Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Oct 13

15

Review & Giveaway: SINNERMAN by Jonathan M. Cook

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 15, 2013
Posted in Books Read in 2013 • My Past Giveaways  | 6 Comments

Today I am kicking off the SINNERMAN by Jonathan Cook Book tour.  It is going through November 14th.  Please my review and then enter the book giveaway for your chance to win a copy of SINNERMAN!

Book Description: 

Publication Date: February 14, 2013
Category/Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance, Coming of Age
Tour Date: Mid-October/November, 2013
Available in: Print & ebook, 185 Pages
“Love makes sinners of us all.”
In the sleepy Midwestern town of Vespers…
In the sweltering summer heat…
Julian Sane, high school teacher and cad’s cad, is a man at war with himself. But a chance encounter with a former student will push him across professional boundaries and force him to confront his personal demons.
From the author of YOUTH AND OTHER FICTIONS comes a love story for those who live in the real world, where love does not conquer all and actions do have consequences.
Note: SINNERMAN has attracted some controversy in Jonathan M. Cook’s  hometown due to a number of similarities between events in the book and actual events in the community over the past several years. This book is a work of fiction!
My Thoughts:
It becomes apparent very early in the book that Julian is a high school teacher that is in conflict with himself.  He is afraid of real love relationships with women and seems to drink a lot.  He has casual sex rather than an intimate relationship.  However, all that changes when he meets  Lily.  She is a former student at the high school he teaches at but she was never a student of his.
Sparks fly in this book!  Julian’s sister, Clara shows up at his door.  They have a loving but passionate sibling relationship.  They share just about everything with each other but also argue a lot.  Then there are issues with the high school principal and the Board of Directors, just as Julian is just about to make tenure.
I loved this story!  Cook captures the inner conflict of Julian well.  The characters are well drawn out so, this is a great character study!  In just 185 pages Jonathan Cook is able to write a well developed plot and bring it to a conclusion. Note: if you are offended but profanity and sex scenes, this book is not appropriate for you. Highly recommended!
5/5
Question to my readers: Do you think it is okay for a former student, who is now an adult, to have a romantic relationship with a teacher if s/he was never was the student’s teacher?  I would love to discuss this in the comments.
I received this ebook for my honest opinion.
About Jonathan Cook:

Jonathan M. Cook was born in 1982.  He studied Literature, Composition, and Creative Writing at Eastern Illinois University before moving to Robinson, IL, to become a high school English teacher and faculty advisor for the student newspaper.  He is currently at work on his third novel.
Jonathan M. Cook’s Website:  http://www.jonathanmcook.net/
Jonathon M. Cook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.cook.351104Jonathan M. Cook Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonathanmcook
Thanks to the author, Jonathan Cook, I am giving away one copy of SINNERMAN.  A U.S. winner will have the choice of print or ebook. A international winner will receive an ebook.  This giveaway ends on November 15, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Oct 13

7

Book Tour, Review, & Giveaway: Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 7, 2013
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2013 • My Past Giveaways  | 5 Comments

Today I am kicking off a tour for Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome with my review and a book giveaway.

Book Description:

Publisher: Sunbury Press (March 2013)
Category: Hollywood Crime Caper, Action/Adventure, Thriller
ISBN-13: 978-1620062050
Tour Date: October, 2013
Available in: Print and ebook, 239 Pages
Tinseltown Riff centers on Ben Prine, a thirty-something Hollywood screenwriter who, on a Labor Day weekend, finds himself in desperate straits. Latching on to a dubious last-minute opportunity, he unwittingly embarks on a collision course with a Montana tracker connected with a Vegas mob; an odyssey which culminates in a showdown on an abandoned Western movie set.
My Thoughts:
Ben Prine has been living with his aunt for awhile now and she wants him out.  She is selling her house and wants to get on with her life.  He needs to find a place fast but he has no money and no job prospects.  However a screenwriting job lands in his lap all of a sudden but it is a rush job and so steeped in secrets, he doesn’t even know what he is suppose to be writing about.  It soon becomes apparent to the reader that this job is not what it seems.  It just takes Ben longer to discover this.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE quirky characters!  Tinseltown Riff has quirky characters galore.  In fact, every character in the book is quirky!  I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first but that soon passed.  I think I was a bit confused until I got to know the most important characters. After that, the book took me on a wild, gritty, and quirky ride.  All good things, IMO.  If you enjoy action and quirky characters, you are in for a treat!  Highly recommended!
4/5
I received this book for my honest opinion.
About Shelly Frome:

Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of mysteries, books on theater and film, and articles on the performing arts appearing in a number of periodicals in the U.S. and the U.K. He is also a film critic and a contributor to writers’ blogs.

His fiction includes Lilac Moon, Sun Dance for Andy Horn, the trans-Atlantic cozy The Twinning Murders and Twilight of the Drifter, a southern gothic crime-and-blues odyssey. Among his works of non-fiction are the acclaimed The Actors Studio and texts on the art and craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. Tinseltown Riff, his latest novel, is both a social commentary and a Hollywood crime caper.
Shelly Frome’s Website: www.shellyfrome.com
Shelly Frome Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shellyfrome
Shelly Frome Twitter: https://twitter.com/shellyFrome
Thanks to the author, Shelly Frome, I am giving away one copy of Tinseltown Riff.  This giveaway is open internationally.  If you live in the U.S., you will have your choice of print or ebook.  If international, you will receive the pdf.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
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Follow the Tour:

 So Many Precious books Oct 7 Review & Giveaway
Dr. Bill’s Book Baazar Oct 8 Review
Butterfly-o-Meter Books Oct 9 Interview
Joy Story Oct 10 Review
Ann’s Reading Corner Oct 11 Review
Ordinary Girls Oct 14 Review
From L.A. to LA Oct 15 Review & Giveaway
Paperback Writer Oct 15 Guest Post
Deal Sharing Aunt Oct 16 Review
I Feel So Unnecessary Oct 17 Review
Bookalicious Travel Addict Oct 22 Guest Post
Kate Eileen Shannon Oct 23 Review
Kate Eileen Shannon Oct 24 Guest Post & Giveaway
Hollywood Daze Oct 25 Review
Sweeps 4 Bloggers Oct 29 Review & Giveaway
Rose & Beps Blog Oct 31 Guest Post
Literary, etc Nov 1 Review & Giveaway

 Buy Tinseltown Riff:

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Sep 13

25

Review and Giveaway: The Wedding Gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on September 25, 2013
Posted in Books Read in 2013 • My Past Giveaways  | 5 Comments

Book Description:

When prestigious plantation owner Cornelius Allen gives his daughter Clarissa’s hand in marriage, she takes with her a gift: Sarah—her slave and her half-sister.  Raised by an educated mother, Clarissa is not a proper southern belle she appears to be with ambitions of loving who she chooses and Sarah equally hides behind the façade of being a docile house slave as she plots to escape. Both women bring these tumultuous secrets and desires with them to their new home, igniting events that spiral into a tale beyond what you ever imagined possible and it will leave you enraptured until the very end.
Told through alternating viewpoints of Sarah and Theodora Allen, Cornelius’ wife, Marlen Suyapa Bodden’s The Wedding Gift is an intimate portrait that will leave readers breathless.

My Thoughts:

The Wedding Gift is historical fiction at it’s best.  I love reading just about anything on the human condition, human rights abuse, and slavery, has always been a fascinating topic to me.  I just can’t seem to get enough of it.  No matter how much I read about it, I don’t get it and never will. How can one human being treat another like that because their skin tone is different?

The story opens with Cornelius Allen takes his new bride, Theodora on a tour of his plantation.  When they are at the slave quarters, he gives the children candy and boosts about how well he treats his slaves.  They get the afternoon Saturday through Sunday off to rest, have their own church, and he encourages them to marry.  

Of course it is illegal for slaves to marry in the legal sense and his motive for encouraging marriage is far from pure.  He want his slaves to produce more slaves. 

Theodora soon has children, one of which is their daughter Clarissa.  Around the same time one of the kitchen slaves, Emmeline gives birth to Sarah, also Cornelious’s daughter.  Clarissa and Sarah play together and are like best friends.  Sarah is groomed to become Clarissa’s maid and when Clarissa is married, Sarah is her wedding gift.  

Clarissa’s marriage is not a happy one and Sarah gets wrapped up in it in more ways than one can count. Through all of this, Sarah has always dreamed of running away to freedom but the odds of getting away successfully are slim.  She also has a husband to think about as well.  There is so much to tell but I don’t want to risk spoilers. Just know that there are lots of surprises.

It is hard to believe that this is Marlen Suyapa Bodden’s first book.  She writes with great comand and poetic pose.  Her characters are fresh and well drawn out and she captures both the time and place beautifully.  I did not want this book to end! Highly recommended!

5/5

I received a ebook copy of this book for my honest review.

About Marlen Suyapa Bodden: 


Dr. Marlen Suyapa Bodden is a lawyer at The Legal Aid Society in New York City, the nation’s oldest and largest legal services organization. She has more than two decades’ experience representing poor people and low-wage and immigrant workers, many of whom are severely underpaid, if paid at all.  

She drew on her knowledge of modern and historical slavery, human trafficking, and human rights abuses to write The Wedding Gift, her first novel. 

On May 20, 2012, the University of Rhode Island conferred on Marlen an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Marlen is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Tufts University.

Thanks to Staci Burt of Wunderkind PR, I am giving one print copy of this book away.  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends on October 9, 2013

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

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