Liquid Shades of Blue

James Polkinghorn

First his brother, now his mother—Jack Girard searches for the truth behind his family’s tragedies.

When hungover ex-lawyer and Key West bar owner Jack Girard groggily wakes up one morning, he’s greeted by a beautiful woman lying next to him and a shrill, ringing telephone. Seeing the call is from his father, Claude “The Duke” Girard, Jack answers. Within seconds, he learns that his mother is dead in an apparent suicide, and Jack hits the road, heading back to his childhood home in Miami to face his tyrannical father.

The death of his mother brings up haunting memories from Jack’s past—memories of his brother Bobby’s suicide when they were in college together. Being back in Miami only continues to dredge up his family traumas, but things grow more complicated when The Duke suggests that his estranged wife’s alleged suicide may have been a murder.

As Jack begins to uncover the truth about his mother’s death, including the secret she had revealed to only two people—the same secret Bobby had taken with him to his grave—he finds himself in imminent danger. Can Jack reveal the true story before it’s too late? He has to act quickly, or he fears he may be the victim of the next Girard family tragedy. (Summary via Goodreads)

Liquid Shades of Blue by James Polkinghorn is a book that will have you on the edge of your seat reading as fast as you can to see what is going to happen.

Jack Girard and his family have seen heartbreak but the secrets are what will tear the family up. Jack and his brother, Bobby, were very close but Jack was never told the secret that Bobby was keeping until Bobby committed suicide. The day that Jack walked into the apartment that the brothers shared and found his brother dead with a suicide note was the day that changed him and his feelings toward his family.

Jack left Miami in his rearview mirror and moved to Key West and started a new life….and that life was going well until one Saturday morning after drinking alittle too much the night before, his father calls ….and he has to return home to deal with his mother’s death.

Jack doesn’t believe that his mother committed suicide. If it was after Bobby’s death, that would have made more sense but not now. And when he goes to the condo where his mother was living since separating from his dad, things become clearer to him…..but how to prove it is a whole different problem all together…..

James Polkinghorn knocks this story out of the ballpark on the first swing !! Readers will be in shock when the entire story is explained and we see how Jack handles all the secrets. It will knock your socks off !!!

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Making Mountains into Molehills

Heidi Sprouse

Wyatt Henry has always been his brother’s keeper. It’s been his job. That, and learning how to be a horse farmer and a man above measure like his father, Jackson Henry—the Henry Way. Emmett made his arrival when Wyatt was two years old, and his kid brother has lit up his world ever since. He’s been the light in the darkness—when his mother died when he was only six. When his father died in a tragic accident on the farm. So what does he do when that light could be snuffed out?

When Emmett jumps in to help a damsel in distress in a barroom fight, he suffers a severe head injury that leaves him blind. It nearly destroys him, taking Wyatt with him. Wyatt has to try and help his brother pick up the pieces. He won’t give up on him, no matter how depressed and angry Emmett is. While he is dealing with Emmett’s challenges, Wyatt will face a life-threatening illness of his own. Through it all, his wife Samantha will be at his side as they work together to take Jackson Henry’s advice and make mountains into molehills. (Summary via Goodreads)

Everytime I start reading a book written by Heidi Sprouse I am in awe…..she is so in touch with her writing abilities and storytelling skills that every book she writes will take readers on a marvelous adventure….and you will most likely never want to escape from inside the covers of the book.

Sprouse is also a three book trilogy writer. Readers were introduced to the Henry family first in A Man of Few Words where we met Casey and Emmett Henry who are married and discover love letters from Emmett’s father to his mother. Then in Hindsight’s 20/20 we are taken back to when Casey and Emmett meet on a night of a blizzard where she comes to his house when her car is stuck and they end out walking through the woods to Emmett’s brother’s house to help deliver Wyatt’s and Samantha’s baby and we see how Casey and Emmett’s love story begins. Now in Making Mountains into Molehills we get to witness Wyatt and Samantha’s love story and see Wyatt face a health issue of his own …. one that will shatter the Henry family.

In Making Mountains into Molehills Emmett is trying to take care of his horses as well as Emmett’s because Emmett lost his eyesight helping a local girl being attacted in a bar. Unfortunately when Emmett turned his back on the assailant, he hit Emmett on the head. Wyatt, being the big brother that he is as well as a Henry, is doing everything he can to help him. Wyatt is also making sure than his pregant wife Samantha doesn’t overdo things in her state.

Unfortunately Wyatt ignores medical signs telling him that something is wrong and that results in him having to have emergency surgery. Luckily Wyatt doesn’t have to go through this alone as his wife and brother refuse to leave his side. They are also fortunate that the town they live in rallies behind them and help in any way they can.

Even though these books are all about Emmett, Wyatt, Samantha and Casey you can read them in any order that you wish. It doesn’t matter where you start you will fall in love will all of them. Sprouse will have you completely captivated !!

Hindsight’s 20/20

Heidi Sprouse

You met Casey and Emmett Henry in A Man of Few Words—now see where it all began…

On a cold winter night, Casey Mitchell leaves her stalled car in the middle of a blizzard and heads for the only light she can see—a distant farmhouse. There she meets Emmett Henry, who has been blind for nearly a year after an injury in a bar fight. Casey is the new doctor at the clinic in town, so when Emmett’s brother Wyatt calls in a panic because his wife has gone into labor, Casey and Emmett brave the elements on foot to Wyatt’s house to deliver a baby, starting a journey that will take the two of them on the road to a future neither could have ever imagined… (Summary via Goodreads)

Anytime that you pick up a book written by Heidi Sprouse you feel like you are reading a Hallmark movie. Her stories will open your imagination wide and you will be swept away into the story…. and that is exactly what will happen as soon as you start reading Hindsight’s 20/20.

You may have already met the main characters, Casey and Emmett, if you read A Man of Few Words. But if you didn’t that is fine. In A Man of Few Words Casey and Emmett are married and the story moves from that point. In Hindsight’s 20/20 you will read about the night they met and see how their love story unfolds.

In Hindsight’s 20/20 Casey is moving into Emmett’s town to be the doctor in the clinic. She is moving from a big city where she was an Emergency Room doctor to a small town in the country and will be working at the clinic as their primary doctor. Little does she know that on her way into town the first night her car will get stuck during a snowstorm and she will end up at Emmett’s house looking for help. Emmett has been blind for the past year due to a bar fight incident but he probably sees more by using his other senses. On that first night that the two meet, there are sparks between them immediately but before anything gets started Emmett’s brother Wyatt calls saying that his wife Sam has gone into labor. Emmett and Casey rush over through the snowstorm so that Casey can assist in the delivery.

In Hindsight’s 20/20 readers will witness the love story unfold between Emmett and Casey and I will warn you….it is explosive !!! The two are so drawn to each other that nothing will stand in their way !! Unfortunately the one big obstacle that stands in their way is Emmett and his stubborness about being blind and thinking Casey deserves more. Casey will have a fight on her hands trying to get through his big hard head……but she will !! Readers will love her determination !!

Hindsight’s 20/20 is an amazing love story that readers will wish for themselves…..unfortunately I think we will have to keep wishing because this level of love is off the charts and out of this world !! But Sprouse will have you totally captivated and your mind will explode for sure !!!!

Tommy Jack

Rick Collins

Tommy Jack is a mute, homeless man living in a cave at the far end of Duncan’s Farm in Andover, Massachusetts. When he’s not roaming Andover, he tends Duncan’s honey bees in a meadow not far from Tommy’s camp. When the body of Ally Jones, the high school cheer captain missing for months turns up in a shallow grave on Duncan’s Farm, the town suspects that Tommy must have killed the girl.
Louise Consola is the chief of police in Andover. She investigates the murder of Ally Jones, but her suspect list grows as more clues are revealed.
Louise has a dark secret of her own. She has committed a terrible crime which she was able to conceal. The poison of her past cannot be contained, however, pushing Louise to the breaking point.
Andover is decimated when gas mains in town explode. Louise must halt her investigation of Ally Jones’s murder while trying to put the town back together. Meanwhile, the killer is still on the loose.
Can Louise solve the murder, keep herself and her town from falling apart, and protect the one person the town is sure committed the crime? (Summary via Goodreads)

Tommy Jack by Rick Collins picks up shortly after A Run of a River ended. If you read A Run of a River you know that that was a very intense story…..and Tommy Jack is going to be that and so much more. On the cover of Tommy Jack it is labeled a suspense novel but even that word doesn’t prepare readers for what you are getting your mind involved in.

Tommy Jack is a homeless man living in Andover, Massachusetts. He has a quiet little camp in a small cave in the woods on Duncan’s Farm. Duncan lets him live there and Tommy tends to the bees on the farm. Tommy keeps to himself, doesn’t talk to anyone, actually hasn’t spoken in over twenty years. But when a young popular high school cheerleader goes missing and then months later is found dead in a shallow grave on Duncan’s property, the entire town turns on Tommy.

Tommy isn’t the only one having problems in Andover. Louise, the Chief of Police is still having trouble with a case from the past that resulted in her killing a man, even though the man was evil and he deserved what was coming to him, it still isn’t easy on Louise. Also the Mayor has deep secrets and unfortunately for him, his secrets are known by some. And the town is going to deal with a huge devastating event when gas lines explode killing many and damaged half of the town.

There is a lot going on in Andover and it will amaze readers how the residents of the town handle the events. And readers will fall in love with Tommy and will want to protect him just like Louise, Betty and Ed do. And pay attention to the bees in the story as they will have a significant part in the story at the end…they will also protect Tommy.

Collins does it again with drawing readers attention in instantly and holding it until the very end of the story. I highly recommend reading Tommy Jack, A Run of the River and all his other books. He will become a favorite for sure !!

The Four Winds

Kristin Hannah

Goodreads Choice Award

Nominee for Best Historical Fiction (2021)

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression. (Summary via Goodreads)

Kristin Hannah is the author of twenty-four books and counting. The Four Winds is the first book of her’s that I have had the pleasure of reading and I was able to read it due to Book of the Month. The Four Winds was one of the books for a month and I decided to pick it and I am very glad that I did.

The Four Winds is set in the 1930’s and begins in Texas following a strong and determined woman Elsa Wolcott Martinelli. When Elsa was a young girl she got very sick and due to that sickness she was very fragile. Her family sheltered her and made her believe that she was weak, ugly and destined to be alone. That all changed when one night she defied her parents and went out. That night she met a younger gentlemen Rafe (Martinelli) and they had a few nights of passion. This resulted in Elsa getting pregnant, disowned by her family and left at the doorstep of the Martinelli family. Rafe was engaged to another woman but he had to end it in order to do what was right for Elsa.

Rafe and Elsa got married and lived on the Martinelli family farm. Elsa did everything she could to make herself worthy of the family. Elsa gave Rafe two children, Loreda and Anthony, and Elsa worked hard on the farm to be a part of the family. Rafe’s parents, Rose and Tony, eventually grew to love her and they became a loving family. Unfortunately when they experienced a terrible drought and dust storms, Rafe took off in the middle of the night leaving his family behind.

Eventually things became too hard to bear when Anthony became very sick due to the dust storms and the family decided it was best for them to leave and head to California where they were told things were better. Unfortunately Rose and Tony tell Elsa when they are ready to leave that they are staying behind at the farm.

Elsa, Loreda and Anthony travel to California with everything they could pack onto the back of the truck and head to parts unknown. Once they arrive in California they realize it also has its challenges. But Elsa refuses to give up and will do whatever it takes to survive.

Readers will find themselves so engrossed in the story that they will feel Elsa’s pain and struggles. You will be cheering her on and hoping she succeeds. And you may find youself looking deep inside yourself wondering if it were you, could you have done everything that Elsa did for herself and her family.

Dangerous Inspiration

Greg Stone

Synesthesia alters detective-turned-novelist Ronan Mezini’s perceptions. But can it help him find the killer?

Detective-turned-novelist Ronan Mezini has skewed perceptions because of a condition called synesthesia, which for him transforms sounds into colors. These visions give him unusual insights that help him solve the case. So when a collection of eccentric – and possibly violent — creative people come together at an elite artists’ colony in rural Vermont, murders occur in rapid succession and suspicion falls on everyone as Mezini unearths the founding family’s secrets. (Summary via Goodreads)

When you read the description of Dangerous Inspiration on the back of the book you only get a very small idea of what Greg Stone’s book is all about….and that doesn’t even touch the surface.

In Dangerous Inspiration a group of very different people are granted acceptance to an artist’s colony called Interlude. This retreat is very popular but only a very small selection are allowed in. For two months the artists which include actors, writers, sculptures, painters, photographers, dancers, are there to concentrate on their individual talents as well as interact with the others as well as the owner and the workers. None of the latest group expect to become murdered or suspects of said murders.

Luckily the owner Olivier granted acceptance to Ronan Mezini who is a retired detective turned private investigator who is trying his hand at becoming a writer. So when one of the kitchen staff is shot and killed, he is put to the ultimate test…… but when someone else is found murdered by another method, everyone is on edge and unfortunately they are in a remote area of Vermont during a horrific storm that has them trapped and no way to summon for help or leave.

Dangerous Inspiration has a lot for readers to enjoy. It has murder, love relationships, secrets, lies, and with all of the characters being very different, you will have no idea who to trust and who is capable of murder. The characters in the book won’t be the only ones on edge and unable to sleep…..fortunately you will be doing it in the safety of your home and well….the story isn’t real.

Blue Jeans Lou and Flip Flop Sue

by Heidi Sprouse

Lou Callahan knows cars—how to get them running, fix them up, make them right. Dealing with people is another story. He’s reeling from a tragedy that has rocked his entire family’s world. He’s barely picking himself up off the floor. Handling anyone else’s problems is too much right now.

Until a beautiful stranger shows up at his auto shop and begs him to help her to restore the wreckage of a piece from her past.

Sue Piper’s heart has been torn apart. She’s not sure anything can help it heal. Bringing back a family heirloom that may be beyond repair is her only hope. She needs to place it in the right hands.

She has no idea walking into Callahan and Son Auto Repair can fix so much more than a car.

Will two wounded souls be able to let the light of love shine through the cracks and make them whole again? (Summary via Amazon)

Blue Jeans Lou and Flip Flop Sue by Heidi Sprouse is more than a love story. Sprouse is known for her romantic, emotional love stories and this is exactly what that is….and so much more.

In Blue Jeans Lou and Flip Flop Sue readers are introduced to the Callahan family, Lou, his older brother Logan, their sister Lizzie, their mother Laura and their grandmother Maggie. They are all still dealing with the loss of their father, Lee. Lou has taken over the garage that their father built and he taught the boys their way around any vehicle. It is there where Lou meets Sue when she and her car are towed in. The ’69 Camaro which belonged to Sue’s deceased brother, Tucker, is the most important thing to Sue and when it is damaged in an accident, the tow truck driver takes it to Lou.

Lou is mesmerized by Sue and the car and vows to fix the car and bring it back to life. While Lou takes his time working on the car, Sue stops by daily to check it’s progress as well as keep an eye on Lou. During these visits the two develop feelings for each other, strong feelings but are afraid to act on them.

Lou, who is working in his father’s garage and living in the upstairs that he converted into living space, is still struggling with the loss of his father, the backbone of the family and afraid to allow anyone into his heart. And Sue, even though it seems she is more open with her heart, is still dealing with the loss and emptiness of lossing her brother.

Not only is this a love story but the family dynamics of the Callahan family and how they look after each other is inspiring. Readers will want to be a part of this stong family. Lou and Logan have a difficult bond that is hard to break but a misunderstanding between Lou and Logan and Sue will destroy them all. It wouldn’t be a true Heidi Sprouse love story if there wasn’t some drama, misunderstanding and a love to fight for !!

Having lost my mom just over a year ago and reading Blue Jean Lou and Flip Flop Sue I feel I was able to appreciate this story better. I could feel the love, loss and emptiness that the Callahan’s felt after losing their father. I could especially relate with Logan when he says that he sees his father every time he looks in the mirror because I see my mother every time I look in the mirror. Losing a parent is one of the hardest things a child must go through and it doesn’t matter how old you are when it happens. It still knocks you down ! And Sprouse paints the story beautifully.

And Sprouse leaves the door wide open for future books if she wants to turn this into a series or a trilogy…. the path that Logan is about to embark on and the journey he will be taking is another story that she can tell. And Lizzie and Matt have another love story brewing and I can imagine the sparks and fights they will have getting to their happily ever after. And maybe it will be time for their mother to dip her toes in the dating pool again…..or maybe being a grandma will be her destination. Oh the possibilities that can come out of this simple love story…….

Apnea by Jay Sizemore

IF YOU FALL ASLEEP, YOU DIE.

In the future, a virus threatens humanity with extinction. During the Great Sleep, nearly all men on the planet suddenly perish, throwing the world into chaos.

For the few left behind, but one hope remains: an experimental drug that keeps carriers of the virus awake for 21 straight days.

The treatment offers a slim chance of survival, but those willing to undergo the trial do so at the risk of losing their very minds.

Joseph Conrad is about to begin this treatment…AGAINST HIS WILL.

Read the book that others have called, “daringly original,” “a real page-turner,” and “filled with startling imagery.”
…

If you’ve enjoyed books such as I am Legend by Richard Matheson, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, or Misery and Gerald’s Game by Stephen King, then this novel will surely satisfy your taste for something new. (Summary via Amazon)

If the cover of Apnea by Jay Sizemore doesn’t scare you, then the story will !! I thought I was going to have to sleep with the lights on for the forseeable future….that is to say if I would ever sleep again !!

In Apnea the men only are being hit with a virus called Virus Y that is killing them. The men have to test their blood every morning and every night to see if they have contracted the virus. If they haven’t they get to live another day worry free. If the test comes back stating that they have contracted the virus, they have to contact their government. There is supposedly a cure called YAPNEA which is a series of shots being administered for 21 days which makes the recipient unable to sleep.

In Apnea readers are introduced to a handful of men and women who are dealing with different perspectives of the virus….however you are mainly focusing on Joseph and Virginia, a husband and wife. Joseph tested himself one morning and found out he was positive for the virus and instead of contacting the government like instructed, he turns off the machine. He decides that he would rather die than deal with the virus. Unfortunately Virginia turns on the machine and sees that he tested postive and decides for him that he is going to receive the injections and she is going to give them to him. But seeing as Joe does not want to receive them, she has to handcuff him to their bed.

Readers will get lost in this story and loss sleep for reasons unlike the Y virus. You will want to see the outcome of Joseph’s treatment and what happens with their lives….as well as everything else going on in the story. I have just given you a glimpse inside this crazier than Stephen King novel…..

Now if you will excuse me I am going to go play with kittens…..

Apnea is a captivating story and readers will enjoy it as long as them remind themselves that it is not real….open at your own risk.

Rook

Stephen G. Eoannou

Rook is based on the true story of Al Nussbaum. To his unsuspecting wife, Lolly, Al is a loving, chess playing, family man. To J. Edgar Hoover, he is the most cunning fugitive alive. Al is the mastermind behind a string of east coast robberies that has stumped law enforcement.

After his partner, one-eyed Bobby Wilcoxson, kills a bank guard and wounds a New York City patrolman, Al is identified as one of the robbers and lands on top of the FBI’s most wanted list. He is forced to flee his hometown of Buffalo, New York as the FBI closes in and Lolly learns of her husband’s secret life.

One million wanted posters are printed and The Reader’s Digest offers a ten-thousand-dollar reward for Al’s capture. While Al assumes another identity and attempts to elude the police, Lolly is left alone to care for their infant daughter and adjust to her new life as ‘The Bank Robber’s Wife’. Friends, family, and federal agents all pressure Lolly to betray Al.

While Lolly struggles at home financially, with unrelenting FBI agents, and her conscience, Al and Bobby continue to rob banks, even as Bobby grows more mentally unstable and dangerous. Al has only two goals: avoid capture and steal enough money to start a new life with his family. Returning to gather his wife and baby is suicidal, but as Al said, he’d only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly. (Summary via Goodreads)

Rook by Stephen G. Eoannou will have readers unable to stop reading. As soon as you open the book you are lost in the story of Al, his partner in crime Bobby, his wife Lolly and the web of lies and secrets among them.

In Rook Al and Bobby along with Curry are bank robbers. Al is actually the brains behind the crime, planning and staking out the bank they will be hitting and then he sits in the getaway car while Bobby and Curry go inside the bank and rob it. Afterwards they get in the getaway car with Al driving and he drives them to safety where they count up the money and split it.

Al tells his wife Lolly that he is going away on a business trip with Bobby so that she knows nothing about the robberies. Lolly is left home living in the apartment above her parents raising their baby daughter Alison completely unaware of what Al does on these business trips.

All of that changes when during one of the robberies a security guard is killed and a police officer responding to the robbery is shot and injured. Soon after that Curry is caught and rats out the other two. It is right before Christmas and Lolly is snooping in the closet for her Christmas presents from Al and instead finds the duffel bag he hid that has the money from the last robbery along with a gun. That night he packs a bag and leaves with Bobby and his girlfriend leaving Lolly and Alison. Shortly after Al leaves the FBI shows up and questions Lolly all about Al but luckily for Al, she cannot tell them anything.

In the beginning of Rook readers get to know Al, Lolly and Bobby as the bank robberies are commited but when their identities are learned and they flee, the book changes into separate chapters dedicated to Al and Lolly and their lives of living apart. Lolly is left to try to deal with the fact that her husband, the father of her child, is a criminal….again. She had to move in with her parents and go out and get a job so that she can pay the bills and take care of her daughter. Al also has to adjust to living in a dingy apartment, hiding from the law, constantly living in fear of being caught.

Readers will love this story and wonder what in the story is real and what Eoannou has embellished. Readers may even find themselves feeling sorry for Al but especially for Lolly as she had to pick up the pieces of the mess Al left behind. And readers will have strong feelings of Lolly’s mother….but I will leave that to the reader.

I highly recommend grabbing your copy of Rook and getting lost in the story……