Pesto Packing Mama by Nan D. Arnold

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Pesto Packing Mama
Author: Nan D. Arnold

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Publisher: Champagne Books

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy

Length: 310 pages

RATINGS FOR:

Cover: 2 – the photograph of the red teddy, the teddy bear, and the basil plant was a great idea, but not well executed. The glare in the center gives it an unprofessional quality. I much preferred the snappier cover art shown on Ms. Arnold’s personal website.

Presentation: 4

Editing: 4 – few, but not many, errors.

Story: 5

Writing Ability: 5

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: Maggie Duncan’s love life goes from champagne and delphiniums to revelations of dead wives and dirty diapers in mere days. If that’s not enough, her stare down with a sociopathic loan shark in a caterer’s storeroom makes Maggie wish she hadn’t pushed well-meaning heartthrob Bruce Herring out of her emotional jurisdiction.

The Review: Brenda, Brenda, Brenda! After your spitfire, skin-tight-leather wearing, pistol packing performance in the previous story (Hitting the High Notes) I was sorely disappointed to find out what you were doing with that chef! And behind Big Dad’s back!?!

At first, my love for, and subsequent disappointment in, the ferociously feminine supporting character left me feeling less than thrilled about how Ms. Arnold chose to resume her tales of Maggie’s romantic woes. Yet I could not help but be won over by Ms. Arnold’s adorably realistic sense of humoristic timing, the way in which she portrays Maggie’s oh-so-true inner monologue, and the respect she pays to a real romance. So many romance novel writers leave their characters at the all-too-familiar “…and they lived happily ever after!” ending, without bothering to delve into the kind of commitment, gumption, and fear-tackling it takes to move a relationship from a froofy romance into a solid love. Thank you, Nan, for writing the second portion of Maggie and Bruce’s tumultuous story.

Pesto Packin’ Mama looks at down and dirty real life situations in a hilariously fun setting; friends that have affairs; emotional baggage from previous marriages; negative inner diatribes, miscommunications, mis-expectations, and learning how to trust again. In this world, as in our own realities, love is not simply seeing someone attractive, having great sex, and living happily ever after. Ms. Arnold portrays the realistic struggles of a menopausal widow seeking to establish a trusting relationship after a previously abusive marriage. She somehow manages to keep the necessary poignancy to create a sympathetic character while throwing in visits from an Italian opera star, stalking by a mafia hit man, a sketchy next door neighbor, and a nosy wannabe mother-in-law. A fantastic follow-up to the first novel starring Chef Maggie.

And Brenda, I forgive you.

Pagan Elements: N/A

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Killer Dolls by Angelica Hart and Zi

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title:  Killer Dolls 
Author: Angelica Hart and Zi

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Publisher: Champagne Books

Genre: Romance/Suspense

Length: 106 pgs. Other: M/F

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: After bio-terrorists use ricin to kill a man, they plan to attack innocent children by using ricin filled handcrafted dolls created by Letti Noel.  After years of building her business, Letti now longs for romance and commitment, and thinks she might have found it in Taut Johnson.  Only unbeknownst to her he is an FBI agent working undercover to find the terrorist.  He knows he can't allow a relationship to develop until the case is over, yet finds that he is unwittingly falling for Letti, and now she is in danger, bringing back the past and a fear that he cannot protect those he loves.

Meanwhile, children are in increasing danger.

Meanwhile, there is another death. 

Meanwhile, Taut's deceit threatens their growing love even as the stalking terrorists threaten their lives.

The Review: I was torn in giving a rating for this book.

On one hand, I loved the extensive vocabulary employed by the authors. It’s not often I get to read a romance novel with such an impressive vocabulary. There were occasional turns of phrases that verged on poetic. I genuinely liked the two main characters, Lettie and Taut, and their budding romance was an enjoyable diversion.

On the other hand, at times the extensive vocabulary was overemployed, leaving scenic descriptions sounding more like clinical reports than suspenseful fiction. And twice, in the middle of a love scene the authors referred to Lettie’s pudendum. Pudendum? I know what it means, but the word gave the scenes a medical feeling that was off putting enough so the rest of the scene lost its spark. And that’s too bad, because the sex scene without the use of the word pudendum was sizzling.

The authors have an interesting descriptive style that takes a few chapters to get into. “The vehicle converged into a wooded area, it known for frequent fornication by lovers who had only a car and no money for a room.” And I was confused by the repeated and elaborate descriptions of the sexcapades of Lettie’s coworkers at the beginning of the book. These very personal bits of information just weren’t relevant to the story; they didn’t advance the plot, or give insight into Lettie’s character, and most of the people discussed never appeared in the book again. The terrorist plot that is the background for Lettie and Taut’s romance could have used a bit more development to add to the suspense. I felt as though the book struggled to be both a romance novel and a suspense/thriller but never fully accomplished either one.

Pagan Elements: none

Cover (Rated 1-10): 3

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & the Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Roman Circus by Carlene Rae Dater

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Roman Circus
Author: Carlene Rae Dater 

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Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing (Sweetheart Line)

Genre: romance

Length: 217 pgs. 

Other: M/F

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: When Harmony Jane Jones loses her cat, her car, her job and her boyfriend, all within the space of a week, she does what any twenty-something woman would do—she runs away and joins the circus. With finesse rather than a whip, Harmony takes charge of her life, finds a new career and possibly the man of her dreams.

Prologue

Monday, I dashed out of my apartment wrapped in a towel after my shower to get the newspaper. My cat, Cat, closed the door, locking me out. I was late for work.

Tuesday, my office computer crashed. Unfortunately, I had neglected to back up my work for a while—I think it was a year. My boss was not happy.

Wednesday, the Number Ten bus flattened Cat. After corpse retrieval and burial arrangements, I arrived late for work.

Thursday, my car died. I had to take the Number Ten with all its horrid memories. I was late for work.

Friday, I got fired.

Saturday, Eric, my boyfriend of two years, broke up with me after he decided he still loved his college sweetheart, Bruce.

Sunday I picked up the classified section of the newspaper and saw this ad:

Life treating you badly? Ready for a change?

Run away with us. Come join the circus.

So I did.

The Review: I was hooked on this book from the prologue and much to my delight the sassy, tongue-in-cheek humor didn’t stop. Harmony is the kind of main character whose perspective I love reading. She’s smart, confident, creative, resilient, and her inner monologue is full of snappy, sarcastic, sometimes self-deprecating comments.

Ms. Dater’s supporting cast is equally entertaining. Delightfully quirky character descriptions give each character their own distinct personality. The dialogue is especially well written between Harmony and Zander, the hilariously droll circus manager.

The only part of the book I would complain about is the confusing interaction between Harmony and Roman, the circus owner. Because of the title of the book and the wonderfully written chemistry between the two I fully expected Harmony to be riding Roman’s circus pole by the end of the book. Instead she winds up with someone entirely different, and Roman’s character fizzles out to become mere background on a telephone. Though I have to admit it was entertaining to suspect Sam’s motives through the whole book only to find out that he really was as good as he seemed, I would have liked to see less of Roman.

Pagan Elements: n/a

Cover (Rated 1-10): 5

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

The Guarding of Eden by Chastity Bush

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: The Guarding of Eden
Author: Chastity Bush   

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Publisher: Hearts on Fire Publishing

Genre: Romance

Length: 126 pgs.
Other: M/F

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: Eden Campbell is a woman who has it all. A good job, handsome fiancé, even the same cat she had as a teenager. However, when her world is turned upside down by the sight of her fiancé's in her favorite high heels and lingerie, Eden finds herself single again for the first time in years.


Only days after Eden discovers her fiancé's hidden little secret, she loses her job and only hours later, finds herself accused of her bosses estranged wifes murder.
The only up side to her situation is the sexy man her best friends and lawyers, Tilley and Joe Madison, entrusted her life to. Not only is Jasper Carrington doing his best to hide her from the life sentence hanging over her head, he is stirring her desires like no man ever has.


From her black as night hair to her deep blue eyes Eden Campbell sets Jasper's blood on fire. She is his to protect until the danger to her wanes, but every look sent his way has him wondering who is going to protect her from him.

The Review: As romance novels go, Guarding Eden isn’t bad. I liked the main character, her love interest was hot, the sex was suitably steamy, and the supporting cast was believable and just quirky enough to be memorable. However, I felt as if I missed a few chapters of the tension build-up that is so important to the tantalizing tale. The author set up some fantastic sexual tension but did not allow her readers the delicious voyeuristic pleasure of witnessing the first kiss; instead it was merely alluded to during a phone conversation between the main character and her best friend.

I would have rated this novel a mid-range 3 cards were it not for the number of editorial errors within that distracted me from fully enjoying the story. The editor and/or proofreader for this novel should be ashamed. Grammatical errors, disagreements of sentence tense, typographical errors – they all showed their faces; and not just occasionally. I can forgive and even overlook a few errors. However, I felt as if I was reading a first draft instead of the final, published version. The mistakes did no credit whatsoever to Ms. Bush’s otherwise entertaining novel.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 3–the guy looked way too young to be the main character from the novel.

Pagan Elements: None

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Nerd In A Wolf Suit by Laine Morgan

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title:  Nerd in a Wolf Suit
Author:  Laine Morgan 

Author Site

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Publisher:  Champagne Books

Genre: paranormal romance

Length: 157 pgs.

Other:  M/F

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: Phoebe Morin thinks vampires are stalking her for the microchip her late husband left taped to the back of a photograph. After a vicious attack, Phoebe finds an unlikely protector in the office nerd, Drew Montana.


Despite his issues with socializing, Drew is curious about the microchip, which seems to hold the secret of the vampire universe. He is also the best one to protect Phoebe; killing the undead is what he does best. During the full moon, the introverted Drew transforms into a sexy, dangerous wolf with a mission to kick vampire ass. But when Phoebe presents him with the mysterious microchip, the full moon has waned. Can he discover its secret and protect Phoebe without the strength of the werewolf?

The Review: Ms. Morgan gave her male lead an interesting combination of characteristics that provides a fun dichotomy of personality. In regular form, he has Asperser's syndrome; a psychiatric diagnosis that the character manifests as painful shyness, meticulousness and a reclusive, habitual lifestyle. However, Drew is also a werewolf; fierce, fearless, instinctual and wild, but only for three days a month. Phoebe, the female lead, brings out the wolf in Drew as he struggles to save her from a relatively ineffective group of vampires and a few poltergeists.

This book reads fairly smoothly as the characters try to figure out why the vampires would want a microchip and discover their growing attraction to each other. The sex scenes were tantalizing, but not too explicit; just enough to pique the reader’s interest. I thought Ms. Morgan’s proposed theory for the weakening, and ultimate destruction, of the vampire race was original and quirkily funny.   

Pagan Elements: None

Cover (Rated 1-10): 6–I liked that it was drawn instead of photographed.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.