Review: Coming to Rosemont by Barbara Hinske

Title: Coming to Rosemont

Author: Barbara Hinske

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Blurb: Forensic accountant Maggie Martin survives the sudden death of her husband, the charismatic President of Windsor College, only to uncover the secrets of his carefully-concealed double life. Dealing with the financial and emotional wreckage left in Paul's wake, she is stunned to learn he inherited an estate known as Rosemont in the seemingly-serene Midwestern town of Westbury. Why had he never told her?

Maggie travels to Westbury for the stated purpose of listing Rosemont for immediate sale, but what she really seeks are answers to her all-consuming questions about her sham of a marriage; her sham of a life. She never anticipated the seductive charm of Rosemont. Throwing her trademark caution to the wind, and over the objections of her opinionated grown children, she pulls up stakes and moves halfway across the country, determined to make a fresh start in Westbury. Behind closed doors, however, lurks a cadre of evildoers, playing with multiple wild cards of fraud, embezzlement and arson.

With a quiet, orderly -- and distinctively solitary -- life in mind, Maggie is instead thrown headlong into a crusade against political corruption, where defeat and retreat are not an option. Still bearing the scars of betrayal, will she find joy, romance and possibility in Westbury?

This fast-paced, smart novel has enough twists and turns to make the reader want to buckle in! Coming to Rosemont is the first book in the Rosemont series.

Review: When a widow finds out who her husband really was, what should she do?

Hide from the rest of her life?

Cry until there are no more tears?

Scream, rant, rave and rave?

Not Maggie! Maggie is a woman of action, a do it now person, and someone not afraid to face her fears.

Maggie learns of a house her husband owns, and of his misdeeds at work. She decides that the only thing she can take care of right now is the house. She travels to the Westbury in hopes of cleaning it up and putting it on the market. But as you've always heard, the heart wants what the heart wants. When Maggie walks into Rosemont it was love at first sight.

Barbara was able to suck me into her story and the down home real life people in her book. I came to know, love and enjoy their triumphs and hate the hardships that they were forced to endure. 

I appreciate how Barbara was able to create love that was responsible and built upon a friendship. And as all good writers do, there was a good hint of hot to it as well.

I am excited to read book two: Weaving the Strands.

Stay tuned and excited as I am going to send a interview to our crown jewel author and she's going to answer them and I'll post for all to see! Thanks again, and keep those pages turning.

Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman - Review

Title: Freud's Mistress

Authors: Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman

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Blurb: It is fin-de-siècle Vienna and Minna Bernays, an over-educated lady’s companion with a sharp, wry wit, is abruptly fired, yet again, from her position. She finds herself out on the street and out of options. In 1895, the city may be a swirl with avant-garde artists and revolutionary ideas, yet a woman’s only hope for security is still marriage. But Minna is unwilling to settle. Out of desperation, she turns to her sister, Martha, for help. 

Martha has her own problems—six young children and an absent, disinterested husband who happens to be Sigmund Freud. At this time, Freud is a struggling professor, all but shunned by his peers and under attack for his theories, most of which center around sexual impulses. And while Martha is shocked and repulsed by her husband’s “pornographic” work, Minna is fascinated. 

Minna is everything Martha is not—intellectually curious, engaging, and passionate. She and Freud embark on what is at first simply an intellectual courtship, yet something deeper is brewing beneath the surface, something Minna cannot escape.

In this sweeping tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal—between a husband and a wife, between sisters—fact and fiction seamlessly blend together, creating a compelling portrait of an unforgettable woman and her struggle to reconcile her love for her sister with her obsessive desire for her sister’s husband, the mythic father of psychoanalysis. 

Review:  I've been letting book blurbs decide my taste in reading lately and I'm finding that it's a poor choice of reasoning. My old faithful cover-whore self is going to have to be the old faithful once again.

This book held real potential having been a fictionalized potentially true story about Freud and his sister-in-law having an affair. I enjoy learning more about history and the intrigue that was promised in this book.

Unfortunately the sister-in-law turned out to be a giant whiner, and put up with the mental abuse that Freud gave her. No matter how he treated her or how wrong she felt the act of adultery with her sister's husband was.

Instead she whined, moaned, and complained throughout the whole book. Once the affair fizzled she became insufferable. All in all not a good pick for the year.

Review: The Steady Running of the Hour

Title: The Steady Running of the Hour

Author: Justin Go

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Blurb: In this mesmerizing debut, a young American discovers he may be heir to the unclaimed estate of an English World War I officer, which launches him on a quest across Europe to uncover the elusive truth.

Just after graduating college, Tristan Campbell receives a letter delivered by special courier to his apartment in San Francisco. It contains the phone number of a Mr. J.F. Prichard of Twyning & Hooper, Solicitors, in London--and news that could change Tristan's life forever.

In 1924, Prichard explains, an English alpinist named Ashley Walsingham died attempting to summit Mt. Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson. But the estate was never claimed. Information has recently surfaced suggesting Tristan may be the rightful heir, but unless he can find documented evidence, the fortune will be divided among charitable beneficiaries in less than two months.

In a breathless race from London archives to Somme battlefields to the Eastfjords of Iceland, Tristan pieces together the story of a forbidden affair set against the tumult of the First World War and the pioneer British expeditions to Mt. Everest. Following his instincts through a maze of frenzied research, Tristan soon becomes obsessed with the tragic lovers, and he crosses paths with a mysterious French girl named Mireille who suggests there is more to his quest than he realizes. Tristan must prove that he is related to Imogen to inherit Ashley's fortune--but the more he learns about the couple, the stranger his journey becomes.

The Steady Running of the Hour announces the arrival of a stunningly talented author. Part love story, part historical tour de force, Justin Go's novel is utterly compelling, unpredictable, and heartrending.

Review: I read this book due to the recommendation of a great friend of mine. I was certain it was going to be good due to the fact that the preview that I read was GRIPPING! I couldn't wait until the library or Amazon got the book in so I could devour it in one sitting. I have never been more wrong in my entire life.

The first 1/3 of the book held me, switching back and forth from present day to WWII. Then it got to be a little old. I put the book down 2/3 of the way through and vowed I would not finish the book. The book lover in me decided that I couldn't leave a book unread no matter how much I didn't care for it. So I read it all the way through to the end.

I have never been so disappointed in my entire life. The ending literally SUCKED. OK, it can't literally suck since it's not a vacuum or black hole, but it was not good. If my boyfriend had not been in the bed asleep beside me when I finished the book I would have thrown it.

What looked to be a promising start to a new career turned out to be a sad ending to a would be novel.

Review: Dragon Lord by Tamara Monteau

Title: Dragon Lord

Series: Haven's Realm #3

Author: Tamara Monteau

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Blurb: Before Tyler Jenkins embarked on her mission to retrieve stolen Government secrets, she reviewed every scrap of intel; memorized floor plans and guard schedules, knew everything she needed to achieve her objective. The one thing she didn't count on was the interference of one irritating vampire.

Ronan promised to protect an HSA agent infiltrating Courleon's Consortium. He hadn't counted on that agent being a woman, and worse: the most intriguing creature he'd laid eyes on for thousands of years. He knew from the start that if he wasn't careful, he would lead them into a chain of events that could force him to lose control and destroy everything in his path.
Review: Holy crap on a cracker! (Sorry I watch too much Big Bang Theory!) I've been in a book funk for so long that I haven't been able to read one book 3/4 of the way through without putting it down. Not so with Dragon Lord. I read this one cover to cover in 48 hours flat. I would have read it sooner if I didn't have to sleep.

Tamara Monteau is a friggin' genius with her character development, and plot twists. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, another twist. What a joy to travel on the wings of the Dragon Lord!