus a tender portrayal of Zander’s relationship with his fiance make the events that follow all that more devastating to the reader and Zander. As the wedding party reaches home, Zander’s parents and fiance are shot and killed. Zander is left for dead. All this is contained in the blurb for the book.

As Zander wakes up in the hospital and reality of his situation sinks in, you feel all his pain and confusion. Really well done. FBI Agent Jake Elliot is waiting in the room for Zander to recover enough to be able to talk about the attack. And here’s the problem for me. While I like Jake Elliot, the main character, I just could not swallow Jake Elliot the FBI Agent. Maybe if he had been made a rookie, but definitely not as a seasoned agent. Too weepy and not very confident in his abilities for someone who had wanted to go into law enforcement his entire life. A really nice guy but the portrayal of the FBI and its agents didn’t seem real.

Problem No 2: Washington, DC, Senate Bills and how it all works (or doesn’t depending upon your point of view). This books pivots upon the idea that introducing a certain bill into the Senate is dangerous because it is a given that the bill will pass. This is folly. I live in the Washington DC metro area where we live and breathe politics. This simply would not happen. A enormous amount of bills are introduced every year, the majority of which die a quick death. Between bipartisan politics, lobbyists and special interests, there are way too many hands in the pot for any bill, especially the one here, to pass both the House and the Senate. Sometimes I can suspend belief for somethings but this kept me just shaking my head and snorting. Unattractive but true.

So even though I liked the story (wonderful secondary characters as well) for every “atta boy well done” there was a “ohmygod he did not just go there”. I see the this book was a prequel for others in the series as it sets up how Zander and Jake met and ended up in Alaska. Since this means they leave the FBI and Washington politics behind (hopefully), I will definitely go on to read the rest of the series. As I said, I really like Zander and Jake. So I am wishing them well and happy in Alaska as I go off to get another book in the series.

Here is the Blurb from the Publisher:

The night before his wedding, Zander Walsh, his parents, and his husband-to-be are all shot when they return home and interrupt a mysterious robbery in progress. After three weeks in a coma, Zander wakes up to find out he is the only survivor, and his perfect life falls apart in an instant.

Hunky FBI Agent Jake Elliot is investigating the case, and he eventually apprehends the killer-who soon escapes. Following six months of searching, Zander and Jake realize they’re being stonewalled by the FBI… and that they have slowly formed an unbreakable bond that is beginning to turn into much more.

Once they embark on a journey to apprehend the killer for the second time, they’ll discover that one terrible night was much more than just an interrupted robbery. Can big business and politics cover up the truth, or will Zander and Jake’s quest to unravel the mystery be the end of their newfound love and their lives?