Kidnapped Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Rita A Karnopp
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

Laura and Aaron Palmer have a troubled marriage. For years they have tried to have a child of their own, but Aaron wasn’t there for Laura when she most needed him, and she resents him for it, that’s when the cracks in their marriage started to grow. They have an adopted daughter Amie, they are only staying together as it is for the sake of the adoption contract.

Laura’s world falls apart when she discovers Amie’s picture in a magazines STRANGER ABDUCTIONS section, she was taken from a shopping cart whilst her mother was shopping 6 months previously, exactly the time when Laura and Aaron got her.

Laura paid and extra $5,000 to the agency to be bumped to the head of the waiting list, and so did Aaron, only problem was they didn’t tell eachother!

Laura’s best friend Sharon asks her boyfriend Brett, who is a private detective, to find out more about the adoption agency, and Aaron asks his Lawyer brother to help him in the same way.

Both Laura and Aaron fear that it’s inevitable that they will have to return Amie to her real parents, but neither one of them, despite their differences, wants to burst the other’s bubble.

The two are suddenly reconciled when Laura follows Aaron to Chicago where he has to go on business, and they can’t get enough of each other, though they are both still keeping their secrets.

Whilst they are in Chicago events take a sinister turn, the couple are threatened, and told to stop the investigation, go back to Montana, and let it lie. Soon they realise that there is more to this than a baby snatched for illegal adoption, there is subterfuge, and corruption too. The danger spreads to all those they hold dear, and it’s a race against time to ensure those responsible are caught and stopped if a tragedy is to be avoided.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a page turner to the very end.

Four flutes

Clutch Me If You Can Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

 & 1/2

Author: Rochelle Rae Hensler
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

For Sarah Lyons, wearing four-inch-heels while attempting to drive a stick shift, is not a good idea. She somehow manages to crash into very attractive biker, Jake Reynolds, who unfortunately, due to her ‘outfit’, mistakes her for a hooker and thinks she has crashed into him trying to gain his custom. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Sarah is only wearing the heels and hooker garb for a theme party her hateful overbearing boss, Hillary, has organised. It was that or lose her job.

Later, Jake sees Sarah again, without the outfit. He gets the feeling he knows her from somewhere, he just can’t think where. He witnesses her having a heated argument with her now ex-boyfriend, Damon, and instantly feels sorry for her, and also very attracted to her. He grabs an opportunity to be her knight in shining armour when three drunken idiots accost her in a restaurant. The inevitable courtship begins, but will she come clean about their original encounter? Will Jake put two and two together?

There is yet another case of crossed wires, and Sarah jumps to the wrong conclusion. Is their relationship over before it’s even begun?

I liked the main characters of this book straight away, and for me that’s what makes me want to read on. A nice little chick-lit, with some humour and romance thrown in for good measure.

Favourite Lines:

On the radio, Jo Dee Messina began singing her hit single, My Give-a-Damn’s Busted. “How appropriate,” Sarah sneered.

“I’d call you a few things, but I’m trying to be a better Christian.”

“You swore,” she said in a sing-song voice, although her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m telling God.” (HAHAHA!)

“Who are you, and what have you done with Sarah, my meek little friend?”

Four and a half flutes

Yesterday’s Tomorrow Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Rochelle Rae Hensler
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

Keeper now and Keeper then, lands and wealth he’ll see.
He who secures the realm, his heart’s desire be.
If his heart’s desire be a woman steadfast and true,
Time will have no hold on them until the spell is through.

Breanna Chandler’s parents were killed by a drunk driver whilst on a trip to England. Breanna blames Greg Garson because she believes that it was him who sent her parents on the trip, to find some artwork for him. She is therefore not exactly co-operative when he approaches her for information regarding what his parents had managed to find during the trip. Following the reading of her parents’ will, Breanna’s fiancé, Liam, decided that he needed some space, as the will appeared to imply that Breanna’s father did not entirely trust that Liam’s intentions towards his daughter were entirely honourable.

Breanna is going to be a teacher, and is more than interested in history. Her best friend, Kelly, is the opposite; she is interested in the supernatural, tarot cards and the like…

Brighton Grey is the Keeper of the Ring, each ‘keeper’ has been handsomely rewarded with lands and wealth; he who secures England’s future shall be granted his heart’s desire. By placing the ring on the finger of Elizabeth Tudor he fulfilled the prophecy of an ancient magician (Merlin). The colour of the keeper’s eyes is exactly the same as the colour of the stone; this is what distinguishes the true owner of the ring. The ring will eventually be returned to the true keeper or his direct descendant.

Kelly persuaded Breanna to go to a psychic to be regressed. The intriguing results cause Breanna to pursue Kelly, an untrained medium, to regress her again…and she can’t bring her back.

The sixteenth century Breanna is Margaret, Comfit Keeper to Queen Elizabeth. Her best friend is Christina, coincidentally a young lady who is also interested in fortunes in the form of runes, the olden times version of tarot cards…

Liam Nollens, the elusive fiancé - one I would never get tired of slapping, decides that as his “business opportunity” hasn’t quite worked out in the way he’d hoped, he will return to his fallback plan - Breanna. The arrogance of this character really came across well in the writing, and I hated him instantly.

A cleverly woven tale linking past and present, I found this story a little hard going to begin with, but the more I read the more intrigued I became with what the outcome was going to be. It didn’t end how I thought it would either.

LOL line: William Shakespeare calling to one of Elizabeth’s pet peacocks, “O Roman, Roman, wherefore art thou Roman?”

I give this four flutes.

It Had To Be Drew Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Melissa Nelson
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

Drew Grayson, Lawyer and widowed single father of a pubescent teenage daughter.

Sophie Colson, potential grade school teacher and all round nice girl.

Mae Anderson, matronly woman intent on meddling in some matchmaking for her niece Sophie.

Ashley, the pubescent teen, my initial thoughts about her - Obnoxious!

At Ashley’s thirteenth birthday party Mae engineers herself a fake injury in order to carry out her plan of getting Drew and Sophie together.

Sophie arrives on a mercy mission to look after her “ailing” aunt, she has nothing else to do, nowhere else to be. She is faced at first with small town antagonism, and with being tarred with the same brush as her wayward mother and sister. She finds all sorts of other things on her return to Snowflake, not least of which is her long lost father.

There is an undeniable attraction between Sophie and Drew; both have a lot of baggage, and initially feel that they cannot move on without dealing with the demons from their respective pasts.

The love scenes are tastefully and believably done, making them beautiful to read and not embarrassing. The blossoming of the love between Drew and Sophie is heart-thuddingly real and tangible. So well written is this story that I felt every emotion. It is lovely, funny, and heart-warming , it lifted my spirits. I love it when a book can make me laugh one minute and cry the next, this one did that and some!

BUY IT! You won’t be disappointed.

Favourite lines

#1 Slow down. Hurry up. He opened his mouth, then clamped it shut. It was too soon to form complete sentences that didn’t include profanity (hahahaha)

#2 Did she have to be nice too? He couldn’t fight nice. He wasn’t prepared for nice, damn it.

#3 Heated shivers slid down the pores of his skin, rippling through his body like the gentle waves on a serene pond disturbed by a skipping stone (Wow beautifully worded description)

#4 This one made me cry - He stared at his daughter. No, it was really her and not some racoon-faced kid. Not a single tangle remained in Ashley’s hair. It gleamed. Her face, scrubbed clean of black mascara, shone with shimmering soft highlights and emphasized her delicate features. “You look…beautiful.”

This deserves 5 flutes filled to the brims.

Haunted Memories Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Melanie Atkins
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

I totally enjoyed Haunted Memories. Right from the start I needed to read on.

Olivia goes back to her childhood home where her stepfather, Walter, did awful things to her. She is met by Tucker, her childhood sweetheart, who is now living in the house. The plan was to find her father’s letter and get the hell out of there and order the building to be flattened. If the house was flattened she could then have closure from her horrible secret. Tucker is completely unaware of what his uncle Walter did to Olivia.

Olivia and Tucker both still have feelings for each other, which becomes apparent early on. Neither of them know what the other one feels. Tucker is very strong and masculine, every girl’s dream. There are very tender parts in this book which pull at your heat strings and draw you in further.

Olivia finds something under the floor boards belonging to Walter, which immediately made me want to know more.

The Mayor comes sniffing around as he apparently wants the house ‘for the town’. He claims that he’s trying to find Walter’s journal, but in truth he’s trying to find something much more sinister. The Mayor disappears in the house and Tucker and Olivia try to find him. They share a passionate moment in the cellar of the house but are distracted. My heart sank, I just wanted them to give in and be together.

Tucker finally uncovers what Olivia has been hiding and it turns his stomach. Olivia is convinced that Tucker still doesn’t know. When he lets on that he knows something she starts to panic.

The Mayor and his buddies try to scare Olivia out of the house for their own reasons. Little do they know, it’s not really their actions that are scaring her…

My favourite line:

She tasted like the rain drizzling down on the grass.

Such a nice way to describe their kiss.

I loved the part where Olivia reminisces about her childhood memory with her real father on the beach. The character’s thoughts and actions are so well shown in this story. The sexual tension between Olivia and Tucker is so well described that even I wanted them to just ‘do it’. They both wanted to. There is hot passion in this book, it was enough to make me understand and feel what was going on, but I didn’t feel it was thrown at me. It’s sensitive and gentle.

Then Ms. Atkins deals an awful blow. I cried.

Throughout this book my stomach lurched, my heart skipped beats and my eyes leaked! I loved it. I’ll recommend it to anyone who’ll listen to me. Haunted Memories is so well written, it enveloped me and involved me in the scenes. I saw the scenes appearing before my eyes. I felt the character’s feelings throughout, and I wanted to comfort Olivia for her awful memories.

I can’t really say anymore apart from what a wonderful plot this was and so very cleverly done. I don’t want to say anymore as I will give too much away.

Beautiful story, a must read!

Beyond the Night Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Rayne Forrest
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

Essentially a love story, with an otherworldly type twist.

Carrick is of the H’ethrin people who came to earth over 1,000 years previously. He splits his life between Georgetown and Lime Kiln Mountain. He spends his waking hours in darkness, because the H’ethrin cannot go out in the sun. The story begins with Carrick “sensing” the presence of a special woman, but not being able to locate her. At the same time he has to host a visitor, another of his kind, Dorian a young human/H’ethrin hybrid.

On his way to his cabin in Lime Kiln Mountain he finds her, Rachel, after she has run over a stray dog. She is distraught, and he offers to take the animal home with him just so that he will get to see her again.

Although she fights against it Rachel is strongly attracted to Carrick, he is determined that she will be his, and uses all the powers he possess to make it happen.

A body is found on Carrick’s land. Carrick realises when he has sight of the body that it is a sign of the H’eth. Has someone from his ancient past come to settle a score? Or is there another reason for all the unease Carrick feels…

It is a complicated plot, and I won’t say any more about it, you’ll just have to read it yourself.

The love scenes are explicit, but done without crudeness, for which I applaud the author.

I will admit that this type of thing is not my usual reading material, but I am sure that for anyone who is interested in science fiction and the like would find it enthralling.

3 flutes.

Unfinished Dreams Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

For exceptional works only: The Whole Bottle Of Champagne!

 

Author: Pamela Johnson
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

This one made me laugh with the very first line! I just knew I was going to enjoy it.

Gabe is working hard scraping together every penny he can to regain his home, the family farm, mainly because of a promise he’d made to his dying father.

The story begins with the hilarious account of him trying to fend off the advances of a widow fifteen years his senior.

Tess is a young woman on the threshold of a new chapter in her life, following a disastrous , and hasty marriage.

It’s very obvious from the get go that these two are going to end up together, but boy, WHAT AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY!

This book is peppered with many characters, some nice, and some not so nice. They are as rich in their descriptions as the main characters, but it doesn’t detract from who the main story is about, in my opinion it makes it all the better because the author brings them to life on the page, makes them so believable.

I thought that this was one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a very long time. It was heart thuddingly real. I feel that I KNOW both Tess and Gabe really well, well enough to have over for a dinner party, it sounds sad, but whilst reading the book they became my friends. I didn’t want the book to end, because I knew I would be lonely for a time. The way that the emotions of Gabe and Tess felt came across brilliantly on the pages, and made my heart lurch with the intensity of it all.

The first line made me laugh, the last line made me cry - PERFECT. Now you can probably tell by now that I LOVED this book. I did, it’s fantastic!

BUY IT!

Funny lines:

1. Gabe scooted out from underneath the sink muttering oaths that would’ve made his mother’s teeth fall out.
2. “Uh, thanks, I’ve got to get over to Bill Buxoms, - Bustons place”

Hahahahahahaaaa, this really gave me a good belly laugh, poor boy.
3.Something closer maybe to a zipped parka.

 You HAVE to read the book to get why this is so funny.

Favourite line in the whole book:

If he’d ever touched anything more precious to his heart, he couldn’t remember.

Aaaaaaaaaah ain’t love grand?

I would, and will recommend this book to all of my friends, and anyone who’ll listen to me. I can’t wait for more of Pamela Johnson’s work.

I give Unfinished Dreams a well deserved whole bottle of champagne.

Funky Woman Triskelion Publishing

REVIEWED BY:

SCORE:

Author: Deborrah Girard
Publisher: Triskelion Publishing

REVIEW:

I would say for my tastes this was a slow start to begin with, though a very good read once I got in to it. Half way through chapter 2 and I couldn’t put it down until I’d finished. Gripped! In the beginning I wasn’t sure where the story was going but it quickly became abundantly clear once I got going and read more. 

Although a few other characters are mentioned, they are not a big part of the plot. I liked that, and enjoyed the story centring solely around Jennifer and Jason. A married couple with a daughter, they both have good careers. However, Jennifer’s takes off better than they could have foreseen. Finding another side of herself, Jennifer appears to change in Jason’s eyes.  Sadly, their paths drift to the point of near separation, but Jason is not prepared to lose the love of his life. Whilst he comes across as domineering at times, it is quite obvious how much he loves Jennifer. She in turn still loves him, but can’t stand the fact he wants to organise her life. She is enjoying her career, her new way of life… What she doesn’t realize is he just wants her nearer to home and not gallivanting around the country—because he misses her so much. Oh how I wish life was really like that. To have someone care for you so much like Jason did for Jennifer. It is so nice to sink into the realms of fantasy with a great book, and this book did it for me. 

The love scene in the bath was very erotic but not x-rated. I would say it had just the right balance and didn’t border on anything distasteful or obscene. This scene was particularly very well written—in fact, the whole book was. Bravo, Ms. Girard! I give this 4 champagne Flutes as I really enjoyed it.