Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore Author Update – New Release – #Thriller Chuck Bowie, Reviews – #Poetry Miriam Hurdle, #Shortstories Allan Hudson

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Cafe and Bookstore with a new release and recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

The first author today is celebrating a new release Chuck Bowie and the thriller Her Irish Boyfriend: Donovan: Thief For Hire

About the book

The problem, the secret, the decision.

Donovan agrees to retrieve a stolen cell phone for his friend Gemma. This is a simple enough task. Then, he decides to determinewhy the phone is important, and on it views a crime being planned. One crime leads to another, and each case escalates in its level of complication, seriousness and darkness.

He cannot lose sight, though, that at one time he was broken. The victim he is attempting to rescue is broken, as is his partner-in-crime. Will they be strong enough?
Sean Donovan follows each crime from Ireland to England, deciding each time to continue on in an effort to save the lives of the victims. As the crime that began in Dublin circles back around to Dublin, he is confronted with the stakes in this deadly, dark game

An early review for the book

by MJ LaBeff – 5.0 out of 5 stars Action Packed Thriller  Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

Sean Donovan (Thief for Hire) doesn’t disappointment in Her Irish Boyfriend. His intellect, cunning instincts, and strength are what it takes to capture this ring of criminals and one ruthless Irish Boyfriend.

Gemma Trask, recently retired from New Scotland Yard, knows there’s something suspicious going on with Danny her boyfriend. He’s keeping his distance from Gemma which leads her to believe even more that he’s up to no good. She seeks help from her friend Donovan to uncover what criminal entanglements she believes Danny might be involved with. It all starts with a cell phone that leads them to multiple crimes. Soon Beth McLean (Donovan’s wife) and Constable Jimmy Flanagan (who analyzes behaviors) join the two in the hunt. The chase is on and involves multiple crimes and criminals. It’s a race to the very end in the pursuit of Danny.

There are so many twists and turns and action packed scenes where Donovan takes more than one tumble but comes out on top. What I always enjoy about the books in the series are the many lands and seas they take me across and in this story I especially liked the fight scenes and string of criminals caught along the way in the search for Her Irish Boyfriend.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US- And: Amazon UK

Also by Chuck Bowie and writing as Alexa Bowie

Read the reviews and buy the books: :Amazon CA – And: Amazon US – And:Amazon UK –  Follow Chuck:  Goodreads –  Website: Chuck Bowie – Facebook: Chuck Bowie – Twitter:@BowieChuck

Now time for some reviews

The first author with a recent review is Miriam Hurdle for her award winning poetry collection Songs of the Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude

About  Songs of Heartstrings

Songs of Heartstrings: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude depicts a road traveled with optimism, hope and appreciation amid heartache and unpredictable circumstances. It also celebrates genuine love and fulfilling relationships.

The poetry collection includes nine themes: Songs of Nature, Songs of Dissonance, Songs of Physical Healing, Songs of Marriage, Songs of Parenthood, Songs of Tribute, Songs of Reflections, Songs of Challenge, and Songs of Inspiration. Each of these themes covers various aspects of her life experience.

The poems are inspiring to the mind, heart, and spirit. The readers will resonate with these experiences. Hurdle illustrates the poems with her photograph and watercolor paintings.

A recent review for the collection

Gwendolyn Plano 5.0 out of 5 stars Heartfelt and heart-filling  Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021

Miriam Hurdle’s collection of poetry is a song about life. She writes from her heart, uses images we all understand, and positions photographs throughout. This is a book to savor, to read one section at a sitting, to return to a particular poem over and over again, to simply enjoy. The book drew me to Miriam’s blog, which is as lovely as the book. If you like poetry, this one will warm your heart. Highly recommend.

Read the reviews and buy the collection also in Spanish and Portuguese: Amazon US – And:Amazon UK  – Goodreads: Miriam Hurdle –Blog: The Showers of Blessings –  Twitter: @mhurdle112

The final author today is Allan Hudson with a review for his short story collection A Box of Memories

About the collection

Many of the short stories herein are inspired by memories I have of events in my life or related events I’ve witnessed or read about. Family is important to me so many stories are about relationships, love, sharing and giving, overcoming difficulties. Read about an older man and an abandoned baby. His last days. Three men acting like boys. Ten year old boys and the trouble they get into. The grueling work of dismantling ships by hand. Retirees with too much time on their hands. The dangers of shopping in Outer Space. Visiting a Food Bank. A covered wagon with a family and all of their possessions. Escaping slaves. Seniors with nothing to eat. The revenge of the wasps. Returning to the country of your birth. A Honey Trap. A detective that discovers crimes too close to home.

A recent review for the collection

Mark Scott PIper 5.0 out of 5 stars Relatable Stories. Memorable Characters. Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2021

It’s unusual for me these days to pick a book of short stories to read. I’m inclined to choose novels in a number of different genres. That’s been the focus of my own writing for the last few years. But Allan Hudson’s delightful collection of stories, A Box of Memories, reminded me of what I’ve been missing.

The characters all feel like real people, sometimes strange, sometimes quirky, but always memorable. Hudson takes you back to your childhood with the two stories featuring ten-year-old Beans and Chops. Okay, you have to be old enough to imagine youthful adventures before cell phones and the internet, but even if you’re not that old, the stories hold up beautifully. Hudson has a knack for putting the reader in the midst of a time and place that feel comfortable.

The stories in A Box of Memories feature characters of both genders, ages from preteen to octogenarian, times from the early settling of the West to well into a future not yet realized. Pretty much all of the characters are relatable to most of us, even if we’ve never been so poor we had to attend funeral receptions to be able to get a decent meal, even if we’ve never found an abandoned baby, even if we’ve never escaped slavery in the old South. That’s because the characters are at once appealing and feel real for their time and place. That’s not such an easy thing to accomplish, but Hudson has the talent and the empathy to pull it off beautifully.

One of the advantages of a collection of short stories is that you have clear stopping points. There are no cliff hangers that force you on to the next chapter, even when it’s well past your bedtime. But I found myself reading right through these stories in a few days. I was anxious to see where Hudson’s imagination would take me next, and I wasn’t disappointed even once. A Box of Memories gets my highest recommendation.

Read the reviews and buy the collection: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

A selection of books by Allan Hudson

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Allan: Goodreads – Website: South Branch Scribbler – Twitter: @hudson_allan

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books .. thanks Sally.