Tuesday, July 23, 2013

#61 The Sweetwater Trail By N.L. Campbell

                                   
Felicity Sinclair was spoiled, although she didn't know it. Used to having the best of everything and now she was marrying the best as well, Edmund Ormond, soon to be a senator. Well at least if she could fit into her wedding dress...but the tasty morsels call to her...and she usually gives in. If that were only the least of her trials. Soon her family is beset by scandal, her marriage canceled, her family disgraced. Her mother unhinged burns down their house and herself. So Felicity and her father head west with her crotchety Aunt Agnes and Uncle Gerald. Felicity could never imagine the terrors that await her on the trail. She grows into a woman, without even realizing it was happening. Will God see her through everything? Is there a happy future for her? I won't spoil it for you. A wonderful tale of grit and determination, warts and all, a story based on the true history of the Oregon Trail.
  ASIN: B00BF33CQ0

Monday, July 8, 2013

#60 The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown

                                   
Sadie grew up differently, her mother often "sick" or "too tired" to drag herself out of bed. in 1979 a young girl that looked startlingly like her disappeared. She had a fairly normal childhood otherwise, playing for long hours with her friends, until the day her mother left permanently.
In present day, 2002, Sadie is a Mom herself. Her husband loves her, her children need her, but after the loss of her baby girl, perfect, but stillborn, she feels disconnected from her life. She meets up with a man from her past, a boy that featured in many of her girlish fantasies, now grown and just as enticing. The story bounces back and forth between the girl and woman as we learn more about the dark places in hidden corners of her mind. She finds some surprising and painful connections to her mother. The last person she ever wanted to be like. A darkly interesting tale.
ASIN: B00A287KI0

Saturday, July 6, 2013

#59 Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

                                               
"A strange and fateful tale of a boy a girl and a ghost" That pretty much sums it up, but it is oh so much more!
Jeremy just wants to be normal, have friends, live a boring, everyday life. It was bad enough that he could hear a ghost, specifically, the ghost of one of the brothers Grimm. Yes, the fairy tale Grimm. Add to all of that the fact that his father was a recluse, they owned a bookstore with only 2 books, he was the perfect target. Ginger was one of the "cool girls", you know the type, popular, pretty, top of the list.  What could she possibly have in common with Jeremy? And how could both of the connect to poor shy Frank Bailey? A complex, funny, dark story fittingly filled with fairy tales!
ASIN: B00AP2VRAA

#58 The Undertaker's Apprentice (West Palm 1) by Joss Cordero

                                         
Zach takes great care and pride in his holiday decorating, he wants them all to look festive. The fact that they are all corpses, well that made it even more important to him, that they look perfect.
Mr Fiorello, the Funeral Home director, doesn't understand, and fires him.  But Zach isn't trying to desecrate the dead, he is worshiping them in his own way.
This is a wonderfully creepy, macabre story, with twists and turns and hold your breath moments! I am looking forward to my next peek into Zachs, weird, warped mind. If you like the darker stories and bizarre minds, this is absolutely a story for you!
ASIN: B00ADMR044

#57 Small Town Witch by Kristen S. Walker

                                          
Rosamunde is a witch, so is her mother. It's no so unusual, at least not in Madrone, a gold rush town where faeriekin abound. Rosa, as her friends know her and her sister Akasha go to Crowther Private Academy, the Jr. and Sr. High School for magikin, few humans, even witches or scorcerers go there. In Rosa's class there were only 5 humans.
Her family gets along very well, almost never arguing, or fighting about anything. Even her friends think they are exceptionally nice to each other. Rosa is at that age where she should start dating, but really, she's never wanted to. Just the thought of dating makes her blush. She slowly starts to realize that there IS something odd about her family. I won't spoil the story, but what she finds is a real shocker! A great book to start a series, good for middle school and up,some mention of LGBT issues, but not the main focus of the story. I can't wait to read more about Rosa and her friends.
ASIN: B00CLZD3H4