RIP Robbie Silva / Tony Black

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime / Noir

Approximate word count: 20-25,000

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

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Author:

Tony Black is an award winning national journalist who covered a diverse range of stories from crime to nightclub reviews. Tony then moved into writing crime novels, with nine now published to critical acclaim.

More information can be found about Tony Black on his website or blog.

Description:

Jed Collins has been out of prison for only thirty minutes before he finds himself landed with a whole heap of problems. The first is Gail, a thoroughly sexy blonde with a bad history. Second is her brutal father, gangland boss Robbie Silva who promises a big payday for Jed but with a high risk. Throw Jed’s own difficult upbringing into the mix and you have an explosive cocktail that leads to violence, theft and murder…Jed is going to be lucky to stay alive and out of prison.

Appraisal:

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella, a master class in the genre. It was punchy, gritty and tough - just how excellent noir should be. The fast-paced, violent action in RIP Robbie Silva starts immediately when protagonist Jed, a likeable just ex-con, meets troubled Gail. The story gallops along, taking the reader along for a wild ride that doesn’t let up until the final sentence.

As a result I had to read RIP Robbie Silva in a single sitting, getting myself into all kinds of trouble with the family because I ignored them for a couple of hours. However, it was worth it. I spent the time happily savouring the gritty Edinburgh location, seedy ambiance and the machinations of the troubled characters as they struggled with themselves and each other. A scattering of local vernacular through the story added to the weighty atmosphere without being distracting or off putting.

Here’s an example of the style:

‘The barmaid was in her bad fifties, bat-wings and a corned-beef complexion. Her over-dyed black hair was scraped back in a tight scrunchie and showed at least an inch of grey roots; when she smiled at me I wanted to heave.’

A difficult subject underpins RIP Robbie Silva and is the reason Jed, despite deep misgivings, inexplicably finds himself drawn to Gail. In the explosive finale, Jed and Gail lay their demons to rest with a major plot twist I didn’t see coming.

If you want to learn how to quickly build a highly credible story, strong characters, and a real sense of place then read Tony Black. A great writer and a great story.

FYI:

Frequent strong language.

Format/Typo Issues:

None

Rating: ***** 5 Stars.

Red Dawn (Crossroads Academy #2) / J.J. Bonds

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Paranormal/Young Adult

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words

Availability   

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

J.J. Bonds was born and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where her obsession with all things paranormal keeps life interesting. By day, she is a grocery buyer for a large NE grocery retailer. At night she is an aspiring Indie author, who loves to write about vampires, intrigue, and romance. She admits she has a few guilty pleasures besides reading and writing. They include wine, chocolate, alternative music, scary movies, all things zombie, and sleeping late. Learn more about Ms. Bonds at her website.

Description:

Things at Crossroads Academy are a little different this school year; there are new handbooks with new rules, new students, and worst of all uniforms. When the formula for the cure to the blood disease, ‘otrava de sange’, is stolen and all evidence points to Shayes’ friend Dr. Phillips, who has also disappeared, Katia calls in a favor from the school’s computer whiz Blaine. With less information than they need, Katia, Nic, and Keegan (Shaye’s boyfriend) take off for New Orleans and beyond, searching for the missing life saving formula that Shaye needs.

Appraisal:

The new fall session at Crossroads Academy starts with Katia and Shaye now sharing a dorm room. Katia has definitely gotten her snark on in this book, her dialogue is very entertaining. Katia has learned to deal with her past over the summer months and has come back stronger and more confident.

I felt more comfortable with Katia in this book; she is not holding back secrets as she did in the first book. She is head strong and dives into places she has no business being. The plot is full of adventure, intrigue and action as Katia, Nic, and Keegan, who is a mixed-blood vampire and a member of the school staff, take off half-cocked for New Orleans. Keegan seems to be familiar with the dark underbelly of New Orleans as they look for a person called The Shadow who they hear is responsible for the thief. The Shadow is a shifter, who J. J. Bonds has redefined to serve her story. I can not wait to see what she re-invents next. 

What our group of rescuers uncovers is something they never expected. I could see the foreshadowing of an uprising involving the mixed-blood vampires in future books.

I was pleased to see Katia face the one biggest fear she has in this story. It will take a while as she struggles to get a good hold on it, but she is trying. I did find it difficult to believe that the Elders Council failed with all their resources where these kids succeeded. But I believe this happened because our young vampires were more focused on clearing Dr. Phillips of this theft, despite the evidence, rather than hunting him down. This is an entertaining series that is better suited for older teens because of mildly offensive language.

FYI:

Some mild language that some parents might not find suitable for younger teens.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant errors or issues.

Rating: **** Four-stars

A Verse To Murder / Tony Bailie

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Thriller

Approximate word count: 20-25,000

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Tony Bailie is a journalist, poet and author. His poems have been published in various journals and magazines. A Verse To Murder is his third novel.

For more on Tony Bailie visit his website.

Description:

Dathai Devine, a well known Irish poet, is found dead in dubious circumstances – apparently by his own hand whilst fulfilling a less than salubrious sexual act and under the influence of narcotics. Enter Barry Crowe, investigative journalist, who pursues Dathai’s sad story. En route he meets Dathai’s muses, a policewoman with a bondage fetish, a drunken fellow poet and lesbians with the same odd tattoo on their inner thigh. It’s not long before Barry begins to suspect that there’s more to Dathai’s death than initially meets the eye.

Appraisal:

This was a difficult read for a whole range of reasons. Besides the multiple formatting errors (see below) A Verse To Murder was more like a radio play than a novel – heavily weighted towards dialogue after an often cursory introductory description at the beginning of each chapter. This meant there was very little sense of character, place or activity. The story is supposed to occur in Belfast, however it could have been anywhere.

The plot was often disjointed, for example the book opens with Barry supposedly having a dream (I think), before the police turn up at his flat and awaken him. A Chief Inspector Hamilton then explains Dathai is dead under suspicious circumstances before the narrative inexplicably switches to Barry in conversation with a punk girl, Sally (“But don’t tell my friends that,” she says – why?) who appears out of nowhere to politely inform Barry she’d recently sold Dathai some mind bending substances. Although this meeting occurs chronologically after Barry has been to the scene of the crime it appears (that word again) in the book before Barry is described as having arrived at the scene of the crime. Confused? I was, and this was only the first chapter.   

This sudden appearance of characters continues throughout. For example, a policewoman on duty outside Dathai’s house (where the body was discovered) Barry claims to ‘vaguely recognise’ but within a page or two she is back in his flat and naked. Only by chance is she introduced as Dervla with no explanation (ever) as to where Barry knows her from. He also meets a friend, Tom Macken, himself a faded poet and some sort of female consort of Tom’s - again only pages later do we learn her name is Moira.

The story leaps around with little attempt at explaining what happens and why (because of the bias to dialogue). To a person the characters are flaccid, they all walk around in a daze and although Barry seems to have never met most of them before, he needs no effort to bend them to his will and they passively tell Barry everything. For example one of Dathai’s muses, Andrea de Burca, is being blackmailed, this apparently went on for 15 years without her making any attempt to find out who it was or report it to the police. Really?

This isn’t the only event that defies belief. At one point Barry is shot in the head at point blank range and he goes through an odd out of body experience. However, he somehow gets away with just a graze (unfortunately). Even the eventual murderer makes barely a credible appearance before being revealed.

On layout the book was badly formatted with a line break between each and every paragraph. I had to force my eye to skip over these which made for uncomfortable reading. There were also numbers randomly inserted throughout the text and inexplicable tabs were present that forced sentences onto new lines. There were often repetitions of the same word, for example:

“I’m a journalist, said Barry. “I wanted to interview him.”

“Yes I know you are a journalist. What did you want to interview him about?”

“Poetry.”

“Poetry?”

“That’s right, he’s a poet and I wanted to interview him about his poems.”

Oddest of all were when rather than actual speech the following were incorporated:

“…?” or “…!”

I’ve no idea what these are supposed to mean although the characters seemed to.

I really struggled to see a single redeeming feature about A Verse To Murder. Oh yes, it was mercifully short.

FYI:

None.

Format/Typo Issues:

Multiple format and typo issues.

Rating: * One star

The Obituarist / Patrick O’Duffy

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Crime / Humour

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Patrick O’Duffy works as an editor for a major educational publishing company. When not working Patrick spends his time writing. His output includes over thirty role playing books, however more recently he has turned to short stories and e-books. The Obituarist is his most recent work. He’s also a Batman fan.

You can read more about Patrick O’Duffy on his website.

Description:

Kendall Barber is an Obituarist, a social media undertaker who cleans up the electronic trails of the deceased. Kendall’s day doesn’t start well. First he’s beaten up by a Hell’s Angel and told to stay away from Tonya Clemmens. The trouble is he’s never heard of her. Then Tonya herself arrives at his office – she wants Kendall to find her missing brother. Against his better judgement Kendall agrees and it’s then that things really start to go wrong as local maniac, D-Block and, worse, the police, all show an interest in the case as well.

Appraisal:

I really enjoyed The Obituarist. It’s clever, sharp and funny. The dialogue is great and the characters well described, from the grubby policeman, Grayson, who uses Barber to get what he wants, through to the maniac bikers, Kowalski and Ploog, who are trying to permanently silence him, they’re vivid and full of life. The location for the story, Port Virtue, is as grimy as its residents. The pace clips along with the action starting at almost the first page and doesn’t let up to the last, helped by The Obituarist being written in the first person. I really appreciated the sense of humour and the direct style in which O’Duffy tells the tale - there isn’t a wasted word, the sign of a well written novella.

However, just when I thought I had the story figured out (and so did the characters!) The Obituarist delivered a couple of wrenching twists and surprises that were very cleverly done…I’d love to say more but I don’t want to give anything away.

At just over 20,000 words it’s a quick read and could be taken in one bite (you’ll want to once you start). In fact, I did read it all over again, even though I knew what was going to happen, just to look at how everything unfolded from a different perspective.

In the near future I’ll be happily tracking down Patrick O’Duffy’s other works. If they’re as good as The Obituarist I’ll be a happy man.

FYI:

Reasonably frequent strong language.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: ***** Five stars.

A Bittersweet Science / Mark Jacobs

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Sports Fiction/Literary Fiction

Approximate word count: 305-310,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Mark Jacobs is an author, magazine columnist, and martial arts instructor whose written work has appeared in numerous publications including Sports Illustrated and The Ring Magazine. The author of the acclaimed instructional text, The Principles of Unarmed Combat, he currently serves as a contributing editor for Black Belt Magazine. He has one other book, a poker-player detective novel, Pascal's Wager.

For more visit his website.

Description:

“A Bittersweet Science provides an epic look into the world of big-time boxing from the perspectives of the many individuals who make up this frequently brutal yet entrancing sport. From the exploited fighters who bleed for pay, to the scurrilous promoters and slick young television executives who make the backroom deals, to the sardonic journalists who are there to record it all with a jaded eye, it's an insight into a world most will never know. More than just a boxing story, A Bittersweet Science examines the profound question of whether the ends really do justify the means in a world without objective morality.

It's the story of "Action" Jackson Hayes, the unbeatable but volatile heavyweight champion who's suspended from the sport because he's just too violent and then decides to make his vacation permanent when he discovers Jesus. Enter promoter extraordinaire Abraham "Abby" Lincoln. A former 1960s student protest leader turned used car entrepreneur turned boxing mega promoter known for his tie-dye tuxedos and love of Machiavelli, Lincoln needs to appease his money men by bringing some excitement back to a moribund heavyweight division. With the aid of charismatic televangelist Antonio Harper, he lures Hayes out of retirement for a multi-million dollar showdown with young Tommy O'Callahan. That O'Callahan can't fight very well is negated by the fact he just happens to be a white heavyweight... and his family has a bitter personal history with Hayes.

Caught in the intersection of it all is brilliant but discontent sports columnist David Goldman, whose disillusion with the amorality of the people he's tasked to write about is mirrored by his own marital woes. But when events take an unexpected turn, Goldman finds himself thrust into the middle of a legal firestorm as both Lincoln and Hayes wind up in court facing off against ambitious prosecutor Michael Bratkowski. Bratkowski is determined to make a name for himself with this year's version of the trial of the century. The real fight has just begun but Abby Lincoln is determined to score a knockout over all his foes, even if it means sacrificing his favorite son, Jackson Hayes.”

Appraisal:

You’ll notice the word epic in the first line of the blurb for A Bittersweet Science. What does that mean? Long (just over 300,000 words), for one thing. That fits the dictionary definition that says, “Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size.” Another definition that at first glance might fit, “Any work of literature, film, etc., having heroic deeds for its subject matter,” probably doesn’t. Heroic deeds are few, if any, unless you consider allowing yourself to get beat up (or being the one doing the beating) as heroic.

At first glance, the target reader would seem to be a boxing fan. Yet, I wonder with Jacob’s portrayal of the seamy underbelly of the business of boxing. With sleazy promoters using (often abusing and taking advantage of) fighters and the most competition occurring during divvying up the spoils, a true boxing aficionado might not take to the story, although I suspect many of them won’t be shocked at how the boxing world is depicted. However, the non-boxing fan should enjoy the story for the underlying questions it raises. As it turns out, the actual boxing takes up very little of the story, with the negotiations and behind-the-scenes machinations taking much more time than an occasional twelve-round bout.

A side-effect of this book being “epic” is that it will appeal to a certain kind of reader and won’t to another. Those who like a fast-moving story that builds to a quick conclusion will find the multiple, intertwined story threads, some of which take the full book to come to fruition, too darn slow. If you prefer detailed descriptions and a more complex story that builds more slowly to completion, this should appeal.

FYI:

Adult language

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos and other proofing errors. The most prevalent was homonym errors.

Rating: **** Four stars

Children of the Enemy / D.J. Swykert

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Thriller

Approximate word count: 60-65,000

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

DJ Swykert is a former 911 operator and wolf expert. He lives in Northern Kentucky. His works of short fiction and poetry have been published in a number of magazines.

DJ also writes novels – Maggie Elizabeth Harrington won a literary competition and was followed by Children of the Enemy and Alpha Wolves.

You can read more about DJ Swykert on his website.

Description:

Jude St. Onge is a drug addict who thinks he’s onto the deal of his life when he steals a bag of drugs from heavyweight dealer, Mitchell Parson. But whilst fleeing Jude’s car breaks down. By chance he seeks refuge with Ray Little, a brooding junkyard owner and ex-con.

Parson’s fixer, a brutal Haitian called Swallow, is sent out by Parson to track Jude down. Swallow tortures and then kills Jude’s wife, Ariana. He kidnaps Jude’s daughter, Angelina, who was forced to watch her mother’s hard death, so he can use her as leverage to ensure Jude returns the drugs.

Swallow’s plan works, but not everything goes right for Jude. Ray swears he will rescue Angelina and, with the help of story hungry local reporter Ted Rogers, he goes about the task in single minded and lethal fashion.

Appraisal:

If I was going to describe this book with one word it would be ‘argh!’ If I was allowed a second it would be ‘yuck’.

To elaborate a little, I found this book by turns frustrating and overtly graphic. First, the frustration. Children of the Enemy started out well enough, with a strung out Jude losing control of his car and coming across the complicated and enigmatic Ray in his moment of need. However, the story soon slowly went off the rails and by the latter quarter I’d had enough, primarily due to the writing style where dialogue and sometimes description was repetitive, meandering and unrealistic. For example:

“I want to do what’s right, Ray. But I don’t want to do something I’ll regret later.”

“The way I see it we either regret doing something or we regret doing nothing. Either way we end up living with regret. I’d rather regret what I did than regret what I didn’t.”

And on occasion the characters kept going over the same ground, for example (in a much, much shortened outline):

“Is he gonna make it?” McCants asked.

“…He must have one of the hardest heads on earth to still be alive. He shouldn’t be alive, but he is, and most likely he’s gonna survive…” Dr Litton said.

“Then you think he’s gonna recover…?”

And sometimes just downright clunky:

“I think all rich people are crazy. They do crazy shit and they get into crazy shit. What you have going on here is rich people crazy shit…” And so on.

Maybe it’s just me not taking to the author’s style, but after wading through what must have been in excess of one hundred of these types of lines I tired of it.

The second element was the graphic description of torture, drug use and sex on which I will barely dwell. I’m not the squeamish sort, but personally having to read about a fourteen year old girl having her finger chopped off was just too much. And that was by no means the end of it…

FYI:

Graphic torture scene, liberal violence and murder, drug use and strong language. Not for the faint hearted.

Format/Typo Issues:

A few typos and format errors.

Rating: ** Two stars

Dangerous Times / Phillip Frey

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre:  Noir

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Phillip Frey has enjoyed a varied artistic upbringing first performing as a child on stage in Cleveland, then onto Los Angeles and New York after graduating. Phillip shifted into writing and directing short films before returning to Los Angeles as a screenwriter. Latterly Phillip entered into a writing career. Dangerous Times was his first novel.

  

Learn more about Phillip Frey on his website.

Description:

Frank Moore, hitman for gangster boss Eddie Jones, has a plan. He intends to rip Eddie off to the tune of $5m, the trouble is he needs to find someone else to take the fall. Enter John Kirk, an ex-soldier turned car mechanic who bears a striking resemblance to Frank. However, things start to go wrong almost immediately. Frank ends up with $10m in his lap, John doesn’t die quite as Frank intended, all manner of people are after the money and then the bodies start piling up…

Appraisal:

Even several days after finishing Dangerous Times I’m still not sure about whether I liked it or not. Yes, it’s well written, yes, the characters are well scoped out and yes, the dialogue is interesting. Although I appreciate an intriguing plot that gets to the point with a minimum of fuss and embellishment, Frey’s writing was economic to the point of being terse. So much so it proved sometimes difficult to keep track of what was happening, a few words missed here and there and I was soon lost and having to re-trace my steps for confirmation.

In addition there were several apparent methods of adding interest including switches of character perspective within a paragraph, which just served to jar the narrative and set the teeth slightly on edge. Also, the chapters rolled into one another, just a line space between them.

The whole cast of characters, from Frank’s wife and mistress, to John’s girlfriend and mother, to Hicks the bent cop (who seemed superfluous to needs most of the time), to Eddie and his cohorts, were particularly unpleasant and all, frankly, entirely out for themselves. That the plan went wrong almost immediately led to some interesting outcomes, however I found myself doubting that someone of Frank’s apparent intelligence would have left certain elements to chance (okay, this would have killed the story dead but then suspension of belief stretched).

And to Frank himself. Frey on his website says his protagonist is ‘impish’ and ‘playful’. This would not be how I would depict a sociopathic murderer with a penchant for cutting open main arteries with a razor. The book is also described as being darkly humourous, yet I can’t recall laughing once, it’s just not within that genre.

So, back to the beginning – did I like Dangerous Times? You know, I’m still not sure…

FYI:

Infrequent strong language.

Format/Typo Issues:

New chapters did not start on a fresh page.

Rating: *** Three stars

The Single Daddy Club Series / Donna Fasano

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Romance

Approximate word count:

Derrick 50-55,000 words

Jason 50-55,000 words

Reece 50-55,000 words

Availability   

Derrick

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

Jason

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

Reece

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Donna Fasano started self-publishing her back list books as she slowly regained control of her once traditionally published works. She has painstakingly rewritten parts and updated these works to be more contemporary. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and been published in nearly two dozen languages. “Donna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and a Golden Heart finalist.” Check out her website for more info about her books, she also enjoys posting delicious recipes.

Description:

Three single dads band together to offer support for each other in raising their children single handedly, each being in this situation for very different reasons. They are proud of their single status and vow to be loving, nurturing parents. They also state that although female companionship would be nice, they will not marry solely for the sake of their children. Their motto is “Fatherhood forever!”

Derrick: When Naval officer Derrick Richmond was given custody of his godson, five-year old Timmy, he resigned his full-time status and joined the Naval Reserves so he could raise Timmy in a secure stable environment. Derrick enlists the help of Timmy’s kindergarten teacher Anna when Timmy starts acting out at school.

Jason: Widowed police officer Jason Devlin seems to be having trouble keeping a babysitter for his baby girl, twenty-month-old Gina. When Katie Smyth shows up on his doorstep looking for a nanny position he thinks he has hit the jackpot, not only is she beautiful, but she is willing to keep the house clean too. What Katie doesn’t know is that Jason’s previous in-laws live right next door. What Jason doesn’t know is that Katie is hiding out and keeping a very big secret.

Reece: When divorced Reece Newton, a senior claims adjuster for an insurance company, is asked to reevaluate a claim by Maggie Dunlap, he gets more than he bargained for. When he learns she is being terrorized by an unknown assailant, he offers her a place to stay while his eight-year-old son Jeff is off at summer camp. They believe they have two weeks to solve the mystery.

Appraisal:

Derrick:

The story opens with Derrick being summoned for parent/teacher conference because of behavior problems Timmy is having at school. Derrick is very defensive and protective of Timmy and doesn’t make the best first impression with Anna. He is overbearing and head strong, but realizes he needs help. Anna reluctantly agrees to help him with parenting lessons. She is a smart woman and is able to pinpoint some of the problems immediately after joining them on a Saturday outing. The chemistry between Derrick and Anna is immediate and she wastes no time putting up defenses to protect her heart. It is clear she has been hurt in the past and has resigned herself to an unrealistic fate. Luckily, Derrick is a smart sensitive man and has full intention of straightening her attitude out.

I love the journeys this author takes us on in each of her stories. They are always realistic, heartwarming and a bit heart-wrenching. The prose draws you in quickly and you feel her character’s pains, agonies, and joys thoroughly. The kindergarten room scenes were a lot of fun. The author has captured the kids and their dialogue perfectly. I found the last scene in the classroom a little hard to read, the tears in my eyes kept blurring the words, of course that wasn’t even the end of the story. The ending was even better.

Jason:

I really liked Jason and my heart ached for him and his situation. Not only for the loss of his wife, but for the fact that his previous in-laws lived next door. No wonder he was having such a hard time keeping a baby sitter. Katie was the perfect woman for Jason, she was smart and kind-hearted, but she was keeping some very big secrets from him. The struggles she had with her lies were very revealing of her character; you can tell this author has a very good understanding of human nature in many situations.

In each of the books of this series, there is at least one chapter devoted to the guys getting together to talk about kids, women, or whatever else is going on in their lives. The conversations between these three friends were very entertaining, they have known each other for several years and they don’t hesitate to poke the bear, whoever that may be at the time. I found the dialogue realistic and quite funny.

The story moved at a nice steady pace and I found the dilemmas being faced real and quite engrossing. I love the way Ms. Fasano is turning up the heat in her stories. I am finding them very satisfying and I didn’t want to put the book down.

Reece:

I was worried I would not like Reece as well as I liked the other dads in this series. Reece suffered a bad marriage, it soured his opinion of all women, and he never failed to express these opinions to his friends. Not surprisingly, his eight-year-old son mirrors his father in this regard and his attitude gets him sent home from summer camp after the first week. With Maggie now living in the extra room, Reece is forced to face his son’s attitude problem head on. I don’t think Maggie or Reece made it clear to the author that neither of them is looking for a relationship, because the attraction between these two is hot.

Maggie is a strong, intelligent, and independent woman with a career as a Private Investigator that has been temporarily put on hold. She agrees to try to help Jeff see women in a more positive light while babysitting him this week he was supposed to be away at camp as repayment for giving her a safe place to live. She also informs Reece that Jeff has more than likely learned this behavior from him. The conversations that ensue are realistic and enlightening, as Jeff, Reece, and Maggie all start to see the light. It is a hard road to unlearn bad habits and attitudes and learn to trust, depend on, and love again. This is an intelligent unique story that never lags. I LOVE the journeys Donna Fasano takes her characters and her readers on.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five stars

Shooting Star / Diana Hunter

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Mystery/Erotic Romance

Approximate word count: 85,000-90,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Diana Hunter has published eleven BDSM-themed novels including Shooting Star. She writes in other genres under pen names: CF Duprey (historical fiction), Diana Allandale (straight romance and short stories) and Mystic Shade (for the shadier sides of our desires).

Description:

The small town of Davison becomes the location for a major motion picture shoot. The story follows the interaction between the locals and the film crew and actors.

Appraisal:

The author did a nice job describing the ‘small-town’ feel of Davison, particularly the downtown café where many of the connections between the film crew and locals were made. The main characters were believable with strong, interesting back-stories, which added color and depth. A believable and interesting plot moved along at a nice clip delivering a well-written murder mystery during which the two main female characters became romantically involved with the star and co-star of the movie.

With one couple, a more traditional romantic relationship developed. The other pair experimented with bondage and more risqué sexual activities. However, the story never felt like an excuse for delivering sex scenes, rather the characters acted out their attraction within the natural flow of the story-arc.

This was a fun fast read. I confess to skipping through the later sex scenes, but it didn’t stop me enjoying the story. So if you’d like to try this genre, this would be a good place to start, dip a toe into the BDSM or not, as you see fit.

Format/Typo Issues:

Not enough to distract from the story.

FYI:

Adult sexual scenes including consensual sadomasochism.

Rating: **** Four stars