A Room With No Natural Light / Douglas Lindsay

Reviewed by: Keith Nixon

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability

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Author:

Douglass Lindsay was born in Scotland in 1964 at 2:38a.m. It rained. Some decades later he left to live in Belgium. Meeting his future wife he took the opportunity to drop out of reality and join her on a Foreign & Commonwealth Office posting to Senegal. Here he developed the character of Barney Thomson.

He subsequently penned seven books in the Barney series, and several other crime novels. His first book, The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson, has been translated into several languages and is about be released as a movie.

Find out more at his website.

Description:

It’s a long, hot summer in the south of England and Pitt’s small vineyard is in crisis. The bank’s chasing debts and government inspectors are snooping around. Yet Pitt is drawn further and further into Yuan Ju’s dark and disturbing world. How far is he prepared to go to help her?

Pitt’s wife looks on, nervous and insecure, impotent with fear, while her mother watches everything, biding her time. She will be not fearful, but vengeful.

And walking through the vines in near silence, Pitt must address the most perplexing question of all. Where are the birds? Just a few dead at first, but soon the skies are empty.

Appraisal:

In A Room With No Natural Light Lindsay succeeds again in creating a world and characters that are just off centre. The characters are full of angst and fascinating as a result. There’s Pitt, a man seemingly devoid of emotion, but singular in his focus, Yuan Ju who never says a word but communicates in volumes to Pitt, Daisy who’s Pitt’s wife and you’d think the worst woman in the world but she pales into insignificance next to her mother (simply called Mrs Cromwell). Last but not least is Hardyman, Pitt’s only friend and confidante, a polar opposite and interesting foil.

The setting is unusual – a vineyard steadily losing money and where birds suddenly start falling out of the trees, dead. But beneath it all Lindsay draws on an all too familiar set of sad tales of exploitation and loss which Pitt cuts through to make life better for himself.

Nobody writes quite like Douglas Lindsay and here he proves it yet again.

FYI:

Nothing of note.

Format/Typo Issues:

None.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Instant Karma / Eric Christopherson

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Humor/Satire

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

Availability

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Author:

Eric Christopherson “is a former police officer and federal government consultant.”

“A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler, he also has a graduate degree from Duke University.

He was born in California, grew up in New England, and has since lived throughout the United States and a bit in Asia. He now lives in semi-rural Ohio with his wife, Seiko, and their toddlers, Keith and Annabel.”

Description:

“Former hippie Gordo McCain suffers a brain aneurysm in 2015 and awakens after surgery with retrograde amnesia. He can't remember a thing past the year 1969. He doesn't recognize his wife and family. He doesn't even recognize his own name because people aren't calling him Gordo McCain anymore but instead Robert Hurlbut. He discovers that he's been living under an assumed name for more than forty years and is now the last fugitive member of the radical underground group Stormfront.

At first he keeps his head low and continues living as Robert Hurlbut. But when it becomes clear that, over the years, he'd become a conformist and a 'sell-out,' Gordo is disgusted with himself. He trades his new Jaguar for a vintage VW bus, paints it in psychedelia, and hits the road to find an old lover, to find the truth about his allegedly violent past, and to find himself, existentially speaking. Along for the ride is his 15 year-old granddaughter, Emily Hurlbut, an alienated Goth and the only member of the family Gordo can relate to. Meanwhile, the FBI cold case unit picks up his trail.

Appraisal:

First, the good. Instant Karma was funny, which was the goal. Imagine a 60s hippie suddenly waking up in today's world. If it is written reasonably well, how could it not be? For fans of music of the era, you'll find subtle references from the John Lennon inspired title to a Grateful Dead reference near the end, and plenty more in between. And while the character of Gordo is a bit cartoonish (not inappropriate for satire), he's a likeable guy and the plot has more than enough conflict for a novella-length story to keep me plenty interested in where it was going. I especially liked the relationship that developed between Gordo and his granddaughter, Emily, who could be viewed as her generation's equivalent to Gordo, in that she's a bit of a non-traditional non-conformist who likes to test limits.

Now the not-good-for-me. This goes strictly to personal taste and you may feel differently. Hopefully I'll get the terminology correct. The book is narrated in third person (a narrator who isn't a character, but sees all). This kind of narration is hard to pull off without errors, but the author dodged them here (or I missed them). It's also written in present tense. I'm not a fan of either of these, especially the second one. A double dose is worse. However, as I mentioned above, not everyone is going to react the same to this and both are valid writing styles.

FYI:

One F-bomb. Other than that, nothing significant as far as language or adult situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reprise Review: Jackfish Reborn / Rejean Giguere

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Action/Adventure/Thriller

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

Availability    

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

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Author:

Rejean Giguere is an avid outdoorsman, adventurer, photographer and artist. He enjoys fishing, hockey, golf, tennis, skiing and snowmobiling, his V-Max motorcycle and vintage Corvette. He grew up in Canada and Europe, and enjoyed a business career in Toronto and Ottawa.

For more, visit his website.

Description:

A young Chinese Triad leader, Dragon Chang, travels to the small Canadian town of Jackfish to solve a riddle written on a scrap of paper and left to him by his great grandfather. He believes the riddle points to great wealth.  

Appraisal:


I enjoyed this fast paced, action-packed read. The story is woven of three distinct threads.

1. The Chinese mafia who want the treasure left by Dragon’s great grandpa and will stop at nothing to attain it.
2. A lone wolf, Phil Hardy, who has set up camp on a remote cliff, which just happens to overlook the treasure’s hiding place. Phil’s isolation is a self-imposed therapy while he strives to escape a haunted past life as a Toronto police officer who was involved in a deadly gunfight (also with Chinese mafia). Phil suffers flashbacks when he’s under stress, mostly triggered by his guilt - he blames himself for the death of two undercover operatives.
3. April Harrison the local police officer. Jackfish is within her territory. April was a likeable character, and I strongly associated with her as a similar to the policewoman played by Francis McDormand in the Coen brothers’ movie, Fargo. She’s independent, capable, and although out of her depth when faced with murderous gangsters, manages just fine on a solid diet of common sense. 

The first few chapters give backstory that explains how the treasure came to be in Jackfish. I’m not much of a ‘back story’ kinda guy, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading how Dragon’s great grandpa marshalled the Chinese workers as they built the railroad that skirted the banks of Lake Superior.

The plot is often driven by misunderstandings and this is nicely conveyed by the way the author switches between the threads giving different viewpoints of the same events. For example, when the Chinese arrive in Phil Hardy’s vicinity, he assumes they’re here to take revenge on him. The Chinese assume he’s after the treasure. April gets involved just because she wants to know why these strangers are in her district, and even to the end has no inkling about the treasure, or who the gangsters really are.

A number of interesting side stories involving cougars, bears, and drunks mesh the plot together and add to the richness. The writing is sharp, but it could benefit from an editor. Not for proofing, but just to straighten out some minor point of view slips that kicked me out of the story on occasions.

This is the second Rejean Giguere novel I’ve read from Al’s list, and it’s totally different from the first—kudos, Mr. Giguere. Keep us guessing.

Format/Typo Issues:

Too few to mention. Canadian spelling.

Rating: ***** Five stars

Taiwan Tales / Various

Reviewed by: Sam Waite

Genre: Short Story Anthology

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Availability

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Author:

Various authors.

Description:

You’re sitting at a bar enjoying a baseball game on TV, when a stranger begins talking about a major leaguer who once played in Taiwan. You’d rather just watch, but he keeps talking and draws you in. The story takes a twist. You miss a double play. The guy says he’ll shut up, but he’s talking about a famous batter. You urge him to continue. He does and you learn how the player turned his career and his life around after a rainy night in Taiwan.

Roger Jergenson’s Flyout leads a collection of short stories told by expatriates in a land that is as far removed culturally as it is physically from their birth places. While the vignettes, from fantasy to noir, are written as insights into Taiwan’s multi-layered culture, they are as much about the universal human condition as they are about the differences.

Appraisal:

Whoever compiled the anthology did well to start with Patrick Wayland’s baseball story. It is finely crafted and leaves the reader with a satisfying O. Henry ending.

In Gap Years, by Tony Messina, the male half of a cohabitating couple struggles against the claustrophobic malaise of a deteriorating relationship. He seeks solace through food, TV, and an affair as he looks into a future he can neither accept nor easily escape. The story is told with stark imagery that includes a chess game wherein the hero blunders into a trap and is check mated by his partner’s queen.

Superstition, by Amanda Miao, is a cautionary tale that unbelief is an inadequate shield against things unseen. The story is told with touches of humor and marred only by an abundance of modifiers. “… she quickly snatched an apple …” and later dropped it into her “large purse.” Things too often are not simply done. They are done “with a thud” or “with disapproval” when either it doesn’t matter or the context makes the “how” redundant.

The Collector, by J.J. Green, is a failed dystopian tale of society after global warming debased civilization. A shopkeeper sells photos of times before the Peak Heat and gadgets that people have forgotten how to use. He is taken by a policewoman and forced to work on a government project that uses “deep brain reading” to extract memories from the elderly. That exotic technology is in use, while the purpose of a tennis racket has been forgotten, apparently within the life span of surviving humans. Not only is the internal logic flawed, the tale ends with an event that owes solely to happenstance. A busy reader might skip this one.

In the Mood, by CK Hugo Chung, sneaks up on you like an unwanted stray kitten that quickly steals your heart. Military men in combat gear train in dragon-fire heat. Cut to a soldier on his bunk dreaming of cooling “the delicate face” of one he loves but fears to approach. Cut to that person, another soldier. The story focuses on the emotional tension of homosexual attraction in a macho society. For the most part, the writing is elegant, but would be much improved by a drill sergeant editor demanding rewrites of clichés, “I took it, all of it, with a grain of salt” and indulgences of excess, “The breeze was salty and sultry. The sun slow-cooked the air with a comfortable amount of heat and humidity.” Literacy here was sacrificed to alliteration, as sultry cannot reconcile with comfortable humidity.

Dragon’s Call, by L.L. Phelps, is a fun fantasy about a young woman who finds she can’t run far enough to take a break from her very special calling.

In Bitter Pill, Katrina A. Brown, takes a cue from The Twilight Zone with a deliciously evil twist that would have been tastier if someone had given the story a careful read before publishing. The 2011 Fukushima disaster is referred to three times: once correctly, once as the 2012 Fukishima Disaster and once as the 2011 Fukishima Disaster.

We’ll See Each Other on Facebook, by Edward Cheung, is a moderately engaging story of wasting time in a foreign land and reaching for elusive treasures of purpose and love. Unfortunately, quality of writing is also elusive in this story as only partially described below under Format/Typo Issues.

FYI:

The reviewer is a 30-year resident of Japan and spent six months in Taiwan as a university student studying political science and Mandarin at Shida, during the fascist rule of Chiang Kai-shek.

Format/Typo Issues:

We’ll See Each Other on Facebook was the only story with distracting use of nonstandard punctuation. “First week; in a hostel.” Semicolons have only two jobs. This one fits neither. Lots of parentheses, presumably not intended to break the flow of the story, but do so regardless. Dashes are sometimes -- and other times –. Compound adjectives are used so enthusiastically they appear to be a fetish, even to the point of misspelling as in “inter-country clusters.” Ellipses are assigned with disregard for their common role in English: “Today is my last day in Taipei, and they are the last things I see before leaving this world... this moment in time.” What words were omitted? There is haphazard use of italics and on and … .

Rating: **** Four Stars

The Day Bailey Devlin's Horoscope Came True / Rebecca Forster

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

Availability

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Author:

USA Today best selling author Rebecca Forster’s twenty-something books mostly fit within the broad mystery genre, some in the legal thriller subgenre and others harder to classify. Forster is a two-time winner in the Books and Pals Readers’ Choice Awards, with Before Her Eyes topping the mystery category in 2013 and Eyewitness (book 5 of the Witness Series) getting the nod from our readers in 2014.

For more, visit Forster’s website.

Description:

“Oh, boy! Oh, Bailey! What are you going to do when Fate decides to have a little fun?

Bailey Devlin is convinced the stork was drunk the day he dropped her in her mother's lap. Mom is blond and beautiful; Bailey redheaded and gawky. Mom's heart longs for her missing-in-action husband; Bailey's for a man she can count on. Now mom is off looking for her one true love, while Bailey is about to realize her dream and become a lawyer. Yet, as the bar exam looms, there is mischief afoot in the heavens. According to her horoscope, the man who will change her life is coming to her door. The man who shows up isn't even close to one she has dreamed of, but Bailey is about to find out the hard way that he is the man she needs.”

Appraisal:

Since getting my first ereader my reading diet has changed, weighted heavily to indie authors. In the past, I would grab John Grisham's latest in hardback as soon as it was released. Now he has three (or is it four) books out that I haven't even bought, let alone read. My must-read author list is now longer and much different. One of the few authors I'd read prior to getting that first ereader who made it onto my current must-read list is Rebecca Forster. Part of the reason is I (maybe obviously) like thrillers (especially the legal thriller subgenre) and suspense, which is her forte. Another is that her recent books stretch their genre in ways I've enjoyed. But I wasn't sure what to expect from her latest book, a romantic comedy.

In a word (or three), I loved it.

This first installment in the Bailey Devlin trilogy introduces us to the character of Bailey. She barely knew her father, who disappeared while she was young, but her hippie-ish mom is convinced he'll be back some day. Growing up in a home where survival was a struggle, Bailey figured out that if her life was going to be different, it was up to her to make it so. She's fun. She's different. And she's determined. This focus on success is working, as Bailey is just weeks away from taking the bar exam. For the first time she'll be able to make a living wage. Maybe she'll even feel like slacking off enough to allow a little time for romance in her life. (Assuming anyone is even interested.) That's when the unexpected happens, with two potential romantic interests and some additional responsibility she didn't expect, nor want, upset her best-laid plans.

This was a fun (and funny) read. I'm eager to read the next in the series to find out where Bailey goes from here.

FYI:

This is the first of a series that will have three books with plans for the subsequent installments to be released rapidly.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Circle in the Sand / Lia Fairchild

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Contemporary/ Saga

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Availability

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Author:

“Bestselling author, Lia Fairchild, is both a traditionally published and independent author who writes women's fiction, romance, and chick lit. Fans of her books praise her endearing, real characters who come to life in stories that will touch your heart.

Fairchild is addicted to the warmth of Southern California and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a multiple-subject teaching credential. She is a wife and mother of two teenagers.”

To see more of her books visit her website or follow her on Facebook.

Description:

“Four Friends. Four Different Paths. One Unwavering Friendship.

Two decades of love, laughter, promises, and secrets hold together four friends pursuing different paths in life.

Jax always lived on the edge, skating through life with no apparent ambition, yet remained the energy and emotional cement of the group. She longs to be accepted.

Sage, career-driven, has always followed a carefully laid out plan for her future. But one look at the sexy ex-con staying on her friend's sofa has her questioning everything.

Emily, the college drop-out, has three children that are her whole life. She's slowly lost herself, subconsciously seeking dangerous ways to cope.

Ned yearns to stand up and be counted. But his new feelings for one of the girls has him pulled in different directions.

These four friends will test the ties that have held them together for so long, and in the process unveil truths about themselves they never knew existed.”

Appraisal:

Circle in the Sand is at its basic a contemporary women’s fiction told through four points of view. Jax, Sage, Emily, and Ned have had a lasting friendship from childhood through to adulthood each leading very different lives, but always connected. Each character is introduced individually in present time and we are given flashbacks of defining moments in each of their lives. Each character is well defined and their journeys are realistic and their situations are believable and vastly different.

Ms. Fairchild did an excellent job weaving each of these character's stories seamlessly together. Her transitions are smooth, easy to read, and entertaining. There are a few twists in each of their lives that keeps the story moving forward. Sage’s grandmother Rose’s birthday was one of my favorite highlights and made reading this story worth the time to read the whole book. It left a smile on my face.

My favorite character though was Jax, perhaps because I would love to be more like her. However, the one I identified the most with was Emily, even though her journey was very different from mine. It was nice to get a male view from Ned, Emily’s twin brother, of these three female friends. Even though he is floundering a bit with his own life he was always there for these women, mostly feeling like a fourth wheel. Sage was the hardest for me like, her journey was probably the most unique and life changing.

I don’t read a lot of women’s fiction, I prefer fantasy and mythic stories where I try to escape everyday life and lose myself in different worlds. However, I did enjoy Circle in the Sand and I am glad I read it. This would be a great beach read and not because there is sand in the title.

FYI:

Adult language, several F bombs are dropped. Some adult situations, not overly graphic.

Format/Typo Issues:

I came across a small number of proofing errors, which mostly consisted of missing words, wrong words, or extra words.

Rating: **** Four stars

Reprise Review: Will / Dan Cardinal

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Literary Fiction

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Availability    

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Author:

Dan Cardinal was born and raised in northern Wisconsin. He double-majored in English and Computer Science at UW Madison and lives in his home town with his wonderful wife and three lovely children.

Description:

Only days ago, Will Brown’s wife and three-year-old daughter were killed in a freak road accident—both of them wiped out instantly. Soon after the funerals, living in his marital home in Midland, lower Michigan, wrecked with grief, and surrounded by in-laws, friends, and well-wishers who don’t know what the hell to say to him, Will has a brain fart and decides to run . . . to a remote cabin in Michigan’s UP Upper-Peninsular.

Appraisal:

Gosh, this is a terrific story. Let’s get the mechanics out of the way first--tight writing, clean editing, engaging and compelling scene setting. Yeah, well, those things may sound trite, but they certainly help a story along--Mr. Cardinal is a hell of a writer.

But it’s the characters, Will and his supporting cast, that make this a great story. They all felt real to me: his concerned father, his understanding boss, and most of all the locals in the tiny town situated a two hour hike from his cabin.

I know nothing about black bears or living in remote, cold places in the far north of America. Nor do I ever want to shoot a deer and field dress it, but I trembled along with Will as he waited for the big buck to shift into his sights. My heart raced when I wondered if the momma bear protecting her cubs, or Will, would win in their battle of wits and survival. I loved his dog, Max, as much as Will did.

Most of all, I felt Will’s heartache at the loss of his wife and child. I joined in his journey and agreed with his unorthodox recipe for curing a broken heart. Running away to the middle of nowhere seemed logical. The tiny cabin into which he poured his energies provided--through his physical endeavor--focus, a solace if you will. His father, although concerned when his only son ran from a good job and a steady existence, still supported him, and in a personal way empathized because he’d too lost his wife too soon.

And then the locals: a few scraped a decent living from tourists in the summer and full-timers in the winter. But many others, like Will, had cut themselves off from the ‘real world’ for personal reasons and became so married to the isolation that, like frantic beasts caught in tar sand, they were no longer able to extract themselves.

Would Will end up like them, unable to leave? Would his life become so inwardly focused on surviving the tough winters, and alcohol, and solitude, that he’d die alone and full of regrets like Lars Jackson. Or could he grasp onto a woman’s love like a lifeline and trust her enough to help him overcome his inner demons and break away? Could Will become a new person, a good person, a better person?

Well, if you’re interested in finding out. I suggest you read the story for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Format/Typo Issues:

None!

Rating:  ***** Five stars

The Kicker / J Gale Dayton

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Erotica/Short story

Approximate word count: 11-12,000 words

Availability

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

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Author:

Erotica author J. Gale Dayton currently has at least four other works available for your ereader.

Description:

“The Kicker is a riveting story of Sandy, a young girl who loves football and succeeds in becoming a star kicker in professional football. Sandy is the girl next door, the girl you want your son to bring home. Now Sandy struggles to protect that wholesome image.

During puberty Sandy discovers orgasm while exercising and then she can’t get enough. Sandy has an addiction to sex, but has to protect her reputation in order to fulfill her dream of playing professional football. Sandy has a hard time saying no so she romps through the pages learning new ways to enjoy sex. Sandy has some exciting times with some of her lusty teammates who have as much to lose as she does if found out, and she loves teaching her friendly group of college geeks all about sex and taking their virginity.”

Appraisal:

The description pretty much covers the premise. As a young girl, Sandy discovers she has a natural talent for kicking the football and with her dad's encouragement, tries out and makes the high school team. In high school she also discovers she likes sex. Likes it a lot. But if her dreams of continuing her career in football are to have a chance, she has to protect her reputation. The Kicker chronicles Sandy's exploits, both on and off the field. It is a short, fun read that should appeal to most erotica readers, but especially those who are into sports or girl-next-door types.

FYI:

Adult language and content.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Goody One Shoe / Julie Frayn

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Women's Fiction

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Availability

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

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Author:

The author of four novels and two short story collections, Julie Frayn lives in Calgary, Alberta where she’s a senior manager at a historical theme park. Her novel It isn’t Cheating if He’s Dead was the top vote getter in the Chick-Lit/Women’s Fiction category of the 2014 BigAl’s Books and Pals Readers’ Choice Awards.

For more, visit Frayn’s website.

Description:

“Eleven-year-old Billie Fullalove witnesses the murder of her parents at the hands of a gun-wielding thug. In the melee, Billie loses a leg. But her Batmanesque beginnings don’t turn her into a superhero. Yet. Billie survives her lonely childhood and settles into a solitary life, pursuing her dream of being an editor in a top publishing house. Unable to avenge her parents' unsolved murder, she is accosted by news stories of bad guys going free thanks to an inept court system. She wields her red pen and edits the newspaper to fight evil forces, right wrongs, and bring justice to victims. When her edits come true, and criminals start dying, Billie must discover the vigilante’s identity before they act out more of her revenge fantasies.”

Appraisal:

The author's dedication in Goody One Shoe says, “This is for the odd ones. The nerds, the geeks, and the weirdos. You know, for everyone.” The protagonists in Julie Frayn's novels are all unique, from themselves and from a typical woman (or man) on the street, and yet they're also everywoman, with qualities, feelings, and reactions that anyone should find easy to relate to. Wilhelmina “Billie” Fullalove, is the most unique yet. (That name alone is almost enough.) And yet, for all the things that make her different, she's looking for the same as most of us. To make our life as good as we're able, improve ourselves, find the right friends to surround us, and do what we can to make the world a better place.

However, also like most of us, there is a gap between who Billie wants to be and who she is. On the surface, she's a bit of a straight-arrow. What some might call a “goody two-shoes.” But she's made a deal with God. He allows her to think whatever she wants, sometimes profane and not very nice things. As long as she doesn't voice those thoughts, she's forgiven.

To occupy herself on her daily subway rides, Billie starts editing newspaper stories, fixing what the real editors didn't catch and changing the story to have the ending she'd prefer. Things take a turn for the strange when the stories start to happen for real. The story of how Billie figures out what is going on and deals with it is at turns intense and humorous. She'll keep you turning pages until the end.

FYI:

Some adult language and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Love’s Last Call / Beth Matthews

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: New Adult Romance/Comedy/Relationships

Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words

Availability

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

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Author:

“Beth Matthews is a Southern California girl, born and raised. She's a total geek, a movie buff, and a mediocre swing dancer. She lives in sunny SoCal with two of the neediest housecats on the planet. She also does freelance editing on the side if you're an indie author looking for someone to read your books."

For more information, visit her website or like her Facebook page.

Description:

“Lucy York is an aspiring mechanical engineer working as a shot girl serving watered-down drinks to drunken frat boys at Jezebel’s Bar & Lounge. The job isn’t so bad—it pays her bills, and she’s managed to make a surrogate family for herself at the bar. But now she’s ready to spread her wings and fly north to attend a university and, maybe, distance herself a little from the all-consuming social scene at Jezebel’s.

Then her boss hires a new bouncer, Norm, a literature dork who seems like everything a bouncer shouldn’t be: tall, gangly, sweet (and, you know, named Norman). But as she gets to know him, ol’ Norm turns out to be everything Lucy never knew she wanted and the best friend she’s ever had. He’s not a bad bouncer either.

One obstacle to their happily ever after: the owner has a strict no-dating rule for employees. If anyone at Jezebel’s finds out she’s dating a bouncer, Lucy will lose her job, her surrogate family, and the money she needs to go to college.

But, if she loses Norm, is she losing her best chance at happiness?”

Appraisal:

Lucy York is intelligent, beautiful, and commitment phobic. Her mother left when she was very young, so she was raised by her doting father. The problem was that he passed away, from cancer, just after she graduated from high school. She has been putting herself through a two-year college course in hopes that she can transfer to Berkeley to finish her college requirements. She has the math down solid, however, it’s the English course she has put off till the last because she doesn’t feel she is as strong in that class.

The owner of Jezebel’s, Hank, has become like a surrogate father to Lucy. He helps look after her when she needs help and never likes any of her boyfriends. He is also a large muscle bound bouncer at the club and has a strict “no dating policy” between any of the employees.

Norm has graduated from college and has taken a couple of years off to decide what exactly he wants to do with his life now. His father wants him to pursue a career in Literature academia, Norm wants to become an author of science fiction. In the meantime he needed a job to get his car out of the repair shop and his roommate, Zack, needs help with the rent. If he hadn’t gotten this job at Jezebel’s he would have had to flip burgers. His first night on the job he was immediately attracted to Lucy.

Ms. Matthews does a nice job introducing all of her characters, even the supporting players. The dialogue is realistic and believable. The relationship between Lucy and Norm develops quickly, they have great chemistry together and complement each other well. However, Lucy is fraught with anxiety about getting caught dating Norm, so she basically ignores him at work. This is a huge problem for Norm because he keeps getting mixed signals from her. He tries to be understanding of her mood swings. Norm wants to level with Hank and tell him the truth about their relationship, but neither one of them can afford to lose their job. On top of all of this Norm is under a lot of stress with his writing and his dysfunctional family.

I did find this an enjoyable read, however, I encountered proofing errors that got on my nerves a little more than usual. There were several missing words as well as wrong words used: such as door mouse, instead of dormouse; …a hunted look, instead of a haunted look; …thread of desire would all through her, instead of wound all through her; …would have sent her heart with fear, instead of wrenched her heart with fear. Needless to say I encountered several awkward sentences. I think this story would profit from another round of editing. It is worth it.

FYI:

Love’s Last Call is book 1 in the Ladies of Jezebel's series. There is graphic sex described as well as adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

On top of what I mentioned above, I believe Lucy was called Nicola once. Nicola, I learned is a character in another book.

Rating: *** Three stars