The Locket - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

The Locket is one of those books that made me stay up later than I wanted one night because I absolutely HAD to find out how the story ended. My heart ached for Michael Keddington, and I wasn't sure if the innocent man would go to jail or be exonerated. Since this is not a romance, a happy ending was not guaranteed. Now I've discovered that this is the first book in a trilogy. Guess there will be more late nights in my future.
FYI: This author also wrote The Christmas Box.

Book Beginning (Prologue):
     There are those who maintain that it is a shameful thing for a man to speak of sentiment, and the recounting of a love story must certainly qualify as such. But if there is virtue in stoicism, I do not see it, and if I haven't the strength to protest, neither have I the will to conform, so I simply share my story as it is. Perhaps time has thinned my walls of propriety as it has my hair.

The Friday 56 (from Page 156 in my hardback copy):
     As I watched her go it was like one of those dreams where you open your mouth to scream but you can't. Then a voice inside of me said to let her go - that if I really loved her, I would let her find something better, something whole and new that she could build a whole life around.

Genre: Literary Fiction / Family / Spirituality
Book Length: 361 Pages
Amazon Link: The Locket
Author Website: Richard Paul Evans

Synopsis:
     After the death of his mother, Michael Keddington finds employment at the Arcadia nursing home where he befriends Esther, a reclusive but beautiful elderly woman who lives in mourning for her youth and lost love. 
    Michael faces his own challenges when he loses his greatest love, Faye. When Michael is falsely accused of abusing one of the Arcadia's residents, he learns important lessons about faith and forgiveness from Esther -- and her gift to him of a locket, once symbolic of one person's missed opportunities, becomes another's second chance. 

                

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Doublesight: The Journey Back - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

I've read quite a few fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories over the years, but The Journey Back is my first venture into Kindle Worlds' fan fiction. It won't be my last. I enjoyed Darcy Carson's story so much that I'm looking forward to reading more of her Doublesight tales in the future.

Here's the First Paragraph:
     The road back is never the same. A fact Korban was fast learning. The last time he had traveled the heavily rutted road he'd been delirious, trussed up like a hunter's kill, and tossed into a wagon with a blanket smelling of horse thrown over his body so none would catch sight of his departure.

Teaser (from 25% on my Kindle):
Oh, sure, throwbacks and gargoyles were dangerous, especially those who ate human flesh. But, not all gargoyles were bad.

Genre: Fan Fiction - Science Fiction & Fantasy
Length: 40 Pages
Amazon: The Journey Back
Also by Darcy Carson: The Trouble With Mother

Synopsis:
Human only Korban returns in The Journey Back where he learns everyone has a secret, After surviving the dreaded fire death disease, he arrives at Castle Weilk where he was raised by his uncle, the king, after his parents were murdered. He suspects the king knows the doublesights had something to do with his recovery. Knowing he is no longer welcomed, he leaves for his ancestral home to find answers that have plagued him over the years. Along the way attempts are made to kill him, but a childhood doublesight friend saves him . . . not once, but twice. Once home, Korban learns the truth about a decade old mystery about his parents that will change the course of his life.

About Kindle Worlds:
Kindle Worlds is a place to publish fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

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Fever Season - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

     It's fun to step outside my usual genre and read something completely different, and that certainly applies to Fever Season. The protagonist in this story is "a free man of color" (Benjamin January), living in New Orleans in 1833, not long before the War Between the States. He is a physician and a musician, but his life is filled with uncertainty because of his race. 
     The story fascinated me, and I learned a lot about the realities of that time and place while being caught up in the mystery. Fever Season is the second book in the thirteen-book Benjamin January series. 

Book Beginning:
     In fever season, traffic in the streets was thin. Those who could afford to do so had left New Orleans with the ending of Lent; those who could not had all through the long summer hurried about their business as if Bronze John, as they called the sickness, were a creditor one could avoid if one kept off the streets.
     Midday, the molten September heat raised steam from the water in the French town's cypress-lined gutters and the rain puddles in the soupy streets. Mephitic light filtered through clouds of steamboat soot from the levees and gave the town the look of a grimy but inexplicably pastel-walled hell. Only those whose errands were pressing walked the streets then.
[Can't you just feel the oppressive humidity and the fear of yellow fever?]

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
He felt a little safer, this close to New Orleans, but never ceased to listen before him and behind. Each time he heard the crunch of hooves approaching from either direction he quickly left the oyster-shell pathway and waited in the woods until whoever was passing him had vanished from sight.

Genre: Mystery / Historical
Length: 417 Pages
Amazon Link: Fever Season
Author's Website: Barbara Hambly

Synopsis from Amazon:
     Benjamin January made his debut in bestselling author Barbara Hambly's A Free Man of Color, a haunting mélange of history and mystery. Now he returns in another novel of greed, madness, and murder amid the dark shadows and dazzling society of old New Orleans, named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times.
     The summer of 1833 has been one of brazen heat and brutal pestilence, as the city is stalked by Bronze John—the popular name for the deadly yellow fever epidemic that tests the healing skills of doctor and voodoo alike. Even as Benjamin January tends the dying at Charity Hospital during the steaming nights, he continues his work as a music teacher during the day.
     When he is asked to pass a message from a runaway slave to the servant of one of his students, January finds himself swept into a tempest of lies, greed, and murder that rivals the storms battering New Orleans. And to find the truth he must risk his freedom...and his very life.
FYI: This versatile author has written fantasy, romance, science fiction, mystery, and vampire stories. 
                

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Beach Trip - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

     With all the cold, rainy weather we've been having here in the Pacific Northwest, I've turned to beach stories as an antidote to the dark days. Beach Trip by Cathy Holton did that job well. The story of four friends reuniting at a North Carolina beach house captivated me from the opening all the way to the satisfying ending. The story switches between the women's college days (1982) and their reunion (2005), and covers the years in between. The author's sense of humor kept me smiling.
     I'm picky about formatting and the craft of writing, and while I didn't see any grievous errors, I felt like the editors at big-time Ballantine could have done a better job for this author. But having said that, the things I noticed didn't prevent me from enjoying this engaging story.

First Paragraph:

Spring of 1982
Bedford University
Mount Clemmons, North Carolina

     Lola was engaged to Briggs Furman, so her roommates were stunned the evening she came home and told them she was in love with a boy named Lonnie. They sat around in various poses of disbelief and concern, watching Lola and Lonnie, who stood, arms entwined, in the middle of the living room. Lola had leaves in her hair. This was six weeks before they were all set to graduate from college and go their separate ways into the wide world, and no one had suspected Lola of a secret love affair. Least of all Briggs.

Teaser (from 36% on my Kindle):
Once he realized Annie was on the Pill and there'd be no repercussions, no squalling babies or homicidal parents to contend with, Mitchell took to sex like flies to roadkill. His words. There was nothing of the romantic poet about Mitchell Stiles.

Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction
Book Length: 433 Pages
Amazon Link: Beach Trip

Synopsis:
     Mel, Sara, Annie, and Lola have traveled diverse paths since their years together at a small Southern liberal arts college during the early 1980s. Mel, a mystery writer living in New York, is grappling with the aftermath of two failed marriages and a stalled writing career. Sara, an Atlanta attorney, struggles with her own slowly unraveling marriage. Annie, a successful Nashville businesswoman married to her childhood sweetheart, can’t seem to leave behind the regrets of her youth. And sweet-tempered Lola whiles away her hours—and her husband’s money—on little pills that keep her happy.
     Now the friends, all in their forties, converge on Lola’s lavish North Carolina beach house in an attempt to relive the carefree days of their college years. But as the week wears on and each woman’s hidden story is gradually revealed, these four friends learn that they must inevitably confront their shared past, and a secret that threatens to change their bond, and their lives, forever.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

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Rawhide 'n Roses - First Chapter / First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

When life gets busy, I've found that's a great time to read short stories. Right now, that means the book of choice is Rawhide 'n Roses, a Western romance anthology. This book features historical and contemporary short stories by some of my favorite authors (*listed below). So, when I need to take a break, I do as the Amazon page for this book suggests: grab my favorite drink, sit back and enjoy!

I've taken my First Paragraph from "Marrying Jenna" by Charlene Raddon:
Park City, Utah, 1879
     Marshall Branch McCauley leaped from his horse and looped the reins over the railing of the stairway to the family's second floor living quarters. He took the steps two at a time. No matter what, he could not be late for his wedding; eight months it had taken him, after Jenna had finally accepted his proposal, to get her to name a date.

Teaser (at 32% on my Kindle, about halfway through "Marrying Jenna"):
     "Jimmy John, put your gun to Jenna's head," he ordered. Once the boy obeyed Arch called out, "That you in there, McCauley?"

Genre: Western Romance (Anthology)
Book Length: 146 Pages
Amazon Link: Rawhide 'n Roses

Synopsis:
Saddle up your horses and head out to the heart of the Wild West in this collection of short love stories by authors of Western Romance from all over the country and around the world. Whether your passion is historical or contemporary, there's something inside for everyone.

*Contributing authors:
Gold Mountain by Alison Bruce
There's more than one way to mine for gold, as May Travers well knows, and Marshal Ben Jessup is about to find out.
A Gentle Touch by Celia Yeary
Adam Taylor tames mustangs with a gentle touch, but would the same method calm a frightened abused woman?
A Midnight Clear by Simone Beaudelaire
A lonely widow finds a new opportunity for love during an icy Christmas in modern-day Wyoming.
Houston McClintock by Caroline Clemmons
Houston McClintock is on his way home when an attack by vicious robbers redirects his life onto a surprising path to love and fulfillment.
Marrying Jenna by Charlene Raddon
Branch McCauley and Jenna Leigh-Whittington's wedding day arrives at last, so why is Jenna riding hell-bent out of town wearing her wedding dress and a gun belt? Something's up, and it doesn't look good. Will the wedding ever take place?
Connie’s Gift by Rain Trueax
The gift of second sight, which Connie no longer believes she possesses, becomes a deadly threat to her and the man she loves.
Stable Hands, Stable Hearts by Chad Strong
When 17yr old Scott thinks he spots the girl of his dreams, will his feelings for her distract him from winning?
Gunslinger's Angel by Margaret Tanner
Gunslinger Cal Devereaux is saved by an angel, but is she a heavenly creature or a warm blooded woman?
Petticoat Patrol by Susan Horsnell
When a man has no son, he calls on his daughters to help protect his ranch.
When Love Arrives by Carol A. Spradling
A stowaway's past and future collide on the Santa Fe Trail.
Bluffing the Marshal by Paty Jager
Nellie Preston not only wants to keep her brother from hanging, she wants to become the marshal’s wife.
The Lawman’s Lady by Lyn Horner
A prickly schoolmarm sets a handsome lawman’s teeth on edge until the day he starts to wonder what she’d look like without her specs and with her hair down.
Yellowstone Proposal (A Yellowstone Romance Series Short Story) by Peggy L. Henderson
Willing to face dangers only told in legends, Evan risks everything to find the woman who captured his heart.
Much Ado about Misfires (A Hearts of Owyhee short-short story) by Jacquie Rogers
A cowboy on rollerskates and an old flame with a new beau—can Reuben lasso the woman he loves?
Destiny’s Kiss by Cheri Kay Clifton
She gave up life in the present to find her destiny in the past.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

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Christmas Creations - Saturday Snapshots

My four-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at our house, and we had a great time crafting together. (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Here are the snow globes we created.

You can find detailed instructions for making your own snow globes on quite a few blogs (just do a Google search for "Snow Globes Children's Craft"). Martha Stewart even has a how-to video. We used baby oil for the liquid inside the jars and glitter and sequins for the "snow." One observation: The jar with the gold lid sealed better than the one with the red lid, mainly because it required more twists to close it. I ran a line of hot glue around the rims of the jars before affixing the lids.

My granddaughter also had fun gluing sequins to some painted wooden ornaments I had. We used Elmer's Glue on this one. The center of the ornament is supposed to hold a photo, of course, but she wanted to put sequins in there instead. Who am I to stifle her creative instincts?

We had a great time, and my granddaughter was proud of her special Christmas crafts.

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The Mirror - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Have you ever read a book where you weren't sure if you liked the main character? That's what I felt about the protagonist (Agnes La Grange) in The Mirror by Lynn Freed. Agnes was hired as a housekeeper, but after the father of the family where she worked installed a full-length mirror in her bedroom and she became aware of her beauty, she took full advantage of her assets. I admired Agnes's honesty with herself, her determination, and her ambition, but she was selfish and just not likable. Of course, that also made her story very interesting! I will say that the book kept me entertained and fascinated. Part of that was due to the setting: South Africa in the 1920s-1940s. I also enjoyed the way the story was presented - as a memoir, complete with photographs. It seemed real although it was fiction.  

Here's the Book Beginning:
1920
     I came into that house of sickness just after the Great War, as a girl of seventeen. They were there waiting for me, father and daughter, like a pair of birds, with their long noses and their great black eyes. The girl was a slip of a thing, no more than twelve, but she spoke up for the father in a loud, deep voice. Can you do this, Agnes? Have you ever done that? And the old man sat in his armchair with his watch chain and his penny spectacles, his pipe in his mouth and the little black moustache. Sometimes he said something to the girl in their own language, and then she would start up again. Agnes, do you know how to-

The Friday 56 (from Page 56 in my paperback):
     In the books I read, there was nothing but joy in the hearts of the mothers, except when they weren't real mothers at all, but only stepmothers. And then it was all rage and fury, and the girls cowering under the rod or eating poisoned apples. But here was I, the real mother, and I thought, She'll not always be a child, and I'll not always be young and beautiful. And who will I have then but her?

Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Length: 219 Pages (plus a reader's guide)
Amazon Link: The Mirror
Author's Website: Lynn Freed

Synopsis (from Amazon):
This is the story of Agnes La Grange, a beautiful young woman who emigrates as a housekeeper to South Africa in 1920. With a determination to make a future of her own and a love of men that does not leave her in desperate need of them, Agnes constructs a life beyond the conventions of colonial society. Written in her own fresh and unguarded voice, The Mirror is a fictional memoir, telling the story of the essential female, what she must do to survive, and how little the cost has changed over time.

FYI: A friend recently cleared out some books from her collection and gave a lot of them to me. This book was among them. It was copyrighted in 1997, and there were no grammatical or other errors in the book to distract me.

                 

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
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The Beach House - First Chapter / First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

     Today's post features The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe. It's a beautifully written story about 40-year-old Cara and her mother who is dying of lung cancer. Cara goes back home to the barrier islands of South Carolina and while caring for her mother, confronts issues that have followed her since she was a child. Loggerhead turtles figure in the plot too, and I learned a lot about them through this story.
     Seems like a lot of the books I've been reading lately are set at the beach. Maybe it's time for a getaway to someplace warm! 
FYI: This book is part of a trilogy.


First Paragraph:
Prologue
     It was twilight and a brilliant red sun lazily made its hazy descent off the South Carolina coast. Lovie Rutledge stood alone on a small, rolling sand dune and watched as two young children with hair the same sandy color as the beach squealed and cavorted, playing the age-old game of tag with the sea. A shaky half smile lifted the corners of her mouth. The boy couldn't have been more than four years of age yet he was aggressively charging the water, the stick in his hand pointing outward like a sword. Then, turning on his heel, he ran back up the beach, chased by a wave. Poor fellow was tagged more often than not. But the girl... Was she seven or eight? Now there was a skilled player. She danced on tiptoe, getting daringly close to the foamy wave, instinctively knowing the second to back away, taunting the water with her high laugh.

Teaser (from Page 179 of my paperback):
     Brett slowed their pace and the engine lowered to a bubbly growl as he expertly motored through the jungle of grass, his eyes on the bank, one hand on the rudder. It was like being Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart on the African Queen, she thought to herself.
    "Are we almost there, Mr. Allnut?"

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Length: 407 Pages (paperback)
Amazon Link: The Beach House
Author Website Link: Mary Alice Monroe

Synopsis:
Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother coming just as her own life is spinning out of control has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost. But it is in reconnecting with her mother that she will learn life’s most precious lessons true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and the mistakes of the past can be forgiven.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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The Pink Door - Seattle, WA - Saturday Snapshots

     Recently, our son generously offered to treat us to dinner out. He said he'd act as chauffeur, and he knew just the place he wanted us to go -- The Pink Door Restaurant in downtown Seattle. He'd heard they had good Italian food, but the main attraction was the trapeze act! So we set a date and went. 
     Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of the trapeze performer. She twirled and twisted high above the tables in the main dining room, and did her contortions while clinging to a length of fabric. Reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil. Amazing! However, here's a photo of the restaurant's simple exterior. 

You'd think the restaurant's entrance was the door lit with a pink light, right? Nope. It's the door flanked by corn husks with the tiny oval "sign" to its left. The restaurant is located in Post Alley at Pike Place Market. 

Here's the view from our table on the covered terrace. I couldn't believe someone was actually standing on that balcony, playing the guitar. Turns out it was a mannequin. That's the Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront in the background.

I copied this info from the restaurant's website:



By the way, the food was good. We took advantage of the Seattle Restaurant Week menu and had a three-course meal, paired with appropriate wines. A nice evening out.

Link: The Pink Door 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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Hoot - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

     Several weeks ago I featured Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen on my Teaser Tuesday / First Paragraph post (here). It is definitely a book for adults. Today my excerpts are from HOOT by the same author, but this book is written for kids aged 10 to 15. It's a great story (Hiaasen's first children's book, written in 2002) and is fun reading for both kids and adults. As with all of Hiaasen's books, there's an environmental slant along with plenty of humor. In this story, the concern is for burrowing owls being displaced by construction of a pancake house.
     The sticker on the cover says: "Newberry Honor Book."  

Here's the Book Beginning:
     Roy would not have noticed the strange boy if it weren't for Dana Matherson, because Roy ordinarily didn't look out the window of the school bus. He preferred to read comics and mystery books on the morning ride to Trace Middle.
     But on this day, a Monday (Roy would never forget), Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeezing a soccer ball. The older kids were supposed to stay in the back of the bus, but Dana had snuck up behind Roy's seat and ambushed him. When Roy tried to wriggle free, Dana mushed his face against the window.

The Friday 56 (from Page 156 in my trade paperback):
     "How would you and Mom like it," Roy pressed on, "if a bunch of strangers showed up one day with bulldozers to flatten this house? And all they had to say was 'Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Eberhardt, it's no big deal. Just pack up and move to another place.' How would you feel about that?"

Genre: Children's Book -- Environment/Humor/Mystery
Length: 292 Pages
Amazon Link: Hoot
Author's Website: Carl Hiaasen

Synopsis (from Amazon):
     Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
     Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.

                 

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
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