Lesley A. Diehl - A Sporting Murder - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

It's smooth sailing for Eve Appel and her friend Madeleine, owners of Second to None Consignment Shop in rural Florida's Sabal Bay, land of swamps, cowboys, and lots and lots of 'gators. Eve and her detective boyfriend Alex have joined Madeleine and her new beau David Wilson for a pleasure cruise on his boat. But cloudy, dangerous waters lie ahead. A near fatal encounter with Blake Reed, David's supremely nasty neighbor, is soon followed by a shooting death on the dividing line between David and Blake's land. Both men run sport-hunting reserves, but Blake imports "exotics" from Africa and promotes gator killing, while David stays within the law, pointing clients toward the abundant quail and turkey as well as the wild pigs that ravage the landscape. Nevertheless, when a mutual client is killed, it is David who is arrested and charged with murder.

Blake's nastiness is only exceeded by that of his wife, Elvira, who forces Eve and Madeleine out of their shop, intending to replace it with a consignment shop of her own. It seems that bad luck looms over them all, even Eve's brawny and hard-to-resist Miccosukee Indian friend Sammy, whose nephew has disappeared. As the case against David grows stronger and his friends' misfortunes multiply, Eve and her strange and diverse group of friends, including her ex, a mobster, her grandma, and Sammy's extended family, band together to take on the bad guys. But the waters are getting muddier and more troubled, and Eve and Madeleine may end up inundated in every sense of the word.

My Review

Rural Florida is quite an interesting place for a mystery novel.

"Gators cross the roadways to get to water, food and mates." 

"Feral pigs are running around." 

"All kinds of bugs and crawly things come to visit in the night."

It's where matrons from the coast drive out to drool over the Indian warrior hunk giving airboat rides and to go two-stepping with the sexy cowboys down at The Biscuit, the local watering hole that just so happens to have the best ribs in town.

But the sense of serenity that an end of the day sunset gives to the residents of Sabal Bay is often short lived. The environment is ever changing. Dark, ominous looking clouds are always threatening to blow in from off shore, the wind ready to whip the palm trees around even while it lifts the oppressive heat and humidity from the air. Because danger is always lurking in an area where different nationalities are forced to mix and those lower down the economic ladder are exploited, taken advantage of by the well to do. It creates a sense of hopelessness for the working class along with a stubborn determination to hold on.

"Like her home, Mrs. Warren looked worn out, but her hair was a bubble of salt and pepper curls and her clothing neat and pressed."

The streets are laid out in a grid pattern, but the canals connecting them meander in all different directions, causing outsiders to have to backtrack and find a bridge to get to the other side. It's a confusing sort of environment that functions more as a maze, trapping its poorer residents where they land, and giving the upwardly mobile their own tiny insulated community, free of strife.

But the salt of the earth working stiffs cling to what makes them happy.

"The casino wasn't grand, no fancy bars or restaurants—only worn and tired carpeting and gray and dingy walls—rural Floridians' need to toss away their money and drink without having to travel too far."

But when native Miccosukee men start going missing from the casino, things become a lot more dangerous than a cowboy's jangling spurs upping the charm factor. Because the rusticity doesn't look so charming when minorities are getting picked off left and right with hunting rifles.

That's when a line gets crossed and things go way too far.

Eve Appel is often accused of reading too many mystery novels, her overactive imagination getting the better of her. But she refuses to believe the ingrained prejudice that runs so deeply though her hometown—that these missing natives are just off somewhere, drying out after a bender. She knows they're not all alcoholics and drug addicts, running away from their problems. They're good, decent, hard-working men, looking to provide for their families. They would never up and leave them without any means of support.

And that's why Eve is determined to bring them home, or die trying, even when her friends keep asking her:

"Why do you try to make everything your issue?"

Because for Eve, it's not a choice. It's just something she has to do, be a champion for those being denied a voice.

***

A Sporting Murder can be purchased at:
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Formats/Prices: $4.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Genres: Cozy Murder Mystery
Pages: 250
Release: July 15, 2015
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603819398
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About the Author

Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.

She is the author of a number of mystery series and mysteries as well as short stories. A Sporting Murder follows the first two books in the Eve Appel mystery series, A Secondhand Murder and Dead in the Water.

Links to connect with Lesley:
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Kathleen M. Rodgers - Johnnie Come Lately - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Would life have been different for Johnnie if she'd been named after a woman rather than her dead uncle? Or if her mama hadn't been quite so beautiful or flighty? The grandparents who raised her were loving, but they didn't understand the turmoil roiling within her. And they had so many, many secrets.

Why did her mama leave? Would she ever return? How did her Uncle Johnny really die? Who was her father? Now Johnnie Kitchen is a 43-year-old woman with three beautiful children, two of them grown. She has a handsome, hardworking husband who adores her, and they live in the historic North Texas town of Portion in a charming bungalow. But she never finished college and her only creative outlet is a journal of letters addressed to both the living and the dead. Although she has conquered the bulimia that almost killed her, Johnnie can never let down her guard, lest the old demons return. Or perhaps they never went away to begin with. For Johnnie has secrets of her own, and her worst fear is that the life she's always wanted--the one where she gets to pursue her own dreams--will never begin.

Not until her ghosts reveal themselves.

My Review

Being a military mom isn't easy.

Ask Johnnie Kitchen.

She's just going about her day-to-day life in her small town Texas home when her son, Cade, drops a bombshell. He's quitting the high school baseball team. He's giving up on the chance at a scholarship because he doesn't want to go to college anymore. He wants to enlist in the army.

Too bad if Johnnie is vehemently against his decision.

But she has her reasons. Her father died in combat. A neighborhood boy just got the left side of his face blown off in Iraq. And she really doesn't want the "Proud Army Mom" mug that Cade picked up for her at the recruitment office. She just wants her little boy back.

But as her husband, Dale, reminds her—that's not going to happen. Their son is old enough now to start making his own decisions, and he's never seen him so committed to anything before. Cade has his heart set on this, and there's no way they're going to dissuade him. It's time for them to let go.

But on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Johnnie wanders out into her backyard and looks up at the sky. They live near an airport and she remembers how on that fateful September night, there wasn't a plane in the sky. And now years later, her son wants to go overseas and fight for his country.

In her heart she feels:

"I don't want my son sacrificed for anyone."

She never knew her father. She only remembers visiting him one time on an army base when she was a little girl and he sided with her when her mother kept scolding her for chewing on her hair. That one memory along with two old photos of him are the only things she has left of him.

Taking a walk around the local park, the soldier monument calls out to her, as if:

"Hundreds of thousands of young men in battle calling across the waves of time, crying out in pain and anguish, 'Mama, Mama' before they took their last breath." 

She does not want this to be her future. She doesn't want to ever lose her precious son.

But when Cade calls home after starting boot camp he starts having second thoughts when he has this to say about his instructors:

"They hate us." 

He's alone and scared and away from home for the first time in his life. But Johnnie stands firm, encouraging her son to take heart, telling him:

"When things get rough, remember the spirit of [your grandfather] walks beside you."

She knows her father would never abandon his grandson. The military thread that binds their family together will not fray. Even if she doesn't like it, she'll continue to support her son on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and every day in between.

Because she's not just a mom, she's an Army Mom.


***

Johnnie Come Lately can be purchased at:
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Special $2.99 ebook sale!
now through July 31, 2015

Formats/Prices: $4.95 ebook, $9.75 paperback
Genres: Military Family, Women's Fiction, Literary Fiction
Pages: 292
Release: February 1, 2015
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812153
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About the Author

Award-winning author Kathleen M. Rodgers is a former frequent contributor to Family Circle magazine and Military Times. Her work has also appeared in anthologies published by McGraw-Hill, University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books, Health Communications, Inc., AMG Publishers, and Press 53. She is the author of the award-winning novel, The Final Salute, featured in USA Today, The Associated Press, and Military Times. Deer Hawk Publications reissued the novel in e-book and paperback September of 2014.

Her second novel, Johnnie Come Lately, released from Camel Press February 1, 2015. Barnes and Noble in Southlake, TX hosted the official launch on February 7, and Kathleen signed copies of both novels for three hours straight. In 2014, she was named a Distinguished Alumna from Tarrant County College/NE Campus.

She is the mother of two grown sons, Thomas, a graduate of University of North Texas and a working artist in Denton, TX, and J.P., a graduate of Texas Tech University and a former Army officer who earned a Bronze Star in 2014 in Afghanistan. Kathleen’s husband, Tom, is a retired fighter pilot/commercial airline pilot, and they reside in Colleyville, TX with their rescue dog, Denton. Kathleen is working on a new novel titled Seven Wings to Glory and is represented by Loiacono Literary Agency.

Links to connect with Kathleen:
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Michael J. Bowler - Spinner - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Fifteen-year-old Alex is a “spinner.” His friends are “dummies.” Two clandestine groups of humans want his power. And an ancient evil is stalking him. If people weren’t being murdered, Alex might laugh at how his life turned into a horror movie overnight. In a wheelchair since birth, his freakish ability has gotten him kicked out of ten foster homes since the age of four. Now saddled with a sadistic housemother who uses his spinning to heal the kids she physically abuses, Alex and his misfit group of learning disabled classmates are the only ones who can solve the mystery of his birth before more people meet a gruesome end. They need to find out who murdered their beloved teacher, and why the hot young substitute acts like she’s flirting with them. Then there’s the mysterious medallion that seems to have unleashed something malevolent, and an ancient prophecy suggesting Alex has the power to destroy humanity. The boys break into homes, dig up graves, elude kidnappers, fight for their lives against feral cats, and ultimately confront an evil as old as humankind. Friendships are tested, secrets uncovered, love spoken, and destiny revealed. The kid who’s always been a loner will finally learn the value of friends, family, and loyalty. If he survives…

My Review

Children growing up in economically-challenged areas have it tough.

Michael J. Bowler illustrates that struggle in his young adult paranormal novel, SPINNER. He sets his story in an urban environment that is riddled with crime and little opportunity to get ahead. He allows us to view this world mainly through the eyes of two white boys with learning disabilities, Alex and Roy. Their dingy Special Ed classroom 17-5 is located as far from the main quad as possible. They don't even leave the room to change classes. They stay there all day long with the same teacher. This isolates them from the rest of the student body in a high school that's predominantly Hispanic. They're told that they're stupid and lazy, mocked by their peers for their deficiencies, while believing the adults who tell them they'll never make anything of themselves.

Why?

For Roy, his developmental problem is multi-generational. His father, Nathan, also has a hard time reading and understanding big words. He's a construction worker by trade, used to making a living by the sweat of his brow. Roy's older stepbrother, Dane, is ashamed of the flaw in their genetic makeup, choosing to distance himself from them. He was in the same Special Ed class that Roy's in now, and all it got him after graduation was a job on the school's maintenance staff.

Hawthorne is a city where "crime was pretty ordinary," and "you never knew what to expect especially after dark." It's a city of dirty alleyways and police brutality. It's a place where people do what it takes to survive where many choose to look out for themselves instead of putting others first.

Bowler describes the prevailing attitude as, "Evil is like a living organism, a germ that people pass along to each other, sort of like a cold."

There's a definite lack of hope that permeates the environment that's sharply contrasted with the inclusion of the mysterious Mr. Shaw, a Steve Jobs type character who's so wealthy he thinks he's God. The only problem is he has a sick daughter who's dying of leukemia and he knows no amount of money will be able to change that.

That's where Alex comes into the play. He has a rare ability to heal people by drawing their illnesses into his body in order to cure them. He was never sick a day in his life, and his white cells look like those of a newborn baby. He's miraculously able to channel any disease and expel it from his system.

Mr. Shaw could capitalize on Alex's unique gift for all it's worth to cure the most incurable of diseases from cancer to AIDS, but he chooses not to. Instead, he provides a foster kid like Alex with a comfortable room and all the food he can eat. He's immensely thankful for what Alex is able to do for his daughter, Allison, that he refuses to take advantage of him.

Until he finds Alex alone in Allison's room covered in blood.

Did Alex kill her?

That's what everyone wants to know.

Can a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks really ever be trusted? It's an intriguing question that Bowler raises. He examines a lot of the prejudices that society places on individuals who fall below the poverty line. Why are people who are better off so quick to think the worst of those who aren't? Why are they always assumed to be guilty instead of innocent?

Wealth is such a dividing factor in society, and it always makes for great conflict within a story. How can teens like Alex, without any supernatural powers, ever be expected to pull themselves out of such a no-win situation? Are they all destined to commit crimes and end up in prison? Or is there another way they can advance themselves without coming down on the wrong side of the law?

Perhaps the Mr. Shaws of the world don't have to view guys like Alex as the enemy after all.

***

Spinner can be pre-purchased at:
Amazon

Format/Price: $6.99 ebook
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Pages: 463
Release: August 5, 2015
Publisher: YoungDudes Publishing
ISBN: 9780994667519
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About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of eight novels—A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place (Bronze Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead, Once Upon A Time In America, and Spinner.

His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook. He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed him and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He is currently outlining a sequel to Spinner.

His goal as a YA author is for teens to experience empowerment and hope; to see themselves in his diverse characters; to read about kids who face real-life challenges; and to see how kids like them can remain decent people in an indecent world.

Links to connect with Michael:
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Jerome Charyn - Bitter Bronx - Review and Giveaway

About the Book

Brooklyn is dead. Long live the Bronx! In Bitter Bronx, Jerome Charyn returns to his roots and leads the literary renaissance of an oft-overlooked borough in this surprising new collection.

In Bitter Bronx, one of our most gifted and original novelists depicts a world before and after modern urban renewal destroyed the gritty sanctity of a land made famous by Ruth, Gehrig, and Joltin' Joe.

Bitter Bronx is suffused with the texture and nostalgia of a lost time and place, combining a keen eye for detail with Jerome Charyn's lived experience. These stories are informed by a childhood growing up near that middle-class mecca, the Grand Concourse; falling in love with three voluptuous librarians at a public library in the Lower Depths of the South Bronx; and eating at Mafia-owned restaurants along Arthur Avenue's restaurant row, amid a "land of deprivation…where fathers trundled home…with a monumental sadness on their shoulders."

In "Lorelei," a lonely hearts grifter returns home and finds his childhood sweetheart still living in the same apartment house on the Concourse; in "Archy and Mehitabel" a high school romance blossoms around a newspaper comic strip; in "Major Leaguer" a former New York Yankee confronts both a gang of drug dealers and the wreckage that Robert Moses wrought in his old neighborhood; and in three interconnected stories—"Silk & Silk," "Little Sister," and "Marla"—Marla Silk, a successful Manhattan attorney, discovers her father's past in the Bronx and a mysterious younger sister who was hidden from her, kept in a fancy rest home near the Botanical Garden. In these stories and others, the past and present tumble together in Charyn's singular and distinctly "New York prose, street-smart, sly, and full of lurches" (John Leonard, New York Times).

Throughout it all looms the "master builder" Robert Moses, a man who believed he could "save" the Bronx by building a highway through it, dynamiting whole neighborhoods in the process. Bitter Bronx stands as both a fictional eulogy for the people and places paved over by Moses' expressway and an affirmation of Charyn's "brilliant imagination" (Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune).


My Review

What gave me an immediate sense of how the Bronx came burning down was Jerome Charyn's reference to a pack of wild dogs that roamed through Crotona Park in the aftermath of the greatest upheaval to ever hit the borough. There's even a rumor that they mauled to death a small child. Later, a prominent gang adopted that vicious canine emblem to grace its bags of heroin. And that in a nutshell sums up the disheartening tone of BITTER BRONX, it's fall into destruction and chaos that no one could stop. All that's left for Charyn to do is lament what once was of this "brick wilderness."

And there's no telling symbol than the most recognizable fixture of the Bronx—Yankee Stadium. Or should I say, the NEW Yankee Stadium, the mecca by which all success is measured. In "Major Leaguer," the leader of the Crotona Dogs invites superintendent Will Johnson to join him for a game in his box seats. The gangbanger remembers his Papi talking about watching Will play center field for the Yankees, and how proud he was of Will's glorious achievement as a native of the Bronx. But Will's not so proud. He only played one game as a Yankee, and he didn't even get a hit. The nostalgia factor rings false for Will. He doesn't believe himself to be worthy of any accolades, and he's not going to kowtow to the Crotona Dogs. He has too much pride for that.

Charyn, a native of the Bronx himself, nails the vibe of the place. You can feel the monotonous movement of the subway in, "I had to ride the local in and out of the Bronx. Each stop was a kind of purgatory. Freeman Street. Simpson Street. Intervale Avenue…" You can feel the rot and ruin in, "The Art Deco palaces along the Grand Concourse have been refurbished, but the blight will never really go away." You can feel the eminent sense of danger in, "Paradise Road had sharpshooters reigning from the roofs. The drug lords had put them there. But after a while the sharpshooters were bored to death and would pick off children and old men."

It's no wonder Charyn compares the broken landscape of the Bronx to bombed-out Belfast, and why he's reluctant to revisit his memories in print, no doubt because they clash so painfully with what he finds there today. It's heartbreaking to see one's home turned into something unrecognizable. It's sad that a fresh wind of change has never come to the Bronx, especially when New York is a city that's ever changing, dashing dreams, while raising others up.

But one thing is certain. Despite its many flaws, the Bronx did one thing right. It gave birth to a literary talent like Jerome Charyn.

***

Bitter Bronx can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $9.99-$12.49 ebook, $24.95 hardcover
Genre: Short Stories
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780871404893
Publisher: Liveright
Release: June 1, 2015
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About the Author

Jerome Charyn's stories have appeared in The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The American Scholar, Epoch, Narrative, Ellery Queen, and other magazines. His most recent novel is I Am Abraham. He lived for many years in Paris and currently resides in Manhattan.

Links to connect with Jerome:
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Ellen March - Love on the Menu - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Jago Tanner is a loner. He works up a good hunger at his outdoors pursuits centre in Wales and looks upon each female conquest as just another meal. When he’s sated, he doesn’t go back for dessert. Until Riley shows up. A Londoner hired through an agency to assist him with activities, she isn’t at all what he asked for. For starters, with the name Riley, he expected a man. But Riley is all woman—the sexiest woman Jago has ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately she dresses like a trollop and curses like a sailor. Though ignorant about most outdoors pursuits, she’s a skilled horsewoman, able to calm even his nerviest stallion. And her lively and generous nature enchants his housekeeper Emily and his ancient friend, Tom.

In short, Jago’s new employee is a bundle of contradictions. Which is why, when Jago falls for her, he doesn’t trust his feelings. Riley seems unusually accident prone, and when her brother’s shady friends menace her, she plays the innocent. But how can anyone so self-sufficient and mouthy also be so trusting and naïve? And can a man with Jago’s volatile nature endure the jealousy a woman like Riley provokes just by strolling down the street?

My Review

There's something inherently sexy about staging a romance in a remote location.

The brooding loner on the moors who ignites with a little firecracker from the city. A girl who wanders onto his sprawling property caught in a "fine driving rain that seeped into your bones." The environment on Black Mountain is lonely, silent, scary. It's certainly not what she's used to, until she sets eyes on him. Then the barren landscape starts to look pretty darn appealing.

Even though her new boss is drool-worthy, Riley has a hard time adjusting to life in the Welsh countryside. As the new outdoor activities assistant, she has to muck out stalls and lead nature hikes, staggering over the beacons. For a Londoner who's afraid of heights, her new mountain home gives her more than a case of vertigo, especially when the only form of entertainment is having the old men down at the pub spike her drinks.

Jago loves the wilderness. It's where he thrives. He knows every aspect about the rugged terrain surrounding his homestead. He offers horseback riding excursions. He guides canoe trips. He takes groups up the mountain on foot. And none of that ever scares him, until a spiky-haired spitfire comes to live under his roof.

But Riley adjusts, making friends with Jago's untamable stallion, Farley. She has a knack with animals, slipping into a groove as she finds her way in this strange environment. Jago tries to help her, but usually only after she's already gotten in trouble. He treats her bleeding, blistered feet after a torturous trail walk. He looks after her when she's thrown from a horse. He makes sure his cook, Emily, feeds her ravenous appetite. But he always pulls back, when it comes to giving her more of himself.

Riley does everything she can to draw him out. She swims in his pool in her underwear. She drapes her bra across Farley's rump. She flirts with other men to make him jealous. But it's not until they spend some alone time together as a couple, that things start to heat up. They find out more about each other and what makes them tick. Nature brings them together, softening his edges and calming her nerves.

But ultimately, working as a team is what does it. They face everything from snake bites to sheep dips and come out stronger on the other side. He gets her to love nature, and she gets him to love life. Like a sunny day ending in a moonlit night, they learn how to compliment each other while learning to bring out the best in one another. A true romance, indeed.

***

Love on the Menu can be purchased at:
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Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $13.95 paperback
Pages: 244
Genre: Steamy Cowboy Romance
Release: February 14, 2015
Publisher: Fanny Press
ISBN: 9781603815680
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About the Author

Ellen March and her husband live on top of a mountain in Wales, which is ideal in the summer but not so much in the winter months or when it rains. She has three grown children, one suicidal cat--it really does have nine lives--and three Alaskan Malamutes. One of her hobbies is showing and working them. Ellen's first love, however, is reading and writing. Since childhood, she has devoured every romance and fantasy she can get her hands on and enjoys acting out her own fantasies in print. Her body of work includes erotic romance, psychological thrillers, and supernatural fantasies. Fanny Press has published three of her erotic romances--Promises, His Girl Friday, and A Ghost of an Affair--and will be publishing more in 2015 and beyond.

Links to connect with Ellen:
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Sharon St. George - Due for Discard - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Aimee Machado is thrilled to be starting her first job as a forensic librarian at the medical center in the town of Timbergate, north of Sacramento, California. Her ebullient mood is somewhat dampened by her recent breakup with her former live-in boyfriend, Nick Alexander. And then there's a little matter of murder: on Aimee's first day on the job, a body is found in a nearby Dumpster and soon identified as her supervisor's wife, Bonnie Beardsley.

Aimee's heartbreaker of a brother and best friend, Harry, just happens to be one of the last people to see Bonnie alive, but he is hardly the only suspect. Bonnie was notorious for her wild partying and man-stealing ways, and she has left a trail of broken hearts and bitterness. Aimee is determined to get her brother off the suspect list.

Aimee's snooping quickly makes her a target. Isolated on her grandparents' llama farm where she fled post-breakup, she realizes exactly how vulnerable she is. Three men have pledged to protect her: her brother Harry, her ex, Nick, and the dashing hospital administrator with a reputation for womanizing, Jared Quinn. But they can't be on the alert every minute, not when Aimee is so bent on cracking the case with or without their help.

Book 1 in a new mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Aimee Machado.

My Review

I love when a book's setting feels as alive as a supporting character.

The foothills of the Cascade Mountains are where this story takes place, and the rusticity of the locale is what charmed me from the get go. Aimee Machado lives in the converted bunkhouse above her grandparents' barn. Their ranch is populated with a pasture full of fuzzy llamas and wooly sheep. There's even a pet snake in a tank, a wise-cracking bird, and a temperamental cat. Aimee admits that she doesn't have many friends, but the animals she takes care of keep her company. They protect her in their own way, and she looks out for them, too. If someone spray paints a warning on the coat of one of the baby llamas, then the cockatiel, Bosco, will hold up a would-be intruder for her "at gunpoint" by mimicking a line from DIRTY HARRY.

It's a nice give and take for a girl looking to take down the bad guys.

But when a police sketch of a suspicious "Camo Man" is circulated by police as a possible murder suspect, Aimee feels a shiver run through her when she spots a similar figure, driving away from the ranch one day when she's coming home from work. The peace and beauty of the isolation surrounding her suddenly turns threatening. Soon thereafter, a dead turkey is left hanging in her apartment with a blood-splattered message warning her to back off.

However, it turns out that Aimee has a curiosity streak a mile wide, and when one of the doctors at the hospital is believed to have killed his wife, she tries to gumshoe her way to the truth. She goes into the more metropolitan section of their rural northern California town of Timbergate, visiting a museum and attending the ballet in order to get close to one of her suspects. She even flies to San Francisco in order to get a fingerprint analysis done on an acrylic toenail she thinks came from the victim, hoping to ID the killer.

The August heat is another potent player in this drama. The stifling temperatures leave Aimee vulnerable to attack. She's afraid to leave her windows open at night when she finds a rattlesnake on her porch. She remarks on the rancid odor coming from a nearby Dumpster, only to be chewed out by the security guard at the hospital where she works, until later it's revealed that that's where the dead body was stashed. Since it's summer, she gives in to the inclinations of her boss, Quinn, to have lunch with him at the park, despite one of the gossipy hospital volunteers already warning her that that's where he likes to get cozy with his female co-workers. Aimee even dresses a tad more provocatively in a miniskirt and high heels to go undercover, but only ends up feeling uncomfortable when the man she's targeting ends up invading her personal space.

The local economy is driven by outdoor recreation and medicine, Aimee's two great passions. She's not afraid to stay alone at the ranch when her grandparents go on a trip. She pitches right in and mucks out stalls and feeds the animals. She likes the idea of being able to fend for herself. Her days spent as a hospital librarian are marked with monotony and routine, yet she enjoys being able to help the doctors and nurses on staff uncover new research on their particular topics of interest as well as discovering how to best meet their needs by subscribing to the most pertinent online periodicals.

There's a nice mixture of down-home country ruggedness and jet-setting affluence. The doctor whose wife was killed is part of the crème de la crème of society full of fancy restaurants and expensive cars while Aimee is left coping with a intermittent swamp cooler that keeps breaking down. She finds herself immersed in a world that she doesn't quite understand when half of her suspects are either high profile television personalities or pampered trophy wives and the other half run the gamut from recovering meth addicts to tacky swindlers looking for their next easy mark.

St. George does a fine job of throwing in enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing. The husband. The best friends. The ex-wife. Some are a little stranger than others, taking a more out of the box approach to peopling the local vicinity with a startling array of deviant behavior of both the private and public variety. The reveal isn't a 'knock your socks off' surprise, but St. George threads the needle admirably, connecting all the dots.

Mystery fans will undoubtedly want to return to Highland Ranch in Coyote Creek for Aimee Machado's next case.

***

Due for Discard can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $15.95 paperback
Pages: 340
Genre: Detective Murder Mystery
Release: March 1, 2015
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812238
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Sharon St. George had the good fortune to spend an idyllic childhood in a small northern California town, riding horseback and camping with her family in the nearby mountains. One of her favorite pastimes was reading fiction, and a trip to the library was always an occasion of great joy. She’s traded horses for llamas, but she still treks to the high mountain lakes near her home—always with a mystery novel in her backpack. Sharon’s writing credits include three plays, several years writing advertising copy, a book on NASA’s space food project, and feature stories too numerous to count. She holds dual degrees in English and Theatre Arts, and occasionally acts in, or directs, one of her local community theater productions. Sharon is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and she serves as program director for Writers Forum, a nonprofit organization for writers in northern California.

Links to connect with Sharon:
Web Site
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


About the Giveaway

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Michael J. Bowler - Once Upon a Time in America - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

With Lance leading the way, the Knights of the Round Table have set out to convince the American people that amending the Constitution to protect children is right and just and long overdue. As the team travels from state to state, they are met with acceptance, indifference, and even hostility. But Lance’s popularity and mystique as The Boy Who Came Back, coupled with his innate charm, gradually sway more and more of the populace, not to mention state legislators, to their cause.

The journey becomes a rite of passage that propels the young people into adulthood, and solidifies Lance’s status as an iconic and influential figure.

But he’s uneasy. He knows Arthur is hiding something from him, something that will bring him great sadness. After The Excalibur Incident in Las Vegas, Lance becomes more and more certain that the future is one he won’t like, despite his stunning success at winning over some of the most intractable states.

Then comes the attack, sudden and brutal.

Now the Round Table is in disarray, and Lance must confront a cold-blooded killer who’s luring him into an obvious trap. But if he refuses the challenge, more loved ones will die, and everything he’s fought for will die with them. Surrounded by the diverse young knights who have become his family, Lance sets out to battle his enemy with the knowledge deep in his heart that only one of them will survive. Is this the end of the Round Table?

The Knight Cycle concludes…

My Review

The knights of the Round Table hop aboard a bus and travel across the country in Michael J. Bowler's rip-roaring conclusion to his CHILDREN OF THE KNIGHT series. In ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, they are on a quest to get the Children's Bill of Rights through Congress, but to do that, they're gonna need the backing of three-fourths of the House and Senate. So they hit state capital after state capital from sea to shining sea, and even though the rotundas all start to look the same, the peaceful beauty of nature is what really blows these city boys away.

They leave the smog of L.A. far behind and go where the air is blue and clean during the day and filled with a canopy of stars at night. They're not used to the sound of silence, coming from the hustle and bustle of urban life, but they quickly adjust to the tranquility that surrounds them. After gazing at the Grand Canyon, Ricky teases Lance, "I finally found something more beautiful than you."

But not all of their stops are majestic and awe-inspiring. When they visit the reservations of the Native Knights, Kai and Dakota, they're shocked that the deplorable living conditions are even worse than back home in South Central. These ghetto hardened warriors can't believe the intense poverty that Kai and Dakota's people have to endure. On Dakota's reservation alone, sixty-one percent of children live below poverty level and the life expectancy for men is forty-eight.

A really touching moment occurs here when Dakota goes home to visit his handicapped brother who he's responsible for injuring and confining to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At the time, Dakota was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, and he's been living with the guilt ever since. His mother basically disowned him after it happened, and it's his first time back after he ran away and joined Arthur's band of knights. His brother is a picture of his forgiveness, but his mom is quick to hold a grudge. For me, this scene was a standout for the layers of emotion that rang true.

But it's not all doom and gloom in the Badlands, as the Native Knights journey via horseback to camp out amid the amazing natural rock formations. It's not until they visit Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota that they're again reminded of the white man's oppressive influence on their lives. But Ricky cuts through the tension, joking to Lance, "What say we petition Congress to put your face up there? At least then one of them would be beautiful."

When the group arrives in Las Vegas, Lance's heart is heavy because it proves to be everything he suspected—"loud, crowded, busy, glitzy, glamorous, and sleazy—everything he hated." Lance has had an aversion to crowds from a young age, believing that everyone who looks at him can see his deepest, darkest secrets, triggering his inner sense of worthlessness. His fame has only increased his aversion to crowds and "big places." So it's not surprising when a feeling of dread overwhelms him when he steps inside the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Something happens here that changes the course of the entire series. A dramatic event throws their trip into peril, but it's not until the final chapter of the book that the full weight of what happens here is revealed.

Because it turns out that King Arthur's final destination isn't a place found on any map, it's a place where his knights may not be able to follow.

***

Once Upon a Time in America can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 328
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: November 12, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990871101
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About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead, and Once Upon A Time In America.

His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
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Pinterest
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


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