Don't Catch Me: Chase (The McCabe Brothers, book 2)
by Lorhainne Eckhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Reader's Favorite.
Of all the McCabe brothers, Chase is the one who has always felt the need to fix things, to take care of problems and people ad deal with them. So when Chase stops for gas in a remote little place, walking into what looks like an armed robbery, he immediately takes action and takes control of the situation. Things get more confusing for chase when he realizes that it's just a young kid, and then that there is a whole lot more going on in this sleepy little town than meets the eye. It will take all of Chase's smooth-talking and handsomeness to build any trust with Billy Jo, but in her, Chase sees his own brother Aaron, and he is bound and determined to make things right. Don't Catch Me is the second book in the McCabe Brother's series, written by author Lorhainne Eckhart.
Although Don't Catch Me is the second book in the McCabe Brother's series, it can easily stand on it's own. The oldest brother Vic, who was the subject of the first book, is mentioned in this book, but you don't need to know any of his story to completely understand this book. The reader is introduced to Aaron and Luc, in fact we meet the whole McCabe family in this book, and you start really understanding the family more in this book, they play a slightly bigger role, as they were almost non-existent in the first book. Author Lorhainne Eckhart has written a captivating tale of family, especially a dysfunctional family that has managed to create some amazing men, that have their flaws, but at the same time those flaws are what make them that much more interesting and relatable. This is a great book for any reader, there is very mild references to a couple of intimate moments, but it is easy for me to say those are so mild, any age reader would enjoy this book.
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Blood Will Tell
by C.S. Donnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Living her whole life in a house full of secrets, Amy just wants to be on her own, have a car and find love. But when love finds her in the most unexpected of places, the chauffeur's nephew, a vindictive father with access to more money than the devil, has the ability to tear her world apart. Can she survive, and can she find happiness? Blood Will Tell is a complex story that spans the years, from birth to death and many more years and places. It revolves around Amy, who is naive and sheltered, and unfortunately easily controlled by her father in the beginning. She slowly learns more and more truths, through tragedy and heartbreak, and becomes a stable and solid woman. Author C. S. Donnell builds a complex story with more twists than a spiral staircase. This story will keep you guessing and reading until the very last page.
Blood Will Tell has its amazing love story, it's vindictive and vengeful father figure, who believes he has every right to manipulate people and circumstances for his own benefit. It also spans the period from a young girl coming home from college to middle age, to old age. Wrongs were committed, but the way that people internalize those wrongs and behave doesn't have to be criminal. Author C. S. Donnell builds a story where you want to root for true love, for justice and for the good guy to win. It is such a complex and twisted story that you will be crying and happy all in the space of two pages. Really a great read for all readers.
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Fluid Veracity
by Nicole M. Scott
My rating: 4.1 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
A beautiful summer day, June 8th to be exact, and Mykal is moping in her house over the break-up with her true love, she claims of Nixon almost two years ago. She should be over it, but it is worse today because Nixon is marrying her cousin today! Enter Taranj, Mykal's best friend since childhood who is determined to get her out of the house and take her to a club. Only issue for Mykal is that it's a gay club, and Mykal is a little homophobic even if she won't admit it. Yet she clings to Taranj as a best friend, even to the point of other relationships, which makes people wonder about their relationship. Fluid Veracity is more about the way relationships weave and evolve, that you can be a best friend and always there for someone, yet not be the same sexual orientation. Nicole M Scott writes a modern tell of the working woman, with complicated family dynamics to deal with, still trying to find her own way in the world.
Fluid Veracity was at times a bit hard to follow, but having said that and now that I have read it through once, I think on a second reading it would not be near as hard to follow. Mykal truly believes that her lost love Nixon was her only chance at love, and when she meets Aaron she finds a guy who loves she, maybe a little too much. Preconceived notions, family dynamics, rumors, lies and half-truths all interact to turn what could be into something completely different. Author Nicole M Scott uses the modern world as a backdrop to this novel, and it turns out to be something everyone can relate to in one way or another. Great read for adults.
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Cries of Innocence
by Angela Beach Silverthorne
My rating: 4.65 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Bren has wanted to be a cheerleader her senior year in High School for so long, she has worked hard, practicing on her own, asking friends for help and finally her dreams are about to come true, she has made the cheer squad. There is just one catch, the cheer coach wants her to decline the position, what? Did she just hear what was said correctly? But of course, she did, once again her life is being defined not by something she did, but by something she has no control over, her father. He is the town drunk, and abusive. Cries of Innocence is the story of Bren and her mother, when Bren finally has enough of this town and her father. It follows what happens when Bren finally trusts someone enough with the truth, and everything changes. Angela Beach Silverthorne tells a captivating story of a daughter and a mother, each surviving in their own ways but neither really living or understanding until now.
Cries of Innocence is more than your typical abusive, drunken father story. Larry Parrot is downright evil in many ways, and he can be hard to read at times. I read a great many books and usually have no problems, but there was something about the way that author Angela Beach Silverthorne wrote him that just made him real and scary to the reader. I found myself scared and troubled, frightened for the family and hopeful, yet at the same time feeling the same despair that Bren must have felt at times. This is an emotionally charged, but amazingly wonderful book. I definitely recommend it, but advise more mature readers. I am sure older teens would be fine with it, but I think parents should read it and decide for themselves before allowing their teens to read the book. It does have some good messages along with the frightening events that occur.
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Lost Soul (War of Destiny) Volume 1
by Theresa Van Spankeren
My rating: 4.3 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Julia was not always a Lost Soul, she was once the daughter of a wealthy man about town in a time when daughters were nothing more than property to be bartered off to the highest bidder in marriage. Julia begins the story telling us that she is going to write down her history to hopefully rid herself of her nightmares, and given some of the things she experiences, if all she has are nightmares she is lucky. Julia begins her life naive and thinking that she is worth something, only to be crushed by her father and husband. Luckily someone is watching out for her and she begins her life as a vampire. Author Theresa Van Spankeren gives the vampire community progressive ideals for the time period, the believe women are equal to men and not just property. Throughout her life Julia learns more with the vampires than she ever would have in her worldly life.
Lost Soul (War of Destiny) (Volume 1) begins Julia's story and sets the stage for a saga to be set forth in the vampire community. There is a war brewing, to live among the humans and befriend them or to use them only as food and kill them. Theresa Van Spankeren gives the reader a look into the world throughout different time periods with the history of different vampires, yet at the same time they all are very progressive in their thoughts, or at least the band that Julia belongs to. The reader is easily able to identify with them and feel for them, wanting them to succeed in their endeavors to bring about change and equalities. It is a great read for adults or older more mature teens.
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The Wraith of Carter's Mill: The Curse of the Carter Women
by C. Evenfall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
The Wraith Of Carter's Mill: The Curse of the Carter Women is a series of four short stories in one book that tells the story of the Carter family. The first story tells of Libby and her brother Jack as young children with their mother Julia. This story introduces "the dark man" that seems to plague the Carter family. The second story follows Libby as a married woman, and her young daughter Shyanne, as she becomes the next generation to meet "the dark man". This time Libby is able to find out more information because her mother Julia has passed away. The third book follows Shyanne and her daughter Melody as the curse of the dark man becomes even worse and Shyanne finds she has the power to help end the curse. The final story goes back to the beginning and tells us how the curse of the dark man began. C. Evenfall gives us a family saga that follows the women of the Carter family.
Although The Wraith of Carter's Mill is subtitled The Curse of the Carter Women, it is actually the head of the original Carter clan, Zeb that brings about the curse. The power to end the curse flows through the Carter women, although it is not until Shyanne that someone is able to do anything about the curse. C. Evenfall mixes a ghost story, a story of revenge and betrayal all together with a family saga that sees five generations of Carter's deal with the dark man. This is a great woman's book because of the connections that the women in the story carry throughout all the stories. It is also a good read for older teens on up. It was compelling and pulled me along the whole way.
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Before I Wake
by Tamera Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
When Christine wakes in outside her car in the parking lot, she has no idea what she is doing there or why. Her body hurts and she can't remember anything. Slowly small memories come back to her, but it turns out they aren't recent memories. Before I Wake is a romance suspense story of a woman who loses five years of her memory. Why she would want to forget the last five years becomes evident as the story goes along, and we are introduced to the players in her life. There is the original boyfriend from that time, who is the father of her daughter, the current husband, who is having an affair, and assorted friends. Tamera Lawrence does an admirable job of mixing romance and suspense. Why is she bruised and battered? Was it the old boyfriend or the current husband? Which story to believe? Who to trust? And can she figure it out before it is too late?
Before I Wake is what I would call a Romantic Suspense Novel. There is a basic romance in the story but there is an added element of suspense. In this story Christine has lost her memory of the last five years, she thinks she is still engaged to her old boyfriend and pregnant with his child. Author Tamera Lawrence is able to blend the two into a compelling story that keeps your attention from start to finish. There are times when you want to yell at the old boyfriend for his behavior, other times when you want to yell at the current husband for his behavior. Neither are perfect, they sound like real, true life men, but at the same time, you want to keep reading to find out what happens and will Christine figure it out in time.
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No Tears For My Father
by Viga Boland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
No Tears For My Father is a non-ficton book, and that being said there are some readers that can not handle the subject matter of the book. Viga Boland recounts her life with an abusive father, not only physically but sexually as well. She does not sugar coat the truth, but she does not get graphic just to sell books either. She walks a very fine line between the truth and reality, and she does so very well. This book follows her from her earliest memories until she writes this book, with most of the coverage being during the time she lived with her parents and underwent the abuse.
No Tears For My Father is a wonderful book for the healing of those that have experienced abuse at the hands of a parent. By writing this book, Viga Boland has set the record straight on her own history and freed herself from her father's grasp. By reading her words, other survivors can heal and realize that they are not alone, that others have went through the same things and survived. It is even good for those going through it currently, in that it gives them the hope to get out. For those readers who have never experienced the abuse, reading this book can help to give them insight into what goes on and how difficult it is for someone to get out. This is a courageous book and one that, as a reader I am thankful the author took the time to write.
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Wolf's Haven
Caedmon Wolves, Book One
by Ambrielle Kirk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Tamara's dreams of a happy life and future have gone down the drain and she has finally decided that tonight she will make her move. After years of lies and abuse at the hands of her fiance' Brad, she is breaking free. Brad and his gang have a break-in planned for tonight, and she is planning to call the cops and run. Of course, even the best of plans can go astray. Brad ends up asking her to help on one of the floors instead of standing at the door like normal, which makes it harder for her to escape. When she hears the sirens, she makes a rash decision and jumps to safety, away from Brad and the gang and heads into the woods. Problem? She has twisted her ankle badly in the fall, and she is looking into the eyes of a wolf. All the sudden the wolf seems to understand and takes care of Tamara and takes her to safety.
Devin is the bastard son of the former pack alpha of the Caedmon Wolves. He has left on his own for the last five years, while his half-brother has ran the pack after his father's death. Now his brother is dead, and his no good cousin is trying to lead the pack. He must protect the pack, so he heads back to vote. He never expects to run into a damsel in distress in the woods on his way home, especially one this beautiful and fragile.
Can Devin be the one to heal the wounds that Brad has inflected on Tamara's soul? Can Devin really give up what he does and take over the pack?
This is a well written beginning to a series on the particular pack of wolves, the Caedmon Wolves. Should be an interesting series, if this is any indication of the rest.
Caedmon Wolves Series
Book One: Wolf's Haven
Book Two: Wolf's Promise
Book Three: Wolf's Touch
Book Four: Wolf's Desire
Book Five: Wolf's Strength
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