Callie (The Bayou Hauntings, Volume 1)
by Bill Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers Favorite
All her life Callie has felt like a failure, not worthy of the affection of her grandmother or anyone else for that matter, part of that came from the fact that her father took off the minute he found out her mother was pregnant, and part was the way the extended family treated her. Her misguided attempt to "grown up" and make something of herself found her estranged from her grandmother for the last decade. Now her grandmother was dead and Callie still found herself feeling like a failure. When her Uncle Willard calls to tell her that she must be in Louisiana for the reading of her grandmothers will, she found herself at his mercy as he had to wire her the money to get there. There is no love lost between Callie and her Uncle Willard, and once the will is read and what she inherits is discovered, it becomes clear that Uncle Willard wants what she got, and will do anything to get it. Callie, The Bayou Hauntings is the story of Callie's discovery of her family history and in turn of herself. Author Bill Thompson delivers a southern story high on suspense and family.
Callie is titled as the first Volume in The Bayou Hauntings, which gives the impress of a series, but not necessary following just the one character. Author Bill Thompson gives the reader a book high in suspense and supernatural or paranormal in the form of a friendly visitor that seems real but just might be a ghost. The key to the story is the discover of the family history, how everything that happened in the past actually came to be, and that history unlocks the secrets of the plantation mansion that Callie inherited and also allows Callie to come into her own. This book is clean in that there is no sex, although there are the mention on illegitimate children and there is only a few curse words spread throughout the story, they are appropriate when they come into play. Therefore I have no problem recommending this book to readers of all ages.
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Faces of Betrayal: Symphonies of Sun & Moon Saga Book 1
by Daniele Cella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for Readers Favorite
In another world, in another place, in another time warriors and clans rule the world. Marriage is a contract to bond clans and ensure peace, but sometimes betrayal taints the contract. In Faces of Betrayal by authors Daniele Cella and Alessio Manneschi, we follow a number of different players in a complex tale of war, peace, marriage and betrayal, power and greed. There are a number of characters and each has a chapter(s) to tell what it going on from their view. Through all these different views we learn of greed, the want for power, and detailed plans to wrench power from those who have it instead of taking it through peaceful means. There are also some complete innocents in this story that are swept up in the aftermath of the betrayal, and even though they don't know the full extent of the betrayal, they have to forge a way in this new world on their own, without knowing who they can actually trust.
Authors Daniele Cella and Alessio Manneschi have created a unique world with its own history of war and peace that is slowly unraveled as you travel through the Faces of Betrayal. Each person that we meet in the story has a different view, a different knowledge of what is happening and a different connect to each of the other people. Everyone is intertwined together, yet it is not until the end of the book that you finally realize how they are intertwined together and what their roles were in the fate of the other people. This is a well written story that keeps you reading because you feel the need to fully understand what is going on, and you only get glimpses of the big picture until the very end, even then you are left reaching for the second book to figure out more. There is some sex and lots of violence as there is a war taking place, but it is all well written and definitely fit in the story. Given all that, I would recommend this to adult readers.
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The Forgotten Debutante (Book 9 of the Cotillion Ball Series)
by Becky Lower
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
For Saffron, growing up during the Civil War has meant that normal life and all the things she dreamed of doing like her older sisters, has been put on hold. She will never get her debutante ball, or the courting and dancing that she always thought would happen. She's not angry, just tired of missing out, and even more tired of being stuck in her room. When she decides to sneak out to the barn one afternoon, a chance encounter with a Union Soldier trying to make it home to his sick father, becomes an adventure that will fill her dreams for the next three years of the war. Once the war is over, she works beside her brother in the Reburial unit, bringing Union soldiers buried during the fighting back to the North. Suddenly, Zeke Boone is back in her life. The Forgotten Debutante is a heartwarming story of a girl who puts her emotions into something worthy. When she hears of soldiers being buried during the fighting, she makes it her mission to develop a cataloging system to help document their whereabouts. Author Becky Lower gives the reader a story that features something more than your spoiled rich girl.
The Forgotten Debutante is the ninth book in the Cotillion Ball Series, but I will tell you right now, you do not need to have read them all to understand this book. I have not read any of the previous books, and this one stands on it's own just find. Of course there are some references to some of Saffron's sister's and their marriages and I wonder if they might be some of those other books, because I am curious about them now, but it didn't affect the reading of this book. Author Becky Lower did a wonderful job making this book stand on it's own.
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