Christine's Book Corner

Nora’s Promise  by Sedona Hutton  Publication date: October 5th 2018 Promises are kept that Nora's Promise,  a contemporary romance by Sedona Hutton, is a book with a little something for everyone where the main characters Nora and Davey come into each other's lives through a tragedy that is going to change both their lives forever.  When Nora's sister dies, leaving her to raise her 9-year-old nephew, Nora doesn't know that this is going to be the first of eye opening changes to come into her life.  Taking a job at a local bar, Nora doesn't know that she is soon going to discover her nephew's long-lost father, Davey, who doesn't know it at the time he is a father to such an amazing little boy.  Davey, who is a Nascar Driver, is shocked to find out he is a father, but isn't about to abandon the son he never knew he had.  Two different people from different sides of the track, yet both harboring passion for each other.  Can they put their ...

Don't wait any longer to read Delayed Justice , a contemporary suspense novel by Cara Putman that shows it is never too late to let your voice be heard.  Jamie Nichols has seen experienced things as a child that no one should ever go through in their life.  She didn't have a voice back then, but as an adult she does and she plans on using that voice so that no one will ever have to endure what she has in the past.  Chandler Bolton is a retired veteran, brought into Jamie's life as they are trying to help a young child who is going through the same events Jamie once did.  Together, will they be able to protect this young victim?  Will Jamie finally let her walls come down so she could love again?  Will her voice be enough to put the person who damaged her responsible for his actions?  Find out in this third installment of the Hidden Justice series. The book opens up with us reading what was happening to Jamie as a child, leaving us with a know...

Title: The Empty Author:  Thom Reese Publication Date: May 8, 2014 Rating: 1/5 Stars  The life of being a reyaqc, where you don't have your own characteristics and must rely on feeding off of humans or any other living being in order for you to become whole.  They're all around us.  They could be anyone, even your closest friend and you may never know.  While some have no problem letting the outside know what they really are, some will live in secret, friending you and trying to be as human-like as possible.  Donald Baker is the most famous reyaqc of the time.  For centuries, he lived without anyone knowing what he really was, but as times changed, so did his ability to keep his identity a secret.  All he's ever wanted to do was bring reyaqcs public, showing that they could live in in society, but it's not easy.  Everything is planned perfectly according to Donald, until a rogue reyawc begins to go on a killing spree in Las Vegas...

Title: Awakened Authors: James S. Murray                 Darren Wearmouth Published: June 26, 2018 Rating: 5/5 Stars You won't look at subways the same way again after reading Awakened  by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth.  A horror, thriller book that will take you deep into the darkness of the New York City subways.   It's been a long time in the making.  A new expansion of the Z train, connecting not only the boroughs of NYC but also Jersey for an easy commute.  The shining jewel of this state-of-the-art line is a breathtaking visitors’ pavilion beneath the river.  This is a monumental event for the city bringing in the city's Mayor and the President of the United States Major dignitaries for the opening of the subway extension.  What no one knows is that deep below the streets of NYC a creature has been awakened by the construction of the subway.  That is, until the train co...

Summary take from Goodreads A racial divide threatens to split apart a small southern town in 1967: a white child disappears, a community market burns to the ground, and a young black man stands accused of both crimes. When an elderly grandmother attempts to hide an old family secret, she unwittingly pushes her grandchildren into the middle of a dark tale of violence, deception, prejudice, and redemption, as Boo Radley's shadow appears in the less innocent 60s. My Review: 5 Stars for Only A Hummingbird Flies Backwards, a historical fiction novel by John J. Quick, that takes us back into time during the 1960's when the Civil Rights movement was going on in America and innocent people were being blamed for crimes solely for the reason of their race. Chapters A Shift In The Wind - Lanny's Fall :  At first, I couldn't take to the characters, especially parts that Quick had written of the boys setting caterpillars on fire, or the part of dogs being poisoned.  Being...

Summary from Goodreads How deep can you love? Passion and danger collide in the explosive finale to Emily and Shane's story. After tragedy strikes, Shane hovers on the edge of being consumed by darkness. He will fight for the woman he loves. He will destroy his enemy. He will not back down. As shocking twists, dark secrets, and explosive betrayals within the Brandon family come to the light, Shane must fight harder than ever before. Every thread weaves a dangerous web. Emily and Derek. Brandon Senior. Maggie and her affair. The leader of the dangerous cartel who's wedged itself inside the Brandon Empire. It all comes to a head in the shattering conclusion to the Dirty Money series. My Review: It's 4 out of 5 Stars  for End Game, a contemporary romance novel that is full of action and suspense with many twist and turns that will be leaving your jaw dropped at points. Chapters 1-9:  Jones grabs your attention within the first chapter with action happening imme...

Summary from Goodreads “Tragedy and blessing. Leave them alone long enough, and it gets real hard to tell them apart.” Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child, to her mother’s abandonment, and now to an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Driven to the high mountains surrounding Leadville, Colorado by her latest bad decision, she’s intent on putting off the future. Perhaps there she can just hide in her grandmother’s isolated cabin and wait for something—anything—to make her next choice for her. Instead, she is confronted by reflections of her own troubles wherever she turns—the recent widower and his two children adrift in a changed world, Elena’s own mysterious family history, and the interwoven lives within the town itself. Bit by bit, Elena begins to question her understanding of cause and effect, reexamining the tragedies she’s held on to and the wounds she’s refu...

Summary from Goodreads Challenging perceptions of discrimination and prejudice, this emotionally resonant drama for readers of Lisa Wingate and Jodi Picoult explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district--and in their lives. When an impoverished school district loses its accreditation and the affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their school doors, the lives of three very different women converge: Camille Gray--the wife of an executive, mother of three, long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser--faced with a shocking discovery that threatens to tear her picture-perfect world apart at the seams. Jen Covington, the career nurse whose long, painful journey to motherhood finally resulted in adoption but she is struggling with a happily-ever-after so much harder than she anticipated. Twenty-two-year-old Anaya Jones--the first woman in her family to graduate college and a brand new teacher at Crystal Ridge's to...

Summary from Goodreads A unique set of quirky short stories, told in a humorous style somewhere between Reader's Digest funny one-liners and Christopher Moore's laugh-out-loud novels. My Review: Run far as you can from the crazy world in The Fiction of Marlon,  a collection of short stories from Marlon Pearson. I've read many books that contained short stories before and have never enjoyed what I read.  I was hoping it would be different reading this book from Marlon Pearson, but unfortunately, it was the same as other books that were full of short stories. I was expecting funny stories as the summary stated and yet, I didn't find one of them to be funny.  In fact, most were confusing and hard to follow along.  I ended up skimming through a majority of them, feeling like it was a chore to get through them.  There are times when you read short stories in a book and they seemed to be tied in with one another.  I didn't get that feeling with Pearso...

Summary from Goodreads It took Lauren and her husband ten years to achieve their dream—reaching primitive tribes in remote regions of Nepal. But while Sam treks into the Himalayas for weeks at a time, finding passion and purpose in his work among the needy, Lauren and Ryan stay behind, their daily reality more taxing than inspiring. For them, what started as a calling begins to feel like the family’s undoing.  At the peak of her isolation and disillusion, a friend from Lauren’s past enters her life again. But as her communication with Aidan intensifies, so does the tension of coping with the present while reengaging with the past. It’s thirteen-year-old Ryan who most keenly bears the brunt of her distraction. Intimate and bold , Of Stillness and Storm  weaves profound dilemmas into a tale of troubled love and honorable intentions gone awry. My Review: Everyone wants their dreams to come true.  What happened when they do and the person you share your life with i...

Summary from Goodreads From the New York Times bestselling author of A Dog Named Christmas comes this heartwarming Christmas story about the power of family and the strength and love that comes from our pets.  In this installment of the poignant stories of the McCray family and their lovable canines in rural Kansas, matriarch Mary Ann McCray is determined to shake up Christmas by accepting the role as Crossing Trail's first woman Santa Claus. Mary Ann, always a bit of a rebel, is looking to offer a more progressive voice in the staunchly conservative town at Christmastime and has a few ideas up her red velvet sleeves.   My Review: This was the first book I've read about the McCray family, but hearing about A Dog Named Christmas and seeing that this book was about another dog, I had to read it.  As a dog parent myself, any book that involves dogs.  Most of the time I'm not disappointed in the story and this is one of those times, except for a few things...

Summary from Goodreads Is there a past too awful for even God to forgive? The Dinah Harris mystery series continues.... Angus Whitehall's past never really died....it just stubbornly waited for vengeance. A killer has settled into his small rural community, and no one suspects that the local pastor knows much more than he can say. Crippled by the devastating choices of his youth, Angus watches as those he led astray are methodically punished by someone from their violent, racist past. Unable to forgive himself, now the secrets he has kept are slowly poisoning the family whom he dearly loves. As the devastating consequences of his silence are revealed, former FBI agent Dinah Harris must step outside of the lonely isolation that cocoons her, before she can trap a killer and find peace with herself in the depths of God's mercy.   My Review: This was the first time I read a Dinah Harris mystery novel and I didn't know what to expect when picking it up.  The opening que...

Summary:  Summary from Goodreads For readers of Deborah Harkness's  A Discovery of Witches ,  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Lace Reader  Brunonia Barry returns to Salem with this spellbinding new thriller, a complex brew of suspense, seduction and murder. When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem's chief of police, John Rafferty, wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem's most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft. But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was t...

The spiders won't let you get away in Dead Spider , a mystery novel written by Victoria Houston where we return to Loon Lake and the mysteries that surround the residents. Summary: It's a happy day in June during the Youth Fishing Tournament on Loon Lake and everyone in the town is here for the annual event.  Everyone is enjoying themselves that none hear a gunshot go off on the grounds.  As the night goes on and people begin to leave, it is discovered that the richest man in the state has been shot by a single bullet to the head and is now dead.  Among this news, Doc's oldest granddaughter is caught in the middle of a drug ring and the seniors at a local center are robbed.  Are all of these  events connected to bring sadness to Loon Lake? Review: This was the first book I read in the series and I wasn't familiar with the tone or of Houston's writing.  I had high expectations from when I started the book and Houston didn't disappoint. As soon ...

Beware of the bosses in The Cartel 7: Illuminati: Roundtable of the Bosses,  a crime fiction novel by Ashley and Jaquavis Coleman where the Diamonds are back at it again with a life of crime. Summary: Carter Diamond is in exile in order to protect his family, but his wife is in jail and he has no idea what happened to his son, or his brother's child during his time away.  Now that he has found a group of people that will help him, he wonders if he will be alone forever.  Will Carter find his family before it's too late?  My Review: I'll admit, this is the first of the series I read, so maybe that's why it was hard for me to get through, but I did.  The beginning of the book was hard for me and Coleman really should've clarified it which child was who, Mo and C.J.  I had to go back and forth to try and figure it out, which I don't like to do when reading.  I want to get right into it and continue reading.  Coleman did a wonderf...

It's not a childhood you want to visit in The Childhood of Jesus,  a contemporary fiction novel by J.M. Coetzee about a lost child who is placed with a strange man in a country they know nothing about. Summary: David is a young boy who is separated from his mother while on a boat to a new world for them.  With him is a letter that was to be read by whoever found him in hopes of finding his mother when they landed.  Sadly, the note is lost during the chaos of the trip and David is left with Simon, an older gentleman who takes it upon himself to take care of the boy until his real mother could be found.  When the two land, they are given new names and new birthdays to go along with their new lives.  Non one knows of who they really are.  David has no memory of his mother, but Simon says he'll know who she is when he sees her.  Does Simon's idea of knowing David's mother by sight for out for the two strangers? Review: This is a first for me...

Fight for the one you love in The Hardest Fight , a romance novel by Amy Vastine where the characters fight for the one they truly love. Summary: Lucy Everhart isn't about to let anyone take away the women's shelter that she runs.  Not on her watch.  When Dylan Hunt walks into her office proposing the offer to buy shelter, he is the last person Lucy ever expected to see.  He is not the man she knew 5 years ago, the man who let her go when she broke up with him.  This Dylan is a different man and she refuses to give into his offer.  She will fight all she can to keep her shelter, while Dylan is determined to fight and win Lucy's love once again. Review: What I liked:   Vastine gets the reader engaged into the story immediately.  We are introduced to Lucy and see she is a strong-willed person.  You know right away this is going to be a problem in the story as we see she uses that character trait to fight for the opposition of the stor...

Get lost in the many lives of Greta in The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells,  a Science Fiction by Andrew Sean Greer where one woman lives three different lives in three different eras. It's 1985 and Greta Wells just lived through the death of her twin brother, Felix, due to AIDS, the epidemic of the time.  Depression from her brother's death and breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Greta finds herself getting treatment from a psychiatrist.  The side effects of the treatment are strange and Greta soon finds herself living in 1918, 1941, and present day of the book, 1985.  In each era, she is living how she would had she been alive during that time.  In each time that Greta travels to, she finds each event paralleling to each other, experiencing losses each time.  As the ending of her treatments come near, Greta must choose which period to stay in.  Does she really want to return to 1985, the only time when her brother is gone for good? What I ...

Don't worry about being out after 11 at night in The 11:05 Murders,  a suspense novel by  Brian O'Hare  that will have you guessing who it is that is the murderer up until the very end of the book. Three different murders happen on Tuesday nights around the time 11:05 and the cops are hot on the trail to find out who is committing the crimes.  Clues lead the police to various suspects and soon they consider that these murders may be connected to a rape that happened 12 years ago in a college that resulted in the victim later committing suicide.  With a mysterious call giving Sergeant Stewart hints as to who the murderer is, the cops are sent on a wild goose chase with other cases coming in to find out who is the murderer of the 11:05 murders. The Cover: Before reading the book: It is a very eerie cover.  The clock that is seen in the background gives you the feeling that 11:05 is the key time in everything.  Then man in the picture, standi...