Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update #Reviews – Darlene Foster, Jan Sikes, Teagan Riordian Geneviene and Jack Eason

Welcome to the second author update of the week with recent reviews for books on the shelves.

The first author with reviews for her latest release is Darlene Foster for Amanda in Holland: Missing in Action.

About Amanda in Holland

Amanda is in Holland to see the tulips with her best friend, Leah; as well as travelling the canals of Amsterdam, visiting Anne Frank House, checking out windmills and a wooden shoe factory, and taking pictures of the flowers of Keukenhof Gardens. She is keen to find out what happened to her great uncle who never returned from WWII and was declared missing in action. What she doesn’t expect to find and fall in love with is Joey, an abandoned puppy. While trying to find a home for him, she meets Jan, a Dutch boy who offers to help, a suspicious gardener, a strange woman on a bicycle, and an overprotective goose named Gerald. Follow Amanda around the charming country of Holland, filled with colourful tulips, windmills, and more bicycles than she could have imagined. Once again, intrepid traveller Amanda encounters danger and intrigue as she tries to solve more than one mystery in a foreign country.

One of the recent reviews for the book

Jacqui Murray VINE VOICE  5.0 out of 5 stars This book and the entire series–highly recommended for elementary and Middle School children September 3, 2019

Foster’s latest in the Amanda series follows the heroine, Amanda Ross, as she makes a trip to Holland to visit friends and try to unravel what happened to an Uncle who never returned from WWII–declared missing in action. If you follow the Amanda series, you know that Amanda cannot travel without getting into trouble, causing mischief, or solving mysteries despite her young age. In this story, Amanda rescues a throw-away puppy named Joey, tracks down a missing gardener, and helps to solve the theft of rare tulip bulbs. She does all this while exploring the culture and excitement that is found nowhere but Holland. Besides the Anne Frank house and the famous Holland canals, Amanda enjoys:

“…banket, a puff pastry filled with an almond paste.”

“…Hotchpotch Stamppot, a traditional Dutch dish of mashed potatoes mixed with carrots and onions,”

“…Bloemenmarkt. It is the world’s only floating flower market.”

The story is told in a conversational voice that will draw all readers in and deftly mixes the cultural details with how Amanda engages in and solves the mystery.

This would be a great gift for a child to celebrate the end of summer or a favorite teacher to add to their classroom library (or the school librarian, of course). It’s an uncommon book in that it takes children through the clever bits and pieces of Holland not found in any other nation without feeling like a travelogue.

This book and the entire series is highly recommended for elementary age and Middle School children and parents.

Read the reviews and buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Holland-Missing-Action-Travels-ebook/dp/B07L9LVK4J/

And on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amanda-Holland-Missing-Action-Travels-ebook/dp/B07L9LVK4J

A selection of other  books by Darlene Foster

Read the reviews and buy all of Darlene’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Darlene-Foster/e/B003XGQPHA

and Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darlene-Foster/e/B003XGQPHA

Read more reviews and follow Darlene on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3156908.Darlene_Foster

Connect to Darlene via her blog: https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/

The next author with a recent review is Jan Sikes for Till Death Us Do Part...

About the book

Veteran Texas musician, Luke Stone, has cheated death more times then he cares to remember. He’s been everything from a simple farm boy to a rowdy roughneck, a singing star to a convict and finally a husband and father whose goals consisted of building a home and raising a family…which he did.

Now, with a chance for a second music career, he knows the sand in his hourglass is running thin. His anchor in life and true love, Darlina, stands at his side determined to help make the dream a reality. But, his aging body is sabotaging every effort and the only thing that keeps him going is sheer will power and the love he has for Darlina.

When faced with being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Luke draws on every resource to continue to function and contribute to their home and to society.

This is a story of inspiration, endurance and most of all undying love. When Luke and Darlina face life-altering situations that would destroy a lesser man and woman, they draw on each other’s strength and determination to face them.

Will fate allow Luke to sing his last song?

A recent review for the book

5X Space Cadet 5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartwarming True Story of Love and Devotion

August 16, 2019

There is only one thing better than a good love story and that’s a love story that’s true, which is the case with this endearing tale. Clearly, the title alone is a spoiler alert, and while it is definitely a tear jerker at the end, what leads up to it is an inspiring, heart-warming chronicle of the love and devotion between two very special people.

If you’re a music fan, more specifically a country music fan, you’ll enjoy it even more as it recounts the journey of someone who’d been a star in the past making a comeback and bringing his wife and daughters along for the ride, their talents developing and blossoming as well.

The story is pure Texas, which I particularly enjoyed because I live there as well. So much of the culture of the Lone Star State is captured, including parties were anyone who shows up is welcome as well as the vast distances that often lie between where a person lives and the services they need. A fifty mile drive is often required, which in smaller, more condensed states or many metropolitan areas would be incomprehensible. For example, from one end of Houston to the other is also fifty miles and that is how far I live from a full-size shopping center with the usual big stores with it even farther to an actual mall. A fifty mile drive is almost what you could call “business as usual”. 

Read the reviews and buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EBODIYK

and Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01EBODIYK

A selection of other books by Jan Sikes

Read all the reviews and buy the books: https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Sikes/e/B00CS9K8DK

And Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jan-Sikes/e/B00CS9K8DK

And find more reviews and follow Jan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7095856.Jan_Sikes

Connect to Jan via her website: http://www.jansikes.com

And the third book with a new review is Brother Love (A Crossroad) by Teagan Riordain Geneviene.

About Brother Love

“Brother Love – a Crossroad” is a mysterious “Twilight Zone-ish” short novella. It was inspired by the combination of Neil Diamond’s song and the blues legends of Robert Johnson and the Devil at the Crossroads. As in the real world, things in this tale are not what they seem. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1950s. A group of outcasts are in a small southern town. They don’t realize they are looking for something. Will they find it?

A recent review for the book

Robbie Cheadle 5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining and imaginative read August 30, 2019

I am a big fan of Teagan Geneviene’s books as I find her stories to be highly entertaining and imaginative and, despite containing elements of the mystical and supernatural, to be believable and seem quite possible. I also find the author’s characters to be interesting and colourful and I enjoy the way she uses their actions, emotions and dialogues to weave her stories in a natural and heartfelt way.

Brother Love is no exception to this rule and I enjoyed this novella with its setting in a town in Mississippi and its main character a young woman, named Birdie Devovo who, due to her mother’s controversial behaviour, is a social outcast in the town. Despite the circumstances in which she lives alone, having no where else to go, Birdie is a kindly and caring person who would never stand by and watch someone else being hurt or abused.

The story opens with Birdie finding a flyer advertising Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show. Subsequent to finding his flyer, Birdie starts interacting with some intriguing people, all of whom have an interest in the show, which is the central theme of the story. There is Brother Armstrong, an ex-convict who went to prison for killing a man and who is now a preacher, there is an elderly black guitarist who is referred to as Sinnerman, a beautiful woman who looks like Ava Gardner and her daughter, Tammy, a free bleeder in need of healing to live a full life. Jinx, a talking magpie with some supernatural abilities also has a prominent role in this mystical story.

I would recommend this novella to people who are looking for an entertaining and imaginative read with lots of character.

Read the reviews and buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V25SXFR

And on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V25SXFR

Also by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Read the reviews, buy the books : https://www.amazon.com/Teagan-Riordain-Geneviene/e/B00HHDXHVM

and Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teagan-Riordain-Geneviene/e/B00HHDXHVM

Read more reviews and follow Teagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13707141.Teagan_Geneviene

Connect to Teagan Geneviene via her website: https://teagansbooks.com/

Autumn 1066: The End of Anglo-Saxon Dominance by Jack Eason has a recent review and is on offer until Sunday 15th September at 99c/99p

About the book

Down the centuries the British Isles has always been seen by invaders as a legitimate target for exploitation. This novella concerns the last few weeks of Anglo-Saxon occupation, ending on the 14th of October, 1066. In Autumn 1066, author Jack Eason gives a great sense of ‘place’, of detail. The reader is right ‘there’ in that poignant year, marching, shivering with September cold (as ‘…no warming fires were allowed lest ‘enemy spies would soon spot their approach.’) From the very first few lines, Eason, practising his unique drycraft, begins to weave his particular brand of magic on his reader.

Eason glamour’s with well-crafted dialogue, drawing his reader into the time and into the action. To accomplish this, the author proffers a gentle blend of informative nomenclature coupled with familiar speech, to ease the reader into his story without distancing with words too unfamiliar, which is a criticism frequently made of Bernard Cornwell’s epics. I long to read more Martin Bradley

One of the recent reviews for the book

R J DOCKETT 5.0 out of 5 stars A well researched and very entertaining glimpse on a pivotal moment in history.  7 September 2019

Jack Eason has woven a short but compelling tale around the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings, the end of the Saxon times in England. It’s a story of ordinary folk, as well as the rulers of the land, and how the decisions they made shaped the times. Full of well-researched detail, the vivid picture he paints puts you in the centre of the action. Recommended reading for anyone interested in the events of 1066

Read the reviews and buy the book for 99c until Sunday 15th September –  https://www.amazon.com/Autumn-1066-Anglo-Saxon-dominance-ended/dp/1546685308

And Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1546685308

A small selection of other books by Jack Eason

Discover all of Jack Eason’s books and read the reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Jack-Eason/e/B003MEA7AY/

And Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Eason/e/B003MEA7AY

Follow Jack and read other reviews on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4026249.Jack_Eason

Connect to Jack via his website: https://havewehadhelp.wordpress.com/

Please let me know if you have an offer on one of your books in the Cafe and Bookstore..either by message on Facebook or by email. sally.cronin@moyhill.com

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books under your arm..thanks Sally