The Frivolity Fairies: A Christmas Short Story by Jo Michaels (5 stars)

About The Frivolity Fairies
(from Goodreads)

It's Christmas Eve, 2014, and thirteen-year-old Shirley is listening to the same bedtime story she's heard every year.

This year, she comes face to face with the frivolity fairies from the tale; naughty, careless creatures who cause mischief with no regard to morality.

In a tale of Christmas spirit, magic, and happy endings, find out what happens when one little girl sets out to make things right.

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Review

Okay, can I just skip summarizing the book and just tell you everything I loved about it?

First, I love the cover. So gorgeous. Definitely judge this book by its cover, because...

It's such a sweet and empowering tale. Jo Michaels packs a lot of punch in few words, managing to create a memorable character and story line in a novella format. It's for all the dreamers out there; for all of us who sat on the edge of our seat as our mothers told us tales, and then wondered if they could be real. And the holidays are the perfect time to connect with this story, although it can be enjoyed any time.

I don't want to give away too much, but imagine a beautiful world with majestic creatures. Now, imagine you can go there, but you can't go home. It's amazing how quickly beauty can turn to horror and sadness when choice is taken away.

Not to worry, though, because this one has a happy ending. Plus, it's free! Yes, you heard right. It's a nice introduction to the amazing writing of Jo Michaels. 

Rating: 5 stars

About Jo Michaels
(from Jo's Amazon Author Page)
Jo Michaels is a writer who's really had a taste of life. She's lived in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia; but visited states from coast to coast. Michaels, a high-school dropout, put herself through college while her husband was deployed to Iraq and still managed to come out on the other side with all five of her children still breathing. On top of that wondrous feat, she managed to graduate Summa Cum Laude. After her fourteen year marriage ended cataclysmically, she took to the keys to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. Using the degree she obtained in school, Jo set out with tools in her belt not many writers possess: a strong design eye, the skills necessary to format her books, and the ability to use her artistic talents to create stunning covers.

Now, Michaels writes full-time in her garage while imbibing copious amounts of coffee to keep her motor running from son up to son down (and daughter, too). Her inspiration for her books comes from relationships, life, friends, passion, and her own incredible imagination. A fight for achieving her dream (along with her super duper boyfriend) is what drags her out of bed every morning to do what she does best: spin tales laced with high-octane emotion for readers worldwide.

You can find out more about Jo on Twitter, her website, her blog, andFacebook. Also, find out more about her indie author services at Indie Books Gone Wild.

Not Born Here: Stories from Marsden NC by Dennis Sinar (4.5 stars)

About Not Born Here: Stories from Marsden NC
(from Amazon)

A collection of short stories about a fictional Southern town, Marsden N.C. Humor, foibles and heartwarming stories make the town real and the inhabitants memorable characters. The characters move through their days in a small town a daughter learns a secret about her dead mother, women goes through the stages of love, hopeful, love found and just as quickly lost. Roger learns something new about his wife's Jimmylegs and offers fine points on judging a chili competition.

From the Back cover: Marsden is a fictitious town in coastal Carolina. The characters are familiar to anyone who has lived in a small town, alive with personalities and foibles. The stories come from everyday experiences told in a uniquely Southern style. The topics are diverse--a supernatural experience between a daughter and her dead mother to the challenges of judging the annual chili cookoff. 

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Review

Fans of Southern literature, rejoice! Beautifully written with strong voice, Not Born Here is an engaging look into the lives of a small town. Each story is woven together to form an exquisite tale of interesting and diverse characters. When pieced together, it flows into a more novel-like read.

I'm from the South--North Carolina to be exact--and this book took me down memory lane, where I landed in my grandmother's lap listening to her amazing stories. It's like reading dairy entries from several members of a richly connected town. You'll laugh and cry, but most of all you'll feel part of what's happening.

One of my favorite stories was Julia and the Ducks. Here a daughter, still devastated by the loss of her mom, is able to communicate with her mom again through the most unlikely source. Through this interaction comes a deeper understanding of what happened. 

Not Born Here is equal parts heart-warming and humorous. I highly recommend it to fans of Southern literature and to readers who appreciate memorable characters with great flair, no matter where they are from. In our hearts, we all share similar disappointments, fears, joys, trials, and achievements.  

Rating: 4.5 stars

Giveaway

I'm so excited to offer a Kindle copy to one lucky reader. Please enter below.a Rafflecopter giveaway
About the Author
(from Amazon author page)

I'm a retired physician working on my right brain function by writing fiction. Not Born Here, my first book, is a collection of short stories about familiar characters, their lives and challenges in a small southern town of Marsden, North Carolina. According to one reviewer, Not Born Here is a "witty, colorful preservation of local flavor, uniqueness and language spun by an accomplished storyteller."

Note: I was the proofreader (through Indie Books Gone Wild) on this book. Still, a positive review was not requested or guaranteed, and the opinions expressed are my own.

Quiver by Tobsha Learner (4 stars)

About Quiver

Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (April 30, 2013)

An electrifying short story collection for fans of

50 Shades of Grey and Bared to You

 

“Taking in the panoply of sexual desire, each tale shudders with full-frontal detail in a style that is both lyrical and forensically accurate.” –Vogue

Fifteen years after its original publication, an unforgettable erotica classic re-issue with a sexy new package from the publisher of Anne Rice’s seminal New York Times best-selling Sleeping Beauty Trilogy. In QUIVER: A Book of Erotic Tales (Plume; 4/30/13, $16.00) Tobsha Learner, “the thinking woman’s erotica” writer, explores the pleasures of new and rediscovered love, lust, and obsession in twelve interconnected impossible-to-put-down tales.

In the flashes that blur the line between fantasy and reality, each steamy story in QUIVER captures the spontaneous erotic experiences of a group of middle-class acquaintances—a dentist and his wife; an accountant and a beautician—as they audaciously unleash their deepest desires. Alternating between male and female perspectives, Learner invites readers to enjoy the unique intimacies of the characters’ trysts. And there are no holds barred in these interactions: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, exhibitionistic, and sadomasochistic relationships are unabashedly on display in this provocative collection. With its blend of escapism and realism, QUIVER will surely appeal to readers who enjoyed their first experience with BDSM with Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as more experienced readers in the genre.

Review

Often, the biggest downfall of erotica stories is that they use sex as a way to shock the reader. It's like the gratuitous sex scene in a movie. The reason I started reviewing erotica is because so many bloggers wouldn't, and I wanted to give the genre a chance. Then I read several not-so-good erotica books, and I was ready to throw up a white flag.

But I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories. The focus is on the characters, not the sex. And the author really mixes it up with the types of characters she features. Two of my favorites: a long metaphor comparing sex and music (The Man Who Loved Sounds) and a ghost story (Pomegranate).

Yes, I still blushed occasionally, but I found myself intrigued with the characters. In one particular story, Tulip, I wanted to know what happened to Deidre--a woman who dares to consider love again and children.

If you are looking to dip your toe into erotica fiction, this short story collection would be a good starting point. It is well-written, character-focused, and still offers some hot scenes.

Rating: 4 stars

About the Author

Born in the U.K., Tobsha Learner has also lived in the U.S. and Australia. She has worked extensively in stage, television, radio and film. She lives in London.

Connect with Tobsha at her website, tobsha.com.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Please visit other stops on the Quiver blog tour page.

Tremble by Tobsha Learner (3 stars)

About Tremble: Erotic Tales of the Mystical and Cynical

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Plume (August 27, 2013)

Erotica for the modern woman: nine tales of the dangerous and divine

From Tobsha Learner, the boundary-pushing erotica author of the international bestseller Quiver, comes TREMBLE: Erotic Tales of the Mystical and Sinister (On-sale September 2013/ ISBN: 9780142180372).

In Learner’s steamy collection, she explores the full spectrum of sexuality peppered with elements of the supernatural. Tremble blurs the line between fantasy and reality, depicting the pleasures of new and rediscovered love, lust, and obsession in a world where passion and magic are interwoven—and where boundaries are pushed beyond expectation.

In a Welsh village, a young woman’s sensuality is awakened by an outrageous inheritance; a drought-stricken Oklahoma town is offered salvation by a travelling rainmaker; a Sydney record producer struggles to satisfy his wife and his mistress—until one of them takes matters into her own hands…

The short stories span the eras, from an eighteenth-century biographer who discovers a magic, erotic ritual to a Sydney record producer struggling to satisfy his wife and mistress. Intelligent and highly imaginative, Learner’s brand of erotica will appeal to both first-time and more seasoned readers of the genre.

Review

I must admit... I'm really torn about this collection of short stories. There were a couple that really held my interest and were quite thought-provoking. Then there were a few I had to skim because either they didn't grab me (and at 400 pages, I decided to only read the ones that did) or they bothered me.

No, I'm not a prude. When I decide to review an erotica book, I'm not turning away in disgust at frank sexual depictions (although I do blush occasionally). However, some of these intense scenes were more about control than pleasure. I don't want to give away any specifics, but there was one "creature" that I found quite disturbing even though I wanted to know more about the poor woman it used as its pawn.

Okay, this review is vague, and for that I apologize. I think this book should have been split into two short story collections. That way the reader could have had time to digest a few of the stories before reading the second book. In a perfect world, I would have read each story and put this collection down for several days and then picked it up again.

And I did want to pick it up again, because the author has a captivating writing style and vivid imagination--in these stories she covered many interesting geographic locations, themes, and times. Rainmaker and Echo were my favorites, because I found the characters and themes the most intriguing. The author has a way of mixing erotica, the mystical, supernatural, and a commentary on society. Not what I was expecting, but not a bad thing.

If you like to read stories that challenge you and push you to think about things in a different light, then this book will be a thought-provoking addition to your library. The short story format is nice, because you can read it in snippets and then take time to really think about the deeper meanings. It's just hard to take that time on a reviewer's schedule.

Rating: 3 stars

About the Author

Born in the U.K., Tobsha Learner has also lived in the U.S. and Australia. She has worked extensively in stage, television, radio and film. She lives in London.

Connect with Tobsha at her website, tobsha.com.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Please visit other stops on the Tremble blog tour page.

Hellfire & Damnation II, Connie Corcoran Wilson (4 stars)

Description of Hellfire & Damnation II

Publisher: Merry Blacksmith Press
(August 1, 2012)
Category: Short Stories, Psychological Thriller
Tour Dates: October, 2012
Available in: Print, Kindle, Epub & PDF, 168 pages
Cover Art by Vincent Chong

Hellfire & Damnation II is the sequel to the well-received award-winning short story collection Hellfire & Damnation (E-Lit award, Silver Feather award). The first collection contained 15 short stories that described the sins punished at each of the 9 Circles of Hell within Dante’s Inferno. With that framing device and an Introduction by William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run), the 2011 visit to Hell was 47,000 words that critics called “blazingly original.”

The sequel, Hellfire & Damnation II, is slightly longer, at 53,000 words, containing 11 short stories that, once again, address the sins punished at each of the 9 Circles of Hell. Plus, this time, there is an illustration for each story and a From the Author section, which describes the inspiration for each story. [There are no recurring characters, however, so no need to have read the first book in order to plunge into the second.]

As 5-time Stoker(R) winner Gary Braunbeck said: “I really don’t know how she managed to do it, but Wilson surpasses her previous Hellfire & Damnation collection with this sequel. Her writing is stronger, streamlined, and often lyrical, despite the nastiness her words describe. This is another impressive collection of tales from a writer I could very well learn to hate if she gets much better. Seriously, Connie, can’t you write just one stinker so the rest of us will feel a little bit better?”

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Limited time offer: the five days leading up to Halloween (October 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31), Hellfire & Damnation II is completely FREE as a Kindle download. Tell your friends!

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Review

Not for the faint of heart, Hellfire & Damnation II is a harrowing collection of short stories that takes the reader on a tour of Dante's 9 Circles of Hell. Each short story pulls you into a twisted tale and never lets you go, building the tension until the very last sentence.

Instead of trying to share a bit about each of the stories, I am going to share my favorites. Picking my top three was difficult, because all the stories were well-written and played on different emotions and fears. But I'll try.

Tempus Fugit: Resurrection Cemetary ... a classic ghost story. I could just imagine sitting around a campfire with flashlights and being terrified while someone told this Resurrection Mary tale. A writer digging for dirt about Resurrection Mary gets more than she bargained for when her sources turn out to be questionable (do they exist?). Then she comes face to face with her story in an eerie sequence of events.

The Champagne Chandelier... for every person who was bullied in their teen years. Cassie is about to bury her mother, but one guest sends her down an unhappy memory lane. Tormented by her stepsister, she starts receiving demanding phone calls from her during the funeral planning. But all is not as it seems.

The Bureau ... "the worst form of treachery is that of one family member against another, and that is the story of the Tepchin family." Simone has it all figured out, a way to help her son and end up with the man she's always wanted. Organs have become a precious commodity and sell high on the black market, so it's the perfect way to make some money for her son's college tuition and rid herself of extra baggage. Unfortunately, one should always consider just how evil their partner in crime is before they enter into a deal.

With Halloween just around the corner, pick up a copy of Hellfire & Damnation II and keep a light on. It's a quick read, but packs a punch. Actually, several.

Rating: 4 stars

About Connie Corcoran Wilson

Connie (Corcoran) Wilson (MS + 30) graduated from the University of Iowa and Western Illinois University, with additional study at Northern Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago. She taught writing at six Iowa/Illinois colleges and has written for five newspapers and seven blogs, including Associated Content (now owned by Yahoo) which named her its 2008 Content Producer of the Year . She is an active, voting member of HWA (Horror Writers Association).

Her stories and interviews with writers like David Morrell, Joe Hill, Kurt Vonnegut, Frederik Pohl and Anne Perry have appeared online and in numerous journals. Her work has won prizes from “Whim’s Place Flash Fiction,” “Writer’s Digest” (Screenplay) and she will have 12 books out by the end of the year. Connie reviewed film and books for the Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa) for 12 years and wrote humor columns and conducted interviews for the (Moline, Illinois) Daily Dispatch and now blogs for 7 blogs, including television reviews and political reporting for Yahoo.

Connie lives in East Moline, Illinois with husband Craig and cat Lucy, and in Chicago, Illinois, where her son, Scott and daughter-in-law Jessica and their three-year-old twins Elise and Ava reside. Her daughter, Stacey, recently graduated from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, as a Music Business graduate and is currently living and working in Australia.

For more information on the author, please visit her website and blog. 

*****

Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours for including me on this blog tour. Please visit more blog stops on the Hellfire & Damnation II blog tour page.

War Stories, Elisabeth Doyle (4.5 stars)

War Stories Book Summary

We all carry our own battle scars.

This is the premise of War Stories, a rich collection of short fiction that draws upon both the literal and figurative meaning of its title. Through a diverse array of characters, settings, and circumstances, War Stories delivers a series of powerful tales from the home front of war: the stories of parents, siblings, and spouses of those who have fought, as well as those who have returned from battle.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary conflicts, War Stories’ compelling nine narratives tell of a wounded veteran who seeks renewal through an imagined relationship with a neighborhood girl, a grieving father who finds peace and reconciliation at the site of a disastrous bus crash, a young woman who searches for identity and meaning in the wake of her husband’s injury, and an urban teenager engaged in a fateful standoff with local recruiters. Interspersed with these tales are powerful, non-traditional “war stories” – of youth, unexpected loss, and heartbreaking love.

War Stories’ thoughtful and beautifully crafted tales, which range in style from deceptively simple to rich and complex, tell of people young and old, male and female, who share two things: humanity and resilience. These diverse and deftly written stories are joined through Elisabeth Doyle’s remarkable style and ease in creating a universe full of despair, hope, and dreams. At turns tender and harsh, tragic and yearning, these stories will leave you wanting more.

Paperback
Price: $14.95
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
ISBN: 9781937928407
Pages: 119
Release: August 7, 2012
Buy Link

Review

The first line of the above description says it all: we all carry our own battle scars. If the eyes are windows to the soul, then pain is the window to the heart as so expertly described by Elisabeth Doyle in this series of emotionally intense stories about suffering, loss, fear, and need.

When a character crys out, "How can God love me?", your heart aches for his wounds and pain only to be torn apart again as another character mentions, "I'm not the same." Amazing how so few words can convey such intense pain and suffering.

While each story is compelling in its own right, I found myself most drawn to Recruiters, and the eerieness of the grey car stalking its victims, and the slow build of realization and horror in Passengers.

I don't want to give too much away about the individual stories, because each one deserves to be read and digested by readers from their own perspective. Instead, I'll share a line from Passengers that seemed to describe each character in some way: she had momentarily dreamt that such a moment would come; that it would save her soul from obscurity and bring about the emergence of her true self, and that her life would thereby be made exceptional.

Each soul on display in War Stories is struggling, desperate to make sense of their own battle scars and place in the world. I was amazed how connected I felt to each character within a few short sentences. Although only 119 pages, each story has its own novel-length depth and memorable characters. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Elisabeth Doyle's Bio

Elisabeth Doyle is a writer and attorney living in Washington, D.C. She studied fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and the University at Albany, and is completing a Masters of Laws Degree at Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Doyle’s short fiction was published in the literary journal Nadir and was awarded the University at Albany’s Lovenheim Prize for best short fiction. Her first short film, Hard Hearted One, was admitted into the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema and the Street Films Film Festival, and was shown on Public Television and Manhattan Cable. War Stories is her first collection of short fiction.

 

For more information, please visit the author's website.

This is a blog tour, please visit the War Stories blog tour site for more stops.

Note: I received a complimentary copy from Tribute Books for review purposes. No other compensation was received. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the views expressed are my own.

For more information on Tribute Books, please visit their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Sugar is Sweet, Carrie Green (4.5 stars)

From Amazon:  PLAYING FOR KEEPS--Sometimes a mother/daughter bond can be so close that it kills.

LOVED--Being loved is sometimes a fairy tale, sometimes, a nightmare. It all depends on who falls in love with you.

CHRISTMAS IN STRIPES--An ex-con spends his first holiday back home with his family and realizes that you can never go home again.

Sugar is Sweet is a collection of short stories written by Carrie Green. I first met Carrie during a Gratitude Blog Hop through the World Literary Café, then known as the WoMen’s Literary Café. She guest posted on my Depression Cookies blog: Thank You, Stephen King. Carrie was lovely and helpful, but more than that, she encouraged me to try the horror genre and to read Stephen King specifically.

Thanks to Carrie I read Stephen King’s On Writing, find the post here, and joined the Stephen King Project. Just recently, I read two of her short story collections, starting with Sugar is Sweet. There are three stories in the collection: Playing for Keeps, Loved, and Christmas in Stripes.

The short story collection starts with Playing for Keeps, an eerie and unsettling story about Dawn, a little girl with an abusive mother. I cringed most of the tale, realizing what a delicate relationships mothers and daughters have and how easily a mother can use that bond to an unfair advantage. My heart broke while I was internally screaming at the story, hoping Dawn could hear me and have courage. (I’m praying for a cushion for her journey’s end.)

 
Then, we move into Loved. “Had he died and gone to Hell?” I was wondering right along with Nick Goggin, completely absorbed with all the questions and fears he was facing. I was being pulled with him. This story explores more family issues, gives us more eerie feelings, and offers us another memorable character.
 
And finally, there’s Christmas in Stripes. The title alone hooked me. Douglas Kuznar, an ex-con who feels the weight of his stripes, is heading to his family’s house for Christmas dinner for the first time since his release. My favorite story in this collection, I was impressed with how much rich family history the author squeezed into so few pages.
 
What I love about this collection is that Ms. Green mines the depths of relationships. She plays with our sense of fear in the everyday instead of terrifying aliens or vampires, knowing sometimes the most troubling stories are the ones that can be true.
 
Each story leaves you wanting more, needing more. The suspense builds at a steady pace, and the author manages to successfully develop meaningful characters in a few words. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection, and the 4.5 star rating is a reflection of liking Roses are Red (5 stars) even more. My review for Roses are Red will be available Tuesday, February 21.
 
Many thanks to Ms. Green for encouraging me to give horror a chance. She was right, there’s so much more to it than meets the eye, as she so expertly demonstrated in her two short story collections.

Rating: 4.5 stars

For more about Carrie Green and her books, please visit her Amazon Author page.

When’s the last time you tried, and loved, something new in the world of books?

Loving Short Stories: Friday Finds

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!


Every Friday, Should be Reading invites readers to share their favorite finds of the last week.

I am so excited about this week's find (although technically it was just at the end of last week, but I had scheduled posts to run and family fun to enjoy). There's little better than hearing about a new work from a favorite author.

I was thrilled to see Shauna Kelley's announcement on Facebook that she just published a collection of short fiction, Listening In and Other Stories.

From Amazon: A sick girl lives her life by listening in to her family beneath her. An alcoholic is haunted by music as she mourns the death of her child. A newly dead woman speaks of her demise, and shares a glimpse of what heaven must be like.

Shauna Kelley, author of Max and Menna, a Foreword Book of the Year Award finalist, brings these and more stories to life in her first collection of short fiction. From the mentally ill to the destitute to a sort-of prostitute, these stories shed light into the lives and minds of an unusual batch of characters, battling the situations life has thrust them into.

With her usual candor and eloquence, Kelley offers you seven tales of seven people trying to find a home, a life, and a place.

Shauna's debut novel, Max and Menna, was a heartbreaking and gritty tale about alcohol and growing up. The characters stay with me and have for months. I don't know a better compliment to give a work of fiction. My full review can be found on Rebeccas Reads.

I have no doubt her newest work will be equally as intriguing. I look forward to reading and reviewing it.

What did you stumble across this first Friday of 2012?