Books

Book Review: Unholy by Kathryn Amurra

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Unholy is the third and final book in the “Heart’s True Desire” series by Kathryn Amurra. The books in this series are all very unique, and the one thing that ties them together is a very unusual necklace.

Unholy is a Vampire Romance. However, the vampire is the most unique vampire character I have ever encountered, and the story is the most unique Vampire Romance story I have ever read. The main character is Beth D’Angelo, who is a college student. She is striving to get her thermodynamics experiment to work so that she can graduate. She is working with another college student, and she has a boyfriend. Beth has strong beliefs she lives by.

Between Beth’s frustrations with her experiment and the issues between her and her boyfriend, Beth is quite stressed. Then, one evening as she’s driving, she is certain that she has hit someone with her car, adding to her stress levels.

When she meets, Thomas, a very attractive man, who takes an interest in her, she finds herself drawn to him. Thomas, who is actually a centuries old vampire, finds Beth’s sweet nature a challenge to corrupt her. However, it isn’t long before Thomas finds that Beth has something that he craves more than blood.

What happens between Beth and Thomas, and Beth and her boyfriend, makes for a very interesting twist in Unholy. It’s been years since I have even considered reading a vampire story, but I found that once I started reading Unholy, I couldn’t put it down. The uniqueness of several characters and the story line held my attention.

Ms. Amurra created deep, interesting characters that she developed so well from the beginning of the book and throughout the story. Even the vampire was realistic. Ms. Amurra produced such a unique story line that I was intrigued and captivated until the very end.

I will say that there is some profanity in this book, but it is spread throughout and not overwhelming. There are two scenes that may be problematic for sensitive readers. However, there are no scenes that include a lot of graphic violence, blood, and gore.

I highly recommend this book to adult readers who crave unique stories, as well as those who enjoy vampire stories. I will also say that, after reading Unholy by Kathryn Amurra, I believe Thomas will forever be my favorite vampire.

Although I have read most of Kathryn Amurra’s books, after reading Unholy, I have truly become a dedicated fan and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

Unholy is truly worthy of 5 stars.

Fun and Successful Author Event

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Thursday evening, October 2, 2025, I participated in an Author Reception at my friend, Becky’s, beautiful artisan shop, Pebbles & Lace. This is me at the table I shared with my friend and fellow author, C.S. Wachter, ready to start greeting readers.

Here are some of the wonderful authors who participated. The cute little dog is the character in her mommy’s books, and she even co-signs the books her mommy sells. Her name is Charlamay. We had such a great turnout that I didn’t have enough time to meet and talk to all of the authors. I think I spoke to the majority of shoppers, though.

I have known this dear young lady since she was a young child. It was such a blessing to have her, her mom, and several of her siblings come out. I enjoyed seeing them. It was a blessing to have this young lady so excited and happy to purchase my book! She said she had waited a whole year to get it, and she had. She saw me just a month or two before I published it. She was the first to purchase my book at this event.

The young lady in the blue dress standing next to me came out for this event to promote her Literary Magazine the evening before its release! I was very intrigued because there aren’t very many literary magazines around anymore, since so many things are on the internet. Her magazine is called “The Drowsy Dragon”. It’s a small magazine of short stories by this young lady and a few other people. I was excited to purchase one and take it along home to read.

This author reception was definitely the most fun and most successful event I have attended as an author so far. Thank you to all of you who came out to support us authors! And thank you, Becky, for hosting this wonderful event!

I wish all of the author attendees blessings, and I hope to see you all again.

Book Review: A Break in the Weather by Roy Wood

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Back Cover Book Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Alley Price just wants her autistic classmate, Ben Sanders, to shut up because he won’t stop babbling about a blizzard that’s being predicted. But when the Great Blizzard of 1978 slams into Ohio, and Alley finds herself stranded in a garage with her would-be rapist, she turns to Ben for help in the middle of the night. The events that unfold change her attitude toward people with disabilities and reheat her relationship with Jesus.

My Thoughts:

As a Book Reviewer, I received a copy of A Break in the Weather. However, I was not required to write a positive review or any review. These are my honest opinions of the book.

A Break in the Weather is Roy Wood’s debut novel. It is YA. The story starts with tension between Alley Price and her mom’s boyfriend, and that tension and the situation continue to build until a snow blizzard. During the blizzard, the situation between Alley and her mom’s boyfriend escalates until Alley runs out in the blizzard, afraid for her safety.

Alley becomes a hero of the story through all the events that take place during the blizzard, but as she is stuck in a garage and not sure how to survive the blizzard, she reaches out to a boy she knows from school, who has Autism. She knows he’s very smart when it comes to science related things, so she calls him on the phone in the middle of the night, despite the fact that she ordinarily finds him quite annoying, and he quickly becomes a hero in the story as well.

Also, as Alley faces all of the events during the blizzard, she begins to think about Jesus. She hasn’t given him much time or attention in years, despite the fact that her best friend is a Christian, and Alley’s grandmother talked to her about Jesus a lot, until her grandmother passed away.

I found this story suspenseful and exciting, but the suspense and excitement slows down in the middle as the author focuses on events at school. However, just because the suspense and excitement slows down, this story, in no way, gets boring. Mr. Wood did a great job of developing his characters and expressing their very different personalities and how they react and respond to one another. Mr. Wood also did a great job in portraying how the characters learned to make good decisions, accept one another, work together, help one another, and encourage one another.

In the last third of the story, the tension and suspense build again, but not quite to the level they did in the first third, but readers who crave tension and suspense won’t be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this story and its characters. I also liked how Mr. Wood ended with an epilogue that gives the reader a glimpse into the Alley’s future as an adult.

Although this story includes a very awkward uncomfortable relationship that leads to revealing a character as a child predator and there is some violence, this is a clean story — no explicit sexual scenes and no profanity. Also, the child predator story line is brought to a satisfactory conclusion without being extremely traumatic or difficult to read.

There were just two places in the book, where I found a couple of scenes to be a bit confusing, but, they didn’t keep me from disliking the story or finishing the book.

I recommend A Break in the Weather by Roy Wood to readers ages 16 and up, who enjoy well-written, exciting YA stories that include a positive message or two.

I give A Break in the Weather by Roy Wood 5 stars.

Book Review: You Can Hide by Melissa Roos

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You Can Hide is Melissa Roos debut novel. She has written several novels since this one, and though they are all stand alone stories, I like to at least read an author’s first book before reading later ones. Ms. Roos books are Mystery/Romance stories.

Back Cover Blurb:

Jayde Walker is left for dead. Somehow she survives, and is the only witness to the murder of her best friend, Carrie. Fighting amnesia, she tries to get on with her life with the killer still on the loose. Then one night she remembers. The truth terrifies her and breaks her heart. She has to run. She has to hide. Leave behind everything. And everyone.

She runs with no clear direction in mind. Halfway across the country, lost in the Midwest, she makes a wrong turn, down a dead end road. She ends up in a ditch, unable to remember how or why she got there. The only thing she knows is she needs to disappear. The tall, lush green cornstalks of the vast fields call to her. Without hesitation Jayde steps in and disappears.

She’s lost, but found. Who can save her? Her fiance she left behind? The detective she trusted, or the farmer that found her? Who can she trust with her life? And her heart?

NOTE: I have made some punctuation corrections in the Back Cover Blurb. However, I have left the writing as written, even though as an editor, I see things I would suggest be corrected.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I like the characters in You Can Hide. Miss Roos did a great job creating and developing her characters. The plot is filled with tension and suspense. It’s one of those stories that made me want to keep turning the pages, but not because I wanted to find out who the murderer was. I was more interesed in finding out how the romance in the story was going to turn out because I really liked the relationship between Jayde and the farmer who found her, and I was fairly certain I knew who the murderer was.

For me, I felt like the murderer was revealed near the beginning of the story. There was one point in the story that I thought it might be someone else, but as I looked back to the beginning of the book, there wasn’t any other character identified that it could have been. However, the way that the murderer sought after Jayde and all the tension that caused and built to the climax definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be reading any more books written by Melissa Roos because I wasn’t expecting a lot of profanity in this book, and when it first started appearing, it was mild and the words were few and far between. However, when I reached page 175 and found the Lord’s name taken in vain, I was shocked and taken aback. Then on page 176 the “f” word was used. There were only a few mild words up until that point, and even after those two pages, there weren’t too many profane words. However, in the last fourth of the books, the profanity became something that regularly came out of the characters’ mouths.

To me, that’s very sad. I don’t think those words are necessary to make a book realistic nor do I think they add anything to the story.

The other thing I found that distracted me from the story were the things that should have been taken care of in the editing process prior to publishing the book. I know that most professional editors charge a lot of money that most authors cannot afford, but there are some that will edit for a reasonable price. Even participating in a good critique group can help help with a lot of the errors I saw throughout this book.

I can only give this book 3 stars, and I’m not going to post it anywhere but here, (which will also post on my Facebook page), because I know book reviews are important to an author, but they don’t help it they can’t give lots of praise and at least 4 stars.

Book Review: The Beauty of Crows by Claire Sanders

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I just have to say, “I LOVE this cover!

I have been a Claire Sanders fan ever since I read her “The Masons of Brightfield” sweet romance series in 2021. So, I was thrilled to find out that she released a new book, The Beauty of Crows. I was thrilled to receive a copy and asked to write a review, so this is my honest review.

I was intrigued by the title, The Beauty of Crows, because I’ve never thought of crows as beautiful birds. The title was the thing that attracted my attention and made me want to read this book.

I have to say I was very surprised. The Beauty of Crows includes quite a bit more tension than The Masons of Brightfield series. This tension kept me turning pages until past my bedtime every night.

In The Beauty of Crows, Ms. Sanders has created extremely interesting characters who have struggles that many readers have either experienced for themselves, or know someone close to them who has. Her character, Rachel, was raised by a strict father who is the pastor of a church like many churches years ago—churches where pastors preached “hellfire and brimstone”. Her father has kept Rachel on the straight and narrow and she thought her life was fine and she was content.

Alden Fairchild is a rebellious young man, who has grown tired of his father’s attempts to keep him on the straight and narrow because his father criticized him and always found him lacking. So, Alden quickly resorts to a life of seeking after his fleshly desires and pleasures, and there’s nothing he likes better than causing raised eyebrows among people who walk the straight and narrow. Alden’s actions eventually cause him to be blamed for a crime and he has to face the possibility of losing his life.

Rachel’s convictions lead her to committing perjury in an attempt to save the life of someone she really doesn’t like.

Alden’s actions and Rachel’s convictions cause them to cross paths and change both their lives forever.

The Beauty of Crows is a wonderful story with at least two great messages. It is a clean fiction novel with engaging characters and a tense, page-turning plot.

If you like your romance stories on the tense side causing you to wonder about the outcome until near the end of the book, I highly recommend The Beauty of Crows. If you’ve never read a Claire Sanders novel, I highly recommend you start with this one. You won’t be disappointed.

I give The Beauty of Crows 5 stars.

Follow-up on the Previously Mentioned Author Event

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I attended the Author’s event at the Intercourse Library on Saturday, July 19, 2025. It was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. We had a steady trickle of attendees from about 11:30 until 1:10. After that, it was dead. I was able to meet some new people, gain one more sign-up for my newsletter, and connect with a few authors. However, sales were very hard to come by. I have come to the conclusion that Summer is not a great time for an Author event, and location matters. Unfortunately, the Intercourse Library is a bit off the beaten path and has no signage to let people know it’s there.

The above photo shows my friend, Shelleen Weaver, sharing one of her wonderful children’s books from her Fruit Fables Series with three attendees. Each of her fables focuses on one of the Fruits of the Spirit and the illustrations are beautiful!

The above is a photo of Melissa Roos’s table with all of her books. Right after set up, I spoke with her briefly and purchased a copy of You Can Hide, her first book. She mentioned that Tennessee Wishes was available on Amazon Kindle for free that day, so I downloaded it as soon as I got home. I purchased her other books on Kindle today. I love Mystery/Romance and these all sound so good!

Later, when the traffic was slow, I returned to Melissa’s stand to talk to her more. I enjoyed asking her about her writing journey, and we discussed book covers because I really love her covers for The Further I Fall and Cherry Hollow. She encouraged me in regard to designing my own book covers.

When there wasn’t a single “shopper” in the room, other than the owner of these two furry ladies, he mentioned that these girls were waiting outside. So the author he came to purchase a book from and I went out to see them. They are Greyhounds and were quite sweet and friendly, and I found their coats much softer than I expected.

I would say having one of my author friends go on a coffee run and bring back a chai latte for me, meeting the Greyhounds, seeing my friend, Shelleen, sharing a table with my friend, Megan, encouraging a struggling author at the table next to us, and talking with Melissa Roos were the best parts of the day for me. Though this Author event wasn’t what I had hoped, I look forward to the next Author I will be participating in. It will be held at Pebbles & Lace Boutique in East Lampeter on October 2nd. Check out my upcoming events tab for details.

Some Additional Great Writing Resources

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If you haven’t noticed all the tabs at the top of this website, today I would like to draw your attention to the one labeled “Great Resources for Writers and Authors”.

I am a firm believer in being a lifelong learner in the writing world. This helps you to always be on top of things in the publishing world. It also helps you continually improve your craft. Therefore, I include this page on my website and occasionally add to it to help all writers and authors who also want to continually improve their craft.

Today I have added a website that I couldn’t believe I didn’t already have on the list, “Writers Helping Writers”. It’s a great website with so many helpful tools, workshops, and software, as well as FREE worksheets and blog articles to help you improve your writing.

Today, I also added two books I recently purchased because they were recommended by a speaker at a writers’ conference I attended earlier this year. I recently purchased them and am excited to dive into them because I love character driven stories. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to improve on creating my characters and making them complex, realistic, and believable.

The two books I added are:

What Type Am I? by Renee Baron. This is a book based on the Classic Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This book can help you create strengths and weaknesses for your characters as well as for their personal growth.

The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders. I am most excited about this one! This book promises to help the writer create extraordinarily memorable characters and elevate their writing to a higher level.

I encourage you to check out these resources as well as my “Great Resources for Writers and Authors” page for more helpful resources. You can begin with one or two, then come back to my “Great Resources for Writers and Authors” page to find more.

Let me know if you visit any of the websites I have listed or read any of the great books and what you think of them.

What Happened to My 25 Classics in 2025 Book Challenge?

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In January 2025, I joined a “25 Classics in 2025” reading challenge with every intention of successfully completing the challenge.

Sadly, I finished reading Silas Marner by George Eliot on Friday night and decided I was done with this challenge. Here’s why:

  1. I only found two of these books enjoyable: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and The Blue Castle because these two books had interesting characters that I liked and cared enough about to want to read through to the end of the book. Their plots were also clear and understandable, without a lot of extra unnecessary things cluttering the story.
  2. Two of these books were, what I would call “mediocre”: A Tale of Two Cities and Silas Marner. I liked and cared about several characters, in A Tale of Two Cities, enough to keep reading because I wanted to see what would happen to them. The problems I had with Silas Marner were that Silas Marner doesn’t really become a main character in the story until about two thirds of the way through the book. The first two-thirds of the book are mostly about two brothers, and not brothers of Silas Marner. In the last third of the story, Silas Marner finally becomes a main character and, eventually, the author shows how the decisions and actions of the characters, in the first two thirds of the book, had an effect on Silas Marner’s life and how his life changed, but the reader has to get through two thirds of the book before they engage enough with Silas Marner to actually care about him.
  3. The other four books were very difficult to push through, either because their main characters were unlikable or because there just wasn’t enough to hold my interest.

Does this mean I will never read another Classic or that I don’t believe that there are any Classics that have value? Absolutely not. I believe Classics are very valuable and have lessons we can learn. In the past I have read classics I absolutely love and reread: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

I believe the problem lies in how the books are written. Every good book grabs the reader’s attention at the beginning and holds their attention until the end. A good book has characters the reader cares about and is willing to take their journey with them. I believe it’s more difficult to find Classics that do this, but they do exist, and not only are the good ones worth finding and reading, but they all have important lessons we can learn. At least all the ones I love and reread do.

So, though I have decided to drop out of the “25 Classics in 2025” reading challenge, I intend to continue reading Classics. My plan, from here on out, is to read 3 or 4 Classics each year, in between reading books that are on my neverending TBR pile. I have also decided to not feel guilty, if I decide not to finish a Classic that I’m not really enjoying.

I completed all the books above because I was trying to reach a goal. I have decided that I don’t have enough time to read, and, therefore, I will dedicate my reading time to books I truly enjoy.

How about you? Do you read Classics? Which ones have you really enjoyed?

Book Review: The Exceptionals by Clara Howell

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Clara Howell, a high school student in my area, has written and published her first novel. At age 13, while she struggled to find fantasy books that met her advanced reading level and were appropriate for a young teen, she decided to write her own. According to Amazon, The Exceptionals is a 337 page fantasy novel that was published on January 11, 2024.

This book came from an idea Clara had in eighth grade. Clara’s high school English teacher, Scott Hertzog, encouraged her to participate in an independent study. Clara and Mr. Hertzog worked together, and by November 2023, Clara had completed her final draft. She, then, decided to try her hand at graphic arts and created her book cover.

A friend of mine suggested I read The Exceptionals by Clara Howell, so I did.

Back Cover Blurb:

“Sometimes We’re More Like Our Enemies Than We Think”

All her life, Aila Vinn has been taught to fear the Exceptionals. She’s been told that they are dangerous, containing otherworldly powers that make them a threat to the country of Rosan. Marked by a brown X on their left hand, Exceptionals are to be reported on sight. Eight years ago, Aila reported her best friend and watched as the Exceptional Police dragged him away to his death.

On her sixteenth birthday, Aila wakes up to find an X on her own hand, irreparably changing the course of her life.

In another part of Rosan, Storm Dawson is a thief who lives with his nine brothers. Dirt-poor and faced with a life of hard work and little food, Storm dreams of a world beyond the simple streets of Ferrol. He gets more than he asked for when he finds himself marked as an Exceptional and is torn away from the only life he knows.

Both Aila and Storm are reported to the Exceptional Police and supposedly taken to their deaths. But when they wake up the next morning, they begin to realize that the Exceptionals are not what they seem. Secrets are revealed, dangers are faced, and at the heart of the struggle sits a deception that threatens to uproot the entire empire.

In the midst of it all, both teens must face a difficult question: How far are they willing to go to get what they want?

My Review:

The Exceptionals is an exciting, suspenseful novel with a couple unexpected twists. The characters are well developed and keep the reader’s attention. You will find yourself cheering one of the main characters on throughout the book, while wondering, at times, how the other’s decisions will affect the lives of several characters.

This novel is well written and will have the reader on the edge of their seats several times throughout the story. It definitely keeps the reader turning pages.

The characters think for themselves, seek answers to their questions, and make decisions based on what they know and learn, and on their personal convictions.

It is clean fiction. It is a good vs. evil story, and though, there is no clear Christian message, the story does include Christian values such as: kindness, friendship, love and care for a family, and courage.

I greatly enjoyed the story and recommend it. I hope to see more novels by Clara Howell.

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell

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A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is the debut novel of Angela Bell, and what a debut it is!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, and once I did, I couldn’t wait to read it. While reading it, I found it increasingly difficult to put down. Unfortunately, I only have 2-3 hours each evening to spend reading. However, this past Sunday, I spent about 5 hours reading this book because I enjoyed it so much!

I have to say that Angela Bell is an outstanding author. This book is incredibly well written and is very unique. The characters grab your heart from the start. The troubles they face and the adventures they have keep you turning pages. A couple of the characters are quite quirky, which adds some unexpected twists and extra fun to the story. There are even some animal characters that have very interesting personalities and behaviors that add to the uniqueness and adventure. This novel includes adventure, history, steampunk, characters who face struggles that we can relate to, danger, suspense, and a sweet romance. Who could ask for more?

It’s also quite apparent that Ms. Bell not only enjoys using metaphors, but is a master at using metaphors. Her metaphors paint pictures in the reader’s mind and add to the fun of reading this book.

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is also a story about faith, and as I read, I found a need to grab a journal and write down my favorite wise and inspirational quotes from the book:

“What-ifs are not acquainted with what-is, and they spread horrid falsehoods about what-will-be, so why bother entertaining them? I’d sooner invite hope into my home — for even when her predictions miss the mark, she makes for pleasant company and eats far less food.”

“Oh Clara Marie. The Lord never promised that life would be safe. But He did promise to be with us always. Whatever the harrowing journey life may bring, rest assured, you shall never be left to face it alone.”

“Romance and adventure are the idealistic scribblings of Austen and Dumas. Like Elizabeth Bennet and Athos, they are not real. Nor do they exist off the page. To believe otherwise is to suffer disillusionment and heartbreak.”

Elizabeth Bennet’s happily-ever-after might be a work of fiction, but love is real enough. Sometimes it takes idealistic scribblings to remind us of that truth when the whole of our very real, very dark world makes it feel like a lie.”

“You are A maker. Not THE Maker.” Miss Stanton gave his hand a firm squeeze. “Just as Grand would never expect a clock to fix its own windings, God would never expect us to mend our own hearts.”

“Lift your face to the heavens, granddaughter mine! Recall the joyous wonder of dwelling and dreaming beneath a canopy of stars, embracing the peace found in total dependence on Him who spoke their radiance into being. That is my wish for you. That is my prayer.”

“Not all people are treated as palaces, admired by travelers and protected by armed guard. Some of us are treated as a cobbled road, trod upon and soon forgotten. That’s just the way of things.”

“Love is much like a flower, child. You can’t guarantee it’ll grow or endure a bitter winter to bloom again. All you can do is plant what you’re given, tend it faithfully, and rely on the God who cares for the lillies of the field as much as He cares for our hearts.”

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure has definitely won a spot on my Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time and I will never forget characters, Theodore, Clara, Mrs. S, Grand, and even Mr. Forrester, as well as Fred, Phileas, Honorine, and Todd.

I will be eagerly awaiting what Angela Bell has for her readers next.