THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

    Grieving is a journey and it doesn’t just end. One may feel physical, mental, social even spiritual loss. The way we grieve is very unique to each individual and should not be rushed. The worst thing you can say to a person grieving is “you’ll get over it.” How do you know? What if this person doesn’t? You should offer a welcoming ear and listen. Melissa Gould has written a memoir, WIDOWISH (LittleA) about grieving outside the box and the surprising nature of love. When Melissa Gould’s husband, Joel, was unexpectedly hospitalized, she could not imagine how her life was about to change. Overwhelmed with uncertainty as Joel’s condition tragically worsened, she offered him the only thing she could: her love and devotion. Her dedication didn’t end with his death. Left to resume life without her beloved husband and raise their young daughter on her own, Melissa soon realized that her and Joel’s love lived on. Melissa found she didn’t fit the typical mold of widowhood or meet the e

  When I first started reading Fiona King Foster’s, debut novel, THE CAPTIVE (Ecco/HarperCollins), I felt as if I’d entered another world. I couldn’t fully understand whether it was a western or an anti-government survivalist book or perhaps a domestic terrorist thriller. I also wondered about the time line, because people were riding horses in town, yet they used cell-phones. I decided to put that all aside and just read, and I’m so glad I did. THE CAPTIVE grabbed me and didn’t let go until the very end. Brooke Holland left her violent life fifteen years ago. She starts fresh when she meets a man named Milo King and has two daughters, Holly 13 and Sal 8. They live in a secessionist rural town cut off from urban cities, and life is very difficult on the cranberry farm. They barely make enough to make ends meet. All is well until a wanted fugitive shows up in their shed and Brooke takes him down. At first, her family doesn’t know Brooke recognizes the captive. Brooke talks Milo and

  I love novels that keep you on the edge of your seat with characters so complex and multi-layered, you can’t help, but keep turning the pages. Suzanne Redfearn’s new novel, HADLEY & GRACE (LakeUnionPublishing) is such a book. After fifteen-years of marriage, Hadley is ready to leave her abusive husband, Frank. They have a fourteen-year-old daughter, Mattie who is going through those “teen years,” and the son of her sister, Skipper is living with them. Grace’s husband is in Afghanistan and she’s is sick of him gambling away their rent and food money. She’s ready to move on with their infant son, Miles and make a change for the better. Through a score of coincidences, that somehow make sense, they end up in the same spot at the exact minute committing the same crime. Their story makes the news and the country is cheering on the mama renegades along with their kids. I liked all characters and was rooting for them to succeed, but wondering in the back of my mind, how this was g

  Aloha and welcome to Hawaii's Big Island and a journey deep into the exotic locales where we discover its language and crime. Kilauea’s smoldering lava fields—a unique place to bury the bodies. It's a prequel to Robert McCaw's, A KOA KANE HAWAIIAN MYSTERY, DEATH of a MESSENGER (Oceanview). A scrap of cloth fluttering in the wind leads Hilo police Chief Detective Koa Kāne to the tortured remains of an unfortunate soul left to burn in the path of an advancing lava flow. For Koa, it’s the second gruesome homicide of the day, and he soon discovers the murders are linked. These grisly crimes on Hawai‘i’s Big Island could rewrite history—or cost Chief Detective Koa Kane his career. The dead, a reclusive couple living off the grid, turn out to be mysterious fugitives. The CIA, the Chinese government, and the Defense Intelligence Agency attempt to thwart Koa’s investigation and obscure the victims’ true identities. Undeterred by mounting political pressure, Koa pursues the truth

International bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers pulse-pounding thrills in the first book in a series featuring a brilliant and unusual new heroine, cutting-edge cybertechnology, and stakes that are astronomically high... and the stakes will equally increase your heartbeat in book two, SPIN (Thomas&Mercer).   On the eve of a top secret space mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research center. A NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator, Calli knows that a looming blizzard and government shutdown could provide the perfect cover for sabotage, with deadly consequences. As it turns out, the danger is worse than she thought. A spatter of dried blood, a missing security badge, a suspicious suicide—a series of disturbing clues point to Calli’s twin sister, Carme, who’s been MIA for days. Desperate to halt the countdown to disaster and to clear her sister’s name, Captain Chase digs deep into her vast cyber secur

  From the Amazon bestselling author of  Hide Away  comes the gripping second installment of the Rachel Marin Thriller series by Jason Pinter, A STRANGER AT THE DOOR (Thomas&Mercer). Rachel Marin is in a good place. After years of struggle, the single mother has found both a stable, loving relationship and a new purpose: putting her investigative skills to work solving crimes for the local PD. But just as the pieces of her life are finally starting to fall into place, her teenaged son’s teacher is gruesomely murdered, starting a domino effect that shatters her peaceful existence. When Rachel discovers an ominous email the teacher sent to her just before his death, she knows she must help bring his killer to justice. But soon a figure from her past reappears, threatening to expose Rachel’s darkest secrets if she doesn’t tread lightly. And when her son is recruited by a shadowy businessman who may be connected to the murder, Rachel knows this has just gotten very, very personal. Some

  A People Pick! “One of the year’s must-reads.” –ELLE “[A] provocative, heart-breaking, and frequently hilarious collection.” –GLAMOUR “Essential, vital, and urgent.” –HARPER’S BAZAAR In the vein of Roxane Gay’s  Bad Feminist  and Issa Rae’s  The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,  but wholly its own, a provocative, humorous, and, at times, heartbreaking collection of essays on what it means to be black, a woman, a mother, and a global citizen in today's ever-changing world. Black women have never been more visible or more publicly celebrated than they are now. But for every new milestone, every magazine cover, every box office record smashed, every new face elected to public office, the reality of everyday life for black women remains a complex, conflicted, contradiction-laden experience.  An American journalist who has been living and working in London for a decade, Kenya Hunt has made a career of distilling moments, movements, and cultural moods into words. Her work takes the

  Lee Goldberg offers another police procedural filled with sex and violence in the second book in the Eve Ronin series. In BONE CANYON (Thomas&Mercer), Eve Ronin works twice as hard to get to the truth, no matter where it leads her. A cold case heats up, revealing a deadly conspiracy in a twisty thriller by #1  New York Times  bestselling author Lee Goldberg. A catastrophic wildfire scorches the Santa Monica Mountains, exposing the charred remains of a woman who disappeared years ago. The investigation is assigned to Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a position that forces her to prove herself again and again. This time, though, she has much more to prove. Bones don’t lie, and these have a horrific story to tell. Eve tirelessly digs into the past, unearthing dark secrets that reveal nothing about the case is as it seems. With almost no one she can trust, her relentless pursuit of justice for the forgotten dead could put Eve’

I never cease to be amazed by the authors who are able to write stories around WWII. There seems to be an unlimited well of ideas for possible novels. Author, Jennifer Robson is one such author. With her new novel, OUR DARKEST DAYS (WilliamMorrow) she shines a light on the Italian Jews who were persecuted during this dark period of our history. In her new novel, OUR DARKEST HOUR, to survive the Holocaust, a young Jewish woman must pose as a Christian farmer’s wife.. It's a story of terror, hope, love, and sacrifice, inspired by true events, that vividly evokes the most perilous days of World War II. It is the autumn of 1943, and life is becoming increasingly perilous for Italian Jews like the Mazin family. With Nazi Germany now occupying most of her beloved homeland, and the threat of imprisonment and deportation growing ever more certain, Antonina Mazin has but one hope to survive—to leave Venice and her beloved parents and hide in the countryside with a man she has only just met.

  1054 Mockingbird Lane is a pretty busy place. Three women who live there seem to have a lot to hide. In Stacy Wise's, LIE, LIE AGAIN (LakeUnion) knowing what's happening behind closed doors can be dangerous. It's a delicious dramedy that'll have you thinking "Melrose Place." If you don't know that show, I'm sure it's on NetFlix, or somewhere else. Sylvia Webb is looking for her Mr. Right, but it seems she's Ms. Wrong in so many ways. Riki McFarlan works in showbusiness, has a boyfriend who wants the settle down, but she only has eyes for her neighbor... a happily married neighbor. Embry Taylor is a real life southern belle living in LA with her two kids and struggling actor, eye-candy husband, Brandon. They all live in the same apartment complex and know each other's business. Sometimes its good, other times, no so much. I really enjoyed LIE, LIE AGAIN. The characters were all so complex and developed. I enjoyed not knowing what was going