As a Book Reviewer I received a free ebook copy of The Farmer’s Daughter by Lisa R. Howeler and this is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review of this book.
The Farmer’s Daughter by Lisa R. Howeler is Ms. Howeler’s debut novel as well as the first novel in her “A Spencer Valley Chronicles” series. It is the story of the Tanner family with the main focus on Molly Tanner. The story takes place in a small town and on the Tanner family’s dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania.
Times are tough and many of the local farmers are struggling to continue their farming business, and as Molly watches several family friends sell their farms and move on to something else, she begins to grow restless, wondering if farming is all she will ever know. Then Alex, Molly’s brother’s friend and her father’s farmhand begins to show a romantic interest in Molly. This makes Molly uncomfortable as she wonders why he would be interested in her. Like many women in the world, Molly suffers from a low opinion of her physical appearance. The romance that develops between Molly and Alex is sweet and very touching and both characters grow within themselves as their relationship grows.
An accident on the farm has the entire Tanner family wondering how to save the farm and keep it running financially.
I enjoyed everything about this story. Ms. Howeler is a very talented storyteller who obviously knows about farming and the struggles that come with it. In addition, she knows people, and I mean really knows people, not just on a surface level, but deep down inside. Her characters are so well developed and their struggles are so real. As I read, I was reminded of one of my favorite T.V. shows from my childhood, “The Waltons”. Ms. Howeler’s characters and the struggles they faced were reminiscent of the Walton family and their struggles. But, in addition to the struggles, the loving bond of family and the strength of that bond shines through.
Ms. Howeler also did a very good job of creating her setting. She painted pictures in my mind of cows and fields and the barn. One scene includes the birth of a calf and the description gives the reader a very clear picture, not only of the birth, but of the importance and meaning of new life.
I found myself so involved in the lives of the Tanner family and cared so much about what happened to them that they became part of my group of friends and I found the ending bittersweet as I wanted to see how things would turn out, but at the same time, was hesitant to say goodbye to such rich, engaging characters.
The ending doesn’t resolve every aspect of the story, leaving the reader the promise of another story to come, and I look forward to reading the next book as soon as possible. The characters and their circumstances in this story sometimes made me smile, sometimes laugh out loud, and once made me cry. A story that evokes these kinds of emotions are the stories I love best and the ones that will live in my memory.
I highly recommend The Farmer’s Daughter by Lisa R. Howeler to anyone who loves to read stories that touch your heart and that show what it’s like to live with a family that has its struggles but works together to get through them. None of the characters are perfect. They are very much like any of us and are very realistic, which makes the story all the more meaningful.
I will add that there are some steamy romance scenes but nothing in detail and nothing overly explicit.
Army of the Cursed by Karim Soliman is the first book in his War of the Last Day series. As a Book Reviewer, I received a free ebook copy of this novel and this is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review.
Though this is the first book in the War of the Last Day series by Karim Soliman, it is not his first book. He also wrote the Tales of Gorania series, which tell the story of Gorania, the world in which the Army of the Cursed takes place. Army of the Cursed by Karim Soliman is an epic fantasy novel with a complex world, lots of characters, and a battle that could end the human race and destroy Gorania.
Though their are many characters in the story, and all play an important role, three characters are key to the storyline. Leila, who gave up her right to be Crown Princess of Murase because she longed to be a mage and had been studying for it for years; Nardine, the Crown Princess of Bermania, who struggles to get along with her mother, Queen Rona. Nardine hears a rumor that her father was close to finding a weapon against the immortal demons and so begins to try to find out what happened to his unfinished work. Far away in the northlands of Skandivia, Halgrim is told of a lie that changes the path he had planned to take to a path that leads him to war with the Army of the Cursed.
Mr. Soliman did a great job creating a complex world with lots of interesting characters and intertwining their lives. His writing is easy to follow and the plotline is full of intrigue, action, and battles.
The only thing I struggled with was the pacing of the story. I think the plot dragged in the last third of the book and thought the war with the Army of the Cursed could’ve happened sooner and brought the story to its conclusion earlier. However, I liked the world and the characters enough to keep me reading to the end. And, as I have only begun reading fantasy stories in the past couple years, diehard fantasy readers may not have a problem with the pacing of this novel. It is my understanding that epic fantasy novels are lengthy.
I would definitely read the the next book in the War of the Last Day series when it becomes available because I am invested in the lives of the characters, especially Leila and Zahra.
I give Army of the Cursed by Karim Soliman 5 stars because of his talent with building the world and tying the characters from so many places altogether.
When your manuscript is complete and you are reading over it looking for errors, remember to read aloud. I mentioned this in my last “Self-Editing Tips” post, but now I’d like to add that you may have to read aloud through your manuscript more than once in order to catch all of the things I am sharing in these posts. But remember, the more errors you can find and fix on your own, the less you will have to pay an editor to find, and the less will end up in the final published copy.
So, what are you looking for this time?
I want to mention a couple more grammar items here. One I mentioned in the last “Self-Editing Tips” post, (click on editing in Categories to find all my posts about editing and self-editing), is a very common error in the use of the words lie and lay. I am going to ask you to read a post on another blog that explains this very well, along with one or two other common grammatical errors, so click here. This post was written by a writer friend of mine on a blog that a group of six writers, including me, post on.
In addition to the grammar you just read on that post, I would like to address who and whom. I continually see writers using who but never using whom when they should.
Who is used as the subject of a verb or as a complement of a linking verb. For example: It was Sara who baked the peach pies. When writing a sentence, first determine what the verbs are — was and baked. Next, find the subject for each verb: Sara and who. Because who is a subject, it is correct. Who won the fifty yard dash?
Whom is used as the object of the verb or as the object of a preposition. It’s an objective pronoun. For example: Jason took whom to the prom? In this sentence, the subject and verb are “Jason took”. The pronoun that follows the verb is the object of the verb. Therefore whom is correct. Example: She’s playing tennis with whom? This pronoun is the object of the preposition with, so whom is the proper choice.
However, you need to be careful. Sometimes the prepositional pronoun in question can also be a subject — if it is, you need to use who. For example: Princess Liana cheered for who exhibited the best character. Even though the pronoun follows the preposition “for”, it is also the subject of the second verb “exhibited”. When used as a subject, always use who.
As a writer and an avid reader, I find that just as two of the writing tools above have changed a lot over the years, so have the books that get published. Due to the option of self-publishing and the ability to publish not only hardcover or paperback books, but also ebooks. The market is over saturated with writers and their works.
In some ways this is a good thing. In other ways, not so much. I do not mean to step on anyone’s toes in this article nor am I looking for an argument. I simply want to write what I have seen, learned, and experienced for myself with the hope that it may present food for thought for both readers and writers alike.
I have loved to read ever since I learned how to do so. I have also dreamed of being a published writer for many years…
Frogtown Pandemic Part 1 is the first short novel written by Lief Olson. I purchased this book as it sounded intriguing to me, so the author did not request a review from me, but I have decided to share my honest review of the book on my own.
Mr. Olson wrote this book during the 2020 world pandemic and published it on June 4, 2021. This book is a quick easy read, and Mr. Olson includes historical events, as well as quotes from the founding documents of the United States. He not only includes issues in today’s world, but also issues from our history, dating back to the American Revolution.
His historical facts are accurate and the story is interesting. There is an ongoing battle between the Toads and the Frogs, with the Frogs representing the patriots who battled against “taxation against representation” and more.
Though it only took me four days to read it, I can’t say that I was really drawn into the story or that I really enjoyed it, as it was clear that Mr. Olson wrote the story quickly, and my assumption as to why would be that because it includes a viral pandemic, he wanted to publish it because of its current and timely material. However, because he wrote it quickly, it also appears that he didn’t employ the help of an editor before publishing. It includes many grammatical errors and breaks the long-standing rule, in the writing world, of “show, don’t tell”. The majority of the story is told.
However, despite the lack of edits, Frogtown Pandemic is worth the read if you enjoy history and engaging your brain in thoughts regarding conservative political theory and past and current events.
On September 2, 2021, I posted my review of The Red Button by Keith Eldred. If you missed it, you can read it here.
I also had the pleasure of interviewing Keith Eldred recently, and this post is the result of that interview.
Q: Are you a Charles Dickens fan or just a fan of A Christmas Carol?
A: I’m certainly a fan and admirer of Dickens. I’ve read a biography of him. Complicated guy! I’ve never been the kind of reader who seeks out every last work of an author, but besides “A Christmas Carol,” I have the highest of affection for “Great Expectations,” “Our Mutual Friend,” and “Bleak House.”
Q: Where did your inspiration to write a story about Ebenezer Scrooge’s life before A Christmas Carol come from?
A: Since my teens I’ve had great interest in how a person changes through life, and over the years I’ve seen the truth of the notion of “The child is father to the man,” because early decisions and experiences have such influence on what comes later. My attention spikes when a story rolls back to a character’s past, and of course that happens repeatedly in “A Christmas Carol.” I’m always moved when Scrooge sees himself as a boy and then as a young man. The scene of his broken engagement is heartrending. Belle is so kind, clear-minded and quietly strong that I trust her perception, so I have to believe that she found much to love in the young Ebenezer. It’s devastating to hear that she saw that he was becoming impossible to marry and live with. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to spend time with the two of them. I simply loved them as a couple, and I wanted to think about what they shared on their way to parting and what went wrong.
Q: Though The Red Button is a tale about Ebenezer Scrooge prior to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, at the end of The Red Button, Ebenezer still isn’t quite as harsh as he is in the beginning of Dickens’ tale. Why did you choose to allow him a glimmer of softness?
A: I imagine Scrooge’s becoming harder and harsher in subtle degrees as he ages, almost imperceptibly (particularly to himself), and that this happens because it is to his advantage as a businessman and also to protect his feelings by distancing himself from others after his heartbreak. But at the end of “The Red Button,” just after his broken engagement, young Scrooge has only begun to harden. He is still the person whom Belle was certain she would marry only weeks, or even days, earlier. He is still thoughtful and considerate. Sadly, Belle saw the earliest signs that her beloved’s worst impulses would overtake him. I tried to think of Scrooge as an actual person, and at this time of his life, it seemed to me that he would still barely resemble the flinty old man whom he would become.
Q: Do you hope readers will definitely connect your Ebenezer Scrooge with the Scrooge in Dicken’s novel and do you hope that fans, who read A Christmas Carol every Christmas season, will include The Red Button in their annual Christmas reading?
A: What a wonderful question! I’ve never imagined superfans of “A Christmas Carol” annually reading “The Red Button” along with any other re-imaginings of the story that they enjoy, but I must say that I’m taken with the idea. I do believe that “The Red Button” can reshape how you think about Scrooge when you reread “A Christmas Carol,” if only because you will have spent much more time with young Scrooge and young Belle, the latter of whom only appears for a few passages in the original story. I do want readers to entertain my version of Scrooge and think about his taking the kind of path that I describe, but I certainly do not believe that this is the only way his life could have gone. It’s just the scenario that I find most interesting.
Q: What do you really want readers to take away from The Red Button?
A: In a few words, the core idea is: Look deeper. The book is built around the simple visual that every day Ebenezer Scrooge secretly carries a red button that reminds him of his lost love. The person whom you find the most difficult might be completely different in ways that you never see.
Q: The Red Button is part of a project you and your wife embarked on in 2020. Would you please share what that project was?
A: With pleasure! Our project was motivated by Janet’s diagnosis of early-stage dementia and other neurological problems: seizures and syncope (blackouts). Her major problem is impaired memory, but Janet and I gradually came to realize that, with accommodation from coworkers, she could still perform her job as a public library director. As I write this, four years have passed since we originally thought that she would have to resign for medical reasons. However, not knowing what lay ahead, we decided to shift into bucket list mode. After much discussion, we formed a plan to blend our highest individual aims (after aiding and enjoying our children and grandchildren): Supporting Janet’s library and building an audience for my writing. I left my corporate job of 29 years to launch a project that we call THIS IS RED. Our moonshot goal is to raise $1 million for the Hollidaysburg Area Public Library, where Janet still works, by a combination of donations and proceeds from my writing. So far, we have raised about $20,000, including $10,000 from the American Library Association after Janet won its annual Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Facing Adversity and asked that the generous cash prize go directly to her library.
We launched THIS IS RED in 2019, but my special aim in 2020 (which happened to be the year when Janet and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary) was to self-publish twenty books, an effort that I called “20 for ’20.” I believed I could accomplish this because I had a large amount of unpublished writing, and I added concepts for three new books. “The Red Button” was one of those new books.
Kelly: What a blessing that your wife is still working at her library four years after your This Is Red project and thoughts that she might not be able to.
Q: Did every book for the project have a Christmas theme? If so, why?
A: It so happened that Christmas ran through much of my unpublished writing. I’d written stories for church events and an annual holiday gathering at my longtime corporate job, as well as a novella about an elf. I also realized that I could shape hundreds of haikus that I have written into collections that I could facetiously present as the work of Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and the eight reindeer, since, of course, the North Pole lends itself to downtime and introspection, the perfect breeding ground for poetry.
I have always found Christmas meaningful, but not because of decorations, parties, or even gifts. I find it meaningful as foundational to my faith but also because it’s a wistful time of year when many people face great pain and loneliness, while many also show great kindness and demonstrate tremendous sacrifice to create special memories for others.
Q: We already talked about The Red Button, which I read and reviewed. But you also wrote another book, Rubrum (Roo-brum, latin for Red), which was a sort of remix of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. What was the inspiration or idea behind this book?
A: As you say, ”Rubrum” is also based on “A Christmas Carol,” but it is nothing like “The Red Button.” It is a contemporary story, and “A Christmas Carol” is hidden in it to the point of being almost invisible, just as “Romeo & Juliet” is virtually hidden as the basis for “West Side Story.”
One of the closest comparisons that I have found to “Rubrum” is the coming-of-age drama and family saga “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,” which is similarly based on a literary classic. I’m avoiding revealing more for fear of spoiling the Sawtelle story, which got a lot of attention as a selection of the Oprah Book Club.
I should say that “Sawtelle” is the closest comparison I have found in book form. “Rubrum” also has many similarities to the movie “Manchester by the Sea”: A working-class loner burdened by his past is called to a responsibility that is overwhelming but also unavoidable.
The idea that seized me was that Scrooge’s defining characteristic was not his wealth nor his greed—it was a choice to isolate himself despite a number of close and uplifting connections: his sister, her son and the lost love of his life. Something else popped into mind that was silly and yet (at least to me) revealing: Imagining Scrooge using a modern self-checkout. Perfect for a misanthrope such as he, yet it also reinforced his loneliness. I played with all of the above, creating a version of Scrooge (my character Evan Easter, who gets his name from “Ebenezer”) who is poor, amazingly generous, and loved by many, yet a particular circumstance leads him to seal himself off from nearly everyone. And man, does he feel conflicted by self-checkouts.
I drafted the story in 160 consecutive daily Facebook posts. The story led places that I could have never imagined, and it was a momentous experience. I’m very proud of it.
Q: Did you reach your goal of publishing 20 books in 2020, and were all 20 books written by you?
A: Yep, I did it! I wrote them all, and I’m fortunate that over the years on my various jobs and projects, I was able to acquire all of the skills needed for every step: writing, editing, proofreading, designing covers and page graphics, writing the marketing blurbs, and formatting the documents for printing.
Q: Is there anything still happening with ThisIs.Red today? Can people still purchase your books and will any of the proceeds still go to your library?
A: THIS IS RED will be our project for as long as Janet and I live, because $1 million is a lot to raise, and we can always find more goals if and when we meet that one. Up to that million dollars, any profits from my “20 for ’20” books will go to our beloved “Hollidaysburg Area Public Library.” To buy the books, just search my name on Amazon. I always point to “The Red Button” in particular because that has the greatest potential to become a bestseller. That’s the novel that makes me go out my way to say, “Buy that one! Buy dozens of copies for your family, your friends, your enemies and complete strangers!”
Q: Did writing 20 books in a year give you the desire to write more, and are you planning on writing any more books?
A: I have plans for lots more books, and I do some drafting every day, but right now most of my time goes toward drawing attention to “The Red Button” to turn it into a best seller.
Q: You have a website, https://thisis.red/ where people can get updates and four free books. There is a blog section on the website that I have visited, and I have to say, it is unlike any blog I have ever seen before. Can you tell us about the blog and its purpose? Would you like to share any social media links?
A: Ah, yes! I mainly use the blog for what I call The Daily Red. Each post consists of one striking photograph captioned with an acronym that spells “RED.” For instance, a recent photo shows a young woman blowing a large gum bubble, and the caption is “Reaching Explosion Danger.” Each photo is a royalty-free stock image (my favorite source is Pexels.com), and they cover countless slices of life. As I type this, I have published over 650 of these images, and all of them can be found in our THIS IS RED social media feeds as well. On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter we are @thisisdotred.
I hope to see you and lots of your followers out on the Internet, Kelly! Thanks for asking these questions and for reading and reviewing “The Red Button.”
Kelly: You are very welcome. It was my pleasure, and I look forward to reading many more, if not all of the 20 books you wrote for This is Red, as I love Christmas so the Christmas themed ones definitely grab my interest.
For all of you reading this post, I encourage you all to buy and read The Red Button and any of the other wonderful stories I have spoken with Keith about here. I also encourage you to check out all 20 of his books as well as their social media sites for This is Red.
As a Book Reviewer, I received a free ebook copy of Jiving With a Royal by Tomi Tabb and this is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review of this book.
Jiving With a Royal is the second book in the Unexpected Royals series by Tomi Tabb. It is another entertaining, fun, clean romance story. Amanda Collins is Clara Little’s best friend, so when Clara’s fiance’s best friend shows up, Amanda isn’t quite sure how to act. She’s only been following his life, through the media, for years and has had a crush on him just as long. But now, he’s here in the flesh, in her apartment.
Amanda is a delightful character. She loves to cook. She loves Disney World and I Love Lucy. Eddie has never met anyone like her before. His life has been filled with troubles he’s trying to put behind him, and Amanda’s free spirit approach to life intrigues him.
Tomi Tabb is a talented author with a gift for creating delightful, relatable characters. Her stories are well written and I have enjoyed both books in her Unexpected Royals series and continue to look forward to more clean, fun romance stories by Ms. Tabb.
If you are an American who finds the British Royalty fascinating or you just enjoy lighthearted romance stories, you’re sure to love Jiving With a Royal by Tomi Tabb.
As a Book Reviewer, I received a free ebook copy of The Red Button by Keith Eldred and this is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review.
The Red Button by Keith Eldred is a unique work of fiction as it is written as a prequel, of sorts, to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Mr. Eldred has written an account of Ebenezer Scrooge’s life that explores his relationship with Belle, prior to becoming the grumpy miser we know from A Christmas Carol.
Mr. Eldred’s story is written in a very similar style as the classic A Christmas Carol, and fans of the original Dickens classic will be delighted to follow Ebenezer Scrooge through his meeting Belle, becoming interested in courting her to their engagement, and, of course, to the ending of the relationship, all while also following an interesting idea of Mr. Scrooge’s business dealings that made him rich. In addition, readers will follow how his line of thinking changes from the beginning of the book to the end of the book, as well as how he enters into a business relationship with Jacob Marley and becomes the grumpy miser, all of which make this book flow easily into the original Dickens classic that has become so known and loved.
Mr. Eldred has included an unlikely character that plays a part in this story, and that is the Red Button. He also created an unusual relationship between Belle and her mother. These two things make the story quite unique, adding Mr. Eldred’s original touch.
I enjoyed reading The Red Button by Keith Eldred, as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has always been, and still remains, one of my favorite Christmas stories of all time. And I will say, I read The Red Button carefully, as I looked for the connections to the original classic that I felt were important for the book to truly be acceptable to readers, like me, who love Dickens’ original classic, and I was pleased with the connections Mr. Eldred made.
If you are also a fan of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, I encourage you to read The Red Button by Keith Eldred. Mr. Eldred’s story may not include some of the most beloved characters or some lighthearted moments as the Dickens original, but if you like to explore the possibilities of literature’s best known characters’ lives, like Ebenezer Scrooge, I think you will enjoy The Red Button.
![The Farmer's Daughter: Book One in The Spencer Valley Chronicles by [Lisa R. Howeler]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XGxn2G-VS.jpg)
![Army of the Cursed (War of the Last Day Book 1) by [Karim Soliman]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KvOFQccML.jpg)
![Frogtown Pandemic- Part I (Frogtown Series Book 1) by [Lief Olson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dRkmQ2rML.jpg)
![RUBRUM: A novel retelling of A CHRISTMAS CAROL by [Keith Eldred]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HDplG8E3L.jpg)
![Dear One: 40 Letters in 40 Days to Someone Who Might Exist by [Keith Eldred, Dear One]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tUMbQITBL.jpg)
Kelly F Barr 