Escape Through the Wilderness Review

 

 Goodreads

Title: Escape Through the Wilderness
Author: Gary Rodriguez
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Pages: 254
Genre: Teens/Children
Format: Paperback/Kindle

Sixteen-year-old Savannah Evans walks with a slight limp thanks to a gymnastics’ accident that dashed her Olympic dreams, but didn’t stop her from attending an adventure camp in Idaho. At Camp Arrowhead, she quickly befriends Jade Chang and Rico Cruz, but Conner Swift taunts Savi because of her injury.
When the four are teamed together for an overnight white-water river rafting adventure, Savi refuses to get in the same raft with Conner. Unfortunately, the director will not reassign her.
A fun expedition down the river turns into a nightmare when their raft slams into a huge rock and their adult guide disappears down the river.
Without their guide and desperately trying to steer an out-of-control raft, they pass the “last chance” marker and enter the larger rapids. With Jade pinned between the raft and a rock, and Rico clinging to a lifeline, Savi must cut the raft free.
When the four drag themselves out of the river, they’re bruised, beaten, lost, and twenty-five miles from camp. Because of late-night campfire tales of Vexel, a vicious animal that roams the nearby woods, Savi and the others are terrified.
Savi becomes the unlikely leader who tries to guide the group back to Camp Arrowhead. Limited supplies, injuries, and the constant threat of Vexel—who Savi fears is stalking them, complicate the harrowing return trip.
Readers will enjoy dramatic survival scenes and the group working together, solving problems, and learning to overcome adversity.

 My Review

This book is considered young adult and I enjoyed it immensely! I think the plot is great and intense, I couldn't put it down at times. The characters are very well thought out and I think the dialogue and interaction of the kids was spot on. Everyone meets at camp and they end up going rafting when everything falls apart. I've been rafting so it was much easier to picture things in my mind and while I stuff like this doesn't happen all the time, it does happen. Anyway the main part of the story is the kids alone in the wilderness pretty far away from anything trying to survive. I liked this part and it's obvious the author makes things a bit more scary and unrealistic to real life. Usually wild animals will leave people alone unless there is food or they feel threatened but in the book it seems like they are being hunted by animals the entire time. I wouldn't want my kid to read this and not ever want to hike in the woods again. Considering I grew up in the mountains and hiking and seeing mountain lions and bears, this part of the story was a bit exaggerated for me but it adds the to scary story line.
I think it's a great book for young adults and it would create some good conversation.

"I received this book from Pump Up Your Book and the author for free in exchange for an honest review."   

About the Author:
My name is Gary Rodriguez, and I live in California. I’m the president of LeaderMetrix Inc., a consulting company that specializes in senior-level executive coaching, organizational development, and conflict resolution.
Previously, I worked for eighteen years in the radio business as an executive where I spent several years as one of the original managers of Infinity Broadcasting.
Following a successful radio career I became the president of a non-profit organization for a season.
As a young man, I spent a tour of duty in the U.S. Army where I was recognized as the youngest Drill Instructor in the Army’s history at age 18 years. I was also awarded the Silver Star (the nation’s third highest award for valor) while serving in a combat zone.
Over the past few years, I’ve written three non-fiction books and then I decided to write a novel.
My first book, Purpose-Centered Public Speaking, was published in 2009 and was re-published this summer (2014). Then I wrote a companion workbook designed to help people implement the principles taught in my first book. Next, I wrote Overcoming The Fear Of Public Speaking. And this past year, I wrote my first novel, Escape Through The Wilderness.

For More Information

• Visit Gary Rodriguez’s website.
• Connect with Gary on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Gary at Goodreads.
• Visit Gary’s blog.
• Check out Gary at Authors Den.
• Contact Gary.

Colorado Hope Book Review

 

 

About the Author

Charlene Whitman spent many years living on Colorado's Front Range. She grew up riding and raising horses, and loves to read, write, and hike the mountains. She attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins as an English major. She has two daughters and is married to George "Dix" Whitman, her love of thirty years. Colorado Hope is the second sweet Historical Western Romance novel in her Front Range series.

Her latest book is the sweet western historical romance, Colorado Hope.

Connect with Charlene on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Book:

1875 ~ Beset by a sudden spring storm on the Front Range, newlywed Grace Cunningham watches in horror as her husband, Monty, is swept downriver. Pregnant and despairing, she stumbles into Fort Collins and tries to make a life for herself, praying that one day the man she loves will walk into town and back into her life.

A year after Grace’s tragic loss, Monty enters the dress shop where she works—with a beautiful woman on his arm. Shocked that he has no recollection of her, Grace is determined to win back his heart. Somehow she must help him regain his memories and his buried love for her—and not just for her sake but for the sake of their infant son, Ben.

Monty, miserable in his marriage to a woman he hardly knows, is inexplicably drawn to Grace. Every time he’s near her, memories surface, but they are hazy and troubling. He’s torn between his vows and the desires of his heart, for he cannot stay away from Grace.

Grace’s hope is sparked when Monty starts recalling glimpses of his past. But when murderous outlaws come to town, she is thrust into grave danger. Monty risks his life to rescue her, only to face even greater perils in the treacherous mountains. Can she truly hang on to hope when she is about to lose all she loves?

For More Information

• Colorado Hope is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

My Review

What a fresh surprise! Any book that has to do with Colorado I am all about reading. This book was really pretty good, though a bit long and drawn out at times. The overall idea is about Monty who is taking his wife West to start out new. He gets washed down river and Grace moves on into town and starts her life, assuming her husband dead. Monty is actually alive but has no memory and that leads to others taking advantage of him and re-creating his past. 

This creates a whirlwind life for both him and Grace living apart and confused on what to do next. 

I liked going back into the history of Fort Collins and the suspense of the bad guys who have been robbing towns. 

It's rather predictable but this story was well written and the characters well developed. 

There are a lot of references to God and being thankful for His provision. I liked this added part of the story. 

For a new-to-me author I was really impressed by this book, I just thought some of the parts could have been a little shorter. 

4 stars. 

"I received this book from PUMP UP YOUR BOOK for free in exchange for an honest review."

Book Excerpt:

May 16, 1875

A fierce wind whipped Grace Ann Cunningham’s hair, yanking at the long strands and pulling them free from their pins. She squinted through the haze of the blustery day and stroked her bulging belly, trying to comfort her baby, who seemed just as agitated by the sudden storm.

Her back ached from sitting on the hard buckboard bench all these miles—much less comfortable than the plush sleeper car they’d enjoyed last week on the train from Illinois to Cheyenne.

She frowned at the dark roiling clouds that had moved in and quickly blotted out the sun.

What had been a pleasant uneventful morning was now turning into an ominous and unsettling afternoon on the open prairie.

Grace sucked in a breath as the baby again kicked her ribs in protest. Her sweet husband’s sun-browned face tightened in concern as he caught her gesture. He pulled on the reins of the two draft horses—sturdy ones they’d bought yesterday in Cheyenne. Surefooted, the seller had told them. And Monty knew his horses, so she trusted his purchase and assurance that they’d

haul them without incident to Fort Collins. But looking at her husband’s face now, seeing the subtle telltale signs indicating that he hadn’t expected this squall nor felt at ease about it, gave her pause. And her normally talkative husband had been too quiet this last hour, eyeing the sky and listening to the roar of the nearby river, as if hearing their complaints and trying to suss out

nature’s intentions.

“The baby all right, darlin’?” He scooted over on the buckboard seat to look her over, then took her hands in his.

Warmth from his gentle grip comforted her, but not as much as the love streaming from his adoring gaze.

“I think so,” she told him, then smiled as he laid his hand firmly on her belly.

Grace thanked the Lord in a silent prayer for this wonderful man who’d married her in a simple ceremony last September. All those years she’d lived with her doting aunt Eloisa in the boardinghouse back in Bloomington, she never imagined she’d be blessed with such happiness.

When Montgomery Cunningham had first stepped into the parlor to take a room before starting college at Wesleyan University, she’d been a shy, giggling girl of ten. Neither of them foresawthe love that would spark six years later when he showed up again unexpectedly, about to head west to explore and survey lands unknown.

Monty closed his eyes, his hand still on the baby in her womb. She imagined him communing with their baby, speaking to it the way he spoke to rivers, to trees, to the land he traversed by boat and on horseback and on foot. Something had happened to him when he returned from the Hayden Yellowstone Expedition. He had changed from boy to man, yes—but it was more than that. He had fallen in love with the West, and with rivers in particular. Although he’d studied geology in college with John Powell, water captured his heart, and he sought out trips that had him navigating whitewater. Nothing made his eyes sparkle more than talking about the way water moved and sang as it cascaded and carved the face of mountains and spilled into waiting valleys. Well, except the way he looked at her.

Monty may have loved rivers, but Grace knew he loved her more. So much more, for he gladly gave up his exploring to settle down and marry and start a family. Although, Grace thought moving to the new town of Fort Collins, Colorado, was adventure enough. She hoped he’d come to see it that way as well and not be into the wild.

Tea Shop On Lavender Lane Book Review

 

via

 

About the Book

 

After a fake food poisoning incident in L.A., Bailey Sterling's dreams of becoming a caterer to the stars collapse faster than a soufflé. Now Bailey's face is in all the gossip rags and her business is in ruins. But the Sterling women close ranks and bring her back to Icicle Falls, where she'll stay with her sister Cecily.

 

All goes well between the sisters until Bailey comes up with a new business idea—a tea shop on a charming street called Lavender Lane. She's going into partnership with Todd Black, who—it turns out—is the man Cecily's started dating. It looks to Cecily as if there's more than tea brewing in that cute little shop. And she's not pleased.

 

Wait! Isn't Cecily seeing Luke Goodman? He's a widower with an adorable little girl, and yes, Cecily does care about him. But Todd's the one who sends her zing-o-meter off the charts. So now what? Should you have to choose between your sister and the man you love (or think you love)? (Goodreads)

 

 

For More Information

 

Title: The Teashop on Lavender Lane

Author: Sheila Roberts

Publisher: Harlequin Mira

Pages: 352

Genre: Women’s Fiction/Romance

Format: Paperback/Kindle

 

Purchase at AMAZON

 

 

The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane is available at Amazon.

 

Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.

 

Purchase at Harlequin Books.

 

Download The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane at iTunes.

 

Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

 

Read the first chapter here.

 

 

 

My Review

 

I really love the cover on this book. I requested this book for something different to read from my norm and as much as I tried I could not get into this book. The first few chapters held my attention but then the character's attitudes and dialogue drove me crazy in the end. I constant banter between Bailey and her sister and the men I just didn't like. Not that it was bad language but I just didn't find it realistic and it was overdone. The romance is fine but I just didn't think the characters fit each other well.

That being said who doesn't love a tea shop? At the back of the book the author also includes some yummy recipes that I can't wait to try.

This is not a Christian novel like what my readers are used to seeing on my blog just so you my readers know!

There is some language and since it's romance there are some more steamy scenes (which I thought were also overdone even for a romance novel).

Overall if you enjoy this author you will probably enjoy this book. I really can't recommend it aside from the tea part.


Look for this book June 24, 2014!

"I received this book from Pump Up Your Book and the author for free in exchange for an honest review."

 

About the Author

 

 

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children.  

 

 

 

Writing since 1989, Sheila’s books have been printed in several different languages and have been chosen for book clubs such as Doubleday as well as for Readers Digest Condensed books. Her best-selling novel ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS was made into a movie and appeared on the Lifetime Movie Network, and her novel THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS has just been optioned for film and is slated to be a Hallmark movie later this year. Her novel ANGEL LANE was named one of Amazon’s Top Ten Romances for 2009.

 

    

 

When she's not making public appearances or playing with her friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women's hearts: family, friends, and chocolate. You can visit Sheila at her website, www.sheilasplace.com.

 

 

 

Her latest book is the women’s fiction/romance, The Teashop on Lavendar Lane.

 

For More Information

 

Visit Sheila Roberts’ website.

 

Connect with Sheila on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Visit Sheila’s blog.

 

More books by Sheila Roberts.

 

Watch videos of Sheila talking about her books.

 

Sign up for Sheila’s newsletter.

 

Contact Sheila.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Excerpt:

 

The party was going perfectly until the hostess clutched her stomach with an agonized cry and crumpled to the floor in a heap.

 

Rory Rourke, her boyfriend and star of the new TV series Man Handled, knelt by her side and barked, “Someone, call 911.”

 

“Call her doctor,” said someone else.

 

“Call The Star Reporter,” the victim said faintly.

 

And that was when Bailey Sterling knew she was in trouble.

 

She’d been so excited to land this gig catering Samba Barrett’s party. Samba wasn’t an Emma Stone or Kristen Stewart but she was .... someone. Sort of. And with her catlike green eyes and red hair everyone said she was on her way up, like the rest of her party guests. And surely that had meant Bailey was on her way up, too. The West Hollywood apartment had been packed with hot young actors and actresses. As she’d slipped among them bearing trays of goodies she’d heard more than one person rave about the food and had envisioned a whole string of catering gigs after this one.

 

The shrimp salsa in Phyllo cups had been an especially big hit. “Oh, my God, this is to die for,” America Winston (from the new reality show Hard Ass) had raved. Bailey had smiled modestly and kept circulating, while her assistant Giorgio served up stuffed mushrooms. She’d been working hard for the last three years to earn a reputation as caterer to the stars and things were finally starting to happen.

 

Except now here was Samba Barrett, writhing on her living room floor, groaning in agony. Only twenty minutes ago she’d been eating those shrimp cups and laughing. Did she have food allergies she hadn’t told Bailey about? Samba had gone over the menu with Bailey, approved everything. How could this have happened? Was Bailey going to be known as killer of the stars?

 

Thirty people gathered around the actress, some offering advice, some taking pictures with their cell phones, others texting wildly. Bailey stood on the fringe and nervously downed one of her own appetizers.

 

“You’ll be okay, baby,” Rory Rourke assured Samba.

 

“I think I ate something bad,” she whimpered.

 

“Oh, no, that’s not possible,” Bailey protested and everyone turned to look at her. One woman aimed her cell phone at Bailey, capturing her miserable expression. This couldn’t be happening.

 

But it could. And it did. Now Bailey felt sick. She lost her grip on the tray of canapes she was carrying and down they went, the tray landing on a Jimmy Choos of one of the party guests who was busy recording her hostess’s misery on her cell phone.

 

The woman let out a yelp and jumped back, then glared at Bailey.

 

“Sorry,” Bailey muttered, and bent to scoop the mess onto the tray. In the process she managed to get in the way of another guest, nearly tripping him.

 

He didn’t settle for glaring. He swore at her.

 

Caterer hell, that was what this was. Bailey bolted for the kitchen and hid out, watching the drama unfold from behind the counter.