Review: Spellbound & Hellhounds by Nia Rose

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Coming of Age/Mystery

Description:

“Enter the world of Raen, turn left at the land of dragons, and you’ll find yourself in the country of Aeristria. A place overflowing with magic and creatures that were once only heard of in fairy-tales. In the heart of Aeristria is the capital city, Tolvade. Here you will find shops and taverns, laughter and fun, runesmiths looking for their next job and sneaky pickpocketing imps. Steer clear of the galloping gang of centaurs and you will see the headquarters of the prestigious Coven.

Within the Coven’s lower ranks, you’ll find Vanessa, a third-year Hunter itching to become a Spellweaver. Her and her trusted demon partner, Botobolbilian, must investigate an explosion at the academy and bring the culprit responsible in. Easy job, right?

Wrong.

Vanessa and her partner find that this investigation runs deep in black magic and sprinkled with feral demon summonings. With countless lives on the line, Vanessa struggles with self-doubt and following her heart (and laws) as she tries to right the wrongs of these heinous criminals and bring them to justice before they do any more harm. But, with an oncoming yearly blizzard just days away, is it too late?

Even with all the magic, spells, and power on Raen, this job might be the last that this duo ever faces…”

Author:

“I am a proud mother of four beautiful children that light up my life and home with their laughter and tomfoolery. I have one fuzzy prince, Thor, the king of the protective puppies and one handsome (if I do say so myself) husband. If I had any weaknesses it would be that I feel too much, I drink too much coffee, and that I love with all my heart. With the temper of a red-headed battle mage, the sass of a rebel princess, and the street smarts of a rogue, I live my days in the comfort of those that I hold dear and the limitless worlds that I create to share with all of you.”

You can follow Ms. Rose on Facebook and see her other books on her Amazon Author page.

Appraisal:

Vanessa grew up in an orphanage where she had to fight for everything she had or wanted. So she has a chip on her shoulder and is hard to get to know, or like. She has been accepted into the Coven to refine her magical skills, she also lucked out big-time when she received her demon partner, Botobolbilian. Something strange happened when Botobolbilian went through the transference to become Vanessa’s demon partner. He is a huge ogre who speaks with sophistication, always has a book in hand to read, and wears a suit. Vanessa calls him Bobo, which drives him batty. He is a great character and Vanessa knows she is lucky to have him for protection.

Vanessa hopes this mission to investigate the explosion at the academy will be her ticket to move up in the rankings to be a Spellweaver. What she finds is far more than she bargained for and it ends up with her needing to be rescued from the Hellhounds. This is when we meet Leon who is her superior. Vanessa has a reputation of causing problems and when Leon and Vanessa are called to report to the Coven they decree that Leon stay with Vanessa at all times until they have investigated the Hellhound problem. However, Vanessa is like a dog with a bone and goes against the Covens orders to investigate.

The characters are all well-defined and diverse. There is a lot of action in the caves under the academy with some unique magic. Vanessa discovers that there is black magic involved. But finding who has turned to the dark side and why is a mystery. Vanessa has learned to stand by her convictions through her hard knock life. Now she needs to learn how to control her fears and stay focused to control her magic. She is a flawed character who is going through some growing pains but she turns out to be a great character to cheer for. You’ll want her to come out on top to get the respect she deserves. The climactic battle at the end is as emotional as it is physical with magic flying around in every direction. But it all comes around to a satisfying conclusion. Spellbound & Hellhounds is an enjoyable read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Spellbound & Hellhounds is book 1 in Ms. Rose’s, Coven Chronicles series.

★★★ The Coven Chronicles is part of a dual trilogy. Also, all books end with cliffhangers! ★★★

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of proofing issues, such as missing, wrong, or extra words.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Review: Ravens’ Will by Terry Graves

Genre: Epic Fantasy/Coming of Age/Sword and Sorcery

Description:

“A fairytale retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, reimagined as an epic Saga during the Viking age.

Old prophecies of the Norse say that, before Ragnarök, a great winter will fall upon the world.

The gods have been defeated and vanquished from the Nine Realms. Skaði, the Snow Queen, is the last line of defense. From the highest peaks of Ásgarð, she protects the Bifröst Bridge and wards off the trolls and giants that try to conquer Miðgarð.

But dark omens run freely. There is word of two ravens that fly once again over the world, and fishermen have seen the scales of a giant serpent slithering under the waves of the sea. The song of winter that Skaði sings every night is slowly dying away into nothingness. And when the Snow Queen’s power finally falters, the winter will end and Ragnarök will begin.

Meanwhile, Gerda has been living in the small village of Veraheim for all her life. The daughter of a swineherd who loves to drink and tell tall tales, Gerda dreams of traveling far away and performing mighty feats, together with her friends Kairan, Runa and Alarr.

She has always thought this was an impossible dream... until she finds the giant trapped under the ice of the frozen lake.”

Author:

“Terry Graves is a pen name for Victor Selles, a Spanish writer. He has served coffees for a living and cleaned and prepared dinosaur fossil bones just for fun.

Under his real name, he has published a dozen short stories in different Spanish anthologies and magazines… He has translated Lucy Clifford's, The New Mother into Spanish, has written scripts for two short films and has won a couple of literary competitions. He is proud to say that some of his work has been rejected by both Granta and 2000 AD magazines.”

To learn more about Mr. Graves check out his blog, or his Facebookpage.

Appraisal:

Ravens’ Will begins with a prologue to set the stage for the story proper. It’s full of Old Norse terminology, and names that made my head spin. Luckily there is a detailed glossary at the end of the book. The prologue seamlessly turns into a bedtime story being told by a grandmother to her two young grandchildren.

The story centers around four loyal twenty something friends who have grown up together in the small village of Veraheim. Gerda, Runa, Kairan, and Alarr have diverse family histories and distinct personalities. When Gerda discovers a giant frozen under the ice in a local lake not too far from their village … well, you have to put on your fairytale hats here. The giant was just discovered in a lake they ice skated on as kids year after year. Not only that, but the giant has been frozen there since the war between the Gods and the Giants, which happened hundreds if not thousands of years ago. At any rate let’s say it was time for him to be discovered and so he appeared there. That works for me in a fairytale.

So now the tale takes off, following a few poor decisions made by the group. Or let’s say by Gerda, okay? As a result the giant is awakened and then set free. Now the quest begins to free Kai from the Snow Queen’s fortress in the far north across the Bifröst Bridge.

The plot is detailed and as twisty and turny as a roller-coaster ride. There are treacheries and conspiracies afoot, along with witches, magic, giants, and trolls. The winter travel is grueling with poor provisions. Runa has to make a difficult decision and Gerda feels betrayed.

As this story comes to a close there is word of two ravens that fly once again over the world. All four of the friends are scattered around the countryside. Kai may be mostly dead, but not dead dead. Gerda is trying to survive in the company of trolls. Runa has run off with the witch to learn her craft. Alarr seems to be a pawn in a conspiracy to overthrow the king.

Old prophecies state when the Snow Queen’s power finally falters, the winter will end and Ragnarök will begin. The author does a good job weaving together five story arcs in this epic saga. Now the stage is set for more story as winter seems to be coming to an end.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Ravens’ Will is book 1 in Mr. Graves, The Snow Queen Saga.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of proofing misses such as missing or wrong words. Nothing that threw me out of the story.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 130-135,000 words

Review: Rambunctious by Rick Wilber

Genre: Short Story Collection/Science Fiction

Description:

“In these nine stories of determination, seemingly ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary circumstances as they confront their fears and embrace their challenges on a near-future Earth or an alternate-history past or even on a far distant alien world. 

• A single parent with a Down-syndrome daughter considers what his life and career might have been as a parent and a pro football player in some alternate reality.

• A young girl on an isolated Florida island discovers that her quirky grandparents are even stranger than she thought.

• A high-school basketball player confronts the ghosts of her past.

• A young woman struggles to make peace with the horrors of her forgotten childhood.

• An elderly woman slides into dementia even as she finds some essential truths that were lost in the hazy mists of her memory.

• A baseball player becomes a spy during an alternate-history version of World War II, where he plays a pivotal role in stopping the Nazi war machine.”

Author:

“Novelist and editor Rick Wilber has published several novels and short-story collections, several college textbooks on writing and the mass media, a memoir about his father’s life in baseball, and more than fifty short stories…”

Appraisal:

Each of the stories in this collection has three things in common.

The first thing is each of the stories has some science fiction as part of the story. However, while always there, if you’re like me and prefer your science fiction not be too far out there, whether that means too far in the future or into the vast reaches of the universe from Earth to be able to relate to, that wasn’t an issue here. Instead the science fiction aspects enhanced and emphasized the more important parts of the story.

Second, each of these stories was originally printed elsewhere, whether a magazine or a short story anthology of some kind. While I don’t know what the other stories Wilber had published over the thirty-year period these were drawn from, I know there were others that didn’t make the cut for whatever reason, and these felt like a “greatest hits” collection to me.

Which leads me to the third comment. Each of these stories was excellent. Sometimes a short story can feel like a bigger story that got cut short or that important details were dropped. Sometimes a short story leaves me wondering what the point was. These were all excellent, fully formed stories that would each be a satisfying read by itself. If you’re into short stories, especially if a taste of science fiction appeals to you, definitely grab a copy of this collection.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

My review is based on a pre-release ARC and I can’t judge the final product.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Reprise Review: Sliding Past Vertical by Laurie Boris

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Description:

“Sarah Cohen is a walking disaster. She means well, but the ex-diver’s hasty decisions wreak havoc on her life in Boston. Good thing Emerson is a phone call away in Syracuse, with a metaphorical mop to clean up the mess. Their long-distance friendship can be excruciating for him, though. Years after they shared a brief college romance, he’s still in love with her. When everything goes wrong, Sarah takes another plunge: back to the scene of her last mistake, to start fresh. Unfortunately for Emerson, the move puts her too close for comfort. Her attempts to straighten her life’s trajectory are sometimes amusing and sometimes catastrophic. With Sarah around, is anyone safe?”

Author:

Laurie Boris is a freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and used to be a regular contributor to the multi-author blog, Indies Unlimited. This is her fourth novel.

For more, visit Laurie’s website.

Appraisal:

This is the third Laurie Boris novel I’ve read. Sliding Past Vertical has one significant difference from the other two, there isn’t a major character with a fatal illness. But the qualities from her previous novels that made them both excellent reads are present in Sliding Past Vertical. Characters you can relate to, with typical human flaws and mostly likeable. Even those you don’t care for are realistic and not unlike people you’ve met in real life. The stories each have real world plots that shine a light on the human condition in an entertaining way while possibly enlightening the reader about their fellow man.

As for the specifics of this book, I liked Sarah, the protagonist. At least for me, that is important. If I don’t like the main character, warts and all, I find it harder to care what happens to them. However, the character I related to the most was Emerson. It was obvious early on that Emerson’s feelings for Sarah were much deeper than hers for him. He’s been biding his time and now sees his chance. How and whether this will resolve itself is a question until the very end and one that could easily have hit a false note, regardless of the resolution. Somehow Boris hit the perfect pitch.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language and situations.

Added for Reprise Review: Sliding Past Vertical by Laurie Boris was the WINNER in the Contemporary/General Fiction category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 28, 2013.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Fire Me Up by Alicia Street

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Description:

“FDNY Firefighter Harper Sheehan made a career out of saving others, so how could he forget the small, determined woman who shoved him out of the path of a careening car that would have taken his life. Not that quiet schoolteacher Marni Ross has an easy time forgetting him either. But she knows a handsome hunk like him would never be interested in someone like her. When Harper loses his fiancée to a rich Wall Streeter and seeks a new start in a sleepy village on the North Fork, he runs into the same woman who once again surprises him, this time shaking up his world like never before.”

Author:

“Alicia Street is a USA Today bestselling author and a Daphne du Maurier award-winner. She writes both sweet and spicy romances and sometimes collaborates with her husband, Roy. She spent many years as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. A compulsive reader of every genre, Alicia loves watching old black-and-white movies and inventing new recipes for soup.”

To learn more about Ms. Street you can visit her at her web site or on Facebook.

Appraisal:

Marni Ross seems like a mild mannered second grade school teacher, however she is anything but that. Harper Sheehan, a New York Firefighter, is in the midst of changing his career for his fiancée. He thought she wanted a less stressful life for them so they could settle down and raise a family. So he leaves his position as a New York Firefighter and buys a partnership with his Uncle Phil who owns a bar and seafood grill, The Blue Albatross Tavern, in the peaceful seaside community of North Fork. But firefighting is in Harper’s blood and he joins the volunteer fire department and other out-reach classes on fire safety. His fiancée thanks him by breaking their engagement for another man.  

Marni and Harper have chemistry going for them, however, both are reluctant to give in to it. Harper’s recent breakup prevents him from moving too fast, he doesn’t want to scare Marni away. He already has a cottage in which he can see his dream of a family come true with Marni. Marni’s abusive ex-husband prevents her from developing any relationship beyond friendship with any man, but her blood boils when Harper is near. It’s exhilarating to watch their relationship develop, Marni is full of surprises. Then it’s heartbreaking to watch pride and misunderstandings complicate their journey. Thank goodness Harper has Uncle Phil to mansplain Marni’s behavior to him. Uncle Phil became a surrogate father to Harper when his own father died firefighting when he was fourteen.

Then all bets are off the table when Marni’s ex-husband shows up in town. Tension and emotions run high when Harper’s protective instincts go into overdrive. If you like a bit of suspense in your romantic stories this may be right up your alley. Fire Me Up is an enjoyable read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Fire Me Up is book 1 in Ms. Street’s, North Fork Series. 

"Heat level ~ some steamy love scenes."

Format/Typo Issues:

Nothing significant in proofing or formatting.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Reprise Review: Cairo Caper by Barbara Silkstone

Genre: Humor/Mystery/Adventure

Description:

“Wendy Darlin joins her archaeologist boyfriend, Professor Roger Jolley, in a quest across Egypt looking for a lost artifact for the Egyptian Antiquities Society that will assist them in locating Antony and Cleopatra’s burial tomb. All they had to do was get from Cairo to the Temple of Taporisis Magna alive. However, not everyone is who they say they are and they find themselves running for their lives.”

Author:

Barbara states on her blog, “My writing history began humbly enough when I started an underground newspaper in Catholic grade school. I was threatened with excommunication by the nuns so I went further underground. I’ve packed many adventures into my life excusing even the disasters as ‘material for my next book.’… I enjoy doing playful things with language, blending two distinct words to create a new word… I now write criminally funny fairy tales ripped from the headlines… shaken, not stirred, and served with a twist and a chuckle.”

This is Ms. Silkstone’s third novel in her Wendy Darlin series. She has three other comedic mystery books along with her “true fiction,” The Adventures of a Love Investigator, 527 Naked Men & One Woman. Silkstone contributed to the anthology Indie Chicks and The WG2E All-For-Indies Anthologies: Spring Hop Edition. Her books are also available on Audible.com. You can connect with Ms. Silkstone at her new blog although she’s been messing with us by posting recently on her old blog, too. Her facebook page is yet another option. I also feel like I should add that Ms. Silkstone hosts The Second Act Cafe that is dedicated to getting even by having fun.

Appraisal:

The non-stop action starts in the first chapter with Wendy hurling a large glass ashtray, the only weapon she could find, into the nose of an assassin on their sixth floor hotel room balcony in Cairo, sending him toppling over the railing. His body apparently disappears from the sidewalk and Wendy and Roger are followed on a comedic run through a crowded Egyptian market place. Poor Wendy, she is one smart gal and very capable, but things just seem to happen to her. Unsurprisingly, Wendy soon becomes instrumental in being able to fulfill their quest.

With the addition of characters like Habib, Petri Dische, and librarian, wannabe-author Fiona Feelgood, who was looking for her own Egyptian treasure and material for her book Erotica for Dummies, put me in mind of Silkstone’s own true fiction book, The Adventures of a Love Investigator. Then there is the mystery of who is legit and who is involved in the antiquities black market. The way Ms. Silkstone plays with words is unrivaled and the way she incorporated segments from favorite movie clips was genius. She uses sharp wit throughout her stories, her plots are strong, and the action nonstop. I really enjoyed reading about Wendy and her tomb raiding adventures and hope to see more of Habib and quite possibly Tickemoff, the friendly street peddler, in future Wendy Darlin books.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

This story stands on its own, and is young adult appropriate.

Added for Reprise Review: Cairo Caper by Barbara Silkstone was a nominee in the Mystery category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 12, 2013.

Format/Typo Issues:

No issues with editing or formatting.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words

Review: Get That Job by Christine Reidhead

Genre: Self-Help

Description:

“Inasmuch as there is a no one-size-fits all method to get that job, because jobs and interviewers differ. There is a regular pattern to job interview questions and job interview weaknesses. All of the suggestions will work for you if you follow the tips of job interviewing in this book.”

Author:

“Educator and Humanitarian, Christine Reidhead, is an Assistant Professor and the Founder and CEO of the Nonprofit Organization, AfrikRising. The youngest of five children, she was born in Mesa, Arizona”

Appraisal:

Reviewing a book like this can be problematic. I’m not the expert on the subject. Presumably the author is. However, I’m also no spring chicken. I’ve interviewed for jobs a few times over the years. Even been hired after some of those interviews. I’ve also been the one interviewing and, based on the results, hiring or not. So, based on that …

One size doesn’t fit all and figuring out what works for you and your unique personality is up to you, but this book has lots of good ideas to consider and integrate into your interviewing process. With the exception of one minor nitpick where the author advised against using wi-fi for an online video interview (I think depending on your specific service, this might be the best option), all of her ideas and recommendations made sense to me. Next time I have a job interview, I’ll be coming back to this book as part of my preparation.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 7-8,000 words

Reprise Review: Haole Wood by Dee DeTarsio

Genre: Chick-lit

Description:

San Diego weathercaster Jaswinder Park is summoned to Maui to help her grandmother. Planning on being there just a few days, she ends up with much more than she bargained for.

Author:

The author of four other novels, Dee DeTarsio is a news producer and writer, currently living in San Diego.

For more, visit DeTarsio’s blog.

Appraisal:

Haole Wood has both mystery and humor, wrapped up in a chick-lit storyline.

The mystery revolves around a murder early on with several viable suspects. These include Jas, the protagonist, who is the last known person to see the victim alive (although she knows at least one other came after her, since she didn’t do it). That another person with motive is her grandmother is more than a touch unnerving.

The humor comes from multiple directions. Sometimes it is how the author chooses to word something, like with the play on words in the chapter heading of “Blonde Leading the Blind.” Other times it is the characters, as with almost everything to do with Jaswinder’s grandmother, both the communication difficulties the two have due to language differences and the situations her grandmother gets herself in. That Jas is first sent to Hawaii to bail her grandmother out of jail is one example, even though that seems serious.

A chick-lit story line is a female protagonist, through her experiences and events in the story, learning about herself and ending up in a better place at the conclusion. That happens too, no matter how unlikely it seems through much of the book. A fun read which I highly recommend.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some relatively mild adult situations.

Added for Reprise Review: Haole Wood by Dee DeTarsio was a nominee in the Chick-Lit/Women's Fiction category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran October 8, 2013.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Acid Test: LSD vs. LDS by Christopher Kimball Bigelow

Genre: Memoir

Description:

“Growing up Mormon during America’s early-1980s satanic panic, Bigelow escapes the religion’s bland conformity by playing Dungeons & Dragons. After graduating from high school in 1984, he dives into sex, drugs, and the counterculture via Salt Lake City’s punk and new-wave scenes, as echoed from London, New York, and especially Los Angeles.

As Bigelow explores the underground, he rejects myths of supernatural good vs. evil, living instead by the D&D concept of chaotic neutrality. During LSD trips, however, he starts sensing an unseen dimension. Then Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic novel The Stand gets him reconsidering good vs. evil. After an alarming otherworldly attack, can Bigelow find spiritual protection in Mormonism’s processed, regimented, corporate culture?”

Author:

A lifelong member of the Mormon church, Christopher Bigelow, a graduate of Emerson College as well as Brigham Young University, has written a lot of things about Mormonism. These have ranged from the serious, cowriting the reference “Mormonism for Dummies,” to the not-so-serious, for example “The Sugar Beet” which he describes as a “satirical Mormon newspaper.” The oldest of ten kids, Bigelow lives with his wife and five kids in Provo, Utah.

Appraisal:

Memoirs are an interesting beast. Sometimes the value comes from comparing the life and experience of the memoirist to our own totally different life. That’s a positive in the insight it can give into the lives of others. I suspect the vast majority of people reading this review and considering reading the book would fit in this category. Unless you’re of a particular age, plus or minus a few years, grew up in Utah, or grew up a Mormon, this is where you’d fit. It’s a unique time and a unique culture that to someone who has always lived in Texas, New York or Florida may well feel like a foreign country.

The other way things can go with a memoir is to realize that the memoirist’s life has some similarity to your own. In that case I think the value comes from comparing and contrasting your personal experiences with that of the author. If they react to a situation differently than you would you’ll hopefully get an answer to your question of “what was he thinking?” You’ll also be able to observe how that decision turns out.

I fall solidly in this latter group with minor differences. I’m a few years older. I have a few (but very few) less siblings. I’m only a distant relative of one of the big-name Mormons of the two he mentions being a part of his ancestry. Last, most of my childhood was spent living a few towns north of the author’s, but my last year of high school was just a few miles west of his house, on what he’d describe as the poor side of town, but in reality was solidly middle class. (I’ll resist saying bad things about Bountiful High, but it’s hard.) I was even enrolled for a period at the same University in Salt Lake as the author attended just out of high school with an attendance record that was as spotty as his.

All of that is a long setup to say that while I never ingested the recreational pharmaceutical implied in the book’s title, I sure felt like I was having a lot of flashbacks while reading this book. That might be the mention of a specific business (the infamous Bill and Nada’s Diner or Salt Lake’s head-shop-of-choice at the time, The Cosmic Aeroplane) or the author’s description of certain Mormon rituals. What I semi-jokingly refer to as my Mormon PTSD was triggered more than once, most often when Chris’ dad would try to get him to come back into the fold. I can’t imagine anyone who grew up in this culture and struggled with it, regardless of the outcome, wouldn’t have flashbacks of their own. It sure brought back memories. At least one or two were even good.

Having read the author’s bio, I knew how it was going to turn out in the end. I found that this knowledge had an effect on my reaction to certain things in the story, knowing that he was thinking something at the time, but that he’d change his mind later. This was absolutely due to my personal bias. Someone else might react differently or not at all, depending on their particular point of view. I also thought there were a few instances of things being mentioned in a way that added to the story, if a person was familiar with Mormon culture, but weren’t explained so that those not clued in might not even understand what was going on or its significance.

Ultimately, I can see anyone potentially finding this an interesting read. The best fit would be a fifty-something devout Mormon who had a short rebellious period as a kid, who will have flashbacks like I did, but be more in tune with the ending. Those people of the same age who grew up in Texas, New York, etc. will have a fun time comparing and contrasting. Some of you younger kids (that’s those of you in your thirties or forties) might have a fun time laughing at life in the olden days too.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words