Category: Member’s Titles

Serene (A Dr. Rachel E. Color-Me-Mystery: Book 1) by Jim Musgrave

Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Member’s Titles

Date of publication: July 17th, 2016

Part of a series: Yes

Which series: Dr. Rachel E. Color-Me-Mystery

Serene – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

This is the mystery that establishes Dr. Rachel Edelstein as a sleuth with a super-power. Raised on an ashram in California, she is molested by Guru Bhagwan Sharma, but he pays for her college education after her parents are found dead inside a lab working on a secret experiment called “Serene.”

While working as a psychiatrist in the Israeli Army, she treats two IDF soldiers who had also been members of the Omshanti ashram back home. When they are murdered in a strangely anti-Semitic way, and no DNA evidence can be found, she decides to resign her commission and return to California to try to solve the murders.

After she teams up with another Jewish psychiatrist, Dr. Jacob Stein, who attends the same Kaballah study group, she is recruited by a scientist who worked with her parents on Serene. Dr. Joshua Lawrence implants the beta test device in her brain, but instead of allowing her to control her own libido, she is able to see the sex traumas of others.

This is the first mystery in a series that features illustrations that can be colored by the reader. Watch for more Dr. Rachel Edelstein and Dr. Jacob Stein Techno-Mysteries.

My review:

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. It is part adult coloring book and part mystery. I made the mistake of leaving my Kindle on with one of the pictures up, and my 11-year-old had a look. She had no clue what it was but still.

If I had the paperback (or even hardcover) of the book, I would have been coloring in those pictures. They looked fun to color and did go with the story.

The story, itself was also decent. In the beginning, it was all over the place, which is something I hate in a book. Once I got past Rachel’s backstory, the story progressed. The author did an excellent job keeping who the bad guy a mystery until the end.

Rachel had overcome a lot in this book. Her parents moved her to a commune when she was 10. She was chosen as a “bride of passion” and raped when she was 12. Then her parents died. That’s a lot for a kid, and Rachel has issues. She returns to the commune after two IDF soldiers are murdered in horrific ways. She agrees to become the beta tester for a project that her parents were working on when they died.

I won’t say much about the book after that point. I will say that it is full of androids, bizarre sexual practices, and one woman who is looking for answers.

I did like that the Kabbalah was mentioned here. Rachel was a student of it, and the author did get into some of what it is about, but not enough. I wished that he did because I find it fascinating.

The end of the book was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting the killer to be who it was. I am pretty good at figuring out mysteries, and this one I didn’t and it still chafes at me.

How many stars will I give Serene? 4

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes but with a warning about the coloring book pages.

Age range: Adult

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland

The Girl From The Sea: A gripping psychological thriller with a heart-pounding twist by [Boland, Shalini]

Publisher: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Member’s Titles

Date of publication: June 9th, 2016

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

‘I can’t remember anything. Not even my own name.’

When Mia James is washed up on a beautiful, sun-drenched beach she has no idea who she is or what happened to her. She doesn’t even recognise her own face – until a man comes forward claiming to be her boyfriend and providing her with an identity.

As Mia tries to adjust to the perfect life she was living before her accident, she quickly realises that something is wrong. Why is everyone around her lying to her? What don’t they want her to remember?

My review:

Mia is found half-drowned on the beach by a good Samaritan. When she is at the hospital, she finds out that she has retrograde amnesia. After the police put her face on the news with a “Do you know this woman,” her boyfriend shows up to identify her. She is released into his custody.

This is where the book gets excellent. Mia starts remembering bits and pieces of what happened to her. She is seeing the specter of an angry, blonde woman and thinks that she is hallucinating. As she regains her memories, she realizes that not everything is what it seems.

I don’t like stories about amnesia, but this one had me hooked. The mystery behind the accident was written so skillfully that I had no clue what happened until the end.

Mia didn’t click with me. I don’t know why there was such a disconnect, but there was.

Let’s speak about the end, but I won’t be ruining anything for anyone. It had to have been the best ending in a mystery that I have EVER read. There are two twists that were huge. The final pages of the book, let’s say, stalker.

How many stars will I give The Girl From the Sea? 4

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range: Adult

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Through Raging Waters (Snowy Range Chronicles: Book 1) by Renee Blare

Through Raging Waters by [Blare, Renee]

Publisher: Prism Book Group

Date of publication: July 8th, 2016

Series: Snowy Range Chronicles.

To Soar on Eagle’s Wings – Book 1

Through Raging Waters – Book 2

Genre: Romance, Christian

Where can you find this book? Amazon

Book synopsis:

If Mother Nature has her way, Timber Springs will never be the same…

A warm spring and early rainstorms melt the snowpack. Spring runoff compounded by the storm of the century sends Timber Springs into a tailspin.
Tossed into the role of rescuer, local pharmacist Paul Fitzgerald must face his past before the whole world falls apart. While he fights to contain the beast around him, he finds his steadfast control slipping through his fingers. And life…everyone’s life…hangs by a thread once again.
She isn’t a hero. Melissa Hampton has her own demons to battle. After she learns of her mysterious beginnings amidst her mother’s keepsakes, she faces more than just the river rushing outside her door. Now, she must discern friend from foe…but as waters rise and tension climbs within Timber Springs, she needs to rise to the challenge or lose the only man she’s ever loved.

Can two people find each other through raging waters?

My review:

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, considering that it started slow. I had trouble getting through the first couple of chapters before it picked up steam.

Through Raging Waters is a Christian romance and I was expecting it to be incredibly preachy. It wasn’t. Melissa and Paul’s relationship interweaved skillfully with each other and other people. Unlike some other Christian novels I have read, their relationship and religion wasn’t preachy.

Through Raging Waters is not a standalone book. I wish that I had read To Soar on Eagle’s Wings (which is Rachel and Steve’s story) to understand some of the back stories in this book. It doesn’t take away from the book at all. It raised some questions on my end about what happened in the first book.

I did like Melissa. She was strong in faith and spirit. I couldn’t have gone on living in a town where my attacker resided and not known who he was. It would have driven me crazy. I felt awful during the scenes where she uncovered her deceased mother’s secrets and then met her father. Talk about hitting you in the feels.

Paul was an enigma to me. I couldn’t figure out what he did. I did figure out that the discussion about his job happened in book 1.  His faith was just as strong as Melissa’s. I believe that his prayers and Melissa’s determination to get to him are what saved him.

I liked that the romance between Paul and Melissa was almost not there. There were sparks at the beginning that got squashed by the flood, Paul’s father having a stroke and Paul leaving on the rescue mission. The whole time he was gone, they both thought of each other regularly and with love. It wasn’t until Ajax forced Melissa to come to terms with her feelings and she let Paul know how she felt that the book took on the romance angle.

The ending of the book was great. There was a big plot twist that I saw coming but didn’t expect and another one that took me by surprise. I liked that while everything was wrapped up for Melissa and Paul, the author left the book open for the other children.

How many stars will I give Through Raging Waters? 4/4.5

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age Range: Teen

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Exploits: A Glamorous, Dangerous Romance (Sex &Secrets: Book 1) by Clara Grace Walker

EXPLOITS: A Glamorous, Dangerous Romance (Sex & Secrets Book 1)

Publisher:

Date of publication: July 1st, 2016

Genre: Romance, Mystery

Series: Sex & Secrets

Exploits: A Glamorous, Dangerous Romance – Book 1

Whispers—Book 2

Purchase Links: Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis:

What would you do if someone left a dead body in the backseat of your car?

Publicity-shy author Sunny Drysdale is forced to find out. After bumping into celebrity impersonator Boyd Bradford at a wedding reception the night before, and seeing him leave with rival author Darla Arnold, Sunny knows exactly who to blame for his appearance in her car. She’s suffered countless dirty tricks at Darla’s hands, and Sunny is determined this one will be the last. Her plan to return the body to Darla is thwarted, however, when she is flagged down, corpse still in car, by handsome police Chief Jeremy Jennings.

How can you love someone if you can’t trust them?

Jeremy is torn by his attraction to Sunny. If life has taught him anything, it’s that relationships are a trap. Worse still, he has two main suspects in Boyd Bradford’s disappearance, and Sunny Drysdale is one of them. With counterfeit bills popping up all over town and Boyd rumored to be a mob hit, Sunny is either in way over her head, or a beautiful, but devious criminal. His head says she’s only using their romance to distract him. His heart is determined not to care. Telling himself his interest in Sunny is only about solving his case; Jeremy loses himself to the passion simmering between them.

Will these two ever be honest with one another, and give in to the desire tempting them both? Or is their romance doomed to a catastrophic end?

This book was a hot mess. I didn’t know what to expect from one chapter to the next. Usually, I can’t stand that in a book, but this one worked.

I wasn’t fond of Sunny’s character at first. She was too innocent and too much of a goody two shoes. When the missing man turns up in the back seat of her car, what does she do, she puts the body in a freezer. Seriously??? I put my Kindle down and said: “Why???“. I loved the name she came up for him, the Boydsicle. Every time I saw it, I giggled a little bit.

Sunny has some serious issues going on. Her parents died right after telling her they were disappointed in her and her aunt (who raised her) is pushy. But the main one was that she was hung up on a guy who took her virginity at 17 and told her that she wasn’t good enough for him to have sex with again, 9 years later. I remember thinking, “Girl, you need a therapist.”

Darla was a biatch. She was the one who put the body in Sunny’s car, and she kept leaking “information” about him being missing to a reporter, and she was sleeping with every guy in the book except Leo and Jeremy. Darla hates Sunny. She thinks that Sunny is better than her, and she tries to outdo her in everything. I liked her, and her scenes in the book (especially the ones in the shoe store and the dress shop) were hilarious.

Jeremy was OK. I didn’t have a connection with him as I did with Sunny and Darla. I liked his plan to get Sunny info about Boyd’s whereabouts. He was going to sleep with her. Good police work, Chief (oh yeah, he’s a police chief).

There were sparks between him and Sunny but to begin a relationship on lies is not good. The sex scenes were fantastic!!

There are so many other characters in this book that if I wrote about each of them, this blog would be long and tedious, so I decided to highlight the main three above. This book read exactly like a soap opera. I was expecting to see the words “Yesterday on Exploits” pop up between chapters with a recap.

The ending was somewhat confusing, but the storylines (I think 4??) were brought together and resolved in a way that satisfied me.

I would recommend Exploits to anyone over 21. There is sex, violence, and language. There are also scenes of drug use.

The Girl Who Could Read Hearts by Sherry Maysonave

The Girl Who Could Read Hearts: A Family and the Power of Intuition by [Maysonave, Sherry]

Publisher: Empowerment Productions with Balboa Press, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Member’s Titles

Date of Publication: April 21st 2016

Genre: General Fiction

Where the book can be found: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Winner 14 Awards ─ Explore the supernatural, angels, souls, miracles, the afterlife, heaven, the power of love, intuition, & prayer ─ intertwined with a mystical family storyline and a touch of romance. “A moving, memorable story… a highly recommended, evocative read…” 
Set in the San Francisco Bay Area and inspired by a vivid dream with the author’s deceased sister shouting from a mountain top, this intriguing novel blends autobiographical fact and narrative fiction straight from the author’s heart. “Riveting.” 

If you enjoy CS Lewis, Ann Voskamp, Eckhardt Tolle, Oprah, Judith Orloff, or mystical stories like The Shack, or The Alchemist, or The Celestine Prophecy, you’ll be captivated.

Kate Kindrick is born gifted with a 7th sense ─ the ability to read human hearts coupled with keen intuition. Kate struggles to understand her premonitions while surrounded by skeptical, sometimes cruel, family members and their secrets. Is Kate psychic? A medium? Simply intuitive? Empowered by Angels?

The segments of this story that embrace death are drawn from Sherry’s real-life experiences when she was present with beloved family members as they passed away. Her wondrous encounters of loved ones’ spirits after their physical deaths are deeply engaging. This tantalizing novel percolates with subtle wisdom that is inspirational, transformational, and healing. 

“A breath of fresh, clean air…” “Intriguing characters” “… a page turner”

Whether you believe in the supernatural, existence of souls, miracles, the power of prayer, angels, heaven, or not, this thought-provoking book explores issues relevant to many of today’s societal woes: prejudice, abuse, eating disorders, and limiting belief systems. It delves into the mysteries of death and of angels, intuition, finding God in all, and true love. Full of spirit, it brims with inspiration, daring, hope, and the importance of following our dreams. 

My review:

This book started off slow. Slow to the point where I almost stopped reading it. After the first couple of chapters, the story started and it was a great one. Christianity is discussed in this book, but it was not shoved down my throat. The author shows the **bad** side of being a Christian and she showcases it well.

I loved Kate’s character. She is innocent and sweet that I wanted to give her a huge hug when the bad stuff started happening to her. Her ability to read hearts is something that was passed down from her grandmother. The descriptions of what people’s hearts looked like were eerie.

I didn’t like the names and how they always started with the same letter. Put it this way, her Aunt was Ruthie Renee. It bugged me.

The bad guy in this book was a legit bad guy who hid behind his wealth and Christianity. Every time I read his scenes, I got a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to swoop down into the book and smack him in the face. He did get what was coming to him in the end and I was glad.

The ending was bittersweet. If I wasn’t sitting in an orthodontist office, I would have burst out into tears.

How many stars will I give The Girl Who Could Read Hearts? 3.5/4

Why? A very well written book that takes you on an emotional journey with a little girl who has a very rare, very special 7th sense of reading hearts. You get caught up in the story, after the slow start, and start rooting for people to make the right choices/decisions.

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range? Teen

Why? No sex. Also, there is an eating disorder portrayed, domestic abuse and child abuse. Also, racism and medical misconduct are portrayed.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**