Tag: writing

REVIEW: The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

REVIEW: The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Tenley’s first book was a best-seller. An award winner. But she can’t get one word written for a follow up. With a famous father and great-great-grandfather who were authors, shouldn’t this be easier? Is she destined to be a one hit wonder?

In 1902, Birdie longs to throw off the expectations of her station. She wants to have her stories published and marry the man she loves. But the publisher she approached turned her down, and she never got her manuscript back. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her that will solidify her status in society for the rest of her life. But what about what she wants?

When Tenley heads to Florida to care for her estranged mother while she goes through chemo, she’s supposed to be writing her next book. Instead she takes steps that will draw her story and Birdie’s together across more than 100 years.

Review

This was terrific! First and foremost it’s a story of writers, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I adored Birdie. She showed great strength and determination as she made every effort to fight the destiny laid out for her. Her story was my favorite.

I empathized with Tenley. She’s lost. She doesn’t really know who she is. But she does the right thing in going to take care of her mom. And while they still had prickly moments, I loved watching them try to sort things out.

This is also a set of love stories (Jonas and his family are fantastic!! There are several laugh-out-loud moments of banter between Tenley and Jonas). And it is also a story of God who sings over both of these women, encouraging them to not be dismayed. This was absolutely lovely!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Silver Moon of Summer by Leila Howland

REVIEW: The Silver Moon of Summer by Leila Howland

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The Silver Sisters are back in Pruett, Massachusetts to spend a couple weeks with their Aunt Sunny. Marigold (14), Zinnie (13), and Lily (7) are ready for another summer of East Coast adventures and self-discovery.

Marigold auditions for a part in a TV show shooting in Pruett. While the TV filming is making life difficult for her maybe-boyfriend, Peter, it gives Marigold a chance to make a new friend who will be at her performing arts school in the fall.

Zinnie is going to spend the summer working on her blog. She hopes the school writing assignment will help her earn the job of Editor in Chief for the school’s literary journal. But she has to find adventures around Pruett to write about.

Lily has become an animal expert over the last year. She loves her naturalist camp at Pruett, and she teaches her family all sorts of things about animals. But an even bigger job this summer is reminding her big sisters not to fight. Their fights have caused major trouble over the last two summers. Is it even possible for Marigold and Zinnie to NOT fight for two whole weeks?

Review

This is a lovely third installment for this terrific middle grade series about family and identity. The girls have grown up nicely over the three books. They each have found their own niche (acting, writing, science), but the push and pull between Marigold and Zinnie is still there. Sisters so close in age vacillate  between being best friends and needing their own space. Marigold and Zinnie seem very normal in their sisterly dynamic.

Romance is a bigger factor in this story than in previous books as both Marigold and Zinnie hope their friendships with Peter and Max respectively can become something more this summer. This is still kept at an appropriate level (hand holding, declarations of “like,” quick kisses) for the book’s target audience.

These books are ideal summer reads – the setting is perfect – or fall reads for kids who want to relive the freedom of summer. The content is realistic, and the conflicts keep the story moving while still being “light” in tone. Great fun in store for readers of all three books in this series. (Some readers/families may raise a red flag at the use of a Ouija board by the girls in one scene.) I’ve been recommending this series to a lot of folks this year.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

REVIEW: Death in Dark Blue by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena London may have proven her boyfriend, Sam West, innocent of murder. But his estranged wife, Victoria, is still missing. And plenty of people who were “certain” Sam was guilty – and treated him accordingly – need to eat crow.

That includes Victoria’s best friend, Taylor, a popular blogger who bashed Sam when he was being investigated. She promises to come to Blue Lake to apologize in person. But someone kills her before she can get to Sam.

It looks like Sam is in trouble again when Lena finds Taylor’s body on his property. The press have descended on Blue Lake like vultures. Lena is determined to clear Sam’s name and get back to some sort of peaceful existence and maybe pick up their budding romance. But even if she can find Taylor’s killer, they still have the mystery of Victoria hanging over their heads.

Review

This was excellent! And I am so pleased. I loved book one in the Writer’s Apprentice series, A Dark and Stormy Murder. I hoped Death in Dark Blue would be just as good and I was not disappointed.

The characters are great. I love Lena’s relationship with her boss/mentor, Camilla. We didn’t get to enjoy a lot of their writing work in this book, but it is still a fun thread. The core group working on the mystery is terrific. I loved the addition of the research librarian, Belinda. She totally earned an ARC of Lena and Camilla’s first book!

The mystery was good – solid suspects and great action. I could not puzzle out the solution until the end. What I love most about this series, though, is that unmasking Taylor’s killer isn’t the end of the story. The ongoing Victoria situation is still playing out as the story goes on, and it’s just as fun to watch that as it is the original mystery. Ms. Buckley does a great job of setting up this overarching plot between books – and may even have set up something else for future books down the line. It’s brilliant plotting and I love it. I highly recommend this series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Brightest Stars of Summer by Leila Howland

REVIEW: The Brightest Stars of Summer by Leila Howland

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Book 2 in the Silver Sisters series finds Marigold, Zinnie and Lilly headed back to Massachusetts to visit their great-aunt, Sunny, and help her get ready for her wedding.

A lot has happened in the last year since they summered with Aunt Sunny. Marigold had a part in a huge movie, but it got cut out. She found seventh grade to be harder than she expected. There are cliques to negotiate and her “stardom” doesn’t seem to make her as popular as she expected.

Zinnie has embraced her passion for writing. She had planned to go to a writer’s camp for the summer before the trip to Massachusetts came up. Without the camp, she is on her own to come up with an amazing story that will get her one of 8 precious spots in a writing group at school. She hopes her time in Massachusetts will inspire a great story.

As each of the older sisters wrestles with her identity, with crushes, and with the relationship with the other, the Silver Sisters are in for a summer of growing and changing.

Review

I liked this one ever more than I liked book 1, The Forget-Me-Not Summer. The girls are older and are digging deeper into their identity – a theme I love in books for kids. Marigold decides to be the opposite of who she really is, and in the process learns new things about herself.

Zinnie wrestles with who she is as a writer. Her natural style doesn’t seem to fit the kind of writing done by the writing group. So she also tries to be something she is not. She learns things about herself as a writer along the way.

The girls hit some really rough moments in their relationship as sisters. In the end, their healing and reconciliation comes in part when they accept themselves for who they are and use their gifts to make things right.

Terrific story! Great series! Book 3, The Silver Moon of Summer released in June.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena became a writer because she has loved the books by Camilla Graham her whole life. So when she has a chance to work for her writing idol, Lena jumps at the chance. But her dream job in Indiana unfortunately comes with a dead body. And some suspicious characters around town. Pretty soon, Lena is writing, defending a new friend from the local gossip, and dodging assailants!

cozy mystery about authors

Review

Wow! This was an excellent mystery! The author does a great job introducing her characters so you know who is who without difficulty. I felt like I had read other things with Lena and Camilla because I was so comfortable with them immediately. The mystery for this book was great – I kept getting surprised by what happened. All my theories were wrong. I loved getting to be surprised by a well-plotted mystery!

I felt like I got a bonus with this book because there’s an over-arching mystery that comes up early in the book, carries throughout, and is the primary focus of the last chapter after the main mystery for this book was done. And the over-arching mystery will carry readers right into book 2. Death in Dark Blue  is currently scheduled to release on May 2, 2017 (release dates subject to change).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥