Neither Present Time by Caren Werlinger

Publisher:       Corgyn Publishing

It gets to be boring to review Caren Werlinger’s books after a while. After it’s been said a few times that her writing is magnificent, engrossing, sophisticated and thought provoking, to say it again seems redundant. There is a danger that people might not believe the reviews anymore. So, here is a new word – consistently. Caren Werlinger’s books are consistently magnificent, engrossing, sophisticated and thought provoking.

Neither Present Time is the story of two women who are brought together by a book. Beryl Gray is a university librarian who finds a book with a personal inscription in it and is driven to find out more about the people involved. This leads her to Aggie Bishop and her great-aunt Cory. Beryl and Aggie share the characteristic of being caregivers. Beryl cares for practically everyone she knows and Aggie is trying to care for Aunt Cory. Since Aunt Cory doesn’t think she needs any help, even though her family is trying to institutionalize her and sell away the family home, Aggie’s one case practically equals all of Beryl’s. Neither Beryl nor Aggie has been able to sustain healthy relationships, but in learning Aunt Cory’s story, both women will learn a great deal about themselves. Looking into the past will cause them to examine the present with different eyes and will alter the lives of all three women.

Werlinger tells a good story, but what makes her book more appealing is the complexity of what she presents. There is romance in the book, but romance is in the story not THE story. There are messages and lessons to be learned while her characters do a complex dance weaving together the themes, including moving between different time periods. Werlenger’s talent is shown by the story being real, but not preachy; complex, but easily understood; and peopled by characters the reader probably knows.

Neither Present Time is like all of Werlinger’s books, a good read.

Tangled Roots by Marianne K. Martin

Publisher:                   Bywater Books

A good book has engaging characters and a plot that holds the reader’s interest. An outstanding book takes those attributes and adds a message, teaches a lesson or allows the reader to understand something that may not have been clear to that person before. An author rises to the top of a genre and gains the respect of the people who read those books by developing this ability. Marianne Martin has produced a string of award winning books because she spends her time writing carefully, researching the topic and going over the book to make sure it is in the best form possible before it is released. Martin also isn’t afraid to tackle difficult topics, which is abundantly clear in Tangled Roots, the prequel to her earlier work, Under the Witness Tree.

Tangled Roots is set in a period of US history that was almost as stressful as the civil war it followed.  Many of the characters remember that war and the period of adjustments that followed it. Those changes led to others that will sweep in the Progressive movement, a time when many people, especially women and African Americans, hoped that true justice and political equality would be achieved for everyone. Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan and lynching battled with the creation of the NAACP and the eloquence of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. The stifling concept of women as nothing but breeders and homemakers was confronted by the steely determination of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul for women to have greater opportunities. The conflict in the book comes between those who cannot accept the new ideas and those who yearn for them.

The story focuses on Addy Grayson, her granddaughter Anna and Anna’s best friend Nessie, a descendent of the slaves who once worked for the Graysons. Addy survived the Civil War, but questions whether she has the energy to deal with raising her granddaughters and confronting their bigoted father. She is rejuvenated when a younger woman introduces her to new ideas and she finds the ability to finally deal with an old secret. Anna and Nessie begin as two little girls who like to play with each other and share dreams. They don’t recognize the racial divide that both of their families keep throwing in their ways until they are older, but they share the frustration of being told that women can’t have the lives they hope to pursue. They are caught up in the stresses of their time, the expectations of both families and the growing awareness that their childhood love has turned into something much deeper and forbidden. Addy is the pillar they both lean on.

Tangled Roots is a compact novel. It’s hard to believe that Martin deals with so many complex issues in just over 200 pages. She’s able to do so because she chooses her words and her scenes carefully. This isn’t meant to be a history of the period, but a snippet, the events as seen through the eyes of her three main characters. Martin avoids the trap of wandering around addressing issues that were important to the time, but not to her story. Yet there is a richness in the scenes that comes off of the pages and leads the reader to have a beginning understanding of what this period and these women were about. This is the type of book that is not too heavy to bog down people in the many conflicts of the period, but that leads readers to other books and resources to find out what else happened during this time of drama and change, triumph and dreams deferred.

Marianne Martin has written a book that weaves a tapestry of history and romance with the lives of the characters. It will cause the reader to think, but not to feel that she’s been lectured to. Don’t let its size fool you. There is a lot to be absorbed here. An outstanding book has engaging characters, an interesting plot and leads its reader to greater knowledge. Tangled Roots certainly does all of that.

Fire and Ice by Gaelle Cathy

Publisher:       Affinity eBook Press

Writing a book about lesbians would seem to be controversial enough in some circles, but then an author comes along and throws another kink in the story.  There are no spoilers in this review, but, if you choose to read it, expect a “family secret” to shake up the story and many people won’t care for the way it is resolved.

The Beckett family has retreated to New Hampshire hoping that the more peaceful area will allow them to recuperate from a terrible experience in New York City.  This is how college student Emma meets a local artist Charlie Campbell and love blossoms.  The Becketts are thrown for a loop because Emma has never shown any inclination to be lesbian since she’s had more than one boyfriend, but Charlie is charming, sensitive, experienced and all of the things that are apparently appealing to Emma.  Gradually they fall in love and then the family secret comes into play.  The reader can decide how well that situation is handled.

The main problems with Fire and Ice stem from its inconsistencies.  There are places where the wording is odd, which is probably due to the author not being a native English speaker.  That doesn’t explain the rest.  The main characters know things about each other’s lives that they have no way of knowing or at least aren’t explained in the story.  They use odd cues that make no sense to decide if someone is a lesbian.  No, not gaydar, peculiar ideas.  The continuity editor truly failed in this story because a cat named Liloo is introduced in the present, then later in the book it’s revealed that the cat died years before.  Perhaps every cat was named Liloo.

This is not a strong book and the end of it will certainly be controversial for many people.  If the reader is just looking for something to pass the time and can borrow a copy of this, then go ahead.  If not, pass on by and read something better.

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.

West of Nowhere by KG MacGregor

Publisher:       Bella Books

Disclaimer:  There is a character that briefly appears in this story that is named for me.  The character was part of a prize in a charity auction in which KG MacGregor participated.  The only part I played in the production of this book was to ask KG, if she decided to kill off the character, not to make it too horrible.  I’m happy to say the character survives.

West of Nowhere is a romance plus a story about the ability of people to change.  Amber Haliday is an immature twenty-five year old woman who thinks she has found her place with her musician boyfriend, until he dumps her at a truck stop during a tour.  She is rescued by Joy Shepard, a Navy veteran who is on her way home after leaving her daughter Madison with her ex-partner, Madison’s mother.  This is the beginning of the lesbian edition of “The Odd Couple.”

Amber is self-centered, unfocused in her life and careless with herself and other people.  No matter how hard she tries, she can’t be on time or complete a task without making a mistake.  Joy is obsessive about tidiness and follows stringent rules that she imposes on every aspect of her life.  Her redeeming factor is that she’s as hard on herself as she is on other people, but that’s not very comforting to Amber.  Joy intended for Amber to be a momentary intrusion in her life, but, to everyone’s surprise, Amber gets along well with Joy’s father who is an invalid and needs help taking care of himself.  Reluctantly, Joy agrees to hire Amber as a caregiver and everyone’s lives begin to change.

This is a classic story of people who have a lot to teach each other. Joy needs to loosen up and Amber needs discipline.  Their opposite personalities working on each other eventually produce two better people.  Amber, because she is more willing to bend, will show the greatest change; however, she shows her own strength, especially when Joy finds herself involved in a difficult child custody case.

West of Nowhere is an entertaining story.  KG MacGregor knows how to spin her characters so that they aren’t annoying and her craftsmanship is impeccable.  A reader doesn’t have to worry about wasting money when it’s one of her books.