Nobody's Damsel (Someone Else's Fairytale #2)

Title:  Nobody's Damsel (Someone Else's Fairytale #2)
Author:  E.M. Tippetts
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Medium:  Kindle


Goodreads Synopsis:
Chloe has finished her masters degree and taken a job as a forensic scientist back in her home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, only the press will not leave her alone. They follow her to crime scenes and report on her every move, eager to show that her marriage to Hollywood A-lister, Jason Vanderholt, is on the brink of collapse. Millions of fans who dream of their own celebrity romance with him want this more than anything. This scrutiny comes at a particularly bad time as Chloe's first case is a crime against a child roughly the same age that Chloe was when she survived a homicide attempt.

Now that she sees the case from an adult's perspective, she realizes it's much harder than she ever dreamed. It's even worse for Jason, who is two steps removed from the crime. He must watch and try to support his wife as she battles with past demons and tries to keep up with a nameless suspect who evades identification and capture. Never has Jason been more frustrated with his job, its frivolities, and its lack of connection to the real world. When he storms off the set of his latest movie, the press goes wild with conjecture. Perhaps he never was anything more than a pretty face after all.

Together, Chloe and Jason must find their way past all the popping flashbulbs and through the dark maze of the criminal investigation to discover whether they can balance their professional goals with the demands of a celebrity marriage. The odds are entirely against them.


At the end of this month it will be Ravenous Reader -Book Reviews first anniversary. I've learned a few things this year about blogging, about myself, and about authors. Especially about Indie authors. I chose to focus my book reviews on the Indie author for a couple reasons. Mainly because if you go into any main stream NY Times best-selling book, you are going to find a gazillion reviews. I'm sure the authors love the reviews, but probably could give a hoot about what some red headed chick from the West Coast of Florida thinks. I imagine that reviewing popular books might give my blog a larger following, because everyone loves what's popular, right?


Well, that's not me. I've never been one to follow the crowd, and just kind of like to do my own thing. My thoughts are that maybe Indie author's are the same way. Just because a book doesn't make it to some top 10 list somewhere, doesn't mean that it's a bad book. On the contrary, there are a TON of wonderful author's out there - you just have to stay on the end of that pier when everyone else is walking off to be able to find them.




I do read mainstream, popular books - I just choose not to blog about them. I'd rather spend my time giving those writers that veer away from the crowd the blog time, and hopefully it will spark one or two people to check them out and tell their friends - a build it and they will come kind of mentality. The biggest thing I've learned about Indie authors is that they are very generous. E.M Tippetts is one such author. Her first book in this series, Someone Else's Fairytale, was actually the first book that an author gifted to me to read and review. You can see my review here. I was just starting out my blog and wondering if I would ever see a review request in my inbox.




Even much more to my surprise, I received an email from Ms. Tippetts to review the sequel, Nobody's Damsel! I actually liked this book better than the first one. Maybe because I had an already established relationship with the characters, plus I was anxious to see what the next step in their relationship would be, and how Chloe would adjust to being married to someone so famous. Would she become one of those Hollywood wives? Would their relationship even survive the first few months? How would she cope? Was this even going to work? How?




Nobody's Damsel is a well-written sequel that reads quickly, but only because there are bits and pieces of suspense sprinkled heavily within that makes you want to keep turning page after page and not put it down until the very end. Like I said in my first review, this series of books may be on the younger end of the age spectrum for me, but they definitely bring me back to my younger self. While I still have dreams and fairy tales, I did marry my Prince Charming, but I do remember way back when of dreaming if that hunky movie star would just see me in passing one day, he'd be hooked - hey! a girl can dream, can't she?




Ms. Tippetts allows the reader to be taken back, to dream, to suspend belief, if just for a few hours and believe in fairy tales once again. I think we get caught up in our every day grown up lives and need to remember to take a step back once in awhile to dream.




Thank you E.M. Tippetts!

E.M. Tippetts

Mental Pause

Title:  Mental Pause
Author:  Anne O'Connell
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Medium:  Kindle

Amazon Synopsis:

Abbie is riding the hormonal roller coaster and hanging on for dear life. She finds herself in a body she no longer recognizes, a marriage that feels overwhelming, and she questions her very sanity. Her existence has become one big hot flash inflamed by killer moods. A chance meeting seems to give her the escape she's desperate for but at what cost? Accused of murder she finds herself in a jail cell accompanied by her regrets and the gnawing fear that her life may be changed forever. It’s a kind of mental pause that Abbie has never imagined, in a story that offers no letup from start to satisfying finish. Change of life, anyone? Mental Pause promises to take you way beyond.

Change is good, right?  I have to say that a lot of changes are good, and even some of the ones that may seem difficult and scary end up have life lessons in them.  Most of the time I don't really mind change.  I just kind of roll with the punches.  There is one change that's going to happen to me, and I think I might be a ticking time bomb.  Hopefully it's quick and painless.

I'm still relatively young, compared to the folks I golfed with yesterday (every single one over 65, and the couple my Dad and I were partnered with were in their 80's), I'm really young!  Starting on Monday, I will be the youngest person in my office.  My husband and I are the youngest people on our street - okay, the guy across the street fought in WWII, so that makes me really, really, really young!  Age really is only a number.  My husband is 6 months younger than I am, we are both in our 40's and he still gets carded.  I'd give my right leg to be carded, just once more!

Anne O'Connell wrote a witty, funny, suspenseful and meaningful book that focuses on change.  Ladies, I'm talking to you!  Gentlemen, ya'll should listen up too, because this will affect you also.  Get ready for it!  I know several women who have gone through or who are going through menopause (yeah, I said it!) and they are doing pretty well, considering.  None of them have snapped...yet.

Mental Pause is the story about Abbie and how she handles going through menopause.  She does things a little more, shall I say, unconventional than any of the women I know although I know one or two who might rival her shenanigans!  The life lessons in her book touch on the bonds of family and friendship, and what even the most desperate of people do sometimes.  Ms. O'Connell paints a picture for women who are dealing with the frustrations of menopause that it is okay to be moody and sweaty and a little crazy at times.  

I really enjoyed Mental Pause.  It was a quick little read that would be perfect for a book club or group of friends to read together - especially if any of the group is 'changing'.  

March 8 is International Women's Day, and is Mental Pause's official publish date, how fitting!  And in the spirit of women all over the world, Ms. O'Connell is donating part of the proceeds from the sales of her book that day to Rooms to Read.  Pretty cool charity, pretty cool author!

Mental Pause