Coming Home by Anna James

TITLE: Coming Home

AUTHOR: Anna James

PUBLISHER: Mélange Books, LLC

PURCHASE: Here

GENRE: Contemporary M/F Romance  

LENGTH: 135 pages

HEAT LEVEL: Luke Warm  

ROSE RATING: 4 Roses 

REVIEWED BY: Willow

BLURB:

Two years ago, Christine Kincaid found her sister, Andrea, in the arms of her fiancé, James Buchanan. This after Andrea confessed to having an affair with James and being pregnant with his child. Distraught and wanting to escape the pain of James ’s betrayal, Christine fled her home, just outside of Washington D.C., to London, England, her birthplace.

As startling details of her parents’ tragic romance come to light, Christine now suspects she was deceived by Andrea and is determined to return home and win James back. Only James seems to hate her now. She’d known that it wouldn’t be easy. She’d hurt him deeply by leaving. But she believed that somehow he’d forgive her and they would finally be together. Why did he have such a bad opinion of her? And what was she going to do to make him see that he was wrong?

James Buchanan was devastated when his fiancé deserted him. He had thought they would be together forever. But he’d been wrong. Christine didn’t care about him. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. If she had, she’d never have left him to pursue her career. But what really bothered him was how he’d been so wrong about her. Christine had been sweet and loving to him, but the way she treated her sister was just awful. Andrea, who was alone and pregnant, had needed Christine’s love, understanding and support. All Christine could do was condemn her for her mistakes and leave her to fend for herself. How could he have ever loved someone who could treat her own sister that way? And what was he going to do now that she was back?

REVIEW:

Lies can destroy a family and cause a lifetime of heartache. But sometimes, the truth can be just as hard to swallow. Can true love win out over betrayal and misunderstanding? Or are some hearts just too broken to mend.

Christine (Chrissy) always knew what she wanted: James Buchanan. Problem was, so did her manipulating sister. Finding out that Andrea and James had been having an affair was devastating, but hearing it from his own lips had sent her running. Distraught over their betrayal, she’d fled the country to start anew. But two years later, Christine discovers some things about her past that could set everything right. Desperate to finally discover the truth behind her sister’s lies, she returns home to find the man who still owns her heart.

To say James is shocked to find Chrissy standing in his mother’s living room would be an understatement. He has varying reactions, some of which are none too pleasant. Why had she come back? Two years ago, she’d left him practically standing at the alter to chase after her own dreams and desires, callously tossing his love and heart aside. What more could she possibly want from him? Hadn’t she hurt him enough? And now she was claiming lies and misunderstandings had been the true source of his pain, that what he’d been told by her very own sister had been nothing more than a means to come between them. Could he risk his heart and chance loving her again? Or would his pride prevent him from seeing that he never stopped to begin with.

Coming Home is one of those warm fuzzy tales that leaves you with a big smile at the end. Oh, it has its share of frustrating moments when you’d love nothing more than to reach inside the pages and smack both James and Christine in the head, but the plight of these two as they struggle to recapture what they’d lost is nothing short of endearing. Ms. James does a wonderful job rebuilding broken hearts as the lies surrounding Christine’s life unfold. The setting and plot offers a nice, even pace that never seems rushed or too drawn out. By the end, you’ll be glad you joined these two love birds on their journey. Thankfully, they only lost a limited amount of time, nothing compared to Christine’s parents. But I won’t ruin the plot; you’ll just have to see for yourself how deep the deception surrounding these two really runs.

For a wonderful story with endearing characters and enough love to give you goose bumps, grab a copy of Coming Home by Anna James, it’s sure to make you smile.

***

To find out more about Anna James and her writing, be sure to visit her website.

The Spaces Between Your Screams by Christopher Hivner

AUTHOR:  Christopher Hivner

TITLE: The Spaces between Your Screams

PUBLISHER:  eTreasures Publishing

PURCHASE: Here 

ISBN#: 978-1-60702-641-9

GENRE: Paranormal / Contemporary / Horror /Ghosts / Demons / Witches / Shapeshifters

LENGTH: 298 pages

SEXUAL CONTENT: Luke Warm

ROSE RATING: 4 Roses!

REVIEWED BY: Phoenix

BLURB: 

Don't scream. It only entices them, and when you stop, the real terror begins. In the moments between your cries, the monsters are released, profane and insatiable. Werewolves, witches, vampires and creatures never named prowl from the darkness. Soul collectors knock on your door while animals you won't find at the zoo slither through the yard around the dead bodies. Angels hover over your house, just in case. Behind them, in the bushes, demons wait for the same reason. A storm brews in the distance, ready to sweep you up and take you away, but to where? And would it be better than here where you're afraid to stop screaming and machinery hidden in the clouds has covered the sky?

REVIEW:

A collection of horror shorts that will give you the willies, that’s what you’ll find in Christopher Hivner’s The Spaces Between Your Screams.

This horror anthology featured stories of the supernatural, ghosts and demons, murder and mayhem, lust and greed, and blood and gore, with a side of humor for good measure.

There were so many stories in this anthology of ghoulish tales that it would be impossible for me to discuss them all, roughly forty-one, give or take. Sufficient to say, there were several I really enjoyed, some I didn’t, and a few that made me go, “hmm…” Mr. Hivner has a wonderfully creative imagination when it comes to the strange and bizarre. One of the things I enjoyed most about his book is that each story is short enough to not drag on, but long enough to get your attention. It’s the perfect collection if you’re short on time, but want to get in a quick read, start to finish. You could easily read the entire book in a few days, or take your time and spread out his gruesome tales over a few weeks and not feel like you’ve missed something along the way.

I did notice some editing errors and questionable point-of-view violations, but nothing that really took away from the book as a whole. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and would probably recommend it to anyone who likes horror. A word of caution to young readers, although minimal, there are some sexual situations and/or references in a few stories that may be inappropriate for readers younger than 17.

Do you like being scared witless? Were morbid television series like Tales From the Crypt right up your alley? Then grab a copy of Christopher Hivner’s The Spaces Between Your Screams, you’re bound to find at least a few stories in his macabre anthology that will set you’re teeth a chatterin’.