Month: January 2013

Book Talk Tuesday: In Harm’s Way

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When a friend first recommended Irene Hannon, she said In Harm’s Way was the best one she’d read. I chose to start with the first in the Heroes of Quantico series. This is the better book, but I’m not sorry I started with Book One. I skipped Book Two even though I’m sure it’s excellent also. I just have a limit to how much time and money I can spend reading. In Harms WayFrom what I can tell, the books are loosely related (crossover characters) but do not need to be read in order. Come on, they’re romances. As I read book one, I knew which character would be the protagonist of book two. Book three featured him and his wife in supporting roles. Because this is romantic suspense, you can be sure the hero and heroine are going to end up together, so skipping book two didn’t “ruin” anything for me. If book two crosses my path, I’ll read it. Anyhoo…

 

  I did buy Hannon’s newest book, Vanished, and it’s in my To Be Read Stack (affectionately known as Mt. TBR).

But about In Harm’s Way …

Rachel Sutton finds a dingy doll in a restaurant parking lot, covered in snow and ice. She digs it out because she imagines the child who lost the doll is inconsolable. But when she plucks it from the ice, terror races down her spine. She knows it sounds crazy to say she’s getting “vibes” from a doll but the feelings are so strong she’s compelled to take the doll to the local FBI office.

Special Agent Nick Bradley would like to write off Rachel’s story as being from a kook. But he witnesses her physical reaction and sees that she’s rational and uneasy herself about being labeled either a psychic or a nut.

Neither Rachel nor Nick foresee how that doll will figure into their lives and how it relates to an abducted infant hundreds of miles away.

I enjoyed this one a lot. The writing is great. I was concerned about the “psychic” element but Hannon offers a perfectly reasonable explanation and the incidents continue throughout the story. Well done! I may have to move Vanished to the top of the stack.

Woe! It’s Wednesday: Scared to Death? Or Scared to Peace?

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The world is a scary place.

School shootings.

Domestic violence.

Road rage.

Mama Snooki. 

People are running to buy guns and ammo as fast as others are decrying the availability of weapons.

Two centuries ago people didn’t worry about car accidents or road rage. They just dreaded small pox and influenza.

One hundred years ago, random violence was limited to gangsters and feuds. But typhoid and lead poisoning were common.

Even twenty years ago some of our everyday annoyances were unknown. For instance, updating a piece of software on your computer and it hijacks your search program and instead of getting search results from Google, the computer has been brain washed and insists on sending you to ask.com for results. I’m so frustrated right now that I’m tempted to resort to some computing violence.

Anyway, my point is that there have always been worry-making issues in life. Whether it was roaming bandits, diphtheria, or assault weapons, mankind has never lived a life free of worry.

We can let it cripple us. Or we can get up, dust ourselves off, and dive back in.

When Stud Muffin was in law enforcement I was often asked about how much I worried. I truthfully said I very rarely worried.

I made a conscious decision that I would not live my life in fear of what might happen. I’d rather deal with the here and now.

Matthew  6:34 says it well: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I’d rather spend my today concerned about its trouble. Tomorrow’s worry will arrive soon enough.

Now, I have to roll up my metaphorical sleeves and figure out how to get rid of this annoying  search engine hijack. I’ve done all the uninstalls, resets, etc. This is today’s worry. Tomorrow it will be something else.

It’s the way of us humankinds. 

Book Talk Tuesday: Wish You Were Here

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I had the double blessing of being part of an online workshop where Beth Vogt shared her original opening to Wish You Were Here and the one she ended up selling the book with. What a difference! It changed from an ordinary beginning to one with a spark of something special. I immediately requested it from the library. Then I attended another online workshop and won a copy of my own as a door prize! Wish You Were Here by Beth Vogt

Allison Denman has been dating and/or engaged to Seth since they were in high school. Seth’s brother Daniel has been a friend, sending her postcards from his worldwide travels. Allison has coasted through her relationships, allowing Seth to dictate everything from her dinner choices to how they spend their free time. She even picked a wedding dress that Seth would like, not one that she liked. Five days before the wedding, Allison and Daniel share a kiss in an “unguarded moment.”

Allison’s in turmoil. Seth is cool and in control.

For the first time, Allison takes back the reins of her own life. Wish You Were Here is a fun glimpse at life when Mr. Wrong is really Mr. Right and the supposed Mr. Right was Mr. Right-Then-But-We’ve-Moved-On.

The characters felt authentic to me. I liked the set-up and enjoyed the unfolding story.

I’ll read more by Beth Vogt. In fact, I may attend more workshops just for the chance to win her next release, Catch A Falling Star.

Woe! It’s Wednesday

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Life is hard. Life isn’t fair. Life sucks.

I’ve heard (and felt) all of the above in the last few weeks. And with some good reasons:

  • A friend is slowly being crippled by a chronic disease.
  • A thirty-something mother of three young girls from church has decided to stop chemo and begin palliative/comfort care for the remainder of her life.
  • Two babies died this week.
  • A niece passed a kidney stone the size of a pea.
  • A young man is dying of AIDS.

Life is hard.

Life isn’t fair.

Life sucks. 

But it’s what we’re stuck with as long as we’re on this side of eternity. I keep coming back to the fact that “… our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

I have a friend who keeps threatening promising to make t-shirts that say “Heaven is Gonna Rock.”

The more people I know on that other side, the dearer Heaven becomes. I made one of the dying people I know promise to deliver a few messages for me.

I’m not morbidly thinking I will die anytime soon, or wishing for heaven.

It’s more like a favorite aunt and uncle has moved to Fairbanks. I’ve never had a desire to go to Fairbanks and see it for myself. But just knowing that someone I love is there makes the thought of traveling to Fairbanks a little more bearable. And it makes Fairbanks a bit more special to me.

You know how real life is left behind when you’re on vacation? Heaven is kind of like a permanent vacation from laundry and dental cleanings.

It’s gonna ROCK!

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Book Talk Tuesday: Explosive Eighteen

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Even though I kept reading them, for a while now, I’ve felt like the Stephanie Plum books were a bit over the top. I mean, just how many cars can Stephanie blow up in one book? I think the record was three. Maybe four.

While still big and verging on over the top, I liked Explosive Eighteen more than some of the recent numbers. Explosive Eighteen

Stephanie does lose a car but not to any explosion or accident. I liked how Janet Evanovich was able to keep up with the theme of Stephanie’s car woes without resorting to another Molotov cocktail or grenade launcher. Not so say explosions don’t happen. Lula and a rocket launcher. ‘nuff said.

I think someone was after Stephanie. She was usually half a step ahead and escaped by the narrowest of margins. Ranger saved her once or twice. She called Joe. Bob the dog was happy to see her. She went to her parents’ home to eat. She picked up a couple of skips. Grandma went to a funeral or two.

There you go. A Stephanie Plum novel summary. And a darn enjoyable one at that!

The plot of any Stephanie Plum book doesn’t really matter. The story is just an excuse to showcase Stephanie’s confusion about Joe Morelli and Ranger as well as Lula’s and Grandma Mazur’s outrageousness. Both had been reined in just a tiny bit, which worked better for me. All in all, I’ll keep reading!