Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Sep 23

21

On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on September 21, 2023
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2023 • Historical Fiction  | Tagged With: , , , | 1 Comment

On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry MildOn the Rails: The Adventures of Boxcar Bertie by Rosemary and Larry Mild

Publisher:  Magic Island Literary Works (July 1, 2023)
Category: Historical Fiction
Tour Dates August 21-Sept 22, 2023
ISBN: 978-099054724
Available in Print and ebook, 230 pages

On The Rails

Description On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild


What’s a woman to do? Bertie Patchet has just graduated from college in New Haven, Connecticut, to become a grammar school teacher. But the year is 1936, and the country is deep in the throes of The Great Depression. Securing employment is nearly impossible for everyone, let alone a single inexperienced female. Going home is an ugly option to be avoided. Bertie absolutely must get away, but travel without an income? Forget it!

Bertie dresses like a man and turns to hopping railway boxcars to make her escape to better opportunities. A female hobo? Unheard of! It’s a man’s world, so how can she maneuver in this male atmosphere fraught with risk, danger, and loss? Will she ever find a teaching job? And will she dare to find romance in the bargain?

A charming new novel with an unforgettable protagonist, a setting to die for, and a mesmerizing plotline, On the Rails is on track to become another beloved tale by dynamic husband-and-wife duo Rosemary and Larry Mild.

Review On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild


Bertie Patchet has graduated college with her teaching certificate.  It is 1936 so, not only will she not know if she will have a teaching job until right before the school season starts, in a few months but it is during the Great Depression. 

She decides to go back home to her mother and step father, even though things have been bad in the past.  Her mother is an acholic and her step father has abused Bertie at night.  Perhaps things will be better.

Her first night back home and her step father enters her room.  At least, this time she is prepared to strike back and prevents him from getting his way.  However, now she knows, she can’t stay there.  She had heard stories of men riding the rails to look for work.  So, she decides to give it a try.  However, she must first disguise herself as a boy.

Bertie has many adventures and meets some very interesting and sometimes, quirky and even dangerous characters. She is certainly a woman ahead of her time and she learns to protect and take care of herself. 

I could tell while reading that the authors put in a lot of time into researching the period.  They really bring the Great Depression to life.  Bertie is a strong female character.  I loved her spunk, wit, and determination! The other characters were well thought out as well.  Larry and Rosemary are excellent writers and breath life into this historical fiction!  I felt like I was there, with Bertie.  This would be excellent source material for a feature length film,  I really think someone should buy the rights!!  It could even follow Bertie on her adventures as a mini series.

This is my favorite book of 2023!  I cannot recommend it enough!  I give it all 5 stars.

I received the eBook version for my opinion.

About Rosemary and Larry MildOn the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild


Rosemary and Larry Mild coauthored the Dan & Rivka Sherman Mysteries; the Paco and the Molly Mysteries; Hawaii adventure/thrillers Cry Ohana and Honolulu Heat; and four volumes of short stories, including their new one, Charlie and the Magic Jug and Other Stories. Many of their stories appear in anthologies. The Milds, a happy husband-and-wife team, make their home in Honolulu, where they cherish time with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

Website:  https://www.magicile.com/

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Giveaway On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild

This giveaway is for 1 print copy and is open to the U.S. only  This giveaway ends on September 22, 2023 midnight, pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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On the Rails by Rosemary and Larry Mild

Apr 23

19

Sex, Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment by Karuna Das- Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on April 19, 2023
Posted in Books Read in 2023 • Coming of Age • Fictionalized Memoir • General Fiction  | Tagged With: , , , | 2 Comments

Sex Drugs and Spiritual EnlightenmentSex, Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment (but mostly the first two) by Karuna Das

Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (March 28, 2023)
Category: General Fiction, Fictionalized Memoir
Tour Dates: April 4-21, 2023
ISBN: 978-1955065764
Available in Print and ebook, 280 pages

Sex Drugs and Spiritual Enlightenment

Description Sex, Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment by Karuna Das


On the cusp of turning eighteen, it’s time for Drew Lovell to become a man.

But deep within, Drew has questions—ones he doesn’t know how to phrase—about what that means and how to go about it.

During three intense stretches between 1985 and 1993, taking him into his mid-twenties, Drew undergoes a series of profound experiences—often wild, sometimes painful, and always revealing—that force him to rethink his current assumptions. Only after nearly dying from trying to conform to conventional models of masculinity does he begin to become the man he wants to be and not the one he thought the world required him to be. Still, he’s unable to live with full integrity until interaction with a pair of awakened humans inspires new awareness that helps him at long last embrace the truth of who he is.

My Thoughts Sex, Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment by Karuna Das


Teenager, Drew hangs out with his friend snorting coke.  His friend then pays a girl to take Drew’s virginity but Drew wonders if that is all there is to it.  A quick 1, 2, 3 and it’s done.  He struggles to understand the real meaning of life.  It can’t just be sitting around doing drugs, having sex, and writing.  He aims to become a professional writer.

Drew later meets his favorite author and it is through that relationship as well as after he experiences a seizure, he has a kind of spiritual awakening and is able to explore what life is really about. It is also after having sex with many women, that he realizes that he is bisexual.

Karuna Dos calls ‘Sex, Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment’ a “fictionalized memoir”.  He uses his experiences as a young man as a starting point and embellishes them.  Mixing the two together make a heartbreaking yet, laugh out loud novel.  His poetic prose is hypnotic and make the book near impossible to put down.  I read it into the wee hours, only forcing myself to put it down at 3 am,  However, I kept going over the book in my mind ad got very little sleep.  The next night, I finished it, thinking I would get a better nights sleep.  LOL! That didn’t happen. Drew is a very memorable character and will stay with me a long time to come.  The book left me wondering how he is as a now middle aged man.

This book is a whirlwind and one that I highly recommend.  I do think it only fair to warn you, that “Sex Drugs, and Spiritual Enlightenment is not appropriate for those who offend easily.  As the title suggests, it is full of sex and profanity.  However, I found it heartfelt, honest, and true to the human condition. It’s bound to become a cult classic!

I give it 5/5 stars!

About Karuna DasKaruna Das


Karuna Das is the pen and spirit name of Kyle Bostian. Born in Wisconsin, he grew up in Massachusetts and now resides in Pennsylvania, but he lives wherever he happens to be at that moment and feels at home everywhere in the universe. He holds a BA in English and an MFA in Playwriting. In addition to his dramatic writing, he’s published the sci-fi novel Kat’s Cradle as well as short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. He and life partner Ti share their house with five wonderfully wacky cats.

Website: https://www.karunadaswriter.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarunaDasWriter
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/karunadaswriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karunadaswriter/

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Sex Drugs and Spiritual Enlightenment by Karuna Das

Apr 23

6

Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan- Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on April 6, 2023
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2023 • Historical Fiction  | Tagged With: , , , , | 1 Comment

Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce DonovanThe Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan

Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (March 7, 2023)
Category: Literary Fiction, British and Irish Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Tour Dates March 13-April 11, 2023
ISBN: 978-1955065702
Available in Print and ebook, 396 pages

Campbell Sisters

Description Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan


Helen Campbell is the eldest and most practical of three sisters, daughters of hard-working Irish emigrants living in New York City in the 1950s. She does what she can to keep the wild-child middle sister, Carolyn, in line and support the youngest, Peggy, as she pursues her dreams of becoming a doctor. Then Helen meets Charlie.

While it’s love at first sight for those two, Carolyn’s antics threatens to derail all the sisters’ future happiness. However, through thick and thin, the three sisters strive to prevail, though not necessarily in the ways they thought they wanted.

My Thoughts Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan


The Campbell Sisters takes place in 1950’s New York City.  All three sisters are in their 20s and still living with their parents in an apartment.  They are Irish Americans.

The three sisters share a room so are always pretty aware of what each are up to. Helen, the oldest sister, is pretty much in charge, as her mother has always reminded her that she is the oldest. She is also considered a spinster and the age of 25 because she is not married.

Helen works at an orphanage and takes her class to the park.  They are not allowed to bring any toys however, one of the boys sneaks a ball out and it goes sailing into the bicycle lane.  He runs after it and is hit by a bike.  The man riding the bike, Charlie, feels awful and wants to help. He insists on carrying the boy back to the orphanage with Helen and her charges.  Then he asks Helen out and waits for her until she is done working for the day.

After that day, they went out frequently. Charlie is a boxer and one night, he takes her to see a fight. The fight did not bother her however, the other thing she saw across from their seats did.  She saw her middle sister, Carolyn with her boss.  Long after Helen comes home, her sister Carolyn appears climbing into their second floor, bedroom window.  Helen confronts her.

Their parents heard and in the morning at breakfast, they confront Carolyn.  Even though the girls are grown, they have a curfew and their dad is very strict about it.  He told Carolyn that since is will not follow his rules, she will have to move out by the end of the month.  For Carolyn, she digs herself a hole, deeper and deeper.

Their youngest sister Peggy, is studying to become a doctor.  While out celebrating with Helen and Charlie one nights, She meets Charlie’s best friend and manager, Joe.  Sparks fly.

Some of what happens is predictable however, that does not detract from the novel.  It is well written and 1950’s New York is brought back to life in all it’s grandeur and some of it’s underbelly as well.  The characters are well written as well.  I felt like I was there as part of the family.  In fact, I think it would make an excellent movie!

‘The Campbell Sisters’ is a gem of a book and I highly recommend it! I give it all 5 stars.  I will be thinking of the characters for a long time to come!

About Eileen Joyce DonovanCampbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan


Eileen Joyce Donovan has been writing her entire life, in one way or another, whether it was imaginative stories for friends, or advertising copy for clients. At the persistent urging of her husband, she finally agreed to seriously edit and revise one of her stories and take the plunge. Years later, her persistence paid off and both her debut historical fiction, Promises, and her second novel, A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma, won prestigious awards. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, and her essays have been included in various Chicken Soup for the Soul editions.

She lives in Manhattan, New York and is a member of Authors Guild, Women’s National Book Association, Women Fiction Writers Association, and The Historical Novel Society.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/etdonovan1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eileen.donovan.923

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Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan