The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

Hello everyone.

You know, the internet is a weird thing. Okay, maybe not for you youngsters ('youngsters', I sound like my grandparents) let me rephrase...the internet is a weird thing if you didn't grow up with it. Don't get me wrong, when hubby and I are having that once a week discussion about someone he sees on tv and thinks it is an actor that it obviously isn't, the internet backs me up, proving him wrong. You'd think he'd listen to his darling wife, but alas NO! Besides being an instant source of discussion winning gotcha moments, the internet is also a meeting place. Now that I'm hearing tacky fake porno jazz in my head I'll clarify not THAT kind of meeting place. Let's face it, I just used the word "youngster",  online hookup time for me has long passed. I am talking about connecting with people from your past.

This week I spoke with a life-long friend, someone I lived next door to from the time I was 3 until moving out after college. It has been delightful, I can't believe how old her kids are and how beautiful! I last saw her children when they were babies and they are now adults. It's like that when you reconnect with people from school, isn't it? You haven't seen each other for years, the personality is the same, but how could they have been married and divorced or even have grandchildren. We were just in chemistry last Thursday, how on earth did this happen. That's the thing with the passage of time, you feel the same inside. It seems like you should still be hurrying so you don't miss the school bus , but the reality is that you have a mortgage, kids that are counting down the days until their next Disney World vacation, and a lawn that magically grows out of control overnight. Thankfully, when you realize that this bizarre passage of time has been happening, you discover the same has been going on with your friends. You are not alone, your friends are pulling their back when putting on their bra too! Pass the ice pack please!

I recently read The First Mistake by Sandie Jones. Last year I read her book, The Other Woman and loved it. When I received an advanced copy of the new story I was thrilled. The First Mistake is about ordinary life.  A woman, Alice, has lost her first husband and has remarried, Nathan. She has a best friend, Beth, they have been through everything together. When Alice starts noticing some odd things going on with Nathan she, like any of us would, turns to her friend for support. This book asks the question what do you do when you start to doubt your friend, your rock. Is everything real or are you making a big deal out of nothing? Do you crumble or fight back? I think what makes these types of thrillers so creepy is that they are, for the most part, normal situations. It seems to hit harder when it is actually something that could happen. A thriller set on some purple planet with an evil green monkey is a lot less likely to seep into your dreams as it doesn't really exist.  Sandie Jones has produced another solid, well written, rapidly paced thriller, with a plot even more involved and twisty than The Other Woman.

This book would be a great one to read on vacation, certainly interesting enough to hold your attention but not too taxing. Perhaps you should read it with a friend. Don't blame me if you look at each other suspiciously afterward.

Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea

Hello everyone.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and they brought you the wrong dish, only it was actually better than what you ordered and became a new favorite? Stuff like that happens to me all the time. Several years ago we were buying our first old house. We found several houses we loved in a specific neighborhood in Virginia. As soon as we put a contract on a house something would happen. Someone would beat our offer by thirty minutes, or take cash off credit cards to come up with an all cash offer. We were getting really upset. Finally one day while driving around, pointing out the window I said to hubby, "I don't care anymore, I like them all. I'll take any house in this neighborhood except that one. I don't like that one, I'll take any house except that." Can you guess what happened? Of course, that was the house we bought and loved. My mother never mentioned fate by name but through the process kept telling us to be calm what is meant to be will be.

That ugly duckling house that had been divided into apartments ended up being amazing. As we restored it, we found the stairs had once been much more elaborate. So while removing added walls and the floored over grand stair opening, we found a wall of handmade raised paneling, with picture hooks from 100 years ago still hanging in place. As we took down walls in the attic to add heating (oh yes, we bravely purchased a house with no central heat or a/c), we found so many things behind walls and hidden under floorboards: button-up shoes, booze bottles, servants love letters, a corset, needlework, tin types, art work, etc. We even found an intact Duncan Phyfe sofa...never heard of it...look it up I'll wait...it's amazing and was sitting in a falling down old metal shed. One of the drawings ended up being from an artist that taught art in our house, she became a National Gallery Artist. They have since contacted us asking for copies or the donation of the original. All those people that purchased the houses that we had tried to buy started searching their homes for amazing finds but came up empty. Only our house was like living in a HGTV show. It was mean to be, thanks Mom.

Recently the generous Kensington Publishing sent me several books, all of which I will read and review.  To start I picked a title and author I had never heard about, Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea. This story is about a young woman, Rory Moore, who is a bit different. She is not fond of some social settings, touching, and returning phone calls. She is also amazing at solving cold-case murders. She has the ability to put herself into the position of each player in a case and to reason out who was the killer. Because this skill is so specialized she works as a consultant for the police. Think of a combination of Lisbeth Salander and Monk, only better, warmer and endearing. You will cheer for Rory and admire her. This is no Chablis drinking ordinary woman, she prefers dark stout beer, echoing the darkness found several places in this book. As the story opens Rory gets a new case to solve but her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her to deal with both difficult topics. To make matters worse, she finds that for some reason her dad has been representing a serial killer about to be released from prison. I don't want to say anymore. This book is skillful in the way that it gives you a bit of info at a time. There are many twists and they are released throughout the story propelling you forward. Donlea is masterful at weaving the past and present together. He writes about likable characters that come together to merge into an unforgettable read.

If you love mysteries or thrillers, this could be your favorite of the year. Some Choose Darkness is so much better than getting verde when you ordered a smoked salsa. For me, Charlie Donlea has gone from Charlie Who? to one of my favorite authors. Guess Mom was right, this was meant to be.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Hello everyone.

It seems early but it must be summer. I had to turn on the air conditioning. My husband says I'm so cheap I squeak. He's wrong (on a lot of things but I digress). I'm not cheap, I actually spend way too much money. However, I want to spend it on good stuff. Who wants to spend precious cash on utilities when there are wine and books to be purchased? And...read the following the an exaggerated eye roll... let us not forget how I am rolling through dishwashers like most people do underwear. Now that I've managed to work eye rolling, wine and underwear into a book review back to the topic at hand. No not books, my air conditioning. I am a firm believer that no a/c should come on before June 1st and certainly not before my neighbors. (Heat should not be used until November has begun.) I have to be the one to tough it out. Did I mention I'm in NC, where it is hot and so humid even your hair sweats? Well, I am and it is.

I don't think it is the least bit unreasonable to ask for a solid month of pleasant weather in spring and fall to provide utility relief and let me just open the windows. But NO, this year it has been oppressively hot since the first week in May. How dare it! Last week, the temperature hit 100. I said 'to hell with the neighbors' and 'screw the bill' and in a puddle, swearing even my book was sweating, turned on the glorious air. I didn't stand over the grate in the floor letting that cold air billow up my leg like hubby did, but I was tempted. Too much info? I thought we were close! So spring has been gone for a month and summer has begun full force. You know what else has been taking off this year? Summer reading. Have you looked at new releases headed our way? It is absolute reader heaven. So many great books, I'm practically giddy, bouncing up and down while clapping my hands together like a little kid.

My wish list for these books is so long. Let's face it, don't tell the ole' spouse but it's not a wish list, all us readers know what it actually is ....a shopping list. A honest to goodness, check off item by item just like the grocery store, buy everything on it, shopping list. In anticipation of summer read-a-paloosa, I read more books than usual in May and still have so many to tell you about but let's discuss a good one for the beach, lake or even plane. I recently read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, my first from this author. I've heard so many people say what a great writer Christina Lauren is, how people practically pace the floor waiting for her next book. Now I know why. I get it. This book is so cute, it's well written, literally laugh out loud funny, and was a pleasure from beginning to end. Someone should have written her name on a post-it and stuck it to my forehead like a banana sticker. I have been missing out.

The Unhoneymooners is about a celebration gone awry where the entire wedding party and all guests get sick from the reception dinner, except the maid of honor and best man. She has food allergies and he hates germ filled buffets so they don't eat the same food as the others. Sadly, this illness will last for days. The bride and groom have a nonrefundable trip to Maui for their honeymoon. The maid of honor and best man take the trip to avoid it going to waste. One problem though, they hate each other. I'm not saying more but the writing is so sharp and as I've already said it is really funny.  The story pushes through with a strong plot not meandering off topic, making for a quick and memorable read.

Now I am wondering if all Christina Lauren's books are this good. Getting my shopping list out, I have a few additions.

** Christina Lauren is actually two authors. Long time friends, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings together make the pen name of author Christina Lauren. Makes you wonder if your friends have any hidden talents, doesn't it?

Darkness and Bloodshed by Lennie Grace

Hello everyone.

Last time I was talking about my sisters being triplets. As we got older, my parents ruled on disputes mostly by majority rule, they wanted to keep the peace. So when I wanted to watch a television show with a teen idol on it, I was quickly over-ruled in favor of a kiddie show. One thing we could always agree on, especially as they got a bit older was a great movie. There were a couple of really spooky films we loved, like the movie Two on a Guillotine. I had some wild idea years ago that it would make a great surprise gift for the trips. I spent ages waiting for it to be released, stalking every movie seller. Finally Warner Brothers ended my search, putting it out on dvd.  It is the story of a daughter, Connie Stevens, who has just buried her father, a world renowned magician. She is about to inherit his not so magical mansion but she must live there first. To help her is a newspaper man, Dean Jones, yes of Disney fame. It is a great movie. I think you can see it on Amazon Prime and Turner Classic Movies runs it every once in a while.

I was in the second grade when I first saw Two on a Guillotine. How do I know?  Because we were asked to write a story, and I wrote about a haunted house after seeing this movie. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Schwartz, said my story was so creative I should think about becoming a writer. Producing a creepy book never happened for me, but it has for some. One of those people is Lennie Grace. Lennie wrote the book Darkness and Bloodshed, which I recently read. This is a collection of three short stories. The book itself is not very long at 170+ pages, double spaced.

The first of the stories is called Blood Moon. It is about a woman who gets attacked by a large dog, she survives and makes it home only to later start behaving strangely. Let me stop here. This book is self published. Some of my favorite books have been self published, so don't shy away from this alternative source of reading joy. What self publishing usually doesn't benefit from is professional proofreaders. (I could use one myself!) Darkness and Bloodshed has several typos, which the author says she is working to have fixed. Honestly, I really had to search for them. They did not distract from the stories at all. I think the opening scene of the book, where the woman is attacked by the dog is the roughest part of the whole thing. I really don't mean "rough" I just can't think of any way to describe it. The author is showing us an attack, naturally it doesn't flow like conversations or everyday life, and it shouldn't. So if you buy this collection, and I'd suggest you give it a whirl, don't stop there. Lennie Grace really excels at her reaction between people. In addition, there are little things that she notices and includes that really make the stories come alive. For example, kids trying to hear what their parents are saying, kneeling on the couch leaning over the back, that was so easy to picture and brought back many memories. Silly details like putting on shark slippers. These little observations may seem like nothing, but really add to the world this author is building.

As far as the three stories go, the first was plenty entertaining but not my favorite. I also really liked the third story, called They Came From The Sky. It is about weather gone amok and then odd beings descending from the sky, absolutely terrifying. I was reading this alone at two am and I literally started hearing all kinds of noises around the house.  I went and woke up hubby to go down and "check" the first floor.  I told him to blame the author! But, my hands down favorite was the second story called All That Glitters.  This tale really reminded me of The Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill, Stephen King's son. Only this is different. All That Glitters could so easily be expanded into a full 300 page novel and hold my attention the entire time. I loved it. I don't want to give it away but the plot idea is so good.  Overall, the writing is strong, all shorts feature interesting plots. The stories stay on topic and are well paced, making for very pleasant reading.

If you have a chance and you don't mind hearing every creek and groan in your house, give this book a go. If Lennie Grace ever turns the second story, All That Glitters, into a full book, I'll be one of her happy customers.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Hello everyone.

I know I've told you that I have three sisters, younger sisters they would point out. Have I ever told you that they are triplets? They arrived in a world long, long ago...picturing Star Wars opening text scrolling away from me...when multiple births other than twins were highly unusual. No fertility drugs, just bad luck or good luck, depending on if they are driving me crazy or not. My parents wanted a boy, don't ask my why as boys are such problems!  They had me. They tried again and had triplet girls, they quit having kids.

Triplets were so unusual at the time, their birth was featured in the newspaper. I remember the press photographer coming to the house to take photos for the article. At first my mother was told she was going to have twins, so my parents had purchased two of everything. Businesses in the small town I grew up in made a big fuss, delivering a third of everything as a gift. My parents were even given free diaper service. For you youngsters, this is the time of cloth diapers. This is gross, but you likely don't know, with cloth diapers you actually rinse them by hand...BY HAND in the toilet, then wash. In my parent's case, they set aside the toilet water rinsed, wet and smelly diapers for the service to pick up and launder. That is a smell I will NEVER forget. Ick. Aren't you so glad you signed on today? And to think all you wanted was to hear if a book sucks or not.

Yes, having triplets in the family, especially when it was unusual, was a different experience. They would be noticed everywhere, people would come to our table at restaurants asking about them. Strangers would always say "you must be so happy being the big sister."  I should have asked them if they ever smelled dirty diapers times three! Bless my parents, I don't know how they did it. In later years, I remember my dad fake complaining about trying to get in the bathroom and it being a blur of mascara wands. Needless to say, he really loved it. He was a great Dad. I can still see him pushing a stroller with three seats across. Frankly, I think he was proud as could be.

Speaking of babies in strollers, I recently read a great book called Little Darlings by Melanie Golding. This story is part thriller, part mystery with a bit of horror thrown in for good measure. Lauren and Patrick have just had twin sons, Riley and Morgan. One night in the hospital Lauren meets a creepy, insistent woman with two children who wants to swap babies. The next day, the odd lady is gone and the staff maintains they know nothing about this unusual patient.  After it happens repeatedly and the strange woman actually physically grabs Lauren, the police are involved. Even after Lauren takes her new children home, the strange woman reappears. But being a new mom, under stress and completely exhausted, Lauren quickly becomes an unreliable narrator and the reader doesn't know who to believe, especially when the police woman working on the case finds evidence that Lauren might be telling the truth. This becomes even more complicated when Lauren falls asleep while resting after pushing a double stroller through a riverside park. She wakes to find the babies and stroller missing. The children are quickly found, still in the stroller,  looking the same and unharmed but the new mom knows they are not her children.

This story is creepy, atmospheric, and engaging from page one. It moves quickly to a satisfying end staying on topic the whole way, making the book impossible to put down. While I think many of us love psychological thrillers this one may hit home with more people. Thankfully, not many of us have a spouse that kills for sport but oh so many readers are new moms, full of doubt, questions and very low on sleep. This book plays on all those experiences that are so common making this story one to really send a shiver up your spine.

If you are ready for a twisty, suspenseful read, this is a great one. If you are about to deliver your own little bundle of joy, don't pack Little Darlings in your hospital bag.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Hello everyone.

I have to give you a bit of housewife trivia. Our daggum (insert swearing like a sailor here, although I've known several sailors that never swore but do your best...make it really profane) ....as I was saying our daggum dishwasher is broken again. Of course, it was right after we cooked a whole bunch. We took several meals to a friend who doesn't cook, then there was Easter which we cooked for at the same time. End result, a kitchen that looked like a bomb went off. Actually, that would have made for a tidier kitchen! We made ham, turkey, boiled eggs, egg salad, chocolate cake, roasted carrots, my grandma's green bean casserole, and the always pain the butt sugar cookies complete with royal icing piping. But wait there is more...that is on top of the normal dinner dishes, errant bowls, and of course endless array of coffee cups. We just had the dishwasher fixed; they installed a new brain/control panel. That was short lived. The problem is that I love this dishwasher. I know there are people that have real problems, I get it, honestly, I do. But I love my dishwasher, like I love air conditioning, heating and skipping through commercials on the heaven-sent DVR machine. Sadly, hubby has informed me that he has figured it out that my beloved scouring friend is 14 years old and not worth sinking any more money into. Hold on, still more.... he has had some big system conversion thing followed by being on call. I don't understand it, all I know is he works 16 hours days and dishwasher mania must wait until the work load lightens.  You guessed it, leaving me with chipped nails and very dry hands and I still can't get dishes done faster than we use them.

During one of these silverware scrubbing sessions, I was thinking about sayings. Just little things people say, usually specific to their geographic region or age. The south is great for these types of things, like "tripping a$$ over tea kettle" or "slicker than cat s$#t on linoleum."  My mom had one she said often, I have no idea where she got it from. If Mom had to go out of her way, she'd say she had to go "round Robin Hood's barn." Now, I don't know about you but I never knew Robin Hood had a barn. Maybe all that take from the rich and give to the poor thing left him in need for storage for his ill-gotten gain. Perhaps Robin Hood's barn was a storage unit. Maybe before donning tights, he was a dairy farmer and housed his cows in the previously mentioned barn. I don't know, honestly..."round Robin Hood's barn." I'm shaking my head at the thought.

I recently read The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. This is kind of billed as a thriller, but it is really a flat-out mystery. In the book we follow an extended family, but the story is told from the perspective of the two main characters, Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. Now despite Diana and her husband being well off financially, she refuses to help her family, yet has a charity that helps others. Hmmmm, curious.  She is cold and uncaring, sometimes completely apathetic. One day, Diana is found dead. A suicide note is found in the drawer of her desk. If you're committing suicide, wouldn't you leave the note in a more prominent place? Then there is the group she is a member of, where they discuss taking certain kinds of poison to end their own life. Diana is found with her mouth full of such a liquid. However, the autopsy reveals that she had no poison in her system and appears to have been smothered. Then why the note and mouth full of bleck? This is the mystery that this book explores. As it does, a saying came to mind.... for Diana "there is a method to my madness".  Ever hear that one? You'll understand by the time you solve this mystery. Yep, that is what ran through my head as I read this book. Read is too normal of a word, I flew through this novel. Two days, start to finish and that is with my constant mountain of dirty dishes beckoning me. Obviously, the pacing of this is fantastic or a pokey reader like me would still be on chapter five.

Don't wait, get yourself a copy of this book, a cup of coffee, and prepare to be dazzled.  I suggest a paper cup. I've got enough to wash!

Cape May by Chip Cheek

Hello everyone.

I live in the south, near the beach. I grew up in upstate New York. No, I don't have that accent, upstate people don't have the city accent. My parents loved the beach and were constantly pulling us out of school to go on beach vacations. I swore I was going to marry the pool boy at some sandy resort. Almost, my husband grew up four blocks off the ocean, renting bikes and at hotels, checking in tourists. Yes, he has a southern accent, just ask him to say theater...he stretches it into a four syllable word . It is odd living somewhere that people save up all year to come to on vacation. Weird and, during the summer, traffic filled. By the way, when you are a visitor you don't have to worry about hurricanes, the one drawback to living near the ocean.

When we were kids we could not tolerate a long car trip, or maybe truth be told it was our parents who couldn't tolerate it with us! (My sisters were total brats. I, of course, was an angel.) So we went to New Jersey to the beach. It was only six hours away. Now, for those of you who don't live on the east coast of the USA don't picture something awful. It's not all young men that say "yous guys" with open shirts and lots of jewelry or medical waste on the beach. Nope. We went to Cape May. It is a beautiful seaside town filled with old hotels and gobs of well kept Victorian homes. The next town north is the ever popular Wildwood, filled with original hotels from the 50's, perfectly maintained. Both towns are like stepping into movie sets. If you have not visited them, you are missing out.

When we were in Cape May, we rode bikes every morning on the boardwalk, got red shoestring licorice at Morrow's Nuthouse (not really for eating but for tying into knots then dipping into the sand driving my mother crazy), and learned to love steamed clams with my dad.  A few years ago, I returned with my husband to the same resort, he got us the same room my family had stayed in each year when I was a kid. I made a complete fool of myself breaking into tears in front of the desk clerk, my parents long passed and the place thick with memories. Guess what, I got my husband, the world's pickiest eater to eat steamed clams at Cape May. Amazing, huh? Okay, I'm boring, for me it was special and a little tribute to my dad.

I was so happy to receive an early copy of the book Cape May by Chip Cheek. I had heard you either love it or hate it. The people that didn't like it said they didn't care for it because it was filthy. It has some bad language and sex but I don't think it is filthy. Hell, 50 Shades describes and uses every sex toy known to man. Besides this is the story of two young people in 1957, from Georgia, who are on their honeymoon. They arrive in Cape May at the end of September finding much of it is closed for the season. (The same time of year I took hubby.) The story is about this couple really getting to know each other, losing some of their inhibitions, finding their way as newlyweds both physically and emotionally. After several days they notice one of the houses up the street is now occupied. As they interact with the people in that house the story shifts. It becomes a story of exploration and a warning. The events of those few weeks in Cape May end up shaping the rest of their lives.

When I first finished the book, I put it down not knowing what to think. Honestly, days later I keep thinking about the characters, what they did or didn't do. I think that is a sign of a good story. The writing was good, the story moved quickly and was well told. It is just a cautionary tale, but a good one. I don't know, I've gone from being unsure of my opinion to thinking this might be one of my favorites for the year. Guess I'm fickle, but I can't help it this book lingers!

 Enough book talk, I am going to book a room in Cape May, I need some clams.