The Closet (Summerset Tales #1) by Jac Wright ~Review

Title:  The Closet
Author: Jac Wright
Format: Paperback and eBook
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 48
ISBN:  978-1490371788
Source: Self-Purchase
Genre: Short Story,  Contemporary Fiction
Series: Summerset Tales # 1
Best Read in Order: N/A
Stars:  4
Purchase Now:  Amazon

About the Book:  

Love is a battlefield. Who will get out of it alive?

Harry Duncan Wood runs a hotel in the historic city of Bath with his beautiful young wife. When he falls in love with Mill House, an old greystone farmhouse on the banks of river Avon among the soaring hills of Somerset, and sets about moving his family there, the first appearances of the cracks in the marriage take him by surprise. Is his wife seeing another man? Duncan needs to get to the bottom of the affairs for his own sanity. Sometimes, however, ignorance is bliss and will also keep everybody alive.Book Review: 
This gripping short, set to be a series of venue shorts of the people in the town of Summerset is beautifully written with clever descriptions, common concerns and one overwhelming why. Jac Wright is obviously facile with words, and appreciates the rhythm that can be found in a poetically phrased sentence. While others see Hardy, I was pleased to not find the overwhelming foreshadowing as we followed Harry Duncan Wood through this quick read.

The scenery comes alive, as does Harry’s overwhelming need for something apart from the hotel/guest house that he and his wife run, and his plans to move the family there is causing friction and making him question his relationship. From the biting wind to the views, the sense of tumult is omnipresent, even extending to Harry’s thoughts. Truly a cleverly planned and plotted story that is the perfect diversionary read. Wright has a deft hand with the pen and plotting, and is this is a lovely start to a series of vignettes that explore the residents and their innermost struggles.

I purchased an eBook copy of the book on the author’s recommendation. I was not compensated for this review; all conclusions are my own responsibility.

About the Author:
Jac Wright is a published poet, a published author, and an electronics engineer educated at Stanford, University College London, and Cambridge who lives and works in England. Jac studied English literature from an early age of three, developing an intense love for poetry, drama, and writing in Speech & Drama classes taken every Saturday for fourteen years, and in subsequent creative writing classes taken during the university years. A published poet, Jac’s first passion was for literary fiction and poetry writing as well as for the dramatic arts. You will find these influences in the poetic imagery and prose, as well as the in the dramatic scene setting and deep character creation.

These passions – for poetry, drama, literary fiction, and electronic engineering – have been combined to create the first book in the literary suspense series, The Reckless Engineer. There are millions of professionals in high tech corporate environments who work in thousands of cities in the US, the UK, and the world such as engineers, technicians, technical managers, investment bankers, and corporate lawyers. High drama, power struggles, and human interest stories play out in the arena every day. Yet there are hardly any books that tell their stories; there are not many books that they can identify with. Jac feels compelled to tell their stories in The Reckless Engineer series.

Jac also writes the literary short fiction series, Summerset Tales, in which Wright explores characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances in the semi-fictional region of contemporary England called Summerset, partly the region that Thomas Hardy called Wessex. Some of the tales have an added element of suspense similar to Rald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. The collection is published as individual tales in the tradition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Caterbury Tales, Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers and Thomas Hardy’s Wessex Tales. The first tale, The Closet, accompanies the first title in the author’s full-length series, The Reckless Engineer.

Website  §  Blog §  Facebook §  Google + § @JacWrightBooks

New Release: Marigny Street: Saving Angels Series # 1 by Annie Rose Welch

Title:  Marigny Street
Author:  Annie Rose Welch
Format:  eBook
Publisher:  Self Published
Pages:  444
ISBN: 978-0615843902
Source: Author
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Saving Angels Series # 1
Best Read in Order: Not required – but helpful
Stars:  5
Purchase Now:  Amazon

About the Book:
Do you believe in the power of dreams?

Way down south on Marigny Street in the heart of New Orleans, the land of Catholic intersessions, purgatory, and supernatural superstitions, young Evangeline Chenier dreams of a radiant boy who saves her from a storm. She takes the dream seriously – in her family, dreams are sometimes more than dreams. Sometimes they foretell the future. Sometimes they create it.

Years later, Eva is no longer the same wistful girl but a hardened woman who no longer believes in dreams. Losing faith in her gift, she becomes lost in a nightmare of emotion, mourning her son, separating from her husband, and stewing in a dead-end job. And then fate brings her an unlikely surprise: one of the most famous movie stars in the world, Gabriel Roberts.

Caught by something in his eyes, Eva agrees to show him the real Big Easy on his last night in New Orleans—an evening that turns into four dreamy days spent recapturing lost faith and discovering a love neither expected. Realizing Gabriel is the boy from her childhood dream, Eva must leave everything behind—her husband, her family, her history, and the beautiful city she calls home—and gamble it all for the dream that has saved her on Marigny Street.

Book Review:

Back a few months ago I was asked if I would beta read a story, and I agreed.  Possibly one of the best decisions I had made in a while.  What I got was the almost final version of a yet unpublished novel, and I was transported. My initial words from my notes to the then unpublished author were “Your writing is lyrical and poetic, and the rhythm of the words fits beautifully into that patois that is so New Orleans, with the tempo of the music in the streets always playing in the background.”  Not a thing has changed.

This is a story that sings the particular otherworldly song that is the melange of New Orleans, with a character in Eva that is particularly well developed and easy to like. Gabriel is a breath of otherworldly fresh air, tangible in his emotional connection to Eva.  New Orleans becomes a character to fall in love with as well: you will walk the streets with Eva and feel the city through her eyes, incorporating her memories.  Places, not unlike people, can come alive, and Welch manages to make the city sing for the reader in a way that is is tangible.

This is the first of a proposed 5 book series that will visit often with Eva and Gabriel, some more fantasy than reality, but all that I have read (there have been three so far) utilize Welch’s lovely ability to weave a story that both transports and entertains.

As a treat for the readers of this post – I am offering one kindle copy of Marigny Street to a lucky reader. Just enter this rafflecopter to win a copy…. if you don’t go buy one now!  

About the Author: 

Born and raised in New Orleans, Annie has a habit of shortening her words and telling long stories. She speaks with a southern flair and cooks with it too. At the tender age of twenty- one, she hitched up her wagons (took her first plane ride) and moved out west to the big shake (California). Her writing career began one sleepless night when she imagined a gorgeous woman and a man with maniacal hair floating above her like lightening bugs falling from the sky. Curious about them, their story, and why they were floating around in her head, she sat down and penned (typed) her first novel, Marigny Street. A dream come true for her, she hasn’t stopped writing since. She loves a damn good love story, always has, no matter what the genre. She is particularly moved by imperfect love that in its own unique way is perfect, the notion of love at first sight, soul mates, and things that are generally out of the norm.

When she’s not writing she enjoys dabbling in photography and finding new, inspirational music to add to her collection. She currently (still) resides in the big shake (although her southern roots are calling her home) with her husband, daughter, and their two peculiar dogs, Boudreaux and Tabasco (who, call her crazy, bark with an accent).

For lagniappe (a little extra), a virtual cup of café au lait and beignets, please visit Annie’s

Website  §  Facebook  §  @angelwriter11

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Review: Willows by Shaun Harmon

Today I am very pleased to present Willows by Shaun Harmon.

Willows
Shaun Harmon
Contemporary Fiction
eBook
179 Pages
Trois Coccinelles Publishing
ISBN:  B00AJD3GF4
Purchase Now:  Amazon

About the Book:

Marcus has found the love of his life. Tami is everything he could ask for and more and he can’t wait to settle down and start a family in Willows, the small suburban town they were both raised in.

Their plans are derailed by Tami’s secrets. Secrets that turn their quiet suburban existence into a powder keg of lies, lust and depravity.

Marcus’ plans for a perfect life is twisted into something unrecognizable and he learns that sometimes, even faith and love aren’t enough to save you.

Book Review:

I am familiar with this writer’s style and his ability to display and project emotion outward with surgical precision, always reaching the target who is viscerally reacting to the words on the page.  With each new revelation in this story, the confusion, despair and often utter devastation are palpable emotions as the reader is dragged along on the journey.  The unique perspective of a relationship gone horridly awry by using a male main character and voice, do seem to provide an extra ‘oomph’ to a strongly emotional tale of a family in dissolution.

The tale unfolds in a series of flashbacks and remembered conversations and erotic encounters. Marcus is searching for new footing and a new perspective as he dissects the relationship looking for the ever elusive “missed clues”. His process of allowing despair and bitterness to effect memory of each conversation and moment is one that is familiar to any reader who has lost a love, or lost the rose-tinted vision of the dream for a future with the one they love.  That makes this a story that is uniquely universal and touching, with events detailed in such a way as to provide a guidebook of what one can experience in the situation, and will resonate with readers as they seek to despise Tami or cheer for Marcus.

A story that will make you laugh, cry, despair, hope and cheer, Willows has transcended its suburban New York setting to provide a glimpse of life behind closed doors that could be happening anywhere in the world, with all sorts of combinations of couples.  Personally I am very excited to see more of Marcus on his search for a new version of his dream.

I purchased a copy of Willows for my own library.  I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibilty.

I gave Willows by Shaun Harmon 5 Stars.

Be Sure to look for the BTS eMagazine review of Willows when the eMag releases on February 1, 2013

About the Author:

Shaun Harmon is a writer and blogger and author of the novel Willows. A former corporate honcho, Shaun quit his corporate life to dedicate himself to writing and to life as a single dad. He and his daughter recently moved to the NJ suburbs, which he finds is giving him ideas for many, many novels. Shaun is hard at work on the follow up to Willows,
Cul de Sac to be released Spring 2013.

Find Shaun at:  Website  §  @shauntharmon  §  facebook  §  goodreads

Indies Rock Review: The Wisdom to Know the Difference by Leesa Freeman

As part of the Indie Authors Rock reviews, I am pleased to present The Wisdom to Know the Difference by Leesa Freeman. Please read on

The Wisdom to Know the Difference
Leesa Freeman
Paperback and eBook
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
268 Pages
ISBN:  978-1467912617

About the Book:
Todd Randall spent his life pushing the limits: stealing a pack of cigarettes and a beer and coming home smelling like tobacco and cheap beer; “borrowing” his father’s car, usually to screw girls in the backseat; snorting lines of OxyContin after a knee injury on the football field, eventually landing in rehab at the age of seventeen. Now he spends his days in his uncle’s auto body shop, struggling to stay clean, and refusing to get close to anyone because he fears he is unfit for human consumption.

When he meets Shawna Clifton, for the first time begins to see himself differently, and even though it scares the hell out of him, he feels compelled to reach for the life she offers. But when Shawna loses a pregnancy she never thought she’d have, they are left with are a choice: risking their heart for the unknown, or staying safe and simply getting by.

A touching, sometimes heartbreaking tale, The Wisdom to Know the Difference, is the story of one man’s desire to accept his mistakes, find the courage to allow himself to truly love, and finally become the person he so wants to be.

My Review:       I give The Wisdom to Know the Difference 5 out of 5 Stars.

It is difficult to explain the connection to a protagonist who seems to be fueled by guilt and shame, and doesn’t believe that he has grown or changed.  That is exactly what happens when you delve into this book, and pass the first chapter.  Todd is, in his own words, not fit for human consumption.  A recovering addict, with all of the associated baggage he is an incredibly sympathetic character and the source of the book’s point of view.

With a steady and relaxed hand, the author has woven a story that places you inside Todd’s head, able to feel the panic when his fears overwhelm him, celebrate his highs, and wallow in his lows.  From his own perspective, Todd is far less likable: so entwined in the shame of his addicted self he has yet to realize that life is full of second chances and opportunities.

I was immersed in this book, not wanting to put it down.  Todd was so beautifully crafted and developed, that he was instantly present and he developed into a far more attractive character as the story went on.  The book shows his growth change, rather than looking back on all that ‘may have been’, this is a book that captures the entire struggle of a life in transition and does it with heart and skill.

Beautifully voiced   and story line that will grab hold of your thoughts, this debut novel is one that shows great promise of more to come from this author.

I received an eBook copy from the author for purpose of honest review on my blog, I am, Indeed.  I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Purchase The Wisdom to Know the Difference at:

CreateSpace  §  Smashwords  §  Amazon  §  Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

A native Texan, Leesa Freeman enjoys escaping the chill of New England, if only in her imagination, often setting her stories in the places she loved growing up. Some of her favorite moments are the ones where it’s just her, her Mac, and simply conversing with the people who live inside her head, and sharing their lives with those who take the time to read her stories. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two daughters, where she is also an artist, avid baker, a self-proclaimed music snob, and recovering Dr. Pepper addict.

Find Leesa at:  Blog  §  Facebook  §  goodreads.com