Review - Jenny's Dream by Linda Weaver Clarke

Jenny is home from college for the summer and is feeling unsettled with her life but can't figure out exactly why.

Restless Jenny awaits news of a journalism job in Texas with eager anticipation. When not helping around the house or playing with her younger brother and sister, Jenny finds solace in a secluded field where she spends hours getting lost in books. Finding a new friend to confide in and share her dreams with, soothes Jenny's soul, but she needs to confront and accept her past before she's able to make any strides toward the dreams she has for her future.

Clarke's passion for historical subject matter shines through with solid writing which transports the reader back in time effortlessly. She has created layered characters who are empathetic, caring, and independent. The entertaining writing allows the readers to examine a moment in hitory as though they were on location with the characters. The realism with history makes reading the novel and educational experience.

Linda Weaver Clarke's first historical fiction novel, Melinda and the Wild West, was a semi-finalist for Reader Views "Reviewers Choice Award 2007." Clarke writes articles for newspapers and teaches a Family Legacy Workshop where she encourages people to write their family history and autobiographies.

Jenny's Dream, the third of five novels in the series A Family Saga in the Bear Lake Valley is a recommended read. It shares a notable lesson on how one's impressions may be tainted by one's experiences.

Title: Jenny's Dream
Author: Linda Weaver Clarke
Publisher: American Book Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-58982-446-1
Pages: 263
Price: $22.00

Reviewed for Allbooks Review

Review - Scent of Danger by Doranna Durgin

Scent of Danger
Written by: Doranna Durgin
Fiction / Cozy Mystery
Rated: Very Good (****)
Review by: Lisa Haselton

Dale Kinsall has the sinking feeling that someone is in danger. Worse, that someone may be him.

While Dale deals with ongoing construction at his clinic, he starts discovering mysterious notes in the most unexpected places. The riddles seem to forewarn danger, but could be a prank. With regular worries of managing a staff and maintaining a full schedule of furry clientele, Dale wonders if his life will ever settle down again.

Dale’s best canine friend, Sully, is great at sniffing out varmints, treats, and danger, but with no particular priority to any it’s hard to know when he’s on a serious scent. While the two find time to train together for upcoming dog shows and obedience competitions, they find themselves entwined in a new mystery that has them each stretched to the limit.

Author Doranna Durgin’s newest Dale Kinsall Mystery is an entertaining and fun novel that delves further into Sully the Beagle’s life, which includes training for shows and investigating any danger his nose can sniff out. The dialogue, human and canine, adds humor and a different perspective for the reader. The author weaves veterinarian and performance sports details into this cozy mystery with such seeming ease as to educate the reader while offering the well-disguised details needed to solve the puzzle.

Doranna Durgin’s novel writing career has spanned genres and form to include over twenty novels in mystery, SF/F, action-romance, and franchise (such as “Ghost Whisperer”). She has also published numerous essays and short stories. With several new novels in the pipeline, Doranna also enjoys hanging around outside her Arizona home riding dressage on her Lipizzan and training for performance sports with her dogs.

Creative play with a dog’s point of view combined with humor and lots of heart combine to make Scent of Danger an enjoyable read for the whole family. I highly recommend this book to any cozy mystery lover interested in cuddling up with a fun, light-hearted story full of suspicious coincidences.

Scent of Danger will be available at: http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bn.com/, other online outlets, and local book stores in December ‘08.

Title: Scent of Danger
Author: Doranna Durgin
Publisher: Five Star
ISBN: 978-1-59414-675-6
Pages: 279
Price: $25.95

Review - Partners Again by Arthur T. Lee

Albert McTweed has such an active imagination that PJ McDougal, his imaginary friend, actually comes to life and helps Albert with his troubles.

Albert is an intelligent young boy who lets life's experiences ooze into his drawings. He lets his imagination, in the form of a cowboy named PJ, take on a life of its own. PJ, always in precarious situations that seem to have one dreadful outcome, stays focused on the problem at hand and takes advantage of luck and common sense to save himself.

The author's dedication to entertaining his readers is as prevalent as his desire to inspire education. He includes definitions of certain words in the back of the book. The prose is descriptive and engages all of the senses. Short, tight sentences add to the unpredictable, interesting, and constantly active pace of the story. The two main characters, Albert and PJ, come alive through their vivid perceptions of their individual worlds.

Arthur T. Lee realized when he was a very young boy that writing was what he had to do. It took several school years and encouragement from teachers before he decided to embrace writing completely. Partners Again is his first novel, but several more for middle grade and young adult are in the works. Arthur is a long time advocate of increasing child and adult literacy. Arthur and his family live in the northwest.

Partners Again has something for everyone and is a recommended uplifting family read. It's a wonderful reminder of the enjoyment and power of the imagination.

Title: Partners Again
Author: Arthur T. Lee
Publisher: Nobility Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9802297-0-7
Pages: 240
Price: $9.99

Reviewed for Allbooks Review

Review - Spun Tales by Felicia Donovan

Spun Tales
Written by: Felicia Donovan
Fiction / Mystery
Rated: Excellent (*****)
Review by: Lisa Haselton

Linda Jordan just needs a little more time to put the finishing touches on her newest medical thriller before submitting it to her publisher by the deadline, but life isn’t that easy.

The Black Widow Agency accepts a case involving a well-known and easily recognizable author. While trying to keep Linda Jordan secluded from fans and protected from foes while she finishes her latest novel, the Black Widows need to figure out how to deal with a required upcoming speech the author needs to give in a highly public location.

Also challenging the Black Widows is a co-worker who is continually absent and unavailable without explanation. The women balance worry with work as they struggle without their computer geek and hunt down the mysterious person or persons who don’t want the controversial medical novel manuscript to ever see print.

Author Felicia Donovan uses her computer forensics experience to create an intelligent and fun story line with women of varying skill sets (from finance to cyber geek), and ages (from twenty-something to sixty-something) righting the wrongs done to their clients. Her writing balances crime-solving with insight into the lives of the four main characters. She portrays strong women with soft sides and weaknesses.

Felicia Donovan began writing stories early on and completed her first novel before graduating high school. She became a teacher, but always felt compelled to return to the joy of writing fiction. Felicia left teaching to join a New England-based police department where she discovered the fascinating world of computer forensics. She resides in the bucolic countryside of NH with her two children and three dogs. She has a deep affection for her family, her friends, fine chocolates and well-spun tales.

Spun Tales is a wonderful continuation of the Black Widow agency series. Like the first novel, this is an engaging read. It is entertaining, suspenseful, fun, and fast paced. The four main characters are further developed and overcome new challenges. I highly recommend this novel to any mystery lover, especially those interested female leads.

Spun Tales is available through: http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bn.com/, other online outlets, and local book stores. Keep an eye out for the third in this series, Fragile Webs.

Title: Spun Tales
Author: Felicia Donovan
Publisher: Midnight Ink
ISBN: 978-0-7387-1310-6
Pages: 234
Price: $13.95

Review - Freezing Point by Karen Dionne

Ben Maki is focused and determined to supply the world with fresh water before the need hits critical levels.

The technology, people, and polar cap event finally fall in line and Ben Maki is poised to realize his dream of having an endless resource provide clean drinking water to millions. Staying at the forefront of budgets and years of knowing his company’s competitor could sweep in and take credit, keeps Ben on edge.

He juggles dealing with protestors, an unsatisfied boss, and his daughter’s school science project with an unknown scientist called “Iceman.” The surprises Ben encounters continue to surprise him and cause him to question everything he’s known as truth since the inception of the project.

Debut novelist, Karen Dionne, has crafted an amazingly engaging, fast-paced novel that makes the reader wonder just how the ratio of fiction to reality plays out. The science research is woven seamlessly into the storyline, and the reader can’t help but become educated about the earth’s fresh water resources. Short chapters are filled with tight writing and no extraneous detail. Thriller writing at its best.

When Karen Dionne first moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, her indoor interests were stained glass, weaving, and constructing N-scale model train layouts. Eventually, her creativity turned to writing. Karen’s short stories have appeared in Bathtub Gin, The Adirondack Review, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine and Thought Magazine. She worked as Senior Fiction Editor before founding Backspace, an Internet-based writers’ organization. She and her husband live in Detroit’s northern suburbs.

Imagination mixed with a good dose of real science combine with a lot of answers to the ‘what if’ question to make Freezing Point an adrenaline rush from start to finish. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an ice cold thrill ride. It feels like Perfect Stormwith ice caps instead of stormy weather. Totally engrossing.

Title: Freezing Point
Author: Karen Dionne
Publisher: Jove
ISBN: 978-0-515-14536-6
Pages: 320
Price: $7.99

Review - Whittaker Family Reunion by Shirley Roe

The Whittakers are having a family reunion in 1881 St. Louis. Can their present celebration outshine the dark family history?

Martha and Jeremy's teenage daughter, Anna, is quite a different challenge from raising three boys. The excitement about Isaac, Abraham, and Zeke coming home after several years is a welcomed distraction, but ignoring issues doesn't make them go away. Changes abound as Abraham befriends and brings young orphaned Billy into the family and Zeke's respite from England allows him to escape some attention while recapturing the eye of a love from his past.

Roe's appreciation for history is prevalent in her writing. She subtly weaves in the details of travel, expresses the challenges men and women faced at that time, and captures the overall feeling of entrepreneurship and pride as towns burgeoned across the nation.

Shirley A. Roe is the Managing Editor and founder of Allbooks Review. Her previous historical fiction includes, Of Dreams and Nightmares and A Call to Faith and Freedom. Shirley writes a syndicated column for California Chronicles and articles for several webzines and web sites. She is a regular reviewer for Foreword Magazine, Midwest Reviews, Mystique Books, Poetic Voices, and several other review publications and sites.

The Whittaker Family Reunion picks up about twenty years after the family's introduction in Of Dreams and Nightmares. The story naturally flows as the new generation's stories are shared. The Whittaker Family Reunion is a recommended read for any family member. Look for the next in the series, Back to Whittakerville, soon.

Title: The Whittaker Family Reunion
Author: Shirley A. Roe
Publisher: RealTime Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-906806-51-4
Pages: 200
Price: $15.95

Reviewed for Allbooks Review

Review - More than Dust in the Wind by Donald James Parker

Star college basketball player Lance "Bambi" Masterson is taken by surprise when his life turns from the path he's always imagined to one full of serious introspection.

Bambi Masterson and his college team finally make it to the national basketball tournament. His future is looking bright, especially with his girlfriend, Lisa, by his side. The tide turns within hours of the great national news, and Bambi is forced to evaluate what truly matters to him.

Parker's conversational writing style makes for a relaxing and enjoyable read. The characters are relatable and the dialogue keeps pace with the narrative. The main character's growth over a thirty year span is quick, but appropriate for the theme of the book. Parker mixes accurate historical data points in to keep the reader aware of the passage of time.

Donald James Parker grew up in Madison, South Dakota. He graduated from Madison Central High School in 1968 and obtained a degree in secondary education from Dakota State University in 1972. After moving to Washington State in 1981, Don focused his writing efforts on software. After twenty-five years of IT work, Don's passion for writing flared up again and the doctors couldn't do anything to cure it, so he now pursues fiction.

More than Dust in the Wind, the second of five novels in the Masterson Family series, is a great read. It shares a lot about the tough questions one may ask himself regarding is core beliefs and how important it is to find the answers by researching, asking questions, and keeping an open mind.

Title: More than Dust in the Wind
Author: Donald James Parker
Publisher: Sword of the Spirit Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-6152-1437-5
Pages: 208
Price: $12.95

Reviewed for Allbooks Review