Svetlana's Reads and Views

Book to be reviewed:
The Hourglass by Sharon A. Struth

Can forgiveness survive lies and unspoken truths?

Until Brenda McAllister’s husband committed suicide, she appeared to have the ideal life: a thriving psychology practice, success as a self-help author, and a model family. But her guilt over her affair with Jack’s best friend prevents her from moving on. Did Jack learn of her infidelity? Was she the cause of his death?

The release of Brenda’s second book forces her into an unexpected assignment with arrogant celebrity author CJ Morrison, whose irritating and edgy exterior hides the torment of his own mistakes. But as she grows closer to CJ, Brenda learns she wasn’t the only one with secrets—Jack had secrets of his own, unsavory ones that may have led to his death. While CJ helps Brenda uncover the truth about her husband, she finds the path to forgiveness isn’t always on the map.


House of Earth by Woody Guthrie 


Finished in 1947 and lost to readers until now, House of Earth is Wood…

Name of Book: Curve Appeal

Author: Mary E Merrell

ISBN: 9781988297326

Publisher: Morningglory Publishers

Part of a Series: The Real Estate Paranormal Mystery Series

Type of book: Paranormal, real estate, ghosts, vampires, sexual situations, adult, mystery, secrets

Year it was published: 2011

Summary:

Rosemary Fernandes is a real estate agent with the ability to communicate with lost souls, the spirit of deceased people who can’t or won’t move on. With a deal in escrow and buyers to work with, her business is taking off. All she has to do is avoid the spirits, who call to her, but her ability is getting stronger, and their voices are getting louder. The dead are attracted to her and so are the undead.

Marcus Lyons is a vampire who needs an assistant, and he wants Rosemary. He will do anything to have her, exclusively. Rosemary has no choice but to agree to his terms, but her life will never be the same. Soon she realizes the vampire is no monster but a man with many…talents.

Cassandra Huckabe…

Name of Book: Double Down

Author: Saylor Storm

ISBN: 9780578117669

Publisher: Saylor productions

Type of book: Gambling, Las Vegas, accident, nursing, 2000s, erasing history

Year it was published: 2012

Summary:

Determined to erase the painful, lonely memories of childhood, unbreakable Lola Stocking vows to make a better life for herself. She plots a path that includes an ascent up the Las Vegas casino corporate ladder. Lola follows her design tenaciously until she falls for a man who was not part of her plan. Adoring Jackson Sterling steps into her life when she least expects it, forcing her to reassess her life course. Shattered by catastrophe on her wedding day, her life's dreams come to a screeching halt. Driven by sheer will and strength, her new direction brings everything she ever dreamed of only to learn that it had been there all along...she just didn't know it.

Characters:

The main characters include Lola who is best described as ambitious, stubborn and loyal. She was raised…

Name of Book: I am Venus

Author:  Barbara Mujica

ISBN: 978-1-4683-0657-6

Publisher: The Overlook Press

Type of book: 1619-1660, Spain, Golden Age, Royalty, Art, wars, countryside, city, court

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:
(from tlc.com)

I Am Venus chronicles the relationship between the great Baroque Spanish painter Diego Velázquez and the woman who became his Venus. Author Bárbara Mujica vividly reimagines the great artist’s rise to prominence, set against the backdrop of political turmoil and romantic scandal. Narrated by the mysterious model who posed for Velázquez’s only female nude, “The Rokeby of Venus,” I Am Venus is a seductive historical novel of the love between an artist and his muse.

The year is 1619, and Diego Velazquez is a rising star at an art academy in Seville run by his father-in-law. But even as his young wife builds him a family, the painter finds himself yearning for a larger canvas, and soon his ambition lands him at the court of King Philip IV, where his star …

Name of Book: Dirtball: The Diaries of a Worthless Somebody

Author: Eric Olsen

ISBN/ASIN:B00EOYLTYY

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Inc

Type of book: Diaries, pessimism, Milwaukee, bad relationships

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

Dirtball is an intriguing tale of one man’s pessimistic journey to see the glass half full. Discover EO, as he struggles to break through the negative walls in life and find the level of happiness that he so desperately desires. Explore his life of heartache, deception, and triumph. In this captivating autobiographical novel that only mature audiences can truly embrace.

For my take on the book click here

0 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)

Book to be reviewed:
The Hourglass by Sharon A. Struth

Can forgiveness survive lies and unspoken truths?

Until Brenda McAllister’s husband committed suicide, she appeared to have the ideal life: a thriving psychology practice, success as a self-help author, and a model family. But her guilt over her affair with Jack’s best friend prevents her from moving on. Did Jack learn of her infidelity? Was she the cause of his death?

The release of Brenda’s second book forces her into an unexpected assignment with arrogant celebrity author CJ Morrison, whose irritating and edgy exterior hides the torment of his own mistakes. But as she grows closer to CJ, Brenda learns she wasn’t the only one with secrets—Jack had secrets of his own, unsavory ones that may have led to his death. While CJ helps Brenda uncover the truth about her husband, she finds the path to forgiveness isn’t always on the map.

Dirtball: The Diaries of a Worthless Somebody by Eric Olsen (e-book)


Dirtball is an intriguing tale of …

Name of Book: A Time of Myths

Author: Chris Blamires

ISBN: 9780957598706)

Publisher: Literary Orchard

Type of book: Woodstock, 1969, England, Greece, 1980s, death of innocence, music, commercialism, mystery, love triangle

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

Woodstock, 1969: the Festival that defined a decade of peace, love and freedom. The paths of five young English students cross – with devastating consequences. Consequences that eventually reach a climax in an isolated Cretan gorge.

Seventeen years later, in the ‘golden age’ of capitalism, dramatic events conspire to reunite the surviving members, necessitating a perilous return to Greece and to a tiny Greek island, as dangerous secrets and self-deceptions are at last forced into the glaring light…

Steeped in the folklore of the 20th century, A Time of Myths is not solely a historical mystery adventure: it seeks also to examine who we are, and how far we are in control of our actions – and even of our lives.

Characters:

There are five ch…

Name of Book: Painted Hands

Author: Jennifer Zobair

ISBN: 978-1-250-02700-9

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Type of book: Islam, work, friendship, love, romance, conservative vs liberal, breaking traditions vs following them

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

Muslim bad girl Zainab Mir has just landed a job working for a post-feminist, Republican Senate candidate. Her best friend Amra Abbas is about to make partner at a top Boston law firm. Together they’ve thwarted proposal-slinging aunties, cultural expectations, and the occasional bigot to succeed in their careers. What they didn’t count on? Unlikely men and geopolitical firestorms.

When a handsome childhood friend reappears, Amra makes choices that Zainab considers so 1950s—choices that involve the perfect Banarasi silk dress and a four-bedroom house in the suburbs. After hiding her long work hours during their courtship, Amra struggles to balance her demanding job and her unexpectedly traditional new husband.

Zainab has her own problem…