Review - Whip Smart by Kit Brennan

Title and Author: Whip Smart by Kit Brennan 
Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions LLC 
Publication Date: January 1st, 2013 
Paperback/Hardcover: 274 
Genre: Historical, Mysery 
Find it at: Goodreads / Amazon

 

Summary:  
A wild and sexy romp through history based on the real-life adventures of the audacious, Lola Montez. It is 1842, London, and the gorgeous, ever-capricious 22-year-old Eliza Gilbert, (aka Lola Montez) is in deep trouble and seeks escape from a divorce trial. Desperate to be free, Lola accepts an alluring offer of a paid trip to Spain, if she will only fulfill a few tasks for Juan de Grimaldi—a Spanish theatre impresario who is also a government agent and spy for the exiled Spanish queen, Maria Cristina. Lola soon finds herself in Madrid, undercover as a performer in a musical play. But when she falls dangerously in love with the target, General Diego de Léon, Lola becomes a double agent and the two hatch a plot of their own. Disaster strikes when the plot is exposed, Diego is captured, and Lola is forced to flee on horseback to France, with a dangerous group of Loyalists in hot pursuit.

   
Review: 

I have received this book from the author/publisher in exchange of an honest review.
First of all, don’t be fooled by the cover. This is not an erotic book. I know some people thought it was when they saw the cover but it really isn’t.
Whip Smart is the story of Eliza Gilbert aka Lila Montez and how in 1842 receives a proposition to spy on the Spanish royalty. As she becomes a spy she finds herself in the middle of a dangerous political turmoil.
Lola is a good main character. She’s impulsive, strong and bold and feels like she doesn’t exactly fit in a restrictive world. I really liked her enjoyed reading about her adventures.
The story is fast-paced and interesting and there’s never a dull moment. There’s also a romance that I quite enjoyed.
I had never heard of Lola Montez before but she was definitely a real person that lived in the 19^th century. Whether she was spy or not, is debatable of course, but I enjoyed reading and finding out more about her.
All in all, Whip Smart is an interesting book with lots of suspense, danger and some romance. The book is well-written and the characters and situations intriguing.
If you enjoyed a good historical book with an espionage element, you might want to give this book a try!

Rating: Worth Your Time (4 Stars)

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Guest Post by Jeffrey Blount

Guest Post by Jeffrey Blount

               

The Importance of Fathers

Jeffrey Blount

Why don’t fathers die more often in children’s and young adult literature?  Are they just not important enough?  If an author kills off a father in the forest, would anybody care?

My wife, Jeanne and daughter, Julia were founding members of a mother/daughter book club that lasted from the time Julia was in third grade until she graduated from high school.  I admit I was a little jealous of the wonderful experience that they were having and I tried to at least keep current with the happenings by reading some of their books.  Over time, I began to notice a trend – mothers dying and leaving behind devastated children who would eventually rise to handle the ongoing task of living and the personal triumph of discovering something truly important about themselves.  Jeanne and Julia, while recognizing that many of their books did include expiring moms, felt I was exaggerating by calling it a trend.   But wait I argue, there’s even a book called “One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies” by Sonya Sones.  I knew I was on to something.  But what did it mean?

My investigation into the matter uncovered the notion that mothers are considered the glue of family life.  They run the home, they nurture, they educate and they love in an incomparable fashion.  It stands to reason if these things are taken away from the family, there would be a breakdown.  But in today’s world, with both parents working in most families, it also stands to reason that dear old dad would be doing a lot of the home organizing and nurturing.  I know that’s the case in my home, as well as the homes of a few amazing fathers that I have watched over the years.

So one night at the dinner table, I stood tall for the rights of fathers.  I demanded that more fathers of literature meet their end and be tragically missed, thereby increasing the importance of dads in the lives of young readers.  I made a pledge at that moment, that I would someday write a young adult novel and kill off the dad.  Years later, I sat down to write “Hating Heidi Foster” with the mission of celebrating love, friendship and family.  And yes, the driving force behind the book’s mission is the death of the father and I do believe that when all is said and done, readers will love the book and at the same time realize that fathers take up a lot of space in the lives of families and are missed just as much, well almost just as much, as moms.

Bio

Jeffrey Blount is an Emmy award-winning television director and an award recipient for scriptwriting on multiple documentary projects.  Born and raised in rural Virginia, he now lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Jeanne Meserve. They have two children, Julia and Jake.

Amazon Link

Review - The True Detective by Theodore Weesner

Title and Author: The True Detective by Theodore Weesner

Publisher: 

Publication Date: 1987

Paperback/Hardcover: 540

Genre: Mystery

Find it at: Goodreads

Summary:

The True Detective, Gil Dulac, is a small town police investigator who sees his sleepy city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, being infested with a sexual pathology that, in its breadth of depravity, is breaking out like a pandemic. It’s no surprise to Dulac then, when a twelve-year-old boy turns up missing. Child abduction grips the city, along with Dulac’s obsessive sense of justice. Now, as the clock winds down on a horrifying reality, Dulac must use his wits, his resolve, and his deepest life

  

Review:

I have received this book from the author/publishers in exchange of an honest review.

A twelve years-old boy is kidnapped in a small town in New Hampshire. The True Detective is the story of the man who kidnaps that young boy and of detective Dulac who will do whatever it takes to solve that kidnapping.

In this book we really get to know the characters involved. The author gives details about the characters, allowing the readers to get to know them better.

I enjoyed the story and there are some exciting moments but I think I would have enjoyed the mystery more if I wasn’t aware of whom the kidnapper was right from the start.

I would have liked the story to be a little more fast-paced and centered on the kidnapping and the detective’s attempts to solve it. The book was, nonetheless, able to keep me interested and curious. I wanted to know how book would end.

A little warning for the readers: there are some very explicit scenes, situations and language in this book.

All in all, The True Detective is a nice story and was able to keep me interested until the end. 

Rating: Readable (3 Stars)

2013 Men In Uniform Reading Challenge

2013 Men In Uniform Reading Challenge:

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
• The goal is to read as many novels that feature men in uniform as you’d like. It can be a policeman, firefighter, paramedic, doctor, veterinarian,  Army, Navy, Marine Corp., etc. – As long as the leading man wears some sort of uniform, it counts. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down.
• Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio).
• Books can be any genre (contemporary romance, m/m romance, fiction, non-fiction, etc.).
• Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing.

Levels:

     Sergeant – Read 1–5 men in uniform novels 
     Lieutenant – Read 6–10 men in uniform novels 
     Captain – Read 11–15 men in uniform novels   
     Chief – Read 16+ men in uniform novels

I'm signing up for Leven 1 - Sergeant. 

Books read:

01. Chasing Fire - Nora Roberts

02. Forever Hers (Fitzgerald Famiçy 05) - E.B. Walters

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2013 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge

2013 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge:

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
• The goal is to read at least 10 contemporary romance novels. As per Pearl’s original post:

  “by contemporary romance I mean straight contemporary, so without paranormal, fantasy or time-travel elements. Sexy, steamy contemporaries are eligible and so are category romances. (i.e. Harlequin Blaze, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Super Romances, Silhouette Desires, etc.).”

  
  I’m going to elaborate on this a bit just for the sake of clarification: Books read for this challenge can be young adult, new adult, or adult. Romances with the following elements do not qualify for this reading challenge: paranormal, historical, time-travel, fantasy, science fiction, or mystery/suspense/thriller.
• Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio).
• Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing. 

Books Read:

01. About That Night (FBI/US Attorney 03)

02. Wallbanger - Alice Clayton

03. Ain't She Sweet - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

04. Forever Hers (Fitzgerald Famiçy 05) - E.B. Walters

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2013 Romantic Suspense Reading Challenge

2013 Romantic Suspense Reading Challenge:

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog. 
• The goal is to read 13 romantic suspense novels in ‘13.
• Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio).
• Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing. 

Books Read:

01. A Lot Like Love (FBI/ US Attorney) - Julie James

02. Chasing Fire - Nora Roberts

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Interview with Michael Meyer

Interview with Michael Meyer

1 - Have you always wanted to be a writer? If not, when did you know you really wanted to write?  I became fascinated with books at a very young age. I must have read every CURIOUS GEORGE book out there. At the age of ten, I self-published my first book, a short synopsis of California history. My parents bought the only copy, but I was a published author, and I was hooked. I have always been good at writing. In fact, all through the school system, my teachers would compliment me on my writing. I have written stories, essays, poems, novellas, and novels, but it wasn’t until I retired, in December of 2010, that I gave my writing itch a good scratch. I am not out for money. As a retired college professor, I have a nice pension. Rather, I want to write until I die. I love creating characters and plots. Writing to me is like reading. I never know precisely where things will lead. I am in good health, and my doctor told me that writing is a very healthy avocation for someone in my situation: a retiree. I love his advice.

2 - What inspired you to write Covert Dreams? I love a good mystery. I like to be thrilled. In addition, I have always been intrigued by the relationship the United States has had with Saudi Arabia, one of the most restrictive societies in the world, where I have been a personal witness to the fact that life here and life there is as different as being on two separate planets. What we take here for a given is nearly always a no-no there.

            The area of parapsychology has always intrigued me, and where better to deal with something such as this than in a very hidden-from-the-rest-of-the-world location. The mixture of live and let live as practiced in Bavarian Munich, coupled with the fervent zeal of Arabia, enhanced by American involvement—and the plot just seemed to thicken, drawing me into it as I wrote, without my ever knowing precisely where or how it would end, but loving every minute of it.

3 - What was the biggest challenge you faced when writing?  For me, the toughest part of being a writer is finishing a novel. When the words The End appear, I feel sad. My baby is now on its own. It is like having a movie that has fully engrossed you coming to an end. It is like being so absorbed by a book that you are reading that you simply never want it to end. As I said earlier, I am like a reader when I write, never quite knowing what will happen next and especially how things will end.

4 - Who are your favorite writers? Why? In a nutshell, I have many favorite writers, and I have been inspired by most everybody I have read. I am an avid reader, and I have very eclectic tastes. I read a wide variety of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. I am a pretty keen observer of the world around me, and bits and pieces of what I hear, see, and read trigger thoughts that eventually find a home in my own writing.

5 - Is there anything else you would like your readers to know? The locales I write about are real. For instance, COVERT DREAMS is set primarily in Munich and in Saudi Arabia. I have lived and studied in Germany, and I know Munich as well as I know the back of my own hands. Also, I was a college professor at the University of Petroleum and Minerals, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. I have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East. In addition, my Caribbean murder mystery, DEADLY EYES, is set on the island of St. Croix, where I was a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. THE FAMOUS UNION is a comic look at college life, and I was a professor for forty years. THE SURVIVAL OF MARVIN BAINES is a semi-comical look at midlife, something that I personally have lived through. 

Thank you, Michael!