Book Review: Dragonfly Dreams by Franki deMerle

Dragonfly Dreams – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Shortly before 2:30 AM, Daphne awoke from a vivid dream. She dreamt she was in Scotland and had just been widowed. Her husband had been murdered. It was some distant time in the past, and she was dressed in a long black gown with a stiff white headdress She could feel the tightness of her corset contrast the softness of her gown’s material on her skin. Richard was there, but other people in the dream were saying he was responsible for her late husband’s murder. She was confused and didn’t know what to believe. She had thought she could trust Richard, but a voice in the dream announced, “During the Protestant Reformation, these sides were divided.” As she wondered what that meant, Richard captured her and took her against her will to a castle, where he raped her. Then, when he left her alone with a woman companion to look after her, the two women escaped. They disguised themselves as men and used bed linens to climb through a window and down the castle wall. She was terrified. She and her companion rode across the nearby border to England, where they thought they would be safe. At first, when they told their story of what had happened, they were given sanctuary by kind people. But after about a week or so, word came to the household from the authorities that she was to be held as a prisoner again. She did not understand why. Then she was told that Richard had also fled Scotland and was also imprisoned, but in another country.’

Daphne Robin and her sister Deandra were both accustomed to strange dreams. Deandra has dreamed, since childhood, that she was a soldier with lots of brothers. In her dream she was a man and someone was beating her face in. Daphne’s dream about Scotland came shortly after her marriage to Richard Gatorman, owner of a construction company as well as Daphne’s boss. Scotland was a place Daphne had always wanted to go to so when the dream coincided with Richard announcing that they would be honeymooning in Scotland, she let her excitement override the possibility of a warning. But, Richard had always been the perfect mate. He was loving, caring and offered her everything she could ever want…so she thought. The honeymoon would turn out to be the beginning of her seeing the true Richard she had married. A marriage that she soon realized had been a big mistake. The only out for Daphne becomes sleep in which her dreams have her flying the skies with a handsome man. If it weren’t for her dream time she would probably give up on life itself.

Deandra, being an officer in the Army, enlists the help of her friend Major Ursa-Barrios to help Daphne escape the abuse being inflicted by Richard. Major, as he likes to be called, has had his own dreams over the years. In his dreams he would help a young lady and falls in love with her. Could Daphne possibly be the woman in his dream? Could Major possibly be the man in Daphne’s dreams?

As Deandra, Daphne and Major come together, they start searching for the answers to their dreams. Deandra wanting to know who the person getting their face bashed in is and who are the brothers. Daphne wants to know who the woman in Scotland could be as well as who she soars the skies with. And Major wants to meet the lady from his dreams.

Franki deMerle has done it again with a book of mystery, love and a certain air of suspense. The more I read, the more I wanted answers to the character’s dreams but I wasn’t really expecting what the dreams actually turned out to be.

Available in Print and Kindle at Amazon.com

2010

iUniverse

299 pages

ISBN# 978-1-4502-7244-5

Game 7: Dead Ball by Allen Schatz Releases in Print

COMING JULY 1, 2011…

Game 7: Dead Ball – in PRINT!

Indie Writer Allen Schatz is pleased to announce the launch of the print version of his debut novel!

The eBook version has been rated 4- & 5-stars at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, and more…

“Allen Schatz, in his first novel, has proven a welcome newcomer to an overcrowded thriller market sadly diluted with average ho-hum fare… I would highly recommend this book to any thriller fan who is tired of the same old mediocre drivel that is plaguing our bookshelves… Schatz has proven he belongs in the writing game…”

“You might expect a mystery involving a baseball umpire in the World Series to center on fixing games. Schatz happily has chosen to go in a less obvious direction… Game 7 has a huge cast of characters - it is to Schatz's credit as a writer that they're reasonably easy to keep straight… If you like baseball and thrillers, Game 7: Dead Ball is a must read…”

“Simply put, it's a fun, entertaining book that I would recommend for anyone's summer reading list.”

Order your copy of the book beginning July 1 at: https://www.createspace.com/3619727

Additional sales outlets, including Amazon.com, will follow in the coming weeks.

For all the latest news visit www.allenschatz.com – you can also follow Allen on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AllenSchatzWriting or on Twitter (@raschatz).

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Sharon Cupp Pennington Author Of Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Sharon received the most hits to her IAN member page for the month of May 2011 and was named the "Featured Author" for June.

Sharon Cupp Pennington’s short stories have appeared in numerous online and print venues, with anthology contributions to The Rocking Chair Reader in the Coming Home edition (2004) and Family Gatherings (2005), A Cup of Comfort for Weddings: Something Old, Something New (2007), and Good Old Days Magazine (March, 2007). Her debut novel, Hoodoo Money, was released in May 2008 and the sequel, Mangroves and Monsters, in November 2009. She resides in Texas with her husband, Wayne, where she is currently working on her third novel in this series.

Her books:

Hoodoo Money

Things are not always as they seem in the Big Easy…

After her almost-wedding to a bigamist, successful children’s author Braeden McKay has given up on love. She’s content to live vicariously through her imaginary heroine, Platypus Pearl, and a gaggle of adventurous, web-footed cohorts — until a working vacation in New Orleans shakes up her quiet, structured world. Had she known that souvenir nickel stolen from the grave of a hoodoo woman would catapult her into a nightmare of betrayal and murder, she would have insisted her friend put it back.

Cursed nickel or unfortunate happenstance? Sanderson Montgomery isn’t one to discount the supernatural beliefs of others. This is the Big Easy, after all, Mecca to the spiritual and the superstitious. As a veteran detective, neither does he ignore cold, hard fact. And the fact is, someone or something is bent on harming Braeden McKay, and it’s up to him to protect her while keeping his heart out of the mix.

Can love, the very thing Braeden wants no part of, be the one force greater than any adversary — even a hoodoo curse?

MANGROVES AND MONSTERS

Charlie Cooper, reluctant teacher by day and broken-hearted wanderer by night, is a man desperately in love with a dead woman.

But is Angeline St. Cyr really dead?

The supermodel fell victim to an auto-pedestrian accident in New Orleans. Police reports and medical records substantiate the severity of her injuries. Cosmetics mogul Mathieu Fournier, her former boss, orchestrated a cremation and memorial service. The paparazzi swarmed celebrity attendees. Fans mourned.

Call it gut instinct, call it what you will, but Cooper is convinced Angeline's death was an elaborate scheme Fournier sold to the world. He isn’t buying it, nor is his heart.

A tenuous lead draws him to the Caribbean island of Jacqueme Dominique. Only Cooper isn’t alone in his quest. By chasing his dream of rekindled love, he becomes embroiled in murder, treachery and abduction at the hands of his old nemesis Willem Voorhees — a merciless killer.

For five long years Cooper’s love survived while he searched for Angeline. Will finding her cost him his life?

REPARATION, 3rd novel in the Hoodoo Money series is coming soon!

In the authors own words:Like most writers, I always had a brain bursting with scenarios and a drawer or shoebox or folder of unfinished manuscripts. My first published story, "McTammany's Bed of Roses," appeared online in The Emporium Gazette, Issue 46, February 2003. With that sale, I earned enough to buy a novel in the paperback section at Wal-Mart or a couple of trade-ins at the local paperback swap-n-shop.

But I was a published author at age 54 - and I was flying!

Now my short stories have appeared in numerous online and print venues, with anthology contributions to The Rocking Chair Reader in the Coming Home edition (2004) and Family Gatherings (2005), A Cup of Comfort for Weddings: Something Old, Something New (2007), andGood Old Days Magazine (March, 2007). Finally, after years of rewrites and the unwavering patience of my "do or die" critique group (Writing Well),Hoodoo Money was released by Draumr Publishing in May 2008. It's the kind of romantic suspense novel I love to read, set in contemporary Louisiana and Texas, and will be followed by the sequel, Mangroves and Monsters.

http://sharonpenningtonwrites.webs.com

Twitter @SCPennington

Book Review: A Love Rekindled by Myne Whitman

A Love Rekindled – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Jane and Joan’s sobs mingled, and they ran out of the room, tears gushing down their cheeks. Ovie came in soon after. “What is this I hear? I saw the twins on my way here.” “Kevwe may have broken up with Efe…” Efe looked up to her. “Is there any doubt about it? His father told me. I’d been hoping he would call, but he hasn’t.” “So he couldn’t face you to tell you himself?” Ovie demanded as she sat. “I saw him today, and he wouldn’t talk to me too…” “You saw Kevwe, today?” Efe sat straight. Time seemed to move in slow motion, and she felt dizzy for a while. “Yes. On my way to First Bank, I saw him at UBA Akpakpava, near the roundabout. When I said hi, he ignored me. Maybe he thought I knew about the break-up…” “Are you sure it was him you saw?” Efe clutched her chest. The ache in her pounding heart was real. “I’m sure. You know how I complain about his habit of jangling his keys all the time as if he’s the only one who has a car. It was the sound that caught my attention, and he was with another girl.” Efe stopped thinking, her breathing also seemed to cease. All the blood in every single part of her body drained to her heart, making it expand, and it pushed against her ribs as if to burst loose. Efe sprang out of bed, screaming in fear.’

Efe Sagay grew up and went to school in Nigeria. While attending school she met the love of her life, her soul mate, the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with…Kevwe Mukoro. And the feelings were duplicated by Kevwe. As soon as Efe graduated, they would be married. This was the dream and this was the plan.

But real life doesn’t always see things the way we do. The perfect future can always be destroyed by unforeseen circumstances. In Efe and Kevwe’s case, one of their biggest obstacles came in the form of his father. Nigeria is made up of tribes and with the tribal wars that had been going on for years sometimes lead to hate between the different tribe members. This was the case with Kevwe’s father when he found that Efe was from the tribe he hated the most. He was determined that there would be no way Efe and Kevwe would ever marry. And with the events that followed the announcement of their engagement, he may have gotten his wish. Through deceit on his part, the couple separated with Efe going to America to finish her education and Kevwe putting his life into the company he had started.

But then again, fate steps in and seven years later the couple will meet again. Can they rekindle what was so perfect for them? Will family again put a stop to their relationship? Or has there just been too much time lost for them to reunite?

A Love Rekindled is a beautiful story of true, 100% love. The hardships and heartbreaks that were bestowed upon Efe and Kevwe are heart wrenching. And their struggles to understand and accept what happened to them and what will become of them is painful as well as healing. This is one great story of complete love.

2011

ISBN# 978-1456516864

Available in Print and Kindle at Amazon.com

Book Review: The Fashion Police by Sibel Hodge

The Fashion Police – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

This was going to be a piece of cake. I would just sneak around, posing as an inconspicuous shopper, and snap a few pictures of Clark stacking shelves. Why had I been so worried about this job? It was ridiculously easy. I heaved through the horde of shoppers, scanned the crowd for signs of any shelf-stocking activity. There was nothing going on in the fruit and veggies aisle, so I picked up a bag of bananas and wandered off in search of Clark. The bakery section was quiet and boring, except for the yummy smell of freshly baked bread. Ditto for the condiments aisle, the dairy isle, and the cereal aisle. Maybe there was a special time of day when all the shelf-stockers were let out in a frenzy, and I’d missed it. I stood in front of the toiletries with the idea that if I stood there long enough, Clark would come to me. I could wait until closing time if need be, no problem. As it turned out, I lasted about ten minutes. I was reading the directions on a box of teeth-whitening strips when I heard a rustling sound coming from my bag of bananas. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bananas begin to move. Wait a sec, bananas don’t move. I stared at the bag as my hands shook. Nope, the bananas weren’t moving at all. It was a ginormous tarantula inside the bag that was moving, tapping on the plastic with its hairy foot. I froze, hardly daring to breath. Omigod! Spider! In my mental world, I was screaming my head off, but in the real world, I think my mouth was just wide open with no sound coming out. I threw the bag on the floor and rocketed out to the parking lot faster than the speed of light, probably warp factor ten at least…Paul Clark and Brad would just have to wait.

Amber Fox is a former Detective Sergeant who was given the choice by Detective Chief Inspector Janice Skipper to either resign or be “resigned.” This all took place after Amber accidently shot Janice in the rear while both were on the firing range one day. Janice said it was intentional, Amber said it was an accident. Either way, Amber resigned and went to work for her former fiancé Brad who was owner of Hi-Tec Insurance. Brad hired Amber to do check out some of the insurance claims he had received by a few clients that weren’t exactly reputable. One claim was by Paul Clark who insisted that he had hurt his back and could no longer work. That’s when Amber discovered him working as a stocker at the local grocery store. Through her surveillance she also discovered that she probably wouldn’t be buying bananas from this store in the future. Added to her work load was the job of planting “bugs” hidden in pens throughout the offices of fashion designer Umberto Fandango. This job turned out to be a bummer too when it was discovered that the pens weren’t working correctly. And Amber’s decision to go back to the offices to replace the pens, she discovers that Fandango is missing and due to the amount of blood at the scene, he just might possibly be dead.

The Fashion Police is one of the funniest murder mysteries I’ve ever read. Amber isn’t a klutz but she sure finds herself in some really dangerous but funny situations. Amber finds her dad, recently retired from the police force, dressed in women’s clothes. His former drug sniffing police dog has some really strange commands. And when she runs into a couple of goons named Sally and Tracy, she inflicts problems on them that will have your laughing out loud. But I didn’t tell you the best part. Her former ex Brad and her policeman boyfriend Romeo are both in love with her and want her for themselves. Amber has decided that she actually loves both and just in case one doesn’t work out she might better hang onto both. Oh yeah, Janice has made it known that she will stop at nothing to wreak havoc on Amber’s life and see that she loses everything, especially Romeo in the process.

So, if you like a good laugh along with your murder, The Fashion Police is a book you don’t want to miss out on.

Sibel Hodge @ IAN

Available in Print and Kindle at Amazon.com