Angel's Touchd by Siri Caldwell

Publisher:       Bella Books

Angel’s Touch is a paranormal story that brings together familiar themes – financial interests versus preservation.  In this case, it’s the preservation of sacred land near a spa.

Kira Wagner specializes in developing property, selling it and moving on to the next place.  This time she has settled in Piper Beach where she wants to renovate a hotel and build a spa for women.  Megan McLaren is the best masseuse in town and Kira wants to hire her for the spa. 

Megan agrees to consult with Kira on the building of the spa, but her reason is to protect the ley lines, power lines where angels gather, that run through the property.  Megan believes in angels, past lives and soul mates.  She uses that knowledge to deliver a healing touch with her massages, but she also knows there is a downside.  She and Kira have known each other before, more than once, and the endings have never been happy.  As the women develop feelings for each other the problem becomes that Kira cannot understand Megan’s resistance and Megan doesn’t know how to explain what she experiences to Kira or why the land is so important.

Angel’s Touch is a well written romance with a slightly different plot line.  The reader isn’t required to suspend much belief to feel the story is realistic. The characters are interesting and the book is well produced.  The book was quick to read and provided a few hours of good entertainment.  Overall it was quite enjoyable.

The demise of Blue Feather and the role of small companies

I've been thinking for a while about what to say about the news that Blue Feather is closing.  I keep trying to straighten out the jumble of thoughts I'm having.

First, like everyone, I'm sad to hear about Blue Feather.  I talk to Emily Reed a lot and I know she's been struggling to keep the company going by herself while she dealt with children and a full time job and life in general.  I thought highly of Blue Feather before I ever met Em.  She focused on quality and not quantity, which appeals to me more and more.  She also published "different" authors.  By that I mean those that didn't always fit the cookie cutter mold.  I didn't care for every book the company put out, but I found them refreshing in their uniqueness.  How can you argue with a company that brought us Joan Opyr, Kieran York, Chris Paynter, Erica Lawson, Kelly Sinclair and others?  And I would defy anyone to find a mistake in a Blue Feather book.  Yes, this is a great loss indeed.

I don't think we give our "smaller" publishers enough credit.  It's almost funny talking about smaller publishers among small publishers.  Even Bella and BSB are small in comparison to mainstream companies, but our small presses are truly small. 

My sister Leigh and I toured the Bywater plant when we visited Marianne Martin recently.  It didn't take much.  We stepped from the house into the garage and there it was.  There is a little office with a copier and then the books are stockpiled in another section of the garage.  If you order a book from the Bywater site, you might not know it, but it's sent to you by Marianne Martin herself.  Yet, when I looked on the shelves, there was Joan Opyr, Bett Norris, Wynn Malone, Jill Malone, Georgia Beers and Marianne.  I suspect there are similar setups at Affinity, Bedazzled, Sapphire and the others.

In the rush to self-publishing, we need to give the really small presses more credit.  They usually can't hire full staffs.  They hire editors and cover artists by the job and when you email the company, you're just as likely to hear directly from the owner.  They don't have warehouses, secretaries or whatever.  They may use a distribution company, but that's about it.  Yet, many of the words I used about Blue Feather would also apply to these companies.  Bella and BSB turn out huge numbers of books now, but, with a few exceptions, they have a disturbing familiarity.  It's the really small companies that are taking a risk on some of the more daring writers.  For that reason alone, I hope we don't lose more of them.

Chris Paynter and Karen Badger have already announced they're going to self-publish.  Karen has a snappy logo for Badger-Bliss Books.  I hope they do well.  Catherine Wilson gave a wonderful presentation at the GCLS conference about how time encompassing this is if you really want to sell your books.

To the other authors, don't disappear on us.  There are companies that will probably come to you.  Find a place where you are comfortable.  Let us know what you're doing and keep the books coming.

Above Reproach by Lynn Ames

Publisher:                   Phoenix Rising Press

Above Reproach is book two in the Mission Classified series by Lynn Ames.  It’s another action/suspense story that reintroduces the reader to Vaughn Elliott, one of the major characters in the first book Beyond Instinct.

Sedona Ramos works for a government agency and sees satellite images from Iraq that she wasn’t meant to see.  A nuclear facility that she helped to deactivate years before is showing activity again.  Sedona immediately becomes the target of a group that goes high in the US government and that wants to stop her from revealing what she’s seen, but she’s able to reach the president first.  That leads to Sedona making contact with retired agent Vaughn Elliott and a hand-picked team of super agents.  They are tasked by the president to go to Iraq to find out what is going on and are hunted by killers the whole way.  Sedona has a secret power though that will guide and protect them along the way.

For people who have read many of Lynn Ames’ books, this one is difficult to evaluate.  It’s certainly far better than her first books, but it doesn’t show the promise or ability of her recent work, especially Beyond Instinct.  The dialogue isn’t very good between the characters and there’s never really a feeling of suspense in the story.  The “bad guys” are supposed to be super-secret plotters who have tremendous resources available to them, but they are extremely inept at stopping the agents from achieving their goal.  Vaughn and her group have little real trouble confusing and evading their opponents and getting into Iraq.  The way they deal with the facility is probably meant to show their level of training, but it doesn’t create the suspense that a reader would expect.  The rate that a relationship develops between Sedona and Vaughn doesn’t match with the feelings they each express about past relationships, so their situation doesn’t feel “real.”  The story might have been stronger if the relationship had been left out.  Finally, there is a supernatural aspect to the story that, for those who don’t believe in that type of thing, can be very trying and contributes to the disjointed feeling of the book.

Above Reproach is not a poorly written book.  For someone who is looking for a quick read that is fairly entertaining, it will do fine.  For anyone who has read Ames’ recent books, it doesn’t quite come up to the ability she has shown recently; therefore, the book may be somewhat disappointing.  For fans of suspense novels, this one is tepid and there are others that demonstrate the genre better.    Those who are Ames fans and follow her work will read and enjoy this.  Those who are genre fans may want to find something else.

Keepers of the Cave by Gerri Hill

Publisher:                   Bella Books

Sometimes an author steps out of the box and writes a book that is different from her others.  This can be stimulating to creativity, but fans of the author may not appreciate what she does.  They’ve come to expect a certain type of book and they find something else disconcerting.  Gerri Hill did not follow her usual formula for Keepers of the Cave and there have been readers who have panned the book for that reason.  Different isn’t always bad though.  Give it a chance before passing judgment.

When a senator’s daughter disappears near Hoganville, Texas, FBI agents CJ Johnston and Paige Riley are assigned to go undercover to see if there is any connection between that case and others going back over fifty years.  CJ and Paige go to work at a correctional school near the town on what appears at first to be a useless mission.  It takes on a new dimension when they realize that the people in the town are just plain creepy.  They appear to be dominated in a cultish manner by the matriarch of the town, Mother Hogan, who is determined to block whatever the agents are trying to do.  As they poke around and make friends with a townswoman who teaches at the school, two things develop.   A sense of foreboding develops about the case and the women have to deal with a growing attraction between them.  Eventually they find themselves in a death race against an element that is the key to everything.

This may be one of the best books Gerri Hill has written.  It tells a fully comprehendible, if bizarre, story while making the readers think at the same time. The characters are fully drawn and complex.  The secondary characters are the ones that provide the real meat of the book.  Mother Hogan, as despicable as she is, is also fascinating as a study in extremism and of someone who will do whatever is necessary to achieve her ends.  The complete obedience shown to her by the rest of the town sets the unique atmosphere of the book.  CJ and Paige provide the romance in the book and the introduction to Hoganville, but they are pretty standard characters.  They are obviously there to satisfy Hill’s romance readers.  It’s the rest of the book that is an unusual type of story for Hill, which is probably why some of her usual readers have reacted poorly to it.

The writing in Keepers of the Cave is tight and well-paced.  There is a supernatural aspect to the story that could be expanded or at least better explained, but this is a page turner.  The story stays interesting from beginning to end and a reader can’t ask for much better than that.  If you’re looking for a regular Gerri Hill romance, this isn’t it.  Hill may be trying her hand at something new.  If that’s true, she should be encouraged.  Any writer should be applauded for expanding her abilities, especially if she does a good job of it.  In this case, Hill did.

Give Keepers of the Cave a chance.  If you approach it knowing what to expect, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Miserere by Caren J. Werlinger

Publisher:        Corgyn Publishing                                         

Writing about an excellent book is always difficult.  Finding the right words to convey to others  why it is so outstanding so that they will want to read it is a challenge.  Capturing the essence of a book without giving away the story is a tricky balancing act.  It would be easier to say “Mystery ….. Paranormal …..Love ….. History…..Buy it,” but that doesn’t seem to do the book justice.  Miserere definitely deserves to have justice done to it.

Caren Werlinger has constructed two parallel stories connected through time by family ties and the intolerance that people can practice towards each other.  Caitriona Ni Faolain and her sister are sold to an English nobleman in Ireland so that their destitute father can obtain five more acres of land to farm and support the family during the Great Famine.  They are sent to pre-Civil War Virginia to work on the nobleman’s estate as what amounted to white slaves.  There they make friends with the black slaves and deal with the events leading up to the war.  Eventually, Caitriona and some of the slaves are forced to flee and end up in West Virginia, where tragedy is waiting for them.

One hundred years later Connemara Faolain Mitchell arrives in West Virginia with her mother and brother.  Her father is MIA in Vietnam and they have returned to her mother’s family home to wait for further news of him.  Conn experiences visitations from her ancestor Caitriona’s ghost and learns that there is a curse on her family that only she can lift.  Meanwhile, she and her mother are not making friends with some members of the community because of their insistence on treating Negroes and other outcasts as their equals.  As Conn maneuvers through the events of both the past and the present, it becomes increasingly clear why she is the chosen one.  It’s also apparent that events and emotions separated by a hundred years are not only similar, but connected.

Miserere is an amazing book.  It moves easily between episodes from the different time periods, capturing the feelings and complexities of each era.  It addresses instances from US history that are often forgotten or that are fading from memory and makes them feel alive and in the moment.  Intolerance, ignorance and the tragic consequences of war are not unique to one period, which proves the point that history has an unfortunate habit of repeating itself.  However, it also speaks to how the chain can be broken by the actions of a few good, and determined, people.

One note to lesbian readers, this is not your typical lesbian novel.  Those who think books must contain scenes of lovers and the exclamations of feelings won’t find those here.  There are relationships, but they are gentle whispers in a story that ultimately proclaims the right of people to be different whether the differences are cultural, racial, gender related or in sexual orientation.  The book weaves an essence around the reader that draws you in and is compelling in the need to consume the story.  Connemara Faolain Mitchell may be one of the most remarkable characters created in literature period, regardless of the genre.

So what are the words to use to convince someone to try this book.  Buy it…..read it…..absorb it….marvel in it.  Hopefully, that does justice to the book.

Worlds Collide by Moondancer Drake

Publisher:      P. D. Publishing

Moondancer Drake continues her story about the extended family of shape shifters from her first book Natural Order.  In this book, Rune Nqumayo is a veterinary student in Madison, Wisconsin, and the leader of her local pack.  Rune runs her life by a strict code of honor and duty, but she’s facing a number of challenges.  A rogue group of vampires is threatening the lives of humans and shape shifters in the area, then, after a serious attack, she finds herself depending on the help of vampires.  Everything she has been taught tells her that Nara is a disgusting creature, but neither she nor her people match the stereotypes by which Rune has been taught to live.  If she is going to bring peace and safety to her people and the humans, Rune may have to risk being ostracized by her own clan.

Worlds Collide is another of those books that takes an alternative view of vampires (some of them), werewolves and other supernatural creatures.  This is becoming a common theme in literature, probably due partially to the success of the Twilight series, but it doesn’t make the story any less enjoyable.  The book is short and could have contained more detail, but it basically contains a good story.  There is a classic battle between good and evil and a hero who stands out by her strength.  The book has entertainment appeal.

For those who like a book that is quick to read and features paranormal creatures, Worlds Collide fits the bill.  It’s fine for a little escapism.

Deerhaven Pines by Diana McRae

Publisher:       Bella Books

This book is so outrageously flawed that the first question is how the publisher could have allowed it to be released.  The fact that Katherine V. Forrest is listed as the editor makes it even more mind boggling.  The sad thing is that deep down there is a story that could have been very interesting.  It’s so badly mishandled though that it destroys the enjoyment of the book.

Lesley Windsor is sent by her husband to attend the funeral of his mother, a woman Lesley has never been allowed to meet.  All she knows is that her husband comes from an eccentric family that lives in an old mansion in the forests of California and that the area around her in-law’s home has a forbidding feeling around it.  That doesn’t improve when Lesley and her young son are met at the door by her mother-in-law’s ghost.  What follows is a story of secrets, a mysterious library at the center of the house and fanatical forces from outside that are determined to destroy everything.  Lesley must fight for her son, newly discovered emotions and a heritage that she doesn’t fully understand.

Unfortunately, the book breaks down in a number of areas.  There are the mechanical failings, such as words missing, characters that change names in part of the book and scenes that add nothing to the story, but take it in directions that do nothing but distract from what is going on.

The dialogue is inane, archaic or ridiculous depending on the scene and which character is speaking it.  At times it’s difficult not to laugh out loud when Lesley describes her lover’s body as have a “tiny tongue” between her legs.  Issues that should have been caught in the editing process, like the story saying that Lesley was a nine year old child in 1984, but the blurb on the back saying she was a typical 1970s housewife, abound.

Deerhaven Pines also contains problems in the plot.  Often the characters’ actions are unbelievable.  Lesley’s son is in a hospital fighting for his life and she’s running around the countryside and having a sexual encounter with a woman she just met.  Other characters appear to be nothing but schizophrenic in that they switch personalities at the drop of a hat.  Lesley has never had a thought in her head about being a lesbian, but takes one look at her husband’s sister Rachel, who at that moment is tied to a bed raving mad, and Lesley falls instantly in love and abandons everything else in her life for this woman she’s never said hello to.  Later, when each woman has her first sexual experience with another woman, not only do they know exactly what to do, but it results in hours of orgiastic sex.  Neither of them seems to know how she achieved that blissful state however.  The explanation of why the library exists might be appealing to some gay people, but really comes off as silly.  There is never an explanation of who built the library, why the house was put in place to guard it or how any of the people connected to it were chosen.  The evil Others who are trying to destroy everything are never explained, nor how the women control the power they use to combat them.  There are nearly as many unanswered questions at the end of the book as when the story starts.

The cover of Deerhaven Pines will draw the reader in.  It’s masterfully done and promises an interesting story.  Sadly, the book doesn’t deliver. 

A Question of Ghosts by Cate Culpepper

Publisher:        Bold Strokes Books     

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!

Maybe that’s enough to say for a review, but it would probably be a good idea to explain what brought on the exclamations.

Cate Culpepper has written an excellent paranormal mystery with perfect pacing and terrific main characters.  Don’t plan on reading it if you have something pressing to do, like sleeping, because you’ll want to finish the book first.  The only readers who might be disappointed are those who want lots of romance.  Give this book a chance though.  There is a romance in the story and it’s not like any one you’ve ever read.

Becca Healy accepted a long time ago that she was a person scarred by the circumstances of her parents’ deaths when she was five years old.  Who wouldn’t be when your mother shoots your father and then herself while you’re sitting in the next room?  At least, that’s what everyone has been told happened; however, when Becca hears her dead mother’s voice saying to her “Not true,” she needs to find out what the message means.  That brings her to Dr. Joanne Call, an expert in the collection of ghost voices and interpreting what they mean.  The warm, effusive Becca and terse, distant Joanne make an odd pair as they investigate this mystery and are drawn closer together.  When a series of incidents makes it clear that someone does not want them to discover the truth, survival becomes as important as collecting the information.  Fortunately for the women, Becca’s mother is determined to help them from the grave….or wherever she is.

Culpepper sets her novel in a part of Seattle called Capitol Hill, which is being gentrified and in a state of decline at the same time.  The tone of the story is set by the fact that much of it happens in an old house across the street from a cemetery; the house where the deaths occurred.  One of the interesting aspects is that both of the main characters, rather than being afraid of the cemetery find it a place of comfort, even at night, especially near a memorial statue of a woman and child.  Becca and Joanne frequently retreat there to sort out their thoughts and draw strength from the woman.  The statue actually exists and is featured on the book’s cover, which sets the atmosphere before the reading ever begins.  It’s an outstanding example of how a cover can help establish a book’s theme.

Joanne Call is an intriguing character.  She suffers from a personality disorder that is close to Asperger’s Syndrome and that makes her almost incapable of relating to people or dealing with social situations.  It does give her a laser like ability to focus on her work and to interpret facial expressions.  Putting her together with Becca Healy, who is described by everyone as the most loveable person possible, would seem to be asking for trouble, but Becca has her own problems to cope with.  Watching them play off of each other as Joanne provides strength and stability and Becca provides warmth is skillful character study.  To keep them from becoming too intense though, Culpepper throws in occasional humor to lighten the atmosphere.  These are two characters that it would be fun to follow further to see how they develop.

A Question of Ghosts is a totally enjoyable book to read.  The paranormal aspects seem believable and should not bother those who are skeptics.  The mystery unfolds gradually and the ultimate answer stays unknown until the last pages of the book and offers a surprise.  Giving this book a high recommendation is easy. 

Lunatic Fringe by Allison Moon

Publisher:          Lunatic Ink

Lunatic Fringe is a werewolf story that almost gets lost in a long discussion of feminist politics and too many typographical mistakes.

Lexie Clarion leaves a small town to go to college and hopes to start a new life.  She’s been rather sheltered, so is impressed when a group of girls called the Pack take her in and cultivate her friendship.  When they turn out to be werewolf hunters, Lexie isn’t sure how to react to that.  This becomes a serious consideration when she meets Archer, a charismatic artist, who becomes her lover…..and is a werewolf.  The battle between the Pack and Archer for Lexie’s allegiance reveals bigotry, sexism and shadows from the past, including a secret in Lexie’s family.  An epic battle results in a decision by Lexie that will surprise the reader.

The basic story in this book is good, although a little confusing.  The characters draw a difference between Weres and Werewolves, but they seem to turn out to be the same people.  Once the story gets going however, things make more sense and the details are easier to follow.  It makes it clear that the line between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” can be very thin.  Lexie is a perplexing character, but that reflects the situation she finds herself in as she tries to determine exactly what her future is going to be.  Some of the characters are well developed, but there are a number of holes that needed filling with details.  The book has an open ended conclusion because it’s meant to be a series, but that isn’t very satisfying for a reader, especially one who decides not to read any further books. 

The book has two big drawbacks.  There are too many mistakes.  Words are missing, some are used incorrectly and others use archaic definitions that don’t really fit current usage.  More than once a paragraph had to be reread to try and figure out exactly what was being said.  This happens enough that it detracts from the reading and gives the book an unfinished feeling.  A good professional editor could have taken care of the problems to create a cleaner book.

An editor also would have cut out a lot of material.  Moon is an avowed feminist, which in itself isn’t a problem, but she can’t seem to make her point in a few sentences and then move on.  When the Pack first appears, a long diatribe begins about how women have been oppressed and men are the sole source of their problems.  The book gets bogged down in long political discussions that obscure the plot.  Although some of the ideas eventually become important to the characters, they go on for so long that some readers may be inclined to stop reading.  If you have to tell the reader something six times, then you aren’t being very clear.  It doesn’t help much when the Pack turns out to be composed of some of the most hypocritical characters in the book and, apparently, is only interested in killing male werewolves.  The idea that men are the source of all problems wears thin, especially in light of the behavior of the Pack.  There are holes in the story that a decent editor would have eliminated or made sure were filled in.

Allison Moon needs to make a decision.  Either write a political book to discuss her type of feminism or write fiction with just enough polemic to shade her characters, but not interfere with the story.  If she can find an editor to help with her weaknesses, Lunatic Fringe might turn out to be a mediocre start to a promising series.

Return of the Raven by Jamie Scarratt

Publisher:         Blue Feather Books

Return of the Raven is the second volume in the Wolf’s Tales mysteries.  Red Wolverton and Evadne Davenport have formed a private investigation firm despite the vast differences in their lives and backgrounds.  Red is still recovering from their last adventure and trying to adapt to the lifestyle to which Evadne has introduced her, but isn’t having a lot of success.  She’s also having trouble determining exactly what her personal relationship with Evadne should be.

In this book the women are asked by a friend of Evadne’s to investigate the strange occurrences at his manor house.  They find themselves dealing with phantoms, ancient prophecies and secret societies.  Their relationship is also tested by misunderstandings and outside forces, including two women who seem intent on drawing the partners apart.  Red and Evadne have to find a way to regain their trust for each other because, according to the prophecy, they are the key to the next battle between good and evil.

This was an excellent book to read.  It was well edited with no mistakes.  The story unfolded at exactly the right pace and the characters were extremely well developed.  Scarratt struck the perfect balance for a book in a series.  She only included enough from the previous story to keep the reader informed about what was happening and what previous events might have influenced the current ones, but she didn’t bog down the book with extraneous information.  If anything, what is revealed in this book makes the first one more plausible. 

One of Scarratt’s real strengths is her ability to use the paranormal aspects of her story in a way that makes them seem normal and possible.  Not much reality has to be suspended for the reader to completely buy into what is happening.  Scarratt also does a good job of keeping the mystery in the mystery.  Even when the reader realizes what is happening, it’s not enough to give away the next steps in the progression.  This is partly because Scarratt isn’t afraid to take her characters into bad places, behaviors that make them look bad or cause them pain.  The reader can’t be sure what is going to happen next.

Return of the Raven is a true paranormal mystery.  Fans of both genres can enjoy this book.  It’s one of the ones that is hard to put down once it’s started.  Those who like romances may be frustrated that Red and Evadne are taking so long to find each other, but there is hope.  Scarratt dangles enough at the end to indicate that there might be a third book and the reader will want to have it.