Sunday, September 25, 2011

Masked Love by Ginger Simpson





At forty-two and facing middle age, Olivia Wilson gets shocking news from her physician.  The extra fifty pounds she’s gained since her divorce has brought on sleep apnea, and now she needs to wear some ugly apparatus at night to help her breathe.  The clerk at the medical supply store takes her breath completely away, but why in the world would someone as handsome as Austin Reed date a fat, lonely woman who looks like Jacques Cousteau at night?


One of our authors has dubbed Ginger Simpson the Goddess of Humor at MuseItUp Publishing, Inc., because she keeps all of us laughing both on the loops and in her books.  And Ginger has not failed in this short story.  At twenty-four pages, she will have you chuckling and sympathizing with Olivia whether or not you look like Jacque Cousteau at night as so many of us do.

Yes, like Olivia, I wear a CPAP and it’s darned hard to kiss a man good night when he can’t reach your lips because your mask is in the way!  I’ve lost 122 pounds (as of September 1!) so I’m hoping to get rid of it when I reach my goal.  At three-hundred pounds I was lucky I could breathe at all.  ;-)

Back to the review.  I highly recommend this delightful read.

Price:  $2.50

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Her Last Kiss by Jenna Storm



Geneva Phillips life changes forever when she embarks on a weekend in the Arizona White Mountains to soothe her broken heart. Geneva never realized offering an injured man refuge from a raging storm would plunge her into a dangerous and sensual world. When a bloodthirsty daemon targets Geneva as his next kill, she must rely on the mysterious stranger to keep her alive.

Alek Savakis is an Enforcer for the Brethren of Stone Daggers. His mission is to destroy a rabid daemon loose in the area. His one intent is to kill the daemon and move on, the last thing he needs, or wants, is to find himself stranded with a woman who drives him mad with the need to possess her. As their dark enemy continues to feed on the innocent ones Geneva fears Alek will go to any length to protect mortals even if it means sacrificing her to the daemon.


Her Last Kiss is a terrific story about daemons who have vampire characteristics.  The story is gripping and exciting, with emotion and it’s erotica, so again—those of who like lots of sex will enjoy that aspect.  I reached a point of saturation, but that’s just me.  Jenna Storm is a talented writer, and I look forward to more books by her, but hopefully her future books will be edited better.  There were major editing issues in this novella.  It is a shame when an author has to suffer because of problems at the publisher.


Price:  $6.00

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Stolen Destiny by Gabrielle Bisset


On this anniversary of unspeakable tragedy, my family and I would like to let the survivors and the families and friends of those who died ten years ago that you are, and have been in our thoughts and prayers.





Released from prison to find a murderer, a prison-hardened Varek Leale is convinced no woman deserves the man he’s become, but his Aeveren destiny makes him succumb to sweet and sexy Callia Reynolds. To catch a murderer, he and Callia must find an Aeveren with the power to control time. But Amon Kalins isn’t a man to trifle with, and when he wants something, he’ll use his powers, devastating charm, and good looks to get it.

When Amon manipulates time and seduces her away, Varek must turn to the people who set him free for help to get her back. But the Council doesn’t do anything without requiring something in return, and what they want is Amon Kalins, one of the most powerful Aeveren ever. Varek will do what he must to capture Amon and find Callia. If he doesn’t, she’ll be lost to him for untold lifetimes.


This is a gripping story, and I’d like to recommend it.  Stolen Destiny is about another species of humanoids who live side-by-side with homo sapiens.  Humans don’t realize the Aeveren are different from us, even though we interact with them daily.  We do not realize that they reincarnate and remember their previous lives, or that when they die their bodies just disappear and they immediately return in their next life—which is why our police are so baffled by the murderer Varek is sent to apprehend.  They find crime scenes, but no bodies, and none of the victims’ relatives seem concerned about the lack of their loved ones’ remains.  We do not know that some of them can see the future, read minds or manipulate time.

The problem I had with this story was that it had major point of view “head-hopping” issues.  I thought that reflected poor editing and at first blamed the publisher, but this is a case of “Nora Roberts does it and I like this more dynamic style of writing.”  Just because Nora Roberts does it, doesn’t make it right.  Danielle Steel uses a lot of comma splices in her books.  She would still fail English Composition 101 at the College of Charleston (SC) where I took it.  I don’t find head-hopping dynamic; I find it confusing and it detracts from the book for me.  I edited an author once who wanted to leave her head-hops in.  I did not want my name on that book as editor.  In this industry, and yes—I’m including the romance genre—head-hopping is considered unprofessional.  As I said, the story is good.  But the head-hopping ruined it for me.



Price:  $5.99


Sunday, September 4, 2011

Buried in Trouble: "Buried in Briny Bay" by Bobbye Terry



Roxie Turner finds herself up to her neck in trouble when her lifelong nemesis, Georgia Collins, is discovered buried in the town’s landfill. To make matters worse, with her characteristic Southern sass, Roxie has been saying she’d kill Georgia for more than twenty years. In fact, she listed the ways to do the woman in, constantly reminding prominent citizens of her intent. It was all a joke, or so she thought. But the joke turns on her as, suddenly, other dead bodies begin to pile up, all murdered with a technique from Roxie’s list.

Enlisting the assistance of handsome hunk, Greg Norris, Roxie’s sister, Trixie Frye, comes to her aid, bent on uncovering the killer and the truth. Can they find out both before Roxie goes to the big house?


Roxie and Trixie are the kind of amateur detectives who would make Miss Marple and Mrs. Fletcher shudder.  In their quest to clear Roxie’s name, they can’t seem to stay out trouble.  They can’t even go out to dinner without another dead body turning up, killed by one of the methods on Roxie’s list.  It’s a good thing Trixie’s husband is willing to drive a hundred miles or so and bail them out.  But then, Greg told them to order in!

I loved Roxie’s sassy attitude, Trixie’s sibling loyalty, her husband’s endless patience, people’s attempts to push Greg and Roxie together, and the twists and turns of this cozy, funny who-dunnit.  According to Ms. Terry, this is the beginning of a series.  I say, bring it on!  I’m hooked!


Price:  $2.99