Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Writing historical fiction is always tricky. There are always those readers who know something about the period and don't like to see liberties taken with the facts. Setting a book in the American Civil War, which still tends to arouse passions, is almost asking for trouble. The fact that KI Thompson does a more than credible job is commendable.
House of Clouds tells the story of two women brought together in the most tragic period in US history. Northerner Jordan Colfax and Southerner Laura St. Clair first meet because their brothers are best friends and cadets at West Point. Emotions are running high in the country and the women quickly find themselves on opposite sides of the arguments, but there is an attraction they can't deny. Jordan, who is a well-known actress, is recruited to spy for the North while she is in Richmond performing and her main target is Laura's father, a highly placed official in the new Confederate government. Laura finds this self-reliant woman to be a refreshing change from the women she is surrounded by and delights in introducing her to "polite" society and shocking her parents' friends; however, she finds herself becoming progressively more confused as her parents pressure her to make a "proper marriage," yet all she wants to do is spend time with Jordan. Her confusion only grows when she discovers the truth about why Jordan is in Richmond and must decide which of her loves to betray, Jordan or her country. The women experience tragedy, suspense, and a crisis that could get them both killed, but the real test will be whether they can forgive each other enough to consider a life together.
One of the problems of novels set in the Civil War is that they tend to tell the story only from one side, the Northern, and to repeat the same tired, not always accurate, opinions. Thompson tries to avoid that and does a respectable service to a very complex event. She presents arguments from the Southern side that their decisions were based on multiple issues and were expressions of deeply felt passions, although she does rather hastily dismiss their statements and lean on the correctness of the Northern attitudes.
The characters are rich and full, and in a very real touch, both Jordan and Laura, though they don't completely come over to the other side, do come to realize that the issues are more complicated than they originally believed and that there is some justification in how the other feels.
The book's scope is broadened by the inclusion of a side story involving the conflicting emotions of a slave woman and her daughter as they react to what is happening around them. Thompson's knowledge of Virginia geography and her descriptions of life just before and during the Civil War give the book a realistic feeling that makes the story more appealing.
This is not a heavy historic novel and shouldn't scare away readers who think they don't care for that type of book. This is an interesting story, full of suspense, intrigue, sorrow and passion that is set in the saddest period of American history. You don't need to know the history to enjoy House of Clouds, but you might learn something while reading a good story. That is always a plus in this reviewer's opinion.
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Addy Cooper is called home suddenly by the death of her grandmother in an accident that certainly is unusual. She's hit by a piece of debris from space. Addy doesn't have anything to hold her in California since she's managed to lose her job and her lover in the same day, so she returns to Deale, Maryland, to plan the funeral and care for her brother Tommy, who thinks he's a bird and lives in a tree house. This might seem funny, but what Addy has to deal with certainly isn't. Her brother is fleeing from a tragedy early in their lives and she is forced to take in boarders to support them because she can't risk moving him anywhere else.
Unfortunately, Addy arrives back in town just as the FBI is launching an investigation into possible terrorist activity in the town and then a dead body is found on the Coopers’ land. Addy finds herself having to deal with Officer Karen Kaczarowski, the love of her life who betrayed her six years before. Karen is still interested in Addy, but so is Liberty McDonald, a new boarder with an ulterior motive. Addy is totally shaken when she finds that both she and Tommy are suspects in the murder and she knows she has to do anything to protect her brother.
Addy doesn't know who to trust as she finds herself drawn to both Karen and Liberty only to have them both suspect her of being a killer. When she realizes the terrorists might be coming after Tommy, she'll have to take a chance on one of the women and maybe end up ruining things for herself and Tommy forever.
There is a lot to recommend this book. It shows the type of close-knit community that can exist in a small town, especially one that comes together to protect a man-boy who can't face the reality of his situation. There are quirky characters who become endearing when they will do anything to protect Tommy from the forces that would harm him, including the FBI. Tommy could be a comic figure when he flaps his arms like wings and caws, until the reader understands what drove him to this behavior and then he becomes a sympathetic character.
The would-be terrorists are detailed just enough to reveal how they set the investigation in motion and to show the threat they could be to the Coopers. Addy at times is irritating in her behavior, but her devotion to Tommy is admirable and she shines when compared to Liberty McDonald. The undercover agent is a female predator who will say anything to get a woman into bed and doesn't mind abusing her authority to collect evidence. The fact that she becomes almost a buffoon by the end of the book is one of its more rewarding aspects.
Cooper's Deale isn't truly a comedy, though it does have some funny scenes in it. It is a romance, but the major message seems to be how confusing it can be to decide what or who you really want and that you'll make mistakes along the way to deciding. It certainly is topical in that it features domestic terrorists who want to use a "dirty" bomb and deals somewhat with the terrible environmental damage being done to the Chesapeake Bay.
The book is an enjoyable combination of romance and adventure with some parts that will make the reader laugh, but it's hardly the slapstick tale that the blurb on the cover seems to indicate. If the reader likes a happy ending however, and believes that love conquers all, this is the book to read.
