Book Trailer: Finding Jack

This book, previously published in England as Leaving Jack, is being released in the United States February 15th of this year. I'm excited about reading it. I love dogs and I support the military. This is a combinition of both...

When the war ends, how do you leave your best friend behind?

After losing his young family in a tragic accident, Fletcher Carson joins the flagging war effort in Vietnam. Deeply depressed, he plans to die in the war. But during one of his early missions, Fletcher rescues a critically wounded yellow Labrador whom he nurses back to health and names Jack. As Fletcher and Jack patrol and survive the jungles of Vietnam, Fletcher slowly regains the will to live. At the end of the war, the U.S. Government announces that due to the cost of withdrawal, all U.S. dogs serving in the war have been declared “surplus military equipment” and will not be transported home. For the hundreds of dog handlers throughout Vietnam, whose dogs had saved countless lives, the news is greeted with shock and disbelief. For Fletcher, he knows that if he abandons Jack, then he too will be lost. Ordered to leave Jack behind, he refuses — and so begins their journey.

Based on the actual existence and abandonment of canine units in Vietnam, Gareth Crocker’s Finding Jack is a novel of loyalty and love under desperate circumstances that will grab your heart and won’t let go.

To view the Finding Jack viral video, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=078S46VLJBo

Thus, fellow dog lovers and supporters of the military, do take the time to watch that video (link above) and add this book to your TBRs.

A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent

This is one of those books that contains both good and bad for me. The heroine, Marguerite, has an unfortunate turn of events resulting in the loss of her Aunt's doll shop and her husband. Her pity party comes to an abrupt halt, however, when the opportunity to work with Madame Tussaud, famous wax figure maker arrises.  For me, the story involving Marie Tussaud and even her son, the first half of the novel, was the most interesting.

Madame Tussaud

I enjoyed the details of wax making from placing rolls of paper in the model's nose to placing the string just so.. Some real life historical figures pop up in the novel to have their wax figures done:

Charles Philippe, Comte deArtois

Frederica Charlotte, Duchess of York





Louise de Polastron



However, the novel had enough dislikes for me to drop it to a three star rating. As a matter of fact, had it not been for Madame Tussaud, I would have given this a two.. Let me explain why...

There's naive and then there's just plain stupid. The heroine is stupid. There's this fellow named Philipsthal and he has something going on with Tussaud. Tussaud hates him. Marguerite would like to get to the bottom of the entire thing, but rather than force the issue what does she do? OMG. She agrees to marry the dispicable man to help Tussaud. Well, I never once got the impression that Marg and Marie were THAT close.. However, at this point, Marg says the smartest thing she says throughout the entire novel. "I would like to visit your lawyer with you to draw up whatever documents are necessary to release Madame Tussaud from her obligations."

Well, five seconds later, she gives up that idea and hands her life away. She is far too agreeable and passive and just plain STUPID through the entire novel. She even bangs her head on a table and knocks herself out. LOL

Quote from page 181: "What have I done? Am I completely addlepated?"

I'm afraid so.

Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and children wax figures

The last half of the book has two men chasing Marg and also follows her brother in law. I hated his parts. His character did not interest me in the least. There's a shipwreck, wax figurines becoming life preservers (that is way cool!), and a historical battle where the heroine actually makes herself useful. (gasp!) Following this is some espionage...

Neverthless, by the time I reached the battle and espionage, I had begun to lose interest, partly because there was no more Madame Tussaud.

Three stars. I bought this book on Amazon.

Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson

Cross stitch is no longer just for grandmas. Now, thanks to Julie Jackson, there are patterns for the younger, more rebellious generation. It's no longer just bible verses, butterflies, and angels... It's four letter words, tattoo style designs, and sayings that can totally vent ones frustration.. And it's all in Subversive Cross Stitch.

There are 33 designs in this book and most of them are funny or offensive. In order to keep my blog appropriate for all who may come across it, I'm only showing two of the designs, both of which I made. (I also made a four letter word design.. but not posting it on here!)

First, I made something for my mother. Now, I love tatoos and thus, this design appealed to me. I played with it a bit though. I got rid of the heart and added a breast cancer ribbon that I found on crossstitch.com because my mom is a survivor.

 I also added the little blue birds from page 27, the Whatever design.

Upon completing this, I was having so much fun, I made myself one. Again, I made some modifications, I kept one bee but decided two was too cute and I have a reputation as a hard ass to maintain here... So, I replaced one bee with a skull and crossbones, pattern courtesy of whomever owned this book before me. I simply added a bow.

Gee, I wonder who Book Beeyatch is?

Note, I did not use plain white cross stitch fabric, but went with a pink stripe. I just wanted to be even more different.

In conclusion, I had fun with this book all weekend and I'm not even done making all I want to make from it. The designs are easy, simple to follow, none of those awful backstitches that take hours to do, and they are simple to change around. Check out this author's website for more offensive and fun stuff to stitch: http://www.subversivecrossstitch.com/index.html.

And that's what I did this weekend. :) I bought this book used on Amazon.

The Bench by Kevin Farran

I honestly like this author. This is the second Farran book I have read. I really enjoy his characters. He doesn't do the "damsel in distress" bit, but writes about strong women. In this case, the heroine, Jenny, isn't all that tough in the beginning... but as the story unfolds, she grows some balls.

Jenny is a book worm who works for a publishing company. She wears a skirt everyday, rides a bicycle with a flower basket, and hasn't been laid in five years. "She had become trapped reading other people's work, assessing and crushing other's dreams. Her own dreams remained cloistered, like some pariah that she was too afraid to release." She likes to keep to herself and spends her evenings on her balcony with a glass of wine. She's lonely and doesn't even realize it. Till someone begins leaving her romantic poems on her lunchtime park bench... and soon, Jenny begins to write responses even though she doesn't leave them on the bench.

She begins to imagine and fantasize about her mysterious poet and all the while, something inside her awakens. She gets a sexy dress. She tells off her jerk co worker.. "The only inferiority here is not shrouded in a frock, but is suffered by your remarkable and unchallenged mind, which subjugates itself to the stump that hangs between your legs."

Oh, I would love to say something like that to a fellow I work with... You go, girl!

Nevertheless, Jenny changes. Things at work change. She notices men she didn't notice before. She starts thinking about ... LOVE. And it may happen.

It has a somewhat sad ending in a way, not for Jenny, but for someone else. The lead up to it is quite hillarious though. I loved Jenny's conversation with her neighbor lady comparing men to baboons and Jenny's grandmother... When Jenny mentions her desire to get a dog, here's what Gran has to say, "Get a man instead. They're not as easy to train, and you still have to pick up their crap, but at least they can rub your shoulders if you get tired from writing. I think that's the only advantage."

Another laugh out loud moment... kinda.. "She thought women with punky haircuts and hard make up were either prostitutes or 'hard bitches.' (Hey!! I beg to differ!)

Good book. The only reason I don't give it a five is it has a lot of errors. There were lots of missing commas and there were periods where there should be question marks. A small amount of this would not bother me but I found myself scratching my head and rereading some things too often. Also, there are some disrepencies. Example: Jenny was given a dress but later in the book she is thinking about it her thought is, "She couldn't pay for it and not wear it though." There were some little things like that that threw me off a bit.

I still recommend it though. Great chick lit. There are even some discussions about my favorite show, Sex and the City.

I received this in ebook format from the author.

The Chocolate Fix by Kevin Farran

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. It had a rough beginning. A whole bunch of characters were introduced at once and who they were was very vague. I was beyond confused.. Who is who? What's this woman's problem? What is it with this woman and a piece of cement? But I scratched my head and read further..

It's a novel about four different women, each with their own problems to overcome.

My personal favorite is Thelma. She's a very large African American woman who has been ridiculed and abused her whole life for being fat. She decides to rise above her "station" in life, to prove to others that she is more than a fat woman of color. She is determined to be an architect and is just finishing up school. She should be happy, right? Not totally... See, while she has been struggling to get a degree and a job with a good firm, friends of hers in her African American community consistently bash her for "forgetting she's black" and trying make it in "whitey's" world...

Then there is Sinead.. a feisty, red headed, Irish gal who works as a butcher. She is a bit self conscious of her appearance. She doesn't feel sexy, desired, or attractive.. and her husband is no help in that department. But you wanna know what I love about this gal? When she catches her husband getting horizontal in another woman's waterbed, she doesn't sit there and cry about it.. She does something else. She's got balls!!!

There is also Simone. Simone is the oldest, around 44. She was burned badly by a man.. (of course!) years ago and has carried a grudge ever since. She starts to realize that despite all her young boy toys, her gorgeous white Jag, her sexy gay driver, and her fashion business, she is lonely. Something is missing from her life.

Last, and the only woman I had difficulty relating to, is Patty. Patty has been grieving for 15 long years for a dead husband. I'm talking extreme grieving.. going to his grave for HOURS every Friday and refusing to date any other man and la de da.  The woman has issues. Is she going to "get with it" or pass on her issues to her teenage daughter?

All these women meet to heal, laugh, and learn to love themselves again at a Spa/retreat type of place. I thoroughly enjoyed their banter, playing, arguments, and even the underlying issue about eminent domain. You see, all these women are connected by not only a spa, but their places of home or work.. One woman's work could ruin another woman's home..

Great book. There were some mistakes here and there but nothing to cry about. My only issue was the beginning.. though I finally put two and two together by the time I read the last page.. Thus, 4 stars.

I was provided an ebook of this by the author.

Cape Seduction by Anne Carter

This is a good mystery novel with a touch of historical fiction in it. It goes back and forth between 2008 and 1948. The story surrounds a lighthouse on the California coast with a shady history.. I did some research and came to the conclusion that the Dragon Rock lighthouse in the book bears a striking resemblance to The St. George Reef Lighthouse which sits six miles off the northern extreme coast of California.

"The St. George Reef Lighthouse took eleven years to build and sits on a concrete
pier 70 feet high. Its tower is 134 feet, made of 1339 granite blocks
with some blocks weighing up to 2 1/2 tons each."

Anyways, the 1948 story line follows a young movie starlet, Darla as she stars in a movie filmed at the lighthouse. She falls in love with her very handsome, very married co star, Jordan. In the backdrop there's a controlling father in law that is filming the movie, a jealous wife, a jealous ex boyfriend, and an couple of pregnancies. To make a long story short, someone either murders Darla or she disappears... and the lighthouse is at the thick of it.

"It was dubbed the "Dragon Rocks" by explorer George Vancouver in 1792."

The 2008 story follows Rebecca, a journalist/photographer with a mysterious family past. While driving around California shooting pictures of classic cars, Dragon Rock lighthouse draws her in. A woman on the shore blows her a kiss and then disappears.. Upon sneaking onto the lighthouse, a baby cradle beckons her. Rebecca must take extreme measures, however, to get on to the lighthouse property in order to get to the bottom of what she feels is a mystery needing to be solved and she poses as a woman with a charity organization to get close to the lawyer guarding the lighthouse for the owner. What she doesn't count on is her own personal feelings about her deceit and about the man she is deceiving. She starts to fall in love.

"Decommissioned in 1975, the 6000-pound first order Fresnel lens was removed by the
Coast Guard in 1983 and is now on display in Del Norte County Historical Society museum."

As Rebecca tries to push aside her feelings and get to the bottom of the mysterious ghostly woman in the lighthouse, readers slowly find out what really happened in 1948. There were a lot of shocking twists, turns, family secrets, and surprises by the conclusion of the book. It kept me guessing. I was amazed at the connections between the 1948 people and the 2008 characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, but it doesn't hit the five star mark for one reason: Darla. I didn't like her. I found her stupid, naive, deceitful, and just too unbelievable in her ignorance. Rebecca was deceitful as well but she remedies her ways and I came to like her. But, Darla was just TSTL (too stupid to live..) which is actually sorta why she dies. LOL

Four stars. I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Lighthouse information was found on this website: http://www.pbs.org/legendarylighthouses/html/calgl.html

Giveaway! Forbidden Places and Bliss, Remembered

First of all, much thanks to Overlook Press not only for providing the following two titles for my reviewing pleasure, but also for allowing me to host a giveaway for them. Overlook Press is giving away two copies each of the following titles I have featured on here at some time or another. Penny Vincenzi's "Forbidden Places" is one of them. I posted a review for it last month. http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2010/12/forbidden-places-by-penny-vincenzi.html. Anyway, two copies of that one and two copies of "Bliss, Remembered" by Frank Deford, reviewed by me earlier this year. http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2010/06/historical-fiction-hit-bliss-remembered.html. Leave a comment below stating your book preference (one being "I really want this one".. two being "but I would like this one too") and be sure that I have a way of contacting you should you win. Winners be chosen from Jazzy's dog bowl on January 15th at mine and Jazzy's convenience. :)

International entries are welcome.