Molly Greene (2)

In her debut novel Molly Greene introduces us to Madison Boone, real estate agent extraordinaire who also "flips" houses in her free time. Madison falls in love with a cottage that is being sold in unusual circumstances, and she is able to buy it with the assistance of her no-nonsense lawyer friend Gen. But as Madison embarks on yet another remodeling project, the past of the house begins to unfold piquing her curiosity. However she is not alone. A motley crew of characters in the show more neighborhood and beyond is also interested in what Madison finds and their interest grows as she unravels the mysteries behind her dwelling and its former owners. These mysteries are of course eventually resolved, but perhaps the most important mystery that Madison figures out is that about her own self.

The book sports a superb cover by Jan Marshall. It is very well written and formatted, and all the characters are believable-from the sleazy Levi Velasco to the flamboyant Genevieve Delacourt. I liked how the author weaves the symbolism of the ever present Loon into the story, and connects it to the past owners of the house and to Madison. I also liked her vivid descriptions of the cottage with its lush gardens set in California's Sonoma County. For example: "An English cottage right out of the Shire was set back in the midst of a clearing. Built of native stone, it looked as if it had been picked up by a tornado in the Cotswolds Judy Garland-style and plopped down here among the rainbow hues of the wild abandoned garden." Reading passages like these makes images appear in your mind as though you had taken a picture, and there are many more where this one came from.

Mark of the Loon has intrigue, romance, friendship, mystery, danger, and even a little touch of the supernatural thrown in for a very pleasing read, and I recommend you treat yourself to the experience! show less

If you’re a blogger, one book you simply must read is, Blog It! The author’s guide to building a successful online brand by Molly Greene. Greene is an author, blogger, and blogging coach who knows what she’s talking about and does it in an engaging way.
This is a kind of nuts and bolts recipe book of blogging, covering everything from building a stable of regular readers to how to sell your books on your blog. The reader is taken from the basics; where should you establish a blog, show more setting up a writing and publishing schedule; to more advanced techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO) and blog design.
Written in a direct, no-nonsense manner, this book will, if you follow Greene’s advice, make you not just a better blogger, but a more successful blogger. There are a lot of books out there on blogging, but this one is without doubt the best. show less

A free Kindle read several years ago. It is book # 3 in a mystery series, Gen Delacourt. However, this was a stand alone read. Gen is a PI and the mystery was interesting. The down-side was her BFF was a gay cross-dresser. That line fed into every conceived stereotype and his part in the book did not advance the story line. I haven't figured out why he was there---except it might have been revealed in book one or two of the series. 270 pages

I obtained a mobi.file copy of this book from the author in connection to a RaffleCopter giveaway on FaceBook and the following is my honest opinion of it.

Reading this book I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the author, Molly Greene, is actually in the protagonist, Madison Boone. Both are involved in the real estate industry and both are house flippers. While both do it for the fun, self-gratification and additional income; when it came to Madison and the Blackburne house, she bought show more it because she finally found a home she could call her own, especially since she rarely stayed in any one place long enough to put down roots ever since her parents had died.

Little did Madison know when she and her three friends would start renovating this house which had remained empty since the owners had died several years before that things would begin to happen. No sooner did the renovation begin than the walls of the house began to slowly reveal its secrets, like hidden rooms, old keys which didn’t open anything around; it also revealed secrets belonging to a mystery which intrigues Madison enough into wanting to solve it. But unfortunately by doing so, it would put her life and those of her friends in serious danger.

I found the writing captivating, but there appears to be an abundance of friends who I felt didn’t really do anything until the end of the story when the solution to the mystery was at hand. Giving us the back story concerning the previous owners of the house I feel has added value to the understanding of the present day mystery which is confronting the protagonist.

For writing a story from a realtor’s/author’s mind fantasizing about an old house she’s just sold and the unknown secrets it might have contained, I’m giving Ms. Greene 5 STARS. show less