Laura Freeman's Blog, page 5

Sunset on Whisling Island

Sunset on Whisling Island by Julia Clemens, 2020, Women’s-Lit

This story is about four women living on Whisling Island in Puget Sound that discover their husbands are cheating. Each deals with the news differently and make decisions on how to proceed after the revelation.

Bess has been married for 30 years when her husband tells her he had an affair with an aide at the college where he teaches. He says it was a one-time affair. They have three grown children.

Olivia has known her husband has cheated on her since their rehearsal dinner when he slept with a bridesmaid. She has maintained a facade of perfection to keep the truth from being found out but at their 15-year class reunion, her husband announces to his male friends he’s been having affairs all through their marriage. They have two young daughters. His latest mistress is pregnant.

Deb’s husband is a pilot staying in London. Their daughter is a senior in high school, and Deb wants her to stay with her friends until graduation. When he comes home to visit, she senses something is different with their long-distance relationship, and when she calls, new girlfriend Hillary answers, confirming her fears.

Gen appears to have a happy marriage but a rough patch in their past comes back to haunt them.

For anyone who has gone through a divorce or cheating, this is a book to read. Each character goes through the process differently, and you’ll be able to relate to at least one of them.

Some of them were husband pleasers who put their dreams on hold and made concessions to help their spouses succeed. The news of infidelity begins with anger, then telling others, having friends help, and moving on. Part of the rebuilding process is to discover who they are without the man in their life and involves forgiveness of the other and self.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#divorce #womenslit #JuliaClemens

Don’t Lie to Me

Don’t Lie to Me by Willow Rose, 2019, Thriller

The story moves between several points of view. Sometimes we see the children who are abducted and killed. Sometimes it is the killer when he was a child and suffering the trauma of a divorce that causes him to take the victims. The main POV is former FBI profiler Eva Rae who has left her job to take care of her three children after her husband takes off with his girlfriend.

Eva Rae’s older sister was kidnapped from a Wal-Mart after Eva bit the abductor who had grabbed her first. Since then, her mother has been cold and aloof toward her. She has several flashbacks to that incident. Eva Rae helps Detective Matt Miller, an old boyfriend when she lived in Cocoa Beach before moving to Washington, D.C. She’s returned to be near her parents and give her children a new start.

The different POV initially don’t show any relationship, but by the end they are tied up neatly in a way that has a few surprises and personal connections. The stakes are raised with each child, and like real life, the breakthrough comes with a child escaping on her own.

Rose writes at the end that she was inspired by a friend going through a divorce and the trauma on the children as one parent tried to turn them against the other with lies. This story emphasizes the damage those lies can cause.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#thriller #detective #FBI #mystery

The Fairweather Sisters Series

The Fairweather Sisters Series by Anya Wylde, 2019, Regency

This book contains three stories. I read and reviewed “Penelope” on Aug. 12, 2022. The second story is “Seeking Philbert Woodbead” and the third is “Dorothy.”

In “Seeking Philbert Woodbead” Penelope has her half-sisters Celine and Dorothy come to her London home. She married Charles Radclyff, the Duke of Blackthorne and is expecting their first child. Celine is practical and takes charge of the household while 13-year-old Dorothy waits for her turn for a story.

Wylde does not write a traditional Regency novel. The characters are eccentric and don’t follow rules. Celine is trying to be a lady and has studied Mrs. Beetles book on how to be a proper miss. Lord Adair deposits his cousin George, Viscount Elmer on the Duke’s floor.

George is an adventurer and a bit of a liar. Make that big liar. He doesn’t want to be an earl and is avoiding his father by hiding in the duke’s home. He also stole a recipe from the mother of a pirate. The pirate has been kidnapping cooks ever since looking to find the missing recipe. Highwaymen and pirates tend to be friendly in Wylde’s stories but do pose a threat as they try to capture George.

Celine is searching for Philbert Woodbead who courted her back home in Finnshire by writing poems, really bad poems. George helps her look for him even though he can’t get his name right.

In Dorothy, the younger sister has grown up and had three seasons. She is in love with the poor Lord Lumley and her best friend Kitty is in love with the sour but rich Lord Huxley. They try to get the men to talk about the other to find out if they have feelings for them. Huxley warns them that he knows what they are up to and to leave him alone.

Kitty disappears and Dorothy goes to Huxley’s home to look for her. Instead, she becomes compromised and is forced to marry him. She is told Kitty married Lumley. Huxley refuses to bed Dorothy but like her sisters, she throws herself into running his household and trying to seduce him. Add in an orphan and several characters from the other novels, and you have chaos and mayhem plus plenty of laughs.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Regency #romance #AnyaWylde

Tears of God

Tears of God by Steven Freeman, 2016, spy thriller

The story begins with the death of Cutter Wilson who is poisoned but made to look like a heart attack. Fifteen years later his daughter, Mallory, and her husband Alton Blackwell work for the government. He is a cryptology expert and she is an FBI forensic accountant.

Max Creighton claims to be a friend of Cutter and tells them his death was not due to a heart attack. When they go to see him, he has been poisoned and leaves a cryptic message of two names.

Alton forms a team to find the man behind the poisons. It takes them to Afghanistan and Australia. For those who love spy thrillers, this will satisfy all your needs. The story includes description of weapons, distant locations, new technology, and step by step instructions for the mission.

The story builds to a confrontation that goes wrong, and in a modern twist, the women rescue the men. Some of the bad guys survive to make an appearance in the future, I think. Even though we share the last name, the author and I aren’t related.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#spy #thriller #mystery #StevenFreeman

Crown of Dreams

Crown of Dreams by Kimberly Cates, 2020, Historical romance

The story takes place in 1745 England at Liancourt Castle where Lord Myles Farringdon, Viscount Liancourt is the darling of everyone but Devlin Chastain, who is living there on the charity of Myles’ mother, Lady Caroline.

Devlin’s mother doesn’t love her, others see her as a pain because she is serious and scholarly and manages the household with a firm hand. Myles believes in magic and enjoying life and playing practical jokes on Devlin. They have a love/hate relationship that keeps them apart.

Devlin plans to marry Myles best friend, Braden Tracey, after five years of betrothal. She is preparing for the wedding when Myles arrives with plans to join the Jacobites and Prince Charlie. British soldiers arrive to arrest him, and Devlin helps him flee, ruining all her plans since she is branded a traitor along with Myles.

Cates provides plenty of action. She also uses the knights of the roundtable to describe Myles and his friends. They are featured in other stories. She provides a backstory for Devlin that plays an important part in the story and keeps Braden in the loop as a rival for Devlin’s love. She uses friends to enlighten them about their stubborn feelings. Love is found and lost in this tale that takes the reader to the horror at Culloden Moor.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#historical #romance #Culloden Moor #KimberlyCates

Angel’s Fall

Angel’s Fall by Kimberly Cates, 2020 Historical romance

Adam Slade, known as Scottish warrior Sabrehawk, lends his sword to anyone willing to pay for it. He compares himself to his half-brother, Gavin, who is the legitimate heir and now earl. He thinks he is unworthy of love from his family or anyone else.

Adam comes across a sick vicar on an Irish road and makes a promise to take care of his daughter, Juliet. He calls himself a fool for helping a stranger and being burdened with keeping his word.

Cates makes Adam the reluctant hero in the story and provides hilarious misunderstandings when he meets Juliet, who bought a house in London with her inheritance and is providing a haven for fallen women. This has the owners of whorehouses and men who kept them as mistresses threatening her. A mob is attacking her home when Adam arrives and chases them away.

A kiss and the undeniable attraction frightens them both. He has never been in love, and Juliet has dedicated her life to helping women become independent. Cates provides plenty of insight as they sort out their inner feelings as well as danger from someone bent on destroying her dream of a shelter.

She adds friends from Adam’s past and a mysterious villain who wants to teach Juliet a harsh lesson. Cates keeps the reader turning pages as she builds to the final climax.

#historical #romance #KimberlyCates

Man in the Water

Man in the Water by Jon Hill, 2021, conspiracy thriller

This story has plenty going on with twists and turns. Jack Green is a conspiracy theorist who is nicknamed Jerry after the Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts “Conspiracy Theory” story. If you liked that movie, you’ll love this book. He is married to Stacey Green, and they have a son, Joseph, 4. Normal family, right?

Stacey has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and her mother, Viki, is paying for a two-week cruise so she and Jack can spend quality time together before she receives treatment. Jack teases his son and wife and makes plenty of references to movies and conspiracy theories. If you’re a fan, you’ll love the name dropping.

While on the cruise, Jack is awakened in the middle of the night and thrown overboard. Someone sees him fall into the ocean, and he is rescued. Only Stacey is missing with a suicide note left behind. Jack realizes the cruise ship isn’t going to investigate further and returns home only to find Joseph and Viki missing. What more can go wrong? Plenty.

For someone who doesn’t know much about conspiracy theories, this is a beginner tutorial with how to create a problem that causes a reaction for a solution that is the real agenda. Add on a false flag and you may be looking behind your back, too.

This is the first in a series of books so if you become hooked, you’ll have more stories to read.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#mystery #thriller #conspiracy #JonHill

A Heartless Design

A Heartless Design, a Secrets of the Zodiac spy regency novel by Elizabeth Cole, 2013

This is an excellent example of a Regency novel that adds a spy element to give it drama, suspense, and danger.

Cordelia Bering, 27, supports her aunt and herself by posing as engineer boat designer Mr. Lear. Her father taught her about engineering, and she has a natural aptitude for it. She was once engaged, but he died, and she doesn’t want to give up her independence by marrying a controlling husband. She also hires ex-convicts for servants to give them a second chance, something else a husband wouldn’t approve of.

Sebastien Thorne, was the second son, but has inherited the title of earl. He was in the military and was recruited as a spy in the Zodiac organization. He is given the assignment of finding the plans to the Andraste, a metal hull ship. Cordelia has designed the ship, but no one knows that.

At a party Sebastien notices Cordelia, and they kiss in the garden where he is picking up a secret message. He wonders if she is a spy. In a spy novel, no one trusts the other person. During the party, someone breaks into Cordelia’s study and steals the plans, but she has additional drawings hidden.

Cornelia and Sebastien are thrown together during different parties and outings, and they must determine if they can trust each other. When she is attacked at a party, Sebastien rescues her. She doesn’t wait for someone else to solve her problems but can’t avoid being kidnapped. Plenty of action follows. At least one bad guy gets away to possibly return in a future story, and another young man makes a mysterious appearance and disappearance.

Cole balances the hero and heroine’s suspicions against each other and works toward trust and deeper feelings. After internal conflicts are resolved, they have to face the external conflicts.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#Regency #spies #mystery #ElizabethCole

Forgotten in Death

Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb, 2021, detective mystery.

Detective Eve Dallas is called to a worksite owned by the Singer family where a homeless woman has been killed and dumped in a trash dumpster. She liked to write down crimes in her diary and may have seen something she wasn’t supposed to. Then on another worksite owned by Roarke, the skeletal remains of a woman and fetus are found hidden behind a brick wall in the cellar. Another murder is thrown in later related to the first.

Each case is taken separately and spread out in the book with links thrown in as Eve conducts her interviews and gathers evidence. She visualizes the crimes to show the reader what could have happened. This is one technique in a detective novel and better than summarizing everything up in the final chapter. She still has to prove her theory is the way the crime happened, and in this way, she can discover an error and change the narrative, giving the reader a different suspect.

Each crime has additional layers. The homeless woman escaped an abusive husband, something Eve can relate to regarding her father, and feels obligated to seek justice for her by making sure he goes to jail. She also contrasts happily married couples with unhappy wives and cheating husbands. Add in mobsters and family dynasties for the rich and powerful to fill out the pages.

Old friends and police staff show up for brief appearances with Roarke and Eve valuing their home and quiet time away from crimes. This is a blueprint for those writing detective stories but be sure to throw in your own voice and a few surprises to make the story your own.

More book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#detective #mystery #JDRobb

Life, Part 2: Lydia’s Story

Life, Part 2: Lydia’s Story, Life in Palmyrton #1, by S. W. Hubbard, 2019

Lydia married Charles when she was 25 and he was 42. He was rich, stable, and set in his ways. Her parents had died, and she was ready to give up on her master’s degree, but he encouraged her to finish and used his influence to get her a job in advertising even though she was an English major.

Hubbard sets up Lydia’s life of pampered socialite to contrast against the sudden death of Charles at his retirement dinner. She had quit her job to travel with him and is suddenly alone in a huge mansion unsure of what to do with her life.

She finds out that Charles’ lawyer is just as controlling as her dead husband, and there are strings to the $16.7 million she has inherited. Lydia begins to make changes, including getting an unruly dog, selling her mansion, buying a starter house with a loan she obtains, starting a new job teaching grammar, and singing at a bar. She lives the life she never had a chance to experience in her twenties and enjoys every minute of it.

Along the way Lydia learns about herself, friendship, and giving to others. It’s a second chance story at life but worthy to be read by anyone striking out on their own, whether 25 or 45.

Other book reviews can be found at http://www.authorfreeman.wordpress.com

#chicklit #secondchance #SWHubbard