Sunday Book Review: Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love by Sebastian Cole

by Sebastian Cole

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I’d go ahead and buy this book, but actually read it when school is out for the summer (next week).  Earlier this week I had a day of doctor’s appointments, so I took my trusty Nook to play a few games while waiting my turn to be stuck, poked, and prodded.   I sat down to play Aces Jewel Hunt, but the gorgeous cover of Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love by Sebastian Cole popped up along with a few others.  What the heck, I figured I could start it, because it would probably be something I had to force myself to finish.  WAS I EVER WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This story caught and kept my attention from the first chapter to the last.  I read a good bit at the hospital between visits and procedures.  When I got home, I went straight to my favorite red reading chair and was there until I had to get up to prepare the evening meal for my family.  I couldn’t get the last dish loaded in the washer fast enough, so I could get back to this story.

Sebastian Cole says on his website that his story is a cross between The Notebook and The Sixth Sense, and that is a perfect description.  Cole writes with a strong voice and does a beautiful job of taking the reader from current day, back in time as the hero of the story, Noah,  now eighty years old,  shares his love story with an orderly in his hospital room.  Part of the title is “undying love”, and Noah and Robin share such a love.  If you are going into this story thinking it will be another cookie cutter story of undying love, you will not get that with this one.  Cole twists and turns this plot (which is why I couldn’t put it down) to where you can’t assume anything about the ending.  You HAVE to read it.  This couple has issues that must be dealt with( and not little problems either), but they do deal with them.   The element of suspense was a strong point of the story, and well woven throughout the tale.  Another important point I’d like to make is that Cole mastered writing a story that goes back and forth from present to past.  Never once was I unclear about the path of the story.  It was very clearly written, and the momentum of the story WAS NEVER derailed due to the reader needing to stop and figure out where and when the characters were in the story.  THAT takes talent!!

Sand Dollar:  A Story of Undying Love is Sebastian Cole’s debut novel, but I think he will have a long list of best sellers if he keeps going at this rate.  I recommend that you take the time to read this story.  It will renew your faith in finding and keeping that one true love.

Sand Dollar:  A Story of Undying Love is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  You may want to visit Cole’s website at www.sebastiancoleauthor.com   to find out more about this up and coming author.  Here is an excerpt from Cole’s new book:

“It’s a sand dollar. I’m sure you’ve seen one, probably even held one in your hand, huh, Josh?”

Noah kicked his fins and dove down about ten feet, picking up the sand dollar and resurfacing to get air through his snorkel. From beneath the water’s surface, he proudly displayed his newfound prize to Robin.

“No two are exactly the same. Its simplistic design and imperfect form may appear somewhat… well, ordinary. Most people probably wouldn’t think twice about it. So why should this seemingly insignificant object capture so much of my attention?”

BOOM ! The precious sand dollar in Noah’s hand exploded. In what seemed like slow motion, the sand dollar disintegrated through his fingers into a thousand tiny grains of sand that evanesced into obscurity.

“Because for me, the sand dollar represents life, and how fragile life really is. What was once so very precious to me, suddenly and without warning, disintegrated and vanished before my eyes. Just like the sand dollar, life holds no promises. Seemingly solid and secure in our grasp, the blessings we have in our lives today are easily shattered tomorrow. The lesson learned: never take your loved ones for granted. And if you’re ever lucky enough to find that one person in life who makes you love more than any other person could possibly make you love, you treat every day together as if it were your last. You cherish every moment.”

“However, for me, this lesson came too late, for she was already gone, seemingly lost forever. And there was nothing I could do to put the pieces back together. I would spend my life wishing I could somehow travel back, back in time, to the day I first laid eyes on that precious beauty.”

The precious beauty of Robin’s young face was shadowed by sadness as she nervously searched Noah’s worried eyes for reassurance.

“If only I’d known how fragile she really was. If only I’d known her hidden secret. I would have held onto her so differently… never letting go…”

Looking for a Hot Highlander Story?…I Can Help!

Karen Marie Moning

Highlander romance novels.  Love them.  I love to read these stories, and I buy anything with the word Highlander in the title.  I actually have about 10 paperback Highlander novels (written by various authors) to read when I get time, because I have bought every one off the Book Sale rack at my local library.  But the very best Highlander stories I have EVER read are written by author, Karen Marie Moning.  Her Highlander books are the hottest, sexiest, funniest, most suspenseful Highlander stories ever written in my opinion.  I can’t put them down.  They start in the present day with a heroine that somehow meets up with a Highlander from the past.  There is some danger that must be overcome and they eventually have to work together to see it through, with lots of hot scenes to help get them to the end of the story.  Also, you will find some of the characters show up in other books of the series, so pay attention!  If you aren’t thrilled with the story when you get to the last page, then you must not be a true lover of a sexy Scottish Highlander.  I think you will be like me, and be rushing back to the library or bookstore to get another one of Moning’s books in this series.  I have read them all.  Visit www.karenmoning.com to find out more about her other book series (I love the Fae stories, too!).  Here are the books in the Highlander series.  I happened to have started with The Spell of the Highlander, which wasn’t the first book in the series.  It didn’t matter, it got me started on some of the best reading I’ve ever enjoyed.  Hope you will, too!

                             

Again, you know my love of a good cover!  These didn’t let me down!  If you like reading in order, it has been suggested reading the books in the order shown below will provide a richer reading experience:

• Beyond the Highland Mist
• To Tame a Highland Warrior
• The Highlander Touch
• Kiss of the Highlander
• The Dark Highlander
• The Immortal Highlander
• The Spell of the Highlander
• Into the Dreaming

Would You Dare To Love a Beast?

by Teri Butterfly Harvey

Would you dare to love a scoundrel, rake, or outright beast?  That is the dilemma of the heroine of Teri Butterfly Harvey’s debut novel, To Love a Beast.  I think most of us that read romantic novels think that is the ONLY kind of man to fall in love with.  We all root for the “Bad Boy” of the story.  Something about that recklessness is incredibly alluring.  To be ravished by the worst rake of the ton would be a dream!

I first discovered this “page turner” when its author, Teri Butterfly Harvey, ”Liked” a particular post on my blog.  I checked out her blog and realized she had just published her first novel, so I understood her feelings of anxiety now that it was out there for the world to see.  I have since been following her blog at www.bflyzone.wordpress.com and love it.  I checked out more information about her book, and after reading the sample excerpt, purchased it simply because I had to know the rest of the story.  I started reading the book yesterday, and have just finished a few minutes ago!  It was a great way to spend Mother’s Day.  I read To Love a Beast on my Nook, beside my son reading his book on his Nook.  It couldn’t have been any better!

Teri began her story with immediate action and romance, and kept the story moving straight to the end.  The characters had spirit and sass, and a sensuous side that could not be denied.  She wrote the love scenes with good taste, but without forfeiting the “hot’ factor.  She wrote clearly and descriptively, making me hear the intonation in the voices, and see the exact looks on the characters’ faces.  I couldn’t put this down until I finished it, and I was not disappointed.  I recommend this book to anyone that loves to read a good regency novel.  It is flirty, sassy, sensuous, and sexy from start to finish!  I loved it, and give it “2 Thumbs Up“!

Please go to this site to read an excerpt (the one that made me have to have a copy!), and purchase To Love a Beast by Teri Butterfly Harvey:

www.smashwords.com

***type in To Love a Beast in the Search box and it will take you to the page with description and purchasing info

This cover is really cool, too.  It has a purple iris on the cover, which is my favorite flower!  It had to be good!

Nora Roberts…The Bride Quartet Series

  Nora Roberts is synonymous with romance novels.  I have read a few of her books, but not many.  She grabbed my attention with her BRIDE QUARTET SERIES.  What girl doesn’t dream of her wedding from early childhood?  That is the premise of this series of books.  They are based on four friends that as children , would gather to play and pretend that they were in each other’s wedding, taking turns at being the bride.  When they reached adulthood, the childhood role-playing became their livelihood as they partnered together to form “Vows“, a wedding event planning company.  One girl is the director and main organizer of the company.  Another is the florist, one the baker, and one the photographer.  Each book carries you through the romance story of each girl until they all have obtained their “happily ever after”.  I had to wait for months between the release of each book.  You won’t have to endure such torture as they are all out now.  If you love romance, weddings, and good sexual tension between the lovers, this series is for you.  Again, you know I am a sucker for a gorgeous book cover.  All of these covers are just that.  Here are the books of the series in order of release:

Book One:  Vision in White  (Photographer’s Love Story)

Book Two:  Bed of Roses  (Florist’s Love Story)

Book Three:  Savor the Moment  (Baker’s Love Story)

Book Four:  Happily Ever After  ( Event Planner  & Organizer’s Love Story)

It’s a Girl!!!

     This has been a week I am sure I will never forget.  I met my half-sister for the first time.  It has been a joy getting to know her over the past three days.  She is so much like other family members, that it makes a strong case for genetics.  There is the family resemblance.  I see it more in pictures than in person, but it is there.  Her interests are similar to some of our interests.  She is loving and affectionate, as we are.  My son met her and talked nonstop until we left.  He never says two words to anyone, so that alone amazed me to no end.  He remarked to me on the way home that it was “sorta cool to find out he has another aunt”.  He also said she was REALLY  nice.  I don’t know of many people who rank more than an “okay” in his book.  She is easy to talk to, and I felt comfortable with her from the start.

I also met her best friend who is a delightful person as well.  It is like getting a “free spin” when playing a slot machine!  I was very nervous about meeting her, but things fell right into place from the start.  She is someone I am looking forward to getting to know better.  We can’t get the time back that has passed us, but we have the rest of our lives to form a new relationship based on new experiences together.  This week was the beginning of those experiences, and for me, it was positive and left me looking forward to spending more time together.  I hope she was not too overwhelmed by the experience, and will want to continue moving forward.

Sometimes things in life happen that we have no control over, yet we are drawn onto the playing field because of the “ripple effect“.  While we have no control over the circumstances that reach out and touch our lives, we do control our reaction to those events.  I choose to be positive, and let my circle widen to include this new person in my life, rather than tighten up to exclude her.  I truly believe my life is going to be enriched by her ‘ripple effect”.  You know we ALL have a “ripple effect”.  Every choice we make each day extends beyond just ourselves.  We can send out positive or negative “ripples”. Those ripples can strengthen and enlighten others, or leave nothing but devastation in their wake.   I hope that the ripples I send out to my students, friends, and family are all good ripples that make those people glad I passed their way.  I’m glad I have another sister, and I’m glad she passed my way these past few days.

Let’s all be mindful of our “ripple effects”, and think before we speak and before we act on impulse.  Are our actions going to support and strengthen others, or are they going to build walls and tear down relationships?  Choose wisely.

Madeline Hunter…Books Worth Reading

It’s Sunday, and time for my “Author Spotlight” blog.  Today I am featuring  historical romance writer, Madeline Hunter.

I want to specifically recommend the “Rarest Blooms” quartet.  I have read all four books and thoroughly enjoyed them.  These are the four books of the series :

• Ravishing in Red
• Provocative in Pearls
• Sinful in Satin
• Dangerous in Diamonds

I happened upon Ravishing in Red by accident at the library.  I needed something to read and the title and cover art caught my eye first.  The blurb on the back sounded intriguing, so I checked it out.  I couldn’t put it down.  Later I found Provocative in Pearls in paperback.  Again, the cover art was gorgeous!  I had met the heroine in the first book, and had to find out her story.  And that same cycle continued until I completed the whole series.  The covers of these books are worth the books alone!  They are all about a group of single women living together.  They all have a past or secret, but the House Rule is “ask no questions”, so everyone has their privacy.  They are like sisters, and each book features the love story of one of them.  Every book refers to the last couple and introduces the characters that will eventually “hook up” by the end of the series.  They all become like your own personal friends as you read each book.

Madeline Hunter is an award-winning author, and has written about twenty books of historical fiction.  I loved this series so much, that I have purchased more of her books, though I haven’t had time to read any more as of this date.  BUT I WILL READ THEM.  Hunter has hooked me with her style of writing.  She knows how to write sensual passages, and create that sexual tension that keeps you turning pages until it is completed.  You will have no hesitation in reading the next one, and the next one, and the next one!  If you love historical fiction, you’ll never be sorry with a Madeline Hunter book!  Happy reading!

Lisa Kleypas…You’ll be hooked!

Author, Lisa Kleypas

We have a “Book Exchange” at the school where I teach.  It consists of a set of cabinets in the Teacher’s Work Room, where we bring books we have read and no longer want, and take a one from the shelves of “castaways”.  It is quite the collection, with books ranging from self-help, biographies, inspirational, contemporary, paranormal, and historical romance.  I am a sucker for romance.  I’ve gotten hooked on historical romance for the moment, though I write contemporary romance stories.  Lisa Kleypas was recommended by a coworker who is a reading maniac if there ever was one.  This woman can read three to four books a week, and we aren’t talking thin books!   She told me her Nook hasn’t been turned off since Mother’s Day last year, so she means business!

I found a Lisa Kleypas book, “The Devil in Winter” in the cabinet at school, and decided to see if she could hook me as she had my friend.  Long story short, she did.  It turned out I was reading Book 4 in a series called “The Wallflower Series”.  When I finished it, I had to go in search of the other three books.  Fortunately, reading out of order didn’t ruin any of the books for me. I did back up and read the others in order, just because I am wired that way!  Here are the books (listed in order) from The Wallflower Series by Lisa Kleypas:

1.  Secrets of a Summer Night
2. It Happened in Autumn
3. Devil in Winter
4. Scandal in Spring

The stories are told in vivid detail, but not the kind that make you want to grab a chunk of pages and rip them out, knowing you won’t miss any significant point of the story!  When you read the stories, characters from the other books are interwoven throughout the tale either in reference to what has happened in the past, or setting the stage for the next book.  Now, to the part that makes a review of a book important to me:  How hot is it?

Kleypas does a wonderful job of writing passionate tension from the first meeting of the characters until the happily ever after.  She gives you enough that you want to keep reading to see if they get a little more without cheating to find those parts.  I’m never willing to forfeit her storytelling for “The BIG Moment”.  When “The BIG Moment” comes (no pun intended), it delivers.  So, if you are in between books and want to read something from a new author, I recommend Lisa Kleypas.  She’s got a boatload of books on the shelf, not all of them Historical, so you should find a perfect match for your particular taste.  Give her a go.  I’m pretty sure you’ll be back for seconds!

I’m Still Here…

  Sorry that I have dropped out of sight for a while.  My  real life persona had to take care of some real life issues, thus resulting in my “STOP, DROP, AND ROLL” off the blogging merry-go-round.  The juggling of a family, career, friends with issues, life-changing decision making, AND keeping up the Kate Patrick business of my life became a bit too much, so I bailed on my alter ego.

I guess the truth is that the name Kate Patrick is the only thing not real at this site.  I write under a pen name because my father, though supportive of my “spicy” novel, didn’t want the family name on it.  Well, it wouldn’t have been my family name, seeing as how I have been married for 21 years, but alas, I am a good southern daughter and we always mind our “Daddy”. (I wouldn’t use my real name anyway!  What was he thinking?)

What I write on this site are “real me” thoughts and responses to whatever is in the air at the time.  At first, I envisioned having a website that truly gave suggestions, scenarios, information, etc.on how to really “unlock your fantasies” and take a walk on the wild side with your significant other.  Nothing too outlandish – just something to jack up the sensuality factor at your house.  I’ve plenty of ideas, but too many family members and coworkers know of this website, and some would be highly offended at what I’d suggest I’m afraid.

So, I guess for those posts I will have to use the “Must be 18 or over to enter this blog” message and start a “Sexy Saturday” column!  That way everyone has fair warning and if they choose to ENTER…well,…I never want to know about it!

Well, it was nice to have this time to chat with you, even though it has taken all afternoon and part of this evening to complete due to interruptions.  I am going to close and return to the writing of my second novel, “Memphis Heat”.  Wish me luck!

Just for Laughs…

Change the word “cigarettes” to “chocolate”, and this works for me and the past few weeks! 

Sunday: Romance Book Reviews

Joan Chandler, author of Perfectly Imperfect,  is my guest book reviewer today.  She is reviewing the book, To Conquer Mr. Darcy by Abigail Reynolds.  I will now turn things over to her.

 

 

TO CONQUER MR. DARCY     by Abigail Reynolds

What if instead of disappearing from Elizabeth Bennet’s life after she refused his offer of marriage, Mr. Darcy had stayed and tried to change her mind?

When I read the above quote on the back cover of To Conquer Mr. Darcy, by Abigail Reynolds, I was eager to read it. I am a huge Jane Austen fan.  I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite work of hers.  I love her writing style, the settings, and the way she created such three dimensional, strong heroines.  These women didn’t have to be perfect, but they were all more than endearing.  But probably the thing I enjoy most in her novels would have to be her leading men.  She had a rare gift for creating absolutely swoon-worthy male characters.  And we can thank her for giving us perhaps the ultimate fictional crush:  Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Before I get into the review of the book itself, let me state for the record that I personally have no problem whatsoever with any novel that takes classic – dare I say sacred? – literary characters and then writes new adventures and romances for them to discover.  I’ve read Gone with the Wind many, many times, and love it.  But I also thoroughly enjoyed Scarlett, and Rhett Butler’s People.  Sure, it didn’t sound exactly like Margaret Mitchell, but as I read those two books I was treated to many more hours of reading pleasure with characters that I hold dear.

I would have to say the same thing about To Conquer Mr. Darcy.  With each page I turned, I lost myself in the world of William Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.  And it didn’t take much more than a few chapters until I no longer thought in terms of Austen’s voice or Ms. Reynolds’.  I thought the latter did a superb job of keeping a very similar tone for the characters in her book that they had in the novel that first introduced them to us.  It is obvious to me that Reynolds is a great admirer of Austen and knows her works inside and out.  I thought she was very respectful in any liberties she took with the characters.

As for the story itself, you could describe it as Pride and Prejudice “with a twist”.  It is told from Darcy’s point of view, rather than Elizabeth’s.  Often, text is duplicated verbatim which helps keep the storyline true to what we already hold near and dear to our hearts.  And as for that “twist” part?  Let’s just say Lizzy and William aren’t quite as chaste in this version.   As a modern day romance novelist, I really liked the fact one of my favorite fictional couples finally gives us a glimpse of what goes on between them when they’re alone.

If you are a fan of Jane Austen’s, I think you’d like this book.  I will caution you that it was apparently previously released under another name, Impulse & Initiative.   So if you look for other titles by the same author, there is a chance you could buy the exact same story twice.

For those out there who are Austen purists, well, it might not be their cup of tea.  But we deal with remakes on television and in the movies all the time.  Why not in books?  I’m open minded enough to give a chance to a fellow writer who wants to spin a new take on an old, beloved tale.  I did just that with To Conquer Mr. Darcy, and my reward was a great reading experience.

Weekend Warrior!

It is Saturday morning.  The first “cuppa” is down, and I have had the Morning Meeting with SO to discuss agenda for the day.  Will be doing ordinary tasks and beginnings of Spring “Cleanting” (in Madea‘s words).  I will rush through these tasks so I can run put on my romance writer’s hat and begin the task of fading out of reality into Fantasyland.

I hope your weekend is great.  I hope that whatever task/project you have planned to tackle, you will conquer and be able to go back to work on Monday as a victorious warrior.  That is my goal.  Get all of the “TO DO” items cleared, so I can devote much needed time to completing this next book.

DROP BACK BY TOMORROW TO CHECK OUT MY SUNDAY “ROMANCE REVIEW” BY GUEST REVIEWER, JOAN CHANDLER. 

She will be reviewing the book,   To Conquer Mr. Darcy  by Abigail Reynolds.