Amazon just restored my reviews and my reviewing abilities after looking at my appeal, weeks later. They provided no details as to why this happened in the first place. But I’m back reviewing on Amazon…unless it happens again! If I reviewed your book on Amazon in the past, the review should be restored within 24 hours.
Today’s topic is: Books that live rent-free in my head. They can be books that you love or hate, books that scared you, etc. Basically, they are books you can’t forget. I listed four series and one book, and that adds up to many more than ten books.
My review of book 14 in the Chronicles of St. Mary’s, The Good, The Bad, and the History.
Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday.
Orbital Drop is the first book in the Union Empire series. It is fast-paced science fiction that fans of space operas and military-oriented interplanetary adventures will enjoy. This novel is of the same world as McHugh’s Wardens Series. It would be better to start with Blackcoat, a novella that is a prequel to the Union Empire series, and introduces Celine Moro, a Warden and the main character in Orbital Drop.
An orbital drop involves jumping from a spaceship in orbit to the ground, and that’s what Celine has been tasked to do, in order to find out why the child of a Union councillor was targeted for kidnapping.
My favorite character was Gigi, a synth, or robot, who has been given some human characteristics. Gigi provides a bit of humor to this battle-heavy book and becomes an important part of Celine’s team.
This is a story of intense action, betrayal, and revenge, with monsters to boot, and things are not always as they seem. The ending promises more books to come. Fans of McHugh’s Wardens series will enjoy this one and look forward to more.
As an aside for readers of this blog, while this type of science fiction is not my usual go-to, I see that the author has written some historical fantasy, which I am of course all about, and I definitely want to check that out, especially Infamous Reign, which addresses the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.
I was provided a free copy of this book via Zooloo’s Book Tours. My review is voluntary, and the opinions expressed are my own.
Steve McHugh is a bestselling author of urban fantasy, historical fiction, and science-fiction. He has now published over 30 books, with his novel Scorched Shadows being shortlisted for Best Novel at the Gemmell Awards.
Steve was born in the town of Mexborough, South Yorkshire, but now lives with his wife and three daughters in Southampton.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Books with the Word ____ in the Title.” I was free to pick the word, and of course I picked “time,” loving time travel fiction as I do. Below are Ten Books with the word Time in the title.
I’ve read all of these except The Time Traders, which I now have in my Kobo app to read later, and The Time Ships, which is an authorized sequel to The Time Machine. Doing Time is the first in Jodi Taylor’s Time Police Series, all of which have the word “Time” in the title.
If you were participating in this challenge, what word would you choose?
Have a wonderful day tomorrow! I think we’re just going to stay inside and avoid the heat. We’ve got grandkids arriving on Sunday for three weeks.
What are your plans?
1940. Olivia Belle Ash is a romance writer who has lost her voice. Famous as “Via Belle” for 20 years, she is now faced with a deadline she cannot meet. Awash in grief, she struggles to write again after the death of her husband three years ago. She also mourns the daughter she lost in infancy. Then, after an invitation to a university literary conference, she meets Simon Farrow. Ultimately, she begins a whirlwind relationship with this younger man, but things are not as they seem.
2006. Harper Rayne is a caterer and aspiring screenwriter looking for a story that will make her career. She ultimately decides to research the story of Via Belle, her late mother’s favorite author, who suddenly vanished in the 1940s.
Some parallels to the real life of a famous Christian romance author, Grace Livingston Hill, are present in the story. Hill was happily married to a minister before his death in 1899. She became a famous author in the early 20th century, and then suffered a very unhappy marriage to a younger man. This book appears to be inspired by Hill’s story, and the author also dedicated The Lost Story of Via Belle to Grace Livingston Hill.
The 1940s timeline is compelling, and the secrets and deception are well written. Simon is as unlikeable a character as many of the villains in the books of Grace Livingston Hill, who usually created very clear heroes and villains in her novels. The 2006 timeline is not as gripping at first, but it does grow in complexity by the end of the book. Fans of Christian fiction and of Hill’s books will enjoy this novel.
I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale Fiction via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary, and the opinions expressed are my own.
This is another review I did for The Historical Novel Society. You can see it on their website here. As mentioned above, it is very loosely based on the life of Grace Livingston Hill, an early 20th Century Christian romance writer. My grandmother started reading Grace’s books to her kids in the 1930’s and 40s, and my Mom passed them on to me. They are very old fashioned–Grace frowned on makeup, for example. But they’re wonderful Christian stories for their time period. My favorite is The Substitute Guest, which I talk about a little bit here.
Grace Livingston Hill (April 16, 1865 – February 23, 1947) was a prolific early 20th-century American novelist best known for her Christian romance and inspirational fiction. She wrote over 100 novels and numerous short stories, often under her own name or the pseudonym Marcia Macdonald (her mother’s maiden name). Her works typically featured young Christian women (or characters who convert to Christianity) facing moral challenges, romance, and redemption, with clear themes of good versus evil and faith restoring lives.
Reverend Thomas Guthrie Franklin Hill: Grace married “Frank” in 1892, and they were married until he died in 1899 from complications of appendicitis. They had two daughters, settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and collaborated on Christian Endeavor materials. After his death, Grace began writing full-time to support her daughters.
Flavius Joseph Lutz: Grace married Lutz, a music teacher for her daughters and 15 years her junior, in 1904, against the advice of others. It was a very unhappy union. Lutz did not contribute to the household financially, not even from music lessons, and was verbally abusive. He often left to stay with his parents, and in 1914, Grace told him not to come back. There was no divorce, but there are rumors that the marriage was later annulled. Grace continued writing into the 1940s and died in 1947.
KOBO | APPLE BOOKS | AMAZON
Amazon blindsided me a couple of days ago. I got a message that because of “irregularities,” they were taking away my ability to review on Amazon and deleting ALL of my reviews. That is at least 15 years of reviews. I have tried to appeal, but there has been no response yet.
Basically, in this era of scams against authors, I was out there trying to provide free and honest reviews, and Amazon’s AI somehow found something suspicious, and now I can’t review on Amazon anymore.
For anyone I have promised a review, I can still review the book, but I cannot put the review on Amazon. I can put it on Goodreads, Bookbub, Instagram, Audible, and wherever else you want, but Amazon has blocked me and has not given me a reason.
I used to pick up your books on Kindle Unlimited when possible, because it helped you out, but I am cancelling my Kindle Unlimited because I can’t review the books I borrow there, so why pay for it?
Basically, my good deeds have been punished. I will still continue to try to do them, but I can’t do them on Amazon.
Sorry for the rant! Let me know if you no longer want me to review your book, knowing the review won’t be on Amazon.
Indie Spotlight is my attempt to help Indie authors with marketing. It is a daunting task, and if I can help even a little, I’m glad to do it. You can help too by sharing this post with all the readers you know. Below is a review of Pon My Puff by Peter Stark Lansley. It was discovered, edited, and published by his son, Dr. Charles Morris Lansley.
This is an autobiographical novel by Peter Stark Lansley about his childhood on the Isle of Wight in the 1920s. It was discovered 60 years later and edited by his son, Dr. Charles Morris Lansley, who also provides notes about the history and background of the era, the location, and the family.
We watch young Peter living an everyday life and celebrating big moments. Peter fondly remembers starting “morning school,” a crush on his teacher, attending horse races, meeting his friend Vicki, and more. I loved the Christmas traditions portrayed, including “stirring the pudding.” There are notes from the editor describing this Victorian tradition and its deep spiritual meaning.
One of my favorite parts of the book was when Peter asked his Gramp what would happen to him when he died. He said, “When I die I’m going to Mount Joy,” and went on to explain that “It’s the Down overlooking Newport…” And on a clear day, …you can hear the angels playing their silver whistle-pipes if you stop and listen.” This appears to be the name of a cemetery, but it became Peter’s euphemism for going to heaven, and he was quite glad when he was told his Aunt Emily had gone to Mount Joy.
“Pon my Puff,” was Gramp’s favorite saying, and is used as an exclamation throughout the book. “Pon my puff,” said Gramp, “You do ask some questions. Now, where do I begin?”
This book reads like a big hug, a look at an idyllic childhood that will put a smile on anyone’s face. It hearkens back to a simpler time, and Peter’s relationship with Gramp is truly a joy. This is a fun, special, well-written, and well-researched autobiographical novel/history.
Peter Stark Lansley was born in Portsmouth and died in 1999 on the Isle of Wight after 80 years of a varied and interesting life at sea and in aviation. Between 1938 and 1939 Peter was a radio engineering student at the Municipal College Portsmouth, now the University of Portsmouth. His course was interrupted by the outbreak of war, so Peter joined the Merchant Navy on the staff of the Marconi International Marine Communications Company as Radio Officer and went to sea on board M.V. Port Hobart.
While serving on MV Wandby as Second Radio Officer, his ship was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Iceland after being torpedoed on 19 October 1940. He survived and served as a radio officer aboard various ships until being released from the Merchant Navy in 1946 on medical grounds. After this, he worked for the Ministry of Aviation as a telecommunications officer based at Eastleigh Airport, now Southampton Airport, completing his aviation career at Heathrow Airport before retiring to the Isle of Wight in 1981.
Peter loved writing and was a member of the Southampton Writers Circle in the 1950s, during which time he wrote numerous short stories and the notes that were to form his book Pon My Puff!
Dr Charles Morris Lansley has strong connections to the Isle of Wight through his father’s side of the family, who lived on the Island, his Stark and Morris ancestors having had grazing rights in 1425 in the reign of Henry VI. He still maintains his connection to the Island through his home in Shanklin and his interest in Island family and social history.
After discovering his late father’s manuscript of his autobiographical novel forgotten in a trunk for almost 60 years, Charles Lansley edited the notebooks by piecing together the stories and by providing annotations to give background information on the villages and villagers in the 1920s.
Charles Morris Lansley’s other research interests are in 18th and 19th-century natural history, science, and literature. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Winchester in 2016 for research into Charles Darwin. His book, ‘Charles Darwin’s Debt to the Romantics: How Alexander von Humboldt, Goethe and Wordsworth Helped Shape Darwin’s View of Nature’ was published in 2018 by Peter Lang. Prior to his research on Darwin, he worked in education and training before retiring. He is a Fellow of The Linnean Society of London.
** The UK version is the current version from Austin MacAuley Publishers. The US version appears to be an older issue.
If you read this book, remember to post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else you review books. Your review does not have to be a masterpiece. Just a couple of sentences about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help them immensely.
Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Billy at Caffeine Addicted Writer. Each week, a new bookish question is asked. This week’s question is above.
I usually write a book review of between 200 – 300 words, because I have been reviewing for The Historical Novel Society for about six years, and their word limit is usually 200 – 300. It works well for me. I see a lot of really long reviews on Goodreads and I usually quit reading halfway through, because they are just too long. I don’t find mine either quick or very long.
Here is an example of one my reviews. Julia by Heather B. Moore.
Do you prefer writing long book reviews, or quick, punchy ones?
WWW Wednesdays asks the questions:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
It is hosted by Taking on a World of Words at samandelizabeth.wordpress.com.
Below are my answers:
Death at King”s Cross is the second book in the Four Queens of Crime trilogy by Roseanne Limoncelli. It will be published on July 21st. In the midst of war, the Four Queens of Crime, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh, help DCI Lillian Wiles solve the murder of a young woman at King’s Cross Station.
Black Thursday is the third book in the When Heroes Flew series by H.W. “Buzz” Bernard. Starring a different WWII flier each time, this one is the story of a deadly day when the U.S. 8th Air Force suffered catastrophic losses during a bombing raid in Germany.
1905. A young suffragist fleeing a deadly Atlanta rally ends up in the hills of Tennessee.
It has been a while since I’ve posted, which I am trying to correct. I have been editing and writing reviews for The Historical Novel Society, starting a garden, and easing into the writing phase of a book with Doug. It is as yet untitled, but will, of course, be historical time travel, my favorite genre mashup.
My garden has tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and herbs. I planted okra seeds, but they are apparently not coming up. I’m in the process of ordering okra plants online.
I have decided to pause review requests until November 1st, and I’m a bit overwhelmed with everything, but I will start writing Indie reviews again on the requests I have received prior to the pause. However, if I have reviewed your book before and you have a new one coming out, the pause does not apply to your book.
I hope you all have been doing well!
What Are you reading right now, and what summer activities do you have planned?
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