The Shayton Chronicles Book 1:
Destiny Sets
by Karen Fainges
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Here on Earth the stories of vampires are a bit twisted and not so true, but in another parallel dimension there is a world called Shayton that is inhabited by real vampires and they are nothing like the stories. On Shayton the world is in danger of collapsing and the ruling Council is always on the lookout for ways to correct the issues and stave off the collapse. Lisa is the daughter of the king, but she has been banished from Shayton and lives on Earth. Now the council wants her back, and selects a human to bring with her for a purpose, providing a godChild. The Shayton Chronicles Book 1: Destiny Sets follows Lisa as she is brought back and conceives not one but two children and the lives of Lisa and Tony, the children and Shayton that follows their conception and birth. Karen Fainges takes a paranormal or fantasy novel and adds the elements of a family saga to give a new and different novel on the idea of vampires and their coexistence with our world.
The Shayton Chronicles Book 1: Destiny Sets begins what promises to be a unique and fun novel series. Even though it could be called paranormal or fantasy, I think the best genre label for it should be family saga. It follows Lisa and Tony, then their children around through life to the point where they are once again reintroduced to their parents. Talkar is followed as he fights for his place in the world of Shayton, then as he leaves and finds a fulfilling life on Earth with Molly, and later a child with another species. Karen Fainges does a wonderful job of creating a story that you want to follow from the beginning, characters that you relate to and feel for. Although this book spans a great deal of time, it almost feels as it is all happening within moments of each other. This is definitely a good book for adults, highly mature young adults and those loving the idea of a new approach to vampires.
The Shayton Chronicles
Book One - Destiny Sets
Book Two - Tamal's Journeys
Book Three - The Children of Tamal
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Ancasta ~ Guide me Swiftly Home
The Riduna Series, 2
by Diana Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Ancasta is the continuation of the family saga that began in Riduna. Harriet is now a widow with four grown children. Edward is still traveling the seas enjoying his freedom. As the world starts to change and a war looms and progress, follow the former childhood friends and sweethearts as they deal with the ravages and realities of war in England. No one is untouched by the war, as Harriet will watch her twin sons both volunteer for service along with her daughter's husband. It will also be a time to reunite with old friends, Jane, that she had lost touch with who will become the steady rock of a friend that Harriet leaned on before she had Joe, and now with Joe gone, Jane will again become that rock. Diana Jackson doesn't pull any pushes with the tragidies and realities of the war and what it was like, still that does not diminish the glow of the story of a family once again facing the idea that dreams change and live goes on.
First Riduna and then Ancasta, these two books follow Harriet and Edward, who always thought their path in life would be together, but the realities of life was that it was not to be, finally in their retirement years are they able to realize that it wasn't them who changed but the world around them and the things than happened to them to make the dreams change. Diana Jackson weaves a story that is real and true and makes you feel that you are right there living it. It is a wonderful mix of the romance and realities of life with some of the technology advances of the historical time period of the novel. It is defintely a novel of moving on and never giving up, any reader will enjoy.
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The Jewel Box
by C. Michelle McCarty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Follow the life saga of a naive young, small town Texas girl from the late 1960's when she was a young newlywed looking to get out of town until the present. Jill Novak is pretty and spunky, but when it comes to the real world and life, she knows almost nothing. At 18 she marries the first guy that promises her a way out of the small town of Lake Jackson, Kent Novak and they are gone. Married life turns out to be a whole lot different than she expected or planned, and it's not all her fault, needless to say it ends in a divorce, but she comes out with Jacy Nicole, or Nikki, a beautiful daughter.
The box follows Jill, from her point of view, in fact this is her retelling her life to the reader of how she got to where she is today. It watches her grown and mature, learn and lose, love and hurt. She makes hard choices to do things that she never thought she would ever do, and she lives with the guilt and grief from them long after they have past. She blames herself for events she had no control over, don't we all sometimes, and yet through it all grows into a reliable able adult.
She is not always the greatest judge of men. She will met the willy boss who uses her, the oversure of himself administrator that thinks he can cure anything with marriage, the handsome rich guy who loves her but she can't love back, her one true love and all the problems that brings, and someone so like her true love that she can't stop comparing them enough to actually love him.
Throughout it all she keeps going, keeps moving and trying to make a life for herself and her daughter. Best of all Nikki grows to be a wonderful young woman, in spite of all she see's her mom go through, or maybe it is because of all she sees. She learns from her mom's mistakes and bumps and takes her time and she is a treasure.
You will cry along with the book as you watch her with her true love try to be together, time after time, only for them to allow children and family, and in-laws to come between them. It happens to so many relationships, and I personally have seen the exact thing happen to some friends, so I think I cried even harder, but that is part of what make the book so perfect. The whole story really could have taken place, you can really see this life unfolding, and you can see people you know and love in parts of the book, and people you recognize in other parts and even people you were when you were younger sometimes.
It is a curl up by the fire and take the time to read kind of book, because it will take you a bit to get through. Sometimes you will have to put it down to cry, but you will want to continue to read to see just where it ends. Does true love win in the end, or does the interferences of life keep them apart.
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Lynn Worton Review
A Voice to Be Heard
by Dell Brand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite
Travel back to the 1800's to a time when society was ruled by men, and women were window dressing. A Voice to be Heard starts with a young girl, Florence who is well educated, which is not common for that era. Yet she is seduced and becomes pregnant by the Lord of the house's son, only to be held in high regard by the Lord, who takes care of her and her twin daughters for the rest of his life. Within days, grandfather is killed in a freak carriage accident and mother dies after and run-in with her seducer. The twins go to their grandfather's lawyer with a plan, he having heard all about the intelligence and education that grandfather and mother imparted on them. The lawyer is more than happy to help and sets plans into action, within a month the girls are on a boat to Australia. Despite all society conventions,the girls proceed on their own, and buy a house, build another, turn the first into a hotel, and thus an empire is created. Along the way, each twin runs into problems with men. Joey falls for a married man, has his child, but never tells him about it and lets Maddy raise her as her own. Maddy marries a thug who hides his true intentions from her until after their marriage. He drains their bank account and beats up Maddy, only to later try to rape Joey and get knocked over the head and killed. Happier times and sadder times follow, just as in life. Dell Brand does a wonderful job making you feel like you are really living in Melbourne in the 1840's.
A Voice to be Heard is an inspirational read to any woman, allowing them to realize that they can accomplish whatever they want, no matter what society says. It won't be easy, there will be hurdles and bad times, but good times too, you just have to stay focused. Dell Brand cover a long period of time, from the early 1800's when Florence is young, to the 1850's after the death of Thomas, the twins father. It's truly a family saga, although it does skip huge parts of time, which of course you would have to, to cover the length of time it does. I enjoyed Joey's drive to be held under no ones thumb, to be her own person and to build this empire for her family. Maddy is more the romantic of the two and craves marriage and children. Yet for all Joey's strength, one man can still bring her crumbling, her first and only love. She never stops loving him. Overall the family saga, historical nature of the story first drew me in, but the characters kept me there until the end. It had me wishing I could have been there, almost. I couldn't handle the fashion!
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A Lifetime to Die
by P. S. Meronek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Reader's Favorite
Our story begins in Czechoslovakia, where a young man, Aristotle Mercury is living with his mother after the death of his father. A Lifetime to Die follows Telly, as he tries to make his way as a young man, only to have to escape his home to American. Once in America, he builds his life and business beyond what anyone probably thought he was able to do. He experiences the joys and heartaches of life, and through it all is a deep desire to right a wrong done to his parents many years ago. This driving force it what propels him from just a carpenter to a businessman and developer. P.S. Meronek takes the all American dream of making it big, and translates it to this young refugee with superb skill. You will root for and cry with Telly from the beginning to the end of the book.
This saga follows one man through his life, and although he has a goal to right a wrong, he never seems to let it overtake him. He keeps a good balance on life. A Lifetime to Die starts in Czechoslovakia and travels to America, although truthfully it could have been from anywhere. It follows Telly, from teen to late 50's, almost a lifetime. P.S. Meronek does a wonderful job in this tale to reignite your belief in the American dream, and even more the ability of it to be achieved without selling your soul to the devil. It is a truly believable tell that you won't want to put down until you turn the last page.
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