Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-MedinaJerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina


Thanks to Michela DellaMonica of Smith Publicity, Inc, I am giving away 5 print copies of  Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina.

Description of Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina


SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2017

In Jerusalem’s Old City a young priest and a dominatrix converse in the dying light; on Oregon’s windswept coast a fragile woman discovers a body washed up on the beach after a storm; and in Postwar Japan a young protégé watches his master’s corpse burn, with bitter thoughts blazing in his mind. 

Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions collects thirteen eclectic works of dark fiction, taking the reader from Los Angeles to the eastern townships of Quebec, and from Tokyo to Jerusalem. 

Ortega-Medina’s characters are flawed, broken individuals, trying their best to make sense of their lives as they struggle with sexuality, death, obsession, and religion. Sometimes bleak, occasionally violent, and often possessed of a dark humour, this major debut explores the imperfections of life and the unpredictability of death.

Praise for Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina


“[B]eautifully wrought, deeply unnerving…Ortega-Medina holds a mirror up to our darkest thoughts and urges – while showing the oneness of the human condition” – The Irish News

About Orlando Ortega-MedinaJerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina


Orlando Ortega-Medina is a US born British-Canadian author of Judeo-Spanish descent. He studied English Literature at UCLA and has a Juris Doctor law degree from Southwestern University School of Law.

At university he won The National Society of Arts and Letters award for Short Stories. Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions is his first published collection. Orlando now resides in London, where he practices US immigration law.

Giveaway of Jerusalem Ablaze: Stories of Love and Other Obsessions by Orlando Ortega-Medina


This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on September 22, 2017 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton SummieTo Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie


Thanks to Rick Summie of Caitlin Hamilton Marketing and Publicity LLC, I am giving away one print copy of To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie.

Description of To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie

In these ten elegantly written short stories, Caitlin Hamilton Summie takes readers from WWII Kansas City to a poor, drug-ridden neighborhood in New York, from western Massachusetts to woodsy Wisconsin, and from the quiet of rural Minnesota to its pulsing Twin Cities, each time navigating the geographical boundaries that shape our lives as well as the geography of tender hearts, loss, and family bonds. Deeply moving and memorable, To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts examines the importance of family, the defining nature of place, the need for home, and the hope of reconciliation.

Praise for To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie


“What is remembered; what is missed; what will never be again . . . all these are addressed with the tenderness of a wise observer whose heart is large enough, kind enough, to embrace them all without judgment. . . . intense and finely crafted  . . . . her stories reach into the hidden places of the heart and break them open to healing light, offering a touch of grace and hope of reconciliation.”—Foreword Reviews, starred review

“It’s been a long time since I read a collection of stories that amazed me from cover to cover, but that’s what Caitlin Summie’s To Lay to Rest Our Ghosts did. With the grace and elegance of a master, Summie lays bare our vulnerabilities and desires and hopes in equal measure. The result is one stunning story after another, each as lovely and heartfelt as the one before. If you’re a fan of Grace Paley or Ann Beattie or Tobias Wolfe, you’ll surely find something to love in these pages.”—Peter Geye, author of Wintering

“…Summie writes elegantly of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with their disappearing farmland, aging population, and winters that are both brutal and engendering of intimacy. Like a landscape painter, she creates memorable images: a wheelchair-bound man stuck in a muddy rut, a young mother pulling a line of children through a whiteout.”—Kirkus Reviews

About Caitlin Hamilton SummieTo Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie


Caitlin Hamilton Summie earned an MFA with Distinction from Colorado State University, and her short stories have been published in Beloit Fiction Journal, Wisconsin Review, Puerto del Sol, Mud Season Review, and Long Story, Short. She has stories forthcoming in Hypertext Magazine and The Belmont Story Review.

Her first book, a short story collection called TO LAY TO REST OUR GHOSTS, is forthcoming in August from Fomite. She spent many years in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Colorado before settling with her family in Knoxville, Tennessee. She co-owns the book marketing firm, Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, founded in 2003. Find her online at caitlinhamiltonsummie.com.

Giveaway of To Lay To Rest Our Ghosts by Caitlin Hamilton Summie


This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on August 25, 2017 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Middle-Aged Man and the SeaMiddle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks


If you have been reading my reviews for a long time, you may know that I am a big fan of author, Christopher Meeks.  I have had the opportunity to read and review most of his books.  However, I hadn’t read his book of short stories, ‘The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea’.  I bought the ebook a long time ago but didn’t have the opportunity to read it.  Then, a few weeks ago Christopher contacted me to let me know that he created a audiobook version on CD and on Audible and offered me a free download code to Audible. I couldn’t refuse!

My Thoughts on Middle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks


The Audible version is narrated by the author, Christopher Meeks, himself.  It includes 13  quintessential short stories about the human condition. With his trademark sense of humor and quirky, yet realistic characters, Meeks takes us on a journey through the lives of his characters and we even a glimpse into ourselves.

Many people who claim not to like short stories, usually say because they don’t feel complete.  I dare naysayers of Short stories to read this book.  Okay, so the endings aren’t wrapped up in nice neat bows but neither is real life.  “They all lived happily ever after” are the kind of stories we tell children to make them feel safe and secure. 

These stories have kernels of truth hidden within them. They cover, marriage, middle age, and old age.  The thread throughout is human relationships and how we dealt with them.  Of course, this wouldn’t be a Christopher Meeks book, if there weren’t some references to pop culture sprinkled with in.

Usually, I find short stories in a collection hit and miss however, ‘The Middle-aged Man and the Sea’, is quite an even collection.  I really loved them all.

As for the narration, it was good.  There were a few places that you could hear the wetness that can accumulate in ones mouth.  I haven’t detected this when I have listened to a more seasoned narrator.  However, with practice, I believe Christoper Meeks could go from good to great with his narration skills.  I hope he records more of his books.

5/5 Writing

4/5 Narration

I received a free download code for the Audible version for my honest review.

About Christopher MeeksChristopher Meeks


Christopher Meeks first published short fiction in a number of literary journals, and the stories are available in two collections, The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea and Months and Seasons. Recently, he’s focused on crime novels.  His first, Blood Drama had a graduate student writing a thesis on David Mamet in a struggle with a ruthless killer and bank robber. The new A Death in Vegas is a mystery based on the death of a young woman and the wrong man charged with it. Visit Christopher Meeks online at chrismeeks.com.

Buy Middle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks


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Amazon
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Giveaway of Middle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks


You can enter to win my giveaway of a download code to get the Audible version of this great short story collection.  Enter here.