Review: A Line Blurred by Bryan Healey

I won a copy of this book from Library Thing.

After getting a copy of Shattered Wings direct from Bryan imagine how excited I was when I won a copy of his first book on Library Thing!



About the Book

A couple caught in a boring life deviate from their routines to devastating and exciting result. Now unable to pull themselves from their newfound happiness, they rationalize their actions to satisfy their guilt, coming ever closer to an emotionally shattering end for both themselves and their children, who are unwillingly swept into their downward spiral.

For more information about Shattered Wings you can visit Bryan's blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

My Review

After reading Shattered Wings I had high hopes for this book. And I have to say I was not at all disappointed! Again Healey writes a story that was so emotional, and yet didn't leave me feeling emotionally drained.

In this one we're following Kevin and Kylie, a couple who are part of a marriage that just isn't working anymore. Kevin is all about his routine: get up, go to work, come home, have dinner, go to bed. Not much in his life deviates from that routine. What I liked about Kevin is that he isn't a boring person by nature, he's just living the life that was given to him. He knows he wants more, and he tries to be spontaneous, but life gets in his way and he falls back into doing what he's always done. Kylie I didn't really like in the beginning of the book. She came off as a bit prissy and heartless. But the more the story followed her the more I began to feel sorry for her. She's worried about her life: her husband, her kids, herself. But Kylie is pulled by responsibility to keep her thoughts to herself. She wants the appearance that everything is ok. She really grows through the story to become such a strong character.

The story starts with twists almost right from the beginning. I didn't see any of the things that happened coming. It was so exciting to read to see what was going to happen next. Even when there wasn't something "exciting" going on the story was still exciting. I really didn't want this one to end. I wasn't disappointed by the ending, as I think it was exceptionally done, but I just wasn't ready to give these characters up. Healey has an ability to capture your emotions almost right from the word go. That connection really makes his books special to read.

A Line Blurred

Review: Shattered Wings by Bryan Healey

Thanks to the author Bryan Healey for letting me review Shattered Wings.



About the Book

John holds the American dream: A man he loves, a beautiful little girl, a suburban home and a well-paying job... And then a sudden layoff brings about unexpected financial and emotional strain. As he struggles to find new work, a growing sense of despair triggers a relapse into alcoholism and causes him to face his demons of addiction, discrimination, and regret as he tries desperately to recover before it's too late...

For more information about Shattered Wings you can visit Bryan's blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

My Review

This one I thought would be a bit difficult for me to read. So many of us right now are struggling with losing our jobs, not having the money to make ends meet, and all the other stresses that come along for the ride. It's a difficult subject to talk about, let alone get emotionally attached to in a story (as I almost always get emotionally attached to the stories I read). My fear was that I would be emotionally drained after reading this. Healey masterfully pulled off a story that let me get attached, but didn't drain me, and actually let me wanting to keep reading.

The character development was so great in this book. John comes off as a bit of a jerk (sometimes a lot of a jerk) but he was still likeable. I really attached to him and even though I felt like he needed a swift kick in the you know what I still felt the pain and anguish that he was going through. I just wanted things to work out good for him. As the book progresses we are taken back through important moments in his life that give us a little more insight into how his life has progressed. We get to meet Charlie with him, we get to see him when his daughter is born, we get to see all the important events that have gone on in his life. Being privy to these moments really helped to form the bond that I built with John.

I think it takes a great author to be able to pull of flashbacks in a story without making the story feel choppy. The flashbacks sometimes confused me, as I would get lost in the story and I wouldn't realize that I was in a flashback. I think that is my only criticism of this book, while the flashbacks didn't deter from the story I didn't always pick up on the fact that I had jumped into the flashback. But I think this is more due to my reading habits rather than an error on the author's part.

But overall it was a great book. I really liked the characters, even when I didn't want to. There were some great twists that really made John's situation that much more desperate. The ending was great, I had part of it pegged, but the last twist really threw me for a loop. I was left with a few questions, but I didn't feel like I was left with an unfinished story. Enough was answered to keep me satiated, and enough was left unanswered to make the ending quite intriguing.

Shattered Wings

Review: Just a Nice Guy by Phil Torcivia

I have to thank Reader Spoils for alerting me to the fact that Phil needed reviews (and was offering swag). And I also have to thank Phil for letting me review this one.



About the Book

Is it true that nice guys finish last? It sure seems that way as a divorced man fights his way through a comedic dating scene. Will he ever find his soul mate?

Phil has been called the male version of Carrie Bradshaw. Enjoy his humorous essays about relationships and the struggles we all have finding and keeping lovers. Women appreciate his open view into the minds of men.

Artist Mike Swaim adds to the hilarity with his brilliant sketches, giving another dimension to Phil's quest for love.

You can like Phil on Facebook or follow him on Twitter or take a look at his website.

My Review

As I was loading this into my e-reader and getting ready to read I was thinking to myself "What does go on in the minds of men?" My immediate answer to myself was "sex". After reading this book, what is my new answer "mostly sex". It's an age old problem, women want to know what men think, and men want to get into their pants...

I really enjoyed this book. It was witty, comical, and entertaining. There were quite a few times when I would laugh, then have to read the passage to my boyfriend so he didn't think I was starting to go crazy (why is she sitting there laughing to herself?) Some of my favorites include the commitment tests, Creepy, the conversation with the cats about the obsession with women, and the Twelve Nights of Christmas. (There were more, but if I just list the table of contents you would probably quit reading this review.)

Before reading Phil warned me in an e-mail "PLEASE make sure you have a liberal sense of humor and are not offended by coarse language or sexual content." I would say that was a fair warning. So take head... If you're easily offended you probably will not like this one. I found it to be highly offensive and hilarious. Not that I was offended by it, but I could see how it would offend others. I've found in my life that if I can find the humor in something I should laugh, because without laughter life is so boring. I think this book proves my point.

It was a very fast read, and had I not been so busy I probably could have finished it in two sittings. I think I'll have to pick up some of Phil's other books.

Just a Nice Guy

Review: The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin

Thanks to Anna at Hachette Book Group for letting me review this one.



About the Book

Two lifelong friends are about to discover the hard side of life in The Big Easy after a heinous crime is committed . . .

1950s New Orleans couldn't be sweeter for Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote. Friends since meeting at an illegal gambling house outside Newberry, Louisiana, they indulge themselves with all the fine women, good food, and wild nights they can handle. All seems good in N'awlins-especially for Hampton, who plans to make a clean break from riotous living after falling for the woman of his dreams, classy Magnolia Holiday. But the love of a good woman may not be enough to pull Hampton from the brink of disaster when his pal Bones murders a white city councilman during a simple robbery gone wrong.

Now with the local police and FBI hot on their trails, Hampton and Bones must decide whether friendship is worth losing their freedom-and possibly their lives

For more information about The Secrets of Newberry please visit Hachette Book Group's website.

My Review

Wow, what a story. I couldn't put this one down, it was so intriguing. I really liked Hampton and wanted to see everything turn out ok for him, even though he kept getting himself into trouble.

The story was really well written. Hampton is looking for something more than life on a plantation can offer a black man in the 1950s. Things seem to be going fairly well for him and then he meet Bones. Bones becomes Hampton's ticket to the life he wants while at the same time being the one thing that can take Hampton's dreams from him.

The story moves pretty fast, and at times I felt a bit too fast. Some things just seemed to me that they needed to simmer a bit more before coming to conclusion. There was a lot that happened in the story though and I think that's part of why everything moved so fast. Had it been a slow story it either would have been too long to hold my attention or it would have been missing so many pieces.

It was a pretty good story and I really enjoyed it. I really didn't want to put it down because I wanted to see how Hampton was going to get him (and his family) out of the binds that they've gotten into. While things don't always go the way Hampton planned he was pretty quick on his feet and was able to at least put band-aids on the situations that arise.

I liked Hampton and really wanted to see good things for him. I also liked Magnolia (Hampton's love interest). But I think my favorite character was Pearl Lee, see just seemed to be so level headed. Although she does have some moments when her heart takes over and she throws that level-headedness out the door.

The Secrets of Newberry

Review: Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder by Steve Lehto

Thanks to my sister for letting me borrow this. And yes you would have enjoyed it had it not been required reading for school.



About the Book

On Christmas Eve 1913, more than six dozen people were crushed to death as they scrambled to flee the Italian Hall in Calumet, Mich. Someone had cried "Fire" at the top of the stairs that led to the meeting hall on the building's second floor. There was no fire. The entire event was over in a flash, but the tragedy would scar the psyche of the region for decades. Was the call of "fire" a tragic error or a calculated action designed to cause chaos?

In Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder, author and attorney Steve Lehto wades through the conflicting news reports, transcripts, and other documentation to set the record straight.

For more information about this book please visit Momentum Books' website.

My Review

This was a pretty interesting story. Having lived in Michigan my entire life I was surprised that I'd never heard of this incident before. It seems that with all the lore surrounding these murders that it would still be something that people would bring up, at least occasionally.

Since I've never heard of the incident at the Italian Hall before I do not know how well the information presented in this book meshes with popular opinion. However, Lehto does mentions many times where his findings do not support popular belief.

The book was very informational and I think it was fairly unbiased. However the only complaint I have is that once I got towards the end of the book I felt like I was just rereading the same information over and over again. It became somewhat monotonous. But it was still interesting, and I liked that it gave quite a bit of the back story to the Italian Hall Tragedy. I felt that having the back story gave the tragedy a bit more depth than if the book had just covered what happened the day of the tragedy.

While this was interesting I wouldn't say it read like fiction. For you to enjoy this one I think you'd really have to be interested in real-life stories. There were a lot of facts in the book, things that you wouldn't normally see in a fiction book. But overall I have to say it was worth the read.

Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder