Rosette: A Novel of Pioneer Michigan

Rosette: A Novel of Pioneer Michigan
Title: Rosette: A Novel of Pioneer Michigan
ASIN: B01AZLS05A
Published: January 22, 2016
Author's Twitter: @CindyRMarsch
We meet Rosette in 1888 as she revises the wedding-day page of her journal. In lush detail, in the voices of Rosette and others, the novel traces how we both choose and suffer our destiny, how hopes come to naught and sometimes rise from the wreckage. Why did she edit her wedding-day journal? Almost-spinster schoolteacher Rosette Cordelia Ramsdell married Otis Churchill on a Michigan farm in 1857. Her real-life journal recounts two years of homesteading, history hints at the next six decades, and the novel explores the truth. We meet Rosette in 1888 as she revises the wedding-day page of her journal. In lush detail, in the voices of Rosette and others, the novel traces how we both choose and suffer our destiny, how hopes come to naught and sometimes rise from the wreckage.  

Assessed for 

The English Heart

The English Heart
Title: The English Heart
ASIN: B077BCKKX2
Publisher:
Author:
Author's Twitter: @helenahalme
A stylish 1980’s Cold War love story based on true events. Young Finnish student Kaisa falls head over heals in love with Peter, a dashing newly qualified naval officer. Kaisa realised she’d never felt like this before. This was love. The stuff she’d read about in books since she was a teenager; the films she’d watched. This was how Ryan O’Neal felt about Ali MacGraw in Love Story, and Barbra Streisand about Robert Redford in The Way We Were. Kaisa grinned. She’d wanted to pose the same question to the Englishman that Katie had to Hubbell, ‘Do you smile ALL the time?’ ” When a young Finnish student, Kaisa, is invited to the British Embassy cocktail party in Helsinki to celebrate a Royal Navy visit to Finland, she’s not looking for romance. After all, her future has been carefully planned: she’s to complete her degree, marry her respectable, well-to-do Finnish fiancé Matti, and live happily ever after. Enter the dashing Peter, a newly qualified naval officer. Like a moth to a flame, Kaisa falls head over heels in love. Kaisa and Peter embark on a long-distance relationship, but at the height of the Cold War, while the Englishman chases Russian submarines, Kaisa is stuck in Finland, a country friendly with the Soviet Union. Can they trust each other? Can their love go the distance? A stylish 1980s Nordic love story based on true events.

Assessed for Awesome Indies (Previous title: The Englishman)

 

 

 

The Darkness

The Darkness
Title: The Darkness
ASIN: B008X8ZM8G
Category:
Tag:
Published: August 12, 2012
Author:
Author's Twitter: @carver24
For Andrew Davidson, tragedy marks a turning point… He’s a respected G.P. but when his brother is found with his throat cut, his thoughts turn to anger and revenge. Known villains, who have evaded justice thanks to the efforts of Cairnburgh’s cleverest lawyer, begin to disappear. For rape victim Rhona Kirk, getting on with her life means taking control… She starts a new life in Dundee but haking off her past is difficult, and the men she’s connected with also go missing. When the threats start, she accepts help against her better judgment. For DCI Jack Carston, solving the puzzle is a race against time… He searches for the links between these vanished persons, aware all the time of his own darker impulses and sensing the bond between himself and the vigilante. What he finds is beyond his worst imaginings.

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Enduring Endurance

Enduring Endurance
Title: Enduring Endurance
ASIN: B00EHLWGTQ
Category:
Series:
Published: August 10, 2013
Author:
Author's Twitter: @acspahn
Infusing the traditional science fiction format with humor and awkward coworkers, Enduring Endurance follows the not-so-best-and-brightest of humanity as they explore the galaxy by accident.   Infusing the traditional science fiction format with humor and awkward coworkers, Enduring Endurance follows the not-so-best-and-brightest of humanity as they explore the galaxy by accident. Captain Thomas Withers expects the worst when he’s assigned command of the Endurance, the least-respected ship in the United Earth Law Enforcement Corps. He gets it, and then some. After a poorly executed experiment throws Thomas and his crew out of Earth’s solar system and into humanity’s first meeting with aliens, he must rely on the outcasts of the corps, not only to get home, but to survive the trip at all.   Please note:  The Endurance series is no longer available as separate volumes. The complete series of books 1 to 5 is available as one book.  Please click here.

Assessed 

Please note:  The Endurance series is no longer available as separate volumes. The complete series of books 1 to 5 is available as one book.  Please click here. 

 

The Fatal Coin

The Fatal Coin
Title: The Fatal Coin
ASIN: B0725QQBC1
Published: May 16, 2017
Author's Twitter: @LucienneWrite
Missing treasure. Murder. One ruthless criminal. And one Bow Street Runner determined to stop him. In the winter of 1794 Bow Street Runner and amateur pugilist Dan Foster is assigned to guard a Royal Mail coach. The mission ends in tragedy when a young constable is shot dead by a highwayman calling himself Colonel Pepper. Dan is determined to bring Pepper to justice, but the trail runs cold. Four months later Dan is sent to Staffordshire to recover a recently excavated hoard of Roman gold which has gone missing. Here he unexpectedly encounters Colonel Pepper again. The hunt is back on, and this time Dan will risk his life to bring down Pepper and his gang. 'The Fatal Coin' is a prequel to 'Bloodie Bones', the first Dan Foster Mystery, which was joint winner of the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016.

Assessed 

Mystical Mountain Magic – Redeemer

Mystical Mountain Magic – Redeemer
Title: Mystical Mountain Magic – Redeemer
ASIN: B00QFJSG56
Author:
An infant girl is rescued and raised by giant eagles and is commissioned by a living volcano to restore Hope back into the world before the Deceiver can assassinate her.    

Assessed 

Walking with Elephants

Walking with Elephants
Title: Walking with Elephants
ASIN: B006BG7G90
Publisher:
Published: November 17, 2011
Bridget Jones meet Erma Bombeck — Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of- life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today.   Suze Hall is at a crossroads. Her nemesis at work, Wanda, has been promoted and now will be her boss. Her husband, Bob, is leaving her and the three kids for a six-month sabbatical down under. To top it off, her best friend, Marcia, is missing in action–playing footsie with some new boyfriend!   Adding to this disaster stew, David, the gorgeous hunk who broke her young-girl’s heart has coincidentally popped back into her life and has something she desperately needs to keep her job. Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of- life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today. It explores the modern dichotomy of a workplace that is filled with homemakers who still must cook, clean, carpool on nights and weekends, shop for prom dresses, and “create” the holidays–such as Suze. But it also is filled with women who have the same drive as men, have no family responsibilities, and will do what ever it takes to get ahead. So step into the shoes of Suze Hall and commiserate over workplace politics, titillate your sexual fantasies, ride the wave of a working mother, and fall-down laughing.

Assessed for Awesome Indies

Not Without Risk

Not Without Risk
Title: Not Without Risk
ASIN: B077C6Z1XP
Publisher:
Published: November 10, 2017
Author:
Author's Twitter: @PeterTrewin
When Martin Bennett, the backroom brains in a regeneration company charged with bringing back Merseyside’s former prosperity, sees an ex-friend murdered on a hospital escalator and discovers that the body was too hastily cremated, he feels compelled to investigate.   In order to discover the truth about the murder, he must navigate the Merseyside underworld peopled by bent solicitors and coppers, corrupt politicians and violent thugs. He forms an alliance with the mayor’s right hand woman, who is out of favour with her corrupt boss, and uncovers not only the surprising story behind the murder but also a conspiracy to carve up Merseyside’s green belt.   The journey will not be without risk. For both of them.  

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The Adventures of Gracie & Monkeybear, Book 1: Summer

The Adventures of Gracie & Monkeybear, Book 1: Summer
Title: The Adventures of Gracie & Monkeybear, Book 1: Summer
ASIN: B01N1ZCBUH
Gracie & MonkeyBear is told through the actions and conversations between a brilliant young girl and her partner in adventure, the most celebrated canine inventor the world has ever seen MonkeyBear! The pace is that of children, hopping and bouncing from one creative thought to the next, one adventure to another. This is not a traditional children's book, it is a storyworld meant to be read and experienced together, parent and child, veteran bookworms with new readers. At its core, The Adventures of Gracie & MonkeyBear embodies the concepts of relentless curiosity, untethered imagination, power of diverse friendships and experiences (like the world around us), heroic acts of kindness based on strength of character and most of all, the belief that all living things are connected and should be treated with love, compassion, and respect.

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