Review for The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd

The Heiress of Winterwood wasn't a terrible book, I did enjoy many parts of it, but there was so much missing and so much left unsaid, that it felt like an unfinished novel. I enjoyed the setting, I am a big fan of historical fiction.  The characters weren't bad, some of them were unfortunately very one dimensional but it was easy to be sympathetic with Amelia, Lucy and Graham Sterling.  It was an easy, if predictable, plot to follow and there was the implied happily ever after ending that many fans of romantic suspense are expecting.

Amelia Barrett is the heiress of a large estate called Winterwood.  There's one caveat to her inheritance.  She must marry before her 24th birthday or the estate will pass to some distant cousins and she will be cut out entirely.  To add to this burden, she's made a promise to a dying friend to care for her daughter.  Amelia hatches a plan that involves proposing to the child's father, Captain Graham Sterling.  He was married to Lucy's mother but due to his duties at sea, has never actually met his now 9 month old daughter.

Little Lucy is kidnapped and a chilling ransom note is delivered.  There is the mystery of who has taken her and the suspense of trying to get her back.  Who has taken her and why?  Will they be able to get her back?

The heavy-handed way that religion was used in the book was what kept me from rating it higher.  I have nothing wrong with religion in books.  I've read my share of religious fiction and have enjoyed many of them.  But it was done with a very heavy hand in this case, it didn't really belong.  Both Graham Sterling and Amelia Barrett seemed to be having a crisis of faith, but why?  What was accomplished by spouting random Bible verses?  A little back-story would have gone a long way in this case.  Not only with the religion aspect, but also with many of the characters who were introduced.  They were merely window dressing with the barest of connections to the main characters.  And even the main characters needed more dimension to them, more depth.

A good beach or airplane read.  Something that you don't have to put a lot of thought or effort into.  An enjoyable but predictable tale of love and loss with a little suspense thrown in.  I bought this book on sale, otherwise I think I would have given it a pass.  3 star rating.

The Heiress of Winterwood on Amazon

Review for The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

I'm not sure why I never got around to reading this book.  Like many people, I think I've seen the movie about 100 times since it was released.  For a long time, I think I just conveniently forgot that it was based on a book.  I think I was also afraid to read it because if you've ever seen a movie and then gone and read the book, either you're horribly disappointed or your reading is somewhat dulled by having someone else's idea of what the characters look/sound like.

I will admit that I really couldn't picture Dr. Lecter as anyone else other than Sir Anthony Hopkins, but I don't think that's a bad thing!  I was able to put aside the visuals that were in the movie version and immerse myself into the story.  The Silence of the Lambs is the second in the Hannibal Lecter books, but you don't have to read Red Dragon first, both books really do stand on their own.  Sure, there are a few references to Red Dragon, but not so many that you feel like you're lost or that you've missed half the story.  I like that.  Sometimes it's nearly impossible to come into a series without first reading everything else first.

The characters are well drawn and you can relate to many of them on at least some level.  There are some cheesy moments where you wonder why it was thrown in or what it was considered important enough to be part of the story line, but for the most part, it works.  I always think it's fun when a person who is supposed to be on the "good" side turns out to be an incompetent creep.  It's so easy to like Dr. Lecter and to absolutely hate Dr. Chilton,

The suspense doesn't come across quite as well in the book, but I think that might be more because I'd seen the movie version first.  I think someone reading the book without seeing the movie first will find the suspense to be very well done.  The build up is done very well, it's not campy and you have moments of real fright that just grab you by the throat and shake.

The ending seemed a little rushed, but it was also that way in the movie too.  Maybe it was just because I wanted more Dr. Lecter?  I think I'll have to go pick up the rest of the Hannibal Lecter books just to satiate that "need more Lecter" feeling.

Even if you've seen the movie, go read the book.  Yes, it's that good.

The Silence of the Lambs on Amazon

Review for Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte by Susan C. Miller

This is my review for Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte by Susan C. Miller,  The opinions expressed are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone.

This book has a bit of everything.  Family drama, drugs, murder, mystery and romance.  Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte takes place mostly in a small town in Louisiana where superstitions run high and outsiders aren't exactly made to feel welcome.  The central characters are Detective Remy Steinberg and his ex-wife, Gabby Hough.  Their 17 year old daughter, Adrienne, is missing.  She's been missing for 30 hours at when Gabby makes a frantic call to Remy, who is working as a police detective in Houston.  From there we are off to the races.  The story picks up speed and never really slows down until the great, albeit somewhat formulaic, conclusion.

Remy and Gabby married very young and though divorced, it's easy to tell that they never stopped loving each other and that the reasons for their separation really had nothing to do with love and more to do with their own youth and insecurities.  Thrown together again by the disappearance of their daughter, sparks naturally ignite, and you have the romance portion.  It's not overdone at all, it doesn't feel faked or forced and really does add to the story.  Between the romance there is a very real tension between them as they battle to keep their wits about them while they frantically search for their daughter.

The small town sheriff doesn't seem to think that she's missing at all so he's not inclined to send out his men on a wild goose chase.  They have better things to do, like play video poker.  There is a bit of hilarity at the expense of the stereotypical small town police office that take care of a one stoplight town.  You almost feel sorry for them, but you're smiling as Remy and Gabby put one over on them again and again in the course of their own investigation.

There is a dark Voodoo priest who seems to be the leader of some pretty shady activity.  People seem to fear him and hate him but are all drawn in by his powers of persuasion.  There is a bit of mysticism thrown in, so you do have to have an open mind to the possibility of the supernatural.  Again, it's not overdone and it is believable to a degree.  Personally, I liked the addition of a little something extra, something totally unexplainable, to the story.  If it were set anywhere other than Louisiana, it probably wouldn't have worked, but it definitely did here.

I enjoyed the characters, particularly Remy and Gabby.  You easily found yourself rooting for them separately and also together.  You wanted everything to work out for them.  I wish there had been a little more time spent on the darker side of things, a better explanation of how some of the less nice elements actually tied into the story.  Some of them were a little flimsy, they had a place, but they weren't fleshed out quite as much as I would have personally liked.  They still added to the story but even without them, especially the illegal drug activity, the story would have still been a good one.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery with a little romance and a little paranormal activity thrown in.  This is actually part of a series by this author, I was unaware of this until after I read the book and now I find myself wanting to go back and read more!!

Voodoo on Bayou Lafonte on Amazon

Review for The Electric Affinities by Wade Stevenson

This is my review for The Electric Affinities.  All opinions included are my own and were in no way influenced by anyone else.

This book is a beautifully written book and flows a bit like a stream of consciousness book as opposed to one that follows more rigid plot structure.  I can't really say whether it's good or bad, because it's really not either.  I think it's more that it's simply not my cup of tea and not really the type of book I enjoy.  I think I'm more of a conventional girl who likes her books to have a real beginning, middle and end with a plot that makes sense to me.

The story follows a group of seemingly unrelated people who seem to have nothing in common other than Ben, who is the unconventional patriarch of the group.  They have gathered at his home in Sag Harbor to party the away the summer of 1969.  Ben is an affluent architect who has adopted this group of young people as his surrogate family, replacing the one he no longer has.  He lives vicariously through their youth.  Andre, the violent tempered and troubled filmmaker and his girlfriend Maya.  Louise the wallflower who is Maya's friend and surrogate mother.  Ben, the idealistic and disillusioned Vietnam vet and his girlfriend Carolina, a free-spirit, summer of love hippie.

 

You follow them as they go through months of discovering themselves and rediscovering themselves.  There is the obligatory "free love" that ends up turning into a rather tragic love triangle within a triangle.  The resolution of this tangled web is unfortunately unsatisfying and rather conventional.  Sex and drugs are ever present as is the discussion of the meaning of life, why are we here, how can I change, how can I be more free?  Each person seems to be on their own journey to figure out who they are and what they want to be.

 

This is a rather difficult book to follow because it doesn't really flow the same as most other books.  I don't think it's a necessarily bad thing, but it does make it a bit more of a difficult book to get into for some people.  It took me much longer than usual to get through the book and I think I'll have to go back and read it again in the future just to make sure I "get" it.

 

If you want a book filled with beautiful prose, descriptive language, interesting people and a time warp back to 1969, this would definitely be the book for you.

The Electric Affinities on Amazon

Review for If I Were King by Randa Handler

This is my review for If I Were King and the opinions expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by anyone else.

I don't normally read or review children's books, but this one caught my eye.  I liked the artwork and the fact that there was an elephant included in the story might have been a bit of an influence.  When you have a 3 year old who loves all things elephants, you're always on the lookout for books that have elephants too!

The story was a good one, though a little bit above my 3 year old's head.  She definitely didn't understand the moral of the story, but she loved the pictures.  The story flows, so it is one that you can read to a toddler or young child and they are able to stay interested, especially if you take the time to stop and explain what's going on.  The lesson is also a good one.  Finding who you are, becoming comfortable in your own skin, listening to the little voice inside you.  Things that sometimes we grown-ups forget or take for granted.

Cute pictures, good story and good lesson.  What happens when a Zebra and a Lion change places?  Take a chance and read it for yourself and share it with a young person in your life.

If I Were King on Amazon

Review for Crystal Ships by Richard Sharp

This is my review for Crystal Ships by Richard Sharp.  The opinions expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by anyone.

The story follows a group of friends through two decades of their life set in the late 1950's and ending up at the end of the 1970's.  It follows their lives as they grow, learn, live and survive one of the more turbulent times in our recent history.  The cast is as different as can be and weave their way together the years, sometimes together, sometimes separate.  Paired or alone, they're still experiencing things together.

The story begins by introducing us to Shane, Connor and Gil.  They are living in Boston and attending college just as John F. Kennedy is about to come into office.  Gil is the privileged scholar who chases women, writes poetry and never seems to want to grow up.  His roommate is Connor, the younger brother of Shane.  They are both from the Boston working class.  We are then introduced to two college roommates and best friends, Lucy and Camille.  They are Italian-American women, one Catholic and the other Jewish, attending Douglass college together.  Lucy is the rebel, going against her father at every turn, shying away from her religious upbringing.  She wants to become a dancer and is dragging Camille along for the ride.  Thrown into the mix is Lucy's older and extremely conservative and protective brother, Ira.  Who coincidentally dated Camille prior to her and Lucy becoming best friends.  Awkward?  Maybe, but in this case, it definitely works and he finds ways to realistically weave it in and out of the story later on.

These five are the main characters and the story really revolves around them and later their partners and wives, who also become almost main characters themselves.  Ava, who marries Ira and Balinda, who Shane meets while working in South Africa.  Their stories weave together to tell the greater narrative of the 60's and 70's.  This book could have easily turned into a saga spanning over 1000 pages and I still would have been interested.  I wanted more.  More of their lives, loves, experiences.  I wish he could have made the book longer so we could spend more time with each of them!

I will admit that the first part of the book is a bit slow, but I think that's more because you're being introduced to a lot of people and given a lot of background information about them and their lives.  It's a lot to digest and you do have to take it a bit slow so that you can absorb everything because trust me, everything comes back later!

The book really does have everything.  You get to experience the culture of the 60's and 70's through every form of media.  You have music, books, poetry, television, movies and the news.  And it's all very well researched with a bibliography at the end, which was very impressive!  You also find yourself immersed in the many problems of the times.  There were the assassinations that effectively ended the feeling of security that many Americans had at the time.  The civil war both here at home and also in South Africa where apartheid was alive and well.  The biggest elephant in the room during those decades was definitely the Vietnam war and it does take a very prominent role in the story.  You're not treated to gory battles but you are allowed a peek into what the world was like for a very small portion of the military stationed in Vietnam and what they went through.

You have people MIA in Vietnam, a murder mystery in California, a crazy stalker and a bunch of people who even after 20 years are still trying to figure it all out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a glimpse at what life was like for young men and women during the turbulent 60's and 70's in America.

Crystal Ships on Amazon