Book Review: THE LAST OF THE BOWMANS BY J PAUL HENDERSON

THE LAST OF THE BOWMANS

BY

J PAUL HENDERSON

Published:  Jan 2016

After an absence of some seven years, Greg Bowman returns from America to find his father lying in a bamboo coffin, his estranged brother Billy stalking a woman with no feet and his seventy-nine-year-old Uncle Frank planning to rob a bank.  While renovating the family house he is unexpectedly visited by the presence of his dead father and charged with the task of 'fixing' the family.  In the course of his reluctant investigations, Greg discovers not only the secrets behind the strange behaviour of his brother and uncle but also an unsettling secret of his father's, and one that brings him face to face with the unintended consequences of his own past.

The Last of the Bowmans is the story of a family on the run from itself in a city with no place to go.

The story starts when 83 year old Lyle Bowman walks into the path of a bus and is run over.  Not very funny in itself but J Paul Henderson had me chuckling from the beginning with his one-liners. 

This story is about families, their ups and downs, disagreements, loyalties, dislikes and why they are like they are.  

Before Greg left for America he fell out with his brother Billy and they hadn't spoken again until their father's funeral.  Over the course of this book we discover lots of family secrets and grudges that had been long hidden, Greg finds out what sort of person he really was growing up, life always came easy to him - exams, girls, work, but not so easy for his brother.

My favourite character was elderly Uncle Frank, he was so serious but I found him quite endearing:

".... I'm a bachelor, yes; but I'm not a bachelor by choice.  My hat's always been in the ring, it's just that no woman's ever bothered to bend down and pick it up.  I don't think women find me all that attractive if you want to know the truth.  Jean's mother refers to me as a goblin - did you know that?"

I really enjoyed this story, some of it had me laughing, some of it made me sad and tearful, it was touching at times.

The scenes where Greg's deceased father appears to him and asks him to mend his family were the most memorable and touching for me.  Lyle was a dour husband and father who always tried to do his best for his family and didn't want them to fight and argue.  He wanted to pass on to another life knowing that they were okay again.

I liked the writing, the quirky storyline with quirky characters, it was definitely different to any other book I've read, but it's also a book that I'll remember for some time.

Thanks to Real Readers for giving me the opportunity to read such an unusual book.

Spotlight on DEBT BY RACHEL DUNNING (New Adult Romance / Sports Romance)

DEBT

By Rachel Dunning

Expected Release Date:

March 30, 2016

What’s it about?

The Debt Collector

I pay my debts, and I expect others to.

I was raised in the slums of London, I knew nothing of privilege. My father was murdered when I was seventeen. Morty figured my father's passing meant I would automatically take on dad's debts. I refused.

And I paid for that refusal.

So did my sister.

So now I fight. All I know how to do is fight. The best cash is in the states, so that's where I am now. A big fish called Vito came along offering me a "favor" when I arrived.

Another debt.

I paid for that one too.

I knew Kyla Hensley would be trouble when I met her. But I wanted her. I could see through the falsehood of her wannabe-slutty clothes and her sexy legs. So I chased her.

Besides, trouble is my middle name.

Kyla Hensley

I was brought up in privilege, but I lacked everything else. My father is a business tycoon who buys and sells and doesn't care who gets rolled over in the process.

I never knew my mother, and all I have of her is a photo with a note scrawled on the back in French saying "I'm sorry." The only Female Figure I had growing up is my dad's wife who is a bleach blond with seven boob jobs. We never bonded.

I drink. I party. I meet guys.

But I wasn't always like that.

I've had a string of lovers in the last few years, the worst and most recent of which was Vince Somerset. My best friend Vera was dating a guy called Rory Cansoom who is the opposite of Vince in so many ways, and yet so the same.

She and I hit the road for the summer, getting away from the two college psychos and just trying to have some fun.

But there's a funny thing about trouble, the more you run from it, the more it finds you.

Which is when I met the Debt Collector.

It was only supposed to be sex. He made that clear. I made that clear.

That's all it was supposed to be.

I never expected to fall in love. I never expected to fall so deeply, madly, uncomfortably in love with a man who is wrong, so wrong for me.

And yet...so unbelievably right.

Content Warning

Not intended for readers under the age of seventeen.

Genres:
New-Adult Romance
Sports Romance

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Excerpts

~Logan~

I have no desire to settle down.

I have no desire to make Kyla be the last woman I’m ever with.

But, damn it, I’d like to be given a chance to do those things. Does she even feel anything for me?

I know I do.

I feel something.

Not love. Something else.

Like I need her.

Like I’d stop breathing without her.

Like the sun would stop being so bright or the sounds of the world so sweet if she disappeared.

~Kyla~

“Tell me for real,” I say. “Tell me what I didn’t guess about you.”

Logan doesn’t answer, and already I’m regretting the question. I know something hurt him, but who am I to ask him about it so soon? I’m breaking my rule, I want to know him, I want to know everything about him.

He shifts his arm so that my head is no longer resting on it, leans forward.

I did overstep it, but I don’t care. Maybe this is the last time I’ll ever see him again, and I want to get everything I can out of it, not only the sex I’ll demand later.

He looks down at his feet, then at me.

He inhales a deep breath, and then he says something to me that will forever change the way I think about the world. He tells me a story that puts my own life in perspective, and makes me question what I’ve held dear, and what’s really important in life.

He tells me about how he lost his father. And his mother.

And why he fights.

And why he continues to fight. And what he really sees when he’s in that cage, the hate, the fury, the pain.

By the end of it all, my world is shattered, the floor is shaking, I have no stability.

By the end of it, I know one thing, and I know it to my core, my very fiber. And I don’t care if it’s too soon, I believe in intuition, I believe in it more now than ever.

The thing I know is this:

I love this man. I love him irrevocably. I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone.

And I know I will lose him.

I know it. More intuition.

But I love his very soul.

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Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01A02LNLC

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/debt/id1071559413?mt=11
Nook / B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/debt-rachel-dunning/1123196983?ean=2940152548570

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/603988

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28400056-debt

About Rachel

Rachel Dunning hit the scene in August 2013 and is the author of the highly praised Naive Mistakes Series, Truthful Lies Trilogy, Johnny Series and the paranormal romance series, Mind Games.

A prolific writer, she sticks to stories where Alpha Males aren’t pricks and where women have guts.

She’s lived on two different continents, speaks three different languages, and met the love of her life on the internet. In other words, romance is in her blood.

Get Rachel’s Newsletter

Sign up for Rachel’s Newsletter and never miss a release or a special.
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Where Else to Find Rachel
Blog / Website: http://www.rdunning.com
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Book Review: DEATH OF AN AVID READER BY FRANCES BRODY

DEATH OF AN AVID READER

(The sixth book in the Kate Shackleton series)

BY

FRANCES BRODY

Published:  Oct 2014

A lady with a secret

Kate Shackleton's sterling reputation for courageous sleuthing attracts the attention of the venerable Lady Coulton.  Hidden in her past is a daughter, born out of wedlock and given up to a different family.  Now, Lady Coulton is determined to find her and puts Kate on the case.

A mysterious killing in the library's basement

But as Kate delves deeper into Lady Coulton's past, she soon finds herself thrust into a scandal much closer to home.  When the body of the respected Horatio Potter is found in the Leeds library basement, the quiet literary community is suddenly turned upside down with suspicions, accusations and - much to Kate's surprise - the appearance of a particularly intelligent Capuchin monkey!

The most puzzling case in Kate's sleuthing history yet

Convinced an innocent man has been blames, Kate sets out to discover the truth.  Who would want Dr. Potter dead?  Does Lady Coulton's missing daughter hold a vital clue?  As the stories start to emerge in the seemingly quiet Leeds library, Kate is learning fast that in this case, she can't judge a book by its cover ......

The year is now 1925 and amateur detective Kate is once more tasked with a tricky case to solve.  

Narrated by Kate, she is summoned to London from her home in Yorkshire to meet Lady Coulton, who wants her to find the daughter she had to give up over twenty years ago.  Not an easy case but, with the help of former policeman, Mr Sykes, she is determined the find her daughter and bring some peace to Lady Coulton.

But, as they start digging for clues, Kate's local library has a murder mystery that she becomes involved in as well.  So now she's looking for the truth about a murder, a missing daughter, a library book thief, and a wronged young woman ....... there is so much going on that the story never gets boring, it's fully of quirky, interesting characters, elusive ghosts in the basement, the organ grinder's monkey, all in all this is an entertaining read with period detail on every page.

People trust Kate, they talk to her and she never misses a chance to question anyone even when buying a paper from the newspaper seller on the street corner or purchasing hot chestnuts from the chestnut seller on cold, foggy Yorkshire evenings.  

I love these quirky mysteries - this is the fourth book in the series I've read and I've thoroughly enjoyed them all -  this is probably my favourite story.  The plot kept me guessing, I didn't have a clue who the murderer was, I kept changing my mind throughout as Frances Brody kept up the twists and turns.

If you haven't discovered this series yet, this can be read as a standalone, but I'd recommend you read them all, as they do follow on in years.  Whichever one you read first I'm sure you'll love it if you love cozy mysteries.

Here's what I thought of the other books in the series:

Dying in the Wool
A Medal for Murder
Murder on a Summer's Day

Website of Frances Brody
Follow Frances on twitter



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Book Review: CHRISTMAS WISHES AND MISTLETOE KISSES BY JENNY HALE

My Thoughts on this story of a Cinderella who meets her Prince Charming .....


CHRISTMAS WISHES AND MISTLETOE KISSES
BY
JENNY HALE


Published:  Oct 2015
Publisher:  Bookouture.com


Single mother Abbey Fuller loves her family more than anything, and doesn't regret for a moment having had to put her dreams of being an interior designer on hold.  But with her son, Max, growing up, when a friend recommends her for a small design job she jumps at the chance.  How hard can it be?

Nick Sinclair needs his house decorating in time for his family's Christmas visit - and money is no object.  What he doesn't need is distractions - festive or otherwise - from his multi-million dollar business.

When Abbey pulls up to the huge Sinclair mansion, she has a feeling she might be out of her depth.  And when she meets the gorgeous, but brooding Nicholas Sinclair, she knows that she's in real trouble.......

With the snow falling all around, can Abbey take the chance to make her dreams of being a designer come true?  And can she help Nick to finally enjoy the magic of Christmas?

The fabulously wealthy but cold Nick Sinclair and Abbey's lives could not be more different. She's a single mother to six year old Max, she's a nurse who dreams of being an interior designer, and has to account for every penny she earns: Nick's only focus in his busy life is his work.

The theme of the story is showing us what is possible in life if you can only take a risk, do something different, step out of your comfort zone, feel the fear and do it anyway, just don't sit back and do nothing while life passes you by.

Nick collects cars, plays polo, his house is cold and unfriendly, just like him.  He wants Abbey to decorate it so that it's ready for the festive season when his family arrive for Christmas.  He doesn't care what it looks like, he leaves it up to Abbey, his grandmother trusts her, so he does too.

Twenty-six - that was the number of windows across the front of the house.  Four - it had four chimneys, Abbey had only just counted them all as the enormous, Georgian-revival-style mansion came into view at the end of the mile-long driveway. She'd had to be let in via an intercom at a pair of iron gates bigger than her apartment building.

I enjoyed this story enormously, I liked Abbey's no nonsense approach to Nick, and how she revelled in her task of designing this huge house.

Nick was intrigued by her, he'd never met anyone quite like Abbey before and she'd definitely not met anyone like him!  She showed him how other people live, how they have fun and how simple pleasures in life can be enjoyable, instead of work, work, work all the time.  She loves to make people happy, he loves to make money!

The only minor issue I struggled with was in the middle of the story where I thought it dragged a little and nothing much happened, but it soon picked up the pace again.....I never thought of giving up with the story though.

In general, a lovely, heart-warming festive story, with romance, marvellous characters, a beautiful mansion, and a little Christmas magic.

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Follow Jenny Hale on twitter:  @jhaleauthor
On facebook:  jennyhaleauthor
Website:  www.itsjennyhale.com


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Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses is available to buy from

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

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Book Review: THE EMPIRE OF NIGHT BY ROBERT OLEN BUTLER

My Thoughts on this clever and fast moving WWI spy thriller .......


THE EMPIRE OF NIGHT  (3rd in the Christopher Marlowe Cobb series)
BY
ROBERT OLEN BUTLER


Published:  Oct 2014
Pages:  401  (Paperback)


It is 1915 and "Kit" Cobb is working undercover in a castle on the Kent coast owned by a suspected British government mole, Sir Albert Stockman.  Kit is working with his mother, the beautiful and mercurial spy, Isabel Cobb, who also happens to be a world-famous stage actress.
Isabel's offstage role is to keep tabs on Stockman, while Cobb tries to figure out his agenda.
Following his mother and her escort from the relative safety of Britain into the lion's den of Berlin, Kit must remain in character, even under the very nose of the Kaiser.

The third instalment in the Christopher Marlowe Cobb series sees our protagonist following a British spy, Sir Albert Stockman, to Berlin to discover whether he is actively aiding the German cause at a time when the allies are struggling against the Germans. He is still a war correspondent but is also working for the US Secret Service.  

But this time his mother, the very famous stage actress, Isabel Cobb, is also working for the US Secret Service and she is also travelling to Berlin on the arm of the British Government man.

As a native German speaker he easily slips into disguise and fools not only Stockman but also those closest to him as he tries to discover his plans, which turn out to be shocking.

This is a tale of betrayal, treason, acting, pretending to be someone you're not.

Though mention is briefly made of past missions this is a stand alone novel.

I really like Robert Olen Butler's writing style, Cobb is very observant, every detail, every conversation, is noted and stored in his memory.  He thinks a great deal and I enjoyed reading his thoughts and wondering where he would go and what he would do next, I found it very compelling and easy to read.  I wanted to know more, to find out where the story was going, where it was leading and Robert Olen Butler did not disappoint as the pace quickened towards the exciting conclusion.

A fantastic, well researched read which I hugely recommend to fans of intelligent spy novels.

Looking forward to the next instalment of this series.


Follow Robert Olen Butler on twitter: @RobtOlenButler
Check out his website


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