New Reviews

Under Mysteries: “Short-Circuited in Charlotte” by Amy Patricia Meade – 3 Sparklers for this cozy mystery.

Under Romance: “Bridges” by Linda Griffin – a sweet romance set in 1963 between a chauffeur and a young, blind heiress. 4 Sparklers. (Note: this is on pre-order and will not be out until April)

Coming Soon: Lost Among the Stars

Available now for digital preorder at Amazon and Barnes & Noble (links below)

Tagline: How do you escape death when you are lost in space and a killer is aboard your ship?

Blurb: Amanda Ki’s humanitarian trip to Xy-Three is fraught with assassins and saboteurs who are popping up faster than she can deal with them. Caught up in a web of intrigue, kidnapping, and terror, Mandy joins forces with the captain of the Phoenix, Declan Chalmers. Declan is tall, dark, handsome, and probably the most arrogant, dictatorial man she has ever met. He’s also one of the few people she can trust. Declan doesn’t know what to expect from the VIP who heads up a million-dollar enterprise, when she boards his ship. The tiny, exotic, and packed full of grit woman is not only drop dead gorgeous and smart, she’s also deadly when it comes to martial arts. A skill he wants on his side when the space craft is sabotaged. Thrown together, the two form a tight bond, but if they aren’t careful, they could end up dead.

Book Links

The Wild Rose Press: https://www.thewildrosepress.com/bookauthor/vicky-burkholder

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Among-Stars-Galactic-Danger-ebook/dp/B09QJJL8ZH

Barnes & Noble: Lost Among the Stars by Vicky Burkholder | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

January 20

Birthdays: Eugene Sue (1804), Nathaniel Willis (1806), Richard Le Gallienne (1866), Johannes Jensen (1873), Forrest Wilson (1883), Jean S. Macleid (1908), Abram Hill (1910), Joy Adamson (1910), Blair Lent (1930), Robert Olen Butler (1945), Nancy Kress (1948), R.A. Salvatore (1959), Tami Hoag (1959), Fareed Zakaria (1964), Vanessa Diffenbaugh (1978)

Quote: “You can’t fake it. Bad writing is a gift.” – Richard Le Gallienne

Johannes V. Jensen was a Danish author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1944.

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer (winner of both Hugo and Nebula awards) and also writes nonfiction books on writing.

Nathaniel Parker Willis was a poet and editor who worked with writers like E.A. Poe and Longfellow. He was the highest-paid magazine writer of his day.

R.A. Salvatore is best known for his DemonWars Saga. Twenty-two of his titles have made the NYTimes bestseller list.

Robert Olen Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993 for “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain”.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh is the co-founder of the Camelia Network – an organization that helps children aging out of foster care.

Eugene Sue – French novelist whose work “Mathilde” contains the first use of the phrase “revenge is a dish best served cold”.

Forrest Wilson won the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for “Crusader in Crinoline: The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe”.

Blair Lent won the 1973 Caldecott Medal for Tikki Tikki Tembo.

January 19

January 19

Birthdays: Edgar Allan Poe (1809), Alexander Woollcott (1887), Patricia Highsmith (1921),  Jean-Francois Revel (1924), Nina Bawden (1925), Margaret George (1943), Julian Barnes (1946), Paula Deen (1947), Eden Robinson (1968), Casey Sherman (1969), Edwidge Danticat (1969)

Quote: “When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it.” – Julian Barnes

Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian-American author whose books have been nominated for multiple awards and “The Farming of Bones” won the American Book Award.

Patricia Highsmith was an American author (d.1995) whose psychological thrillers were adapted into more than twenty films, including “The Talented Mr. Ripley”.

Who hasn’t read Poe? I loved his books as a teen, and still do. They get into your head. From “The Telltale Heart” to “A Cask of Amontillado” to his poems like “The Raven” or “The Bells”, they are works that will live forever.



Spotlight: Andrew Grey


Title: Past His Defenses 
Author: Andrew Grey
Series: Currently a Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Gay Romance, M/M, LGTBQA, 
Publisher: DreamSpinner Press
Release Date: Jan 11 2022
Blurb/Synopsis: 

When a case reopens old wounds from the kidnapping of his younger sister, police officer Robert Fenner is told in no uncertain terms that he needs a break. And maybe his superiors are right. He books a flight to visit an old friend, who happens to be the one who got away, and hopes for the best. 

Electronic security consultant Dixie Halewood works from his home in Paris, where he lives with his adopted son, Henri. Dixie doesn’t expect a message from an old flame asking for a place to stay, but he agrees. Their past is just that—the past.

Things between them aren’t as settled as they thought—Henri, Paris, and proximity work their magic. The two men are drawn closer and old flames burst back to life, but Dixie’s work brings a new threat to their safety and the budding family they missed out on the first time around. Gerome never meant to open the door to trouble. His life and Tucker’s depend on keeping his past a mystery. But as his desire to protect develops into something deeper, he and Tucker will have to evaluate what family means—and hope that their growing feelings pass unimaginable tests.
Continue reading “Spotlight: Andrew Grey” →

New Reviews

New books read this past week:

Under Holidays: The Gingerbread Cookie Code by Ann Trader – a four Sparkler contemporary romance with a high heat level

Under Romance:

Time Signature by Rick Ellrod – a 5 Sparkler time travel romance

By Any Other Name by Alan Lorens – a 4 Sparkler contemporary

Read but not reviewed:

The Grim Reader by Kate Carlisle – though not written up, I’d give this 14th book in her Bibliophile Series a 5 Sparkler rating. Love this series!