Grandma Must Die by Maureen L. Bonatch

Blurb:

Carman has worn out more towns and last names than impractical shoes protecting the secret of her magic blood. But when a friend goes missing, and another is infected with a deadly spell, Carman must choose. Expose her magic blood by curing the spell—or stop the infection from spreading by killing the source…the grandmother. Magic bounty hunter Dylan has scoured libraries of banned magic paraphernalia seeking a method to distinguish genuine witches from impersonators. He suspects unorthodox librarian Carman might hold this information tighter than the hair he’s dying to unleash from her bun. With a past as hidden as his sleeve of tattoos, Dylan discovers he’s been used to gain Carman’s trust, and their passion risks more than mixing mortals and magic.

About the Author:

Growing up with four siblings had Maureen familiar with escaping into a good book, or the recesses of her mind. She realized later in life everyone didn't have characters telling stories in their heads, or weren't envisioning magic and mayhem within the everyday. This, and long walks in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania spawned a love of writing.

Since her desire to become a Solid Gold Dancer was thwarted when the show was discontinued, Maureen opted to pursue other paths. Writing stories proved fruitful, while other endeavors, such as challenging a fear of heights with parasailing, were unsuccessful. Therefore she's chased other interests, though none-the-less-daring, but closer to the ground, such as belly-dancing, becoming a self-proclaimed tequila connoisseur, fulfilling her role as biker babe to her alpha hubby and surviving motherhood to twins.

She pens stories boasting laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world.

Review by Rochelle:

I really wanted to enjoy Grandma Must Die and to an extent, I did. I liked the characters and the plot grabbed me and kept my attention.

But really, what has happened to editing? Where was the editor of this book? I know we tell our authors not to use too many adverbs, but substituting adjectives is not the answer; it’s just bad grammar. Grandma Must Die was also full of sentence fragments. In fact, the final sentence of Ms. Bonatch’s bio was a sentence fragment which I edited to read as a sentence. It originally read “Penning stories boasting laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world.” That’s not a sentence.  Penning, boasting and finding are gerunds. There is no subject and no verb in these lines. No one is doing anything. There are a lot of instances in the book like this where I would read several lines, and then go back to see what I’d missed because it went nowhere and I was confused. Then I’d realize it was another fragment. That slowed the action considerably.

The Wild Rose Press needs to find some editors who at least know enough about grammar to recognize problems and look up the solutions in The Chicago Manual of Style. It’s as simple as changing a gerund like “Penning” to a noun and a verb like “She pens.” As for the adverb/adjective dilemma, if you use a strong enough verb, you won’t need either. When a person rushes to the door, they don’t need to do it quickly—or worse yet, quick.

It’s bad enough when an indie author has grammar problems, but it’s shameful when a book that’s supposedly been edited has them.

As I said, I liked the characters and the plot really engaged me, so while the grammar made me want to toss my Kindle across the room, Grandma Must Die was good enough to overcome that obstacle and earn four roses.

Author Website:  http://www.maureenbonatch.com

Heat Rating:  R

Length:  318 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $16.99

Digital:  $3.82

Buy Link:  http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242_177_139&products_id=6408

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Donna, Julie, & Rochelle