"The Long March Home," by Marcus Brotherton & Tosca Lee

"The Long March Home," by Marcus Brotherton & Tosca Lee

Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.

Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire.

Life in the Philippines seems like paradise--until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.

What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive.

This is not my normal type of book that I read.  However, if you get the chance please read this book.  I wasn't totally convinced I was going to enjoy this book, but it got to the stage I had to turn the page, as I needed to know what happened next.

I did not know anything about this part of the war, and what those three friends did to try and survive was unbelievable, although their story is fiction, it is based on actual facts.  Also the bond that they formed prior to the war, helped them survive the awful things that they had to go through.  

I enjoyed the story of Billy and Claire, and the story went back and forward to when they were growing up, then to the three boys, (and they were just boys) fighting together in the war.

Stars out of 5 : 5 A must read for everyone, even if you are not fond of war stories.  What these guys went through was just terrible, and everyone should know about it.  Please read this book.
 

 "Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"In the Shadow of the River," by Ann H. Gabhart

" In the Shadow of the River," by Ann H. Gabhart

If all the world's a stage, Jacci will play her part.

She only hopes her story does not turn out to be a tragedy.

In 1881, Jacci Reed is only five years old when a man attempts to kidnap her from the steamboat her mother, Irena, works on. Badly wounded during the confrontation, Irena takes Jacci aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, a showboat tied up beside them. There, Jacci's actor grandfather tends to her mother, and Jacci gets a first taste of the life she will come to lead.

Fifteen years later, Jacci is an actress aboard that same showboat and largely contented with her adopted family of actors, singers, and dancers. Especially Gabe, who has always supported her, and the gruff grandfather she has come to know and love. Jacci's mother has been gone for years, but the memory of the altercation that ultimately took her life--and the cryptic things Jacci has overheard about her past--is always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

When someone on the showboat tries to kill Jacci, it's clear her questions demand answers. But secrets have a way of staying in the shadows . . . and the answers she craves will not come easily.

I have read a number of Ann's books over the years and I find them enjoyable, but really hard work to get immersed into.  This one was no different, and although I did finish the book, it was truly hard work.

Now I did enjoy learning about life on a showboat, and the historical factor of the book, the actual story just didn't do it for me. I didn't guess who was trying to kill Jacci, or the reason why.

Stars out of 5 : 3 It was an okay book, but not one I will remember; sorry.  

 "Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"The Swindler's Daughter," by Stephenia H. McGee

 "The Swindler's Daughter," by Stephenia H. McGee

A surprise inheritance. A cache of family secrets. A choice that will change her life forever.

Lillian Doyle has lived her entire high-society life with her widowed mother, believing her father died long ago. But when news arrives that her estranged father only recently passed away--in jail--Lillian is startled to find that he has left a business and all his possessions to her, making her a rather unusual heiress.

When she arrives at her father's house in a backwoods Georgia town, the dilapidated structure is already occupied by a woman who claims it was promised to her son, Jonah. In her attempts to untangle the mess, Lillian will discover not only a family she never knew she had but a family business that is more than meets the eye--and has put a target on her back.

To discover the truth and take hold of the independence she's always dreamed of, she'll have to make friends with adversaries and strangers--and Jonah, the dusty and unrefined cowboy who has secret aspirations of his own.

I will say I wasn't sure about this book to start with, but it grows on you the more you read it.  Lillian and Jonah were perfect lead characters and it was lovely to see their chemistry grow through out the book.  Watching Lillian gain more and more independence and a back bone made you want to cheer her on.

I will say though although it wasn't a very "deep" book, it did keep me interested and wanting me to finish the book to see what happened next.

Stars out of 5 : 4 Will I remember this book next month, probably not, but it's a perfect book for some light reading on a summer's day.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"Counter Attack," by Patricia Bradley

 "Counter Attack," by Patricia Bradley

Her next move just might be her last

No sooner has Alexis Stone been sworn in as the interim chief deputy for Russell County, Tennessee, than a serial killer dubbed the Queen's Gambit Killer strikes again--this time in her hometown. Pearl Springs is just supposed to be a temporary stop along the way to Alex's real dream: becoming the first female police chief of Chattanooga. But the killer's calling card--a white pawn and a note with a chess move printed on it--cannot be ignored.

Pearl Springs chief of police Nathan Landry can't believe that his high school sweetheart Alexis (he refuses to call her Alex) is back in town, and he can't help wanting to protect the woman he never stopped loving. But as the danger mounts and the killer closes in, can Nathan come through on the promise he makes to himself to bring a killer to justice before it's too late?

This book flowed really nicely, it started at a fast pace and just kept going.  Right from the start the chemistry between Alex and Nathan was on point and they made excellent lead characters.

I will say I guessed who the killer was early on, but the author did mix things up so you did question if you thought you had guessed correctly.  I was laughing to myself about how many times Alex's life was put in danger over a short number of days.  Personally I would have quit the job and gone into hiding!

I know diddly squat about chess so that basically went over my head, all those clues, and as I said I guessed what and why the killings were happening, so you don't need to understand any chess moves.

Stars out of 5 : 4.5 A page turner of a book, but was clueless about the chess moves etc. and this book hasn't wanted me to learn how to play chess!!  

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"The Weight of Air," by Kimberly Duffy

 "The Weight of Air," by Kimberly Duffy

Two women--bound by blood, torn apart by circumstance--find together that true strength comes in many forms.

In 1911, Mabel MacGinnis is Europe's strongest woman and has performed beside her father in the Manzo Brothers Circus her entire life. When he dies unexpectedly, she loses everything she's ever known and sets off in the company of acrobat Jake Cunningham in hope of finding the mother she thought was dead.

Isabella Moreau, America's most feted aerialist, has given everything to the circus. But age and injury now threaten her security, and Isabella, stalked by old fears, makes a choice that risks everything. Then her daughter Mabel appears alongside the man who never wanted to see Isabella again, and she is forced to face the truth of where, and in what, she derives her worth.

As Mabel and Isabella's lives become entangled beneath the glittering lights and flying trapeze of Madison Square Garden, their resiliency and resolve are tested as they learn the truth of what it means to be strong.

I always feel bad writing a negative review on a book, but like everything in life, not everyone likes the same things.  I enjoyed the growing love story between Mabel and Jake, they were perfect for one another despite all their past hurts.  I also enjoyed reading about the circus.  I understood how Isabella felt about getting old, and wondering what purpose her life would be without the circus.  I understood the underlying doubts and fears a person (the characters) have when dealing with day to day life.

But this book was much too complicated and much too long winded for me.  The story dragged and I got bored with it.  If I wasn't reviewing it I would have given up.  The story took too long to get going.

Stars out of 5 : 2.5 Not my cup of tea, but you may love it.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"The Metropolitan Affair," by Jocelyn Green

"The Metropolitan Affair," by Jocelyn Green

For years her explorer father promised Dr. Lauren Westlake she'd accompany him on one of his Egyptian expeditions. But as the empty promises mounted, Lauren determined to earn her own way. Now the assistant curator of Egyptology for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lauren receives two unexpected invitations.

The first is her repentant father's offer to finally bring her to Egypt as his colleague on a new expedition. The second is a chance to enter the world of New York's wealthiest patrons who have been victims of art fraud.

With Egyptomania sweeping the city after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, Detective Joe Caravello is on the hunt for a notorious forger preying on the open wallets of New York's high society. Dr. Westlake is just the expert he needs to help him track the criminal. Together they search for the truth, and the closer Lauren and Joe get to discovering the forger's identity, the more entangled they become in a web of deception and crime.

This book is both delightful and sad at the same time.  It is set in the Roaring 20's of New York; a time of glitz and glamour.  The sad part of the book for me was Lauren's yearning for approval from her father, which only brings her more and more heartache.  Bring in a pot load of mystery and intrigue, and add in some romance and you have a winner of a book.

There were many twists and turns in this book; that when you have finally figured it out, or so you thought, out comes another plot twist.  I loved all the references to Egypt; it brought back memories of me studying that in school.  Thoroughly enjoyed that part of the book.  You must read the author's notes, they were enlightening.

The author's attention to detail brought everything to life for me, you could easily imagine yourself in all the scenes she painted throughout the book.

Stars out of 5 : 4.5  It did take me a couple of chapters to get invested in the book, but once I did I couldn't stop reading it.  A well worth read and is the first book in the "On Central Park," series.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"The Sound of Light," by Sarah Sundin

 "The Sound of Light," by Sarah Sundin

Copenhagen, 1940

When the Germans march into Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, assuming a new identity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden. American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to leave Copenhagen and abandon her research--her life's dream--and makes the dangerous decision to print resistance newspapers.

As Else hears rumors of the movement's legendary Havmand--the merman--she also becomes intrigued by the mysterious and silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse. Henrik makes every effort to conceal his noble upbringing, but he is torn between the façade he must maintain and the woman he is beginning to fall in love with.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . . or in silence.

I have to say I really enjoyed this book.  Mainly because I learned something new.  I knew nothing about the role Denmark played in World War 2, and reading a book and learning something new is a win for me.

Hemming and Else were perfect lead characters and totally believable.  I really liked how the author got them to fall in love with one another.  The story had plenty of action and intrigue.  You are sitting on the edge of your seat a couple of times hoping the worst wasn't going to happen.

I liked how the author incorporated one of Denmark biggest tourist attractions The Little Mermaid, having Hemming as an expert rower and him being named Havmand.  All in all a very interesting book, especially if you enjoy stories set in World War 2 and Scandinavia.

Stars out of 5 : 4.5  It did take me a couple of chapters to get everything "organized" in my brain, but once that happened I didn't want to put the book down.  A really interesting read and well worth either buying or borrowing from you Library.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".