Author Archives

Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.comWriter, voice actor, dog-lover, and bathtub mermaid, Melissa is the Associate Editor-in-Chief at All Things Girl. To learn more about her, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter (@Melysse) or Facebook. You can also listen to her podcast, "Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub" at Bathtub Mermaid or on iTunes.

Review: Morgan Hall, by Bo Briar

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Morgan Hall
by Bo Briar

Product Description/Synopsis (from Amazon.com):
Love never dies, and revenge never sleeps in Morgan Hall…

Morgan Hall, a desolate country estate, has been in Lady Christie Morgan’s family for almost 400 years. A family cursed by eternal tragedy, and now Christie is the last Morgan.

Apparitions appear, sparking a chain of horrifying occurrences involving Christie and the two men who love her: Anthony Longfield-Lothian and Tristan Ely.

A saga of mystery and sordid family history weaves intrigue for the passionate love triangle. Past and present war as the secrets of three aristocratic families unfold – resurfacing in a spine-chilling mystery of passion and lust, ghostly happenings, and blood-curdling murders.
Emotions run high as their world spins wildly out of control. Are they all cursed to repeat the grizzly past? Does sweet revenge claim its prize?
Morgan Hall.

My Thoughts:
There are times when a gothic thriller is the perfect thing to read, and I was lucky enough to read the bulk of Bo Briar’s modern gothic Morgan Hall on a murky, moody, rainy August morning that perfectly complimented the book.

Why do I call it a “modern” gothic? Because while Morgan Hall has all the requisite elements of a classic gothic – huge old manor houses with disturbing histories and some disrepair, orphan heiresses with tragic pasts, unrequited love, stormy weather, ghostly apparitions, and creepy housekeepers, it’s actually set in a time not too far removed from today, and the characters all have cars, computers, and cell phones (not that the latter ever work reliably). In fact, about the only thing missing is someone hiding behind a billowing curtain.

But don’t assume that I mention this because I didn’t like the book. In fact, I enjoyed it immensely. Sure, Christie Morgan’s behavior was often frustrating to my feminist sensibilities, and true, I didn’t quite buy the instant-love between Christie and Tristan (the best friend of Christie’s lifelong friend and ‘kissing’ cousin Anthony), but when an author is spinning a good story, the willing reader overlooks minor things like that, just as the good audience member engages in willful suspension of disbelief when watching Harry Potter and friends soar around on broomsticks to play Quidditch.

And make no mistake, Bo Briar spins a good story. Her descriptions of place, whether she’s talking about the afore-mentioned manor houses (one of which was a castle) or just describing modern London or a pub in York, are so vivid that when she wrote about gusts of wind or rainwater puddling in the street, I found myself looking outside to see if my weather was the same. I felt like I was walking through the corridors of the titular Morgan Hall with Christie Morgan.

As well, Briar knows how to set a tone. In my “I finished this book” tweet, I mentioned that Morgan Hall is wonderfully moody, but what I didn’t say was that, while reading the first part of the novel late at night, I had to insist that my husband come to bed RIGHT NOW because her writing worked with my over-active imagination to give me goosebumps.

I read across many genres. I love science fiction and contemporary literature, but I also love good mysteries. While I don’t read a lot of gothic fiction, when I do, I always enjoy the pleasantly shivery feeling of being just a little bit scared. Briar’s book gave me that feeling – I put aside my disbelief in some of the plot elements (like Christie, Andrew and Tristan all having inherited big old houses, or the three of them platonically sharing a bed) but was involved enough in the story to worry when Tristan turned out to be less – and more – than he seemed, and to worry for Christie when we learned what jeopardy she was in.

There are perfect times and places for gothic fiction. I was lucky enough to read Morgan Hall over a late August night and a rainy August morning, but even if you read this in the bright sunshine of a happy summer day, I think you’ll find this tale both compelling and just scary enough to make the hair rise on your arms.

Goes well with shepherds pie and a tall glass of hard cider.

Review: You Can’t Shatter Me by Tahlia Newland

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You Can’t Shatter Me
by Tahlia Newland

Description/Synopsis (from Amazon.com):

Sixteen year old Carly wants to write her own life and cast herself as a superhero, but the story gets out of control when she stands up to a bully and he turns on her. His increasing harassment forces her to battle flying hooks, giant thistles, doubt dragons and a suffocating closet. Dylan, a karate-trained nerd who supports her stand, turns out to be a secret admirer, and while he struggles to control his inner caveman, Carly searches for her own way to stop the bully. An old hippie shows her an inner magic that’s supposed to make her invincible, but will Carly learn to use it before her knight in shining armour risks all in a battle with a fire-breathing dragon?

This heart-warming magical realism story will inspire and empower teens and adults alike.

My Thoughts:
I’m turning 42 on Friday, but I still love young adult (YA) fiction. In fact, I firmly believe that YA offers some of the most empowering stories and empowered female characters available in modern literature. I also believe that Tahlia Newland’s fiction is some of the best YA on the market, so when she asked if I’d read and review You Can’t Shatter Me, of course I said yes.

I was not disappointed.

In fact, I was awed.

Newland refers to this story as an example of magical realism, and it is. Sixteen-year-old Carly imagines herself a green lycra-clad superhero, flying from her bedroom window to mete out justice to bullied kids in her school, and uses her vivid imagination to visualize personal problems as doubt dragons to be slayed, while dealing with the very real torment of being the target of a bully herself.

Dylan also uses his imagination in powerful ways, seeing words as tangible objects that can harm or heal, and learning to conquer the former and boost the latter.

Both teens recognize that at some point each of us has to take a stand and become the writers of our own scripts, the authors of our own futures, and the breakers of our own paths.

Newland excels at weaving meditation techniques, including guided imagery, into the narrative without making it seem forced. Instead, she gives Carly an aunt who is part aging hippie/part guru, and who teaches her niece how she can make herself emotionally strong by sending love and light to the universe – even to people who mistreat her.

While You Can’t Shatter Me could have been a preachy diatribe against bullying, in Newland’s deft hands, this novel is an absorbing, educational read, that both satisfies and gives hope to adults and younger readers alike.

Goes well with a picnic lunch on the beach.

Retro-reading: STTNG: A Time To…

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It’s no secret that I revel in escapist reading from time to time. Between January of this year, and the beginning of July, I’ve been re-reading the Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Time To… series, a collection of nine novels, the first eight of which are in pairs, that span the time between the last two Next Gen movies (Insurrection and Nemesis).

The specific novels are:
STTNG: A Time to be Born, by John Vorholt
STTNG: A Time to Die, by John Vorholt
STTNG: A Time to Sow, by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
STTNG: A Time to Harvest, by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
STTNG: A Time to Love, by Robert Greenberger
STTNG: A Time to Hate, by Robert Greenberger
STTNG: A Time to Kill, by David Mack
STTNG: A Time to Heal, by David Mack
STTNG: A Time for War, A Time for Peace, by Keith R.A. DeCandido

You can read them individually, I suppose but they’re better savored as a whole collection, and while each of them have great moments, together they give a really plausible picture of how Starfleet reacted to the events of First Contact and Insurrection, explain why Data says in Nemesis that he has no feelings after two and a half films worth of emotion chip issues, and set-up the wedding of Will Riker and Deanna Troi, and their move to the U.S.S. Titan.

It’s no secret that I’m a great fan of Keith DeCandido’s work, so it should come as no surprise that his book, the last in the series, is my favorite. His take on the canon characters is always spot-on, but he also adds a political background – think “The West Wing in Space” – that I maintain would be an awesome series in and of itself (he revists the political aspect of the United Federation of Planets in a subsequent novel, Articles of the Federation).

Star Trek novels are my comfort-books, and I often read them when my day job has me so exhausted that I don’t have the brain power for reading deeper fiction, or writing my own stuff. There’s a ten-year span of TrekFic that I think of as the “DeCandido Years” where continuity was followed and all of the writers used some of the same original characters. These are, in my opinion, the best of the genre, and the A Time To… books are the best of the era.

Review: Bookended by Beauty Queens, by Victoria Marshal

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Bookended by Beauty Queens
Victoria Marshall

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
Angie Palmer likes her life just the way it is-private. She has no desire to entangle herself in complex friendships, and her relationship with her two beauty queen sisters is safely distant. When disaster strikes Angie takes her Grandmother into her home. Life with Grandma comes with a world of changes, and new friends, including Val, a drag queen with hopes of being the next US-Gay Beauty Queen. Angie is determined to keep Val at a distance but Val has an instinct for knowing Angie’s heart. Just as Angie gets comfortable with Grandma living with her, a budding friendship with Val, and a new romantic interest, everything takes an unexpected turn. Val is the victim of a violent crime and ends up in a coma. Angie begins a struggle against Val’s family who wants to remove their son from life support. Suddenly Angie’s private life becomes very public, and her world becomes a media circus. She is caught in a clash between religious beliefs and gay rights. Through many twists and turns, Angie discovers a new appreciation for family, friends, and love. In the end, Angie learns that a life filled with people to care about is never too crowded.

My Thoughts:
I have to confess, I began this book thinking it was going to be a fluffy romance novel with a drag queen best friend as the only twist. In fact I read the first chapter while I was on vacation in Mexico last month, put it aside, and didn’t pick it up again until the end of June. I’m glad I returned to it, though, because while there are elements of fluff in the novel, the reality is that it addresses some ripped-from-the-headlines issues, like when to pull the plug on a comatose patient (how odd to find my liberal self siding with Angie, who wants to keep Val alive).

It’s refreshing to read books that end well. Not perfect happy endings, because Val and his/her family (I’m not sure which pronoun is correct) don’t really reconcile, but definitely on an up-note.

While I liked the characters and the plot of Bookended by Beauty Queens my Kindle file was rife with typos. I blame bad editing, not bad writing, but it was frustrating to be reading along and suddenly be jarred out of the story.

Overall, however, Bookended by Beauty Queens was a satisfying summer read, and I hope to read more from this author.

Goes well with: your favorite cocktail. Or any drink with an umbrella in it.

Review: Five Fables by Christine Cunningham

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Five Fables
by Christine Cunningham

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
Christine Cunningham is spinning a few tales, five to be exact, ranging from the whimsical to the twisted. Why read one good story when you could read five?

1. Sweetest Release: Sometimes the world conspires against you when all you need is a bathroom.

2. Tic-Tac-Toe: Can a boy protect his mother and sister from the shadow in the yard?

3. Happy Birthday: Find out why you’ll never want to sing the song Happy Birthday to your child again.

4. Story Shopping: Things go awry when an author has no story to write.

5. Tarantula: Saving your best friend from your mother isn’t easy to do.

My Thoughts

True confession: I like to read short stories in the bathroom, because you can finish them in one visit without any body parts going numb. As a kid, my favorite bathroom books were two red hardcovers (the dust-covers long since gone missing) from Reader’s Digest that were compilations of pretty much every fairy tale ever written, in the original pre-Disneyfication versions.

Christine Cunningham’s collection of short stories, Five Fables was my bathroom book for part of this month, and I enjoyed every bit of her writing. “Sweetest Release,” which is from the point of view of a dog, made me laugh loud enough to frighten my own dogs. “Tic Tac Toe” balanced cozy hominess with a taste of suspense. “Happy Birthday” was delightfully creepy. “Story Shopping” spoke to the writer part of my soul – the part that doesn’t write in cafes, but simply observes others (and sometimes uses them as improv characters), and “Tarantula” made me grin despite the title (I hate spiders).

Cunningham has a wry voice and does well with tiny plot twists and last-minute zingers. I enjoyed her work immensely. This book was one I requested as a review copy, and I was not disappointed, except in that this is only volume one.

Ms. Cunningham if you read this: MORE PLEASE

Goes well with: Quilted Northern. Or a glass of lemonade and goldfish crackers, if you’re NOT reading it in the bathroom.

Review: Cougar of Spirit Lake

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Cougar of Spirit Lake
by Linette Eller

Product Description (from Amazon.com):

Appearing at the foot of the bed where the beautiful woman is giving birth to a daughter, the huge cougar sits quietly because he knows all that is to be and sees all that is. Yet this is only the beginning of the long trek for the mystical giant cat and the girl as she grows into womanhood.

You will be taken on a journey through love, the supernatural, mystery, intrigue and murder. Traveling from the Ohio River Valley in the 1800’s to the majestic Rocky Mountains and Spirit Lake, the mysterious lake where Winter Woman waits patiently. Winter Woman who is Legend, as is her son, the handsome, sensuous Chief, both knowing without knowing and sharing the mystic power of the Cougar of Spirit Lake.

My Thoughts
I picked this book to read because even though I’m allergic to domestic felines, I’m a strong LEO, and love anything remotely to do with big cats. I was intrigued by the paranormal romance aspect of the story, as well as the rugged landscape.

Although the opening chapter made me re-think my choice of reading material for a minute – it was awfully similar to formulaic romances for a few pages there (not that there’s anything WRONG with those novels) – but very quickly I was hooked on the story, and not at all disappointed. Eller’s female characters are strong, vital, interesting women, and the men in their lives are fully-realized, and not the cardboard cut-out types of men who populate so many romances.

And then, of course, there’s the Cougar, but I can’t elaborate about that without spoiling the story.

Trust me on this: read this book, you will love it.

Goes well with: cheese enchiladas and sweet tea.

Review: Moonlight on the Nantahala

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Moonlight on the Nantahala
by Micheal Rivers

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
His life began deep within the mountains of North Carolina. Edward Caulfield was a dedicated craftsman who appreciated the finer things in his life. As a young man he fell deeply in love and married a beautiful young woman he did not want to live without. Fate took her from him early in his marriage and he lived the rest of his life as a shrine to her. In the twilight of his years he met a troubled young woman and their relationship turned the tide for them both. In his efforts to help her, their lives were changed forever learning from each other. In a world filled with romance, deceit, and sorrow Edward left her a legacy fulfilled with the promise of finding, “The Perfect Rose.”

I have to confess: this book was really difficult for me, not because of the book itself but because I read it around the first anniversary of the death of my nephew, and all those emotions, Edward’s loss of his wife – our family’s loss of a delightful young boy – became intertwined. It made it hard for me to separate the story from my own head, at times.

That said, Rivers has created a really lovely mood with Moonlight on the Nantahala, and the slower pace of a simpler time really brings the reader into his space. The story was compelling, and not so much sad as poignant, and ending on a hopeful note. The level of detail was amazing, and the characters all seemed three dimensional.

Lovely work, well crafted, and I want to see more from this author.

Goes well with a mug of herbal tea and a perfect sunset.

Review: Flight of the Stone

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Flight of the Stone
by Chris Thompson

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
Flight of the Stone is a fantasy tale full of drama, humour and action along with a little romance.

A desperate Elliot throws a stone to frighten off his pursuers. His actions ignite an alarming chain of events. Witnessing far more than they bargained for, Elliot’s teenage friends Miles and Abbi become drawn into a parallel world laden with excitement, adventure and horror.

As they gradually unlock the hidden secrets of leylines, the three youngsters learn how to travel vast distances in seconds, are terrorised by Fuddles, held captive by the menacing Larc while guided by their virtual mentor, Dylan.

In this other world they discover fascinating things about themselves, the people they live with as well as the world around them. So intense is their journey together they become far more emotionally attached than they ever thought likely.

Much of the story is set in and around the historic town of Christchurch, Dorset, UK and the reader can discover more about the actual places described in the book at Facebook, Flight of the Stone.

My Thoughts:
The WLC provided me with a free pdf review-copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review. It’s worth noting that “Brandon” in the PDF has become “Elliot” in the Kindle edition, which I bought because the Kindle format is prettier. There are a few other differences between the pdf (which is essentially a proof) and the finished book, but they don’t detract from reading either.

I have to confess that I had a difficult time getting into this book, even though I generally like YA fantasy, because we’re introduced to SO many characters (Elliot, Abbi, the Johnson Brothers, Sam, etc.) in just the first few pages. At first it was difficult for me to differentiate them, but within a few pages I was more comfortable with the cast of kids and young adults, and really enjoying the story.

And it’s an epic story. Invisible fields that transport you from place to place (and time), horrible monsters, swords and sorcery, technology, and human guile and wit all combine in various forms to take you into this mad alternate version of the area around Christchurch. At times, I was reminded of the fantasy land in Bridge to Terabithia, and, in truth, there are some similar themes explored in Flight of the Stone, although it’s only in tone and theme that I found them similar.

Overall? An entertaining read, perfect for an imaginative reader of any age.

Goes well with a strawberry cornet (ice cream cone), obviously..

Review: The Bookie’s Son

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The Bookie’s Son
by Andrew Goldstein

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
The year is 1960 and the place is the Bronx. All twelve-year-old Ricky Davis wants to do is play stickball with his friends and flirt with the building super’s daughter. But when his father crosses gangster Nathan Glucksman and goes into hiding, Ricky has to take over his father’s bookie business and figure out a way to pay back his debt—before the gangsters make good on their threats. Meanwhile, Ricky’s mother, Pearl, a fading beauty of failed dreams, plots to raise the money by embezzling funds from one of her boss’s clients: Elizabeth Taylor. Fast-paced, engrossing and full of heart, The Bookie’s Son paints the picture of a family forced to decide just how much they’re willing to sacrifice for each other—and at what cost.

My Thoughts:
The Bookie’s Son came to me from the publicist, who described it as a “coming of age” novel, which it is, in that protagonist Ricky Davis, whom we first meet when he’s borrowing his grandmother’s false teeth to play-act with (and what kid hasn’t been tempted to do the same?) goes through a lot of life lessons, including his Bar Mitzvah, over the course of the book, but to me, it read like a dark comedy as well, because even though the situations were often grim (Ricky watches his father collect debts on behalf of a crimelord, etc.) they’re treated with an all-too-human sense of humor.

That balance of humor and drama is one of the things that makes this novel sing, but another is the author’s use of language. I grew up in a culturally Catholic, New Jersey Neopolitan family. It’s a culture that speaks with a very specific rhythm, enhanced by the use of Italian terms and local slang. Goldstein’s book is set in the Bronx in the 60’s, in a Jewish family, but that, too, has a very specific linguistic rhythm, which can be difficult to capture on the page. And yet Goldstein has, to the point where the reader – or at least this reader – can hear that slightly nasal Bronx accent, hear the faint Eastern European accent in the Yiddish words, hear the kids using their street language among themselves, and slightly better language at home…and you are there. There among the clattering dishes, ringing telephones, guys (most likely in scary plaid pants) calling to place bets…sure, his descriptions are good, but it’s use of language that really puts you in the scene.

I have to confess, that it’s Ricky’s MOTHER I was most drawn to – maybe because I’m a woman, or maybe because I want to know more about the process that makes a person willing to sacrifice herself (not her life, but her SELF) for others. Sure, she’s drawn a bit like a comic character, and in other hands her job as the assistant to a theatrical lawyer who handles clients like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe would be written for pure hilarity, but in Goldstein’s hands, she has this lovely pathos to balance the preposterous-ness, and comes across as vibrant and interesting.

While I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen this book from the shelf in a bookstore, I’m really glad I crossed paths with it, because The Bookie’s Son is a great story about people who are as real as any of us, leading gritty, funny, earthy, HUMAN lives. Also? It can’t be said enough: the dialogue is to die for.

Goes well with: blue Jell-o, or a chocolate egg cream, but not together because that would be gross.

BTT: Anything You Can Do…

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Booking Through Thursday is a blog that asks a bookish question each week. This week, BTT wrote:

A while ago, I interviewed my readers for a change, and my final question was, “What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask?” I got some great responses and will be picking out some of the questions from time to time to ask the rest of you. Like now.

Patricia asks a particularly insightful question:

Ever read a book you thought you could have written better yourself?

I don’t have titles falling of the tip of my tongue, but I know that there have been books where half-way through (or sooner) the dialogue has been so stilted or otherwise unrealistic, or the awareness of space and objects so bad, that I’ve entertained thoughts of writing it better. Ultimately, however, I end up either finishing the book and grumbling about it, or not finishing the book, and grumbling about it.

As much as I love the wide variety of free ebooks that are out there, I have to say that while many are very, very good, there are an equal number that were published by people who should never again be allowed near a keyboard without supervision.

When I interviewed Marsha Mason for ATG a couple of years ago, we talked about her memoir, and she said she believes everyone should write.

I agree. Everyone should write, whether it’s fiction, letters, or a diary.

But not everyone should publish, even on Amazon.

I should add, however, that sometimes a poorly written story still has an amazing or interesting concept, and when I do think, “Oh, I could do that better,” it’s generally the concept I’m responding to.