Biography Highly Recommended

Book Title: Empty Chairs
Author: Stacey Danson
Type: Biography. Nonfiction.
ISBN: 1453858520
Published by: Night Publishing
Author's blog:  http://staceydansonemptychairs.blogspot.com/

Originally reviewed bt Bill Kirtin for Amazon
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REVIEW:5.0 out of 5 stars

Some of my friends have said of this book that they want to read it but, knowing the pain and horrors it chronicles, need to get themselves into the right frame of mind to do so. Others have admitted that they doubt whether they'll actually get round to it. They should and must - for several reasons.


It's an autobiographical story, written under a pseudonym, which reveals how a 3 year old was subjected to gross sexual abuses at the behest of her own mother, and forced to continue servicing visitors to the house until eventually, at the age of eleven, she ran away. Thereafter, life on the streets proved equally stressful, threatening to confirm all the negatives she felt about how people behave.



Perhaps that crude synopsis has made you join the `I'm not sure I could read this - it's too horrible' camp. If it has, it's deprived you of an astonishing experience. Because this is a page turner and, bizarrely, a sort of celebration. I know that's a cliché beloved of Amazon reviewers, but here it's a fact. The story is relentlessly riveting. There's tension, hidden (and not so hidden) forces at work, powerful characters, and observations of social interaction that are penetrating insights into what lurks behind the facades of sunny, happy-go-lucky Australia, where families picnic in the sun and glory in sights such as the fabulous Sydney Harbour Bridge.



The abuse inflicted on the infant Sassy-Girl (let's use the street name she earned) was not at the hands of social low-lifes, but `respectable' middle class professionals. When she eventually rebels and runs away, she has to find places to sleep, clothes to wear, ways to get food, and simultaneously avoid the pressure from pimps to recruit her into their stable. She experiences some kindnesses but her whole life seems to have been a denial that trust is possible between humans. When groups of girls at the zoo mock her for the clothes she's wearing, she asks `why do people do those things? What was it that gave those girls the right to make fun of something they didn't understand?' adding that `It would take a very long time to discover how common that trait was in humans'.



It would have been so easy (in theory) to succumb to prostitution to earn her keep, but the abuse she suffered makes her determined never to allow her body to be used again. As she says `I knew my soul would die anyway if I made a conscious decision to sell the child's body in which it was housed. I wasn't being brave, or strong. I simply knew that all of me would survive - or another me would. What point would there be living without my soul and my spirit?'



An author's note at the beginning speaks of the compulsion Danson had to write this, the promise she'd made to someone to do so, but she also admits that it's taken longer to get round to it than she thought it would. And that's part of the spell this narrative weaves. We're getting the intimate day to day experiences of a 12 year old - the encounters, the threats, the violence, the alienation - but they're all being recounted by the mature woman she survived to become.



And the narrator herself is aware of this, of course. This is a woman who knows how to write, how to use language, sometimes simply, always directly, to engage the reader, a woman who has come to know that friendships and trust are possible, and yet who's re-entering the mind of her pre-teen self and reliving those years, with their innocence and ignorance. Because Sassy-Girl is uneducated (in formal terms). She thinks everyone speaks Australian (except Americans, whom she's seen on TV and who speak American). `If someone had told me we all spoke English,' she says, `I would have been even more confused.



At times, the mature narrator lends her voice to the girl. When she makes her way to the War Memorial, for example, she says she `spent the rest of the night in the company of the spirits of people who had died in a nightmare as well'. And there's an awareness of the power of simplicity in sentences such as `I wanted to laugh and mean it', or `It reminded me of the way I cried, back when I still could.'



But these aren't intended to be criticisms. The moment Sassy-Girl suspects she's feeling self-pity, she forces herself out of it. She's a survivor and, despite all the torments she's endured in these early years, what remains is an affirmation of her spirit, a confidence that, despite the enormous forces ranged against her, she won't be a loser. It's a compelling read, a reminder of the deepest evils of which we're capable, but also a celebration of our ability to overcome.


~The review is from Aberdeen, Scotland, http://www.bill-kirton.co.uk/. He review for Book Squawk at
http://www.booksquawk.com/

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Rave Review for Hackensmith's First in a Series

Name of Book: Checkmate

Author: Jean Hackensmith
Author Website Link: http://www.jeanhackensmith.com/
Genre: Action/Thriller
ISBN 13: 9781592995479
YouTube Promotional Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf-JQ2nru_g

Reviewed by Poppy originally for Long and Short Reviews 

Wow. Okay... so just... wow.

This was one of the best suspense novels I’ve read in I don’t know how long. I’ll state right off that this is not so much a romance as a suspense. There are a H/H, but the romance is fairly fully developed. At the beginning of the story Caryn and Zach are living together and are very much in love. It seems everything is rosy, right up until Caryn gets a threatening note from her ex-husband, Dan, newly released from prison for almost killing Caryn and their two children eighteen years before.
I was nearly as nervous as Caryn! The reason behind the notes from Dan is simply to terrorize Caryn, Zach and the two (now-grown) children. Each note is accompanied by increasingly escalating and threatening activities leading to the inevitable murder of Caryn and everyone she loves.

Checkmate: Eleven moves left.

Zach does everything he can to protect the woman he loves. His best friend, Brian (who is also the police chief) helps as well. But Caryn’s ex-husband is also an ex-cop, and he knows how things work. Despite all the various protections, Dan still manages to get through, still manages to frighten them, still manages to get close enough they believe they are in danger of being murdered.
Caryn’s children move. Phone numbers are changed. Guards are placed at her work. And, yet, Dan still gets to her, time and again.

Checkmate: Four moves left.

Do NOT pick up this book unless you want to finish it in one sitting. This book is non-stop excitement. Even when things aren’t happening, you expect them to be, and it’s frightening to think of what these people are going through.

Is it a perfect book? Of course not, and that's why it's not a "Best Book", but it's darn close. The author head hops (though, it’s fairly seamless, to the point where even I – a POV purist – wasn’t thrown from the story), there are some bits of dialogue that sounded a little “off”. Sometimes I think character motivation didn’t ring entirely true. But despite these small glitches (and they ARE small), this was absolutely the most enthralling book I’ve read in months. If I were a Hollywood executive, I’d option this book for a movie immediately. It’s really that good.

If you’re a fan of non-stop action with enough romance to satisfy your heart, I highly recommend you give this book a chance.



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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

RoundUp Magazine Reviews Thunder to Breakfast

From Thunder to Breakfast
by Writer Gene K. Garrison, and Storyteller Hube Yates.

Xlibris.com. 248 pages
$21.99 Softcover
$31.99 Hardcover,
ISBN 978-1-4010-377-7 and 978-1-4010-0376-0
Nonfiction.

Reviewed by Western Writers of America's RoundUp Magazine

From Thunder to Breakfast is not so much a novel, but rather a series of stories told by a master storyteller and immortalized in ink by a more than capable writer.

The story begins when a young Hube Yates and his family move from Oklahoma to
Arizona by covered wagon. If Arizonans didn't know what was coming their way, they sure found out quickly. Yates is a character like none other; a firefighter, a family man, and a lifelong cowboy, Yates' memoirs tell of a man who has seen it all and has the stories to back it up.

Starting as a young boy and only getting better with age, Yates had a knack for being a real prankster. From scaring the heck out of border patrol agents to making a nurse almost vomit, he could take almost any situation and turn it into a humorous story that will leave you with nothing less than a smile on your face. If you want a real belly laugh or just a good old-fashioned story, From Thunder to Breakfast is a hard hand to beat.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Romance Junkies Reviews "Liberal Lover"

Title: Confessions of a Liberal Lover

Author: E.M. Muller
Author's Website: http://emmuller.com/
Publisher: Red Rose Publishing
Genre: Mainstream Fiction: Contemporary, Chick Lit, Comedy

Reviewed by Pamela Denise for Romance Junkies 


Rating: Blue Ribbon Rating 4.5 out of 5

Always considered a smart but headstrong child, Maud couldn’t quite fit into her sister’s perfect shoes or get passed the strain in the relationship with her father. At the age of six, Maud win’s a small gargoyle at a church fair that will become her sole confidante. At the age of thirteen her discovery of historical romance novels roots the foundation on her hunt for love. Where, just like in one of her novels, she is determined to find the handsome, virile man who she is to find everlasting love with. During her junior year of high school, her small gargoyle speaks to her for the first time after the end of a date with a groping senior. This cements him as her voice of reason when it comes to dating, sex and the men in her life.
At nineteen, Maud, in a show of independence, moves in with a co-worker from her job at the health company, thus beginning her step into adulthood. She manages to settle down, finish college and snag a top career as a consultant. Along the way she meets several potential “the ones”. Her lovers range from college pre-med prep, country charmer, handsome attorney, to golden boy from the past. Yet Maud slowly realizes she is losing herself in her efforts to conform to their lifestyles. Tired of her search, Maud decides to put the breaks down for a while when it comes to finding Mr. Right. Even as her baby meter is ticking, she studiously focuses on career and self improvement. Then, as if by magic, a man who might just be her prince charming shows up in her life even if he isn’t exactly like the leading hero from her novels.

Confessions of a Liberal Lover is a poignant story of a woman searching for the virile handsome man of her own just like in the historical romance novels she came across as a teen. E.M. Muller does a wonderful job bringing her lead character to life. I began reading with peaked interest at the storyline and soon found myself drawn in. It felt like reading a personal journal of a good friend who'd laid herself on the line. The addition of Maud's unique conscience - the little gargoyle she took home as a child - made the story all the more memorable. The road to “the one” is much more than a series of fluffy interludes. It happens to pick up on some life lessons including personal growth, self acceptance, and that the image of a true prince may not always be quite what’s depicted in novels. This was one of the best chick lits I've read in a while. I think every woman could use a little gargoyle on her dresser now and then.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Novelist Reviews Action/Adventure Novel

Title : 'Come Here...and I'll Show You'
Author : Derek Lantin
Author's website : http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com/
Category : Action adventure
ISBN : 978616-2220494
Reviewed by James Reasoner
Review issued at : ‘Rough Edges’ James Reasoner Blogspot


Okay, you’ve got a tough, wise-cracking American who’s a former Special Forces soldier and mercenary who is now partners in a bar in Bangkok but still does the odd, dangerous job on the side if the pay is right. Throw in a beautiful and seductive young woman who may or may not be who and what she claims to be, assorted gangsters, a Cambodian warlord, some missing documents that are very important, and a fortune in money that may be counterfeit, and what do you have? A Fifties Gold Medal by Dan Cushman or A.S. Fleischman, right?
Well, no. What you have is COME HERE . . . I’LL SHOW YOU, a new novel by Derek Lantin published by Bangkok Books. It’s set in contemporary Southeast Asia, an area that Lantin obviously knows well because the local color in this novel is outstanding. The plot, as you can tell from the details mentioned above, is vintage hardboiled paperback original, and Lantin does a fine job of making sure most of the characters have secrets that are revealed in the course of the story, as our hardboiled hero/narrator Edwards is hired by the beautiful Daniella to recover some important papers that her father had with him when he was killed in the jungle some years earlier. There’s a connection between Edwards and Daniella’s father, too, just to make things more complicated.
Lantin, a former RAF pilot and an engineer who’s worked all over the world, writes in a very distinctive, ultra-hardboiled style reminiscent of James Hadley Chase and the other British authors who wrote American-set “gangster” stories during the late Forties and Fifties. It’s a little hard to get used to and I think he may have overdone it a bit, but once I got into the story I found it pretty effective. I’ve said many times before that I like a book with a distinctive voice, and COME HERE . . . I’LL SHOW YOU certainly has that. I also thought the ending could have used a little more action and drama, but you know me and my fondness for slam-bang endings. Lantin does spring a last-minute surprise that I didn’t see coming, which is always a plus where I’m concerned.

Overall, COME HERE . . . I’LL SHOW YOU is an entertaining book, and since it’s Lantin’s first novel, it bodes well for his future as a writer. It’s available as an e-book from Amazon or through the publisher’s website.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

"Cenacolo" Means Refectory and Suspense

Title: Cenacolo Author: Joseph Orbi
Category: Historical fiction
ISBN-13: 978-0966161984



Reviewed by Cedrick Demus



Browsing through a bookstore, one finds hundreds of books that have “da Vinci” in the title. Most of these books deal in one way or another with the creative legacy of the so-called “great Leonardo.” You even find cooking books that detail recipes by Leonardo da Vinci, including some with meat, surprising because, according to most everything written about da Vinci, he was vegetarian.

And so I confess that I stayed away from any “da Vinci” title for years, especially after the “Code” which was all fiction and had very little to do with Leonardo. Such was my dislike for anything to do with da Vinci that I hesitated for weeks reading a book given to me by a friend entitled Cenacolo, written by Joseph Orbi. Big mistake.

“Cenacolo” means a refectory, or, dining-hall, the main setting for this terrific suspense historical fiction novel about Leonardo da Vinci at the time he was living in Milan. It is also a generic term for “the Last Supper,” the famous da Vinci mural at the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan.
Cenacolo is historical/fiction at its best, a brilliant, masterful blend (history being about 85% of its content) and reflects in every way the 30 years Mr. Orbi spent researching Leonardo. It gives the reader a fabulous account of everyday life in Italy at the time, and a good idea what the real Leonardo da Vinci was like; very little like he’s described in biographies and history books. In fact, in the novel the “great” Leonardo has only three things in mind – which I will not mention here – and let’s just say none of them had to do with the brush.

One of the amazing features of Cenacolo is that unless you are a historian you will, most likely, be unable to tell where history ends and fiction begins.


The novel, published by I. O. Twomey, Ltd., runs 238 pages and is not about how da Vinci created the “Supper” (although the author gives the reader a very good idea what went wrong), but how things can get very complicated and dangerous regardless of good intentions. The book also includes drawings by the famous artist and one by his “student,” a boy Leonardo called Salai (according to the publisher, some of the drawings were retouched for dramatic effect).


The back cover mentions that... “the main characters are some of the giants of the Renaissance; Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan; and Çesare Borgia. Orbi depicts them “not like the mythical figures they became, but as they were, men driven by passion; working, loving, striving and simply trying to survive...”


Like a great orchestra conductor, Joseph Orbi directs the action of the novel and allows for events to provoke the imagination. One chapter leads to another with increasing suspense and you may spend a few sleepless night because there is a good chance you won’t put the book down until you find out how Leonardo “gets even,” and that doesn’t happen until the word just before “The end.”

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Mayra Calvani Fiddles Her Way to Another Hit

Frederico, the Mouse Violinist
Author: Mayra Calvani
Illustrator: K.C. Snider
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/
Hardcover: 978-1-61633-113-9
Paperback: 987-1-61633-11
EBook 13: 978-61633-125-2
Copyright 2010
Picture Book: 26 pages




Frederico, the Mouse Violinist is an absolutely wonderful children’s picture book. Through a delightful story, the author teaches about the world’s most famous violin maker, Antonio Stradivari, along with various parts of the violin.

But, what has a mouse to do with Stradivari and violins? Well, Calvani cleverly weaved a story that has Frederico living in the home where Stradivari creates his masterpieces.

Loving the violin, the mouse wished he could play. At night while the master slept, Frederico would play among the violins and move the bow across the strings, making sweet sounds. Hearing the music and seeing Frederico’s appreciation for the violin, Stradivari created a special tiny violin for the mouse.

Adding dimension to the story are full-page illustrations that are vibrant and fanciful, making Frederico, the Mouse Violinist an engaging, kids-will-love-it picture book. The book also provides information on Stradivari; a glossary for words related to the violin, such as bridge, peg, and scroll; and two activity pages. It is an enjoyable and fun tool that parents and teachers can use to introduce the violin to young children.
I happen to love the sound of the violin, cello, and other stringed instruments. My appreciation for music came from my musical family, as well as school music education programs. In 7th and 8th grades my school offered violin instruction which I happily accepted.
Research from the 1950s through to today, demonstrates the benefits music has for children and even societies. Here are some of the benefits children can reap from music education:

~Increases memorization capacity
~Improves reasoning capacity and comprehension
~Helps children learn and/or improve time management and organizational skills
~Helps develop team skills, as well as math skills
~Helps improve coordination and concentration
~Is a universal language and encourages self-expression

Aside from the above mentioned benefits, you never know what will spark a child’s appreciation and love for music, it could be hearing a song, seeing musicians play, or learning about various instruments and their creation.

About the reviewer:
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and freelance writer. For writing and marketing information visit KarenCioffi.com, and sign up for her free newsletter: A Writer’s World. You’ll get 2 free e-books on writing and marketing in the process, and two more free e-books just for stopping by


About the author:
Award-winning author Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. In addition, she is co-editor of Voice in the Dark ezine and a reviewer for The New York Journal of Books, Blogcritics Magazine's Kiddie Corner, and SimplyCharly.com. She's had over 300 reviews, interviews, stories, and articles published in print and online. Mayra is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Children's Writer's Coaching Club. Visit her website at http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.com/ .








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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :