I first discovered Chris Bohjalian in 2011 when I read and loved his suspense thriller, The Night Strangers. Since then I have read two of his historical fictions The Sandcastle Girls and The Light in the Ruins. Each story is vastly different, beautiful, captivating and memorable. It seems no matter what story Bohjalian tells it is destined to entwine itself into my memory.
I am always game to try a new genre. When I saw the cover and read the synopsis for Vipers Run, I decided try it. Vipers Run is the first in the Skulls Creek series by Stephanie Tyler. Vipers Run offered former Army Rangers, motorcycles and promised danger. While I enjoyed Vipers Run, you have to suspend belief a little and just enjoy the ride.
I grew up in South Jersey and as a young teen traveled with my maternal grandparents to central Pennsylvania for the day. There we toured an abandoned coalmine. We rode inside the tunnels on old coal cars draped in thick miner coats and helmets. We learned about working in the mines from the working conditions to the ailments workers suffered. We then visited abandon towns with boarded up windows and overgrown lawns.; viewed fields where smoke and sulfur gases rose from the ground licked by flames. It was dark, sad and oddly eerie. On the car ride home, I imagined what people in those towns must have experienced. Where did they go? Why did some choose to stay? It was one of those memories that stayed with me. When I was approached to review the audio version of The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett and realized, the story was about a family in this ravaged area I immediately accepted. The Hollow Ground was a poignant tale of heartache, growth and the ties that bind us.
The makers of the Beam N Read LED3 hands free light asked me if I would like to test their product and share it with my readers. I love to read into the wee hours, as I am firm beliver in the “just one more chapter” mantra. I usually read at night with my Nook HD, but there have been many nights I am reading a physical book and I am often annoyed they don’t come with a nightlight. Not wanting to disturb my husband I am often forced to leave the comfort of my warm, soft bed to finish those chapters. Have you ever sat on the floor in the bathroom to finish those last chapters? I have! I spent the last thirty days testing the Beam N Read both for my comfort and those of the man snoring rather loudly beside me…..
How to Lose A Lord in 10 Days or Less is the third book in the Tricks of the Ton series by Elizabeth Michels. This is a series I have thoroughly enjoyed with feisty, original female protagonists and complicated heroes. Laced with humor, passion and suspenseful moments How to Lose a Lord in 10 Days or Less was a fun romp that had me laughing and sighing. I found myself lost within its pages.
