Mercer Street by John A. Heldt

Genre: Adult, suspense

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

My Thoughts:

Give me a good time travel book any day and let me live in my own fantasy world. John Heldt has created two wonderful worlds. First we are in present time where Susan Peterson’s husband has died while having an affair. To ease the pain she goes to California with her mother and her daughter. Things take a real quick turn when the three of them time travel back to 1938 after meeting a professor.  Susan’s mother gets to meet her parents and herself as an infant when they were new refugees.

Susan and her daughter each fall for a different man. The problem is they must be careful not to change things that will alter their future. This means they will be forced to make some very tough decisions. That is okay because the author has given us three very independent and tough women. This has everything I could want. Time travel, history and some romance that is not all mushy.  The amount of research that went into this novel is what makes it so authentic and believable. I enjoyed the first book in this series. I highly recommend it to you.

The Burning by D.E.L. Connor

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: I purchased it

This is the third book in this wonderful series. The characters in this series are connected to animal spirits. For those who love to read Native American stories, then this is the series for you. These teens have done battle before.  They have been fighting the evil spirit of Machayiwiwi, who was at one time a very powerful medicine man. The teens are guided and helped through visions given them by ancient chiefs.

This book is full of real life. Each of the teens deal with personal things in their own life. There are so many things happening that any reader will find something t identify with. There are many teens who deal with divorced or alcoholic parents. These teens deal with their feelings of love and jealousy. This author really knows how to keep the story real, but include the elements of magic in just the right does.

This book doesn’t have teens just jumping in trying to fight the evil. You see them actually live their life and get involved in things that aren’t always right or best for them. In other words it is todays reality.   If you haven’t read the other two books in the series you need to do just that. Make sure you have plenty of tissues handy. The author doesn’t sugar coat her plot. People die and teens must deal with it. Pull up a chair and prepare to read a book you can’t put down. Join Emme, Ollie, Charlie, Bets and their friends for an adventure you won’t soon forget.

Keegan's Point by H.D. Smith

Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

How bad can one day in your life be? For Charlie Parker the answer would be, pretty bad. His day starts with the knowledge he has to give an oral report during his fourth period class. It’s not that he’s not prepared. He is overly prepared. His report is on Keegan’s Point.  Charlie has had a fascination with Markus Keegan, a billionaire who owned his own island. Keegan was found dead in his mansion with several passports that had his picture and a lot of different names. His body and the passports were removed and everything else was left as it was. Charlie would love nothing more than the opportunity to   visit the island and explore its mysteries. He probably knows more than anyone else in his town about the reclusive billionaire. As prepared as he is to give his report, his fear of public speaking causes him to pass out in class. This in turn prompts his teacher to change the order in which people give their reports.  This would be good for Charlie, except it puts him in the cross hairs of the school bully.

Charlie’s bad day isn’t over. After being the punching bag for the bully his friends ask him about their camping trip. His mom wants a second adult to go along. This means Charlie will have to lie to his mom.

When he meets his mom at her diner he tells her that he won’t have to give his report for several days because his teacher changed the order. He doesn’t want to tell her anything more than he has to.

While in the diner, three visitors overhear Charlie talking about Keegan.  Charlie is kidnapped by them and taken to the island. This would make his bad day complete except a part of him is thrilled that he is going to finally see the inside of the mansion. Will he be able to help his kidnappers? What happens when one of the bad guys turns out to be a good, bad guy?  Will the mystery of Keegan’s Island ever be solved? 

This is a fantastic book.  I will say that it is a great book for the reluctant reader no matter what their gender. It is also a great book for anyone who loves mysteries and a quick read. The action keeps coming and there are plenty of twists and turns. A book I was very pleased to put on my shelves.