Roy Unger is greenhorn running from his past. He’s gotten a ranch job and works hard to prove himself every day. Since leaving home in a hurry, he’s come to realize that this job is the only thing standing between him and starvation. He isn’t going to mess it up, no matter how much Brad might drive him to distraction.
Brad has been around the block more than once. He’s a cowboy through and through, complete with a failed rodeo career and a love life that could only be described as hopeless. He’s worked hard and kept his head down. Roy makes him want more, but Brad has come to realize that what he wants isn’t what he gets.
Brad knows what desperation feels like and how important it is to fit in. When he decides to help Roy get over his fear of horses, the two men spend more time together, leading Roy to share confidences about his troubled past. Listening builds trust, which shifts into so much more. But before they can have any sort of future, they need to deal with Roy’s past, which could ruin everything.
All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help.
When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.
Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for four decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake,Crimson at Cape May and Scarlet at Crystal River have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year–ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.
“Scarlet at Crystal River is an eerie paranormal mystery I couldn’t stop reading. Randy Overbeck is a masterful writer of the paranormal, drawing the reader in before instilling shivers down the spine. 5+ stars.” –N. N. Light’s Book Heaven
“A rollercoaster of a mystery, hurtling up and down hills and sharp corners until the very end, when the reader is left slightly breathless, waiting for their hearts to beat back to a normal rhythm.★★★★★—ReadersView
“Scarlet at Crystal River is a suspenseful paranormal novel with compelling characters and an enigmatic mystery that drives the story to a riveting conclusion. Overbeck is a master at building tension–-this is easily a one-sitting read.”★★★★★—Literary Titan
Under “Fiction” – Take a look at my 5 Sparkler review of “Arborview” by Karen Guzman. An amazing book about life and surviving all it can throw at you.
Under “Romance” – A 4 Sparkler review of “Redeemed by Fire” by CJ Bahr – a paranormal romantic suspense that will give you chills.
Under “Fantasy” – the fourth in a series but definitely a stand-alone. “Windmaster Golem” by Helen B. Henderson is a 3 Sparkler, but it’s a really good story.
Roy Unger is greenhorn running from his past. He’s gotten a ranch job and works hard to prove himself every day. Since leaving home in a hurry, he’s come to realize that this job is the only thing standing between him and starvation. He isn’t going to mess it up, no matter how much Brad might drive him to distraction.
Brad has been around the block more than once. He’s a cowboy through and through, complete with a failed rodeo career and a love life that could only be described as hopeless. He’s worked hard and kept his head down. Roy makes him want more, but Brad has come to realize that what he wants isn’t what he gets.
Brad knows what desperation feels like and how important it is to fit in. When he decides to help Roy get over his fear of horses, the two men spend more time together, leading Roy to share confidences about his troubled past. Listening builds trust, which shifts into so much more. But before they can have any sort of future, they need to deal with Roy’s past, which could ruin everything.
Remember the saying “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans”? Well, that’s what’s been happening to me and I apologize for not getting reviews posted faster. But I am reading as fast as I can among everything else I need to do. So… here are the new reviews for this week:
Under Nonfiction: Gluten Free Instant Pot Cookbook by Pamela Ellgen – a really good GF book to add to your cookbook shelves.
Under Fantasy: The Angel by the Tower by Marla White – a great fantasy with angels and demons and legends and more.
Under Mystery:
The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder Mystery by Marla White – a cute, short murder mystery with a satisfying ending.
Under Romance:
Covert Exposure by Valerie J. Clarizio – not bad but definite editorial issues and a steamy bedroom scene. Romantic Suspense.
Craving Vengeance by Valerie J. Clarizio – not bad, but not great. Second in series and has the same issues.
Tip: Tighten your manuscript by cutting adjectives and adverbs, wordy passages, and personal opinion.
Thought for the day: “I say write what moves you. Write what you feel compelled to write about. Unless they come naturally to you, ignore trends such as vampires and erotica just because they’re popular and focus on what you feel your heart has to say. It’s important to write for yourself, move yourself and then the reader will hopefully feel your passion and identify with those emotions.” – Cecelia Ahern
Jumpstart: You’re on your way to Bermuda for a vacation, complements of your boss for a big deal you finalized. Then a strange storm comes up out of a clear sky and…
Ellen Cahill’s financial future rides on the success of her new pastry shop. A bruising divorce has drained her bank account, along with her spirit. A man enters her life promising love, but Ellen, haunted by the past, questions whether she can pull off this new beginning.
College student Rosa Escamilla has her own culinary dreams—and a difficult mother who’s dead set against them. Rosa won’t be deterred. She scrapes up the money to enroll at a prestigious culinary school, setting out to prove everyone wrong.
When hidden betrayals by the people they love most surface for both Ellen and Rosa, can they overcome the blows they never saw coming on the road to where they want to go?
Karen Guzman is a fiction writer and essayist. Her new novel, Arborview, is being published on September 29 by The Wild Rose Press. Her debut, Homing Instincts,was published by Fiction Attic Press in 2014. Karen’s short fiction has appeared in a number of literary magazines, and her story collection, Pilgrims, was a finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award. Karen is a regular contributor to the Collegeville Institute’s Bearings Online magazine. She is the recipient of a 2021 writing fellowship at the Collegeville Institute.
Karen has worked as a journalist at the Hartford Courant in Hartford, Connecticut, and at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is presently a writer at the Yale School of Management.
Birthdays: Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856), Piper Kerman (1969), Rosario Ferre (1938), Simon Leys (1935), Simon Winchester (1944)
Tip: If you must use brand names in your story, be sure they’re used in a positive light and acknowledge the trademarks in the front matter. When possible, use generic terms instead of actual brand names. For instance: sports drink instead of Gatorade.
Thought for the day: “This may sound silly, but I attach a little counter to the corner of my computer so I know I have to produce, say, 100,000 words by December. If I’m ahead one day, I take a break; if I’m behind, I keep working.” – Simon Winchester
Jumpstart: You were in a horrible accident and have been in a coma. What nobody knows is that you can hear everything they say. What do you hear from various friends, relatives, doctors?
Birthdays: Martin Handford (1956), Bernard Waber (1924), Grazia Deledda (1871), Nicholas Mordvinoff (1911), Louis Auchincloss (1917), Ernest Becker (1924), Paul Goble (1933), Irvine Welsh (1958), Jim Thompson (1906), Jonathan Evison (1968), Katie Fforde (1952)
Tip: Different types of editing include: Developmental (checks for weak scenes, boring parts, plot inconsistencies, structure—the big picture); line editing (word choice, sentence construction, tags, etc.); copyedit (nitty gritty of grammar, punctuation, spelling, trademarks, etc.), and proofread (final overall look). If you hire an editor to go over your work, be sure you know what you’re getting.
Thought for the day: “If you are prepared to persevere, listen to good advice, recognise bad advice, read a lot and accept it may take many years, you probably will get published, eventually.” – Katie Fforde
Jumpstart: You wake up one morning, ready to start the day, but when you go into the bathroom, there’s a message on the mirror in your handwriting. It tells you not to go out. There are more notes over the house warning you not to go out. But it’s a beautiful day and you’ve been cooped up for days. What do you do? When did you write the notes and why?
Birthdays: TS Eliot (1888), Max Ehrmann (1872), Jane Smiley (1949), Mark Haddon (1962), Bernice McFadden (1965), Minette Walters (1949), Will Self (1961)
Tip: Remember that setting can reveal character. There’s a big difference between someone living in squalid conditions and a posh high rise. The setting helps define the character. Especially if there is a disconnect—someone raised in luxury now living on the streets or someone living in a mansion who grew up in squalid conditions will have very different opinions than someone who’s been there all their lives.
Thought for the day: “While plot and theme and pacing and every other element in fiction are important, the really key element in fiction is characters. Because if you’ve got characters that come alive, they tell your story.” Jean Auel
Jumpstart: You’re listening to the local news while cooking dinner. A news flash comes up about a dangerous criminal who’s wanted by the police…and it’s your name and picture they’re flashing. What do you do?
