Novel Whore

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Books come into your life much like friends, sometimes they just seem to arrive at the right time. 31 Bond Street fell into my lap just as I was leaving to spend a long weekend in NYC. Written by Ellen Horan after she stumbled across an old newspaper page from 1857 with a sketch of an elegant townhome on Bond Street depicting the crowd that had gathered after a local dentist had been murdered. Much like I would have done myself, this lead Horan to research the event, which eventually became the basis for this novel.

Dr. Harvey Burdell was a successful dentist with a penchant for engaging in shady business deals on the side. Thrown into the mix is Emma Cunningham, a widower with 2 children that occupied the upper floors of the townhouse in exchange for running the household and staff. Emma is cast at the murderess that was after Dr. Burdell’s fortune. What follows is nothing short of a scary legal process that had me clenching my gut for 2 days. …continue to the book review of 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

History is always painted one of two ways, romantic or brutal. The King’s Mistress by Emma Campion explores the world of Alice Perrers, mistress to King Edward III, as she makes her way through what seems like a separate Universe from the World of today.

Campion opens with Alice asking the question “Yet when had I a choice to be other than I was?” It’s certainly a question we’ve all considered about our own choices. Most historical accounts portray Alice as a usurper that worked her way into the King’s bed in order to take over the castle, gain lands, and a fortune of her own. Campion paints a picture that I think is much more realistic when looking at the power that a commoner would have had in England at the time. A time when a commoner, especially a woman, would have no choice about the trail her life would take. …continue to the book review of The King’s Mistress by Emma Campion

I’m a fairly open minded person. I believe in freedom of choice whether it’s a religious matter, sexual, educational, or anything else in life as long as we all follow the rule that your choice shouldn’t impinge on my ability to choose.  Hidden Wives by Claire Avery reads like a firsthand account of what could have occurred leading up to the raids on the Texas Fundamentalist Mormon compound in 2008 where hundreds of girls were found in a community that routinely married young girls to older men in arranged marriages. Like many stories that come out of religious sects like these, it’s difficult looking in and (not)judging women that say they want to remain there. I’ve been routinely appalled, while at the same time believing they have a choice to live in any type of relationship they want to. Of course, the question comes down to, “do they really have a choice?”

Avery tackles this question from the inside by following the fictional story of 2 young sisters, Rachel and Sara. Rachel and Sara are diametrically opposed, Rachel, the beautiful one, is a true believer, and Sara, the unattractive intelligent one, is beginning to have serious doubts. …continue to the book review of Hidden Wives by Claire Avery

Getting into another person’s mind has always fascinated me, probably why I went into psychology. The mind of a killer, especially one with no remorse has always sucked me in, so I really wanted to pick up The Killing of Mindi Quintana by local author Jeffrey Cohen. The Killing of Mindi Quintana centers around Freddy, a simple retail china manager that commits a murder and tries to use his new found celebrity to reach his goals.

The story opens with an overview of the inner thoughts of Freddy who excels at his job, much to his dismay, as he finds himself about to move up the corporate ladder. He’s stuck in a life he doesn’t want, but can’t figure out how to get out of it. Cohen does an excellent job of making you feel Freddy’s despair, and sensing his mental imbalance. …continue to the book review of The Killing of Mindi Quintana by Jeffrey Cohen

This is a fun book review for me because it introduced me to a series of books I will definitely be following and reading when I need a quick book, leading up to the launch of the new Storm Prey by John Sanford. I’m also enjoying the reviews of the other books in the series because of the questionnaire format we are using, you should definitely check all of them out over at TLC Book Tours.

Title and series number of the book you read: Hidden Prey (Lucas Davenport, No. 15)

Year published: 2004

Tell us about Lucas Davenport: What is Lucas doing when he first appears in the book? Lucas is relaxing with his secret love, televised golf, when his wife drives her car through the garage door. Yea, this is why I don’t park in the garage because I’d either end up hitting the door or driving into the house when I accidentally put the car in drive instead of reverse. I immediately like Lucas’ wife Weather (okay, not her name though), and his reaction considering the fact that he’s warned her a million times to not come into the driveway so fast. While he’s cleaning up the mess he gets a call from his boss about a dead Russian that’s turned up that just happens to be a spy. I love those kinds of calls. …continue to the book review of Hidden Prey by John Sanford