Crystal Gardens

CRYSTAL GARDENS by Amanda Quick

Evangeline Ames is a novelist and a professional companion. She has rented a cottage in a small country town in order to recooperate from an attack on her life. Her small cottage is located next to an area of paranormal energy called Crystal Gardens. Evangeline diverts herself by sneaking into these gardens to explore. She finds them fascinating!

Once again Evangeline is attacked while at the cottage. She flees to Crystal Gardens to outrun the villian and finds herself face to face with the owner of Crystal Gardens, Lucas Sebastian. He is more than eager to help this lady in distress.  Who is chasing Evangeline and why has she been attacked twice?

Crystal Gardens and Lucas Sebastian's family have been a hot topic around the town of Little Dixby. People sense that there is something very unusual about these gardens and the experiements Lucas' uncle did on them. Add a rumour of ancient buried treasure into the mix and you have a story of mystery, love and strange  botanical plants that like to eat whatever and whomever they can get their vines into. The plants have gotten quite worse over the years and it seems as if some paranormal energy is helping them to thrive.

Can Evangeline and Lucas find the source of energy that feeds these plants and can they save Evangeline from these men who are trying to kill her? I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did. I found it quite entertaining and I think you will too.

Happy Reading!

What Doesn't Kill You



WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU by Iris Johanesn

We were all introduced to this main character Catherin Ling in the Eve Duncan novels by author Iris Johansen. But here she has a book all of her own. CIA Agent Catherine Ling is thrown into danger and mayhem in this new book and only time will tell if she can survive this round of dangerous criminals.  This is a personal mission for Catherine, a very personal mission. Her friend and mentor Hu Chang is in deep trouble and Catherine has to find a way to rescue him. Hu Chang likes to delve into herbs and plants and discovers a formula that is much sought after not only by the CIA, but also by some very dangerous people who only want to use his formula to kill!  And they will do everything they can to make sure that they get it, including kidnapping Hu Chang! Now Catherine must do everything in her power to get Hu Chang out of this tangled web hi finds himself in.  Things get really complicated when Catherine's own son Luke, goes missing and is kidnapped. But where is Hu Chang and who has taken Luke?

Here comes John Gallo riding to the rescue! Most of us remember John Gallo as the father of Eve Duncans's daughter Bonnie. But as you know, whenever John and Catherine get together, sparks fly high!  I really enjoyed this novel as it takes us into the underworld in the streets of China.  As I was reading I found this a difficult book to put down.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Till next time!

Happy Reading!

The Lost Saints of Tennessee

THE LOST SAINTS OF TENNESSEE - by Amy Franklin - Willis

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press

Publication Date: 2-7-2012

     A stirring novel about love, lost loves and how the death of a loved one can affect who we are. This story is about a

Tennessee family, but mostly about twin brothers named Ezekiel and Carter. At first I didn't care for the character of Ezekiel very much at all, but as I read this book I found myself coming to understand him and liking him.  Ezekiel is now a middle aged man whose life has not turned out as he expected.  In his early 40's Ezekiel finds himself  divorced, and a father of 2 teenish aged girls. His ex -wife and high school sweetheart has just gotten remarried. He has lost his job, one he never cared for, and is at the lowest ebb in his life.  Ezekiel had better expectations for himself, his family had better expectations for him as well.  Now all he could think about was ending his miserable life. But, even that endeavour goes sour and Ezekiel finds himself very much alive and in need of a big change in his life.  Ezekiel decides to head to Virginia and visit his cousins.  He arrives at Lacey Farms the home of his cousin Georgia and her husband Osborne, and they welcome him with love and open arms.  The love he finds at Lacey Farms will indeed change his life for the better.

      The book flashes back and forth from the past to the present, but it really helps you understand how the events of the past have molded who Ezekiel is today. It especially shows how the loss of someone we love can have a deep effect on our lives. Especially when we can't seem to get over the loss of that someone. All in all I liked this book. It has a southern flair and quality that I enjoyed. It shows that even when we are at our lowest and feel there is nothing left out there, someone can reach out and touch our lives and make us feel loved and wanted and needed. We can find ourselves again! There is always HOPE for a better life!

The Scottish Prisoner - Review

The Scottish Prisoner - Review

     Howdy Everyone and welcome to my latest book review!  I was really excited about this book, mostly because I am a big fan of Diana Gabaldon and I love reading all her books.  Her characters come alive and seem so real, that you can't help but wonder, do these people really exist?  Well I was eagerly anticipating this book, and quite anxious to get started with my reading.  If you haven't read any of Diana's books, I must tell you that it is quite alot of reading as most of her books are.  This one consisted of 507 pages, plus authors notes and a tiny sampling of her upcoming book. But I view it as a Must Read!

     This particular book is about Lord John Grey and Jamie Fraser.  I hope I spelled those correctly (sigh)!  It takes place during the time that Jamie Fraser was a prisoner for his part in the Jacobite Uprising and after the battle of Culloden.  Jamie is serving time at an estate called Helwater and is serving the estate by tending to the horses there.  The Earl of Parloe, brother to Lord John, comes across a plot of uprising Jacobites.  He calls in Lord John to help him discover who these traitors are, and the Earl decides they need the help of a scottish prisoner, namely Jamie Fraser.  Lord John is reluctant at first, especially since he is very attracted to Jamie.  But duty to his country prevails and they become involved in an adventure of spying and intrigue and danger. 

     If you haven't read any of Diana Gabaldons books before, don't worry.  This story can stand on its own  two feet.  But if you want to familarize yourself with these characters I suggest you start by reading her first  book The Outlander.  Don't be intimidated by the size of this authors books.  They storylines flow so smoothly and are so interesting that you find yourself not wanting to put the book down.  I hope you will like the Scottish Prisoner as much as I did.  But I do love all things Scottish and particularly Jamie Fraser! Thanks to author Diana Gabaldon for her writing skills and imagination.  Can't wait for your next book in the continuing story of Claire and Jamie Fraser.

My next review will be . . . . . .

Hi Ya'll,

Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.  My next book review will be from one of my favorite authors.  I am so excited about reading this book, so I am hoping that I won't be disappointed.  I don't believe I will be disappointed though since I have loved every one of her books. So here it is folks, and the winner is..........

The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

Happy Reading Ya'll

And Only To Deceive

AND ONLY TO DECEIVE
By Tasha Alexander

This was my first read by author Tasha Alexander and I am quite sure that it will not be my last.  I just loved everything about this story.  Its a love story and a mystery with a historical flair.  I was quite taken by surprise by this novel.  It is a lovely story about a young lady named Emily Ashton, who finds herself marrying a man she hardly knows just for the sole purpose of being able to get out from under her mothers thumb.  From the onset of the book, you discover that her husband had died shortly after their marriage. (I don't feel badly telling you this fact since it happens early on in the book.) Emily has to pretend to mourn a husband that she truly didn't know anything about, which is a difficult and irritating task for her. As time passes she discovers some of her husbands journals and she finds herself genuinely falling in love with him through the words that he has written in his journals.  Emily is now able to genuinely mourn her dead husband Philip with real tears of sorrow.  But the journals have also provided some insight into Philips life that is quite disturbing and mysterious.  Follow Emily along as she plunges headfirst into unravelling these mysterious secrets in her husbands journals and as she discovers the real truth about Philip and about herself. If you like historical romances and mystery books, you will definitely want to read this book. 

P.S.  I was able to meet Tasha Alexander at Murder by the Book in Houston recently.  She is a lovely, witty woman and quite intelligent.  She does extensive research for all her books and  is quite determined that they be historically correct.  Thank you Tasha for this excellent read! I can't wait to read the next one!

Goings on

Howdy y'all,

Hope everyone is doin' fine. I have been a very busy gal these past few weeks. My daughters and I went to the Texas Teen Book Festival in Austin a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and very informative. The authors who attended were placed on panels for question and answer sessions. In the afternoon we attended an author book signing session where we were able to get autographs from our favorite YA authors. There was a steam punk theme which added to the fun of the event.

I was also busy doing a book craft, which was fun but harder than it looked. I was able to turn a book cover intona purse. Here is the picture below and you can find a how to video on you tube. Tried posting a photo but it's not working. Oh well, I'll try again soon.

Happy Reading!