Blackbird Fly by, Lise McClendon narrated by, Denice Stradling

Blackbird Fly by, Lise McClendon narrated by, Denice Stradling

Synopsis:
The sudden death of her husband turns Merle Bennett's life upside down. She finds herself doing what she least expected, decamping to France for the summer to fix up the ancestral home. The village in southwest France should be idyllic: warm sunshine, vineyards, and walls of golden stone. As the past unravels, colliding with modern tensions and the filthy trials of renovation, the summer takes on a dark cast, full of secrets best left buried.



My Review:
Poor Merle, her husband has died and she realizes she isn’t as sad as she should be, maybe she didn’t love him anymore? But when secrets start coming to the surface she realizes there was a lot more wrong with her marriage than she thought. And the only asset he left her was a house in France that Merle didn’t know he owned, so when she takes a trip to France to get the house ready to sell there is much more trouble ahead.

This is a great story of family secrets and discovering who you are (or who your late husband was). Parts I figured out before Merle did but sometimes that’s to be expected. I liked Merle I thought she was a strong woman who maybe should have listened to her instincts but then where would the fun be in that!?! I liked this story very much; I liked the characters and the French setting. The little town was full of narrow minded people and secrets and Merle drops herself right in the middle of the whole mess and comes close to paying a heavy price for it. I felt this was more a family secrets novel than a straight up mystery and was very well written. The only thing I don’t understand is the title but that didn’t keep me from enjoying this book.

Denice Stradling narration was really good, her male French voices took some getting used to, but I ended up pretty enthralled in the story and the great narration.

This was a new author and narrator for me and I look forward to reading more by this author and listening to more by this narrator.

4 Stars
I received this book from the Solid Gold reviewer program at Audiobookjukebox and iambik

Secondhand Spirits by, Juliet Blackwell narrated by, Xe Sands

Secondhand Spirits by, Juliet Blackwell narrated by, Xe Sands~~Audiobook~~

Synopsis:Lily Ivory hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack for vintage fashion-she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry-her store becomes a big hit. But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime. She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy-especially under the spells of sexy "mythbuster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?

My Review:
I really enjoyed this paranormal cozy mystery. Lily is a witch who owns a secondhand store and hopes she can just live a normal life without using witchcraft, but things don’t quite work out for her. While buying a collection of clothes from an elderly lady a child goes missing and Lily feels like Mrs. Potts’ life is in danger and her premonition is right on the money and the next day she is found dead. Lily tries to find out what happened to the little girl and Mrs. Potts.

There is also a mythbuster, a male witch, a ghostly spirit and a goblin that turns into a pig familiar who are all interesting characters in their own right with the pig being my favorite! San Francisco and the area of the Haight were kind of a character too, you really get a feel of the bay area and I felt like a tourist discovering it all.

This was the best of two genre’s I enjoy, paranormal and cozy mysteries, it was a great first book in the series and will definitely be a series I continue reading, however I so enjoyed the narration by, Xe Sands that I want to wait till I can listen to the rest on audio so I hope Tantor Audio will get them all recorded soon!

If you enjoy a good cozy with magical elements I highly recommend this series!

The audio production of this was great Xe Sands does such a wonderful job and she is well on her way to becoming a favorite narrator!

4 Stars

Collapse of the Veil by Alison Lohans , Narrated by Arielle Lipshaw

Collapse of the Veil by Alison Lohans Narrated by Arielle Lipshaw
Audio Production by,iambik

Description:
Collapse of the Veil is the first book of the Passage Through Time series.

Escaping her home routine for a few hours, 16-year-old Katie grabs her bike and leaves behind her cranky baby, hyperactive brother and struggling single mom. Flopping down in a field to rest, Katie brushes against an enchanted willow and falls into a dying world far in the future. The few survivors cling to their lore - tales of terrible destruction that are about to fall upon Katie's home.

Time travel, psychic phenomena and human emotion all play key roles in the juncture of these two vastly diverse societies. Katie must set aside the normal goals of a typical teenager and decide if she can be the one to help save her two worlds.

My Thoughts/Review:

16 year old teen mom Katie is having a hard time dealing with being a mother and dealing with her own mother, she loves her son Tyler but it is a lot to deal with. While out for a walk she sits on a rock and is transported somewhere else there are no city noises and she hears voices talking about a child...her child? She thinks she must have fallen asleep for a few minutes and had a very vivid dream; she goes home to discover she has been gone for hours. A few days later while out with her son and friend Loren he and Tyler walk off into some bushes and disappear she runs after them only to discover herself back in this otherworld that is not a dream.

It turns out these future people think her son is the child of prophecy that will save them all and now Katie, Loren & Tyler are taken into in this otherworld because her son is considered the Tolarae (sp audiobook), but it isn’t just Tyler that seems affected by this otherworld for some reason Loren can now hear Katie’s thoughts and their leader says he has dreamed about him too. They also need Loren for other things…these future people can no longer *cough* repopulate. They do get back to their own world but things in the present are starting to get weird too. (No spoilers)

This is supposed to be the a future world but it felt more like a Fae world to me, and there were times it was a bit confusing , like how did this time warp work?, why don’t these future people know anything about our “past” world? How far in the future is this? I think I have an easier time taking in the whole story thinking of it as a fae world instead of a future world. Even Katie says things like why does he speak in an old fashioned language which I thought yes why is that, because this is supposed to be the future right??!!??

But that isn’t to say I didn’t really enjoy this story. I guess it is a book one in a series and I will definitely be watching for the next one. It is an intriguing story that does keep you guessing as to how everything came about and how the past, present and future fit together and what it all has to do with this one little boy. I think my rating would have been higher if this was a fae story that it was time travel/warp was a bit confusing but I have faith that this will become clearer as the series progresses because this was well written and did grab me enough to make me want the rest of the story now!

The audio production from iambik was very well done with narration by, Arielle Lipshaw also very well done. I really enjoyed her narration she brought the story to life very well. I would definitely listen to this narrator again and would also recommend iambik productions.

I am not sure if this book is only available in audio but I would like a paper copy for the library too.

3 ½ Stars

I received this book from audiobookjukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program

Beyond The Bougainvillea by Dolores Durando

Beyond The Bougainvillea by Dolores Durando
Publisher BellBridgebooks

It is the early 1930’s and the Midwest has been hit with the drought and the great depression is starting. Marge’s young life in North Dakota is anything but happy but when things are at their worst she is rescued by some good people, the kind of people Marge never knew existed. With their help she goes off to California to start her new life.

I enjoyed Marge discovering all the new things in the world outside of the North Dakota farm she grew up on, like pull chain toilets, bubble baths, and different ethnic groups.

I fell in love with Marge she is a strong woman yet so kind and loving towards everyone. Her life motto “What’s done is done, now get on with it.” It is how she lived her life no matter what life threw at her she picked herself up and dusted herself off and got on with it. The way she lived her life was inspirational I would love to have her as a friend and can only hope I could treat others with an ounce of the kindness and grace Marge showed to others.

The author of this book is a 90 year old woman and this is her first book and I hope that she writes more! Marge is a character that will stay with me for a long time and I am so sad to be leaving her now that the book is over. This book is at times sad and painful but so very inspirational and uplifting. I highly recommend this one it is a great story whose characters will stay with you long after you put this book down!

5 Stars
I received this book from netgalley & the publisher for a fair and unbiased review

The Wedding Gift by, Kathleen McKenna

The Wedding Gift by, Kathleen McKenna
Publisher:Bell Bridge Books
Synopsis:Leeann wasn't good enough for her upper-crust in-laws, so they gave her the mansion none of them wanted. Years ago, something or someone in the house killed Leann's brother. Will its violent secrets kill her next?

My Review:

Even though Leeann is a very unlikable character I still enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. Leeann is the epitome of the dumb blonde and very self centered but she made me laugh and believe me it wasn’t with her!

This books starts out with the story of Leeann on her wedding day to the richest man in town, George Willets, plus the story of his uncle and entire family being murdered in the old Willets house, also where a prank gone wrong took the life of Leeann’s brother when she was just a baby. But does she know the whole story? Will it be too late when she finally does?

After Leeann & George get married they move into the house his uncle and his whole family were murdered in. This was a very different ghost story and kind of reminded me of American Horror Story in that this house has had some bad things happen in it and some of those people are still there.

I thought this was a pretty good southern gothic horror but what was different was that there were parts that will make you laugh mostly some of the things Leeann says, she is definitely not the brightest crayon in the box, but after she what she goes through I do think she will grow up some.

All in all I would recommend this to southern fiction fans and fans of ghost and horror stories.

3 ½ Stars
I received this book from Netgalley in return for a fair and unbiased review.

Audiobook Review:The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley narrated by, Nicola Barber

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley narrated by, Nicola Barber
I do so enjoy Susanna Kearsley’s writing it flows so beautifully from one century to the next; her characters are so fully fleshed out and believable. This is a great time travel book with a wonderful story in both times.

Eva comes to a place of her childhood to recover from losing her sister but soon after arriving odd things start to happen, at first she thinks she’s hallucinating, and then losing her mind, but then realization strikes that she is actually traveling through time. In the past she meets Daniel Butler, smuggler and rebel, the times she ends up in are full of danger and treachery but there is one shining light and that is Daniel Butler. The romance aspect was sweet with both Eva & Daniel still recovering from a loss and both slowly heal as they come together. I think Fergal (*sp audio) was my favorite character other than Eva he was so kind and witty. The twist at the end I didn’t see coming and actually rewound back to listen again it was so good!

If you like time travel, historical fiction with a nice splash of romance, or a fan of Daphne DuMaurier or Diana Gabaldon I highly recommend this book and this author. I have become a huge fan of Susanna Kearsley and plan on reading everything she has ever written!

Audio production: Nicola Barber was the narrator and I didn’t really like her attempt at accents I think it would have been better if she just stuck to the accent (guessing her real voice) she used when narrating the in between people talking. Since I had already listened to The Winter Sea I couldn’t help wishing Roslyn Landor had narrated this one too because she did such a great job with the accents in that one. It wasn’t awful and I still enjoyed the book very much but there were times the narration just wasn’t right. And I’m not saying I would never listen to this narrator again as long as she’s not doing accents especially an American accent.

4 Stars

Audiobook Review:Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie narrated by,Mark Deakins

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie narrated by,Mark Deakins

This was a great biography it is non-fiction but reads like fiction and kept my attention all the way through. Catherine is a very fascinating woman, one of the great Empress’ of Russia even though she was not Russian. I learned so much about her and her life and what kind of a strong woman she was.

This is a very thorough look at Catherine’s life and I really enjoy the authors writing style and I will be reading his other books. When I was younger I loved Russian history and have always been fascinated by the Romanovs but haven’t read anything about them in a long time and now I think this will begin a re-immersion into Russian history.

Even if you are a reader who usually reads historical fiction and not non-fiction I highly recommend this book it reads like fiction and Catherine had a very fascinating life. It has everything from wars, fights for power, love, jealousy just everything a fiction reader loves in a book but what is great is it’s all true!

This audio book is 23 hours long but I enjoyed every minute of it, Mark Deakins did a great job on the narration and would definitely listen to others by this narrator.

4 Stars