Reading and Reviews (Culiner, Bennett, Kelly)

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. From time to time, I'll share my reviews of present and past reads. My available time to read is limited because I write, but I love to curl up with a paperback or an eBook at night for the last hour of my day. 

Here are some of the books I've read recently. Maybe you'll discover a new book or author. 

Words for Patty Jo by Jill Arlene Culiner 

A passion for books creates a lasting bond between teenage Patty Jo and David, but small-town prejudice and social differences doom their romance.

After a summer of reading and falling in love, David heads for university, foreign adventure, and a dazzling career; Patty Jo marries slick, over-confident Don Ried.

Yet plans can go horribly wrong. The victim of her violent husband, Patty Jo abandons her home and children to live on the streets of Toronto. David, a high-ranking executive in Paris, is dismayed by the superficiality of corporate success.

Forty years later, Patty Jo and David meet again. Both have defied society; both have fulfilled their dreams. And what if first love was the right one after all, and destiny has the last word? 

My Review

Ms. Culiner has succeeded in writing another story that will draw you in and keep you reading. Only this time, she had me so involved, I could swear I was reading a memoir. That doesn’t even quite say it. The depth of the two characters’ points of view came through emotionally real. Patty Jo is a complicated young woman. David is a man we’d all love to know. How their lives intersect, diverge, and come back together is such a smooth transition of storytelling, the reader feels as if they are reading two books at the same time. Class differences, spousal abuse, dreams won and lost…are all woven with an expertise of wordsmithing. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCV4D86P/

 

 

Widowhood: The Next Chapter: I'm Still Here - Now What? by Bobbie Bennett 

The personal narrative begins in the dark world of organized crime, where the author’s first husband brings a sense of danger into their lives. Dinner guests are asked to check their firearms at the door. She then stepped into an unexpected relationship with a younger man whose charm proved timeless, even if his ID was still getting doublechecked.

Through three marriages, two funerals, and one divorce, she discovers that love comes in the most unexpected forms, including a methodical engineer who fell head-over-heels for a free-spirited former go-go dancer.

This raw, candid memoir transforms heartbreak into hope, offering both laughter and practical wisdom for anyone rebuilding after loss. But make no mistake, these aren’t your typical fresh starts. Bobbie has rebooted her life from places most people wouldn’t dare enter, making her perspective not just credible, but hard-earned. More than a love story, it’s a survival guide for life’s most unpredictable chapters. She believes if you can’t be a good example, you might as well be a colorful one. Her stories offer humor, heart, and the kind of wisdom you only earn the hard way. 

My Review

On one level, this is the extraordinary memoir of a woman who has led and is living an adventurous, full life. On another level, this is a “how to” book with advice on dealing with heartbreak, surprises you’d rather not face, and rebuilding a life. 

https://www.amazon.com/Widowhood-Next-Chapter-Still-Here/dp/B0FLVTB7FM 

 

 

JIMI: Journey of a Wounded Warrior as told to Kathleen Kelly 

Jimi’s story invites you to join him on a healing journey of hope and courage. The Cherokee tribe, as seen through his youthful eyes, celebrates the People's coexistence with creation in traditional ceremonies and vibrant rituals, sharing wisdom passed down from generation to generation. He brings to light the challenges of living with polio in the 1950s and takes you with him through the formative years after his mother died tragically. He is thrown into the white man’s world, where he spends the rest of his childhood in Ohio orphanages. From there, he will take you along the road of a musician, magician, Vietnam veteran, and one man’s inspirational search for meaning. 

My Review

What an extraordinary life Jimi has led. I found it particularly interesting because of his Cherokee upbringing early on. My grandmother was Choctaw. Racism, abandonment, war, and so many other challenges faced him. But there are triumphs and adventures to keep you turning the pages. Ms. Kelly has done an excellent job of bringing this man’s story to life. 

https://us.amazon.com/JIMI-Journey-Wounded-Warrior-Kathleen/dp/B0GNZ8X1L1

 

Obsessed by the Past by Maggie Blackbird #FearlessFriday #TimeTravel

FEARLESS FRIDAY

Please welcome Maggie Blackbird to Fearless Friday on Discover... Maggie's book will give you a glimpse into fearlessness.

Originally, I had signed up for Muse Monday, but Brenda was booked and asked if I’d consider writing a guest post for Fearless Friday.  I agreed, although there isn’t anything I’ve done in my life that I’d consider fearless LOL.  But it did make me think about the book I’m promoting and the fearlessness Edie Whitecrow exemplifies when she decides to walk through a time portal to make her biggest wish come true—reside with her Anishinaabe ancestors since she’s obsessed with the past and how her Ojibway people once lived. 

Now that is some kind of fearlessness and some kind of faith. Would I stop my car to investigate a corn maze that appeared out of nowhere in a spot I know is barren? Would I jump through a time portal?  Y’know, probably not.  For one, I’m not nineteen anymore, like Edie is in the book.  And two, the thought of not being able to return if something goes haywire is too to bear much since I have my hubby, our fur babies, and my family to consider. 

But I have done fearless things over the years in the name of my job and as an author. Things lil shy ol’ me never would have considered that shaped and molded me into the person I am today. 

Yes, I said shy.  I was painfully, bashfully, extremely shy. So, can you imagine me public speaking to a crowd of one hundred?  I never thought I would. But I have many times because my job at the time required it of me.  That job, working for an aboriginal training and employment organization for fifteen years, demanded a lot out of me, from developing and facilitating workshops to boating across lakes or driving down winding, washboard covered roads for up to two hours to meet with First Nations communities I assisted.  Traveling through snowstorms in my itty-bitty Sunbird in my twenties.  Whatever horrible road conditions you can imagine, I’ve driven through them. 

I always said that job pushed me to the extreme, and I’m grateful for my time working for them. They gave me a chance at a mere twenty-five years old to manage a provincial program, and oversee staff. They took a chance on me to perform duties usually reserved for people in their thirties. Yes, the staff I supervised were always older than me. 

But if not for that job pushing me to the limit and demanding courage and faith, I wouldn’t have made the leap to become a full-time writer.  It takes a certain amount of fearlessness to submit something you worked your butt off to receive a “thanks but no thanks” from agents and publishers.  To receive reviews of “Meh…”  Now, I was going to join the pack of authors who were fearlessly sharing their work with the world and bowing their head at another rejection letter. 

What writers do requires courage.  It’s easy to criticize.  How many times have we walked out of a movie thinking, “That was meh,” or closed a book and thought, “That really wasn’t what I wanted to read.” 

When my time came and I was accepted by eXtasy Books for my first novel Blessed, book one in the Matawapit Family series, I thought to myself, “I’m just a chick from the rez; how did this happen?  What right do I have to join the ranks of awesome romance authors?” 

I may not have hiked Mount Everest, or bungee jumped off a cliff, but that shy little girl who didn’t want to go to kindergarten and hid behind her older cousins on her first day of school, and then hid at the back of the bus, scared of all the new faces and people, achieved a dream she’d hoped for while spending countless evenings in hotel rooms after attending work meetings, quietly writing on her laptop.  She is now a full-time writer.  She is putting her books out there to be judged.  And being judged isn’t easy.  But no matter if it’s a good review or an “it was okay” review, I will keep writing romance novel starring Canada’s Indigenous People because I want to share with the world romance from the rez, written by a gal from the rez.

 Title: Born for This

Series: Maizemerized, Book One

Genre:  Time Travel, Historical and Contemporary Romance with a hint of the paranormal.

Heat Level:  3 Flames 

She’s always been obsessed with her ancestors, and now he’s offering her a chance to live with them…forever.

Second-year university student Edie Whitecrow gobbles up each course on Indigenous studies.  If only she could experience the lives of her Anishinaabe ancestors instead of reading about them.  On her way to a Halloween party decked out as a historical Ojibway maiden, she spies a corn maze in a spot known to be barren.

A scarecrow figure beckons Edie to enter with the enticing offer of making her biggest wish come true.  She jumps at the chance and finds herself in the past, face to face with the man who haunts her dreams—the handsome brave Thunder Bear.  He claims he’s spent twelve years waiting for Gitche Manidoo to send her to him.

Life in the eighteenth century isn’t what Edie romanticized about, though.  When her conscience is tested, she must choose between the modern day or the world of her descendants—where the man she was created for resides.

Coming your way on October 29, 2021 from eXtasy Books.  Pre-order now.

AUTHOR BIO 

An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most. 

Links:  Web Site | Facebook Page | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Linked In | Amazon Author Page | eXtasy Books Author Page | Newsletter Sign-Up 

eXtasy Books Author Page:  https://www.extasybooks.com/maggie-blackbird/

Newsletter Sign-Up:  https://yahoo.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=92959d27295c47605a8325906&id=d83ed57ebd 

Writing for a Cause by Paty Jager #inspiration #indigenous #cause

 MUSE MONDAY

Today, Paty Jager is my guest with a captivating story of the inspiration for her latest book. With my native American background, it's a story dear to my heart. Read on, enjoy, and learn!

I have always been an advocate for unjust things. When I see an injustice, I have a need to help in some way no matter how small.

That is how I felt as I saw a post on Facebook about missing and murdered Indigenous women. Then when I started writing my Gabriel Hawke series, I subscribed to the CUJ (Confederated Umatilla Journal) the newspaper written and put out but the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla.  I wanted to know more about the area where I had imagined my character growing up and where his mother still lived. It helped me to see him better and to learn more about where he came from.

Every time I receive one of the newspapers, I read it from front to back. When the stories about the missing and murdered women and the cause- women speaking out and making noise- I was drawn to the movement. The more I read and learned how many Indigenous women, children, and men were lost to their families because of lack of concern by the authorities, my anger rose. I wanted to help.

The best way I knew was to use my voice—and being a writer, that meant my writing voice. I decided Hawke would be called to the reservation by his mother to help find a missing woman. Once the idea took root, I couldn’t shake it.

And to not only spread the word, I decided that proceeds from the sale of the book would go to the non-profit organization, Enough Iz Enough. This organization works on the Umatilla Reservation with classes on how to protect and watch out for potential dangers, and to give voice to the missing tribal members.

I was fortunate when I began pulling information together to write the book to ask the organizer of the program if she would be willing to help me make sure my portrayal of the situation was accurate as well as logistics and information about the reservation. She was accepting of my request.

After reading the finished product, she also gave me a lovely review: “The story was captivating, I couldn’t put it down. So many memories were brought to surface, so many emotions, like this has been lived before, because it has, this is a glimpse into our reality in the Reservation. Thank you for seeing us & helping tell part of the story.”  Kola Shippentower-Thompson Enough Iz Enough, Co-Founder & Director

I’m happy to say that Stolen Butterfly, Book 7 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels is now available for pre-order as an ebook. It will publish May 18^th and be available in print by the end of the month and available in audio in July.

Also, this is my 50^th published book. Which is why I am having a month-long Facebook party to celebrate. Join me over at https://www.facebook.com/events/887343232080078 Where we are discussing my books, writing, and life in general. I’m also giving away prizes every day through the month.

Excerpt:

“We told the woman who called in, we have to wait seventy-two hours. These reservation women get liquored up and forget they have kids at home or decide they’ve had enough and walk out.”

Hawke stared at the bald-headed detective in his fifties that he’d been referred to when he explained why he was there. “Detective Lockland. You are stereotyping the reservation women. Most have strong motherly instincts and wouldn’t go on a drunk or walk away from their families. This woman happens to be one of those. She works at the bank in town, never misses picking her son up from the sitter, and doesn’t go out partying and drinking.”

“How do you know that? Her family could be lying to you.” The man wasn’t about to back down from his stand on what he thought to be the truth.

Ignorance about his people was something Hawke had fought all his life. “I know because I’ve been interviewing the people she works with and the people she spends time with. Something that might help us find her faster if you had done the same last night when my mother called you.”

The man leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Now I see. You’re one of them. Does your superior know you’re here poking around in someone else’s case?”

“Then you are going to investigate? If this is your case?” Hawke held back the disdain he felt for the man as the detective stuttered and tried to say it wasn’t a case until seventy-two hours had passed.

Here is the back cover blurb:

The proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the non-profit Enough Iz Enough. This is a community outreach organization that advocates for MMIP on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. 

Stolen Butterfly

Gabriel Hawke Novel #7

When the local authorities tell State Trooper Gabriel Hawke’s mother to wait 72 hours before reporting a missing Umatilla woman, she calls her son and rallies members of the community to search.

Hawke arrives at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation and learns the single mother of a boy his mom watches would never leave her son. Angered over how the local officials respond to his investigating, Hawke teams up with a security guard at the Indian casino and an FBI agent. Following the leads, they discover the woman was targeted by a human trafficking ring at the Spotted Pony Casino.

Hawke, Dela Alvaro, and FBI Special Agent Quinn Pierce join forces to bring the woman home and close down the trafficking operation before someone else goes missing.

Pre-order Link for all ebook vendors:  https://books2read.com/u/baZEPq

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

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