Reviews with TLC

My friend, Lori, sent me the novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, quite a while ago. I put it in my to-be-read pile without even glancing at the book description. I already had so many books to read, I just didn't know when I'd have time for it. Every time I saw it in the pile, I felt an urge to read it. When I finally did, I knew exactly why Lori sent it to me... I soon found myself immersed in nineteenth-century Chinese culture as well as the friendship of Lily and Snow Flower. Their deep connection and even their misunderstandings reminded me of the deep friendships, including the one Lori and I share, I've had in my life. See's descriptions of the foot binding process had me rubbing my toes and arches. Knowing the pain of ill-fitting shoes, I couldn't even begin to imagine how these young girls survived the foot-binding process. I cringed as I read passage after passage of the treatment of women of those days juxtaposed against the strength the ...

As the clock ticks to Two O'Clock Heist , Rebecca Mayfield finds herself enchanted and frustrated with Richie Amalfi once again. When Richie shows up at Rebecca's desk in the homicide bureau of the San Francisco Police Department worried she's been killed, she is torn between frustration, embarrassment, and affection. His determination to assure her safety ruffles her independent feathers even as she revels in his concern for her. Rebecca discovers the actual victim is a former police officer friend, who is being maligned for her tenuous, at least in Rebecca's opinion, connection to the Russian mob. Rebecca's loyalty to her friend combined with her determination to find the truth no matter how it turns out leaves Richie frustrated but determined to keep her safe even as she continuously puts herself in danger, or as she sees it as just doing her job, and thwarts his attempts to share his affection for her. Rebecca's independent streak is further challenged whe...

J. Lea Lopez reminds the reader that consent and eroticism make the best of friends in each of the five stories in Consenting Adults . Stories examine insecurities, fantasies, romance, and the eroticism inherent in consensual sex. While all the stories reference sexual conduct in some way, some are much for erotic and graphic than others. Some read more romantic than erotic, and some much more erotic than romantic. Lopez offers a quick, easy read in each of these short stories.  

Stephanie Stamm takes us on a whirlwind journey through mysticism, mythology, and religion ideology in A Gift of Wings . As I settled down to read A Gift of Wings , I soon discovered myself pulled into a world that was all at once familiar and completely foreign. Stamm took me soaring through the air and dragged me through the streets of Chicago. She teased my senses and tested my sense of reality. My heart ached for Lucky. Lucky must make sense of her beloved G-Ma's transition into an assisted living facility just as she begins to have experiences that force her to question her sanity. When she learns that what thinks are hallucinations are real, she struggles to accept her new reality. When the people around her fight over the role she must play in the battle between supernatural factions, Lucky finds herself struggling to figure out who is good and who is evil. The decision is made for her when her cousin, an innocent, is attacked in order to force the issue. Lucky learns of f...

John Sibley Williams teases the senses and tantalizes the imagination in Controlled Hallucinations . Williams poems invite the reader to read and reread the lines that paint images one may dismiss until the next one brushes up against it.  Controlled Hallucinations pushes the reader into new areas of comprehension. Williams, at times, presents strings of words that stop the readier in mid-thought waiting for the hidden revelation just on the tip of the reader's consciousness. At other times, Williams offers lines that will have the reader nodding in acknowledgement of shared experience and wondering if perhaps all of life is really just one large shared controlled hallucination.

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve drops the reader into calm waters with violent waves waiting just below the surface to create turmoil. As Sydney recovers from personal loss she becomes entangled in the tidal pool that is the Edwards family. Sydney has been hired to tutor the youngest Edward child, Julie, to prepare her for a future no one has asked her if she wants. When the two Edward sons,Jeff and Ben, arrive, Sydney ends up in the middle of a lifelong competition that results in much confusion and chaos. Smack in the middle of family dysfunction built around family secrets and heartache, Sydney is pulled between the family members as she navigates her place in the family. Shreve writes characters that feel as if they could step off the page at any moment. In a story that feels like it should end before it does, the reader is glad it doesn't when the end finally comes. Body Surfing stays with the reader long after reading the final page with its hauntingly realistic look at pain, ...

A Fair to Die For by Radine Trees Nehring gently pulls the reader into the lives of Carrie, Henry, and their friends. Though part of a series, A Fair to Die For  stands on its own. Nehring creates characters who live lives that feel like the reader could drop by for a cup of coffee and feel right at home even as they are sucked into mystery and mayhem. As Carrie seeks to make sense of revelations about her family, she's sucked into a web of danger and intrigue. Carrie's husband and friends rally around her to keep her safe and help her bring down the drug organization threatening her family and her community. Nehring weaves a mystery through the problems created by family secrets in this well written classic cozy with likable characters.