Bethany Swafford's Blog, page 31
October 17, 2016
Cardiac: A Jack Getty Novel
Cardiac
by Jeffrey Monaghan
Edition: eBook, 2016
Synopsis: What if the one thing meant to keep you alive was used to kill you?
Embattled CEO Jack Getty is nervous. This is his final chance to save his company. He is announcing his firm’s breakthrough discovery at the world’s largest annual biotech conference. A discovery that trials show will extend human life by 75%. But as Jack approaches the podium, he suffers a major heart attack and collapses onto the stage, stunning the conference attendees.
Jack is rushed to the emergency room where surgeons implant the latest Wi-Fi enabled pacemaker, saving his life in the process. What Jack doesn’t know, however, is that an underground hacking group has its sights set on manipulating his “secure” pacemaker to get information only he can provide. Despite the hackers unrelenting terror, Jack refuses to give them what they want and soon starts to uncover the true motives of this mysterious and powerful group.
After a massive heart attack, Jack Getty is fitted with a wireless pacemaker, the most high tech one out there. As soon as he’s home, he begins to suspect that all is not as it should be. This CEO finds himself in a race to protect not only his life, but the lives of his family.
This novel hits the ground running from the opening scene. I especially like that we are not given a long exposition about his background and life before the start, instead it is explained throughout the story. The characters are enjoyable and the writing is tight.
The only complaint I would have is the language, which was stronger than I like.
Anyone who is looking for a fast paced thriller, where you can’t be sure who’s on your side, this is just the story I would recommend.
October 10, 2016
A Fence Around Her
A Fence Around Her
by Brigid Amos
Edition: eBook, 2016
Synopsis: Having a mother with a past is never easy. For Ruthie Conoboy it becomes the struggle of a lifetime in 1900, the year Tobias Mortlock arrives in the gold mining town of Bodie, California. Ruthie is suspicious of this stranger, but her trusting father gives him a job in the stamp mill. Soon, Ruthie suspects that her mother and Mortlock have become more than friends. Can Ruthie stop this man from destroying her family?
Fourteen year old Ruthie doesn’t trust the newest stranger in town, but no one else seems to share her feelings. As she continues to grow and reach out for more in her life, the more she realizes that her mother’s past might keep her from a happy future.
What I especially enjoyed about this book was the details the author put into certain areas of the narrative such as how the mining worked in the town and the stamp mill in the turn of the century. I also appreciated how real the author kept the situation Ruthie found herself in with her mother’s past affecting her own life.
The introduction of Catholicism about halfway through the book seemed to come out of nowhere, in my opinion. Personally, I would have liked to see more conversations between the characters but as it is, this is a fun story to spend an afternoon with.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes turn of the century novels set in the west.
October 7, 2016
An Author’s Random Musing: My Story
Earlier this week, I was a guest on another blog and I was asked to tell the story of how I came to be published. I decided I’d like to share the same story here.
I didn’t grow up with a desire to write. For the longest time, I was content to enjoy the worlds and characters others had created. Writing short stories and essays to amuse my family and myself was enough for me. The older I got, though, I began to realize that the majority of novels contained sex scenes that I didn’t want to read.
Obviously, the solution to this problem was to write my own book with the standards that I searched for in books. How hard could it be, right? As I discovered, many rejections later, it wasn’t easy at all. “Sex sells” as they say and I rejected all offers to smut my story up a little.
Being the stubborn individual I am, I decided maybe self-publishing was the way to go. I had a story to share with anybody and everybody. And it went…well enough. I didn’t have the slightest clue what I was doing though and I know now that it could have been so much better. But that’s when the doubts started to hit me. Had it been the right decision to self-publish? What if the reason I’d been rejected all those times was because I wasn’t good enough?
By this point, I’d started another novel and it sat, unfinished, on my computer for over two years because I couldn’t shake those feelings. Every few months, I would open the file, reread it, change a few details or add a few paragraphs, and then leave it again. Finally, I worked up the courage to hand those six chapters to my mom and get an honest opinion. The next day, she came back to me and had just one thing to say: “Where is the rest of it?”
Well, now I had to finish it, if only so Mom could know how the story ended. Once that first draft was done, I still didn’t know what I was going to do with it. Again, it sat in all its imperfect glory. A few months later, I joined Donna Feyen on More Than A Review as a book reviewer and that’s when I was introduced to Clean Reads, a publishing company that held its books to a high standard of content.
I wanted my book to be with other novels that had the same clean standards and finally I knew I’d found just the place. Out came the manuscript and I began editing. After months of work, I hit the submit button and tried not to think about it, all those previous rejections haunting my dreams.
Sooner than I expected, I received the email with a contract attached and the rest is history. A Chaotic Courtship was released in August and I couldn’t be more proud of it.
October 3, 2016
The Good Knight
The Good Knight (A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery)
by Sarah Woodbury
Edition: ebook, 2012
Synopsis: Intrigue, suspicion, and rivalry among the royal princes casts a shadow on the court of Owain, king of north Wales… The year is 1143 and King Owain seeks to unite his daughter in marriage with an allied king. But when the groom is murdered on the way to his wedding, the bride’s brother tasks his two best detectives—Gareth, a knight, and Gwen, the daughter of the court bard—with bringing the killer to justice. And once blame for the murder falls on Gareth himself, Gwen must continue her search for the truth alone, finding unlikely allies in foreign lands, and ultimately uncovering a conspiracy that will shake the political foundations of Wales.
The daughter of the bard is in the perfect position to keep her eyes and ears open for information. When Gwen and her family come across an ambush, and the man she loved investigating what had happened, she becomes swept into solving the mystery.
The writing for this novel is clean, crisp, and I love it. The characters come to life from the first you meet them, though I will admit most of the names are a garble in my head. I especially adore Gwen, and her courage. She is intelligent and resourceful, and is basically an amazing heroine. Gareth is fun, too, in a tough knight kind of way.
Historically detailed, this is definitely a keeper on my shelf.
September 26, 2016
The Viscount’s Wallflower Bride
The Viscount’s Wallflower Bride
By Lauren Royal and Devon Royal
Edition: ebook, 2016
Synopsis: England, 1673: Lady Violet Ashcroft grew up sheltered in the countryside, far from the dashing gentlemen of the court—and that’s how she likes it. Here on her family’s beautiful, quiet estate, she needn’t fight off suitors who are only after her sizable inheritance, or play second fiddle to her prettier younger sisters. Love and marriage aren’t for everyone, and sensible Violet would rather spend her days improving her mind than risking her heart. Until a rather dashing gentleman shows up next door…
Ford Chase, Viscount Lakefield, has had it with women. Who’s got time for them, anyway, when there’s important work to be done? Fresh out of Oxford, Ford is ready to devise his first world-changing invention. All he needs is some peace and quiet on his neglected country estate, where there is no family to nag him and, most especially, no women to distract him—until he’s thrown into the company of the intriguing Lady Violet…
With his young niece in tow, Ford Chase takes himself off to his small, rather neglected estate. He expects to complete his important invention in peace and quiet. He finds quite the opposite when he is repeatedly thrown into the company of Lady Violet.
I was drawn into this story from the start. While Ford himself is a bit bland as a hero, Violet herself was sensible and fun. Of all the characters, though, I most enjoyed Ford’s niece, Jewel, and Lady Violet’s mother, who absolutely was NOT matchmaking as she promised her daughters she would never do that to them.
Honestly, there was only one point I had trouble buying into, and that was parents allowing their daughter to be alone with a man. Beyond that, this was a delightful tale.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves sweet historical romances.
September 19, 2016
The Genius Asylum
The Genius Asylum: Sic Transit Terra Book 1
by Arlene F. Marks
Edition: ebook, 2016
Synopsis: Earth Intelligence and Space Installation Security each think Drew Townsend is working for them. They’re wrong.
Sent undercover to set up a covert intelligence operation on Earth’s remotest space station, Drew Townsend finds himself managing a crew of brilliant mavericks, making friends with the most feared warriors in the galaxy, and feeling more at home in the controlled insanity of Daisy Hub than he ever did on Earth. Then he learns the truth about his mission there, and it’s time to choose. In the coming interplanetary conflict, which side will Daisy Hub be on?
Like the clues of a cryptic crossword, each book set in the Sic Transit Terra universe contains a puzzle – perhaps a riddle, perhaps a maze or an anagram – and in each case, the answer to the smaller puzzle brings the reader and characters one step closer to solving a much larger and more important one. The Genius Asylum is ‘1 Across’ – it initiates a multi-book story arc that addresses one of the great mysteries of life: Why are we humans the way that we are?
I will admit, I had a hard to time really getting into this book at first. I was confused, trying to keep track of just who Drew was working for. But the more I read, the more immersed in the story I became and it was just like a puzzle slowly coming together. The writing was brilliant and I highly enjoyed the characters. The details for this universe built the scenes in my mind.
So this book has a slow beginning but an amazing adventure.
October 15, 2012
National Novel Writing Month
50,000 words in 30 days. I have the feeling I'm not going to make it this year, but I should get a good jump start on my novel.
August 29, 2012
Writing
Isn't it funny how a story can change direction while you're writing it? So many times I have it planned out and then in the middle, it begins to take a life of its own. I love being surprised at how my characters begin acting.
August 19, 2012
Book Promotion
Hopefully, I get some kind of review from this. Feedback would be amazing.
August 15, 2012
"Nothing Ever Happens To Me"
Anyway, I have finally put pen to paper and begun focusing my ideas into my next book. Not that my first book was a wild success, but I love writing to much to stop now. In my next book, I hope to show the bonds between brothers and sisters, along with some romance, a little mystery, and some good old fashioned teasing thrown in the mix.
In the meantime, I am outlining a short story as well. When it rains it pours, and when my brain finally decides to be imaginative, it goes into overdrive.
We'll see what my brain comes up with and hopefully I won;t get two completely different stories mixed up!
