Brief Impressions a book review

Tell Me a Story

Title     - Brief Impressions
Author - AJ Barnett
Stars    - 5

Brief Impressions:
This is a new collection of tear-jerker short stories. Get your tissues handy - the ahh-factor is at work again. AJ Barnett has a reputation for emotive writing, Brief Impressions is no different.

Books from AJ are consistently in the best sellers of their category - in fact three ebooks, SHORT MOMENTS, YESTERDAY and THE TASTE OF LONELINESS have not been out of the best selling list for over 12 months - Most of that time in the top twenty of their category.











 Contents of Brief Impressions:
#1 - On Your Quad:
#2 - New Arrangements:
#3 - Pain, Rage, and Sorrow:
#4 - Connor Is Missing:
#5 - Showing Concern:
#6 - The Arrangement:
#7 - Going Back:
#8 - Phone calls From Laura:
#9 - A World Of Change:

Ellie Jones on Smashwords

Tell Me A Story

Arousing Amelia by Ellie Jones is at last available on Smashwords. Ellie Jones has been published on Kindle for quite some time, but not everyone has a Kindle.

Other E readers such as Sony, Apple, Kobo, Nook, etc, are VERY popular, and this can be a problem if a writer limits their market outlet to Amazon Kindle. The one answer for writers is to publish through Smashwords and have their work listed in the premium catalogue for maximum exposure.

 

Go to the Smashwords page here: Arousing Amelia

Arousing Amelia by Ellie Jones

Frustration. Power. Volatile passion. A potent mix ready to spill over.

Amelia is a young widow starved of affection. Karl, a gorgeous hunk, has recently been dumped. The new friendship releases volatile passions as they are drawn together. However, as Karl discovers, there is far more to Amelia than just a sexy lady.

 Review by: Brad Cal on Nov. 04, 2012 :
Well written and hot! That there was a twist at the end was predictable, I expected it, but was totally surprised that it wasn't the one I expected. Well done!

Review by: hrhsophia on Nov. 03, 2012 :
Great writing loved the twist.

Second Chance Romance

Tell Me a Story - book review


Author - Asrai Devin
Title     - Second Chance Romance
Stars   - 3

Second Chance Romance:

Mandy is quite content balancing her life as a single mother with her job as a school teacher. However, her world is turned upside down when an old high school sweetheart connects with her via Facebook. Mandy decides on one, last date with Kip to put her memories to rest, but Kip isn't quite so eager to let go.



One of the big problems with this book is incorrect grammar... and punctuation is sometimes non-existent. However, that being said, the storyline is just about likeable enough to overlook them - providing you are the forgiving sort.

Second Chance Romance is a basic boy meets girl, boy leaves town, grown man returns but is still in love with woman. It can be a little corny, but sometimes corny is good. I think potentially, this is an entertaining story.


Be warned, Second Chance Romance contains explicit sexual scenes.

Why not try a Kindle Best Seller

Gone Girl

Tell Me a Story

Author - Gillian Flynn
Title     - Gone Girl
Stars   - 5

Gone Girl:

On the anniversary of her wedding, Amy disappears. There are signs of a scuffle in the house, and her husband, Nick quickly becomes the main suspect.

The fact that Nick isn’t as open with the police as he should doesn’t help matters. As more evidence appears against him, Nick insists on his innocence. 

 

Gone Girl is a convoluted, psychological thriller. As disclosures unfurl, it becomes clear that the truth is far darker, more warped, and scarier than you can imagine.  

Gone Girl is well conceived, and the uncertainty doesn’t waver for a single page. Gone Girl one of those books where the ending doesn’t just come, it perforates your head and won’t leave you alone.

Well worth a read

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Gone Girl

Tell Me a Story - Book Review

 Author - Gillian Flynn

Title      - Gone Girl

Stars    - 4

Gone Girl:

On Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary she disappears from their home on the Mississippi River. Passages from Amy's diary reveal she could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter, but is he really a killer?
   With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

   

 

In Gone Girl, the characters unfold, bit by bit, and in unexpected ways, that keep you reading. The question is generally, "Can we ever really know another human being?" This book actually probes further and we find ourselves asking, "Can we ever really know ourselves. What are we capable of? The way the story ends clinches what a sickening liaison Nick and Amy had.

A book well worth reading... But be aware that Gone Girl contains coarse language as well as violence and sexual content.
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Enemies and Playmates

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Darcia Helle

Title     - Enemies and Playmates

Stars   - 4

Enemies and Playmates:

Lauren’s family preserves a grand pretence that contradicts their actual lives. Alex, Lauren's father, keeps a tight rein on his family through physical abuse, manipulation, and fanatical control. Because of this, Lauren doesn't believe she could ever trust a man, much less fall in love with one.

Stolen Prey

Tell Me a Story - book review

Author - John Sandford

Title     - Stolen Prey

Stars   - 5

Stolen Prey:

Lucas has attended numerous murder scenes. This is one of the nastiest. A whole family has been killed, including the dogs.

Something about the incident nudges at Lucas’s cop instincts. It reminds him of the kind of retribution he’s seen in drug killings. However, this is a fashionable part town, and the husband a vice president of a bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit.

Stolen Prey is a disturbing murder-mystery that has been very skilfully composed. The storyline is full of unpredictable action. The dialogue is first-class, while central characters spring to life in a nerve-wracking thriller that has you hankering for more.

Stolen Prey is so well written and compelling that it is disappointing to see the story come to an end. A must-read.

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Emotion in Writing

Erotic Romance

11th Hour

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - James Patterson

Title     - 11^th  Hour

Stars   - 4

11^th Hour:

Lindsay is finally pregnant. However, her workload doesn't relax. Millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down, and she finds that the murder weapon is connected to the deaths of four of San Francisco's most unassailable criminals. It was taken from her own department's evidence locker.

Lindsay is called to a most peculiar crime scene: two bodiless heads ostentatiously displayed in the garden of a famous actor. Another head is discovered in the garden, and Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims.

A reporter presents a series of articles about the cases and Lindsay's personal life is exposed. This time she has no one to turn to.

The Innocent

Tell Me a Story - book review

Author - David Baldacci

Title     - The Innocent

Stars   - 4

The Innocent

Robie is sent to take out a target. However, something doesn't seem right, and he does the inconceivable, he refuses to kill, and becomes a target himself.

He crosses paths with a fourteen-year-old absconder from a foster home, but she is no usual runaway. Her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against his professional judgement, Robie finds he can't walk away. The more he learns about her, the more he becomes convinced she is in the middle of a cover-up, that rises to inconceivable levels of power.

Robie may have to come out of hiding in order to save the girl's life, and maybe his own.

Past Sins: New cover, New Genre

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Ellie Jones
Title     - Past Sins
Stars   - 5

PAST SINS by Ellie Jones has had a bit of a revamp since it was last looked at - a book makeover.

For a start, Past Sins has been re-classified and placed under the erotica sections, as an Erotic Romance. Apparently, some people thought it a bit too steamy to be in the Contemporary Romance bracket.

Taking the bull by the horns, the Past Sins storyline has been made even more racy, which quite firmly tips it into the Erotic Romance genre. It has also had a new cover designed, to complete the makeover and enhance the new image

Past Sins – an erotic romance

 Jenny is not related to Juan Garcia. She has never heard of him, never met him, and certainly never been to his villa before... So why does she vaguely recognize certain rooms and smells...

Jenny is puzzled when Spanish artist, Juan Garcia, leaves her his enormous villa in his Last Will and Testament ... But freaks out when she discovers a painting of herself in the entrance to the villa... totally naked...

Juan’s young brother, Eduardo, believes she is a gold-digger and is out to prove it. Jenny finds herself struggling with him on several levels; his certainty that she had an affair with Juan, his own escalating attraction towards her, his belief that she may be involved with threatening letters against him, and his absolute and unjustified dislike of her new friend... but then she starts to get threatening letters too, and it all gets out of hand.

.

Victims

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Jonathan Kellerman

Title     - Victims

Stars   - 4

Victims:

The grisly crime scene is reminiscent of London’s Jack the Ripper killings.

In spite of his skills, Alex is baffled when more slaughters occur in the same shocking manner yet with no obvious connection between the victims.

The only evidence left behind, a page of paper with a question mark, appears to be a intimidating sneer yet a cry for help from a killer puzzled by his own destructive impulses.

The Frozen Trail

Tell Me A Story - book review


Author - Lisa Dayley
Title     - The Frozen Trail
Stars   - 3


The Frozen Trail:

In 1856 a group of Mormons trudged across the Great Plains, in wagon trains and pulling handcarts, to discover a new home shielded from prejudice. Emma Girdlestone confronts famine, frostbite, and fatality, so she and her family can join their fellow Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.

Daddy's Home

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - A.K. Alexander
Title     - Daddy's Home
Stars   - 4

Daddy's Home:

A manipulative killer stalks single mothers and their innocent children in pursuit of what he calls his perfect family. He plays the textbook father. When things are no longer perfect in his crazy, fantasy world, the family man murders.

Holly Jennings of the San Diego Police Department is single-mindedly tracking him to see justice served. His crimes become personal when a friend and her daughter become the latest victims of “The Family Man."

As Holly probes the murders, she finds she is drawn into a game played by "The Family Man," that may take her along a terrible path. One that may cost her family, her new found love, and even her life.

Unfinished Business

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Nora Roberts
Title     - Unfinished Business
Stars   - 4

Unfinished Business:

Hyattown alters very little whilst Vanessa is away. Brady is still sinewy, sporty, and craggy; except the once careless boy has turned into a solid, reliable man.

The only trouble is Brady stood her up at the most significant point of her life; can she ever trust him again? However, she didn't know he had good grounds for not showing up twelve years ago. He isn't going to let her get away a second time.

Kill Alex Cross

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - James Patterson
Title     - Kill Alex Cross
Stars   - 3

Kill Alex Cross:
The President's two children are snatched, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. However, someone uses the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to hold him off the case.

A toxic contamination in the water supply ravages the capital, and Alex learns someone may be about to deliver a shocking attack on the United States.

As time for solving both crimes runs out, Alex takes a decision that may alter the destiny of the entire country.

A Heartbeat Away

Tell Me A Story - Book Review

Author - Michael Palmer

Title     - A Heartbeat Away

Stars   - 3

A Heartbeat Away:

As the U.S. president, is beginning his State of the Union address, when several ampules containing a viral agent shatter and infect important members of the government in the House chamber. The Capitol must be sealed off and infected members quarantined until a cure can be found.

The conspirators behind the assault, demand, among other things, that the government abolish the Patriot Act and cease unchecked spying on ordinary Americans.

Striking Back

Tell Me A Story - Book Review

Author - Mark Nykanen
Title     - Striking Back
Stars   - 4


Striking Back:

It's settlement time for the mystery murderer who's slaying people in ways that reflects the ugly violence they forced upon the women in their lives.

As the number of bodies count grows, and media interest deepens, innocent citizens could easily get caught in the assassin's revenge.

Gwyn keeps her ugly family history secret. More than twenty years ago, when she was a teenager, her violent stepfather died hideously. Gwyn knows the secrets but she's not talking about the past, because she's too occupied trying to change the future by breaking the cycle of domestic violence.

Men she counsels aren't angels, but perhaps she can change the attitude, which makes their families so miserable. However, when someone starts killing her controversial clients, Gwyn becomes the primary suspect. Perhaps Gwyn has a hidden wish for justice that's far from therapeutic.

Ryan's Return

Tell Me A Story Book Review

Author - Barbara Freethy
Title     - Ryan's Return
Stars   - 4

Ryan's Return:

Ryan comes home to a family shredded by suspicion and bitterness, to the father who rejected him, the brother who deceived him, and the little boy who shares his features.

Ryan has returned, rousing past differences, and propelling Kara Delaney into turmoil.

Kara has fought back from a devastating marriage to shape a new life for herself and her little girl. Her quiet life is threatened by small town politics, by her daughter's whimsical ghost stories, and by Ryan's return.

Nature's approaching wrath threatens to uncover secrets. Kara joins with Ryan to unearth the truth that will save their families, and to explore a daring, compelling romance.

Home by Morning

Tell Me a Story  Book Review

Author - Alexis Harrington
Title    - Home by Morning
Stars  - 4

Home by Morning:

Jessica has a stopover in her hometown and comes head-on with Cole, her first love. Jessica is a talented physician and Cole a successful horse breeder courting her sister. Both are confident they have moved past their youthful craving. However, they are glad Jessica’s brief visit will leave little chance to go over old wounds.

Before Jessica can leave, the town is hit by an influenza epidemic. With no other doctors accessible, Jessica remains to look after her friends and former neighbours. Her work brings her in endless contact with Cole, and with each day he finds it harder to assure himself that Amy can fill his soul as Jessica once did.

Home by Morning is a chronicle of heart-breaking events and the influence on every-day people. Interlaced through the book are characters whose mettles seem broken, who encounter the curative influence of love.

Set against the backdrop of World War I and the epidemic of 1918, Home by Morning is a captivating story of duplicity, anguish, and salvation.

Cruel Justice

Tell Me A Story - Book Review


Author - Mel Comley
Title - Cruel Justice
Stars - 5

Cruel Justice:

The decapitated remains of a prosperous widow are found decaying in Chelling Forest. Detective Inspector Lorne Simpkins and her partner, DS Pete Childs are appointed to find what happened.

A new victim, this time an adolescent girl, is uncovered - Who could the killer possibly be and can there be a link between the victims?

Following a third murder, the killer contacts Detective Inspector Simpkins with a gruesome disclosure. It seems they have a serial killer obsessed with her.

Lorne not only struggles with macabre cases, she muddles through a dying marriage and has to deal with an insensitive chief. As she anguishes over the dearth of evidence, help appears from an improbable resource.