WWW Wednesday (96)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

        

01. Currently Reading:
Shemlan - A Deadly Tragedy by Alexander McNabb. Jason Hartmoor returns to Beirut to reconcile with his past and accidentally stirs up skeletons that the government thought were buried.

02. Recently Finished:
Finding Mother by Anne Allen. Struggling with the possibility of divorce, Nicole searches for her birth mother, discovering much more than she anticipated.

03. Reading Next:
Taking Stock by Scott Bartlett. A depressed Sheldon is helped by an unexpected neighbor.

Teaser Tuesday (110)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers


Shemlan - A Deadly Tragedy (Kindle Loc. 1310)
   - Alexander McNabb

"Between our technological assets and your Estonians, I don't fancy your British friend will hold out long."
"I hope you're right, Hilt. Because this Hartmoor guy couldn't have picked a worse moment to turn up."

Finding Mother

Prepare to be swept away by a heart-warming tale of family relationships and love
Three women. Three generations. Sacrifices for love… 

Who is she really? Nicole is about to find out as she searches for her real mother; the woman who gave her away at birth. With her marriage in tatters, she sets out from England: travelling to Spain, Jersey and Guernsey before the extraordinary story of her real family is finally revealed. 

Nicole becomes an unwitting catalyst for change in the family. Two women are forced to reveal long-buried secrets. One going back as far as the Second World War. Lives are transformed as choices have to be made and the past laid to rest… 

*May Contain Spoilers*

Anne Allen shares another Guernsey story in her novel, Finding Mother. The main character, Nicole, struggles with her identity when the life she built begins to crumble. As Nicole searches for the mother who gave her up, she discovers a new world where she can redefine herself and focus on all the future can promise. 

Nicole is an extroverted woman in her thirties who built a life as a television journalist with her husband. A successful career, beautiful home, and someone to share her life with, Nicole seems to have it all. But the adulterous nature of her husband forces Nicole to examine her life and decide what she really wants. Readers will immediately be drawn to Nicole at the beginning of the novel when she confronts her husband's transgressions. This sympathetic connection becomes the foundation for the bond between reader and character.  Nicole's character steadily grows through the search for her mother, revealing her strength, her independence, and her courage. 

The plot of Finding Mother begins with a trial separation from her husband, during which Nicole sets off to find her biological mother. The search takes her to Guernsey where she meets not only her mother, but her father and grandmother as well. The struggle to find her place in this new family is overwhelming at times, but through it all Nicole is honest, hopeful, and open-minded. 

The detail that Allen provides is astounding. Readers will be swept to the beautiful island with her intricate descriptions. Though the dialogue is sometimes stiff and seemingly formal, it may be a cultural difference and it doesn't take away from the story. The sub-plot of Nicole finding new love is a bit strained because of the separation/divorce details, but that didn't stop it from being enjoyable. (If readers enjoyed Dangerous Waters, Allen's first novel, they'll enjoy seeing Jeanne again as she pops into Finding Mother as a supporting character.)

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Three Rules Blog Tour

Synopsis:
Hope Wellman has a childhood full of horrific memories, a bone chilling recurring nightmare, and a persistent paranoid sense of being followed that she would rather keep repressed. Is evil reaching from beyond the grave to capture the tattered remnants of her soul once and for all, is it only a machination of her disturbed mind, or is there something happening more sinister than even she can imagine?

Attending the funeral of her abuser is the first step in putting her life back together as she is about to turn twenty-one. She struggles with the fact she never told anyone what happened to her, and that the grave they are mourning over is empty. She'd find it a lot easier to move on and believe in the future if he were in the box, ready to be covered with dirt. She fears the last thread of her sanity has snapped when she sees Lucas everywhere she turns, and can't escape a recurring nightmare. Is her tormentor alive, or is she imagining it? Is her dream triggered by past fears or is it a prediction of the future?

Review:
Marie Drake shares her experiences and the emotional turmoil of abuse survivors in her novel, Three Rules. The main character, Hope, had been abused since she was a young girl by her  uncle, Lucas. When he is pronounced dead, she believes that this is her chance at happiness. Though struggling with an obsessive disorder, nightmares, and depression, Hope tries to come to terms with what happened to her so that she can move on. 

Hope is a character true to name. She's the symbol and the theme of the novel. Readers will immediately empathize with her past and join her quest for a better quality of life. Drake doesn't put a strong focus on what Hope looks like, and by giving her a verb for a name, she becomes a representation for the reader. This technique allows readers to create mentally create the character in such a way that it's easy for them to form a connection. Throughout the novel, Hope shows loyalty to her friends and family, exhibits the ability to love, and the need to be loved in terms that don't have an abusive undertone. She's a strong character who evolves into a brave woman. 

The plot of the Three Rules follows Hope's life after the death of her abuser. While she searches for closure, people around her keep getting hurt causing Hope to believe that her abuser isn't really dead after all. Three Rules is full of heartbreaking reality and true struggle. It has no problem reaching the souls of readers. Though the dialogue does seem forced at times, even a bit awkward and formal, the message is clear. 

Rating:3.5/5 Cups

Marie Drake's Website

Enter to Win a FREE Copy of Three Rules