The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle

Hello everyone.  I hope you're doing well.

When I was little, really little, like two years old, I remember my parents telling me that there were going to be siblings.  Doctors first told my mother she was having twins, so my parents purchased two of everything they would need.  Along comes delivery and surprise...there is a third baby.  It was completely natural and an oddity in those days.  (Please insert a sarcastic statement about my sisters being odd here, I'm trying to be nice, so Santa won't bring me coal.) I recall the day the local newspaper came to take pictures of the triplets, I got to be in the photo standing behind them presenting them with my arms like some sort of possessed Vanna White. I still have the newspaper article that goes with the photo where they ask my dad if he planned for any more children he responds "negative". So very Dad, who worked on some of the country's biggest secrets, yet flunked his computer class so badly they begged him to go back to a legal pad and pencil. Anyway, yes, I have a point that relates to the book, hold your horses.  My parents wanted a boy and got me and triplet girls.  My dad would tell people he would try to get to the bathroom mirror, but it was a blur of mascara wands.  Poor guy.

I recently read The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle.  This is the story of a set of twins, whose wealthy, miserable father dies.  He wills his money and assets to the girl who gets married and has the first baby.  The twins Iris and Summer are very different personalities but are otherwise identical.  When Summer and her husband are having problems halfway across the world and need help sailing the family's boat home, Iris dutifully jumps in to help.  She tries to maintain a positive attitude even after discovering Summer is pregnant and will inherit everything.  But as you would expect with a thriller, trouble ensues.  

I loved the idea of this book.  So many thrillers take place in neighborhoods, one of those "I didn't know my neighbor was a serial killer" things.  This takes the action to a wealthy family and out onto the open sea.  It was really interesting seeing the differences exposed between the twins. The story moves quickly and is a pleasant read.  I liked this book, but I didn't love it.  Would I buy and read it again?  Yes.  However, if you are a long-time thriller or mystery reader you will guess the ending very early on.  In addition, there aren't many twists and those that there are seem predictable.  If you don't read these types of books a lot, you'll likely be shocked and love this book.  Since this is Rose Carlyle's first book, I look forward to many more from her.

My dad probably cheered when we moved out of the house, finally getting the mirror to himself.

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

'Tis that time of year again.  Time to make construction paper chains, string popcorn (avoiding the bloody pieces) and get yelled at for not putting tinsel on one annoyingly staticy piece at a time.  Okay, so nobody does that anymore.  Now it's just pop up trees that come in two pieces and are fully lit.  For you youngsters who have only known pre-done trees, I'm telling you that you have not fully enjoyed any holiday season until you have successfully untangled a huge wad of c-9 bulbs.  The satisfaction of getting to the end of the last string of lights, well that's just a holiday tradition and practically a gift in itself.  Did you buy that?  I keep telling myself that when I have to untangle lights that I just stuffed into a box the season before.  It's also not Christmas until one of the aforementioned c-9 bulbs, that get to about nine thousand degrees, brands you with that shape merely for brushing up against the tree.  First, to start off the season of joy, I usually read a Christmas book...I know, you're shocked.

I recently read The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews.  This is the story of a newly divorced woman, Ivy, who buys a house in a new town for a complete change.  Having only seen it online, when she arrives to take possession of the property Ivy is disappointed as it doesn't look like the photos.  In fact, it looks like it may take a fair amount of work to make it a home.  While clearing out some of the previous owner's belongings she finds a beautiful Santa suit with a note in the pocket.  The note is from a little girl, written years ago.  Ivy becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the little girl.  

This story is lovely, it's sweet, romantic, charming, and oh so Christmasy.  At barely over two hundred pages, you'll be surprised how much story the author has packed into this book.  It's a fast read that will not rob you of your decorating, baking or wrapping time but enhance it.  Not only will it melt your grinchiness, but it would make a great gift....perhaps for a Thanksgiving hostess who likes to read.

Our Trespasses by Michael Cordell

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

I often mention my sisters, I can't help it, they have been and are a huge part of my life.  But, no matter what I do, the relationship I have with them will never be what they have with each other.  They are triplets.  They have the normal sibling attachment, but there is something else...something different.  I would say it's abnormal, they would say "abbie-normal" from Young Frankenstein and then tell me I was full of bunk.  Seriously, there is a connection between them that I will never share.  Every once in a while I'll get a phone call saying they had an uneasy feeling about the other, as if someone was in trouble, and after clearing each other they check on me (gee thanks). One time my husband decided to buy a lottery ticket for the whole family, having each person give a number.  Despite living up to five hundred miles apart, they gave the same number. I've always thought this unusual link between them was a gift, now I'm not so sure.

I recently read Our Trespasses by Michael Cordell.  This is the story of two adult male twins who have shared a special connection and what happens when one of the twins dies yet the connection remains.  Such an interesting question and given my family history, I was intrigued.  This book is fiction but I'm telling you that while not to the extent portrayed in this book, the link is real.  Our Trespasses is being sold as a paranormal thriller.  I would completely agree with that and add perhaps it has a toe dipping into horror

I loved this book.  Not only did I love it, but it might be one of my all time favorites.  While the story had me engrossed it was the least this book has to offer.  The writing is wonderful.  I hate when stories tell you instead of show you, or run on about a topic, or repeat something but Michael Cordell does none of that.  He has a story to tell and he blasts through it from beginning to end.  He doesn't waste one second of the readers time, very appreciated.  In addition, the descriptions are so rich that the author transports you into the story with ease, all without being too wordy.  What I've seen done occasionally in movies but never really done well in a book is when the tension and fear is kept below the surface.  You know it's there, lurking, waiting patiently to appear but the anticipation of what is to come is kept brilliantly at bay.  When "things" happen, the story remains controlled and not over the top, making it all the creepier and really driving the story.  Mr. Cordell has sold several screenplays and I can see why.  Anything he writes, in any form, I want to see.

This book is 193 pages, yet packs more into it than many 500 page bestsellers.  Michael Cordell is an expert storyteller and if you are a lover of books you certainly don't want to miss Our Trespasses.  This is a perfect example of how all books should be written!

To buy the book, learn more about the author and publisher:

Our Trespasses: A Paranormal Thriller - Kindle edition by Cordell, Michael. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Michael Cordell – Novelist/Screenwriter (michaeljcordell.com)

TCK Publishing - Independent Fiction and Nonfiction Book Publisher

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Halloween is almost here.  When we were kids we had the best time trick-treating.  Our neighborhood was extremely safe and kind of off on it's own, so my parents let us go out with friends.  We visited so many houses for candy.  During this time kids wore plastic masks that had elastic around the back.  I remember one year, I went as Dracula.  I carried a tape recorder that played spooky music, which I tried to hide under my cape.  I'm certain nobody knew where it was coming from.  I was obviously being followed by my own personal orchestra.  I also remember it being cold.  Nothing wrecks a well planned Halloween costume like your mom yelling to wear your winter coat as you head out the door.  One year it even snowed, I don't mean flurries, I mean snow on the ground.  Yep, when the tv tray was set by our front door with a huge bowl filled with candy, you knew fun was on the way, cavities too.

I recently read The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.  I am consistent, if nothing else.  I just thought this book sounded like a cute romantic comedy and would be a nice break from thrillers.  Turns out Erin Sterling is the pen name of Rachel Hawkins, author of the thriller The Wife Upstairs, which I enjoyed.  The Ex Hex is the story of Vivienne and Rhys.  Vivi and her cousin accidently put a curse on Rhys, which messes up everything.  Life in their small Georgia town was picturesque but as Halloween approaches odd things are beginning to happen.  

This book is fun, not rocket science, just plain old fun.  It's not too long, at just over 300 pages, and is a breeze to read.  The dialog is quite funny.  Some of it spattered with profanity, so if that offends you steer clear.  I promise, this book may not have you on the edge of your seat like my beloved thrillers, but it will have you laughing until the very last page.

Next time you buy yourself a six dollar pumpkin latte, pair it with this book for the full fall treatment.  FYI, the book is a far better bargain.

A Slow Fire Burning by Paul Hawkins

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Have you ever been on a boat?  Don't look at me that way, lots of people in land locked areas haven't had the opportunity to do their best Gilligan impersonation.  Despite living on the coast, my experiences are limited. My in-laws had a boat for a short time.  The one time hubby and I went out on the water with them and a terrible thunder storm started.  With lightening striking all around us, my mother-in-law made a break for it trying to get us to safety.  If you've never sat on the back of a boat, going way too fast, over other people's wakes, bouncing off of the ledge your sitting on and realizing at that very moment that you're positioned exactly over the propeller....well, let's just say....don't!  Also, when we were kids, going to the Jersey shore, we took the Cape May Lewis Ferry.  It was their last trip of the night because of a storm rolling in.  The water was rough and our seats, though inside, looked out over the ocean.  First there is no ocean, then lots of ocean, then no ocean.  Yeah, we were bobbing up and down like one of those glass woodpecker things old people used to put on their desks for relaxation.  Relaxation my fanny, I almost puked my guts out! Boats and I obviously don't get along.

I recently read A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins.  Sound familiar?  Yep, this is the author that wrote the famous book which inspired the subsequent movie The Girl on a Train.  I loved that book.  It had such suspense.  Not only was the scene the main character observed unreliable but so was the woman watching from the train.  It was well played, keeping up the tension and constantly pointing the eye of guilt in different directions.  I wish the same were true of the new book A Slow Fire Burning.  The title certainly does this novel justice, it's slow and sadly, disappointing.  Had it been another writer, it might have been okay...and just okay.  However, given what we know what Paul Hawkins is capable of, I feel let down.  This is the story of a man who is murdered on the houseboat that he lives on.  There are several characters that could be involved. The problem is none of them are likable...which matters to many readers.  For me, not so much in a thriller so I could be okay with that if they were the slightest bit interesting...which they aren't.  Then the story evolves way too slowly and there are just no big twists.  No suspense, no tension, no twists.  How is this a thriller?  

Now, as always, I remind you that I am a housewife that hasn't sold any books so take my opinion with a grain of salt, half an onion, a dash of pepper and call me in the morning.  Seriously, this book is rated four starts and editors pick on Amazon so you may love it.  For me, reading lots of thrilling thrillers, this was slow, boring and just disappointing all around, it is a hard no.  Pass completely. 

All this talk of getting sea sick is making me need a distraction.  Book anyone? 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hello everyone.  I hope you're enjoying a nice day.

Growing up in upstate New York had many advantages, one of them was fall.  Not only is the heat gone and the air crisp, but the sweaters come out and so does high school football.  I've already admitted I was a band geek, and yes, before someone asks, I did go to band camp.  No, we didn't do anything that you're currently thinking of.  Anyway, if you'll get your mind out of the gutter I'll continue my story.  Our school band was huge 670+ people.  We had professional drill writers and did a different halftime show each week.  I attended every single football game at home and away.  While sitting in the stands many kids would go to the snack bar, not me though.  We had these tall fuzzy hats (we had to shampoo them), when I say tall, I mean at least 10 inches.  My dad made me put apples in my hat for a snack.  During the whole pregame I would feel apples rolling around on my head.  Actually, weekly pummeling by apples might explain a lot, my sisters would definitely agree.  My dad was proud of the apples, he picked them himself...hundreds of them...McIntosh.

I recently read Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty.  This is the story of the Delaney family.  Stan and Joy have four adult children.  The family owned a famous, Wimbledon winner producing tennis school.  Sadly, Stan and Joy have decided it is time to retire and because none of their children want to continue the school, they are forced to sell it.  Now the family struggles with their new life both being free of the constant game of tennis and missing it dearly at the same time.  One late night there is a knock at the door and a strange young woman appears who has been beaten and is desperate for help.  She, Savannah, becomes a bit of a project for the newly retired couple.  Their children, however, aren't so sure of Savannah's intentions. When Joy goes missing, fingers start pointing in every direction.  

This is book is being sold as a thriller.  If you have read even a small number of thrillers and are expecting one here, you'll be very disappointing.  Instead, I think the reader is getting classic Liane Moriarty, a family drama with a mystery thrown in.  While this book is a chunky 464 pages and may have been able to have been cut down some, the story is easy to get invested in and a bit addicting.  Despite its length I never found myself wishing it would be over sooner.  While not like Nine Perfect Strangers, if you're a fan of Truly Madly Guilty or any of Moriarty's earlier books, you'll be very comfortable here.  Interesting and enjoyable from start to finish AND a must for tennis lovers.

Until a year ago my sister still played tennis with her wooden racket from about 1972.  People kept stopping her offering her money for it.  I'm surprised my brother-in-law didn't offer them my sister and her racket as a package deal.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Are you a big game player?  Video? Board?  My family loved games.  My dad loved cards, specifically Tripoley.  My mom enjoyed card games, but was also a fan of board games and she loved video games.  My mom went out and bought an Atari when they first came out.  Now my niece works for a gaming company.  We played games outside, tag, red light green light, red rover.  Stop laughing youngsters, I know I'm dating myself but you don't know how you're missing out.  We even played games in the pool.  We'd run off the diving board while someone threw us a ball.  The point was to catch it after leaving the diving board but before hitting the water.  Of course, there was the infamous Marco Polo, then the diving games where you had to retrieve things off from the bottom of the deep end.  No we didn't throw chairs in, there were real, weighted game pieces made for pools.  I feel a bit like Dorothy telling the scarecrow he was her favorite, as I think of all our games our absolute favorite was cannonballing my mom who was floating around the pool reading a book.  We would send tremendous splashes of water over her sunglasses and soaking the pages of her novel.  She got even, she started buying thin little romance novels, second hand for a nickel so she didn't care about our antics.  Spoil sport.

I recently read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney.  This book is a domestic psychological thriller.  The story is about a married couple that go away for a trip to try and save their marriage..  The wife writes a letter to her husband every year on their anniversary and never lets him read it, until now.  I can't say anything else.  First of all, after finishing it I immediately demanded my husband read it and he's smack in the middle.  Also, I guess I wouldn't want to ruin it for you either (read like Eeyore).  Kidding, but seriously, this book is a wow.  It has a huge twist and I want you to be very surprised.  It's full of atmosphere, unlikeable characters, and questions galore.  It is quite the thriller.  The twist was so massive I was smiling for an hour that the author "got me", I never saw it coming.  Neither will you.  This book is not a game, it's the real thing.  Read it, you won't be disappointed.