Teaser Tuesday: Dante, Shiftchanger: Teaser From “Vampire’s Trill”, a novel by Lorelei Bell

On May 15, 2012, in Guest Writers, Lorelei Bell, Vampire Corner, by Lorelei Bell

Absently, I threw some fluffy white kernels on the floor for Dante, who snapped them up with his tongue as though he were starving to death, and then looked expectantly up at me for more. He had wolfed down his share of spaghetti earlier, and didn’t complain that the sauce had come out of a jar something he would never have served were he human, as he’s part Italian.

The Shoemaker’s Wife: A Saga of Italian Life by Adriana Trigiani

On May 13, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Historical Novel, by Editor

This riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny is the novel Adriana Trigiani was born to write, one inspired by her own family history and the love of tradition that has propelled her body of bestselling novels to international acclaim. Like Lucia, Lucia, The Shoemaker’s Wife defines an era with clarity and splendor, with operatic scope and a vivid cast of characters who will live on in the imaginations of readers for years to come.

I Am an Executioner: A Collection of Love Stories by Rajesh Parameswaran

On May 12, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Short Stories, by Editor

An explosive, funny, wildly original fiction debut: nine stories about the power of love and the love of power, two urgent human desires that inevitably, and sometimes calamitously, intertwine. In I Am an Executioner, Rajesh Parameswaran introduces us to a cast of heroes—and antiheroes—who spring from his riotous, singular imagination.

Book Review: Vampire’s Ascending & Vampire’s Trill – by Lorelei Bell

I had won Vampire’s Trill in a contest so when it came and I realized it was the second book, I went out and got the first. Well, I read them both within a day of each other because they are just so well written with a lot to the story that keeps you involved.

Dark Shadows ~ Fond Memories of An Original

On April 25, 2012, in Lorelei Bell, Vampire Corner, by Lorelei Bell

It wasn’t until recently when the Dark Shadows movie with Johnny Depp in the roll of Barnabas Collins, that I began to remember things about when I first began watching that show, and realized this how I had become so interested in vampires to begin with, and began searching for anything about vampires, whether it was a movie or an article, or a book.

The Newlyweds – A Marriage Arranged Via the Internet by Nell Freudenberger

On April 25, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

A powerful, funny, richly observed tour de force by one of America’s most acclaimed young writers: a story of love and marriage, secrets and betrayals, that takes us from the backyards of America to the back alleys and villages of Bangladesh.

These Girls: A Novel Exploring Relationships Wrapped in Big-City Trappings by Sarah Pekkanen

On April 16, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.

The Dud Avocado – Romantic and Comedic Adventures in the 1950s by Elaine Dundy

On April 15, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Historical Novel, by Editor

The Dud Avocado follows the romantic and comedic adventures of a young American who heads overseas to conquer Paris in the late 1950s. Edith Wharton and Henry James wrote about the American girl abroad, but it was Elaine Dundy’s Sally Jay Gorce who told us what she was really thinking. Charming, sexy, and hilarious, The Dud Avocado gained instant cult status when it was first published and it remains a timeless portrait of a woman hell-bent on living.

The Love of My Youth: A Novel of a First Love Revisited by Mary Gordon

On April 13, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

From the acclaimed author of Pearl and Final Payments comes a beautifully choreographed novel about first lovers meeting again after more than thirty years and reimmersing themselves in their shared past.

Come Home – There is No Such Thing as an Ex-Mother by Lisa Scottoline

On April 11, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, by Editor

Come Home reads with the breakneck pacing of a thriller while also exploring the definition of motherhood, asking the questions: Do you ever stop being a mother? Can you ever have an ex-child? What are the limits to love of family?