It must be Christmas in a few weeks because many of our featured free authors this week aren’t giving away a book but rather boxed sets full of books, instead! That’s a great deal for hungry readers and Kylie Gilmore’s generosity knows no bounds as she’s handing out the first three books in her Clover Park series at the moment. These are sweet and slightly racy romance novels. They do follow on from each other but each one deals with a separate romance. I only read the first one, The …
Fiction
The Tea Rose
Jennifer Donnelly’s The Tea Rose is a masterpiece bringing together historical events and the strength of a woman in an unforgettable quest of both triumph and survival. We begin in the East London of 1888. A dark city where thieves, ladies of the night and worse stalk the shadows. It is the city that Fiona Finnegan and her love Joe Bristow are pursuing their dreams of a better life in. Then tragedy strikes and an evil man strips Fiona of everything that she holds dear. Barely escaping her …
PRIMAL (Starter Box Set)
Wow! This one is surely the best value for money this week. For the hearty price of no dollars Jack Silkstone is determined to get you hooked on his Primal series and he’s thrown in the first novel, the two prequels and a compendium of short stories into his box set. Now, that’s rather more than I had time to read. So, I tackled Primal Origin, the series opener, and am happy to report that it’s a top quality read with plenty of action going on. If you’re into stories about “Elite Operatives” …
Chicken Culprit: A Backyard Farm Mystery
Well, I am not sure what I was expecting from a “Backyard Farm” mystery but thankfully, Vikki Walton’s Chicken Culprit is a lot of fun and manages to avoid taking itself too seriously. The series follows Anne Freemont a recent divorcee looking for a way out of the life that she’s been living. So, she moves to Carolan Springs in the mountains of Colorado. The mystery bit begins when she arrives and her next door neighbor washes up dead and her other neighbor is implicated in the death. Kandi, …
The Killer: A Victor The Assassin Novel
I have to confess that I have become increasingly engaged with assassin novels ever since I first read a John Rain novel by Barry Eisler. Tom Wood’s The Killer is in a similar vein though I don’t find the protagonist quite as engaging as Mr. Rain and it scratches an itch for me. The story follows Victor, who as you have guessed by now is an assassin, through an assignment in Paris and beyond. Here we find him playing cat and mouse with intelligence agencies, angry authorities and without a …
Mask Of Duplicity: The Jacobite Chronicles
Yay! Not only is Julia Brannan’s Mask of Duplicity an excellent novel but it’s also the first book in a six book series, The Jacobite Chronicles. I love authors that make the first book free rather than making us wade into the middle of a series and then work out from there. This novel has won a bunch of awards including an IndieBRAG Gold Medallion, so I am not the only one that loves it. Beth and Richard are feeling the pinch after their father dies leaving them very little to start well in …
Are You My Mother?
Alison Bechdel’s mother always wanted her to become an artist. Are You My Mother? is the story of how Alison achieved her mother’s dream and also an exploration of a complex relationship with a complex woman. Alison’s mother was married to a gay man still trapped in the closet, she rarely offered physical affection and yet, was a voracious reader and solid actor. It is the interplay between mother and often confused daughter that will bring both a smile to your face and tears to your …
Supreme Justice
Gary Hardwick’s work is new to me and I was pleased to find that it was for sale on Amazon at a discounted price of under $2 this week. It’s a legal thriller in which Marshall Jackson, a US Attorney whose job it is to prosecute the murder of a US Supreme Court Justice. However, Supreme Justice, is also concerned with matters of race in modern America. The book examines what happens when a member of a community is considered by other members of that community to have betrayed their ideals. …
Red Clocks
Red Clocks was going to be our very first choice for Mom Reads but then we thought it might have been a little too dark to open with. This is a big book by Leni Zumas, it’s not only a runaway bestseller but it’s also the New York Times’ Editor’s Choice and the Time book of the year! This explores a future where women are both more and less than they are now. The tale within is a little harrowing but enables a larger discussion on what women’s roles might be and what they should be. …