Remembrance by Carolyn Twede Frank Review and Blog Tour

Remembrance Book Blog Tour
December 1 Carolyn Twede Frank - franklycreative.blogspot.com
December 2 Sheila Staley - whynotbecauseIsaidso.blogspot.com
December 3 Susan Tietjen - susantietjen.blogspot.com
December 4 Sandra Stile - themusingsofabookaddict.com
December 5 Christy Frazier - pocketcheerleader.com
December 6 Christy Monson - christymonson.blogspot.com
December 7 Kathryn Olsen - kakiolsenbooks.com
December 8 Donna K. Weaver - weavingataleortwo.blogspot.com

Genre:  Young Adult, Christian, Adventure

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

It seems that Josh Sawyer finds him even when he is trying to do the right thing. Josh loves his drama class but hates that they are singing in the Christmas Gala. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus has been sung as part of the Gala for decades.  This year they have been told they can’t sing the “Hallelujah Chorus”.  They have been given permission to choose another song that doesn’t have a religious meaning.  While joking around with the new kid Zane, Josh sarcastically declares they should sing the song he hates the most, “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”  To his horror, Mrs. Kowalski agrees that is the song they will sing.  Then she takes her frustration out on the class by assigning them reports on classical musicians.

Josh’s girlfriend Ester invites him to use her Uncle’s Literary Loom to research the musician. I loved the idea of the literary loom Ester’s uncle invented a way to live a book, to travel through it through the character. This trip to learn about Handel is just the inspiration Josh needs to spur him into action to try to save the traditions of the school’s Christmas Gala. There are so many story lines throughout this book. We see a young man who is searching for the meaning of God.  We learn the secret Zane had been keeping. As Josh travels through the Literary Loom several times, he learns more about the meaning of Christmas. He questions why more people don’t celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.

This is a fabulous book to read at any time of year. It was perfect for right before Christmas. This book really hit home with me. I see more commercialism each year. I had a student ask me a couple of weeks back if we could have a Christmas party. I teach in a public school. I told him we didn’t have parties in middle school. He said, but it’s a Christmas party we need to celebrate Christmas. I told him we weren’t allowed to celebrate religious holidays in the classroom. He still didn’t get it. I told him we were not allowed to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.  He said, “What does Jesus have to do with anything? I want to celebrate Santa.”  It is books like this that allow me to introduce kids to God’s messages.

I have not yet read the first two books in this series. I can assure you I will.  I will also be purchasing the series for my classroom library. It is difficult to find faith-based messages in books for classrooms.  I am looking forward to sharing this one with my students.  I just really wish the Literary Loom were real.  

Purchase on Amazon
Find out more about the author here
.

http://www.franklycreative.blogspot.com./

Without a Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman

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

If there is one thing I really love about Nancy's books, it is that each of them can be read as a stand alone book. In this book, we find our main character at an event where she is taste testing chocolates. As she is leaving a shop, she sees her boyfriend Eric coming out of a jewelry store with one of Hollywood's socialites. She figures he is undercover. Shortly after they leave, the store they had just left explodes. What a way to set up the story. Carol finds herself involved in trying to solve a series of jewelry heists. She has become the target of one of the thieves who wants to share information only with her. This puts her in a bad position.

  The radio station she works for has changed their format to chick-lite. The station owner's wife is after Carol's job. This adds another layer of tension as we see that Bunny, the station owner's wife, really doesn't know what she is doing. Like usual, the author has done an excellent job with her characters. They are layered and very believable. She also does an excellent job showing what goes on behind the scenes of a radio station.  As I read this third book, I was taken back to my younger years. I dated a guy who worked for a radio station, worked for an engineer of one of the radio stations and was involved in volunteering there for over three years. I believe the author's previous experience in this field is what makes her stories so believable and alive. The station politics that play out in her books are spot on. I am hoping there will be a fourth book forthcoming. I am really enjoying this series.

Shadow of Doubt and Beyond a Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman

Genre: Adult, Mystery

Source: I purchased a copy

Shadow of Doubt
I live for holidays where I can take time away from teaching and spend a lot of time reading for pleasure. This author was new to me. I was asked to read the third book in this series. I must read the others before it to really get the flavor of the book. I have to say I really enjoyed this mystery.  We have the main character Carol Childs who is trying to move up in the world of radio as a news reporter. We have her FBI boyfriend who is trying to solve the case in which he finds his girlfriend in the middle. We have Carol’s friend and neighbor who’s Hollywood agent aunt has just been murdered. Finally, we have a psychic with the name, wait for it, Misty Dawn. I love it. Carol is not one to really trust Misty, so why does she follow the clues she gives her?  Simple, Misty seems to know so much about Carol’s personal life.

Carol’s neighbor doesn’t seem all that broken up about her aunt’s death. Inheriting everything puts her as the number one suspect. All of this would seem like your normal mystery. This author does an excellent job of adding other characters to the mix that make them seem just as plausible as the murderer. Every time I thought, ‘Oh this one must be the murderer’ another curve was thrown. My list of possible murderers was beginning to stack up. She did such an excellent job of fleshing out each character and making them and their story so believable. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the second one Beyond a Doubt.

Beyond a Doubt

This is the second book in the Carol Child’s Mystery Series.  The further we go into this book the higher the level of suspense. This author definitely knows how to write.  Once again we find our radio reporter knee deep in a case. Young women have begun to disappear and a young girl’s body is dumped in Hollywood. Carol figures out early on why the girls are disappearing, and that it is not only rich white girl.  This one becomes more personal to her. A friend and co-worker goes missing. Her daughter is placed in danger. She thinks she knows who is behind it and the fact that they have a lot of influence makes her job of proving their guilt and the reasons behind it even more troubling and dangerous for her and her family.  What made this book even better than the last one was that the events in this book are happening today. People like to turn a blind eye and pretend it doesn’t happen ‘here’. The action in this one moved even quicker. It didn’t matter we learn early on who the guilty party is. Knowing this bit of information and watching Carol do her best to prove it is what made this book so deliciously good. I believe it was better than the first book which I really enjoyed.  I will definitely be reading and reviewing the third book.