Blog Archives
Twist My Heart
Twist My Heart by author Brooke Taylor is the first book of the wicked games series. It narrates the story of a feisty fugitive trying her best to convince a retired Navy SEAL to help her and her dog.
Thea, or as Nik calls her, Tigger, suffers from amnesia, and the only thing she knows is that she’s on the run and must keep her dog Titan by her side. At first, the retired Navy SEAL is reluctant to help her, but he gives in. So they are on the run, trying to find out more about Thea’s past life and who’s looking for her. All the while, the sexual attraction between the two keeps on growing every minute they spend together.
Taylor’s descriptive writing style draws readers into the story and gives them the feeling they are on the run with Nik and Thea. Additionally, by incorporating both first and third-person points of view for the characters, readers will get a full view of the thoughts and actions that are occurring in this action-filled drama.
The book’s pacing is superb. There is never a dull moment between the on-the-run action and the building romance of Nik and Thea. In addition, the mystery of Thea’s identity as it unfolds is intertwined into the action and romance seamlessly. Altogether, this makes the novel engaging and fast-paced.
Character building is a strong element of Taylor’s writing. Thea is portrayed as a strong woman. However, I felt there were some scenes showing her as a damsel in distress that needed saving by strong warrior Nick. The instances where Thea did fight for herself were refreshing and exciting and more in line with the character that is built up by Taylor.
An interesting aspect of the story is Thea’s approach to amnesia, everything’s new to her, and she’s watching the world as if through a child’s eyes, giving the reader a unique point of view on everyday details that we usually don’t think about as we do them daily.
Twist My Heart is filled with heart-racing action scenes and steamy romance that will catch the attention of action and adventure readers and romance lovers. Watching the mystery of Thea’s identity and why she is on the run unfold will keep readers hooked from beginning to end.
Pages: 396 | ASIN : B08VJGQSKQ
Hill House Divided
Hill House Divided by S. Lee Fisher is the third in her series, The Women of Campbell County. This one is set in the early 1950s and focuses on Olive Westchester’s youngest daughter, Harriet, and her husband, Eddy, who is stationed in Italy during the Korean war. Like her mother before her, Harriet is clever and ambitious, but she has advantages that her mother never had. For one thing, with Eddy far away in Italy, she is free to concentrate on her own life, making it what she desires without having to be the dotting wife.
As frustrating as it was to see Olive lose all her chances in the first book of this series, it’s gratifying to see Harriet grab hers with both hands. Readers will be happy to see her succeed, especially as her feckless husband is following his own path without giving a thought to his wife missing him back home. When he returns, you just want her to slam the door in his face and turn to his more loyal brother.
As with the second book, Fisher recounts each scene while giving readers a high-level overview of what is going on. I feel there is not a lot of insight into the characters’ motivation or their inner world. While there isn’t a lot of action in the book, I think this is because this is more of a story about Harriett’s efforts to be her own woman and build a life she can be happy in. This dramatic historical fiction story gives readers a look at the challenges a woman faces when her husband is away at war in the 1950s.
I found Eddy’s story in Italy to be particularly interesting. Unfortunately, I suspect that this part of the story will come back to haunt Harriet in the next installment. As for Olive, she is as objectionable as ever until near the end, when readers will wonder what is causing her change of heart, leaving them anxious for the next installment in this series.
Hill House Divided: The Women of Campbell County is a cozy family saga about life as a woman in the 1950s. The historical fiction element will give readers an intriguing view of life at the time and the struggles people faced in society.
Pages: 329 | ASIN : B09Q1KC29Y
When Loyalty Is Betrayed
Blaze In, Blaze Out follows two detectives that after putting away a crime lord are now in danger along with their families. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Up until Blaze, my books featured adolescent boys with cops as side characters. I wanted to change that up a bit and feature two/three cops that my readers enjoy. Pat O’Connor, Paul Eiselmann, and Jamie Graff. There is quite the back story on all three, and I wanted to explore that with the reader. I also wanted to give a shout out to law enforcement for their commitment, for sometimes putting the lives of others above their own. There were two spots in particular where that came out: Eiselmann’s inner dialogue about his family and the danger he and his family were in, and with O’Connor’s conversation late at night with Brian.
In previous books, there were mentions of hunting and fishing with the boys going on trips with those three cops. I used hunting and fishing as the backdrop for Blaze for several reasons, both subtle and not so subtle.
There were a lot of strong and dynamic characters in Blaze In, Blaze Out. What was your favorite character to write for and why?
Wow, great question! Trying to pick a favorite character is much like trying to determine who my favorite child is. Each is unique and special in their own way, much like my characters. However, if you had a gun to my head and asked that question, I would Brian because of the depth of the character. Having been a teacher, coach, counselor and administrator for 46 years and counting, I’ve come to know many, many kids struggling like Brian. Trying to find who they are and to be accepted for who they are. His strength, not so apparent to himself but to others, stands out.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I think the themes of loyalty, perseverance, family, love, and acceptance are important. They are themes all of us deal with daily. More importantly, to explore the reactions when loyalty is betrayed, when family and love are in conflict, and when acceptance is withheld. Those are themes near and dear to me, because I’ve witnessed these in my roles in education.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am in the middle of a book tentatively titled, Fan Mail about a fan who takes it to the extreme. It explores some of the same themes in my other books, but as with my other books, there is a crime/thriller/mystery in it. I hope to have it available sometime in 2022.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog
The two detectives thought it was over.
Eiselmann planned for a quiet weekend with his family at home. O’Connor planned on attending a high school soccer game and then head to Northern Wisconsin for a fishing trip with another cop, Detective Jamie Graff and four teenage, adopted brothers: George Tokay, Brian Evans, Brett McGovern, and Michael Two Feathers.
But Andruko is ruthless and vindictive. From his prison cell, he hires two contract killers to kill both O’Connor and Eiselmann and anyone else in the way. The killers can be anyone. The killers could be anywhere, and the killers could strike at any time.
The quiet weekend and the short vacation turn into a deadly nightmare as O’Connor’s and Eiselmann’s lives and the lives of the four boys are in peril.
Under the Grapevine
![Under the Grapevine: The Women of Campbell County by [S. Lee Fisher]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/511Kv8EMS4L.jpg)
Under the Grapevine is the second in The Women of Campbell County series by author S Lee Fisher. Olive Westchester is a married woman with children of her own and a loving husband, all of whom she treats badly. Having lost all her youthful chances, she is locked in her own misery which has festered over the years to create a bitter, angry woman. She treats everyone around her with rude contempt, keeps secrets from her family for her own benefit and only really engages with them when she needs a skivvy.
The book opens after the First World War and covers the years of the Great Depression and the Second World War with vivid detail. Although the characters are affected by these tumultuous events I wanted to dive deeper into their emotional turmoil. The author seems to have a clear vision of the personalities of each member of the family, which I found intriguing and left me wanting to know much more about them. This is a plot driven literary saga that focuses on a series of dramatic events that happen to the characters, but leaves me wanting more insight into the inner worlds of many of the characters.
Harriet bounces along from one experience to the next without sharing with us what is going on in her head apart from the little that is revealed through her conversations with others, this sets her up to be an enigmatic character to me. As for Olive, if you have not read the first book in the series, which I recommend, you would have no idea why she is so hateful, and these reasons can be compelling, but here the characterization is intense and I wanted a window into her soul to understand why. Harriet is surprisingly unscathed by having such a horrid mother, and it is awe inspiring that Tabs remains the loyal, long-suffering husband that he is.
Under the Grapevine is filled with intriguing characters that I wanted to explore further and deeper. This is a great family saga for readers who enjoy rousing drama against a vivid historical backdrop.
Pages: 296 | ASIN: B0981M5QYN
Save Me From The Dullness Of Reality
Operation Bluebird is an intense thriller following a young police officer who goes undercover to bust the mysterious, affluent and criminal Park family. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting story?
Operation Bluebird was never supposed to be a book. It started out as the backstory to a character in a roleplay game with my sisters – our characters were detectives and I wanted mine (Carrie) to have something interesting in her past. I’m an auditor in my day job and was working on a very busy, stressful client at the time so Bluebird was my escapism when I finally got to bed in the evening, really coming to life in my mind to ‘save’ me from the dullness of reality. I wanted to be daydreaming about exciting and emotional situations, which is how the intensity of the story started to come about. I was listening a lot to Lana Del Rey at the time, and her songs really shaped the feel of the decadent gangster lifestyle and the underlying bittersweet knowledge that such things are eventually doomed to fail. The occasional lighter-hearted moments were also inspired by the album “Time for Us” by GFriend – these songs still make me cry.
Then the characters basically took charge of themselves, making things occur without me really even thinking about it. For example, a lot of the events in the story were an intentional chain reaction planned by Soju (the manipulative third Park brother). These scenes popped into my head as exciting things to daydream about, and I only realised later that they were all his doing!
In short, I think the main inspiration for the intense, immersive world and the thrilling things that happen in it stem from my own frustrated desire for an exciting, dangerous life, along with the understanding that such things which appear exciting on the outside are sensationalised in our minds, perhaps by the media, and are actually darker and more painful than we comprehend.
Carrie is a well developed character that I enjoyed following. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?
In a way, Carrie developed as I did. She first came into being at the beginning of 2019 and continued to grow until I eventually decided to write it as a novel in summer 2020. To begin with, she was a hardworking detective with a secret past, then as more and more detail entered my mind I became more emotionally invested in the goings on of Operation Bluebird and so did she. What started as a deliberate plan and a bit of fun stole us both into its world, tempting us and tugging at our heartstrings.
My life also, completely accidentally, started to mirror hers, which I think is a large part of how I could write her so realistically. When Covid isn’t around, I work contracts and travel in between, rejecting the ordinary world and doing expensive and impulsive things that most of my family and friends aren’t too pleased with. This polarity between sense and disorder, and my increasing resentment of the sensible side, reflected Carrie’s split between her police work and the crazy life she lives with the Parks. I, too, began my adult life very unsure of myself – determined to succeed but at the expense of really letting go and acting on my true feelings – so I really understand the thrill of finally finding a chance to go wild and not wanting to give it up, even when it is obviously temporary and potentially incredibly damaging.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Addiction is a main theme that is very important, both on the surface through Taehwan’s substance abuse and as an underlying metaphor through Carrie’s fascination with the world of Paradise Casino. The book showcases how easy it is to get carried away: she begins with a curiosity that she believes she can dabble in with no consequences and doesn’t realise how dependent she is becoming on it until it’s too late, then can’t get out even if she wants to. The effects on herself and Taehwan are catastrophic, but perhaps the most tragic aspect of this theme is David. He is intentionally understated, as Carrie’s attention is focused more and more on Paradise, and is an example of how a person’s addiction not only affects themselves but also those who care about them, while being so absorbed in it they hardly notice the impact they’re having.
The other main theme is the struggle between two worlds; that which feels real and alive, and that which eventually has to prevail for what the majority would see as the greater good. It’s up to the reader to decide which they believe to truly be the ‘right’ way to live, but I think to some extent it is a struggle we all face – the requirement to conform to society and the common understanding of ‘good’ versus a frustration at the box it keeps us in and a secret desire to break out. Carrie’s reluctance to return to a normal life and Taehwan’s intense fear of being trapped, preferring to live in the most destructive way possible, is a reflection of these feelings and the different extents to which people accommodate or are destroyed by them. I’m very interested to see the opinions of different readers on which characters they sympathise with and if they agree with their choices.
Of course there are many other smaller themes too, such as family, honesty and the excesses of the upper class. Every character has at least one goal or insecurity that plagues them, and I personally find Margot’s sacrifices for a comfortable life a poignant side-plot.
On reflection, perhaps the most important theme of all is that nobody is perfect, but if you look hard enough everybody has their reasons to be so.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Honestly, I have no idea! I have a few things that have been floating around for a while but don’t want to force myself into any one of them until I feel that I can really put my heart into it and do it justice. Perhaps this will be in a few months, perhaps over a year – or perhaps something new will burst in and recruit a lot of coffee and Red Bull to get a first draft completed in a matter of weeks! Either way, based on my track record it will be very character-based and probably involve alcohol and fake names…
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website | Instagram
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Carrie Hart became Cara Parry for three reasons: to prove herself as an undercover detective; to bring justice to the people who killed Lucy Flynn; and to trial a life of letting go, with no consequence for her real self.
But under the intoxicating lights of Paradise Casino, lines are blurred and letting go becomes a question she had never thought to ask:
Who is the real Carrie Hart, and where do her loyalties truly lie?
A Shattered Marriage
![A Shattered Marriage (His Deadly Betrayal Series Book 1) by [C. M. Santoro]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514JJ34Xg5L.jpg)
A Shattered Marriage follows Julia Williamson, a doting wife who can’t seem to please her domineering husband, Bill. After years of fighting and emotional torment, Julia finally decides it’s time to call it quits. Luckily, she has a supportive friend and a long-lost love to help her through the tough time. But none of them are equipped to handle what’s coming Miss Williamson’s way. Unseen forces are not letting Julia’s soon to be former life go without a fight. Is love worth fighting to the death for?
A Shattered Marriage might be a suspenseful story of fiction, but it is uncanny how relatable Julia’s marriage is. The themes, character development, and story building are spectacular. Santoro has a way of making you feel a whirlwind of emotions when she writes about how manipulative people can be, and how emotionally jarring a betrayal can be. She is not afraid to dig deep and bring up subjects and situations that many women have unfortunately gone through. The arguments between Julia and Bill are fantastically done, they felt chilling true to life. That being said, a trigger warning is necessary for anyone who is sensitive to the subject of emotional abuse.
I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced nature of Santoro’s story telling and the vivid nature with which the story unfolded. Despite being fast-paced, every scene happened naturally without feeling rushed. The gradual build-up to the end was intense and satisfying. I’m not sure if the well defined characters are what got me so deeply involved in the story, or if the engrossing storyline is what got me to empathize with the characters, but in either case the two work together to deliver an engrossing romantic thriller.
A Shattered Marriage (His Deadly Betrayal Series Book 1) by C.M. Santoro has zero dull moments in a story that is either building characters up or testing them in some way. This is a great book for fans of prefer a little suspense with their romance story. A riveting start to what is sure to be a stimulating series.
Pages: 170 | ASIN: B08NF5R8SX
The Passer
The Passer by Robin Christophersen is a welcome genre-blending story by a first-time novelist. We follow Dr. Eleanor Bouchard, accomplished actress and professor, attempt to put her life together after the death of her boyfriend. On the one year anniversary of his death she is visited by an otherworldly visitor with an unsettling message. Eleanor is then thrown into a mystery where she must not only figure out the message’s meaning, but also understand herself. New powers begin to awaken in her for the first time, which only adds more murkiness to dark waters. Matters become complicated further when a former flame, Daniel Archer, who has suffered the tragic loss of his wife comes stumbling into her life along with his step-daughter, Amelia. Eleanor begins to feel strange connections to the two of them and discovers that their meeting may not be so coincidental in the first place.
The Passer is an interesting read. Christophersen mixes romance, paranormal and even a bit of mystery to make an increasingly intriguing story. You would not suspect it even being an indie read, given the polish that is displayed on the pages. I was not expecting to be hit with so many “genre” elements, but they all manage to work well and complement one another. The book itself is a fast read and I was a dozen pages in without even blinking.
Eleanor as a protagonist is easy to follow, even if she is almost “too” accomplished, given her two professions. The professorship and her role as a Shakespearean actress seems almost intimidating, even to the reader, but her grief and struggle gives the reader a very tangible doorway into her mind and soul. The fact that she is on her own path to self-discovery despite being so accomplished is an excellent technique to use for the reader to be carried alongside the character on her journey.
The novel is deftly paced and reaches a satisfying conclusion. There were points that felt drawn out, but I think Christophersen balances this with the other genre elements. The quotes from Shakespeare, I feltm were heavily on the nose, considering what Eleanor does, but I could let that go, Christophersen clearly has a passion for Shakespeare and I can make a little room for the Bard. The plot may even be weighted down with the extra elements and confusing plot tangles, but by the end Christophersen untangles these and gives the reader a very satisfying story.
Overall, I believe The Passer to be an excellent read for those looking for not only an interesting plot, but a book that brings something new to the table of genre-blending. A very satisfying debut novel from a brand-new author. If this is the first book that Christophersen produces, readers should be on the lookout for the next.
Pages: 444 | ASIN: B00G2QC69Y
Exit Five from Charing Cross
![EXIT FIVE FROM CHARING CROSS by [Keogh, Valerie]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51YvPr2Vz4L._SY346_.jpg)
Exit Five from Charing Cross, written by Valerie Keogh revolves around the life of a successful investment banker, Jake Mitchell. Starting his life again at Oxford, Jake meets Adam and they instantly hit it off, becoming best friends quickly. When Jane enters the picture, a depressing love triangle emerges as Jake becomes the outer person staring longingly into a blossoming relationship.
However soon Jake seemingly has it all- the money, the career and eventually a wife and children. But this all changes when he meets the elusive Joyce, a beautiful woman eating a pastry in a train station. Torn between his emotions, Jake makes decisions that will change his life in the most shocking way possible.
Exit Five from Charing Cross is a beautifully written mystery novel that takes the reader on a journey through the life of a successful businessman, Jake Mitchell. Working at a company Sebastian et Sebastian, a firm that only entertains the seriously wealthy, Jake soon rises up in the ranks of the rich, buying into a lifestyle only a few of us will ever indulge in. The riches, the food and the extraordinary homes will leave the reader in awe and at times a little jealous of the extravagant riches that he can afford.
Romance and acceptance are the undertones for this book that will develop into a twist that will shock you to your very core. The start is a little slow but the reader will soon realise that this is the foundations of a story that you will be eager to recommend to every person you meet. My favourite character is Ann, a beautiful woman who attracts the eye of every person when entering a room. She is classy with a touch of sexiness and demands attention and admiration, and manipulate situations to suit her every desire. Is she all that she portrays or is there is something more underneath the silky designer dresses that she adorns so carefully?
Valerie Keogh can paint a picture beautifully with her words and between luxury dinners and divine champagne, the reader is easily transported to the majestic home located in Notting Hill. I found myself imagining what my own home would look like if I had eternal riches on demand and the very best designer at my fingertips. The story isn’t always glamourous though and you quickly learn that riches cannot always buy what we all innately desire- love. Jakes desperation to be loved by his best friends wife and then eventually settling at second best leads to questionable decisions that develop into choices that will leave you hungry for more.
Indulge in a side of a lobster and a glass of champagne when you curl up to read this mystery novel as you will find yourself craving a touch of luxury for yourself! I would recommend Exit Five from Charing Cross to anyone who enjoys a mystery novel with a dash of romance and a plot twist that will leave your mind reeling for days. What could possibly happen to a man who seemingly has it all? You will have to read it to find out!
Pages: 285 | ASIN: B00QPCNB80
LITERARY TITAN 