Review: Maranatha Road by Heather Bell Adams

by Susan Roberts

As a reader, I love to find debut authors and follow their writing careers with their subsequent novels. When the book by the debut author is Southern fiction, it is an even bigger treat because that's my favorite genre to read. In the past two years, I have been lucky to find two debut authors of southern fiction and follow their careers - Kristy Woodson Harvey and Donna Everhart. Both authors had fantastic debuts (Kristy's was Dear Carolina and Donna's was The Education of Dixie Dupree) and each of them followed them up with books that were as good or better than their debuts. Now I have a new debut author to add to my list -- Heather Bell Adams. Her first novel, Maranatha Road is southern fiction at its best. I can't wait to see her future books.

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September 2017; Vandalia Press; 978-1943665754
ebook, print (300 pages); southern fiction

The word Maranatha means that 'hope is coming' and is the perfect title for this book about two women who love the same man.

The man is Mark, who dies very early in the novel. The two women who love him are Sadie, his mother and Tinley, the girl who is pregnant with his baby. The novel takes place in a small mountain town in NC where there are no secrets and everyone is overly concerned with their neighbor's business. After Mark dies, Tinley goes to see his mother to tell her about the baby. Sadie won't believe her - she had never met the girl plus Mark was engaged to someone else. Sadie turns Tinley away and Tinley has to cope with life as best she can. She has no family and no one to turn to so her life is very difficult especially when she has to make a decision whether to keep her baby or give it up for adoption.  It's only later, when Sadie starts putting the pieces together (with a lot of help from the town gossips), that she begins to believe what Tinley told her and tries to undo her mistake of sending Tinley away.

The two main characters in this book are so well written that they fell like people I know in my life. They are both trying to be strong and trying to make their way through life without hurting other people.

This is a book about love and family and forgiveness!  Wonderful debut.

Buy Maranatha Road at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling.  She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends.  She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads or Twitter.

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Back to the Past - Stranger Things 2

by Alison DeLuca

Stranger Things 2

I reviewed Stranger Thingswhen the series first appeared on Netflix and took over the summer. It was an homage to Stephen King, E.T, Star Wars - all things 'Eighties.

The miniseries took over my life for the next few days as I marathoned it with my daughter. We grew thought of the characters as old friends. Both of us loved Eleven, the girl who appeared from nowhere when a government facility had a massive accident.

Both of us also loved Dustin, the boy with a lisp due to his cleidocranial displasia. We loved Mike, we adored Nancy, and we shouted at the TV during what happened to Barb.

Eleven sees the Upside Down.

I was sucked in by the science fiction (Eleven's psychokenesis, the Demogorgon, a parallel universe known as the 'Upside Down'.) My daughter and her friends couldn't get enough of the relationships: Mike and Eleven! Nancy and Steve! Hopper and Joyce!

And, when the first season was done, we realized we had to wait an entire year for the next one.

Stranger Things 2 arrived in October, complete with all the excitement and incredible characters we became addicted to the first time around. Nine more brand-new episodes were in the queue, and of course we sat down to watch.

(Mom's Note: It was really hard to wait for my kid to get home the first day so we could see them together. I hope you appreciate my excellent parenting skills.)

The second season has just as much retro excitement and eerie fun as the first. There's no question of the timestamp, between the 80's fashions, boys with mullets, and Reagan / Bush signs on the front lawns.

Mullets! 

A year has passed in the show's timeline as well as in real life. The characters return, and there are plenty more adventures and mysteries.

And, yes, there's another concept like the Christmas lights, also set in Joyce's long-suffering house.

I have to say the second season isn't quite as successful as the first. It makes sense: origin stories are always gripping, and a few of the new plot arcs just didn't work as well for me. For example (SPOILER ALERT) the story of what happens to Eleven and another girl called 008 was, in my daughter's opinion, too over the top - and I agree.

Perhaps it was because that section left the hometown of Hawkins and went on a voyage. Another storyline around Nancy and Johnathon, also out of the Hawkins' boundary lines, wasn't as interesting as it should have been. In fact, I found their journey was incomprehensible.

However, the series is still amazing. MadMax, a new character, is an incredible addition. A kickass redhead with her own problems, my kid and I liked her from the start.

Mad Max

But what really stood out, in my opinion, was Steve Harrington, version 2.0. In the first season he was stuck-up, violent, and thoughtless. Let's just say in Stranger Things 2 he becomes the Best Babysitter Ever, and the way he wields a nailed baseball bat is quite something.

Also, his hair is practically a character in its own right. Tune in just to see how he talks about the 'Farrah Fawcett spray', if nothing else.

If you liked the first season, definitely see the second. And if you haven't seen either, run to watch them both, especially if you like the 1980's, Star Wars, and urban sci-fi / horror with character-driven twists.

Alison DeLuca is the author of several steampunk and urban fantasy books.  She was born in Arizona and has also lived in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain.
Currently she wrestles words and laundry in New Jersey.

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Review: The Ghost of Christmas Past by Rhys Bowen

by Donna Huber

I have enjoyed Rhys Bowen's stories since discovering Her Royal Spyness series this summer so when I saw she had a Christmas book coming out I had to request it.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

November 2017; Minotaur Books; 978-1250125729
ebook, print (272 pages); cozy mystery

After reading Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva all I wanted to was to dive into more Christmas books, but I felt I should try to get in another review book or two before I lost myself in holiday reading. So imagine my delight when I remembered I had requested The Ghost of Christmas Past from Netgalley.

In all my excitement though I failed to notice that this book is part of Bowen's Molly Murphy Mystery series (a trend that has haunted me this year). There are 16 previous books in this series so I'm sure there is much to learn about the characters in those books. There is mention of previous events, but not much detail is given.

While all the characters are likable, I had trouble connecting with any of them. I found Molly to be a bit bland and was constantly mixing her up with another character in my head. I'm assuming it is a result of not reading the rest of the series.

While this is billed as a Christmas story, Christmas is merely a backdrop and has little bearing on the story itself - it could almost have been set anytime during the winter.

All that being said, I did enjoy the mystery. Like Molly, I suspected the truth but couldn't really confirm it so it was satisfying when all the pieces came together. There are enough twist and turns to misdirect the reader while teasing them with the truth they suspect.

The Ghost of Christmas Past will provide the enjoyable escape one needs from the chaotic holiday season.

Buy The Ghost of Christmas Past at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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Review: What We Build Upon the Ruins by Giano Cromley

by MK French

The summary for this collection of short stories states they are about "love and loss and longing--our feeble human institutions and fragile relationships broken down and rusting" and that certainly fits the bill.

5 October Books You May Have Missed #MondayBlogs

by Susan Roberts

Even if you don't live in a part of the country where there are major season changes, October signals that the year is starting to come to an end. The days are shorter and the nights are cooler. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, I love the change in weather and the beautiful colors that I see in North Carolina. It is not quite time to start getting ready for Christmas yet so you may have some additional time to read. Below are five books published in October that I've read and enjoyed.  Are there others that you're really looking forward to?

Review: ​​Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes edited by George Mann

by MK French

In this collection of stories, those who have seen or worked with Sherlock Holmes in the past now get a chance to tell stories of their own.