The Indie Book Blog Database

Book Review: In the Middle of Almost and Other Stories by S.B. Lerner

Jenah — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:15:45 +0000

This anthology contains perfect coffee cup stories—titillating short bites of love as satisfying as a chocolate truffle to go along with that steaming cup of java. According to S.B. Learner, the inspiration for most of these came from her dating years two decades ago. In no way does this date the narrative. The complex struggles to find and hold onto a love connection are a timeless part of the human condition. Each vignette could as easily happen tomorrow as it did all those years ago.

S.B. Lerner takes us along with her affable prose and best friend-like cantor to experience all aspects of a love connection: inexplicable attraction, forbidden thoughts, betrayal, euphoria, fears and grief. The short “French Fries” takes us through the breezy triumph of a single girl on an awful date while the anthology’s namesake, “In the Middle of Almost,” dips the reader’s toes into darker notes of loss and the sacrifice of romantic love for the sake of children. With each glimpse, Ms. Lerner brings fresh descriptive passages and captivating turns-of-phrase that transport the reader seamlessly into distinct but wholly interconnected worlds. Always with the intoxicating undercurrent of what-if, the stories never shy away from being raw and candid. The last two memoir bites have little to do with romantic love, but the reader’s only complaint will be that there aren’t more stories in the anthology for that next cup of coffee. An addictive little read for dating and committed women of all ages.

Guest Blog: Ann Whitely-Gillen

Jenah — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:46:44 +0000

Last Train to Omaha came about under very extraordinary circumstances. Having been diagnosed with breast cancer last year changed my life – and in many ways, for the better. Taking a step back during my recovery allowed me to see things more clearly and redefine myself to become more of the person I was meant to be. Although my role in life was well defined (wife, mother of four, full time public servant), I was missing something meaningful and deep. Something about me was lost as I trudged through my hectic daily routine and never-ending demands of life. I lost me.

I strongly believe I rediscovered myself through the characters in this book. I was able to seek solace in their ability to overcome diversity with courage in their hearts and the peaceful resignation within the connections they share amongst themselves. I can actually say that each character represents a connection I’ve made in my life.

Through the eyes of James Milligan and his ensemble cast of supporting characters, we see that destiny is not only what life brings us – it’s about how life can be uniquely tailored simply by how we choose to respond to it.

I’d love to hear from you; email me at info@anngillenbooks.com

Annie

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Synopsis of Book: Last Train to Omaha

What happens when a young man’s promising future is tragically derailed at the age of eighteen?

Thirty-five-year-old James Milligan, the solitary and impenetrable chief architect at one of Chicago’s leading design firms, has never recovered from the horrific death of his best friend nearly two decades before. He’s learned that a distant heart is the only way to shut out the nagging guilt and pain that threatens to capsize him at any moment. Only the dying veterans at the Aaron Milligan Palliative Care Center know the depth of overwhelming compassion that James harbors within himself, and he is determined never to let anyone else into his heart—or his future—again.

However, when beautiful and caring nurse Rebecca Doyle enters his world, his hardened exterior reluctantly begins to crack. Will Martin Diggs, the charismatic and perplexing Vietnam War veteran convince James that it’s not too late to reclaim his future?

Last Train to Omaha

Ann Whitely-Gillen, author

ISBN 780991832507

Softcover, 278 pages

Fiction & Literature

Availability: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBooks, Ann’s Official Website

About the Author

Ann Whitely-Gillen resides in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, where she has honed her writing skills over the years. Ann lived in Sydney, Australia for more than a year in the 1990s volunteering her writing and public relations expertise to organizations including Greenpeace. She is also an accomplished musician and singer in an acoustic band, known as “Capo.”

Ann has always wanted to write a screenplay and, in fact, Last Train to Omaha started out with that in mind. After forty pages of writing, Ann decided to turn the screenplay into a novel as she wanted to delve deeper into James Milligan’s personal journey and enrich her vision about the characters and their chemistry. Ann’s next project is to write the screenplay for Last Train to Omaha, her debut novel, so stay tuned.

Ann-Whitely Gillen lives with her husband and four children, who she loves to spend time with along with their family dog. In her leisure time, Ann can be found curled up with a good book and a glass of red wine!

Find Ann Whitely-Gillen on the Web:

Official Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Book Review: Tiberius Found by Andrew Goodman

Jenah — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:14:35 +0000

International thriller meets YA. Such is the premise for Tiberius Found, a near-futuristic, science-laden, high-octane novel by Andrew Goodman. In a 2028 world where the science of human advancement has far outdistanced ethics, one boy rises to the challenge to try to restore a moral stasis.

Daniel Henstock is an unassuming sixteen year old. A quiet brainiac with a propensity for being on the wrong end of a bully’s fist, he lives an unassuming life in London until the night his parents are murdered. Daniel is kidnapped to an undisclosed location where he learns his family and identity have all been a lie. He is Tiberius, a codename for a genetically-ideal specimen created by a mad man behind a revolutionary medical/pharmaceutical corporation. With seemingly only one ally, a man who rescued him from unspeakable experiments sixteen years earlier, Daniel relocates to America. What begins as a hiding attempt quickly transforms into a mission with one objective: revenge.

Aiming for a young and hip Fugitive-esque vibe, Goodman delivers a suspenseful read with a teenaged hero whose Eidetic memory is no match for the technological superpowers of the immoral engine who crafted him. Occasionally bogged down in self-impressive scientific description, the vision and creativity of Daniel’s new world—especially the lab of horrors—is sure to appeal to young male readers. Any hint of a romantic subplot stays just that—a hint. Lack of editing and underdeveloped characterization that could have transcended Daniel beyond a superficial genetic wunderkind takes the edge off what promised to be a wild, youthful ride that explored themes of misplaced identity.

Book Review: Human Instincts by Ioana Visan

Jenah — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:23:35 +0000

After a deadly virus hits the human race, and an even more devastating vaccine has been administered to survivors, it is up to our heroine, Dr. Deanna Nichols, to save the the future of humanity. Visan gives us a terrifying new post-apocalyptic premise. The story pulls the reader along and holds back just enough to deliver that rare flash of feeling at all the right moments.

Deanna is an unlikely hero, but I empathize with her in her guilt-driven quest to save the world. She’s closeted off from everyone–from any human interaction–that the prospect of her being shipped off to an all-male high-security prison is exhilarating. As a reader, I am expectant to see Deanna change and grow, but wonder if she is capable of succeeding in her mission.

And then there’s Tom, her war criminal protector; he reflects our question: Just what is it about Deanna that is so vital to the mission? The tension between the two slowly builds, and without giving too much away, the ending is very satisfying. The post-war world of Human Instincts is sci-fi enough for the genre, but not so much as to turn me off. I especially enjoyed the medical technology, and would enjoy reading more apocalyptic fiction set in this world. I honestly didn’t know where the book was headed, which kept me guessing and hoping that the characters I’d emotionally invested in would make it. It’s a testament to the writer how she was able to get me to care so much for the Deanna and Tom after so few pages. The vague ending leaves us hopeful, even in the face of human extinction. If the author is considering a sequel to Human Instincts, count this review as my vote.

Review: Exponential Apocalypse Dead Presidents by Eirik Gumeny

Jenah — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:10:00 +0000

I found this book to be quite entertaining if not a bit out of the normal. There a lot that goes in to the story, the least of which is Thor the God of Thunder and Timmy and telepathic squirrel. If that alone doesn’t tell you something and get your interest I don’t know what will.

Thor is still the God of Thunder but is also now a desk clerk at a not so run of the mill hotel. He hates his job, but likes the people and after witnessing the world ending too many times to count it’s about the best thing he can do to pass the time. Yes, that’s right. The world has ended numerous times as our story starts, in some mightily far out ways, but that’s beside the point. Living in the hotel are a motley assortment of other characters, some who should be familiar to most everybody if not by what they did then at least by their names. Queen Victoria XXX and Chester A. Arthur XVII are just two of them. The numerals after their names denote the number of times they were cloned. Again, yes, you read that right, cloned. Scientists got bored and started cloning famous presidents and others for lack of anything better to entertain them.

Nikola Tesla and Andrew Jackson II are the main two bad guys, one being quite a bit worse than the other. Andrew Jackson II is basically out to kill all the other clones so that he can run for president of the fractured country again. Little does he realize nobody really cares about the fracture or the president or the government for that matter. They are all pretty happy the way they are, but that doesn’t matter to Andrew.

All in all with the clones, dinosaurs, Gods of Thunder, and radioactive mutants the story is pretty entertaining from start to finish. The writing was easily understood with quite a few ingenious ideas for this type of genre that could probably support their own book length story all by themselves. I give this book a 4 stars because I enjoyed it that much.

Book Review: Mom Con by K. Morris

Jenah — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:24:56 +0000

In Mom Con, Morris takes us on a humorous and adventurous tale of Anita Henry a single mother who has been unjustly fired from her former employer Earth Angel. The story progresses in a Janet Evanovichesque style; it is filled with dry wit. Anita and her fellow former co-workers (& current friends) were deceived by their previous boss Evan who stole their newly devised concept for his own ends before letting them go. Evan then files a lawsuit against charging Anita and her friends with corporate espionage. Because of Evan’s sketchy ways, Anita and her friends are forced to stop their extensive business plans to launch their innovate product One Touch. Determined to bounce back Anita then decides to launch a new night-club. Unfortunately, it appears life will not make things easy for her. She struggles to handle her lazy musician brother, a dead-beat dad of an ex-husband, and her brother greedy manager who takes advantage of her brother. Yet, we admire Anita because she is hard-working and thoughtful. She is classy, but not pretentious. She believes the key to success is hard-work in combination with creativity. Morris writes a well-crafted novel. She strives to set the scene appropriate for the reader by paying attention to the details. Her witty style kept the action rolling along. Moreover, I found many of the things that befall Anita very realistic. We have all had times when we go through a rut or where or it feels like you are riding the rollercoaster of life. Forgetting to pick up a child from school, having well-laid plans dashed, an ex-husband or a relative that is not pulling his own weight. These are all problems we can identify with. Yet it isn’t all down. Sometimes the rollercoaster ride is up and bad people get what they deserve. In the middle of it all – starting a business, raising a kid, and dealing with litigation, still sneak in some romance with Drake, an old flame. All in all, I recommend this book to anyone and consider it a must-read for anyone who appreciates witty and Evanovich-type novels. I give it four stars.

Book Review: The Forgotten Child by Lorrhaine Eckhart (4 Stars)

Jenah — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:36:47 +0000

In The Forgotten Child by Lorrhaine Eckhart explores the developing relationship between Emily Nelson and Brad Friessen. Emily, the mother of a young daughter, has separated from her husband at the beginning of the novel. Her husband’s controlling ways and emotional immaturity have finally reached her limit. It is a turning point for Emily as she realizes that she must take dramatic action if she wishes to escape this destructive relationship. Fortunately, she is able to secure a job right away. Brad Friessen is the father of troubled and poorly understood young boy with autism or an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Brad’s wife abandoned him a couple years ago and he has barely managed to look after his son, maintain his home, and manage his family farm. Desperate to bring some order to his home he hires Emily to look after his son and cook meals. The remainder of the story examines the struggles of dealing with a young child with autism/autism spectrum disorder, Brad’s attempt to fully remove his estranged wife from his life, and Emily’s attempts to continue her individual growth and assert her independence and strength even while in a new romantic relationship. I was happy to see Eckhart’s exploration of Autism/autism spectrum disorders. It is a real-life issue that is part of our modern culture. I also applaud Eckhart for trying to portray her characters as multi-dimensional. One can be a good parent striving for the best for one’s child, while possessing very human flaws. Yet despite the authors attempt to include many aspects of our modern society in her novel – unhealthy and abusive relationships, learning and behavioral disorders, and estranged family members – I sometimes found it difficult to support the protagonists at times. I don’t expect my protagonists to be perfect. Indeed novel plots often depend on the frailties of the heroine or hero, but I found myself criticizing Emily and Brad more often than I wanted. I applauded Emily’s efforts to leave the unhealthy relationship with her husband and assert her independence. However, she seems to fall for Brad too quickly. She puts up with his mercurial nature to easily. His mood seems to change as often as that of his autism-impacted three-year old son. Yet, Emily seems to take it in stride. Towards the end of the novel, her backbone reasserts itself and we see that she forces Brad to acknowledge certain behavior that is take her role in his life for granted – his failure to defend Emily’s role in her son’s life and poor communication. Despite Brad’s weaknesses here they were understandable within the context of the plot. However, what I found most troubling though was Brad’s attempts to protect Emily from vindictiveness of his first wife by keeping the truth of her actions from Emily. He compounds the error in my mind by using the threat of potential lawsuit by Emily as a means of protecting her reputation. Has Emily jumped from one controlling relationship to another one? Overall, I recommend Eckhart’s novel. However, I ultimately felt as though I were reading romance novel written in the 1980s when the genre was different in its treatment of romantic relationships. Nowadays, a couple in a romance novel who have sex without any form of contraception on two separate occasions – particularly when both are already parents and still legally married to others– to take appropriate precautions to protect from unwanted pregnancy and disease seems the height of folly. Ultimately, if you enjoy Western’s, 1980s romances, or Lifetime movies you will enjoy this book.

Book Review: Second Chance Grill by Christine Nolfi

Jenah — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:38:23 +0000

Second Chance Grill is a delightful read about a young physician on sabbatical who falls in love with a father and his daughter, a preteen cancer survivor, in a small town. This second novel in Christine Nolfi’s Liberty Series is inspiring and motivational. It is also aptly named.

The title of the book is the name of the restaurant Dr. Chance goes to manage. However, the main characters in the novel are offered second chances, not just Dr. Mary Chance. Chance struggles to decide how she well redefine her life goals after the death of a dear friend. Should she continue their plans of taking over the Cincinnati community clinic? Will this year sabbatical managing the only restaurant in Liberty, Ohio help her to recover from her recent loss or is being accepted in this quirky town too difficult for the non-culinary trained physician.

We see a father struggle to enter the dating scene again after a long absence as when he attempts to woo Dr. Chance. Becoming a father just out of high school and being abandoned by your wife within a couple years has made adult romantic relationships unfamiliar territory. He has spent most of his adulthood trying to be a good father and provider and the caught up in the concerns for his sick child. Does Dr. Chance represent a second chance for marital happiness?

Finally, we see a girl battle with cancer again and find out whether she will be given a second chance at survival. A well meaning and loving family alone in combination with caring and considerate healthcare team are not enough. The community also play and integral role.

All in all, Second Chance Grill was a well-written, well rounded novel for any who enjoy this genre. I was able to follow alone without knowledge of the first book in the series. My only criticisms of the novel were very minor. Dr. Chance reflects on her past experiences as physician and how much she has grown. From her frustrations with the uninsured, to an appreciation of their struggles as something that was overcome during her residency as though his were long ago. However, in the scheme of things she has only recently completed he residency. She also has relatively little experience to lead a community-based facility single-handedly. A partnership with other practitioners would have been more realistic, but it is understandable why such an approach was taken for the sake of the plot. In the end, I highly recommend the book to anyone searching for a inspirational romance novel. I give it 5 stars. Indeed, I plan on going back to read Treasure Me, the first book in the Liberty Series.

Review: The Emergence by Devin K. Smyth

Jenah — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:02:39 +0000

I’m a big fan of end of the world type books and this one didn’t let me down. It wasn’t a roller coaster ride type of book though, so if that’s what you’re looking for you might want to look elsewhere. This is a nice steady build to the end of the world with little explanation for why and then what one 11 year old does after it happens. We start off after everything has gone down and the world is in chaos with Derek, otherwise known as DC, and his cat Pooch. A bit of a funny name for a cat, but don’t worry, it’s explained in the story. Our main character is holed up in a cave, but we don’t really find out why until later. Trust me it all makes sense and as the reader thought it was actually the best place for him. He had pretty much everything he needed, but I understand for the sake of the story he eventually needed to get out of it. The things his parents and friends do don’t really make all that much sense either, but I guess we are supposed to believe once the end come people would still feel bad about taking things that have been abandoned in order to survive. I got news for you, I sure won’t. If the owner isn’t there anymore, it’s pretty much free game as far as I’m concerned. This story isn’t your typical end of the world romp, as I mentioned before. The main protagonist isn’t an undead army or a decimating virus. This time it’s a cloud. Yup, your read that right. A cloud, but not a simple one like you see floating through the sky as you try to figure out if it looks more like a dragon or a horse. This one starts off small in a state park, but soon spreads all over the world. We’re never told if this one cloud is the originating cloud or if there are others. Needless to say, things die, people go crazy and it goes downhill from there. We only hear a little bit about how this cloud is affecting the rest of the world, but we do find out it’s everywhere and people aren’t reacting well to it. The residents DC’s town don’t fare any better, pretty much going survivor crazy to the point of eating all the pets and maybe even some of the residents among other things. The ending didn’t really make too much sense to me, seeming to come just in the nick of time, but it was worked and gave the reader a nice happily ever after type ending. I would give this story a 3.5 mostly because of the ending I mentioned. It just seemed a bit too rushed and neat to me. It was like the writer said “and they were punished enough.” The end. Much too neat and tidy for me. Others might like it more.

Review: Courted Sanctuary by Tara Young

Jenah — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:35:41 +0000

In Courted Sanctuary, Young takes us to an intriguing world. Well-written and well-researched, her novel explores the conflict in the ancient world along with corruption and religious beliefs, all with a dash of romance.

Luitguard and Sieglinde are high priestesses in their small isolated community where they worship the goddess safely away from the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church. After decades of successful isolation, their haven is breached when a Dominican arrives. Perplexed by the failure of the goddess to maintain the guard against outsiders and concerned that more will arrive Luitguard decides to leave with Justin, the Dominican, in search of answers. Sieglende is left behind to lead her people and prepare them for a potential attack from troops. Both women are tossed into roles they never anticipated. The ending of the novel offers a few unexpected surprises.

Young’s novel is an excellent read. She readily weaves turmoil and suspicion alongside questions of faith and philosophy. No easy feat. I look forward to reading additional works by this author.