suspense

Let’s Change It Up; One More Time…

Angela5 Comments

…so I was kindly contacted by WordPress (no sarcasm here; I was glad they called me), letting me know my Business plan I paid for last year was about to expire ($299.00). Did I want to renew? Um; no; I didn’t. Through no fault of their own, I had some issues getting my store part of the business page working correctly, and I was not seeing the benefits I expected.

Some mistakes were on my side, and the person I talked to was kind enough to at least credit me to get some new things going forward on my plan so I did not lose all of that money.

So a few lessons here; my page is changing…again. I am trying to remove my store from my WordPress page, because I am literally not getting emails when someone contacts me, or buys something from me.

And Thank You to my customers who have been more than forgiving through this.

The Business account should expire shortly, and I am working on an Etsy store for any editing needs as well as merchandise all about books, for both writers and readers alike. Until then; you are going to see a Books & Opinions page still hanging out here that I cannot connect with.

And how is your Monday going?

 

My Sweet Audrina – VC Andrews

Angela2 Comments

One of the few books (now), that were actually written by VC Andrews; I remember this book from 30 years ago, and how much I loved it.

So I read it again; and loved it just as much. Poor sweet Audrina was manipulated and made to believe a life that was never real.

My Sweet Audrina Cover Image

But she has grown up; and fought back.

Fought against her father, her half-sister, and everyone else who wanted to destroy her.

If you want a good weekend read; this is definitely it.

I will honestly tell you right now that there is a sequel to this story coming out this summer, written by who knows who.

But they had the first few chapters at the end of this eBook, and I had to write to Simon and Schuster.

The errors were ridiculous. The story did not follow anything that was in the first book; and I am honestly debating buying this sequel. If I buy it and see they did not fix the neon-flashing-glaring-issues I pointed out….well; I’m just going to get mad.

It is hard to read a story so full of sorrow; but it is also what sucks me in from the beginning.

Do you read VC Andrews? Have you read her way back when?

I would love to hear what you think about the “changes”.

My Missing Book Review – A Crying Shame by William W. Johnstone

AngelaLeave a comment

Leave it to me to completely leave out the actual book review from the last post I did about William W. Johnstone. So; my apologies, and here it is!

A Crying Shame Cover Image

Sheriff Mike Saucier has his hands full when the Links stop keeping themselves hidden, and start taking revenge on the townspeople. They seem to have been infected with some sickness, and these half-human beings are going mad and no longer concerned about staying hidden.

Jon Badon is a mercenary brought to Fountain Parish, home to the Crying Swamp, by Paul Breaux. Paul had discovered what he since named the Links, as in “the missing link”. Part human, part animal, the Links had been around for hundreds of years.

As a genetic mutation took hold, they could no longer have female children, so in order for them to not die off, women of the parish were kidnapped and used for childbearing. Any babies that were human enough were left on doorsteps in town, to be raised with, and by, humans.

Jon Badon is determined to do what he was paid to do; get rid of the links. His Scientist and Doctor friends disagree. As Jon grows closer to Linda Breaux, he promises both of them that after this last mission, he will retire, and they will get married and start a family.

Can humans and half-humans really exist together? It may not always be necessary to fear something just because it is different than you.

I would love to tell you how it ends, but you know my policy; no spoilers if I can help it. This is a quick read, and a great story! I hope you give it a try!

Mr. William W. Johnstone are you done turning in your grave?

Angela12 Comments

I was so excited to see that my favorite author, who I had written to and had much communication, was having his family re-release all of his books.

I have all of these books, somewhere, but have rebought many on my Nook.

And whomever edited for ebook release needs to be shot.

Miscellanious 7-7-2014 164
William W. Johnstone

I started reading Sweet Dreams, a book he wrote in the 80’s, and sent me an autographed copy of, and the spelling errors are horrible. I fear that the family is so intent on making money, that they are not paying attention to the quality of his work.

Miscellanious 7-7-2014 163

I was a 13 year old girl who read his books, and literally wrote him a letter. I received many letters back, and autographed books. But the fact that they would re-publish his work, so fast and haphazardly, is really sad.

He stopped writing the horror books I loved as a teen, and started writing westerns. But he always replied to my letters, and encouraged me to write, and never give up.

Good gracious, I would edit these ebooks for free rather than see the crap they are putting out.

Mr. Johnstone, thank you for being kind to a teenager, and encouraging me.

Meet the Author – Frank Westworth!

Angela2 Comments

FrankW Porlock posterV2 (1)

For further information, you can also visit:

Murder, Mayhem and More: Thrilling Crime and Sci-Fi Fiction

www.murdermayhemandmore.net

Murder, Mayhem and More on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/Murder-Mayhem-More/352110654929546

If you are able to make this event, I would love to hear how much you enjoyed it!

Bittersweet Dreams – VC Andrews

Angela3 Comments

Okay, I have to say I got sucked into this book just like I would get sucked into any VC Andrews’ book when I started reading them 30+ years ago.

Mayfair Cummings is a 16 year old with an IQ that would make Albert Einstein jealous. She had the perfect family life, until her mother died from an aneurysm. Her father got remarried, and she suddenly had a step-mother and a step-sister.

Bittersweet Dreams Cover Image

I like to avoid spoilers, but this is the standard fare that you expect from VC Andrew novels. It is full of suspense, and I definitely had it read in record time.

Now; about the grammatical errors. There were a few, and they were too ridiculous to even ignore. Nothing frustrates me more than spelling and grammatical errors in a book I spent good money on.

I’m just going to give you one example, and it is a single sentence. Although I am not including the sentences before or after it, this sentence is not going to be misunderstood because you don’t have those sentences with it. This is a sentence that was meant to stand alone, and make sense.

Chapter 5, Page 81

I have this tendency to compare Julie to animals often.

That’s it. That one sentence. Maybe I am being too picky, but there are so many other correct ways that sentence could have been constructed. There are a few of these poorly written sentences throughout the story.

With all of that said, I will definitely be reading some more VC Andrew books that I have not read before.

What I’m Reading

Angela2 Comments

Okay, I know VC Andrews has been dead for about 3 decades now, and others write these books under her name. I have been looking for some old-school reads; i.e. The books I couldn’t get enough of as a teenager.


Yes, the storyline is the same as all the other storylines in all of her other books. It’s an okay read, but the grammatical errors are killing me. I’ll share some tomorrow.

I am going to be getting a bunch of the horror stories I read as a teenager as well. Meaning, everything William W. Johnstone wrote before he started writing westerns. His estate is releasing them in  ebook form now, and I do not know at the moment where all of my original paperbacks are.

The Last Anniversary – Liane Moriarty

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I really enjoyed this book by Liane, and I believe it is her third story I have read. The first one I did not care for, the second one I loved, and I definitely liked this one.

The Last Anniversary Cover Image

I am still trying to get a feel for her style of writing, and it is not something I have been able to pinpoint yet. I do not get that familiar feeling I have from other authors who have multiple books that I have read. Her style of writing seems to change with each book, but I do not think it is done intentionally to help set the tone of the story.

So after all of that complaining, I really did like this story. I promise! I did have the initial problem of keeping all of the characters straight, because there were several, and they all seemed to be introduced very quickly, and very briefly. This does seem to be her method-of-operation when it comes to writing.

A small island with a small population and a big mystery seem to be the only thing keeping some of the characters going. Introduce a new person to the mix, and see what begins to happen. It seems that everyone knows everybody else, and there are some long-stretched ties connecting basically every single resident to everyone else. It can make things familiar, and also very interesting. You would think in this type of environment there would be no secrets. It seems as if every resident has secrets falling out of their ears, they have so many.

Without giving away any spoilers, this is definitely a book full of suspense, mystery, laughs, and some romance. It is a page turner, and I think you will be glad to have read it!

Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty

Angela4 Comments

Wow! Just wow! I absolutely loved this story, and was much happier with this one than I was with “The Husband’s Secret”.

Big Little Lies Cover Image

I read it every available moment I could. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about when the next time would be that I could read it. At first I was a bit put-off by the way the story was constructed; going back 6 months prior to the main event that the story was revolved around. I could see very quickly, though, that it worked brilliantly for this story. I do not think it would have read as well as it did if it was written from a different viewpoint.

You quickly become attached to the main characters here, and there are a few of them.

Jane is new to the small town and a single mother to her son, Ziggy. One to move every 6 months, Jane is hoping she has found a place where she can stay on a more permanent basis.

Celeste and her husband Perry are extremely wealthy, but Celeste seems to be embarrassed by it as much as Perry is proud of it. He does not flaunt it, and he is generous, almost to a fault.

Madeline and Ed have a great marriage and the usual issues of raising her teenage daughter from her previous marriage. Her ex-husband Nathan is now married to Bonnie, and they have a young daughter together. The fact that her youngest will be in kindergarten with Nathan and Bonnie’s youngest seems to only be an issue with Madeline.

I try to not give away spoilers, so you will have to read this book yourself to find out what happens to all of these fascinating people. You will not be disappointed!

The husband’s Secret – Liane Moriarty

Angela6 Comments

This is one of the two Liane Moriarty books I purchased recently at Barnes and Noble. I had never read her stories before, so I was taking a chance buying two.

from lianemoriarty.com
from lianemoriarty.com

It certainly did not disappoint, but I have to say, it took several chapters into the story before I really felt a vested interest in the characters and what was going on with them. I think the thing I disliked the most is that each chapter focused on one family, of many that were intertwined. And it rotated as such. Chapter 1 was about family A, chapter 2 was family B, and chapter 3 was family C. Then chapter 4 went back to family A, and the entire story was plotted out in this manner.

Cecilia discovers a letter her husband wrote with instructions to only be opened upon his death. It took her a few chapters to get there, but she did indeed read it. What that letter contained was something that affected more than just her husband and herself. Cecilia does not know if she can bear the weight of carrying this secret.

Tess and Will have the marriage everyone admires, and she is comfortable in her life. Until she gets told something that damages the life she thought she had.

Rachel cannot let go of the fact that whomever murdered her 17 year-old daughter, so many years ago, has never been caught. She finds what she feels is evidence enough to convict the person she has suspected for the past 28 years.

As the characters deal with their own families and issues, the story comes together in a way you do not expect, and you will not want to put this one down until you have it finished!

Have you read this already?

What did you think of it?

You can read more about Liane and her stories here: Liane Moriarty Website