Review From Here

Archive for September, 2009

Of Fairs, Freaks, and Fortune Tellers

Part of the fascination of writing a historical novel is not only all the information you pick up in your research, but how you assimilate the information into your novel.

To me it seems like an enormously complex juggling act, where you have to keep adding objects and discarding them, while all the time keeping your unwavering concentration on the main act itself. This is already tricky enough. But when you have a novel like The Other Mr. Darcy, you have one yet another club to juggle: going back to Austen constantly to make sure your characters stay “in character.”

To illustrate the wonderful complexity of this process, I’m going to talk about one of the topics that I researched for a long time for the novel, which was fairs and fairgrounds in the early nineteenth century, and then specifically the Nottingham Goose Fair, and then, in relation to it, the village of Stamford. I’ll use this to illustrate how historical information gets transformed as it is absorbed into a novel.

The History

In 1814, when The Other Mr. Darcy takes place, the Nottingham Goose Fair had been celebrated yearly since at least 1541, except during the Plague years, and one year in 1752 when the calendar was changed (11 days in September were dropped from the old calendar). The fair was timed for Michaelmas and the traditional dish of the feast, for, as the saying goes, “He who eats goose on Michaelmas day, shan’t money lack or debts to pay.” The geese also supplied something else, essential to writers of the time: the feathers for quills.

Geese were brought to Nottingham by the thousands (some place the figure at around 20,000) by drovers, who walked them from as far away as Norfolk. To accommodate the number of geese entering the walled city, there was a special gate for them, Goose Gate, on the east side. Of course, the Nottingham Goose Fair was a proper fair as well, and as such, had the usual displays that one could expect from that time, including Freaks and fortune tellers. There’s no room here to tell you all about this tantalizing subject, but it was also part of the research.

And one last piece of related research was about the town of Stamford, an important stop on the Great North road. The George Inn in Stamford was an important coaching inn, and in its heyday could expect 40 coaches to pass through daily, twenty towards York, and twenty towards London. Sir Walter Scott usually stayed at The George when he travelled that road. Stamford has several claims to fame, among them that it was where the popular folk figure Daniel Lambert, whose enormous size brought him fame and fortune as a Freak. It was in Stamford that he died, and his portrait hangs in The George Inn until this very day.

The Novel

Now on to The Other Mr. Darcy. You would think it’s ironic to even talk of fairs when I am writing a novel about Caroline Bingley, because Caroline would never deliberately go to a fair. It would be completely out of character. Which is exactly why she has to “brush” against a fair as she travels, and come into contact with an unfamiliar world that takes her out of her own.

Fairs have something magical about them. To me, that uncanny feeling became part of the novel as Caroline is jolted out of her normal world into one that allows her, for the first time, a glimpse of other possibilities. Yet at the same time, when we are talking about the early nineteenth century, a fair is a place of commerce. It is one of the most down to earth places one can imagine. Of all things, Caroline is trapped by the geese who surround their carriage and impede their journey to Pemberley.

And in Stamford, outside The George, Caroline is hailed by the Fat Woman who is on her way to the Nottingham Fair to be on display, a reminder of Daniel Lambert. Robert Darcy complains that the English treat him like a Freak because he is an outsider, and because many people’s interest in him came from his being “different,” another reminder.

It all came together, there, in front of The George – the novel, the characters, and the actual historical events. I felt almost transported, because the barrier between the past and the present became difficult to define. Thus when Caroline enters into the fortune teller’s tent, the fortune teller effectively tells the reader what is going to happen in the novel. Caroline’s future is already known at that particular moment. But as readers we are also revisiting the past, a past that also exists in the present, just as Daniel Lambert’s portrait exists now in the George Inn.

The connection between history and the now, the past and the present, the existence of Caroline at a time much later than when she was originally written by Jane Austen, is quite mind baffling. There I was, writing Jane Austen’s characters into a present-day novel, while at the same time I wrote of the past.

But perhaps I should quit now, before I become so baffled that I write myself out of existence.

About the Author

As a literature professor, Monica Fairview enjoyed teaching students to love reading. But after years of postponing the urge, she finally realized what she really wanted was to write books herself. She lived in Illinois, Los Angeles, Seattle, Texas, Colorado, Oregon and Boston as a student and professor, and now lives in London.

To find out more, please visit http://www.monicafairview.co.uk/

About the Book:

Did you know that Mr. Darcy had an American cousin?!

In this highly original Pride and Prejudice sequel by British author Monica Fairview, Caroline Bingley is our heroine. Caroline is sincerely broken-hearted when Mr. Darcy marries Lizzy Bennet— that is, until she meets his charming and sympathetic American cousin…

Mr. Robert Darcy is as charming as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is proud, and he is stunned to find the beautiful Caroline weeping at his cousin’s wedding. Such depth of love, he thinks, is rare and precious. For him, it’s nearly love at first sight. But these British can be so haughty and off-putting. How can he let the young lady, who was understandably mortified to be discovered in such a vulnerable moment, know how much he feels for and sympathizes with her?

For some reason I stopped participating in Mailbox Monday and I’m not sure why.  I really enjoy this meme and it also helps me keep track of the books I received and give you guys a look at some of the new stuff out there.  Let me warn you, it’s been an unbelievable week in terms of books received.  I always get some books but not like this.  Here goes:

Hollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh

There’s a saying at Hollywood station that the full moon brings out the beast–rather than the best–in the precinct’s citizens. One moonlit night, LAPD veteran Dana Vaughn and “Hollywood” Nate Weiss, a struggling-actor-turned cop, get a call about a young man who’s been attacking women. Meanwhile, two surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam keep bumping into an odd, suspicious duo–a smooth-talking player in dreads and a crazy-eyed, tattooed biker. No one suspects that all three dubious characters might be involved in something bigger, more high-tech, and much more illegal. After a dizzying series of twists, turns, and chases, the cops will find they’ve stumbled upon a complex web of crime where even the criminals can’t be sure who’s conning whom.

Tell Me Something True by Leila Cobo

Gabriella always loved the picture of her mother kneeling in front of a bed of roses, smiling, beautiful and impossibly happy. But then she learns that her late mother hated gardening; that she had never wanted the house in the Hollywood hills, the successful movie producer husband, and possibly, her only daughter. When Gabriella discovers a journal–a book that begins as a new mother’s letters to her baby girl, but becomes a secret diary–the final entry leaves one question unanswered: the night her mother died, was she returning to Colombia to end an affair, or was she abandoning her family for good?

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from TheNew Yorker over the same period.

Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the “dog whisperer” who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and “hindsight bias” and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.

“Good writing,” Gladwell says in his preface, “does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head.”What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer

Grace Hawkes has not spoken to her previously tight-knit family since her mother’s sudden death five years ago. Well, most of the family was tight-knit– her father walked out on them when she was 13 and she and her two brothers and sister bonded together even closer with their mother as a result.

She’s been doing her best to live her new life apart from them, but when their estranged father has a stroke and summons them, Grace suddenly realizes she’s done the same thing he had done…abandoned those who need her most.

And need her they do, for inside the hospital walls, a strange war is unfolding between the pseudo-kindly woman who is their father’s second wife and the rest of the original Hawkes clan. Upon reconnecting with her brother and sisters, Grace will find a part of herself she thought was lost forever. As they unravel the manipulative deception of the second Mrs. Hawkes, Grace will finally be able to stand up for her family– and to remember what a family is, even after all these years.

True Blue by David Baldacci

A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation’s capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci’s new, heart-stopping thriller.

TRUE BLUE

Mason “Mace” Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything-her badge, her career, her freedom-and spent two years in prison. Now she’s back on the outside and focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: A vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars. Then Roy Kingman enters her life.

Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation’s capital.

Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life.

Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store’s owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li’s family that he’ll find the killer.

The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation–not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li’s life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.

And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch’s life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he’s lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city’s Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad’s ferocity.

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between omnivore and vegetarian. But on the brink of fatherhood-facing the prospect of having to make dietary choices on a child’s behalf-his casual questioning took on an urgency  His quest for answers ultimately required him to visit factory farms in the middle of the night, dissect the emotional ingredients of meals from his childhood, and probe some of his most primal instincts about right and wrong. Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, memoir and his own detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting. Marked by Foer’s profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, widely loved,Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we’ve told-and the stories we now need to tell.

Pendragon’s Banner by Helen Hollick

Pendragon’s Banner is the second book in Helen Hollick’s exciting King Arthur trilogy, covering 459-465 A.D. This is not a fairy tale or fantasy. There is no Merlin, no sword in the stone, and no Lancelot. This is the most accurate Arthurian legend ever written, based on historical evidence and meticulous research.

At age twenty-four, King Arthur has the kingdom he fought so hard for and a new young family. But keeping the throne of Britain—and keeping his wife and three sons safe—proves far from easy. Two enemies in particular threaten everything that is dear to him: Winifred, Arthur’s vindictive first wife, and Morgause, priestess of the Mother and malevolent Queen of the North. Both have royal ambitions of their own.

In this story of harsh battles, secret treasonous plots, and the life-threatening politics of early Britain’s dark ages, author Helen Hollick boldly reintroduces King Arthur as you’ve never seen him before.

Dying Scream by Mary Burton

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher . . . a hidden cache of coded clues . . . a story written by a phantom author . . . an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park–all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault’s magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.

In the maze of cubicles at Samuelson Company, editors toil away in silence, studying the English language, poring over new expressions and freshly coined words–all in preparation for the next new edition of the Samuelson Dictionary. Among them is editorial assistant Billy Webb, just out of college, struggling to stay awake and appear competent. But there are a few distractions. His intriguing coworker Mona Minot may or may not be flirting with him. And he’s starting to sense something suspicious going on beneath this company’s academic facade.

Mona has just made a startling discovery: a trove of puzzling citations, all taken from the same book, The Broken Teaglass. Billy and Mona soon learn that no such book exists. And the quotations from it are far too long, twisting, and bizarre for any dictionary. They read like a confessional, coyly hinting at a hidden identity, a secret liaison, a crime. As Billy and Mona ransack the office files, a chilling story begins to emerge: a story about a lonely young woman, a long-unsolved mystery, a moment of shattering violence. And as they piece together its fragments, the puzzle begins to take on bigger personal meaning for both of them, compelling them to redefine their notions of themselves and each other.

Charged with wit and intelligence, set against a sweetly cautious love story, The Broken Teaglass is a tale that will delight lovers of words, lovers of mysteries, and fans of smart, funny, brilliantly inventive fiction.

As most of you already know, I am a PR Specialist and Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion.  This is THE GREATEST job in the world, I absolutely love it!  I am always looking for new reviewers and have some excellent books coming up in the future.  If you would like to participate in one of the tours, please email me at reviewfromhere(at)aol(dot)com and let’s talk.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Could you please tell us a little about your book?
I would consider this book to be more of a love story, rather than a category romance, in that I wasn’t saddled with trying to write within a publishing house’s mandated formula. I just wanted to tell a tender story as honestly as possible. The story concerns Brian and Joanna, two people who are really meant to be together, but life’s travails separate them during the most passionate moment of their lives. Each of them is haunted by memories of the other until, years later, Joanna writes Brian an e-mail, a catalyst that sets the entire story in motion. The title of the novel is the subject line of that e-mail, and is intended to be gently ironic.

Did something specific happen to prompt you to write this book?
Nothing happened specifically. It was more that I had come to a point in my writing life where I needed to do something different. Before this I had written mostly suspenseful, plot-oriented stories. While all my novels have a romantic element as one of the subplots, I wanted the love story to take center-stage this time. I also wanted a story that would appeal to as many people as possible. I’d like to think I’ve done that. It’s certainly more character-driven than my other books. The long and short of it, however, is deep down I’m an incurable romantic.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?
Just like any author, I draw upon my own experiences and feelings, but the characters, and incidents are purely the work of my imagination.

Who is your biggest supporter?
Aside from my family, I would have to say it is the woman who helped me nurture this story from day one: Elizabeth Klungness. She’s a crackerjack freelance editor who has edited all my books. She has a keen eye for the spurious, and I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for all she’s taught me. I call her my “Literary Mom.”

Your biggest critic?
Me!

What cause are you most passionate about and why?
With regard to writing, it’s telling the best story I can. To me, taking someone out of their everyday lives and making them forget their problems is the highest of callings. To hear someone say, “I read your book and I really loved it,” is the most intoxicating of drugs.

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?
I like to think that I have. I’ve worked on this book off and on for four years, writing, re-writing and re-writing again and again and again. I love the process–creating a world that never existed–and fashioning that world bit by bit so that those readers who enter it are taken on a memorable journey. I love the moment when I find that perfect turn of phrase, the moment when the scene I’m working on falls into place–when I know I’ve nailed it. My father called those instances life’s “AHA!” moments. These are the moments for which I live, and they don’t happen nearly as often as I’d like. I think the skill I’ve improved the most in writing this book is character development. Hopefully, readers will agree.

Do you have any rituals you follow when finishing a piece of work?
When I’m working on a book, my ironclad rule is three pages per day. If I do more than that–great–but that doesn’t let me off the hook for the next day….

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer?
Everything I read influences me to some degree. I know some writers who refuse to read anything during the months (or years) they are working on a book. I can’t do that. For me reading is the life-blood of my imagination. The books I read feed my subconscious, allowing ideas to germinate. I don’t believe those ideas would flower, were I to exist in a literary vacuum. As for specific influences, it would be Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Joseph Payne Brennan, and Jack Finney. Finney wrote my all-time favorite book: Time and Again, the original time travel romance.

What is the most important thing in your life right now?
My two sons, Jeffrey (13) and Brian (7).

What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on a book called Zombie Heart, but the plot is hush-hush. The one thing I will say is that it’s not your father’s zombie novel. For those readers who will want more of the type of story like A Note from an Old Acquaintance, I promise there will be more books like this in the future.

Do you have any advice for writers or readers?
For writers it’s PERSERVERANCE and reverence for the CRAFT. Do all you can to learn the techniques and the art of writing; study the masters of the genre you love to read most, the ones who are selling scads of books. Let’s face it, folks, a part of the yearning to be a writer is the desire to make a decent living at it. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Publishing is, after all, a business. But I digress. Writers like Stephen King are worth studying to see what it is about their work that captures so many readers. Early in his career, many critics stated that King couldn’t write. Well, time and millions of loyal readers have proven them wrong. I believe King’s work will be studied in high school and college level courses someday, if not already, just as they do with Steinbeck and Hemingway. I’ll make another recommendation: read Charles Dickens. Dickens is worth studying because he knew how to keep readers enthralled. Most of his books were serialized in the newspapers of his day before being published in book form, and he had to leave the readers wanting desperately to know what was going to happen next. And that, dear reader, is the real secret.

Is there an author that inspired you to write?
When I was younger, it was probably Edgar Allen Poe. Even his prose stories have a poetic meter, and they cast a hypnotic spell that cannot be denied. I also used to love the John Carter on Mars stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, because of their romantic swashbuckling nature. But the real catalyst was my sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Beecher. Every Monday she would write thirty vocabulary words on the blackboard, and over the course of that week we were expected to write a paragraph using as many of them as possible. Well, for me, I wasn’t content with writing anything mundane or silly, just to make the words fit. I took those thirty words as a clarion call to action and wrote stories with them, usually scary ones

What are some of your long-term goals?
Without trying to sound as if I’ve got an Everest-sized ego, I want to be a brand-name author, one where the potential reader sees the name “Bill Walker” on a new book and instantly knows he or she will get their money’s worth. I want them to think, “I’ve got to get that book.”

What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author?
I don’t think I’ve reached that goal yet, thankfully, but seeing my first book in print was a real highpoint.

What do you feel is your biggest strength?
Setting the scene, being able to put the reader into the story.

Biggest weakness?
Not being as effectively self-critical as I’d like. I think I would save a lot of time if I were able to see the problems earlier on. On the other hand, sometimes I second-guess myself too much. Finding that happy medium is the hardest part.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?
It’s a story about love lost, then regained, told primarily from a masculine point of view. There aren’t that many male writers who write love stories/romances, and I think that’s unfortunate. I think the male point of view can be both revealing and refreshing. Additionally, I think we all wonder about “the one that got away.” This is a story where the lovers get a second chance.

You know the scenario – you’re stuck on an island.  What book would you bring with you and why?
Sorry, but it would have to be two books. The first would be Jack Finney’s immortal Time and Again and the second would be Stephen King’s The Stand. Time and Again appeals to the romantic in me; The Stand scares me silly; and it’s a monumental work that inspires me to try and surpass myself.

What is your favorite past-time?
I love playing electric guitar. I’m an inveterate rock and roller, so for me, it’s Cream, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Green Day, and others of that ilk. Just as it is for one of the characters in my book, guitar playing is psychotherapy–a cathartic release. It’s also a way to ruminate on story problems or break writer’s block. Sometimes when the words won’t come, I’ll whip out the guitar, plug in and start wailing. After awhile the words start flowing again. And then I can’t stop them

Bill Walker is a graphic designer specializing in book and dust jacket design, and has worked on projects by Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dean Koontz and Stephen King. Between his design work and his writing, he spends his spare time reading voraciously and playing very loud guitar, much to the chagrin of his lovely wife and two sons. Bill makes his home in Los Angeles and can be reached through his web site: http://www.billwalkerdesigns.com/

Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma. A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Everything changes the morning an e-mail arrives from Boston artist Joanna Richman. Her heartfelt note brings back all the poignant memories: the night their eyes met, the fiery passion of their short-lived affair, and the agonizing moment he was forced to leave Joanna forever. Now, fifteen years later, the guilt and anger threaten to overwhelm him. Vowing to make things right, Brian arranges a book-signing tour that will take him back to Boston. He is eager to see Joanna again, but remains unsure where their reunion will lead. One thing is certain: the forces that tore their love asunder will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

1st Sentence: Did you ever have the feeling that you were exactly where you were meant to be, that the fates had finally got it right and the rest of your life was going to be clear sailing?

Last Sentence: Sugar Maple was gone.

My Review:

This is the first book I have read that was told in the first person, but the first person was divided between Luke, Chloe, and Karen.  At first I found this a little hard to keep track of but I soon fell into the swing of things and it became much easier as the plot developed.

Chloe is half sorceress and half human – she is welcomed by some of Sugar Maple but there are others who don’t look kindly to humans of any kind.  You see, Sugar Maple is a land of trolls,  the fae, vampires, werewolves, and spirits of all kinds.  Chloe’s ancestors have cast a protective spell hundreds of years earlier to keep them “hidden” to human eyes.  Chloe runs “Sticks and Strings” the most popular knitting store in the area, and there are a lot of humans that enter the town.  They just aren’t able to see the magic that surrounds them.

Chloe love Luke who is 100% human.  He is the acting town sheriff and she is hoping that the book of spells is right and that she will have a baby girl with him to carry on the tradition that has been set forth by her ancestors.  She is the key to keeping the protective spell on Sugar Maple and if she is unable to produce an heir the existence of the town may be in jeopardy.

That is where Isadora comes in.  Isadora is a powerful member of the fae that Chloe has banished earlier (I believe this may have been a focal point of the previous book) due to the fact that she tried to kill Luke, among other things.  She lost both of her sons in the battle and has been trying to find a way to break the banishment spell.  When Luke’s ex-wife Karen enters town saying that she is getting messages from their dead daughter, Chloe knows that something is wrong and that Isadora is behind it somehow.

This book is extremely well written and makes me want to grab the first one and get some more background on these wonderful characters.  This was a perfect book for me not only because it involved supernatural characters, but it was also light hearted in certain ways.  This is an author I will be following much more closely in the future.

Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. Her most recent title, Laced With Magic, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world and have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.

Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.

Her awards include both Reviewer’s Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.

Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.

You can visit Barbara’s website at www.barbarabretton.com, her blog at http://bmafb.blogspot.com or connect with her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/barbarbretton.com.

Knit shop owner and sorcerer’s daughter Chloe Hobbs felt the Fates finally got it right when she met Luke MacKenzie. And no one could have convinced her otherwise—including the trolls, selkies, or spirits who also call Sugar Maple, Vermont, home. But then out of nowhere Luke’s ex-wife suddenly shows up, claiming to see the spirit of their daughter, Steffie—a daughter Chloe knows nothing about.

Steffie’s spirit is being held hostage by a certain Fae leader. And if Chloe weaves a spell to free her spirit, her nemesis will also be free—free to destroy her yarn shop and all of Sugar Maple. But if she doesn’t, Steffie won’t be the only one spending eternity in hell. Chloe’ll be joining her, cursed with a broken heart.

About the Author:

Born in a tiny hospital in rural Virginia, tucked snugly away in a bureau drawer, Joanne ever cherishes her country beginnings. Fond memories of toddling along after her older sisters along the Appalachian Trail, catching tadpoles in the local creek bed, chasing after lightening bugs, or falling asleep to the evening hum of katydids, remain with her still, despite the family move to more urban Arlington where Joanne spent her formative school years, and then on to Richmond for college. Though nursing was her chosen vocation, her chosen avocation has ever been the romance novel. Joanne grew up reading romance, falling in love with heroes and heroines from Regency England to the American West, from London’s pubs to Colorado’s ski slopes, loving that moment when the hero and heroine meet and fall in love. That moment to Joanne is the moment when Jane Eyre meets Edward Rochester, when Elizabeth Bennett meets Mr. Darcy—that’s the heart-stopping, passionate moment for Joanne in romance. That moment is what led Joanne to attempt traditional, old-fashioned, historical romance. Her first sale was in 2005 and since then, she’s sold five more historical romances to Five Star-Gale, Cengage Learning, in their Expressions line. Her books have been reviewed nationally by such notables as Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Romantic Times. With her three children grown and off on their own adventures, Joanne now lives part-time in Colorado and in California with her husband and their entourage` of felines and huskies. Joanne’s writing groups include Romance Writers of America, Colorado Romance Writers, Los Angeles Romance Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and Women Writing the West. You can visit her on the web at www.joannesundell.com.

About the Book:

Meggie’s Remains is a romantic suspense unlike any other. Meggie struggles with far more than meeting the man of her dreams. In fact, she’s scared to death when she does. This story could happen to any woman, in any time. It is you. It is me. It is private … but must be told.

Afraid of men, afraid for her sins, afraid for her sanity, and right now afraid for her life, Meggie McMurphy flees Boston once the fiendish terror–so long stalking in her nightmares–surfaces in the light of day. She escapes west to Denver in the wild Colorado Territory, hoping to lose herself among the multitude of townsfolk. The year is 1874.

Twenty-five years old, alone, and near penniless, Meggie struggles to find honest work and to keep the dark secrets of her past just that: a secret. Not so easily done when the handsome, foreboding westerner Ethan Rourke, stumbles upon her on a snowy Denver street. Why it’s as if he’d stepped right out of the pages of her beloved romance, Jane Eyre! Safe to encounter such a man on the romance page, it is certainly unsafe, even deadly, for her to encounter such a man in the flesh. Men belong … six feet under, six feet away … where to stay safe, the devil must stay!

Hired as a teacher, not in Denver, but in an isolated mountain town in rugged Ute country, Meggie is determined to make a home for herself in Hot Sulphur Springs. There she keeps up her masquerade as Rose Rochester, yearning for a normal life–for companionship and even love–all the while knowing it’s only a matter of time until the monstrous changeling from her nightmares will find her, killing any possibility of a life at all.

Review:

Meggie is a character that breaks my heart.  Being in an orphanage is bad enough, but living through a trauma at the hands of someone she trusted has left her clearly damaged beyond the physical scars she as endured.  After escaping her nightmare of abuse, she finds that she loves to teach after spending some time in a convent.  Her time there is compromised and she is forced to flee for fear of enduring more abuse.

She heads to Denver and is found in a state of confusion on the street by a man named Ethan Rourke.  He makes sure that she is safe and moves on.  She in turn finds a job teaching and although her life is still not ideal she is happy with the reaction she receives from the children and their families.  Maybe it’s a sign that her life is about to turn around.  But, Meggie’s life is not so simple and things start to decline making her wonder why the past won’t stay buried and let her be happy for once.

Joanne has found a way to find a character with major issues and make you feel for her in a way that I haven’t felt for a character in a long time.  Between the romantic angle, and the suspense angle, I was drawn to these characters and book and had a hard time putting it down.  It did take me a little bit to get into the story but once I did it was a breeze to get through.  I really enjoyed this piece of work and am hoping to read more by this author in the future.

Jacqueline Klosek is a Senior Counsel in Business Law Department of

Jacqueline is a frequent writer and lecturer. Her most recent book is The Right to Know: Your Guide to Using and Defending Freedom of Information Law in the United States. Her prior books include: War on Privacy (Praeger, 2006); The Legal Guide to e-Business (Greenwood Publishing, 2003) and Data Privacy in the Information Age (Greenwood Publishing, 2000).

Jacqueline (along with James R. Silkenat and Jeffrey M. Aresty) is also an editor of the recently released 3rd edition of the ABA Guide to International Business Negotiations: A Comparison of Cross-Cultural Issues and Successful Approaches.

Jacqueline is a Certified Information Privacy Professional, Ms. Klosek is on the Advisory Board for The Privacy Advisor of the International Association of Privacy Professionals , and is the co-chair of the International Working Group of that organization. She is also an active member of American Bar Association, the International Bar Association and the International Association of Young Lawyers.

Jacqueline has been recognized for her professional expertise. In 2004, Ms. Klosek received NJBiz magazine’s “40 Under 40” award, given annually to the top 40 achievers in New Jersey with an established record of leadership who have taken on key decision-making roles at an earlier-than-usual stage in their lives. She was also the recipient of the Telford-Taylor Fellowship in Public International Law.

She is a graduate of the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels (LLM, European and International Law); Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (JD, Law) and New York University (BA, Psychology)

For more information about the book and author, please visithttp://www.jacquelineklosek.com/

The Right to Know is a resource book for citizens seeking to understand, use, and defend their right to know their rights under the freedom of information laws in the United States. It educes practical lessons from dozens of case studies of how the reader can use our freedom of information laws in order to protect the environment, public health and safety and to expose governmental and corporate crime, waste, and corruption.

Q: Welcome to Review From Here, Jacqueline Klosek. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

A: The Right to Know is my fourth published book. I have also published a number of chapters in other books, as well as numerous articles.

Q: What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

A: My first book was, My Puppy’s Big Adventure. Written in the first grade, this book was not published nor was it submitted to any publishers or agents. My first real book, was Data Privacy in the Information Age, published by Praeger Publishers in 2000.

Q: For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

A: I know this is an anomaly but I actually published my first book with the first publisher I had contacted.

Q: When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

A: I published Data Privacy in the Information Age with Praeger Publishers. At the time, I had just finished law school and was working in Belgium. There was a new strict privacy law in place in Europe and this law had an impact on US companies. As a result, a lot of my work involved assisting US companies to comply with European privacy laws. I became deeply interested in privacy rights and, in particular, international perspectives on privacy. I wished to understand more about how countries had different perspectives on privacy and how those differences could be reconciled, or at least accommodated in an increasingly interconnected world. I pitched the idea for a book on these issues to Praeger Publishers. They offered me a contract soon thereafter and the rest is history.

Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

A: I was completely thrilled to be published! I could not cease to talk about “the book” to everyone I met. I actually framed a copy of the book. It felt like such an incredible accomplishment.

Q: Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

A: Yes, I just published my fourth book. I like to believe that I am growing as an author and trying to experiment more with different subject matters and styles. Next up for me is a book on health privacy but after that I wish to explore more creative writing, including creative nonfiction. I am also taking some courses in short story writing.

Q: If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

A: I am quite content as an attorney and author. However, at the same time, have a lot of different interests, some of which I explore in my free time. I enjoy fitness and working out and would be happy working as a Pilates or yoga instructor or an adventure sport guide. I also could see myself working in landscape architecture and/or vegetarian cooking. I also enjoy teaching and am exploring that interest by teaching a number of courses on an adjunct basis.

Q: Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

A: I am trying to combine the best of multiple worlds, I suppose. That is a great thing about writing. Through writing, one can explore a variety of different interests.

Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

A: One must never lose hope. If you truly enjoy writing, keep at it and you will achieve your dream. Along the way, do not be afraid to stretch outside of your comfort zone and experiment a bit. Seek out the advice of friends and contacts you will be honest with you and offer constructive advice. Good luck!

About the Book:

In this third in the series, wildlife photographer Tessa Anderson must prove her brother innocent of murder charges. But when she discovers a gorgeous naked man barely alive on her beach, she’s got a new world of troubles to deal with, not least of which is how he affects her with just a look, a touch, or a whispered word.

Hunter Greymore is a lupus garou, a grey werewolf. Hoping to keep a low profile at Tessa’s cabin on the coast, he’s drawn into her life—and into her bed. His animal instincts war with his human half, but in the end, the only thing he can do about this fascinating, adorable woman is to leave her forever —unless she becomes one of them.

About the Author:

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear has an MBA from Monmouth College. An eclectic writer, she dabbles in the paranormal and also writes historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas.

My Review:

This is the first book in this series that I have read but it can easily stand on its own.  Hunter Greymer is leader of his werewolf pack and with that comes a ton of responsiblity.  The pack is forced to disperse after wildfires take over their land and he takes his sister, Meara, with him to go and stay on the Oregon coast and take care of their uncle’s property.  Their uncle is aware of a photographer that has been taking photographs of the wildlife and land and warns Hunter that it could compromise their position if she gets too close to their secret – if one of them was caught in a shift all hell would break loose.

Meara is unable to sit still and goes off looking for someone to share her time with – a mate.  This selfish act causes her brother to almost lose his life – instead he loses his memory.  Lucky for him a beautiful woman stumbles upon him, what he doesn’t know is that Tessa is the woman that his uncle has warned him about.  Will he be able to ignore the attraction he feels to her and protect his pack from someone who might pry a little too deep?  Or will he fall for Tessa and give in to a love that may be once in a lifetime?

Very well written and fun to read, I recommend this to anyone that likes romance, paranormal, or any combination of the two.