Thursday, January 31, 2013

Book Review: Lily of the Springs

                         Today's review is on Lily of the Springs


In the almost two years that I have been reviewing books, I have only come across a few that have touched me in such a strong was as Lily of the Springs has. So many emotions were running through my mind when I finished reading, that I felt I needed time to process them. Now, after a good nights sleep, I still don't know if I can convey them.

Lily of the Springs is a love story unlike ANY other that I have read. Sure it had those tender moments we all love to read about, but it also has heartbreak like no other, deceit like not other, and strength like no other.

Set during the 50's-70's, Springs tells the story of Lily Foster. An average girl growing up in Kentucky. She goes to church on Sunday's with her family, goes to Bible school during the summer's, and is a "good girl" who isn't willing to go all the way with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend however isn't willing to wait any longer and runs into the arms of the class slut.

Hurt and angry, Lily breaks up with her boyfriend and finds herself in the arms of her childhood friend, Jake. And Jake is anything but wholesome. In fact, Jake and his family are the "trash" of their town. But that doesn't matter to Lily as she realizes that she is in love with him and in fact always has been.

When Lily's family finds out that she is pregnant with Jake's child, the two are forced to marry and move in with his family. But not even marriage stops Jake from going out with his friends drinking and partying. Even on the day his daughter is born.

Through their marriage, Lily endures both mental and physical abuse from Jake, but she never chooses to leave him. Even when he brings home a hooker and is told to watch said hooker pleasure him orally! But then, the heart wants what the heart wants right?

I so wanted Jake to change as I read Lily of the Springs. At times he was so tender and loving. But then I would find that he was the same old Jake. And though I thought that Lily was letting him walk all over her, I really wanted everything to work out even though when Jinx gave birth to a son after her husband's death, I knew that it never could, no matter how much I wanted it to.

Women that are in an abusive relationship usually stay in them longer than they should, and Lily is no different. We often make excuses for the men we love, placing the blame on ourselves instead of where it should lie. Perhaps at some time these men really did love us, at least I hope that's the case for Jake, and that they just don't know how to love. Perhaps, like Jake, they weren't shown how.

Lily of the Springs is a MUST read! It's one of those books that you just HAVE to HAVE!!

5+ of 5 stars
Available at Amazon

Book Description: via Amazon
The 50’s…Drive-in Movies, Doo-wop Music…and Love in the Back Seat of a ’51 Plymouth In 1952 Kentucky, 18-year-old Lily Foster, the daughter of strict Southern Baptist parents, becomes pregnant by the town “bad boy”—and just like that, she finds herself married to a man who doesn’t want to be a husband. Jake has no intention of letting the inconvenience of marriage stop him from what he believes is his due. In actuality, Lily is the one who is trapped. She loves Jake—always has, since they were children playing in the woods on adjoining properties--and she’s convinced she can eventually make him love her. All it will take is desire and patience. Once the baby arrives, they will be the perfect little family. From Lily’s home on Opal Springs Ridge to a four-year stint at an army base in New Boston, Texas, and finally, to life on their own in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lily struggles to maintain a rocky marriage with a moody, immature husband while raising two daughters. Set during the “American Dream” period of the ‘50s and into the turbulent ‘60’s, LILY OF THE SPRINGS is a story of a woman’s indomitable spirit and her fight for independence and identity in an “Ozzie & Harriet” society. "LILY OF THE SPRINGS is like a slow dance to a Patsy Cline song in the arms of your one true love. From the very first page, it draws you back to another time and place and makes you want to stay there forever. Carole Bellacera is a master storyteller."...Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author of GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART “LILY OF THE SPRINGS is an epic story about Lily Ray Foster's poor choice in the man she marries that takes a generation to right. Clashes between Lily and her husband Jake and Lily and her mother-in-law sizzle with excitement. A poignant and epic romance novel that's hard to put down. Erotic, explosive, shattering, realistic--Carole Bellacera's new romance novel has them all and a whole lot more.”--Rose Campion, author of NO TIME TO CRY and the forthcoming SINNERS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS .

Monday, January 28, 2013

Book Review: One for Kami


Today's review is on One for Kami by Charlene Wilson

I have had the pleasure of reading two other books by Wilson, Cornerstone Deep & Cornerstone Deep Echoes.  So when asked to take a look at this short and sweet love story I jumped at the chance.

Wilson's ability to touch your heart shines through in each of her books, and One for Kami is no different.  This tale of true love spans time and dimensions.  One for Kami is a story that will have you willing to give up everything for your one true love.

Some short stories lack character development or have a weak plot, while others simply leave you hanging, feeling like you just got the first few chapters of a decent book. You won't get that here. And let me tell you, with my ever growing list of books TBR, it is nice to snuggle into a favorite chair with a cup of warm coco and a good; as Wilson calls it, "lunchtime read. One for Kami fits that bill perfectly. 

4 of 5 stars
Scheduled for release February 2013

Book Description: via Author


Can love be true if shared with more than one?  Kami doesn’t think so when she finds Ian is an elite and required to take three wives to eliminate the poverty- stricken population.  Why can't he be poor the way she thought he was when she fell in love with him?

Determined to find a realm that doesn’t have such a dictate, she travels to dimension Three-Two-Three to begin her search.  But is love truer in a place that only allows one spouse than it is in Ian’s heart?


 

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Book Review: A Time for Everything

                                                      Today's review is on A Time For Everything by Ann Gimpel

After reading Gimpel's Psyche's Prophecy, I was floored when I read A Time For Everything.  It's not easy for many authors to write a variety of genre's, but Gimpel pulls it off without a hitch.  A Time For Everything is full of romance and light eroticism that kept me glued to my seat turning page after page until the very end.

This latest book by Gimpel takes you to the Highlands of Scotland and is written so descriptively that you can almost feel the mist and rain around you and have you longing for the arms of a Scottish man; or at least of a loved one, wrapped around you enjoying a night of pure passion.

5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon



Book Description: via Amazon

Dumped yet again, the last thing Siobhan expects to find in the Highland mists is a man who looks like he walked right out of Scottish history. Find out if there is A Time for Everything when a disgruntled heiress and a strong, sexy Scottish laird are drawn together by a determined ghost whose love and magic reach beyond the grave.

Siobhan Macquire’s fortune has attracted a string of men who are out to drain her for everything they can get. Her last boyfriend was no exception. Furious at being used—again—she goes for a walk in the Highlands.

With the weather worsening, Siobhan wanders alone for hours. She’s soaking wet and starting to get scared when someone calls out to her. A striking-looking man emerges from the mist. Except there’s something wrong. His kilt is way too long and he talks with an archaic accent. Siobhan soon finds herself not only lost in the countryside but also in time.


Ann Gimpel is the bestselling author of Sinister Seductions, Psyche's Prophecy, and America the Horrific: An Anthology of Horror.