A Kiss in Winter- Romantic Suspense

Title: A Kiss in Winter

Author: Susan Crandall

Publisher: Forever (January 1, 2007).

ISBN: 0446616400

Pages: 416

A Kiss in Winter

Romantic Suspense

Who would suspect that so much emotional baggage, family disappointments and romantic suspense could be found in a small town in Kentucky? But Susan Crandall's A Kiss in Winter shows us that it is indeed possible. The book tells the story of Caroline, a woman who has experienced the tragic loss of both her biological and adoptive parents at a young age. Caroline is forced to put her dreams on hold in order to raise her stepsister and stepbrother, Macie and Sam. As the story progresses other interesting characters are introduced, adding a twist to the plot. Including Marcie's high school boyfriend, Caleb, and Dr. Mick Larson, a psychiatrist, who, ironically, could use a psychiatrist himself because of his father's unreasonable demands and expectations. A romance between Caroline and Dr. Larson develops, but problems ensue because Caroline wants to leave Kentucky, while Dr. Larson desires to stay. A Kiss in Winter is a true romantic thrill ride for the soul as readers wonder if Caroline will open her heart to Dr. Larson and stay in Kentucky. This is the book to read if you are searching for Mr.Right, when everything else seem to be going wrong. It's a true page turner, readers will not be disappointed.

The Dirty Girls Social Club- Women's Lives & Relationship

The Dirty Girls Social Club

Author: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition

ISBN-10: 0312313810

ISBN-13: 978-0312313814

The Dirty Girls Social Club- Women's Lives & Relationship

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez is a bestselling Hispanic author who is not afraid of sharing and exposing the remarkable stories of the lives of Latino women and their relationships. Her other books includes, Haters, Dirty Girls on Top, Make him Look Good, Playing with Boys and The Husband Habits. The Dirty Girls Social Club (2003) was a New York Time bestseller and tells the story of six educated Latina women: Lauren, Sara, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Usnavys, and Amber. Inseparable since their days at Boston University as Communication Majors almost ten years earlier, the six friends form the Buena Sucia Social Club, which translates to Dirty Girls Social Club, which they use as a mutual support organization. Each chapter delves into the personality, life, relationships, and career of each woman. Each of the chapters also contains an unexpected twist, which makes this a fast paced book. The storyline changes constantly throughout, from melodramatic, to provocative, to humorous. Readers will find themselves crying one moment and laughing nonstop the next. Reading this book will show people that our differences are sometimes our greatest assets when it comes to getting along. The Dirty Girls Social Club is a must read for all women who desire to love more, respect all and embrace womanhood like never before.

The Shack- Psychological Suspense

The Shack- Psychological Suspense

The Shack, by William P. Young, is a suspenseful and psychological novel that keeps the reader guessing all the way to the end. The protagonist, Mackenzie Phillips (Mack), having suffered an abusive childhood exhibits a resentment towards authority. When his youngest daughter is brutally murdered, her body is discovered in a shack- hence the book's title. The tension increases and several twists in the plot develop, each one introducting a new character, including an African-American woman name Papa, a Middle-Eastern man, an Asian woman and a wise woman name Sophia, who plays a special role in Mack's healing process. Reflecting on his failures, pains and regrets, Mack is forced to explore lurid secrets that expose his past as well as the mystery of his daughter's disappearance. Anyone who has been mired in past mistakes or failures or had their heart borken will surely relate to Mack's plight. But regardless of a reader's experiences, I still highly recommend The Shack, which, as the book's promotional material suggests "is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged...the thing where shame or hurt is centered."

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

THE HELP
Author: Stockett, Kathryn

Review Date: JANUARY 26, 2010
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Pages: 451
Price (paperback): $14.99
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-0-3991-5534-5
Category: FICTION


Kathryn Stockett’s The Help can be summed up in three words: faith, hope and trust. The book reveals the inner thoughts and family secrets in the lives of wealthy, Caucasian housewives during the Civil Right era in Jackson, Mississippi. It also highlights the life and treatment of the African-American maids, ultimately exposing the ways in which they were devalued and abused.

The book’s three main characters are Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Skeeter is a young Caucasian lady who has just graduated from college and has dreams of becoming a writer. Aibileen and Minny are two African-American maids that Skeeter works hard to befriend in the hope that they will help her gather short stories from other African-American maids. She believes that getting these two ladies to talk will in turn get the other maids to talk, thus revealing their employers’ racism, prejudices and unfair treatment in a book she is writing called The Help.

This book is an enjoyable read, evoking both sadness and anger. Readers will find The Help hard to put down because each character is fully developed and the plot constantly keeps them guessing, while simultaneously causing them to evaluate their own prejudices.

My name is Shanika Hatcher. I believe, "Reading is the KEYS to success." I like reading nonfiction books; however, Christian fiction is also one of my favor genre...historicals, mysteries, biblical fiction, spiritual warfare and apocalyptic tales.

Readers may be divided into four classes

1.) Sponges, who absorb all that they read and return it in nearly the same state, only a little dirtied. 2.) Sand-glasses, who retain nothing and are content to getthrough a book for the sake of getting through the time. 3.) Strain-bags, who retain merely the dregs of what they read.

4.) Mogul diamonds, equally rare and valuable, who profit by what they read, and enable others to profit by it also.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~