Book Review (LXI) Will O' the Wisp

There is something evil up Bergamot Holler, and it's been targeting the Hall family for generations.

Patty Hall is fifteen years old. She loves stargazing, science fiction, and all things related to space exploration. This leaves her perfectly prepared for the wrong problem.

Patty is afraid her mother will send her to a care facility if she tells her what she's seen. If she doesn't figure things out soon, she's going to join her father in the Hall family cemetery plot.

Patty has to come to grips with her own physical handicap, face the wilderness, and an ancient evil all alone if she's going to survive.

Will O' the Wisp is suitable for young adults. It involves elements of suspense, and is set in the mid 1970s.

 My Review 

Will O' the Wisp is the story of a teenage girl, Patty Hall, told in the first person POV. I haven’t read any story with such a young main character and was curious about this one. As I read other books by Craig Boyack I hoped it wouldn’t disappoint me. And it didn’t.

The primary characters, Patty, her mother, her step father and her friends Laura and Pete are not glamorous but rather down to earth which lent a certain innocence and believability. The characters are well-drawn, and the period details are fascinating and well-researched.

Patty is tormented by the leg braces her mother forces her to wear all the time, and by an odd light, that threatens not only her  physical existence but seems to have a connection with tragedies that happened in her family along the time. I won’t reveal more as I don’t want to spoil your pleasure in reading an eerie story.

All I want to add is that I enjoyed this character,  Patty, a combination of a young Miss Marple and a young Sherlock Holmes – smart, brave and imaginative girl.

The author did a great job in highlighting the generation gap, the description of mother-daughter relationship – although Patty is clever enough to soften it and not antagonize her mother, allowing her to do the research on the supernatural manifestations that hunt her.

 Craig Boyack's books always keep me turning page after page, wanting more.

 The bottom line is, I think this is a good read and look forward to reading more from this author.

Till Life Do Us Part - A new lovely review

http://pages-intheattic.blogspot.ro/2016/09/till-life-do-us-part-carmen-stefanescu.html

Barbara Heyer has been able to communicate with the spirits of the deceased ever since she was a child. And it was while driving her car that she heard a female voice, named Kathleen, telling her she was just been murdered. Barbara did not have the chance to figure out whose voice was it until later when the news of her brother Colin’s girlfriend’s death was revealed. As a consequence, Colin became the main suspect of the crime.

Detective Patrick Fischer is assigned to the case and will team up with Barbara to prove Colin’s innocence. But in the process, what they’re about to discover goes way beyond current circumstances and they will be thrown back in time in order for them to understand why they’re together in this venture at this time.

Time passes by with no results, until Catherine, Barbara’s neighbor, comes to scene claiming she knows how to find out Kathleen’s murderer’s identity. It

appears that only a past life regression will shed some light on the matter and hopefully clear up all confusion.

The story deals with reincarnation and past lives that intertwine together since centuries ago, showing how unfinished businesses need to come to a purposed end and reach a full circle for all humans. The explanation of a recurrent dream in one’s life might be attached to a traumatic incident in a past life, as well as the reason for us to have a natural talent in certain area without apparent logical sense. Even though stated as a hypothesis, it gives you a sense of relief that everything happens for a reason.

Read the entire review here:
 http://pages-intheattic.blogspot.ro/2016/09/till-life-do-us-part-carmen-stefanescu.html
 

August is “Write A #BookReview on Amazon Month”

A highly appreciated initiative comes from Rosie Amber, writer ,blogger, reviewer.
I reblogged her post:
                   Rosie Amber.wordpress

Readers from all over the world are being inspired to post reviews for books they’ve read on Amazon.

In a Bold attempt to increase reader awareness of the importance of book reviews to all authors, Terry Tyler is leading the campaign to get more people posting those all important reviews on Amazon.

Authors: #AugustReviews is about readers posting a review of a book to Amazon, we would also like to encourage them to share the Amazon Review Post Url on Twitter. An author can take part as a reader, but please don’t use this to promo your own books.

Book Bloggers: We really appreciate your support and know you are likely to already post reviews on Amazon, please keep the Hashtag for Twitter with a link to your Amazon review url only, not your blog post. We don’t want to put off readers who think they need to be a blogger to take part.

We are asking readers to Tweet the url of the book review using #AugustReviews and we will help share and mention you in the August Reviews Hall of Fame.

 Read the whole post here:
                       Rosie Amber 
and, please, follow the advice! I will!

Reviews (XXX)

Award winning  author Paulette Mahurin says in the review she wrote for Till Life Do Us Part:  Carmen Stefanescu starts out with the protagonist, retired nurse Barbara, painting flowers. It is a gift from a husband to his wife who is depressed over the loss of their son. The same son who delivers a message to Barbara from the beyond to give to his parents when she delivers the painting. The writing is rich with imagery flowing from the pages as the intriguing story line unfolds with scenes and believable dialogue that moves the story along at a good clip. Barbara delivers the painting to the couple and tells when the message from their son, which is very believable. When she leaves there she receives an image (a spiritual message) that someone named Kathleen has been murdered.

Ghost talking

 This woman happens to be Barbara’s brother Colin’s girlfriend. It is here that the plot turns into a metaphysical meets murder mystery plot and what I love about this author is that it all works. I’m reading and envisioning my own deceased family members finding a way to communicate with me and trust me I’m not a true-believer in much of anything. But hey, who knows what’s possible, that’s how good the writing is.

I know that there are psychics that work with police to solve murder mysteries here in the U.S. and I’m sure it’s not a novel idea around the world. This lends great credence to the relationship that develops between Barbara and our handsome detective. Layer upon layer of side stories and spiritual communications along with dreams—like the one in which Barbara dreams she’s another woman named Emma who is burned at the stake—give depth to the story.

You can read the entire review here:

 Amazon.com 

Reviews (XXIX) First Review Till Life Do Us Part

Till Life Do Us Part is a paranormal tale that investigates the power, passion, and problems associated with reincarnation. It is a compelling read and one I enjoyed. Ms. Stefanescu weaves a tale linking past and present laced with trauma, powerful love, deep emotions both good and bad, and leads the reader on a journey of many discoveries. The story is a wonderful mixture of events in the lives of several characters interlinked by the process of reincarnation. Such is the power of the writing I was never confused as to who or when things happened. 

The characters walk the pages of this book with powerful individualities and evoke a strong response in the reader. This is not always a gentle story but remains strong all the way through. The situations in the contemporary section are very realistic and more than once I was on the edge of my seat wondering how things would pan out. The historic elements of the story are well shown and offer glimpses of a time when the world was very different from the one we know.
All in all I enjoyed this tale. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a story that will sweep them away into another time and place, and offer them glimpses of the sheer strength of love.

British author Daisy Banks

Book Review (XLIV) Serving the Serpent

Join me, please, in congratulating Daisy Banks, British author and cyber friend. She has just had her fourth release, this year. She was kind to offer me the ARC of the novel so, here is the review on:

                                    Serving the Serpent

Blurb

In Wales, Ceridwyn takes up her inherited duty to care for the dragons in the mountains. Awed by them and the huge book about them, she is determined to prove her worth.

Far away in Norway, Leif has growing concerns for his sick dragon. He discovers only one cure will stop his dragon’s suffering. The mighty Herensuge must journey to find his bonded mate.

When they meet, Ceri and Leif make combined efforts to aid the dragons and discover an astonishing surprise. The great lore book each of them protects tells they have a responsibility to the future. At this rare and magical time, not only the dragon pairing must occur.

Join Ceri and Leif as they work to keep the sworn silence and keep the dragons safe. Friendship is growing between them, but will it be enough? Can love blossom between two chosen to serve the serpent?

                                   ././././././././././././.

My review

This book is in a class of its own. A cute and sweet fantasy. A  fantasy epic that explores themes of faith, and loyalty amidst artfully developed characters. Daisy Banks gives the reader an engaging,  sweet story.  Serving the Serpent is an epic that doesn't bog you down with a hundred different point of views or side story arcs. Anyway, I loathe spoilers so I'll try to stay away from anything major. In fact, I'm not going to go into plot specifics at all. I found Ceri and Leif’s story interesting and strangely compelling. Once I got halfway I could feel the subtle draw of the story and became resolved to go ahead and finish it up, but by the end I was held spellbound. The action is two-leveled: the humans and the dragons. The problems are similar.

Just a few words on the dragon characters- I so much enjoyed  Annabelinda and her friends the rebellious Tanith and the gluttony Malinda.  Imagine they wanted a nail job. And Ceri did it as “Hers was not the kind of employment you might see adverts for in the newspaper or on the computer, but nonetheless, the task was hers, same as it had been Mam’s and Gran’s and Great-Gran’s…” Dragon Maid.

As about Herensuge, he’s the perfect embodiment of prince charming. Oh, forgive me, I mean dragon charming!

Fans of fantasy will gobble Serving the Serpent! 
My rating