After a walk to clear her mind, bride-to-be, Hannah, meets two mysterious sisters - spinsters, outcasts - who later are robbed and their home set afire. When she finds out that the sisters and her deceased grandmother have history, she sets out to solve a murder and uncovers secrets long laid dormant. In the process, she also deals with a jealous ex-girlfriend and an eccentric cousin.

This book started off as a regular story about a young woman (who happened to be Amish) in the process of preparing for her wedding and quickly turned into a wholesomely written mystery. This is the first book I've read in this series and I never felt left behind. The religious references to faith and prayers seemed sincerely made by a child of God. The story was well structured and interesting. Quick read with a solid plot and great, down to earth characters.

This was an extremely good story that borrowed certain aspects from the popular fairytale Little Red Riding Hood - for example, the red cape and wolves in the woods. But while there are some similarities, this is definitely a story of its own. I was not expecting things to turn out as they did.

I thought this story was frickin' awesome. Short and sweet. I wish I could give it another star.

Lover in Hell began with an awesome zombie fight in a car repair shop where a zombie called The Howler literally rips a man's head off. During the brawl, Eden is infected and suspects she only has 24 hours to live. Together she and Mike, a zombie fighting soldier, hole up together in an abandoned home while Eden recovers. There they explore their attraction to one another while dealing with the dilemma of Eden's infection.

I enjoyed this story and especially the way that the characters were written. There was zombie action. Eden was not the typical oh so innocent, fluttery eyed virgin. She was open about her desires and needs. Mike was not the cliche dominant must coddle the virgin dude. He also was open about what he wanted from Eden both physically and emotionally.

The adult content in this book is blunt, realistic, and refreshingly written meaning it's not just sex for the sake of sex to entertain some horny or fantasy-ridden, daydreaming reader. It's penned as an equal exchange of pleasure between two very direct adults who care for one another.

And I believed wholeheartedly that Eden was 19. Why? Kitties and Zombies...

"Mike gave me an incredulous look. 'After what we just went through you’d want to go back for a cat?'

I balled my blood-encrusted fists against the
sheets. 'I have to.' "

It wasn't even her damn cat. Ha!

Gwen Hensley, an inexperienced witch, inherits a mansion from a grandmother she never knew - another witch named Lizzy, who was sadly burned alive. Gwen, an orphan, sets out to find out who murdered her grandmother and stumbles across information that questions another family member's murder as well.

In the process, she struggles against a strong attraction to Sebastian, a mysterious being who lives next door. Sebastian holds his own dark secrets. So does Lewis, her familiar, who comes close to losing himself while trying to protect Gwen from a voo-doo witch's curse. Gwen is torn between her feelings for them both.

The story was well written and straight forward, but there was no tension, no magical suspense. For a story about witches and vampires, I found it to be rather mild. The book concentrated more on solving a murder and the soft love triangle between Sebastian, Gwen, and Lewis. I was expecting the voo-doo witch, Fannie, to raise some havoc, but she barely made an appearance.

There was only smoke - no fire. No fighting, no clashing - only Gwen being adored by either Lewis or Sebastian. While Gwen and Sebastian knitted, I wished they would have been battling something especially since Gwen, who was supposedly a very strong witch, knew Fannie wanted her dead.

Seemed more like a mystery/romance. 3 1/2 stars

While riding the tube, Francis is witness to a horrible accident - an accident that leaves him confused and slightly traumatized. On top of that, he's having vision problems - he sees dead people - and the carnation attached to his lapel is slowly wilting.

Without giving away too much of this extremely short tale, I'll say that it had a very Twilight Zone feel to it - meaning something odd is amiss, the something odd combined with how the story is written makes you envision the plot and characters in black & white, and even though you know what's going to happen, the story is odd enough that the reader is compelled to keep reading.

Good story. 3 1/2 stars

O'Ryan, "like the constellation", is a quirky dude...

"I'm a...uh...fossil-ologist."
"A fossil-ologist?" She regarded him skeptically. "Don't you mean 'paleontologist'?"
"My specialty is extremely ancient fossils."
"Aren't all fossils ancient?"
"All except the new ones."

And then...

"...his weapon of choice was a simple sock to the jaw—especially if the sock covered a foot and the foot was encased in a heavyshoe."

O'Ryan has a tall problem - he needs to find the genie who botched his second wish. Botched his second wish by making his soul mate, Julie, an ostrich.

In the process of searching for the elusive genie 'Dent', O'Ryan and his ostrich sleuth around and solve whatever 'incidents' cross their paths.

4 stars because I found the ending to be totally unsatisfying. Totally. Otherwise, the book is a good read.

After surviving the devastating murder of her entire family, Ruby Winter is saved from near death by a kind doctor and his daughter. Unable to move forward knowing that her family's murderers remain at large, Ruby sets out with her father's pistols to avenge her family. In the process of meting out justice, she befriends McAuley, a nonchalant con man who sticks by her side in her quest for revenge. Ruby who began as a mere tomboy soon transforms into a hardened killer who will stop at nothing to hunt down the criminals who murdered her family.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was full of action - shoot-outs, a dynamic bank robbery, hidden gold, and even the old cliche 1800s train fight. A brief appearance by Jesse James and his crew added to the mayhem and the Last Wolf's characters literally jumped off the pages.

This story of vengeance is well worth the read with never a dull moment. The author did an excellent job!

"His farm would be safe for a few months,
possibly a year, while he came up with his plan to save his farm from the
lesbians and President Obama."

Jeb, an overbearing farmer is on pins and needles after hearing a radio broadcast announcing that Obama is sending lesbians to take over farms. Jeb has never seen a lesbian before, but damnit, he doesn't like them.

And of course when they show up to tend the farm right next to his own, Jeb has a fit. He has to keep them from stealing his wife after all...

Very good short story!

While out hunting with his dog, Shadow, Zack stews over the fact that his best friend has stolen the love of his life, the angelic-faced Tara - then also has the nerve to request that Zack serve as best man in their wedding.

While dealing with this issue, he and Shadow stumble across a dead body stashed in the forest. After shoddy police work, Zack serves time in prison for manslaughter - time cut short because of the help of a new love, Kayla, who enlists the help of an elusive attorney to ensure Zack an early parole. After spending time in prison for a crime he did not commit, Zack goes on the hunt for the person who set him up.

This book was full of great characters which included hustlers, hitmen, jailbirds, and corrupt politicians. Quick read. Good book.

Max, a strait-laced English teacher, seems to have his life together - even to the point of planning his dinners by the week. Taylor, a bright student, but misunderstood, unfortunately places too much trust in him and is betrayed. Five years later, they meet up again and begin to have an affair. Then ensues a roller coaster ride of Max attempting to mold Taylor into what he wants her to be instead of accepting that he is the reason why she is the damaged addict that she is.

I have to mention that he is at least 20 years her senior.

“I’ve been teaching English since before you were born."

Max got on my nerves. He was a weirdo; he was too old to be SO in his feelings; he was too clingy; he was too sensitive; he was too selfish; for four months, he followed her all over the house while whining; questioned her to DEATH about her feelings; and was a crybaby, touchy-feely man.

He made my stomach hurt. I thought he was a weirdo.

While reading this book, I assumed that the author was male because hitting the nail on the head of a pitifully overlonely, emotionally underdeveloped man was written to perfection.

Taylor. Oh, boy. The young woman had no guidance and no help. And this little girl mama... *sigh*

This story was unfortunate. Very good but terrible at the same time. I rarely get emotional about a book, but I could not stand this man.

4 1/2 stars because of redundancy in alot of Taylor and Max's conversations. They discussed alot - very long conversations that Max HAD to have. show more About the same thing. Over and over again.

"...This is why we need to talk more.”

No, Max. Please. Don't. show less

In Harvest of the Stars we meet Locklyn - an abused young woman from a broken home - and her only friend, Isaiah. Locklyn lives in a small town where her mother is not well liked, a shut-in who is shunned by the townsfolk for, among other things, being an unwed teenage mother.

Locklyn takes the brunt of this abuse inside and outside of the home though she is a fighter in spite of it all, handling her problems without any of the painful emotions that would be expected from a young woman her age in a similar situation. Isaiah on the other hand is full of emotion - an intense young man who is obsessively overprotective where Locklyn is concerned. In fact, being more vested even than Locklyn in her escape from a volatile home.

This story was just that - a story that was told. It wasn't a bad story. I didn’t understand why Lucy was ostracized for the reasons she was when there existed an underlying tragedy involving her that no one ever spoke of.

The story ended well. The step-father finally got what he deserved which was satisfying for me. All in all, I'll give it 4 stars.

Strange Attraction is a down to earth, paranormal tale about a man who is painfully shy when it comes to meeting women. Good story.

In Nerve Damage, we meet Cassidy Lockheart, a troubled young woman who is haunted not only by her parents' murder, but also by a hooded figure that seems to stalk her wherever she goes. After receiving a free, too convenient trip to a ski resort, she and several other people find themselves stranded in an abandoned orphanage. There Cassidy finds a diary and begins having flashbacks of abuse suffered by another person. After all hell breaks loose, Cassidy finds herself face to face with a murderer.

This was a good read but for the moments of violence that I think were meant to come across as terrible and oh so brutal, but seemed like just another act of violence.

I'm going to say that this book is filled with sex, drugs and violence done very well.

In Mirror, Mirror we meet Sam, a news reporter who is looking into the cold case murder of her cousin, Emily.

After a tragic accident, she retrieves Emily's vanity from their grandmother and shortly thereafter begins to have - through the vanity mirror - visions of her cousin's death, her murderer, and his crimes. During this same time, she begins a relationship with Patrick, a cop she meets through a mutual friend.

Unfortunately, a serial killer has re-surfaced and is stalking...someone. And the great thing about suspense/mystery tales is that the bad guy never is who you think he is ...then he is...then he isn't...

Anyway, this read started off a little slow and concentrated alot on the development of Sam and Patrick's relationship. To me, this book seemed like it would make a good Lifetime movie. Every single character was good-natured and wholesome - lived a near perfect life even. The events were structured well - some predictable.

But the writing was good. The author was descriptive and at all turns attempted to make her reader apart of the story. I think a good job was done in building suspense and defining character personality through dialogue. I wish things had been a bit bloodier, but all in all, I thought it was a good read.

* Thx to the author for obliging my request for a review copy of Mirror, Mirror

This novella begins with Bobby Page watching his mother be swallowed by a sinkhole. That's right - giant, alien insects have invaded Kinsale, Texas leaving two boys to fend for themselves. We follow Bobby and his brother Ralph in their struggle to survive.

Without spoiling such a short story, I will say that I think Sinkhole was very well done. I mean, these monsters stressed Bobby out so bad that he was lighting up cigarettes back to back. For 70 pages this tale contained all the elements of a well-structured and well-detailed story. I enjoyed it.

The Whimsical opens with angels and gentlewings being provided on the job training in an office environment. The second and best piece attempts to recount Eve's fall from grace courtroom style.

I was excited to read this book - love when authors build their stories around God or religion, angels or demons, but the waters here were way too calm for me and the angels were too much like human - drinking coffee and writing tickets in heaven, and they never really "get into" anything. I guess I needed more.

What happens when you wake up bloody but without a memory? Very well written short story (11 pages)

4stars because it could have been longer

Bravo!

Tyler, a somewhat unpopular boy, wishes for a best friend and one arrives like magic - a young wizard named Dirk. A great best friend, Dirk protects Tyler from bullies, helps him become one of the coolest boys at school, and takes him on wild adventures.

This is a great YA novel!

This is a book about a sick group of teenagers nearing graduation who have zero parental guidance, engage in pass around sex, illicit drug use, and with vicious cruelty, bully less attractive peers. The author did a great job with Mick Morris and Kitty Martine - they are definitely characters that you love to hate - and he also threw in a little paranormal activity. This was good writing.

"You ask for signs and wonders,
As they did in times gone past.
N' cry to God in outrage,
When the good things do not last.
For many things were shown,
Recorded and written down.
But what is God to do,
When His Word you do renounce?
All good things are of God,
His Word does plainly state.
Yet, the giver is ignored,
While Lady Luck you play."

The last story about a blind boy who reads palms was the best.

LibraryThing Review

In the Lucky Leprechaun, we follow Commander Rocky and his team to Ireland to rescue a magical cat from elves. Very good book for children who are making the transition to reading novels.

Excellent fairytale!

VERY, Very good zombie story

This was one of those books where none of the characters really went anywhere or did really much of anything, but the nothing that they did was so dramatic that the reader is compelled to finish the story.

After challenging a rabbi and being coined a blasphemer, 18 year old Jesus of Nazareth is convinced by Mary Magdala, to escape Nazareth by way of caravan.

In the process of his duties as caravan dung boy, Jesus meets and becomes good friends with two Buddhists - Gautama who is shifty but resourceful, and Harisha, a noble caravan master.

After a tragic event, Jesus ends up at a monastery where he trains to become a Buddhist monk, even going so far as to replace his Hebrew name with a Dharmic one.

Throughout the over ten years that Jesus was away from Nazareth - aside from a voice asking him to eat honey - he had no personal relationship with God and he was a Buddhist, which was very confusing in view of his futures path.

Around 30 years of age, Jesus finally decides to return to Nazareth and in the process of ship travel where he works as resident slop bucket attendant, he is jumped by several men and nearly raped.

This was a fictional idea of what the life of the Messiah may have been in the years leading up to his crucifixion.

To this fictional Jesus who loathed Judaism as he knew it, Buddhism was a more peaceful, logical path while the Torah made the ancient deity of Abraham an over bearing, vengeful God who imposed unfair rules on humanity.

So finally after over a decade away from Nazareth, Jesus returns in ragged monk's attire to a still bad reputation, questionable familial ties and a discarded Mary Mag.

In the last 5 pages Jesus suddenly accepts his fate and begins show more collecting disciples but himself has no intimate relationship with God.

Interesting events happen within this book, but Jesus had little to no divine guidance. I tried and failed to connect with his character. show less

The first story was very odd to me. I needed to say that.

But then came a Breakroom Memo from the "that person" employee - a memo that anyone who has ever worked in an office community can relate to...

"I bought three Snickers bars from the Cash and Save last week, and placed them in the crisper for safe keeping...When I checked the following Monday, during my weekly audit of office supplies and sundries, there was only one Snickers bar...while I don’t want to start a witch hunt, and it’s not fair to point fingers without proof, I think Debra knows something that she isn’t telling us.

I’m not calling her a thief…exactly, but when I charted the amount of money she’s donated to the communal coffee fund over the last year, versus the amount of coffee she’s consumed, well, let’s just say that I found her generosity to be wanting."

Excellent!

A shifty bartender in Mixing up a Miracle

“So you’re the guy, right?”

“I’m a guy, yes…”

“No man, that’s not what I’m talking about. You’re‘the guy,’ right? The one who makes the drinks?”

“That is what a bartender does…”

“Yea, you’re the guy alright. My buddy told me you were sort of a prick..."

Probably my favorite with a runner up being a startling letter near the end about a man and a ghost. 👻

I like ghosts.

There were only a few stories that were so-so, but the others surely made up for them. I think this collection has something for everyone.

4 and a half stars!

××Received copy in show more exchange for an honest review show less

This was a great story - well written and engaging with some laugh out loud dialogue