Geralyn Corcillo’s A Draken Fall Christmas reviewed by Veronica Jorge
November 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Book reviews, Christmas romance, Geralyn Corcillo, Veronica Jorge
Drakenfall resort in the village of Tippingstock is the place to be for Christmas. Owned and operated by Lord Mark Shiley and his American wife Maisy Potter, gives credence to the belief that magical things happen at Drakenfall. How else could an American girl have become the wife and true love of a Baron?
As the resort prepares for the lavish annual Christmas Ball, hope and expectation fill the air. Employees and guests alike wonder if they too might find a little magic and love this Christmas. But different cultures, social stations, goals and confusion collide and threaten to derail everyone’s chance at happiness.
The house manager Glynis feels that love, like the years, have passed her by. Pippa the maid is convinced that she is not worthy of Kafi’s interest, much less his affection. And when Maisy’s parents arrive on the scene unexpectedly, she fears her secret will ruin her charmed marriage with Mark.
A Drakenfall Christmas is entertaining, sweet and fun. The characters are an assortment of holiday gumdrops: colorful, rich, spicy, sweet, and even a sour one or two.
Geralyn succeeds in making readers believe that Christmas is indeed a magical time. In the words of one of her characters, ‘We enjoy the people who are always with us. We take time to experience the best there is to have right in our very own lives.’
And love is alive and possible more than at any other time of year.
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on December 22nd!
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The Many Colors of Me by Veronica Jorge
August 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as historical, multicultural, Veronica Jorge, writing
Veronic is on vacation this month, so we are rerunning one of her more popular posts. She’ll be back September 22, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy:
The Many Colors Of Me
Most people are a combination of various cultures, though I think their ancestors tended to confine their marriages and unions to one continent. Mine didn’t. As a teenager, growing up in the 1960s, I was always asked, “What are you, black or white?” I’d usually answer, “Both,” or “Neither,” not because I was afraid or wanted to fit in, but because it was true: Nicaraguan and Dominican parents, Middle-Eastern and French grandparents, and Chinese and African great-grandparents. (Hope I didn’t miss anyone). And born in Brooklyn, New York. “How sweet it is!”
This ethnic mix probably explains my preferred genres; Kid-Lit, because I am always looking for someone like me in children’s books; and Historical Fiction, because like working on a jigsaw puzzle, I travel the globe, mostly through books, in search of all of the pieces of me that, once united, will make me whole.
This quest has made me an avid multicultural reader. In every reading exploration I discover something about myself. Everything I write contains a key to who I am that reveals an aspect of my essence. It’s an awesome journey.
And while I seem to connect with everyone, I don’t really fit in anywhere; yet I love the empathy toward others that these various cultures have generated in me because it leads to a deeper kind of listening and understanding, which in turn informs and directs my writing.
I’m always learning, and changing, and growing, and I often have so much to say that I don’t know where to begin, or how to put it all together…like now.
So, thank you ancestors, for being willing and unwilling globe-hoppers. I am wonderfully made and you have given me much to think of and write about.
~Veronica
Books Reviewed by Veronica Jorge
Veronica Jorge Reviews Secret Relations A Novel by Rebecca Forster
May 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, Finn O'Brien Thrillers, Rebecca Forster, Secret Relations, Veronica Jorge
Secret Relations
Finn O’Brien Thrillers
Book 3
Rebecca Forster
Review
A seasoned detective knows that the best way to solve a crime is to follow the money trail, especially in a particular L.A. neighborhood where the rich float on top while the bottom feeders sink below. But we’re talking about Detective Finn O’Brien and he’s in the other L.A., the one with sun-streaked neighborhoods burning with robbery and drugs, and where kids duck for cover under a lullaby of gunfire.
Amber, his partner Cori’s daughter, bypasses her mother and asks Finn for help in finding her missing friend, twenty-two year old Pacal Acosta. Finn is conflicted about keeping a secret from his partner and challenged by the impossibility of trying to gather information to track an undocumented male immigrant.
When a number of missing young immigrant men are found murdered, Finn’s instincts kick in. There’s a serial killer on the loose targeting immigrants, and Amber’s involvement is spooking the killer which means she’s in danger too.
Friendship and trust are tested when Cori discovers the secret pact between Finn and Amber, and when she learns that her daughter loves the missing young man, her worldview gets turned upside down. Cori struggles to accept her daughter’s openness to this new blended world and is forced to confront her own prejudices.
The three work together to compare notes and scenarios. Who would kill immigrants and why? Could it be gang related? Maybe the work of Marbles, a member of the Hard Time Locos, not yet 18 but whose “evil is already old and deeply ingrained.” Ruling out money and drugs, the three of them follow, not the money trail, but the trail of blood and dead bodies.
Finn and Cori investigate possible killers, interview members of the ethnic community, and try to keep Amber safe, all the while dreading the unspoken possibility. What if Amber’s young man is the next dead body they find?
With multiculturalism quickly becoming the new normal, the fast-paced thriller Secret Relations is the novel for our times. Read it!
See you next time on June 22nd.
Veronica
1 0 Read moreVeronica Jorge Reviews Foreign Relations a Novel by Rebecca Forster
April 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Book reviews, Finn O'Brien, Foreign Relations, Rebecca Forster., Veronica Jorge
Foreign Relations
Rebecca Forster
A Finn O’Brien Thriller, Book 2
Police Procedural
ASIN: B071RJZ4LD
ISBN: 9781547170173
Review:
Miraculously surviving torture Takrit, a political activist, smuggles evidence of human rights atrocities out of her home country of Eritrea and she escapes to the United States.
Also in the U.S., both hunting for Takrit, and hoping to close a lucrative business deal for a port of trade that will cement his power and his fortune is, Emanuel Dega Abu, the President of Eritrea and . . . the man responsible for the human rights abuses, and Takrit’s torment.
If Takrit’s video evidence goes public, Dega Abu’s empire will come crashing down and so will he. He must find Takrit and eliminate her. She must find a way to stay alive and tell the world her story.
In Foreign Relations, book 2 of the Finn O’Brien Series, Rebecca Forster immerses us in the world of political wheeling and dealing at home and abroad, and the disparate parties that the matchmaker, Money, unites with ease.
When the first dead body turns up, Finn O’Brien starts to fit the pieces together. He gets too close to the source so a local congresswoman, with her sights on a seat in the Senate, deters him by shutting down the case. But Finn is haunted by what he’s discovered. And the spirit of the dead body ‘sits on his shoulder asking him to put it to rest.’
Never one to back down or cringe before the brass or the most degenerate criminal, O’Brien tackles crime, money, and politics. With help from where he least expects it, he plows through the mire of government contracts, kickbacks, and money laundering, and dents the unbreachable wall of diplomatic immunity.
Intriguing. Thrilling. Page-turning. With Finn O’Brien on the scene, crime doesn’t pay.
Both heart-rending and heart-warming, Rebecca Forster assures us that despite the reality and the odds, justice, loyalty and love, still reign and rule the day.
A fantastic read you will never forget!
See you next time on May 22nd.
Veronica
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The Day Bailey Devlin Picked Up a Penny: A Review by Veronica Jorge
February 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Book reviews, Rebecca Forster., romantic comedy, Veronica Jorge
The Day Bailey Devlin Picked Up A Penny
Book 2 of the Bailey Devlin Series
by Rebecca Forster
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2015
ISBN# 978-1517072728
Previously . . .
When we first met Bailey Devlin in, The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True, (see my review posted on Dec. 22, 2018), Bailey was struggling with the unexpected arrival of her grandfather, studying to pass the bar exam, and conflicted about her feelings for two guys.
In The Day Bailey Devlin Picked Up A Penny, book 2 of the Bailey Devlin Series, our heroine is on a weekend getaway with Jeffery to “meet the parents.” Driving through the pouring rain, Bailey spots a woman stranded on the roadside and urges Jeffery to turn the car around and go back to help her. Bailey braves the downpour to help the woman into the car. The three of them arrive at the mansion with Bailey drenched and looking like something the cat dragged in . . . and then threw away. Not the great first impression she was hoping to make on Jeffery’s family.
The stranger turns out to be Jeffery’s childhood friend, now drop-dead-gorgeous . . . Penny. And this is one penny Bailey can’t toss away! In Bailey’s mind, Penny is a rival who threatens her potential future with her true love. And to make matters worse, Penny has a secret that no one but Bailey seems concerned about.
Since our Bailey rarely takes the easy or direct route to confront her problems, she lets her fears and suspicions lead her into trouble and grief. The only foot she’s able to put forward is the left one, usually into her mouth.
Navigating a maze of confusion and misunderstanding, Bailey finds herself wallowing in self-doubt and treading the waters of low self-esteem. She questions whether luck and love are well-matched and wonders if maybe it’s like her mother said, ‘luck encompasses those things and events that can change the course of one’s life.’
To find out if the events in this book change Bailey’s life and confirm her true love, you’ll have to read, The Day Bailey Devlin Picked Up a Penny. It just might be your lucky day!
See you next time on, March 22nd.
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