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August 5th, 2016 
I gave this wonderful book 5 Stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I was delightfully surprised by this wonderful collection of short stories, each an original and inventive gem. Collini is a marvelous writer, a great storyteller with a keen eye for human foibles, yet always with empathy for the human condition to which we are all heir.
Collini’s evocative prose was filled with fantastic verbs and unusual phrases that made every scene leap from the page. She wrote using several points of view and with pitch-perfect deftness of different eras, diverse dialects and ethnicities yet always encircling the human
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January 7th, 2016 
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
With an honest and raw approach Author Lily Amis tells her story of life as a young refugee. The book is based on true events that occurred between 1976 and 2002. It started with Lily and her Mom returning to her home city, Asiacity, after being in exile for 15 years. The story flashed back to the country pre-revolution, to the beauty of their culture, the strength of family, and then to the revolution and the horrific bombings that terrified Lily and her
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November 25th, 2015  My Review of Angel of Hope and Lily, featuring Monsieur Jac Couture
Story and Illustration by Lily Amis
I gave this book 5 Stars on Amazon
This is a beautiful story of love, hope, and freedom based on a Memoir by Author Lily Amis, Destination: Freedom. At the start of the book Lily and her Mum, Sima, live with her grandparents in Asiacity. Lily has a delightful little buddy, a snail named Monsieur Jac Couture. Their humorous exchanges are bound to make any child laugh. They are all happy together but when war comes, Sima feels they must flee.
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November 11th, 2015 
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I loved this wonderful book that author Kevin Ansbro said was inspired by his mum, Kathleen. What a beautiful, loving tribute to his mum! I had read Ansbro’s other book, Kinnara, which I loved and gave a 5 star rating, and now I love this book, his first, equally as well. He wrote it as he struggled with his mum’s slow demise from cancer and dementia. It was powerful, not overly edited, written from the heart and that is something every reader, I believe, will feel and
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November 5th, 2015 
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
Author Luca Rossi has masterfully combined great storytelling with universal themes. The Branches of Time was a mind-bending, shape shifting story, a mix of science fiction and fantasy, even erotica. The story spanned thousands of year, had magic and wizards, ancient kingdoms, evil and pathos, fantastical spells and time travel. Yet the human emotions and psychological drama was what anchored the story and made it a fantastic read.
The story began with a cataclysmic event on the island of Turios where the people were brutally exterminated
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September 10th, 2015 
My Review of Ten Days In Paradise By Linda Abbott
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
This is a wonderful debut novel by author Linda Abbott. She has masterfully woven together multiple plot lines to create a delightful, heartwarming story that explored the theme of family: love and commitment; parental issues with children, young and grown; sibling rivalries; marriages gone stale; infidelity; aging; loyalty, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Set on the beautiful island of Sanibel off Florida, the lush locale was a character in itself. I could feel, see, and hear the tropical
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August 25th, 2015 
My Review of Long Shadows by Julie Haiselden
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
This wonderful book slowly seduced me, pulling me in with the lush prose and descriptions, the intriguing characters, and then suddenly I couldn’t put it down. It is beautifully written, a sophisticated and thought-provoking novel.
It is the story of Lizzie Tennyson a young mother and wife who sacrificed her nursing career to follow her husband’s dream: to own a pub and restaurant in the Lake District, far from their home in southern England. Lizzie dreaded the move
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August 19th, 2015 
My Review of Kinnara by Kevin Ansbro
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I loved this book. It was such a fun read with great themes and a satisfying ending. I bought Kinnara after listening to a delightful interview with the author Kevin Ansbro on BBC radio about why he wrote the book. Who would not be intrigued by an author who mixed genres of romance, thriller, and mythology, and then injected a bit of humor to contrast with the suspense and pathos?
Ansbro is a superb writer with masterful storytelling skills.
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July 16th, 2015 
My Review of Buck Trent by Frank Atwood
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon
Set in the Arizona Territory, 1875, Buck Trent by author Frank Atwood is a fast paced novel with authentic, engaging characters. It is raw, gripping, and immensely entertaining, reminding me in its grittiness of the TV Western, Deadwood, and E. L. Doctorow’s book, Welcome to Hard Times. It is a non-romantic look at what the West was really like post Civil War: prairie justice, uncertainty of life, outlaws, treachery, wolves, rattlesnakes, danger at every turn. Yet there is morality
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June 30th, 2015  My Review of House Broken by Sonja Yoerg
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
The first thing that struck me in Sonja Yoerg’s brilliant debut novel is her masterful execution of three points of view: Geneva, the reserved but empathetic veterinarian; her alcoholic mother, Helen; and Geneva’s rebellious teenage daughter, Ella. The voices of each are unique and believable, the speech and perspectives pitch perfect.
It is a story of family dynamics, of dark secrets and resentments brought to light, of misinterpretations of important events. Instinct plays a critical role—ignoring it, doubting it, or
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