Sam's Theory by Sarah Mendival - Book Review

Book Description:

After a final act of horrendous abuse threatens her life, fifteen-year-old Sam runs away from home and into the Olympic Mountains of Washington State. Physically and emotionally exhausted, she happens upon a mysterious tree house in the woods which shelters an old woman named Theory. Through elements of magic and sage advice, Theory takes Sam on an unforgettable healing journey. Sam begins to discover that she, too, has powers. But her process is interrupted by the nervous reality that her abusers will soon go after her younger sister, Nova, unless she can get to her first.

With the help of Sam’s friend, Dodger, and two other spirited kids from foster care, the group sets up a hidden camp in the wilderness and forms “The Orphan’s Collective.” While struggling to create their own concept of “family,” Dodger and Sam also work to navigate their budding feelings for one another. As the group formulates a plan to reach the masses of kids left behind by adults who never wanted them, they naturally begin to rewrite the fate that has seemingly already been decided for them.

Sam’s Theory is a story of immeasurable grit and re-empowerment after trauma. With embedded real-world advice, it is the recognition of our tremendous capacity as human beings to withstand darkness and summon resiliency, simply by learning how to use our voices and reconnect with those around us.

Where to Purchase:

Amazon:

USA: USA Link

Australia: Australia Link

Brazil: Brazil Link

Canada: Canada Link

France: France Link

Germany: Germany Link

India: India Link

Italy: Italy Link

Japan: Japan Link

Mexico: Mexico Link

Netherlands: Netherlands Link

Spain: Spain Link

UK: UK Link

Connect with the Author:

Twitter: Twitter Link

Author Website: Author Website Link

Author Bio: 

As a Masters-level pediatric milieu therapist on the inpatient psychiatric unit, Sarah has worked with hundreds of children and teens burdened by trauma. She was the founder and editor-in-chief of Light Spinner Quarterly, a publication that advocated for children exposed to medical trauma and her story 150 Real-Life Stories of Resilience, Joy, and Hope was published in Reader’s Digest. These roles offered the opportunity to advocate for children by speaking nationally at conferences, colleges, and in the media.

Book Review by Carmen:

I quite enjoyed Sam's point of view, though there were times where the story was a little bit too dragged out. I found Theory's explanations quite enlightening, and really enjoyed the description of the house Theory stayed in. I gave this book a four star rating and got a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

*Please be sure to support the author by buying their books and connecting with them on social media.

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The Rubber Fence by Diana Stevan ~ Book Review

Book Description: 

It's 1972. Women are breaking out, families are breaking down, and men are trying to hold on for the ride.

Dr. Joanna Bereza is a psychiatric intern, who wants to have it all: a career, a loving marriage, and a family, but her passion to do what's right sets her against a system that's as stuck as the people it treats.

Joanna becomes obsessed with the treatment of two women―a mute young mother suspected of trying to kill her baby and a feisty old woman who's been through the mill one too many times. Blinded by her obsession, Joanna not only neglects her own husband, but in trying to stop her patients from getting shock treatment, she also puts her career in jeopardy. Further complicating matters is the seductive senior resident who looks more like a hip rock star than an aspiring shrink.

Shadowing Joanna's work is her own unresolved grief over something that happened when she was a child.

The Rubber Fence was inspired by the author's experience as a family therapist on a psychiatric ward.

Purchase a copy on Amazon. 

About the Author:  

Diana Stevan is from Winnipeg, where she got her Bachelor's degree in Home Economics and a Master of Social Work with honours.

Having worked as a professional actress, model, family therapist and CBC television sports broadcaster, she uses her experience to weave her stories.

Her time-slip novel, a romantic mystery/adventure, A CRY FROM THE DEEP, was published on October 15, 2014.

On March 15, 2015, she published her novelette, THE BLUE NIGHTGOWN, a story about family life in the 1950s and coming of age.

Her second novel, THE RUBBER FENCE, inspired by her work on a psychiatric ward in 1972, is now out as both a paperback and e-book. 

Connect: Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | 

Review:

I really enjoy reading medical fiction, either mental or physical health. I believe this is likely because I work in the health care field and also since I am very fascinated by how our bodies and brain works. I have heard stories from institutions from the 1950-70's and realize they had some different approaches then what is more modern day. They still use electric shock treatment in some treatment centres, I am sure it is different from when they first introduced it.

Joanna is a young intern with new ideas, more hands on, less medication type approach. The Dr's where she is interning are more about pharmaceuticals and ECT. Following Joanna's troubles at home and finding her place in her career this made for an interesting novel set in the 1970's. I found the story is written in a steady pace, it starts out a little slow but then gets going. I found it hard to put down, from one thing to the next poor Joanna has her struggles. This is a novel of life lessons and struggles, relationship problems and learning to communicate with one another. It is set in the '70's when women were still newer to the work force especially as Dr's. The author did a fantastic job bringing the reader into the story and emotional journey. I look forward to reading more by Diana Stevan.

I give this book a 4.5 stars out of 5, a great literary fiction.


~*Disclaimer: I received the above book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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The Ghosts of Ravencrest by Tamara Thorne & Alistair Cross ~ Book Review

Darkness Never Dies ... 
Ravencrest Manor has always been part of the family. The ancestral home of the Mannings, Ravencrest’s walls have been witness to generations of unimaginable scandal, horror, and depravity. Imported stone by stone from England to northern California in the early 1800s, the manor now houses widower Eric Manning, his children, and his staff. Ravencrest stands alone, holding its memories and ghosts close to its dark heart, casting long, black shadows across its grand lawns, through the surrounding forests, and over the picturesque town of Devilswood, below. 

Dare to Cross the Threshold ... 
Ravencrest Manor is the most beautiful thing new governess, Belinda Moorland, has ever seen, but as she learns more about its tangled past of romance and terror, she realizes that beauty has a dark side. Ravencrest is built on secrets, and its inhabitants seem to be keeping plenty of their own - from the handsome English butler, Grant Phister, to the power-mad administrator, Mrs. Heller, to Eric Manning himself, who watches her with dark, fathomless eyes. But Belinda soon realizes that the living who dwell in Ravencrest have nothing on the other inhabitants - the ones who walk the darkened halls by night … the ones who enter her dreams … the ones who are watching … and waiting … 

Welcome to Ravencrest ... 
Who is the man digging in the garden beyond Belinda’s bedroom window? Who - or what - is watching her from the vents? From ghostly screams and the clutching bony fingers of death in the indoor pool, to the trio of gliding nuns in the east wing who come at Belinda with black blazing eyes, to the beckoning little girl in the red dress who died more than two centuries ago, Belinda is thrust into a world of waking nightmares where there is no distinction between the living and the dead, and there are no limits to the horrors that await. Witchcraft is afoot at Ravencrest and as unspeakable terrors begin to unfold, Belinda realizes that her beautiful new home is a keeper of tragedy, a collector of souls. And it wants to add her to its collection … 


"The Ghosts of Ravencrest delivers on every level. Delicate, creepy, detailed, and beautifully crafted, this reinvention of the gothic ghost story into a sexy, sleek modern chiller is a marvel of suspense and atmosphere. A knockout of a horror yarn!" 
-Jay Bonansinga, the New York Times bestselling author of The Walking Dead: Invasion, Lucid, and Self Storage. 

"Ghostly secrets abound. Tortured spirits wander the hallways. Star-crossed lovers walk the paths of time. Servants connive, and the heroine faces an uncertain future …Run, do not walk, to get The Ghosts of Ravencrest. Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross take the reader on a delicious journey of twisted family secrets, troubled dreams, and barely-concealed passions. Wrap yourself in the silken robe of this story and escape to Ravencrest." 
-- Sylvia Shults, author of Hunting Demons: A True Story of the Dark Side of the Supernatural 

by Tamara Thorne (Author), Alistair Cross  (Author)Alistair Cross was born in the western United States and began penning his own stories by the age of eight. First published by Damnation Books in 2012, Alistair has since published several more novels. In 2012, he joined forces with international bestselling author, Tamara Thorne, and as Thorne & Cross, they write the successful Gothic series, The Ghosts of Ravencrest. Their newest novel, The Cliffhouse Haunting, is an Amazon Best Seller, and this summer also sees the release of Alistair’s solo novel, The Crimson Corset.

http://www.alistaircross.com/

Length: 378 pages

amazon

• Similar books to The Ghosts of Ravencrest (The Ravencrest Saga Book 1)

The Ghost of Ravencrest begins like a haunted mystery which I love.  Belinda interviews for a position at Ravencrest Mansion for governess.  She is tired of her roommate, and job.  She is extremely anxious and curious.  This house has a dark evil past.  Bad things are happening all around.  Belinda gets trapped in the web of murder, ghosts, witchcraft, and the family legacy.  This book is all the elements of a ghastly ghost story, with a modern flare of spice and seduction.  Be prepared for some sultry and sexual undertones.  The story line floats back and forth explaining the heritage and ancestry of the Ravencrest curse.  I give this book three stars.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kris

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Filling Up In Cumby and Other Stories by Jim Steinberg ~ Short Story Collection Book Review

Book Description: 

Filling Up In Cumby is a collection of stories about matters of the heart: the bonds and trials of lovers and friends, fathers and sons, even strangers in the midst of chance encounters. Carefully crafted and set in vividly described places, the stories reveal the interiors of everyday people working through dilemmas readers will recognize as much like their own. The author describes the situations with nuance and realism through the eyes of his main characters, revealing their struggles with the gentle touch of compassion, their lessons and reasonable triumphs with scrupulous honesty. The reader is welcomed into richly detailed evocations of very personal situations.

In the title story, when a father's ex-wife appears at an inappropriate time, he struggles to protect their son from his difficulty keeping a healthy distance from the woman who still fascinates him. In "That Girl," a mother cooking dinner for her live-in boyfriend must persuade him to soften his harsh approach to her pregnant fifteen-year-old daughter. In "Uncle Eno's Bad Day," a gas station attendant with more wits than meets the eye delivers an important lesson about what matters and what does not to a man worried about being late for a meeting. In "Highway 47," a man stuck in a diner by a snowstorm, hoping for the fulfillment of a long-held fantasy that he has never thought possible or wise, finds something of much greater importance than a night with a lovely woman. He moves on, unsure of what happened, what did not, and what he will do when he gets home. In "An Apple Totem," a father preparing to take his ten-year-old son to live with his ex-wife in a distant town receives an unusual gift to commemorate their seven years together. Then it is time for the journey and the parting. In "Moschovitz And Pasternak," a man standing in line in a polling place gazes at an older man with a most pleasant countenance. Then he has a few moments of deep introspection and a brief encounter of unusual depth and satisfaction. "In The Middle" presents the reader with a man asked to mediate between his housemate, a woman with a young child, and the visiting father of her child. In a most difficult situation, the narrative character must struggle against his conflicting feelings and his biases in order to do the right thing for everyone. "The Blue Note" describes in extraordinary detail a couple's effort to begin repairing their marriage broken by an up-close infidelity. Like the title story, it is filled with a finely rendered backstory. Last, in a single page, Brotherhood In Beijing" describes a touching moment between strangers who cannot speak the same language.

These are simple stories. Each is a fresh, clear, moving depiction of people in emotional situations. They are meant to be savored one at a time.

Purchase a copy on Amazon. 

About the Author: 

Jim Steinberg has been a lawyer, blacksmith, middle school teacher of English and Social Studies, college teacher of Criminal Justice, hippie, and director of basic law enforcement training at a community college. He now divides most of his time between his loved work as a mediator (thirteen years in a small private practice in his home and in tribal courts in Northern California) and his greatest love of the last two decades, writing fiction. He has published one novel, "Boundaries," and two short story collections: "Filling Up In Cumby And Other Stories," and "Last Night At The Vista Cafe, Stories." His current project is a second novel - "The Third Floor," a story about twins, a brother and a sister.

Jim's stories have appeared in Clapboard House, The Greensboro Review, The New Renaissance, Sensations Magazine, Cities and Roads, The Lone Wolf Review, The Bishop’s House Review, Voices From Home - A North Carolina Prose Anthology, and Best Of Clapboard House. He writes his stories to scratch the itches that rise up from within him, to answer the impulses that ask him to visit and lay them in greater repose. When these impulses arise, he finds himself at the beginnings of trails he knows he will follow with minimal planning and no synopsis, plot, timeline, or character description. He jumps right in and finds the stories, making each a discovery for him, the first reader.

Jim is a Fellow of the Redwood Writing Project of Humboldt State University and a founding member of the Lost Coast Writers' Retreat, a week-long gathering on the Mattole River on the remote Northcoast of California. For the last fourteen years he has described this time in a close knit writers' community as his best week of every year. He believes that writing stories is the best way he can get his hands around experience. He believes that the world would be a better place if everyone wrote stories because they all have them, and they are all worth passing on.

You can talk with Jim about writing stories on his blog: "Follow Your Nose Fiction, A Blog About Writing By A Guy Who Writes."
 
Connect: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Videos |

Review: 

This is a great short story collection of love, lost love, life lessons/events and a lot soul searching. I have really enjoy reading short stories lately as they are great to read when you don't have a lot of time to devote to reading. All the characters in these stories are very complex and well developed. They will make you really think and will stay with you long after you are done reading their story.

Some of my favourite stories in this collection are Highway 47, about a man on his way home to his wife. He is stranded at a diner in a snow storm and spends the night with the owner (single mother). He has been thinking about straying on his wife and here is the opportunity but does he actually go through with it? This story doesn't go as you would think.

Another one I enjoyed was In The Middle, about a gentlemen who rents out a room to a single mother and her daughter. He steps into the role of dad helping her with her daughter, they don't really cross that friend line but they are standing on it swaying back and forth. The mother has her ex (daugther's father) come for a visit, he wants to see what he can do but in the end will he step up to be a father and a lover or not?

That Girl is another one I enjoyed. At first I wasn't too sure about it, but in the end it is about a fathers love and protection for his daughter and granddaughter, a mothers love for her only child and what she will give up to help her daughter out. The mother is divorced and their teenage daughter becomes pregnant while living at her fathers.

If you are trying to add more reading into your life short stories are a great way to do it. These are all pretty quick reads. You can easily pick up this book and put it down when you need to without losing your place in the storyline. This collection would fall into literary fiction, life lessons, relationships old and new. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I look forward to reading Mr. Steinberg's other stories.


~*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. *~ 

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Gospel Prism by Gerald Weaver ~ Book Blast

Title:   Gospel Prism
Author:   Gerald Weaver
Genre:   literary fiction
Publisher & Date:  London Wall Publishing,  21 May 2015
Pages:   370-paperback, 338-harcover, 284-Kindle

Book Synopsis:

Alone in his jail cell, Christian receives a midnight visitation from a beautiful stranger. She is the messiah and tasks him with solving a series of spiritual mysteries in order to save his immortal soul...

Atmospheric, dreamlike, unpredictable and wise, Gospel Prism is the dazzling debut novel from Gerald Weaver which brings into focus the relationship between literature, language, truth and religious faith.

'Gospel Prism is a remarkable, charming but disturbing novel with an intriguing premise.' Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of Humanities,  Yale University

'Weaver's Gospel Prism is lit by a literary wit and the intricate knowledge that at the end, as in the beginning, there is the word.' Jonathan Levi, author and co-founder of GRANTA

 Purchase a copy on Amazon US / UK / CA  

About the Author: 

Gerald Weaver received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University. He has been a Capitol Hill chief of staff, a campaign manager, a lobbyist, a single father, a teacher of English and Latin, a collector and seller of Chinese antiquities and a contributor to the political magazine, George. He lives in the suburbs of Washington, DC, and travels regularly between the United Kingdom and the US. Gospel Prism is his first novel.

His experience of reading challenging literature in order to survive a dark place served as a provocation for this sensitive, atmospheric, dreamlike, compassionate, unpredictable and wise debut novel which brings into focus the relationship between literature, language, truth and religious faith.

Connect: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook |



~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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