Blog Archives
Six Canvases
Thomas Bauer’s Six Canvases can only be described as enchanting. It follows the life of Foster Benjamin, aka Foss, after he encounters a painter called Tyler Dobbs in the small fishing village of Williamsport. Convinced of Tyler’s genius, Foss offers to sell his art pieces in his New York gallery. However, Tyler dies shortly after, sending Foss into investigator mode. While trying to understand who Tyler was and the scope of his work, Foss makes a lot of shocking discoveries and interacts with a variety of different people. He even embarks on an unexpected love affair. Ultimately, this alters the way Foss thinks and even behaves.
If there is one thing that the author of this book does well, it’s that he keeps readers on their toes. From the beginning of the book to its end, you can’t predict what will happen next – this makes it very entertaining. Not only are its characters complex and fully developed, but the life situations that surround them are realistic. In many ways, the narrative gives readers a front-row seat to their grief, love, remorse, anger, faith, and even confusion.
The language used in this complex book is lovely – it is descriptive and artistic yet light and easy to read. Truth be told, this book reads like an intimate poem. It handles heavy themes like rape, murder, and revenge in an utterly humane way. Readers get to see the characters as who they are without feeling that the author judges them in any way. Even parts of the book make the reader dive into the psychology of the oppressed, who finally lash out at their oppressors. The author helps readers understand the importance of letting go of anguish and what happens if it consumes us.
Six Canvases is a beautifully written book about the human condition that captures how we all grapple with tragedy, loss, career slumps, and relationships. This captivating novel is filled with adventure, mystery, and drama.
Pages: 181 | ASIN : B09N5YWCT5
A Hundred Honeymoons
A Hundred Honeymoons by J.S. Wilson revolves around two of the most common themes of a romantic novel: love and sexual tension. The plot’s focal point is about teenagers, their relationships, and their growth. Sally constantly longs to be a woman even though she is still a girl, both physically and emotionally. Sally’s ambition is to be treated as someone older, which occurs when she perceives herself as a sexual person with desires and passions. The cheerleader shares a romance with her best friend Brenda and her boyfriend Todd. However, due to several events, Sally and her boyfriend drift apart at a crucial moment in their lives.
Readers may be surprised at first with how overly sexualized the girls are, especially of the character Sally Anderson. In today’s society, teens want to grow up fast, social media makes it easier to be sexualized, and the author plays on these emotions. With such complex feelings, the author portrays Sally in a way that gives readers a sense of ‘there is something wrong there.’ As a result, readers are compelled to keep reading to find out what she will do next and if she will be ok.
Author J.S. Wilson has written a fast-paced romance novel that will have you rooting for Sally and Todd. The character development is one to applaud as you begin to love both characters and become emotionally invested. The reader is able to watch both characters grow from teenagers in love to adults just experiencing life. The story’s plot is easy to follow, making this a smooth but exciting read. The emotional development of Todd and Sally really captivates the reader and makes you want to know more about them and their love for each other. The reader is taken on an emotional journey through their ups and downs and life-changing experiences. Wilson captivated the conversation between teenagers very well, from the carefree, love for life girls to the tough boys who want to impress the pretty girls. Readers will find that the conversations between characters feel natural, like they are sitting there watching this all unfold.
A Hundred Honeymoons is a sweet, charming, adventure-filled novel with romance and self-discovery. This riveting novel is perfect for romance, adventure, or fiction lovers looking for an engaging story.
Pages: 468 | ASIN : B08M2ZRQYW
DREAMer
Kate and Lawrence are driving back from their couples’ vacation when they spot a young girl sitting on a rock all by herself on a deserted highway. Fearing that something is amiss, they stop to investigate and end up picking up the mysterious girl. Armed with nothing more than a few postcards with postmarks from obscure U.S towns and some photographs found on the child, Kate and Lawrence embark on a mission to solve the mystery behind the girl’s identity and reunite her with a family they aren’t even sure she has.
DREAMer delivers a touching snapshot of the reality of undocumented immigrants through the story of a fictional main character. Author Emily Gallo cleverly plays with the acronym DREAM. This U.S. act offers undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as minors temporary residency and permission to attend school and work. This act is used as the basis to depict her main character’s fate under the law and her quest as a dreamer. The book is a wholesome tale of sacrifice and compassion and a needed reminder of the good humans are capable of.
Gallo gives her characters very well-defined personalities allowing readers to get to know them quickly as the story opens. She also executes the story well by centering on just three characters, allowing her to wrap up the storyline quickly, making this an easy read. There’s no doubt that Gallo did her research as she effectively highlights seemingly obscure locations in the United States that host minority communities and are quick stops for immigrants. As a result, readers will enjoy learning about the dynamics of immigration. In addition, the book reads like an adventure story because the characters are on the road for most of the story, so their road trips give readers something to look forward to aside from the unraveling plot.
DREAMer is a through-provoking book that readers of historical fiction will find captivating. In this well-crafted novel, you have a story that’s educating, deeply thoughtful, and entertaining.
Pages: 199 | ASIN : B09278WTQ8
Grydscaen: Sheer
Grydscaen: Sheer by Natsuya Uesugi sets the stage for a world of drama, art, and sacrifice. The students of the IHS School of the Arts are passionate and have big goals. They are driven and talented, yet things are complicated in their lives. They have to deal with troubled relationships and the weight of being part of the school’s elite. Despite the beauty it produces, the art world is filled with cruel and gruesome events underneath, and these students see no other option but to turn to drugs, alcohol, and sex to deal with it all. Art galleries, shows, auditions, recitals, and performances: a series of these are shown alongside the troubles to get to them and the mental health problems these artists have to deal with while carrying on their careers.
The story mainly focuses on Arthenice Zidane, a talented ballerina who dreams of becoming prima. Arthenice has skill and passion, but her lack of confidence and innocence might get in the way and not allow her to succeed in the complex art world. She has a group of loyal friends, though, and they are willing to do everything in their power to make Arthenice’s life easier. But unfortunately, dance is a cutthroat business, and Arthenice might not have the strength to make it to the end.
There are many characters in the book, and they are all dealing with similar problems. It was interesting to see the different art-related careers that each of them had and how they brought their uniqueness into things. There’s a lot of competitiveness and uncertainty about who gets ahead. There are also heavy themes that are dealt with that involve alcohol, drugs, and sexual abuse. This helps showcase the crazy sacrifices that people in the art world are willing to make and sparks a discussion about the damaged mental health of these students. Even though the story is set in a fictional world, these themes were presented realistically and were based on serious problems that artists have to deal with in the modern day.
This book is filled with intense emotions. The students are very passionate and willing to do everything to be at the top of their class and help their friends achieve the same goal. However, they need to find sponsors, and they might have to sacrifice their integrity to get what they want. The relationships between them are complicated and full of ups and downs.
Grydscaen: Sheer is an intense, dramatic story that will keep the reader wondering how everything will turn out in the end. This fantasy novel focuses on the art world and the many sacrifices that have to be made to make it big. Readers of dance fiction, drama, and thrillers will find this a fantastic novel.
Pages: 224 | ISBN : 1643763415
A Woman’s Midlife Awakening
The Knife Thrower’s Wife follows a woman that, after failing to save her marriage after his infidelity, ends up the prime suspect in his mysterious murder. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
While many mystery novels start with the discovery of a dead body, I deliberately opened the book with the protagonist, Julia, having a disturbing dream of her husband as a knife thrower with her strapped to his target; and unfortunately, his aim isn’t the greatest. I wanted to write a more nuanced, psychological profile of Julia and allow the reader to befriend her, get to know her character, and possibly relate to her situation before bodies appeared. Julia’s reaction to the dream and how she passes it off as a fever-dream is in keeping with her deflection from, and her burying of, unsavory happenings in her life and her past that are gradually revealed. Julia is a complicated mix of smart, capable, loyal and talented, but also a people-pleasing doormat.
Once her character is revealed, I wanted her to begin to change, to become stronger, so I had her pay attention to her ever-increasingly violent dreams and not ignore them as she would have before. She begins to paint scenes from the dreams and begins to understand that the nightmares are her subconscious trying to awaken her to the fact that she lives in a state of denial in a gilded cage.
It intrigued me that her art was imitating dreams, her dreams were imitating her real life, while her pretend life was superficially imitating a Hallmark card. Also, several unsavory characters have gatecrashed Julia’s orbit and she must deal with their presence which also brings out a new dynamic in her.
In plotting the story I was aware the book could end here, as a fascinating psychological look at a woman’s midlife awakening through her art and her husband’s betrayal. However, there was another twist to be had. And since I was writing a mystery, it’s only fitting that when a body is found, one of her paintings raises the suspicions of two detectives, one eager and young, the other, older and jaded… until finally, she endures a trial.
Julia starts off the novel as a devoted and submissive wife and through the course of everything becomes a stronger more confident person. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Since time immemorial, men have had the physical strength (and the anger issues), for good and for bad. Women tend to be nonviolent nurturers by nature and by conditioning. Women are nice. Many women, like Julia, take their niceness too far. They go along to get along and will accept, or at least work with, the status quo to preserve a lifestyle, a standard of living, a marriage, a relationship, a career. Julia has taken her niceness to a tipping point. She is a successful artist, she happily runs the house, shops, cooks, cleans the pool, tends the garden… all admirable and enjoyable… until she starts to recognize that not only are her efforts taken for granted, they are expected. Add a deception to the mix and there comes a turning point as she begins to question the status quo. Only then can she begin to see the real picture and from there she is forced to take action and quit being the ‘javelin catcher’ for the entire family.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The Inadvertent submissive: The belief that we can have it all begets the superwoman-complex of demonstrating our ability by taking on way too much and ending up as the maid, bottlewasher, chauffeur, chef, renovator, seamstress, wage-earner, and all-round fixer… a slave to everyone’s wishes.
Gaslighting: Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining. It’s important to trust our gut and trust what’s in front of our eyes.
The subconscious: Our conscious self organizes our closet by putting all the blouses, pants, and jackets in groupings. Our subconscious self pulls everything out of the closet including stuff that’s hidden at the very back — the boxes of Halloween costumes, old love letters, journals, and sex toys.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The next book is Sketchy Characters — available February 15th, 2022.
A devastating hurricane.
A frantic search for a missing friend.
A brutal double murder…
When chaos blows up Marilyn’s life and she’s forced to go on the run from ruthless killers, she can’t dodge a cast of sketchy characters that ooze into her orbit. There’s a crooked lawyer and his wealthy clients, an internet scammer, a pair of suspicious hipsters, and a serial killer targeting the artists at Marilyn’s life-drawing group. Throw a couple of good friends and a sexy and protective detective into the mix and it’s not all bad. Even so, it’s survival of the smartest and most resilient as the action moves full speed, the twists keep coming, and Marilyn tackles the circumstances of her new, near-impossible normal.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Dry Heat
Things are not going so well for Joey Blade. On the night of his birthday, the girl he lost his virginity to, Mallory, tells him she’s pregnant. While at the high school bonfire, there is an explosion. Joey flees with his current girlfriend Wendy and her drug-dealing friend TJ. In their race to escape the explosion, they wind up in a police chase where TJ shoots at the police cars. The ensuing crash leads to Joey being arrested while Wendy goes free and TJ has disappeared. Once getting out of jail, Joey enlists the help of notorious gang leader Chico Torres to find TJ and – ultimately – redemption.
Len Joy’s chaotic novel Dry Heat doesn’t hold back when it comes to colorful terms and edgy commentary. Joy accurately portrays the stereotypical teenager from the late nineties that you find in cult classic films of that period. There is a feeling of nostalgia that readers in their late 30’s and early 40’s will identify with. The early scenes of this action-packed novel offer a foreshadowing of the rest of the book. Excitement and drama fill the pages to come, and readers will have to hold on because it will be a wild ride.
This enthralling novel feels like a cautionary tale for teenagers. A story where every wrong decision imaginable is made. Readers may find it is all too real and relatable, encountering a situation that is too big for their age. At one point, author Len Joy describes Joey’s day as a disastrously mishandled situation, which is the perfect way to describe it. Reading this shocking at times novel will give readers the feeling of watching a car wreck in slow-motion. You are hooked; you know it will happen; you just have to read and see how it all plays out.
Joy took time and care to flesh out the characters and make readers develop an emotional attachment to them. They all have a bit of the classic high school stereotypes in them, something many readers will identify with. There’s Darville, the rich kid; Mallory, the tragically promiscuous girl; Wendy, the snotty prom queen; and of course, the hero Joey, the jock. Yet, throughout the story, they grow, change, and transcend what we have come to expect from their assigned stereotypes. We learn that they’re human, which every good novel should achieve.
Dry Heat is a coming-of-age novel that will attract readers interested in crime thrillers and suspenseful action drama. With edgy dialogue and action, readers will be turning the page of this riveting novel to see if Joey can get himself out of the mess he is in.
Pages: 313 | ASIN : B097TT97SQ
POWERBALLS
Powerballs Be careful what you wish for by Jimmy Clifton is a story about a middle-aged couple who unexpectedly wins the lottery and find themselves in a very different world, offering them a life vastly different from their challenging careers and financial struggles. Henry Ball, an accountant in a progressive firm, fantasizes about living a more exciting life, fantasies about his younger female coworkers and greater recognition at work. Likewise, Henry’s wife, Rose Ball, dreams of a luxury lifestyle that she sees her friend enjoy.
As the couple dreams about their ultimate life, they suddenly realize their most fantastic fantasy, winning the Powerball lottery. Quickly though, they learn how this transformation will create a new set of challenges for each of them. Things are not what they seem as they dive into this extravagant world. This growing tension and realization of their newfound financial freedom becomes a journey that leads them on separate paths. The couple’s new adventures lead to many exciting and humorous encounters that give them a changed perspective on life, but not without a few shocking lessons and opportunities.
Readers will enjoy this light and funny read that details the struggles of a couple’s journey from mediocracy to luxury and how they trade one set of tension and challenges for another, with higher risks and experiences. The author narrates a well-paced, lively tale that creates a sense of hope and adventure for a couple struggling with mid-life identity and goals while transitioning into the extravagant world of billionaires and how they transform into this world of privilege.
Powerballs Be careful what you wish for is a riveting, enjoyable read that’s quickly absorbed. It’s a fun page-turner that readers will find entertaining and witty, with brilliant character development, lots of action, and a well-structured story filled with drama. Readers looking for travel fiction or contemporary American fiction will enjoy this humorous, fast-paced read.
Pages: 250 | ASIN : B094DTBRPX
The Other Side of Good
The Other Side of Good by E.A. Coe raises a profound and existential question we’ve all pondered at some point: is it possible to be both ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ or is it one or the other? This captivating police thriller explores the idea that the kind of person one is may not be so black and white and takes readers on an exciting and thought-provoking journey of the gray area in between right and wrong.
Author Coe introduces an exciting combination of characters based in Cincinnati intertwined in each other’s lives with intriguing complexity. First, we meet police Commander Denton Jones, who reconnected with childhood friend turned high-powered drug cartel leader, Theo Jackson.
Both men experienced childhood trauma together, leading them to turn to different sides of the law. However, they now find themselves fighting for the same cause-to take down an alarmingly powerful human trafficking ring. We follow the men through a fast-paced mission, full of unexpected twists and turns and unusual alliances. Add in police and government corruption, shocking acts from a Pastor, and international gang activity, and Coe gives us a page-turning tale we find ourselves entranced in.
This riveting crime novel gives readers a look into the horrible realities of human trafficking. It plays with the notion of a gray area between good and evil. Coe encourages readers to open their minds and explore if our intrinsic beliefs about those we see as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are really as cut and dry as we have thought. This suspenseful novel has a large cast of characters that the reader will need to pay attention to learn who is part of what faction. Once readers understand who the key players are, readers won’t be able to help but root for the ‘bad guys’ and the ‘good.’
The Other Side of Good is a gripping and intensive police crime mystery novel. The action and suspense will keep readers on edge till the last page.
Pages: 356 | ASIN : B09M96X57D
LITERARY TITAN 