Tag Archives: Contemporary Fiction

The Last Flight: A Novel by Gregory P Liefer #AudiobookReview #Survival #Suspense

Posted in Action, Adventure, Audiobook, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Review, Suspense by
  • Audiobook Review
  • Author: Gregory P Liefer
  • Performed by RC Bray
  • Released: June 2017 by Brilliance Audio
  • Category: Survival, Suspense, Audiobook, Review, Action, Adventure, Reading, Books

Set against the harsh beauty of Alaska, a veteran helicopter pilot is torn between ending his own embattled life and rescuing survivors from a mountain plane crash.

The Last Flight is the story of Gil Connor, a middle-aged Vietnam veteran and Army helicopter pilot. His exploits are almost legendary amongst his peers but Gil is now fighting a losing battle against terminal cancer. His dreams are haunted by the horrors he’s witnessed and friends lost in battle, not to mention coming to terms with the loss of both his children. Gil has decided to die as he has lived, on his own terms, and takes a helicopter out for a last flight. Continue reading →

Little Boy Lost by J.D. Trafford ~ Legal #Thriller #BookReview @LittleBirdPub

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Legal, Police Procedural, Reading, Thriller by
  • Author: J.D. Trafford
  • Publishing on August 1st 2017 by Thomas & Mercer
  • Category: Crime, Contemporary, Police Procedural, Legal Thriller, Book Review, Books, Reading 

Attorney Justin Glass’s practice, housed in a shabby office on the north side of Saint Louis, isn’t doing so well that he can afford to work for free. But when eight-year-old Tanisha Walker offers him a jar full of change to find her missing brother, he doesn’t have the heart to turn her away.

Justin Glass hails from a prominent political family; his father is the most senior US congressman in Missouri, his grandfather a retired Federal District Court Judge and his brother is a state senator. Justin has a small law practice. His life fell to pieces after his wife died. He was fired from his previous, more prestigious job and lost his house after getting into debt. Now he and his daughter, Sammy, live with his mother and grandfather. His one-man office is in the seedier part of town and he has a small contract with the Saint Louis Public Defender’s Office, which helps with the finances. Continue reading →

Dead Hope by Nicky Wells #RomanticSuspense #BookReview @WellsNicky

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Romance, Suspense by
  • Author: Nicky Wells
  • Published: February 2017 by CreateSpace independent Publishing Platform
  • Category: Romance, Suspense, Mystery, Book Review, Books, Reading.

Cat Hope doesn’t want to go to prison. She needs a job, and she needs it fast: judge’s orders.

Kay Mahon, office worker by day and hacker by night, is on the run from a past life that he’d rather not remember.

At thirty-one Cat Hope is the archetypal spoilt little rich girl, living off the legacy of her deceased rock superstar parents. Until one day she finds herself in front of Judge Peterson on a drugs charge. Given the choice between the judge’s idea of rehab or prison, Cat opts for rehab. 

It’s rehab, Cat, but not as you know it.

The conditions of her sentence require her changing her home and name, getting a job in order to support herself and committing to community service.  Cat can’t believe it. She’s been in and out of rehab so often but never like this. And why does she need to change her name? Continue reading →

The Beauty of the Fall: A Novel by Rich Marcello #LiteraryFiction @marcellor #BookReview #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Reading by
  • Author: Rich Marcello
  • Published: October 2016 by Langdon Street Press
  • Category: Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Books, Reading, Book Review

Dan Underlight, a divorced, workaholic technology executive, suffers lingering grief over the death of his ten-year-old son, Zack. When Dan’s longtime friend and boss fires Dan from RadioRadio, the company that he helped create, he crashes and isolates himself.

I received a copy of this book from the author after seeing this guest post on Barb Taub’s blog. I’m so glad I did. Beauty of the Fall charts the incredible highs and desperate lows of Dan Underlight’s life. The downward spiral begins with the death of his ten-year old son, Zack, following his divorce from Zack’s mother. Dan blames himself for Zack’s death and immerses himself in work. The rug is pulled out from under him again when he loses his job at the company he loves, and helped to create with his good friend, Olivia. 

Dan’s life is in free fall and the only thing keeping him tethered to a semblance of reality are his visits to his therapist, Nessa. Until he meets Willow, a survivor who runs a non-profit organisation for victims of domestic violence. Their friendship develops into a deep and abiding love, although we don’t get to witness the build up of their relationship. There are quite a few significant developments in Dan’s life when this happens. I would have liked to see how Dan worked through these events initially, it helps to build a connection to the character.  Continue reading →

French Roast (The French Twist Series #4) by @GlynisAstie #Contemporary #ChickLit #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Chick Lit, Contemporary Fiction, Family, Novella, Reading by
  • Author: Glynis Astie
  • Published: May 2017 by Tikinou Publishing
  • Category: ChickLit, Contemporary, Family, Novella, Books, Reading, Book Review

Sydney Durand, the quirky yet lovable heroine of the French Twist series, is back for one final instalment in a very special novella. 

As the wife of a gorgeous and romantic Frenchman and the mother of the most angelic boy ever, Sydney is living a life of sheer perfection. She’s gone through quite a bit to achieve this charmed life, and now nothing is going to bring her down. Or so she thinks.

French Roast rounds out the French Twist series, set a few years after the end of French Fry and Sidney is back…full on.  Becoming a mother has failed to relax the over anxiousness and her slight(ish) neurotic tendencies are still very much alive and well. Continue reading →

#ThrowbackThursday ~ The Sixteenth of June by Maya Lang ~ Contemporary #Fiction #BookReview

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Throwback Thursday by

Renee at It’s Book Talk began this meme as a way to share old favourites, as well as books that were published over a year ago. Not to mention those that are languishing on the to be read pile for whatever reason.

I’m revisiting an audiobook this week. It was released three years ago, a debut novel and family type saga. Continue reading →

Voyager by Carl Rackman #technothriller @carlrackman #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Action, Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Techno-thriller by
  • Author: Carl Rackman
  • Published: April 2017 by Rackman Books
  • Category: Techno-Thriller, Thriller, Suspense, Book Review, Books, Reading

Voyager One. A tiny probe hurtling through the void of outer space more than twelve billion miles from Earth, it is the remotest human object in existence. Callie Woolf, Voyager Project Manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is stunned when the probe unexpectedly downloads a series of increasingly disturbing images.

Since Bradley Barnes lost his wife in the 9/11 terror attacks he’s been part of a highly specialised FBI counter terrorism team. As the story opens the team are preparing to assist in a coordinated raid against a suspected source of domestic terrorism. The raid doesn’t go according to plan and there are several fatalities. Continue reading →

The Coven (Crystal Coast Series #1) by Chrissy Lessey @chrissylessey #FridayReads #Witches

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy, Magical, Reading, Romance by
  • Author: Chrissy Lessey
  • Published: April 2006 by Pandmoon Publishing
  • Kindle Edition due to be published on 27th June 2017 by Tenacious Books Publishing
  • Category: Contemporary, Magical, Fantasy, Romance, Book Review, Books, Reading

Newly single mother Stevie Lewis divides her time between raising Charlie, running a store with her best friend, and avoiding the meetings of her mother’s Beaufort Historic Society. Although her life has its challenges, it’s altogether average. Just the way she likes it.

The prologue sets up the basis of the story. In 1718 a small colony of witches lived peacefully on a small island, until the queen, Lucia, had a vision of discovery and the persecution to come. ‘She who holds the amulet, holds the power.’ She chooses the three strongest of the young women, with the necessary gifts to ensure their survival. When Lucia’s vision of the pirate attack became actual fact, the fates of Hannah, Catherine and Charlotte were sealed. They find themselves aboard Blackbeard’s ship and at his mercy.   Continue reading →

Come Sundown by Nora Roberts #BookReview #BlogTour @LittleBrownUK #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Psychological, Reading, Romance, Suspense by
  • Author: Nora Roberts
  • Published: May 2017 by Piatkus
  • Category: Contemporary, Romance, Psychological, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Book Review, Books, Reading.

Love. Lies. Murder. A lot can happen… COME SUNDOWN.

Bodine Longbow loves to rise with the dawn. As the manager of her family’s resort in Western Montana, there just aren’t enough hours in the day – for life, for work, for loved ones. She certainly doesn’t have time for love, not even in the gorgeous shape of her childhood crush Callen Skinner, all grown up and returned to the ranch. Then again, maybe Callen can change her mind, given time…

But when a young woman’s body is discovered on resort land, everything changes. Callen falls under the suspicion of a deputy sheriff with a grudge. And for Bodine’s family, the murder is a shocking reminder of an old loss. Twenty-five years ago, Bodine’s Aunt Alice vanished, never to be heard of again. Could this new tragedy be connected to Alice’s mysterious disappearance?

As events take a dramatic and deadly turn, Bodine and Callen must race to uncover the truth – before the sun sets on their future together.

The story opens with a flashback to 1991. At twenty-one years old Alice Bodine was on her way back home after up and leaving suddenly three years earlier. She had not contacted her family apart from a few postcards when she first left. With not much farther to go before she reaches the ranch, a split second decision altered the course of her life and thrust her into a living nightmare.  Continue reading →

Girl in the Castle: Henriette’s Highland Hideaway by Lizzie Lamb @lizzie_lamb #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Reading, Romance by
  • Author: Lizzie Lamb
  • Published: April 2017 by New Romantics Press
  • Category: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Book Review, Books, Reading.

Her academic career in tatters, Dr Henriette Bruar needs somewhere to lay low, plan her comeback and restore her tarnished reputation. Fate takes her to a remote Scottish castle to auction the contents of an ancient library to pay the laird’s mounting debts. 

After a show of justified outrage with unfortunate consequences, Doctor Henriette Bruar with the help of Professor Maddie Hallam, has secured a job cataloguing the library at Castle Tèarmannair. She is hopeful of finding some valuable books; to secure funds for restoration of the castle and, hopefully, in the process also help her career. Her position as an academic and possibly furthering that position at St Guthlac’s is now in jeopardy and time away, giving Henri chance to try and repair the damage, is just what she needs. Continue reading →