Honor Redeemed

Prosperity Jones has lost everything.  Born and raised in Nantucket, her father was a whaler who was lost at sea.  A few years later, she lost her mother to consumption.  With nothing left in life but herself, she sets out for Key West to reunite with her fiance' David Latham, who is stationed there as an army engineer.  When she arrives in Key West, she finds that she has lost David, as well.  You would think that she has nothing left to live for.  But, under-girding all her loss is her unwavering faith in God, who can make good out of bad and is the author of all things good.  So she has not lost all, she still  has her faith, the most important thing.  With no money to sail back to Nantucket, she is forced to stay in Key West and takes a job as a laundress at the hospital.  Heartbreak covers every day as she sees the evidence of David's infidelity, as their paths cross. He has taken a wife of ill-repute who carries his unborn child.  I leave it for you to read and discover the fulfillment of this story.
Christine Johnson, the author of Honor Redeemed has written the second book in the Keys of Promise series.  This is my first time reading her work.  I loved this book.  It was easy to read, yet carried a depth of emotion that I could relate to.  Her characters are well written and contain my favorite trait, human frailty. That lends a touch of reality that brings a character to life.  The complicated plot lines were believable and could all happen in real life.  The sentence structure and grammar were spot-on, allowing the reading to sail smoothly.  I can't say anything bad about this book.  It was great.  I plan on circling back to the first volume in Keys of Promise which is Love's Rescue.  I am interested in the other characters in this book who are introduced in the first book.
I give Honor Redeemed five stars and urge you to get your copy asap!  I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing, in exchange for an honest review.  These words are my opinion.
Find out more about this book at Baker Publishing | Honor Redeemed.  Read about Christine Johnson and her writing at Christine E. Johnson
Thanks so much for reading!  See you soon,
~Jeri

I AM NO ONE by Patrick Flannery

Patrick Flannery has written a novel about what could happen to you when you think the government has no idea of you, or that you are even alive, much less cares.  Hence, the title I Am No One.  However, that is not always the case.  You may think you have done nothing to call attention to yourself, but we live in an age where surveillance is carried out in a much more subtle manner, for reasons that would not have been reasons many years ago.
Jeremy O'Keefe has returned to America (New York) after ten years living and working in Britain, at Oxford.  He has not been completely transparent, which leads to the reason he is being "watched."  Before I forget, this brings my main statement about this book to mind, which is "If you really are doing nothing, you are probably not being watched."  I picked this book up thinking that citizens who are truly living a quiet life were being observed by the government for no good reason and that would have been a great story if it had a plot that included sinister motives.  That story would have been spine-tingling because it would alert us to the fact that the government is overboard with suspicion and innocent citizens are subject to an invasion of privacy that is, in it's scope, unparalleled in American history.  However dystopian that story line is, that would be scary and we already kind of think that anyway, so that would be alarming, terrifying, gripping, as some reviews have stated about this book.  I was disappointed about a third of the way through and it never came back for me.
Jeremy, our protagonist, returns to New York and a job at New York University.  He begins to understand that he is being watched, in no uncertain terms.  He has researched and written extensively on surveillance so he knows the subtle signs that may be clues that he is being observed.  The story is about him trying to figure out why, which he does mostly figure out, and when I read that part, I thought how stupid he is for thinking that he was doing nothing to call attention to himself.  He originally left New York (moved to England, lock, stock and barrel) right after the 9/11 terror attack which was the first "dumb" thing he did.  He then gives way to loneliness and loss and involves himself romantically with someone he really should not be involved with.  He is a little unpatriotic with this involvement.  During this process of trying to understand why he is being surveilled, we watch him wallow in emotional mud from his divorce and "abandonment" of his adult daughter.  He misses and replays memories of life as it was and that is part of his character, or lack thereof, that allows him to slowly drift into a relationship that should not draw him in.  That is enough of a spoiler.  I don't want to completely ruin your interest because you  may be completely taken with this book, as it seems some readers are.
As far as the writing goes, the author is a professor of creative writing at the University of Reading, so the sentence structure, grammar, etc. should be excellent, and they are.  I especially appreciated Mr. Flannery's ability to make the run-on sentence into a sort of panicking, rushed runaway thought train that perfectly describes Jeremy's fear.  Don't get me wrong; the writing is good.  The story line is disappointing.  So much so that it compels me to give the novel 2 stars but, I give it 3-4 for the mechanics.
I was not pulled in, absorbed, or compelled but that does not mean you won't be.  I recommend that you  form your own opinion.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. These words are my opinion.

On that note, I give I AM NO ONE 3 stars.
Thanks so much for being here!

~Jeri

BOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick Flanery was born in California and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. After earning a B.F.A. in Film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he worked in the film industry before moving to the U.K., where he completed a doctorate in Twentieth-Century English Literature at the University of Oxford. He is the author of the novels Absolution, which was shortlisted for the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and Fallen Land. He has written for The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Times Literary Supplement, and is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Reading

I Am No One | Patrick Flannery | Penguin Random House

Central Intelligence

Think about the name of this movie for a moment;  it would indicate that  intelligence (all of it, a lot of it, some of it?!)  is centrally located.  But, in this movie, that central location is not the two main characters brains!!  Ok, my play on words, pun intended!  And that may have been the idea behind the title.  Enter Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.  Dwayne is Bob Stone, a CIA agent who went to high-school with Calvin Joyner, Kevin Hart's character. They have been out of touch since their high school days.  Bob remembers Calvin as a friend who helped him out when he was being bullied as an overweight teen.  Bob has weighed down and bulked up since his high school years.  Bob finds out that Kevin is a whiz-bang accountant and realizes he needs his skill with numbers to aid in the assignment he is working on, so he makes sure they connect at their  reunion.

Bob practically kidnaps Calvin into helping him out and leads him into a world of car chasing, gun toting spy hunting espionage.  Calvin has no idea what he is getting into, he is swept along by Bob, thinking the favor he needs is a harmless numbers task on the computer.  He soon finds out that it is not, but it takes a while longer for him to see that he is involved in a world class chase for a bad guy.  When Calvin begins to have a dawning realization that he has been duped and is in over his head, it's too late.  The resulting indignant anger he throws at Bob makes him the straight guy to Bob's funny guy responses.  The comic chemistry between Dwayne and Kevin works very well and was a surprising pleasure for me.  Yes, it is a formulaic spy plot.  It works because Johnson and Hart work it.  They play off each others strengths well, bringing genuine laughs and entertainment.  As well as surprising us with good straight guy-funny guy banter.

I saw this movie with my husband and we picked it because we wanted a good laugh and thought this one would fit the bill.  It did.  It was funny and the acting was good.  You have to know going in that this was made for entertainment and Dwayne and Kevin entertained the audience with this one.  There was plenty of laughter in the theatre we were in!  It was a real escape for a couple hours and that alone was worth the price of admission.  Give yourself over to it; don't critique it. Take a tub of popcorn and a large soda in with you, you will be set for a good time!
I do not review movies for anyone but my readers, so I paid my way in.  I give Central Intelligence five stars for entertainment value.  I give it four stars for storyline.  Great funny movie all the way around.
You should see it!

Thanks for being here
~Jeri

Sea Rose Lane: A Hope Harbor Novel

This is Irene Hannon's newest release.  It is the second Hope Harbor novel that she has written. Ms. Hannon is an award winning author of over fifty books.  She is a three time RITA award winner among many other awards and distinctions for her contemporary romantic suspense and women's fiction/romance novels.  Sea Rose Lane is the second book by Ms. Hannon that I have reviewed.
Sea Rose Lane is set in the seaside town of Hope Harbor, Oregon.  There we find BJ Stevens who is the resident architect/construction supervisor.  She left the hectic pace of a large firm and city life to start a business where there is a calm to each day, even in the midst of designing and building businesses and homes.  She is involved in a volunteer program to help senior citizens have access to basic housekeeping needs, a need which is dear to her heart.  She has secrets and regrets.  Enter, Eric Nash who has been handed a disastrous layoff from a large law firm where he was on the "partner track."  He has come to Hope Harbor to spend time with his father and regroup for the job hunt.  His father is remodeling his home into a B&B and BJ is his architect.  They meet, sparks fly; and not good ones!  I will leave the rest to you to read about in this excellent romantic novel.
Sea Rose Lane is not just a boy meets girl novel.  Each character brings their own issues, life experience and perspective to this beautiful sea coast town.  They all have problems that need solutions and emotional scars that need to heal.  Ms. Hannon has written each character with flaws and heartaches that we can relate to. This is what gives a book it's depth and pulls the reader in to find out what will happen and, indeed, if there will be a happy ending for anyone!

The author has done an excellent job of bringing us a very readable, believable story of two people who want to start over.  The secondary characters have their own set of personality quirks and emotional scars as well, adding to the fullness of the story.  An added perk for me is the attention she gave to grammar and sentence structure.  Those are two of my sticking points with every book I read and Ms. Hannon's sentences were well written.  I enjoyed every page of this book and all the details.  Irene states that she likes to do three things with her writing;  entertain, enrich and uplift.  She does all three very well in Sea Rose Lane.

Find out more about Irene's writing and her books at Irene Hannon. 
Last year, I reviewed Irene Hannon's new release entitled, Buried Secrets.  I did not give it a glowing report.  It just did not strike my fancy and I had a hard time finishing it, but I did (of a sorts) finish it.  Ms. Hannon was very gracious in accepting my three star review and suggested that I try another of her books, Thin Ice, which came out in January of this year as well as suggesting that I may also like Against All Odds, Book I of her Heroes of Quantico series which was published in 2009.   I have not read Thin Ice yet, but I did recently read Against All Odds and I could not put it down!  I know that every book cannot be a hit with every reader and the Men Of Valor series may not be my cup of tea, but I have changed my mind about the writing of Ms. Hannon and I think she has lots more books that I am going to put on my TBR list!  First thing I will do is read Books II and III of Heroes of Quantico.  And now, I am going to have to read the first Hope Harbor book! I know, reviewing can be a subjective thing, try as I might to be objective!
I give Sea Rose Lane five stars and recommend you get a copy and read it, as well as Book I of the Hope Harbor series!  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review.  These words are my opinion.  Read more at Baker Publishing Group

Thanks so much for being here!
Jeri~

Summer/Beach Reads 2016

As I write this, I am sitting in my dining room, looking at my next new release book to get started reading.  I think it will be on this list of summer reading that I am giving you, but you will have to wait until I read it, then I will let you know!  There is one book ahead of it and that book will most likely make the list also.  I know, why all the cloak and dagger?!?  I just don’t want to get ahead of myself and toss out names of upcoming reviews until they are closer to being posted.   So, with that out of the way let me get to my summer reading recommendations. 

Of course, as always, this is an excellent time to re-read one or two of your favorite classics.  Maybe you like Wuthering Heights.  Maybe you are an Agatha Christie fan.  It is possible you have a hankering for newer classics, such as Hemingway’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Old Man and The Sea.  These are all good summer reading, anytime reading, actually.

I will confine my list to newer books.  I find that in the summer I am often looking for something not extremely profound, but deep enough to hold my attention.  I also like to explore new authors or new-to-me writers. 

Let me start with a couple of my favorites.  I love Hawaii by James Michener.  It is a most excellent narrative of the beginning of the islands, clear down to the natives of Bora Bora setting out in their double-hulled canoes to find a new home.  I want to read his Caribbean novel too.  I don’t know what it is, but I have a love of tropical settings.  I like to read about them and be in them!

The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews.  She writes with a believable humor that warms up your heart.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  I have not read any of her writing but this looks intriguing so I include it.

The Patmos Deception by Davis Bunn.  Set in the Greek Isles with intrigue, old secrets and past loves that intertwine.  I may read it again.  Also, all three books of his Mark Royce Series are good too.

The English Spy by Daniel Silva.  This is the sequel to The English Girl which I also reviewed here, if you want an idea of what this is about, check out my review of that.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.  This is a debut novel and it is an excellent read, based on a true story from WWII.  You can also read my review of this one here.

The Quieting by Suzanne Woods Fisher.  This is Book II of The Bishop’s Family series.  Good reading on a warm summer day.

Of course, the list would not be complete without a couple books set near the ocean or on a beach.  I would recommend these;

The Beach House Series by Sally John and Trish Perry.   They are The Beach House, Castles in the Sand and Sunset Beach.  These are good clean fiction with some depth to the story line.  They mainly focus on issues/relationships being resolved on vacation at the beach.   They are good reads if you just want something a little bit lighter.

Under A Maui Moon by Robin Jones Gunn.  This is Book I in the Hideaway Series.  Books II and III are Canary Island Song and Cottage By the Sea.  Good stuff.  God is in there when the characters face temptation and He continues to show His presence.

There are so many good books out there and summer is just a natural season for focusing on reading, with the warm long days and slower pace that encourages.  Translation; burying your head in a good book!! 

I hope I have given you some ideas for your summer reading.  Any of these are good additions to your TBR stack any time of the year.  Hey, you could have a Summer TBR stack and a Winter TBR stack!  Nothing like being organized.

Thanks so much for being here.  I’ll be back soon with another new release for you to take a look at!

Jeri~

Murder Comes by Mail

A new murder mystery by A.H. Gabhart is on the shelf at your local bookstore (or online, whichever you prefer.)  This is Book 2 of the Hidden Springs Mystery series.  These books can be read separately and out of sequence because they are more of a continuation of the same characters and locale with another murder being done.  Deputy Michael Keane continues to solve the whodunnit with the same intelligence and savvy that he used in the first book entitled Murder at the Courthouse.  If you are not familiar, Deputy Keane came home to Hidden Springs after serving as a big city cop for some years.  He felt the desire to return to small town law enforcement and embrace the lifestyle and values that he found there while growing up.  As usual, the grass is not always greener!
The author, Ann Gabhart, writes a strong character in Michael Keane and expertly merges his big city experience with his heart for the small town he loves.  Sheriff Keane sees beyond the obvious and has an uncanny sense (gut feeling?) for seeing hidden details in the unsolved crime.  This makes for excellent crime solving and exciting reading; as in, hard to put down this book!  Book 1 in this series was a good read, and if anything, this second book is even better.  The author writes a villain that is the epitome of a psychopath.  As murders continue to be done, the perpetrator makes it obvious to Michael that this spree has a personal connection.
 Murder Comes by Mail takes us back to Hidden Springs while reacquainting us with the townspeople that we met in Murder at the Courthouse.  Michael's Aunt Lindy is back, as well as the crew at the Sheriff's office, Betty Jean.  Also Hank Leland, editor of the local paper, Hidden Springs Gazette.  In this book,  Deputy Michael saves a man from jumping off the Eagle River bridge.  He utters something to Michael that puzzles him and then pictures of dead girls begin to arrive at the Sheriff's office.  Michael begins to believe the man he saved from jumping over the Eagle River bridge is doing the murders.  To make it worse, if possible, Michael has a connection to each girl that is murdered.  It becomes obvious that the killer has it out for the Deputy.  I can't tell you more without spoiling it for you, so I will stop here!
A.H. Gabheart has a knack for expertly crafting personalities and  relationships between characters and bringing out the details of daily life.  Her writing is believable and easy to read, at the same time absorbing.  I honestly could not put this down about 2/3 of the way through the book.  It simply becomes spooky and macabre.  I finished this one night when I should have been sleeping, rain pouring down and before I finished I was hearing every bump in the night and some that weren't there!
This is an excellent read and needs to be added to your summer reading list.  In fact, I will be back soon to give you my recommended list and this will be on it!
I give Murder Comes by Mail five stars and recommend you get your copy asap and read it up!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for an honest review.  These words are my opinion.
You can find out more about this book and others at Baker Publishing Group.  Read more about this author and her books at Ann H. Gabhart.

Thanks so much for being here!  I will be back soon with my Summer Reading List, so please come back and check it out!
See you soon,
Jeri~

The Elements of Pizza

Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home      

This isn't just pizza; it's gourmet that you truly can make at home.  Ken Forkish has written the master book on homemade pizza. He is the owner of Ken's Artisan Pizza in Portland Oregon and is the James Beard award winning author of Flour Salt Water Yeast.  He visited Italy, spending much time in the area around the Bay of Naples, where he says "great pizza as we know it has been happening for about 150 years..."  
The beginning chapters of the book are informative reading as he takes you through the Soul of Pizza, Pizza Styles, Great Crust, Methods.  It gave me an understanding of pizza I did not have before.  Don't skip that part.  This is not about a bread dough recipe used for pizza.  He achieves perfect crust with a scant minimum of yeast and longer rise time.  It is delicious.  The recipes are easy to use and have conversions from grams to teaspoons and cups.  He recommends you buy a kitchen scale that measures in grams if you don't already own one.  I used his conversions and my pies were delicious.  Most scales have both.
I made several of these pizzas and they were all good.  It is the best crust I have eaten.  And I like pizza a lot.  He separates the book into dough recipes and pizza recipes. He even has a gluten free crust if you prefer it. The book has sections featuring Italian Inspired in which he includes Margherita Pizza, including the history of that name, Carbonara Pizza, Pizza Bianca.  The New York Inspired chapter includes New York Cheese Pizza, Pepperoni, Mushroom and Onion Pizza (I made that one) and Meatball Pizza.  He also gives us Artisan, Flatbread and Vegetable Pizza recipes.  I made Adam Kuban's Love Supreme Bar Pizza as well as the Hawaiian Pizza.  It was all good.  The pizza recipes have suggestions for which dough recipes best suit the pizza recipe you are making.  This book has everything you need to make world-class pies at home, just like it says.  Check out his site at Ken's Artisan.
I give The Elements of Pizza five stars!  If you like to make your pizza at home, this is the book you need to do that.  Complete, easy and delicious!  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.  These words are my opinion.
Thanks for being here, see you soon!

Jeri~