Deadly Deception

Deadly Deception by Andrea Johnson Beck

 

 

Summary:

The story begins with Dr. Anne Jamison; she is just coming out of a hypnosis session. Anne suffers greatly from severe anxiety attacks. The attacks have been coming to her for the last three years, ever since her boyfriend Carter Leeds went missing and was presumed dead. Anne has spent the past three years in treatment and trying to rebuild her life. She is very pleased with the progress she has been making moving forward and recently became engaged to Adam and believes that things are progressing smoothly.

Anne is a physiologist and shares a practice with her long time best friend Casey Adler. Casey is well aware of her friend's shaky stability and tries her best to keep her grounded. All Anne's work to restore her mental health is put on hold when she receives an envelope containing photos from Carter's last camping trip and a note in his handwriting. Anne believes that this is someone’s idea of a sick joke; she and Casey pursue surveillance footage to see who could have left the envelope.

While waiting on the surveillance tapes Anne goes away for the weekend with Adam. While Anne waits for Adam to come home one evening Carter comes bounding out from the shadows. She is quite stunned to see Carter, and he goes on to tell her that he has been in hiding and that she is in great danger with Adam. Anne goes on the confront Adam and he proceeds to tell her that it is the other way around and she should be anywhere near Carter. Anne is so upset from all the lies she has been told and doesn't know who to believe.

Review:
 
I don't really know where to begin, I like most of the book, but the parts that I don't like make me crazy. I think the author meant for Anne to be the heroine of this story but it just doesn't read that way. She is jumping to one man or the other and her emotional state is in such shambles that you can't tell from minute to minute if she is a weak link, or strong ultra-heroine. The action in the book is superb but I feel like the romantic scenes are very plain and somewhat cheesy.

I was slightly disappointed with the ending. It felt a little rushed it leads up to a phenomenal cliff hanger which sets it up perfectly for the next book, since this the first book of a series, but I came out of that wondering exactly what happened leading up to the cliff hanger.

All this being said I think the characters are well written and there is a ton of potential to become a great series. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

I was provided 1 eBook copy of the book in return for the review. I received no other compensation.



The Second Daughter

The Second Daughter by J. Jeffery

 

 



 

Summary:

The book follows the lives of Theodore and Helen Gale from their initial meeting throughout most of their lives. Theodore and Helen begin there married life together and conceive their first daughter Regina, after the birth of their little girl they felt they had a perfect life; things were going quite well for them. Another year passes and they welcome another beautiful baby girl Debra into their crazy lives. Immediately Helen realizes she was not prepared for a second child, and to make matters worse her second baby was not as "easy" as the first. There were long sleepless nights and frustrating days but Helen and Theodore try to power through and move forward.

Like most people time for Theodore and Helen kept marching on. Their daughters were growing so fast and they couldn't seem to get along at all, which put major pressure on an already rocky marriage. Debra finds that early life with her mother is difficult and seems to be the odd one out with her sister. She finds that her father tries to give her the love and affection she is missing in her life but realizes that he is quick to put his family aside for his own personal gain. Though through the years Debra finds a closer relationship with her mother and this pleases her to no end.

Review:

This is a wonderful book; I had no trouble following the lives of the Gale family through all the ups and downs of life. The author told a beautiful story of a true American family with great perspective. Most interesting to me was just the normal everyday lives of the rich characters. I figure most women would relate closely to the mother daughter dynamic since both daughters are so different. You could probably say that you were one of the daughters at some point in your life.

 

 

I do have a few small idiosyncrasies that bugged me through the entire book (this might be my own personal issues but none the less they bugged me.) Nowhere in the book does it the book tell you the city or state the Gales lived in. This might be a minor issue to some but on my own personal level but it was very difficult for me to wrap my mind around places the family went and where they lived. There is one other thing that I have to mention. Only one place in the entire book does the author tell you what year it is, this again was very troublesome to because the book jumps around in time quite often and it left me confused about the sequence of events. Overall though the books was very moving and a very heartwarming story. I would definitely have to give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I was provided 1 eBook copy of the book in return for the review. I received no other compensation.

 

 



Into the Dark

Into The Dark by Stacy Green



Summary

Emilie Davis works as a bank manager in Las Vegas, her world gets turned upside down after an attempted bank robbery. She is held hostage for several hours and her capturer seems to have taken an unhealthy interest in her. Once SWAT comes to resolve the hostage situation, "The Taker" tries to take Emilie into a hidden passage that lead to drain system under the city. Then she realizes the taker has been stalking Emilie for some time and is still after her. A newspaper article runs after the robbery, some of Emilie's secrets from the past have been made public. Emilie is trying to keep her life on track and put the past behind her. Keeping away from "The Taker" becomes harder and harder.

Nathan Madigan the SWAT negotiator failed to catch "The Taker" before he goes into the drains. He has to turn over the case to the detective and the FBI, but really can't seem to get over putting Emilie in danger. Nathan doesn't want to fail Emilie like he failed his own family when he was young. He wants to help keep Emilie out of harm’s way but someone seems to be helping "The Taker", and Nathan takes it upon himself to try to protect Emilie.

Review

I really felt like I knew each character and was able to lose myself inside the story. The characters were very well written and there was so much depth and insight into their past. I really could relate with Emilie the most because she has such a troubled past involving her family.

It has been a while since I have read a suspense or mystery novel, so I just loved this one. Honestly I can't say enough nice things about this book. It was so well written, I have to tell you if you enjoy a good mystery you will love this as much as I did. I will have to give this 5 out of 5 star. Love love loved it!

I was provided 1 eBook copy of the book in return for the review. I received no other compensation.




Leaping Out On Faith

Leaping Out On Faith by Rochelle Campbell



 

Leaping Out on Faith is a collection of short stories. The stories are from four very different women in completely differing situations.

I enjoyed the collection, but I have to say short stories just leave me wanting more. I normally don't read short stories for this very reason. The writing is superb, and I love learning about these extraordinary ladies. But I would love to see one of these stories turned into a complete novel. I look forward to more wonderful works from a very talented author. I would give this 3 out of 5 stars.



Right Where I Belong

Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee

Summary

16 year old Natalia is leaving her life in Spain behind to go live with her stepmother Maureen in Tampa, FL. Natalia has recently found the lord and her friends and family in Spain ridicule her new beliefs. Maureen has taught Natalia so much about God, but she desires more knowledge. Maureen takes Natalia to her native country with hopes of moving on and bringing Natalia to a better spiritual environment.

Natalia is enrolled in the local Christian school and immediately makes friend with the pastor’s son Brian. Brian and Natalia teach an ESL class to locals as their community service credit for school. Natalia loves her new school and learning more and more about the bible. Brian thinks of Natalia as more than a friend and finds it quite frustrating that Natalia refuses to date. Natalia is very reluctant to make any kind of commitment to a boy, because she has seen her parent fail in their marriages and she feels as if she would be doomed in any relationship. She hopes with help from Brian and his family to have a better relationship with God and to plan her future with his will in mind.

Review

I think this is a great coming of age story that all young women should read. I loved how the author kept teaching Natalia about God's will and how to apply it to her everyday life. I like how pure Natalia's intentions are when itcomes to boys, I think a lot of young women could use it as a guide in their own lives. I really liked how the author let you hear Brian's voice for his fondness of Natalia, and the frustration he felt toward making that relationship work. Overall I absolutely loved this book and gets 5 stars from me.

I was given 1 ebook copy from the author for review purposes. I didn't receive any other compensation


Blog Tour: Black and White and Dead All Over

 

Today is my stop on the Black and White and Dead All Over Tour hosted by Sage's Blog Tours.

 

Summary:

 

Brian Wilder, the one-time war correspondence and Pulitzer Prize winner, has put the high profile journalist lifestyle behind him to work on a small newspaper in Newark, Delaware. He and his photographer Jessica are covering a story of a house being moved to make room for a new development for the weekly paper when all of sudden a skull is uncovered; the remains belong to missing local girl Mary Fleming. Before Brian knows it he is caught up in a 22 year old murder investigation involving the most prominent political family in town.

 

Review:

 

This book is the first in a series featuring Brian Wilder.  I thought this was a pretty good book, I thought it was a nice story line and I enjoyed the character building with Brian.  I wish the book had been a little longer, and I can't wait to see Brian build closer relationships with those around him. I am excited for the next book in the series. Over all I enjoyed the book and I would give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I was provided with 1 eBook copy to write my review. No further compensation was provided.

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Milledgeville Misfit

Summary:

14 year old Juniper Summerville has lost both her parents in a terrible car accident, which has also caused her to go mute around adults. She is being placed in the care of her Aunt and Uncle in their Milledgeville home, Dearborn.

When she arrives at the home is surprised to see that is a very old home and decrepit, and at one time it was an orphanage. Her first impression is that this place looks haunted. Juniper or June Bug, quickly finds that she is making friends with the other children who live in the house. She can speak to the children, but not her aunt and uncle.

She finds the time she spends with the children is helping her get over all her grief of being left alone without any parents.  Quickly Juniper gets caught up in mischief with some of the other children. She is very surprised that none of the other children will except blame for the trouble they cause her. So she is always the one to take the blame and the punishment.

Review:

I normally don’t read YA genre but I absolutely love this book, it is very short but I read the whole thing in one day. I really felt like I was sucked into Juniper's world and caught up in some of the trouble that she and children got themselves into. One of the things that I loved the most is the author is from Georgia, like myself and I loved all the references to local places because I could put myself in the places this made the characters more real for me. It was a great piece of writing and I would absolutely read a follow up to this book. I did have a few issues with the book but they are minor editing issues that I am sure could be fixed easily. I would definitely recommend this book! I give 4 out of 5 stars.

I was given 1 ebook copy from the author for review purposes. I didn't receive any other compensation.






 



Author Spotlight

I am participating in a blog tour, the tour will be stopping here on December 17th but I am going to spotlight the author Michael Bradley today. This is a great book and I look forward to bringing the review next week.

Michael Bradley

Born and raised in southern New Jersey,

Michael Bradley is an author and IT consultant,

whose frequent travels bring him in touch with
a variety of people up and down the east coast.
When he isn’t on the road, Michael hits the
waterways in one of his three kayaks. Being an
avid Apple fan, Michael loves to preach the benefits of Apple’s Mac OS X and iOS.Before working in information technology,
Michael spent eight years in radio broadcasting, working for stations in New Jersey and West Virginia, including the Marconi Award winning WVAQ in Morgantown. Becoming an author has been a lifelong dream for Michael, which was finally realized with the release of his first book in 2012.

Among the writers in which he finds inspiration, Michael favors P.D. James, Raymond Chandler, Leslie Charteris, Simon Brett, and Ian Fleming. He lives in Delaware with his wife, Diane, and their two furry four-legged “kids”, Simon and Brandy. Michael does all of his writing on an Apple iPad 2 with a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover.

Contact:

Michael Bradley

Email:

mjbradley88@mail.com

Blog:

http://mjbradley88.blogspot.com

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/mjbradley88

Next in Line

Well thanks for some of the suggestions for books, but I came across a book while scanning Amazon late last night. It's looking really good and it’s got a couple of hooks that have me intrigued. I LOVE A GOOD HOOK!!! So this one is next in line to be reviewed. Keep the suggestions coming because I know I will need another book soon.

I need a new book

Sorry I haven't uploaded for a few days but have been a tad under the weather and I haven't been able to start a new book.  I am looking for something new to read.  I have a few more books that I have gotten for free off of blogs I follow but I haven't been able to get started. Thanks for the patience and I will be back in the swing of things as soon as I can.