Book Blogger Hop - 3/27 - 4/2

 Question of the Week:

Which books have you read in the past month that still have you thinking back to the storyline and the characters? 

My Answer:

A few of these books were read in February.

Night, Night Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron was a book that was non-stop suspense.

The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford was a good read too.  It was a psychological thriller. 

A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor is wonderful.

The Reluctant Midwife by Patricia Harman is very heartwarming and homey.

Whisper Hollow by Chris Cander was a great historical fiction with strong female characters.

Reviews are in the titles.

What about your books?

Whisper Hollow Review and Giveaway

About Whisper Hollow

WHISPER HOLLOW is an evocative portrait of life in a small West Virginia mining town redolent with secrets and desires that are at odds with the looming shadow of moral standards.  

Spanning fifty years, WHISPER HOLLOW explores the irrevocably intertwined lives of three memorable women, and what happens when they’re forced to excavate deeply personal unspoken truths.   

About the Author 

 

Chris Cander is a novelist, children’s book author, freelance writer, and teacher for Houston-based Writers in the Schools. Her novel 11 Stories, published by a small press in Houston, was included in Kirkus’s best indie general fiction of 2013.

Chris received the 2014 IPPY award for her novel 11 Stories, and was a featured speaker at World Book Night 2014 at Brazos Bookstore in Houston.  The publication of WHISPER HOLLOW heralds the arrival of this exciting new female voice into the literary mainstream.

My Review 

WHISPER HOLLOW whispered nothing but sadness, loneliness, ​secrets, ​and isolation.
 
Myrthen's isolation and sadness began after the death of her twin sister and then her marriage.  Alta's sadness began ​upon her marriage to the man she didn't love or have anything in common with.

Both women have desires that break rules and traditions.  Myrthen and Alta are traditional on the outside, but on the inside are very strong women with very strong convictions. Tragedy brings these two women farther apart instead of closer together and leaves them both lonelier than before.
 
WHISPER HOLLOW is set in the coal mining town of Verra, West Virginia,​ ​before, during, and after WWII ​with traditional marriages of the wife at home and the husband working.
​
Ms. Cander's writing pulls you in with her marvelous descriptions of characters and scenes.  The characters are very authentic with some you will feel sorry for.  You will definitely not like Myrthen as the years go on, and your heart will go out to Alta and Lidia.  When Lidia arrives, the strong women of Verra, West Virginia, have another woman with a secret to take into their fold.
 
The beginning was a bit slow, but the characters, situations, writing style, and time period kept me going.  ​I would recommend this book to anyone who likes secrets and family sagas.  It is historical fiction and women's fiction rolled into one.
​
WHISPER HOLLOW i​s an interesting look into the lives of the characters with circumstances that are very plausible.  You will become attached to the women and to their situations. 

The ending is redeeming in certain ways and definitely a page turner.  ENJOY if you read WHISPER HOLLOW.  I think you will.  4/5
 
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review. 

CONTEST HAS ENDED

THE WINNER IS:  JUDY #11

CONGRATS!!

The Giveaway

USA Entries Only Please

March 26 - April 2

Click here to enter the giveaway

Best of Luck to All Who Enter

 

Night, Night Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron

 

How could coming home to help your father get the house ready to sell turn into such a nightmare?

Deirdre dutifully said she would help her father with the house, but when she arrived, she found him at the bottom of the swimming pool. When did this happen? Who could have done this? Could she have done it and not realized it considering her past that she was just finding out about?

NIGHT, NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT was quite gripping and suspenseful.  All of the things that were happening made me wonder if they were really by chance or if someone had planned them to frame Deirdre.  After all, Deirdre's brother was sound asleep in their childhood home when she arrived.  And what was it with folks from her past coming out of the woodwork and secrets about what actually happened the night of her car accident being revealed?

The characters were quite colorful with most of them on the untrustworthy side.  They all seemed likely suspects in the  murder and subsequently the garage fire.  Deirdre seemed to be the only honest one and the one being blamed.

I really enjoyed NIGHT, NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT.  The suspense began with the first few paragraphs, and it didn't stop.  

NIGHT, NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT was a mystery and character analysis all rolled into one.

If you enjoy uncertainty, excitement, and tension at its finest, don't miss reading NIGHT, NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT.   

NIGHT, NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT was ohhh so good and a book I couldn't wait to get back to.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

 

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - 3/20/15

 

Love this meme....I hope you can join in the fun.  

Each week, Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs.  

The statements: 

1.  I’ve not been ____ much because ____ 

2.  ____ is _______ 

3.  Jumping to conclusions_________ 

4.  It's_____ when_____

My Answers: 

1.  I've not been visiting blogs very much because my mom has been in the hospital.

2.  Reading is bliss.

3.  Jumping to conclusions is something we all do, but we should not do.

4.  It's sad when you finish a book you really like.

 

The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford

A dead neighbor, the last one to see her alive, and Dana can't remember anything about that afternoon she spent with Celia.

Did she handle the heavy vase that killed Celia the day she died or does she remember that from when they bought it at a garage sale?  Was Celia alive when she left that afternoon?  Could she have killed her neighbor?

Dana keeps questioning herself about what happened that afternoon and has herself convinced that she did kill Celia.  Dana wishes she could remember.  If this wasn't worry enough with her fragile state and her former mental problems, Dana had to worry about her husband who she knew was having an affair.

The writing style of Susan Crawford is exquisitely descriptive and takes you right into Dana's mind making you wonder along with her just what actually did happen.

For me Dana wasn't likeable. Peter, Dana's husband, is a sneak. Celia even in death is mysterious. Celia's husband, Ronald, seems guilty. So many suspects to choose from. You will go back and forth and be stumped until the end.  Jack the policeman seems to be the only honest and likeable one.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, a range of unlikeable, but interesting characters, and a book you don't want to put down, THE POCKET WIFE fits the bill. The ending is great.  4/5 

 

The Reluctant Midwife by Patricia Harman

Babies, folks helping each other, and a difficult, but wonderful era.

Patience and Becky knew each other from years before and became reacquainted when Becky moved back to town with Dr. Blum who is now disabled.

Patience is a midwife, and Becky is a nurse.  Both women deliver babies together and share what they have food wise and material wise to make ends meet and to make it through the difficult times of The Depression.  You will follow Patience, Becky, Dr. Blum, Patience's husband, and all of the other delightful town folks through their days.​

THE RELUCTANT MIDWIFE is one of those books you won't want to put down because the characters are so wholesome and because the story is so homey and heartwarming.  Patience and Becky are characters you would want for a friend.

ENJOY if you read THE RELUCTANT MIDWIFE....any women's fiction fan will be hooked.  You will want to crawl into the pages of the book, to be one of the characters, and to share in their lives. 

THE MIDWIFE OF HOPE RIVER is recommended before reading THE RELUCTANT MIDWIFE, but I am having no trouble​ with following the storyline.  It is a marvelous read.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.​
  


 

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - 3/13/15

 

Love this meme....I hope you can join in the fun.  

Each week, Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs.  

The statements:

1. The worst ____________ is _______________
2. I would rather____________________  than _____________
3. I can ________ but I wish I could ________
4. The song ________________ evokes memories of _______________

My Answers: 

1.  The worst part of going to the doctor is just getting yourself mentally ready.  :)

2.  I would rather read a book or take a walk than watch TV.

3.  I can type like a champ, but I wish I could read music or play an instrument.

4.  The song, On Eagle's Wings, evokes memories of when my son was small.

Giveaway of Amherst by William Nicholson

 

Do you want to own a copy of Amherst?  Enter the giveaway link below.  Amherst sounds quite good.

What happens when you combine the screenwriter of the critically-acclaimed film Gladiator, the famously reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, and two passionate extra-marital love affairs?

The result, I’m happy to say, is the novel Amherst by William Nicholson (Simon & Schuster, on sale 2/10/2014), which Booklist favorably cast as “deftly explor[ing] the timeless torments of love and loneliness.”

Alice Dickinson, a young advertising executive, has dreams of Hollywood, and decides to spend two weeks researching the topic of her screenplay: the scandalous love affair between a young faculty wife at Amherst College, Mabel Loomis Todd, and the college treasurer, Austin Dickinson, the little known brother of Emily Dickinson. Arriving in Amherst, Massachusetts, Alice stays in the house of Nick Crocker, a married man of fifty and, she later learns, a legendary seducer of young women.

Thus, while researching the love affair between Mabel and Austin, Alice falls helplessly for Nick, and the two embark on an affair of their own. An affair, of course, that oddly echoes the story she’s come to Amherst to fully understand. 

Amherst is the perfect blend of literary and commercial fiction. Readers will be drawn to the inter-weaving stories of Alice, Nick, Mabel, and Austin—and can feast on the delightful, albeit little known, details of writer Emily Dickinson’s reclusive life.

CONTEST HAS ENDED!!

THANKS FOR ENTERING.

THE WINNER IS:  JACQUELINE - #14

Enter the giveaway here 
to win a copy of AMHERST.

USA ONLY 

Enter from March 10 to March 17

 

A Killing At The Creek by Nancy Allen

Attorney Elise Arnold is finally getting a murder case, but when she finds out it is a juvenile who is being charged, that's a whole different story.

A KILLING AT THE CREEK opens up with a chilling description that immediately grabs your attention and is filled with action that doesn't stop throughout the entire book.

The characters are well developed, most are likeable, and the storyline has court room tension as well as relationship tension.

Drama, legal scenes, non-stop action, and simply great writing is what A KILLING AT THE CREEK is all about.

Definitely recommended for those readers who enjoy murder storylines and legal action. The trial and the fifteen-year-old were very real.

This is the first book I have read by Ms. Allen.  It definitely is a page turner.  I hated when I needed to go to sleep and couldn't keep reading, but I picked the book up as soon as I could the next day.

ENJOY the book if you read A KILLING AT THE CREEK. 5/5 

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review.

 

Mist of Midnight by Sandra Byrd

Was this woman the "real" Miss Ravenshaw or was the Miss Ravenshaw that was at Headbourne House a few weeks ago the "real" Miss Ravenshaw.

Rebecca Ravenshaw arrived with her chaperone from India after her parents were killed in an uprising and she was the only one in the family that had survived.  Miss Ravenshaw had no place to go but back to her family mansion in England.  When she arrived, everyone was shocked beyond belief.

How can this be Miss Ravenshaw when she committed suicide not more than a few weeks ago and is buried in the estate's cemetery. Is this Miss Ravenshaw the imposter or was the f​irst Miss Ravenshaw the imposter?  Was the first Miss Ravenshaw murdered for her inheritance?  Will the current Miss Ravenshaw have the same fate?

MIST OF MIDNIGHT has a hint of sinister to it.  None of the characters can be trusted especially her cousin Captain Luke Whitfield.  As the days go on, though, Rebecca falls in love with Luke and he seems to return the affection, but is he simply pretending to have affection for Rebecca?  Is he the one who killed the imposter so he could inherit the family mansion? Will he also murder Rebecca for the family mansion?

​We the readers will be taken into English society and attend balls and mingle with the English aristocrats as we try to figure out who is genuine, who is an imposter, and who is only out for money.​

MIST OF MIDNIGHT dragged a bit at the beginning, but the mystery and intrigue kept me going. As mist covers the estate grounds at night, it adds suspense, questions, jealousy, and finally love.  4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.


 

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - 3/6/15

 

Love this meme....I hope you can join in the fun.  

Each week, Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs.  

The statements:

1. Having too____makes me_____
2. When it is____, I _____
3. Chocolate is ________
4. How do you feel after______

My Answers: 

1.  Having too much sleep makes me even sleepier.

2.  When it is summer, I love to sit on my back porch and read.

3.  Chocolate is something everyone needs.

4.  How do you feel after a nice hot shower on a cold day?