Cuba Undercover by Linda Bond

Blurb:

His revenge will change her life forever...

Cuban-American TV reporter Rebecca Menendez's success comes from playing by the rules. When she's kidnapped by a fierce and intensely handsome man who needs her help. However, all of those rules seem pointless. Nothing could have prepared her for being taken hostage...or the irresistible reward if she complies: information about her long-thought-dead father.

Antonio Vega has spent almost every day of his adult life dreaming of revenging his father's death. With his sister's life and freedom in jeopardy, Antonio isn't taking any chances. But once Rebecca and Antonio are in Cuba, they're immersed in a world of corruption, deceit, and betrayal. It's a deadly game...and there are no rules.

Review by Rochelle:

According to her biography, Linda Bond is an Emmy-winning journalist. She’s able to draw on her work experiences when she creates her characters, and has even reported from Cuba. That’s where she met her husband and adopted one of her sons. So when she describes the view of the Havana skyline from the wall of the Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro or Morrow Castle, or the feel of balancing on that wall, it’s from being there. She has seen the poverty of that island country firsthand, and felt the struggle of its people for a better life.

In addition to putting you there as though you’re seeing it through her cameraman’s lens, Ms. Bond takes you on a nail-biting ride across the Florida Straight, through the Cuban jungle, and into the heart of Havana. And along the way, you meet and fall in love with the people. You feel the hunger, the poverty, and the heartbreak of broken families. I once went an entire school year in which I only got to spend five minutes with my children. I spoke to them weekly on the phone, but it was one of the worst years of my life. I can’t imagine going ten years without seeing them. I think I’d die. Yet so many Cuban families are broken with no hope of ever again seeing their loved ones, because that trip can be fatal, and it’s one way only.

Oh, yeah—Cuba Undercover has a hot hero and plenty of sexual tension as well. You’ll devour it, and want more from this journalist-turned-novelist. I can’t wait to see what awards Ms. Bond wins in this phase of her career.

Length:  221 Pages

Digital Price:  $3.99

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Cuba-Undercover-Entangled-Select-Suspense-ebook/dp/B00ZOIDG2W/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435947819&sr=1-1&keywords=cuba+undercover

Thanks for visiting. Julie, Donna, & Rochelle

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Blurb:

A modern classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, who grow up haphazardly, first under the care of their competent grandmother, then of two comically bumbling great-aunts, and finally of Sylvie, their eccentric and remote aunt. The family house is in the small Far West town of Fingerbone set on a glacial lake, the same lake where their grandfather died in a spectacular train wreck, and their mother drove off a cliff to her death. It is a town "chastened by an outsized landscape and extravagant weather, and chastened again by an awareness that the whole of human history had occurred elsewhere." Ruth and Lucille's struggle toward adulthood beautifully illuminates the price of loss and survival, and the dangerous and deep undertow of transience.

Review:

Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson, is a powerful novel for its look inside the emotions, thoughts and dreams of young Ruth, in whose voice the story is told. It is a solemn tale, yet whimsical in its details. It is uniquely descriptive with unusual depth into the outer surroundings as well as the inner facets of its characters. It is fiction; however, in my own assessment, much of it must have been truthfully experienced in order to have been written because it contains an on-going element of incipiency totally unnatural to novels, which for the most part rise and fall with a smoothness of waves in creation. Robinson’s scenes are vivid—mostly depictions of winter and dimness, with every minute component seen and unseen in these conditions. Somewhat down-played in the plot is the magnitude of sacrifice Ruth’s aunt is willing to make to change the very fiber of her own being in order keep Ruth with her, but this makes sense because the story is told from Ruth’s perspective, whose awareness was muted to some extent by her internal struggles.

I did not closely identify with Robinson’s characters, but found them to be extremely interesting in their differences from myself. I consider this a well-written and remarkable book, and I highly recommend it.

Length:  219 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $15.00

Digital:  $9.99

Buy Link:  http://us.macmillan.com/housekeeping/MarilynneRobinson

Thanks for visiting. Rose & Rochelle

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home By Rhoda Janzen

Blurb:

An hilarious and moving memoir—in the spirit of Anne Lamott and Nora Ephron—about a woman who returns home to her close-knit Mennonite family after a personal crisis.

Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her brilliant husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her with serious injuries. What was a gal to do? Rhoda packed her bags and went home. This wasn’t just any home, though. This was a Mennonite home. While Rhoda had long ventured out on her own spiritual path, the conservative community welcomed her back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda’s good-natured mother suggested she date her first cousin—he owned a tractor, see.) It is in this safe place that Rhoda can come to terms with her failed marriage; her desire, as a young woman, to leave her sheltered world behind; and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.

Written with wry humor and huge personality—and tackling faith, love, family, and aging—Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead.

Review:

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is a delightful, heartfelt, and revealing personal account by the woman who lived it, inside and out. It gives immense and detailed insight into the interesting history and environment that formed her. The author, Rhoda Janzen, writes in first person and uses prolific humor that cleverly pokes fun at herself, and her Mennonite culture with warm sincerity and without being disrespectful in any way. She obviously appreciates and adores her quirky family, even if she disagrees with many of their ways. She grows into the understanding and enjoyment of their good qualities. Although I was not able to identify closely with any particular character, I was able to treasure her family for all their differences.

Janzen is hilariously descriptive in sharing her personal journey; a difficult journey that she chooses to ponder on the light side. Her story is set in contemporary America and not only recounts her own emerging selfhood, but also considers the evolving Mennonite society. She is an excellent writer, and a pleasure to read. This author made me laugh on almost every single page through Chapter Nine; not with flippant jest, but rather with the humor of real life. The tone begins to change with Chapter Ten becoming more serious and almost preachy in a sudden odd and deliberate, yet not unwelcome, way. She needed to evaluate her chosen path beyond her own raw experiences and she relates her thinking and conclusions adroitly to her readers. Her unique humor begins to ease in again in Chapter Ten, and she attains a rich balance. Writing this book seems to be a cathartic release for this author as she comes full circle. Reading it might also be helpful for some readers.

I highly recommend this book, especially to women who may be on their own rocky road with undesirable relationships and unpleasant life events. If nothing else, read it for the laughs; I did!

Length:  272 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $14.00

Digital:  $9.99

Buy Link: http://us.macmillan.com/mennoniteinalittleblackdress/RhodaJanzen

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price 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. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Rose & Rochelle