A.B. Shepherd's Blog, page 20

Purple Roads by Fleur McDonald

[image error] Book Blurb:When Anna and Matt finally buy their dream farm, their struggles aren’t quite over. First it’s patchy rain and poor crops, then Matt has an accident … and even when the heavens finally open all might yet be lost. An exciting new novel full of romance and mystery from the author of the bestselling Red Dust and Blue Skies.

Anna and Matt Butler were childhood sweethearts with a dream of owning their own land, a dream they achieved through hard work and determination.

But as the seasons conspire against them and Matt is involved in a terrible accident, the couple face financial ruin and the loss of their farm.

As they fight for everything they hold dear, they suddenly find themselves caught up in events much bigger and more dangerous than they could ever have imagined.

Purple Roads is a story about maintaining faith in yourself, staying true to your ideals and, most of all, the belief that some things are worth fighting for. My review:Matt and Anna have some seriously bad luck on their farm compounded with a theft of some very expensive fertilizer which causes them to lose the farm. Dismissed as a one-off by the police, Matt becomes obsessed with finding the thieves blaming them for the loss of the farm.  He shuts Anna out completely.
Anna tries to make the best of things. She focuses on moving on with their lives, caring for their daughter, and tries to be supportive of Matt through his grief over this loss. But their marriage falters. There is also mystery involved here - who did steal their fertilizer? Is there really a theft ring operating in rural South Australia? Is Matt right?  
I got very frustrated with both Anna and Matt while reading this book. I nearly stopped reading it because of this. But I persevered and made it all the way through. The book has a happy, if albeit formulaic ending. 
If you are a fan of Jodi Picoult type books you'll love Purple Roads.
About the author: Fleur McDonald is one of Australia’s leading female rural literature authors and inspiration strikes at the strangest of times.

Usually it comes while she’s working on the 8000acre farm she owns and runs with her husband in south-east of Western Australia. Farms are labour intensive and all-consuming so Fleur snatches precious writing moments whenever she can ... in the cab of her farm ute, between runs on the chaser bin, or during a lull in cattle work.

She had a two-book deal in Germany before Red Dust was even finished. In 2009 Red Dust was the highest selling novel for a debut author. In 2010 Red Dust was short listed for the Australian Book Industry Awards as Newcomer (Debut) Author of the year and the R*BY awards. Next came Blue Skies and now her latest novel, Purple Roads.

Her stories are set in rural Australia and feature strong female characters and solid, no nonsense, country men. Fleur’s characters are inspired by the tough, complex and genuine people she’s met during a lifetime living in remote Australia.

To learn more about Fleur McDonald check out her website. 

Want to contact Fleur?
Fleur can be contacted via email: author@fleurmcdonald.com
Facebook: /FleurMcDonaldAuthor
Twitter: @FleurMcDonald

The Perk by Mark Gimenez

Book Blurb:Beck Hardin, a high-profile Chicago trial lawyer, loses his wife to breast cancer and is left alone to raise their two young children. But he's been a full-time lawyer and a part-time father, so their lives soon fall apart. To save his children, he returns to his small hometown in the Texas Hill Country, reunites with his estranged father (a goat rancher turned winemaker), and soon becomes the local judge. He finds himself trying to pay off an old debt by solving the cold case murder of his high school buddy's teenage daughter—and discovers that a small-town judge's life isn't such a simple life. My review:I read this book because it came highly recommended by a friend. She really enjoyed it. Me - not so much. I will say that has much more to do with my personal preferences though, than with the book itself. Based on the blurb this seemed right up my alley. A mystery. A story with heart. 
That IS a part of the story. But there is much more to it. Here is what I don't like.
*************SPOILER ALERT*************Beck becomes the judge in his small home town and therein lies the problem for me. Politics. I hate stories of politics and abuse of power. I hate stories where the little guy is bullied, no matter how it turns out in the end. I hate people who are always out to prove how much smarter they are by screwing over someone else. 
Yup. That is my big problem with this book. It contains all those elements that I really hate. For some people those are great story elements and really make a book something that grabs their emotions and therefore they enjoy it more. Not me. Hate it. 
The story was good, just not for me. 
Oh! And a couple of other things. A lot of people love books that are really descriptive, but for me this one has a little too much description of things that aren't relevant to the story. 
And BIG SPOILER ALERT here. I had a problem with the fact that Slade - who would have been 14 at the time of Heidi's death five years ago, not only fathered the baby she aborted when she was 16 (what 16 year old girl who wants to be a star is banging a 14 year old???), but also was injecting steroids through which he contracted AIDS that he passed on to her and she passed on to Chase when Slade was still only 14 - or younger. 
The earlier parts of the book don't indicate Slade started his steroid routine that young. AND if he HAD he would have contracted the HIV virus - not AIDS and THAT is what he would have passed on. Although the HIV virus can develop into AIDS it doesn't always and the two are very separate things. 
So there you go. My humble opinion and the reasons why this book didn't quite do it for me. Have you read it? What do you think?
About the author:Mark Gimenez left a major Dallas law firm in order to start his own solo practice and to write. He lives in Texas with his wife and two sons.  
You can learn more about Mark by checking out his website.

Interview regarding my book, Lifeboat!

My gorgeous and talented friend, author Rhiannon Douglas has interviewed me on my thoughts regarding my novel, Lifeboat. You really should read it.

Click here to read the interview.

Pompomberry House by Rosen Trevithick

Book Blurb:A writer's retreat seemed the perfect chance for Dee Whittaker to take her mind off her marital difficulties.

However, she meets five of the most hideous writers ever to have mastered a qwerty keyboard, and her problems quickly multiply. Things escalate further when the handyman winds up dead.

After fleeing from the island, Dee attempts to get her life back on track but begins to notice that something strange is going on. The stories written on the island are coming true and hers is next - complete with a murder.
Her estranged husband makes an unlikely sidekick as the two of them try to stop the literary copycat killing an innocent woman.

Packed with topical references, Pompomberry House provides a satirical look at the emerging world of indie publishing.

My review:I was intrigued with the premise of this book. An indie author on an author retreat, murder and mystery. Right up my alley. This book seems to have a lot of 5 star reviews. I couldn't give it 5 stars, I'm afraid, but I did like it so I'm giving it 3 stars. 
The prologue and first few chapters didn't really capture my interest right away but I persevered through them and I'm glad I did. The story did pick up. Dee seemed a pretty genuine character, but the other characters in this novel were more like caricatures. 
And I'll be honest here. I'm fat. I'm very fat. When an author uses fat as a character flaw I tend to find that a little bit off putting. 
The mystery in this book was solid, however, and I liked how the story played out in the end. A good solid likable book.
About the author: Rosen was born in Cornwall and grew up on Restronguet Creek. She studied Experimental Psychology at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, before moving back to the West Country. She now lives on the south coast of Devon with two imaginary cats, fantasising about getting a real one.

In 2011 Rosen was an aspiring author. Writing was a hobby, which helped her cope with having bipolar disorder. The following January sales of her books on Kindle took off, and by July she had sold 20,000 copies and her total download count exceeded 150,000. She now has two books in print: Pompomberry House and a short story collection called Seesaw.

Rosen writes in a variety of genres with a strong leaning towards comedy. She has also dabbled with psychological fiction and mystery writing.

She loves wild swimming, mountain biking, interesting boots, quiffs, ‘sampling’ chocolate and cooking tasty treats. She dislikes house spiders, doing laundry and people putting costumes on their cats.  You can learn more about Rosen by checking out her website.  

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney

Book Blurb:
Magic can happen in every family

At the Valley View Motel in South Australia's picturesque Clare Valley, eighty-four-year-old Lola Quinlan is up to her usual mischief. She's sent her family away for Christmas and invited a number of mystery guests to come and stay. But who are all these people, and why aren't they spending the festive season with their own loved ones?

As the big day draws closer and Lola's personal family dramas threaten to unravel her plans, she discovers that at a special time of year, magic can happen in every family – especially your own.

From the bestselling author of At Home with the Templetons comes a funny, sad and moving novel about memories and moments and the very meaning of life.

My review:
I recently reviewed The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney. You can read that review here. I really enjoyed that novel. Lola's Secret is the sequel to The Alphabet Sisters with the story, this time, told from Lola's perspective. 

I'll admit to some disappointment. First, I sort of expected this book to explore more about the secret Lola had revealed to Bett in The Alphabet Sisters. While it did touch on that briefly, that was not the secret referenced in the title.

Secondly, while this book contained most of the same characters as The Alphabet Sisters, it didn't seem to have the same feeling of a warm and loving family life that The Alphabet Sisters portrayed. While the sisters were in the midst of a feud for most of The Alphabet Sisters, Monica had still managed to convey a feeling of togetherness, that seems to be lacking here.

Many of the characters here just seem to be insecure and immature and I found myself sympathizing with Geraldine the most. I don't think that was the intention. I'll admit that McInerney finally seemed to be getting back to the writing I had loved so well in The Alphabet Sisters as the book ended. But overall it left me feeling far less satisfied.

I have to say I didn't love this book. I liked it. But I didn't love it. 

Has a sequel ever disappointed you? Tell me about it.

About the author:
Monica McInerney is the internationally bestselling author of seven novels including Upside Down Inside Out, Family Baggage, The Alphabet Sisters and The Faraday Girls (which was named the General Fiction Book of the Year in the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards.) Her latest novel Greetings from Somewhere Else will be published in the USA in July 2009.

Monica, 44, grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster and her mother worked in the local library. Before becoming a full-time writer she worked in children’s television, tourism festivals, book publishing, arts marketing, the music industry and as a waitress, a hotel cleaner, a Kindergym instructor and a temp. For the past eighteen years she and her Irish husband have been moving back and forth between Australia and Ireland. They currently live in Dublin.

Visit her website at www.monicamcinerney.com 

How Do You Like Your Heroine?

I love to read stories that have strong female leading characters. Women that can kick butt and stand up for themselves and those they love.Woman of courage and conviction.
I love when they are strong, not just physically, but emotionally as well. I'm not saying they have to be perfect, or that they can't have moments of vulnerability or weaknesses. This is, after all, what makes them human.
As much as I love these kinds of female leads they don't seem to be what my female leads are in the fiction that I write. Cass in Lifeboat is a survivor, but she's been shattered and has had to be emotionally glued back together. She is a fighter, but she's fragile too.

It seems the primary characters in my novels are women that were strong at one time, but through life, circumstance, or otherwise they no longer stand as strong as they used to. They are broken in some fashion. 
In that way, my heroines are somewhat autobiographical I think. There is a little piece of me in each one.
I used to be strong. I used to be fierce. I too am a survivor. But as I've lived this long life of mine I've become damaged along the way, just like my heroines. I'm no longer as strong as I once was.
As much as I admire strong heroines, I think damaged heroines are just little bit more interesting, and a little bit more real, even in the world of fiction. 
What do you think? How do you like your heroines?

Book review of Wool Omnibus (Wool #1-5) by Hugh Howey

Book Blurb:
This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.

The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

My review:
I fully admit I am one of those who was late to the Wool party and on one hand I'm glad I was. I'll tell you why. I read these five books as one longer book and I would not have wanted to read them separately in drips and drabs.

If you've been a faithful reader of my blog you will know that one of my biggest pet peeves are book series that cannot stand alone and that do not have a sense of resolution at the end of each book in the series. This is one of those series that stokes my ire. 

However, by reading it as the Omnibus addition where all five books are read as one it eliminates that annoyance. I do not recommend buying and/or reading them individually, however I do recommend them as the Omnibus.

This is a great post-apocalyptic sci-fi story of a civilization that can no longer live on the land, but must live below it in a purpose built, self-sustaining silo. The nearly 150 stories deep and is split into sections of society based on occupation. It is highly regulated and organized and free thinking is not encouraged. When someone steps outside the lines they are sent to "clean" which is, in reality, a death sentence.

I won't tell you anymore for fear of spoiling the books but this really is a good, thought-provoking series and I highly recommend it. Just get it as the Omnibus. 

Have you read this series? What do you think?

About this author - Hugh Howey says:

I'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things -- and then does them anyway.

A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.You can learn more about Hugh Howey at his website or catch up with him on Twitter @mollyfyde.  

When Can You Say You're an Author?

I've been tossing that word around on a few different websites with regard to myself for a month or two now. I put it on my Facebook page. I updated my header here to indicate I am one, because I have written this book.
But when can you say it and feel like it's true? Because even though I've written a book now, it doesn't feel real. The closest it has come to feeling real is when I revealed my book cover a few weeks ago. That day I was overwhelmed with the feeling that this was becoming true.
But since then the feeling has faded again.
Many people seem to think that because they put words on paper or a screen that that makes them a writer or author. I don't dispute that - for them. It doesn't work for me though.
I have a feeling I won't truly feel like an author until one very specific thing happens.

Until I actually sell my very first book.
I think at that moment I will BELIEVE that I AM an author. I hope that day isn't too far away.
If you are new to my blog or have missed the info about my book, check out the tab that says Lifeboat above.
Are you an author or writer? When did it feel real for you?

Brand Spankin' New Lifeboat Book Trailer!

As you all know I've been working hard getting Lifeboat ready for it's debut in May 2013. 
While you are waiting for it's release I thought I'd give you a little preview. I hope you enjoy my book trailer.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think? Are you intrigued?

Click here to see the trailer*.

*Do to an agreement with the band who gave me permission to use their song in my trailer I can't embed the trailer here, but must instead direct you to it's Youtube location. :)

Book Review - Force of Habit by Alice Loweecey

Book Blurb:
Giulia Falcone is convinced she's going to Hell. First, because she left the convent. Second, her new job with a private investigator has her sneaking around and lying. Adjusting to life in the outside world isn't easy. Makeup, dating, and sex are all new to her. And despite a crush on her boss Frank Driscoll--a foul-mouthed, soft-hearted ex-cop--Giulia is sure he'd never fall for an ex-nun.

Her first case involves drop-dead handsome Blake Parker, a man with immense wealth and an ego to match. He and his fiancee are getting disturbing "gifts" with messages based on biblical verses. When Giulia is drawn into the stalker's twisted game, salacious photos of her appear, threatening her job and her friendship with Frank. No one imagines--least of all naive Giulia--the danger ahead, when following the clues turns into a fight for her life.

Book one in the dangerously habit-forming Falcone & Driscoll Investigation series.


My review:Most people don't know this about me, but when I was a young teenager I wanted to convert to Catholicism and for a brief period thought I'd like to be a Nun. The idea of being a Nun is still a bit fascinating to me. So when I read that this book was about a former Nun - and was written by a former Nun - I had to read it! 

Of course this is not a memoir. It is fiction and a mystery so it doesn't give us a complete look at the life of a former Nun, but it does give us a glimpse of what it would be like to leave the Nunnery as a 30 something virgin trying to adjust to the real world.

Add in the mix of mystery, a little humor, a lot of danger, a hint of romance and a few quirky characters and you've got an enjoyable novel worth reading.

About the author: Alice Loweecey is a former nun who went from the convent to playing prostitutes on stage to accepting her husband’s marriage proposal on the second date. Her teenage sons clamor for dramatic cameos in future books, but she’s thinking they’ll make good Redshirts.

She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. The author lives with her family in Western New York. Force of Habit is her first novel.

To learn more about Alice check out her website.