Blog Archives
How Dare The Birds Sing
![How Dare The Birds Sing (Book One in the Love and Fate Series 1) by [Osipova, Marina]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41e-h9l64eL.jpg)
How Dare the Birds Sing by Marina Osipova is a story about Lyuba, a young Russian woman believing she is better off without love until she meets Gunter, a German pilot. Are they meant to be together? The Soviet Union is not an easy place to live in 1933. When Gunter disappears, Lyuba decides to take a huge risk for herself and her family. The events that transpire force the family’s lives to be thrown into the hands of the Nazis. How will Lyuba’s life change in this new world?
How Dare the Birds Sing is a well-written story starting off as two girls talking about love until it transforms into a compelling page-turner about making the right decisions. You never know what is going to happen or what will become of the characters asking yourself question after question. I was blown away by Marina Osipova’s accurate depiction of how Hitler’s rule affected people.
Lyuba goes through a transformational arc, starting off the story as a care-free young woman wanting to make her life into what she wants. She is a complex character and yet you can’t help but feel sorry for her. She just wants what every young woman wants. To grow up and live her dream. This was another story where I was telling the character what to do when she goes ahead and does the unthinkable.
Osipova’s story made me think. It makes me feel lucky that I was not living at this time, having to live under many laws. This story is all about making tough decisions. Were the decisions that Lyuba made the right decisions or were they selfish to those who didn’t have a say in the decision-making process.
I like the title of this story. In contrast to Maya Angelou’s poem titled Why Does the Caged Bird Sing? it’s sad because Lyuba no longer has her freedom as she watches the birds fly free. This story explores how cruel the world can be and how it affects your own perspective when looking at the world.
How Dare the Birds Sing is an emotional piece of historical fiction and I would recommend it. History is important and cannot be erased. It is important to learn how people’s lives were affected during WW2.
Pages: 317 | ASIN: B07N2BDF91
Skills of the Warramunga
![Skills of the Warramunga (Warramunga Trilogy Book 3) by [Kater, Greg]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wNrr%2BTotL.jpg)
Jack “Jacko” O’Brien and Jamie Munro have a challenging mission ahead of them. The two have been tasked with rescuing a top MI6 operative who has been taken hostage by a criminal gang. The operative’s name is Colonel John Cook. O’Brien and Munro go back in the day. They worked together on many missions and even captured targets together. They have extraordinary skills, given their experiences during World War II. The task at hand may seem simple, but the people involved in the rescue mission of Colonel Cook have to prepare for any danger they have to face in the jungles of Malaya, where Cook has been kidnapped.
Greg Kater takes you across the Malayan jungle and terrain as we follow Jacko and his friends as they go after a dangerous criminal organization. Reading about the tactics they use, how they strategize and how they deal with adversaries was a great experience. Even with the skills Jamie Munro possesses due to his service in the military, the journey to combat the criminal organization is not easy. The gangs are prepared to face Munro and his team. It is not just the men who are resourceful in this mission, Sarah, a full Aborigine from Tennant Creek, and also a half-sister to Jack Obrien helps the team on their mission.
The team’s time in Kuala Lumpur is adventurous. Wit and physical strength are essential for them to achieve their goals. Skills of the Warramunga is a compelling thriller that takes you through different exotic landscapes and treacherous terrain. You vividly experience every action on the ground through the author’s eloquent words. I like how the author introduced the conflict at the beginning of the book. The description gives one a back story and the context of the struggle. The urge to read more increases as the action in the plot intensifies.
Skills of the Warramunga is an edge of your seat thriller. The author is exceptional with plot pacing and character creation. The characters in the book are firm and fun to follow. I enjoyed their conversations and how they bonded over disputes and other issues. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy military thrillers and action stories.
Pages: 314 | ASIN: B07PJLLJXL
The Mermaid’s Grandson – Trailer
Dakini Flanagan, a freelance writer and journalist, always knew that she was different. Starting with her most unusual name, chosen by a grandmother she never knew, to those annoying de ja vu moments that occur too frequently. When the opportunity to write an article examining the influence that folktales have on society, Dakini immediately recognizes that this could be her most challenging assignment. What Dakini does not expect, is meeting Lady Monica, a distinguished storyteller. Monica provides the missing link to many of Dakini’s questions. When Lady Monica insists that Dakini read an antiquated manuscript, titled The Mermaid’s Grandson, a collection of Mermaid Tales, Dakini reluctantly agrees. She soon discovers how influential Merfolk are historically, and in her own life. Is she really ready to accept how this revelation will change her life forever? Will Dakini know what to do next?
The Pursuit of Justice
Simon Gandossi Author Interview
Cecilia House follows Patricia after a series of events destroys the life she knew. What served as your inspiration as you wrote this provocative story?
I spoke to a survivor firsthand from such abuse that occurred in the 1960s. One thing she said really got to me. “We never had a voice while those terrible things were happening.” I wanted to be their voice and bring to light one story that I know does just that. I based it during the 1930’s because even fewer people cared about what was happening. The survivors and their families are my inspiration because they never gave up in the pursuit of justice. When they read my book they told me I inspired them in so many ways. There is not greater joy for a writer to hear that.
I enjoyed the themes of family and friends running through the novel. What were some ideas that were important for you to explore in this book?
Those children went through so much hell and I wanted to explore in depth how they came to be there. I was able to do that with the main character Patricia. She had such a happy family life prior to the orphanage but others there did not. Patricia gives the reader first-hand knowledge of her own life whilst creating relationships with the girls to discover that their lives were nothing like hers.
I appreciated how realistic and emotional this book is. What do you hope readers take away from your book?
Never give up in the pursuit of what is right despite how many years may have passed. Countless people have gone to their graves suffering so much. If my book encourages many who are reluctant to take action for those harmed then I will have achieved one of many goals I set for myself.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am working on a book loosely based on a true story set during the Holocaust. At this stage I am aiming for a May or June release date.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
![Cecilia House by [Gandossi, Simon]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41A6RkuG46L.jpg)
Life is a precious gift and it can change within the blink of an eye, something Patricia discovered at a young age. After an extremely tragic event her loving family, good friends and many dreams and aspirations were all gone. An unwanted child sent to what was supposed to be a place of lovingness and warmth. Instead she soon discovered that those responsible for her care added so much more pain and sadness to many lives. What occurred within the walls of Cecilia House was one of the most despicable and unimaginable acts to ever happen within an organization whose duty it was to protect innocent children.
His Name Was Ezra
![His Name Was Ezra by [Moody, Craig]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51rxK4iddbL.jpg)
His Name was Ezra is an amazing story of love and tragedy. Taking place in Mississippi during the racially-charged 1950’s and 60’s. Jim Crow laws and inherent bias steer much of the plot of the story. Ezra, a young black man, and Judy, a freckle-faced white woman, have the cards stacked against them as their longtime friendship slowly begins to develop into something more.
Craig Moody writes beautifully. He has a poetry to his words as they describe his characters and their setting. I live in the south so I know that Moody sets the scene impeccably, speaking of dry words falling to the ground like acorns and the swatting of hungry mosquitoes. He also throws in some local color with the dialogue between the characters. Every “you” is replaced by “ya.” Brother becomes “brotha.” Sister becomes “sista.”
His Name was Ezra is set in another time, but the story is still relevant today. Race relations are still imperfect. We have come a long way as a nation, but we have so much further to go. This book can aid in bridging the divide. It’s an important tool to pull back the curtain, so to speak, on those who continue to judge people based on the color of their skin rather than the content of their character as Dr. King would have us do.
Moody also pulls back the curtain on domestic abuse. Judy suffers the brunt of Billy’s aggression. He describes how Billy only hits her in areas that will be covered by clothing in public or around others. Judy takes it because she feels she has no other choice. She sacrifices her happiness, her health, everything, to try to ensure the safety of her brother and then her son. She becomes a shell of herself. Self-preservation is not on her to-do list ever.
Readers will identify with Moody’s well-developed characters. Judy loves Ezra and her family, forgiving her brother and sister over and over. Luke tries to help Judy while furthering his career, and gets a few priorities mixed up in the process. Chances are, readers will also recognize the more menacing characters that stomp through the chapters. Billy is the picture of perfection in the community. Good family. Good looks. Wife and child. However, Billy is a heavily flawed and dangerous monster. We all know someone who has turned out to be someone different than who we thought they were.
I’m giving His Name was Ezra by Craig Moody five out of five stars. I would give him ten if I could. He has a beautiful way of describing even the most ugly parts of humanity. The story was cohesive. The plot flowed well. There was never a dull moment as suspense ebbed and flowed throughout the story. This was a real page-turner for me, and I cannot wait to read more of Moody’s work.
Pages: 232 | ASIN: B079NP9JJ5
Heart Land
Heart Land by Kimberly Stuart is a contemporary fiction story about Grace Kleren, a struggling design assistant in New York who aspires to be a fashion designer. But instead of receiving the promotion she expects, she ends up being fired. With no job and no way to pay her bills, she is forced to return to Silver Creek, Iowa, the town she left ten years ago. However, she’s determined to find a way to earn enough money to move back to New York and prove herself as a fashion designer. But after reconnecting with her first love, Tucker, will Grace’s dream change?
Heart Land is a story that was a joy to read. I won’t ruin the ending for you, or how Grace and Tuckers relationship ends, but I’ll say that it was one of my favorite endings for a book this year. Especially after the ladies of the sewing circle had come together to help her with her new business, which brought much-needed money into the area. I’m glad that Grace didn’t turn her back on them. All of this was delivered eloquently with a bit of humor, which I enjoyed.
Although I liked the main characters, I felt that there were a lot of unnecessary secondary characters in the beginning of the book, since most of them were not mentioned again later in the story. And Grace was not shown in the best light when she is first introduced and she ducks out early on the photo shoot the day before she expected to get a promotion. Although that was not the reason she got fired, it could have easily gone that way, and she thoughtlessly risked the very thing that she supposedly wanted the most (can you tell I’m invested in the characters).
When Grace first returned to Silver Creek, I didn’t like how she often acted like a sulky teenager rather than a women in her late twenties just because things in New York had not gone the way she’d imagined and she wasn’t happy to be returning to Iowa. Ultimately she recognized this fault in herself and did not continue the same behavior for too long. I enjoyed her character transition, although it took her a while to realize what was really important.
This is an exceptional story that explores the power of love and connection to people and places.
Pages: 321 | ASIN: B078MDDLFB
Too Tempting to Miss
Clive Hawkswood Author Interview
Quintrell’s White follows two men who must stop the leader of a pro-Nazi secret society. What was the inspiration for the idea behind this thrilling novel?
This is the fourth in a series and, when I began, the 100th Anniversary of the outbreak of WW1 was on the horizon. I’ve written a lot about military history, both fiction and non-fiction, but had never got beyond a superficial knowledge of the Great War. I quickly found there was much more to it than the horror of mud and trench warfare on the Western Front. This was an era also of adventure, rapid technological development, intrigue, and political instability across much of the world. So there were no shortage of exciting scenarios to consider. For this book, the chance to get Pancho Villa and the Russian Revolution into the same story was too tempting to miss.
Captain John Quintrell is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some themes you wanted to explore with his character?
In the first book, Quintrell’s Black, his back story is gradually revealed. Basically through an injustice as a young soldier, he has spent most of his life as a mercenary of sorts in Africa. The War tempts him to return to Europe and enlist in the Belgian Army. Across the arc of the four books an underlying question is whether through the war he can gain some kind of redemption and regain the life he had always wanted. Basically it’s about someone trying to find their true place in the world, but in a world which is in complete chaos.
I enjoyed the historical references and alternate history in this book. What research did you undertake for this novel?
I read lots of books and personal testimonies of those who fought, but as ever that information really needs to be filtered. The aim has to be for the research to be deployed so as to provide a background sense of the time and to provide a framework for the plot. The risk is forcing too much of it in to the story so that it becomes a barrier rather than greasing the wheels. Hopefully, I’ve got the balance right.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Having spent the best part of six years producing the four book series, I wanted to try something completely different so am working on a book of short stories in a different genre (think old Twilight Zone TV!) and I’d expect that to be completed by the end of the year. After that I expect I will get drawn back into Quintrell-type books again. However, to say whether they could involve him again would be to give away the end of Quintrell’s White…
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
![Quintrell's White (Quintrell series Book 4) by [Hawkswood, Clive]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ia2POpfrL.jpg)
1916. The First World War is at a crossroads.
The actions of Kurt Draxweiller, the leader of a proto-Nazi secret society called the Ultima Thule Verband, could tip the balance in favour of the Keizer’s Germany.
Two men must stop him: The Dragon, who is the Tsar’s most trusted assassin; and Captain John Quintrell.
To get to Draxweiller they will have to fight U-boats, battle with Pancho Villa’s Mexican rebels during the raid on the US town of Colombus, and defeat a revolutionary plot in Petrograd, the Russian capital.
Along the way, Quintrell and his handful of loyal men will settle lots of old scores. But not all of them will survive…
Slaves of Fools
![Slaves of Fools: Book Three in the "Antebellum Struggles" Series by [Erman, Dickie]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51uuf6ig70L.jpg)
When Collette Winters finds herself a widow with a hotel and a plantation to maintain, she is overwhelmed and at a loss for words. Enter Tolivar: a “trusted” overseer and Mr. Winters’s choice to run his plantation and guard his finances. Mr. Winters might not have made the best decision in selecting Tolivar. Any one of the slaves on the Winters’s plantation could testify to the fact that Tolivar is in everything for himself and only himself. When Tolivar’s purchases begin to mount and Collette fails to see the danger in allowing Tolivar to carry on unchecked, all of their lives take a turn no one could have predicted.
Slaves of Fools is the third book in Dickie Erman’s Antebellum Struggles series. Again, readers are treated to the dramatic dynamic between Trent and Collette Winters. Theirs is a complicated love story born out of the antebellum time period. As with book two, readers find that Trent is unfaithful to Collette who remains by his side and is somehow able to forgive even if she isn’t willing to forget.
I desperately want Trent, a businessman and plantation owner, to be smart, but he misses the mark. His desire to put Tolivar in charge of his trust is clearly a mistake but makes for a nice story line leading to the devastation of characters who begin to fall like so many dominoes as the book progresses. Colette’s love for Trent is really his one saving grace.
It’s difficult to find a character as loathsome as Tolivar. Erman has created a fantastic antagonist in this greedy and vile overseer-turned trustee. I believe I released some audible gasps of frustration and disbelief as Tolivar moved through the Winters’s money with lightning speed. Many villains have at least one redeeming quality–not Tolivar. From the extravagant jewelry purchase to asking the creepy, unwanted doctor to take up residence, Tolivar is as intolerable as he is predictable.
I was disappointed to see that Amana, a beloved character from the second book in the series, did not have as prominent of a role in this one. She is my favorite character and has a heart of gold. Her backstory is classic, and she is proof that perseverance is not easily achieved but is worth every second spent trying to achieve it.
Erman masterfully works humor into his writing. Twice I found myself guessing incorrectly and wondering what tone the book was about to take. Without giving anything away, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised both times at how misleading the author is and how well he uses humor to bring the story back around.
I had a few concerns regarding grammar choices, mechanics, and word choice. In addition, I found myself questioning some of the verbiage used as it didn’t seem to fit the time period. Throughout the book, I struggled to discern the characters’ thoughts from their dialogue. A few tweaks in this area would improve readability quite a bit.
Erman has created an engaging and quick read with relatable characters and protagonists the reader will inevitably cheer for.
Pages: 207 | ASIN: B07TDNPMW2
LITERARY TITAN 