I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A young man hoping to bring progress to his village finds himself forced to choose between fulfilling a long-cherished dream and the girl he loves in author Emme Gordon’s “Double Crosser”.
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The Synopsis
What if a young man sets out to bring progress and development to his village… at any cost?
Maverick businessman Krish Thomas decides to build a highway that passes through his village. To finance it, he launches a business, becomes a wheeler dealer, and makes a fortune.
And then, in alliance with a dubious political fixer, he plans to steal a billion dollars – from his own company… so he can keep his promise to a childhood friend!
What happens when a nosey detective pokes around into his shady deal making? And a double-crosser begins exposing the shenanigans?
Find out in this fast-paced action thriller ‘Double Crosser’!
With his entire business empire at stake and his very survival threatened, Krish is finally forced to choose between two options… a long-cherished dream, or the girl he loves.
In the end it looks as if Krish’s compromises will almost wreck his fortune – but will they let him pursue his dreams?
‘Double Crosser’ is a thrilling drama full of tension and action. A roller-coaster ride that will plunge you into an exhilarating world of high finance and deadly intrigue, rampant corruption as well as shining idealism.
“It’s about how far one will go, how much one is willing to give… to make a dream come true” – Sid Sinclair
“Fast paced. Never a dull moment. And what a stunning climax. Great story.” – Raj Ramanathan
“A page-turner that grips and will keep you awake late into the night.” – Charlene Cartier
Enter the fascinating universe of Krish, his friends and lover, his rivals and enemies.
A roller-coaster adventure in big finance, rampant corruption, and shining idealism. A stark choice between friendship and love. This action packed thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Enjoy ‘Double Crosser’ today.
The Review
What an engaging and unique thriller! The author has done a marvelous job of drawing readers into this powerful narrative of a young man with dreams of bettering his village and those who live within it, and along the way gets caught up in a game of high-stakes finances, corporate and political corruption, and a delicate balance between love and childhood promises. The atmosphere and tone the author creates early on strike a stark contrast between the hopeful dreams of the protagonist and the dark underbelly of financially driven crime.
Yet this author’s command over character development was amazing to see unfold. The intricacies of protagonist Krish were so insightful and added so much depth to the narrative. The haunting loss of a childhood friend early on in the book really highlights the overall struggle of the protagonist and influences his actions so much in this story. The balance the author found between this development of the characters and the intrigue of the conflict amongst the protagonist and the corrupt figures he faced really made this financial thriller so engaging to read.
The Verdict
A remarkable, entertaining, and investing financial thriller, author Emme Gordon’s “Double Crosser” is a must-read book. The lengthy yet fast-paced and heart-pounding twists and turns the author takes readers on will guarantee that no reader ever feels bored, as the action is heart-pounding while unique to this particular genre. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Emme Gordon lives in Madras with his French wife and two young boys.
During the day, he clocks time in a cubicle, pretending to code software. In the gloam of twilight, while the world readies to sleep, Emme transforms into a dreamer who indulges joyously in a universe of make believe.
Larger than life characters. Impossibly crazy situations. Desperately dangerous risks. King size dreams. All are grist to Emme’s creative mill.
His novels are about unconventional characters who set out to change the world – a reflection of his own refusal to conform and fit in.
Emme would love to hear from you, especially if you enjoy reading his stories and want to share your thoughts.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author Steven J. Spence takes readers on a journey into the history of the United States Monetary System and how the U.S. Dollar’s position has changed in recent years in the book, “Money Plain and Simple: What the Institutions and the Elite Don’t Want You To Know”.
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The Synopsis
A straightforward guide to understanding the global monetary system and why the shine is off the U.S. dollar’s position as the Gold Standard of world currencies. Steven J. Spence, a military veteran and corporate employee-turned-entrepreneur, lays out a concise history of the U.S. monetary system. He’s candid about his own life lessons and then shares how he came to discover the hard realities revealed in this informative read. The author explains in layperson’s terms how the institutions behind money work and how it affects you. He also offers timely insight into what’s going on right now from crypto currency to inflation and hyper-inflation and steps you should consider to secure your own financial future.
The Review
The author does a great job of really laying out the concept of banking systems, credit, and how our finances are impacted through education and detailed lessons throughout this book. The way the author interweaves their own experiences throughout their life and the way so many of us are introduced to debt through credit cards and difficulty finding reasonably paid work after education was such a great way to open up this road, and the deep dive the author took into the history and modern impact of finances on the U.S. financial system was thought-provoking.
The way the author writes is what really sold this book to me. Unlike so many financial books that try to show tricks or methods for accruing money or become self-help in nature, this book is written in a way that feels more hands-on educational instead. The layout and honest way the author speaks and integrates his personal experiences really helped someone like me, who is not financially education-forward, to understand and grasp the lessons the author was imparting.
The Verdict
A thoughtful, insightful, and memorable read, author Steven J. Spence’s “Money Plain and Simple” is a must-read non-fiction book of 2021, and a contender for best book on finances for the year on my site. The engaging way the author relays the narrative and sets out to show readers how big banking and wealthy elites have secured their financials through manipulation of the market was something we all should take into account in our future finances. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Steven J. Spence is a retired US Air Force veteran, airline mechanic, aircraft builder, and an owner of a real estate rental investment company. Throughout his military and airline careers, he taught airline safety to groups around the world. Spence grew up in poverty with a single mom, who immigrated from Germany with her American military husband only find herself alone with two young sons in the wake of a divorce. With no role models, he had no understanding about how to build his financial future. Now a successful entrepreneur, Spence focuses on financial literacy as it relates to the ordinary person. He and his wife Adriana have two daughters, Shannon and Rachel, a son, Lucas, and one grandson, Julian.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Action hero and investigator Jessica Ramierez returns and must travel across the pond when a tiny thread leads to an international conspiracy and possibly the answers to the questions she’s been seeking in author Terry Shepherd’s “Chasing the Captain”, the second book in the Jessica Ramierez Thriller series.
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The Synopsis
In Jessica Ramirez’s second outing, she’s once again a fish out of water, chasing the bad guy who got away. When forced to witness a questionable execution, Jess follows a tiny thread across the Atlantic, linking up with DI Liyanna Evans, a cop with London’s Metropolitan Police. The two quickly discover that their antagonist’s reach is both worldwide and deadly.
Another delectable tale that blends technothriller with suspense and police procedural adventure, Chasing the Captain picks up where Chasing Vega left off, giving Jess the chance to find the answers she seeks, even if it endangers her life and career in the process.
Many of your favorites from Chasing Vega are back, including the indomitable Alexandra Clark, technology guru Andy Milluzzi and Jessica’s FBI boyfriend Michael Wright. Add Terry Shepherd’s diverse ensemble cast and enough twists and turns to make your head spin and you have another wholly satisfying, screen-worthy popcorn thriller that best selling author Tori Eldridge calls, “a fast-paced international adventure.”
“Indomitable female cops hot on the trail of justice (and maybe a little revenge), bad guys I loved to hate, an international conspiracy, a little romance, and one blazing action sequence after another kept the pages turning and me happily reading until the end.Indomitable female cops hot on the trail of justice (and maybe a little revenge), bad guys I loved to hate, an international conspiracy, a little romance, and one blazing action sequence after another kept the pages turning and me happily reading until the end,” writes best novelest Kerry Schafer, author of the Shadow Valley Mystery Series.
D.P. Lyle, author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper Thriller series calls Chasing the Captain, “A break-neck ride crammed with tension, action and kick-ass characters.”
McKenna Mystery author Kate Anslinger says, “Terry Shepherd is one of those rare authors who can bookend a masterful action scene with poetic prose, descriptive settings, and human emotion, leading readers to fall effortlessly into the diverse worlds he creates.”
As you dive into Chasing the Captain, you’ll become immersed in the adventure, too.
The Review
This was a fantastic follow-up to the acclaimed hit action-thriller author Terry Shepherd brought us in his first book. The incredible world-building and action-packed writing the author employed throughout this narrative was incredible, written in such as way that felt very visceral and vivid to picture in the reader’s mind. The imagery throughout the writing kept the novel’s settings and atmosphere alive, becoming characters all their own.
Yet it was the numerous appearances of several strong, powerful female characters that found the perfect balance of vulnerability and kick-ass. The International aspect of this thriller allowed for several looks into how differing police agencies work and introduced new characters like DI Liyanna Evans into the narrative. However, the star of the novel is of course protagonist and hero Jessica Ramierez. The author delved into the hero’s past while helping to close the chapter on the shocking personal losses she accrued in the first novel, giving the opportunity for new readers to the series to jump into the narrative without losing too much ground on what this character represents, which is the new face of thriller-genre heroes.
The Verdict
A brilliant, adrenaline-pumping and entertaining action-thriller novel, author Terry Shepherd’s “Chasing the Captain” is a must-read novel of 2021! The author has brought pure action and entertainment into the narrative space in a fresh and unique way. The writing is descriptive and emotional as well and creates a unique experience that almost feels like it should be cinematic in its delivery as if waiting to become the next HBO Max series we all need. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today.
Terry Shepherd grew up in Michigan and began writing fiction in high school. After a long career in the corporate world, he took up the craft full time in 2018. He writes detective fiction for both adults and kids from his home on the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville, Florida.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Three women discover they are sisters after their photojournalist father passes away, and they inherit the family vineyard in author JoAnn Ross’s “The Inheritance”.
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The Synopsis
When conflict photographer Jackson Swann dies, he leaves behind a conflict of his own making when his three daughters, each born from a different mother and unknown to each other, discover that they’re now part owners of Maison de Madelaine, the family’s Oregon vineyard—a once famous business struggling to recover from a worldwide economic collapse.
After a successful career as a child TV star, a disastrous time as a teen pop star, and now a successful author, Tess is, for the first time in her life, suffering from a serious case of writer’s block and identity crisis.
Charlotte, brought up to be a proper Southern wife, has given up her own career goals to support her husband while having spent the past year struggling to conceive a child to create a more perfect marriage. On the worst day of her life, she discovers her beloved father has died, she has two sisters she’d never been told about, and her husband has fallen in love with another woman.
Natalie, daughter of Jack’s long-time mistress, has always known about both half-sisters. Still mourning the loss of her mother, the death of her father a year later is a devastating blow. And she can’t help feeling that both her sisters may resent her for being the daughter their father decided to keep.
As the sisters reluctantly gather at the family vineyard, they’re enchanted by the legacy they’ve inherited, and by their grandmother’s rich stories of life in WWII France and the love she found with a wounded American soldier who brought her to Oregon where they started Maison de Madelaine
The Review
A truly inviting and emotional read. The author has captured a captivating blend and balance of history and contemporary women’s fiction. The narrative delves into the history of WWII from the perspective of a WWII French Resistance Fighter, setting the backstory of not only the main character but the complex history of the person who was the catalyst for the protagonists to come together.
Yet it was the emotional struggle of the three sisters that really sold this narrative. Having watched people close to me lose their parents in recent years and dealing with the fallout afterward amongst their siblings, this narrative did an amazing job of hitting the emotional core of that process while adding an extra element of personal turmoil as each sister not only dealt with their own strained relationship with their father but the discovery of their sisters as well. I always enjoy reading works that push the boundaries on what family truly means, and how the bonds we build with one another mean more than anything else. The added elements of romance and character buildup that each sister experienced made this a brilliant story to engage with.
The Verdict
A remarkable, thought-provoking, and emotional read, author JoAnn Ross’s “The Inheritance” is a must-read novel of 2021. The perfect amount of intrigue and history to balance out the romance and personal relationships each sister had to force themselves to build amongst each other made this such an engaging story to get lost in. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
About the Author
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author JoAnn Ross has been published in twenty-seven countries. The author of over 100 novels, JoAnn lives with her husband and many rescue pets — who pretty much rule the house — in the Pacific Northwest.
Conflict photographer Jackson Swann had traveled to dark and deadly places in the world most people would never see. Nor want to. Along with dodging bullets and mortars, he’d survived a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, gotten shot mere inches from his heart in Niger and been stung by a death-stalker scorpion while embedded with the French Foreign Legion in Mali.
Some of those who’d worked with him over the decades had called him reckless. Rash. Dangerous. Over late-night beers or whatever else passed as liquor in whatever country they’d all swarmed to, other photographers and foreign journalists would argue about whether that bastard Jackson Swann had a death wish or merely considered himself invincible.
He did, after all, rush into high-octane situations no sane person would ever consider, and even when the shit hit the fan, somehow, he’d come out alive and be on the move again. Chasing the next war or crisis like a drug addict chased a high. The truth was that Jack had never believed himself to be im-mortal. Still, as he looked out over the peaceful view of rolling hills, the cherry trees wearing their spring profusion of pink blossoms, and acres of vineyards, he found it ironic that after having evaded the Grim Reaper so many times over so many decades, it was an aggressive and rapidly spreading lung cancer that was going to kill him.
Which was why he was here, sitting on the terraced patio of Chateau de Madeleine, the towering gray stone house that his father, Robert Swann, had built for his beloved war bride, Madeleine, to ease her homesickness. Oregon’s Willamette Valley was a beautiful place. But it was not Madeleine’s child-hood home in France’s Burgundy region where much of her family still lived.
Family. Jack understood that to many, the American dream featured a cookie-cutter suburban house, a green lawn you had to mow every weekend, a white picket fence, happy, well-fed kids and a mutt who’d greet him with unrestrained canine glee whenever he returned home from work. It wasn’t a bad dream. But it wasn’t, and never would be, his dream.
How could it be with the survivor’s guilt that shadowed him like a tribe of moaning ghosts? Although he’d never been all that introspective, Jack realized that the moral dilemma he’d experienced every time he’d had to force himself to re-main emotionally removed from the bloody scenes of chaos and death he was viewing through the lens of his camera had left him too broken to feel, or even behave like a normal human being.
Ten years ago, after his strong, robust father died of a sudden heart attack while fly-fishing, Jack had inherited the winery with his mother, who’d professed no interest in the day-to-day running of the family business. After signing over control of the winery to him, and declaring the rambling house too large for one woman, Madeleine Swann had moved into the guesthouse next to the garden she’d begun her first year in Oregon. A garden that supplied the vegetables and herbs she used for cooking many of the French meals she’d grown up with.
His father’s death had left Jack in charge of two hundred and sixty acres of vineyards and twenty acres of orchards. Not wanting, nor able, to give up his wanderlust ways to settle down and become a farmer of grapes and cherries, Jack had hired Gideon Byrne, a recent widower with a five-year-old daughter, away from a Napa winery to serve as both manager and vintner.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call them?” Gideon, walking toward him, carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses, asked not for the first time over the past weeks.
“The only reason that Tess would want to see me would be to wave me off to hell.” In the same way he’d never softened the impact of his photos, Jack never minced words nor romanticized his life. There would be no dramatic scenes with his three daughters—all now grown women with lives of their own—hovering over his deathbed.
“Have you considered that she might want to have an opportunity to talk with you? If for no other reason to ask—”
“Why I deserted her before her second birthday and never looked back? I’m sure her mother’s told her own version of the story, and the truth is that the answers are too damn complicated and the time too long past for that discussion.” It was also too late for redemption.
Jack doubted his eldest daughter would give a damn even if he could’ve tried to explain. She’d have no way of knowing that he’d kept track of her all these years, blaming himself when she’d spiraled out of control so publicly during her late teens and early twenties. Perhaps, if she’d had a father who came home every night for dinner, she would have had a more normal, stable life than the Hollywood hurricane her mother had thrown her into before her third birthday.
Bygones, he reminded himself. Anything he might say to his firstborn would be too little, too late. Tess had no reason to travel to Oregon for his sake, but hopefully, once he was gone, curiosity would get the better of her. His girls should know each other. It was long past time.
“Charlotte, then,” Gideon pressed. “You and Blanche are still technically married.”
“Technically being the operative word.” The decades-long separation from his Southern socialite wife had always suited them both just fine. According to their prenuptial agreement, Blanche would continue to live her privileged life in Charleston, without being saddled with a full-time live-in husband, who’d seldom be around at any rate. Divorce, she’d informed him, was not an option. And if she had discreet affairs from time to time, who would blame her? Certainly not him.
“That’s no reason not to give Charlotte an opportunity to say goodbye. How many times have you seen her since she went to college? Maybe twice a year?”
“You’re pushing again,” Jack shot back. Hell, you’d think a guy would be allowed to die in peace without Jiminy Cricket sitting on his shoulder. “Though of the three of them, Char-lotte will probably be the most hurt,” he allowed.
His middle daughter had always been a sweet girl, running into his arms, hair flying behind her like a bright gold flag to give her daddy some “sugar”—big wet kisses on those rare occasions he’d wind his way back to Charleston. Or drop by Savannah to take her out to dinner while she’d been attending The Savannah School of Art and Design.
“The girl doesn’t possess Blanche’s steel magnolia strength.”
Having grown up with a mother who could find fault in the smallest of things, Charlotte was a people pleaser, and that part of her personality would kick into high gear whenever he rolled into the city. “And, call me a coward, but I’d just as soon not be around when her pretty, delusional world comes crashing down around her.” He suspected there were those in his daughter’s rarified social circle who knew the secret that the Charleston PI he’d kept on retainer hadn’t had any trouble uncovering.
“How about Natalie?” Gideon continued to press. “She doesn’t have any reason to be pissed at you. But I’ll bet she will be if you die without a word of warning. Especially after losing her mother last year.”
“Which is exactly why I don’t want to put her through this.”
He’d met Josette Seurat, the ebony-haired, dark-eyed French Jamaican mother of his youngest daughter, when she’d been singing in a club in the spirited Oberkampf district of Paris’s eleventh arrondissement. He’d fallen instantly, and by the next morning Jack knew that not only was the woman he’d spent the night having hot sex with his first true love, she was also the only woman he’d ever love. Although they’d never married, they’d become a couple, while still allowing space for each other to maintain their own individual lives, for twenty-six years. And for all those years, despite temptation from beautiful women all over the globe, Jack had remained faithful. He’d never had a single doubt that Josette had, as well.
With Josette having been so full of life, her sudden death from a brain embolism had hit hard. Although Jack had im-mediately flown to Paris from Syria to attend the funeral at a church built during the reign of Napoleon III, he’d been too deep in his own grief, and suffering fatigue—which, rather than jet lag, as he’d assumed, had turned out to be cancer—to provide the emotional support and comfort his third daughter had deserved.
“Josette’s death is the main reason I’m not going to drag Natalie here to watch me die. And you might as well quit playing all the guilt cards because I’m as sure of my decision as I was yesterday. And the day before that. And every other time over the past weeks you’ve brought it up. Bad enough you coerced me into making those damn videos. Like I’m some documentary maker.”
To Jack’s mind, documentary filmmakers were storytellers who hadn’t bothered to learn to edit. How hard was it to spend anywhere from two to ten hours telling a story he could capture in one single, perfectly timed photograph?
“The total length of all three of them is only twenty minutes,” Gideon said equably.
There were times when Jack considered that the man had the patience of a saint. Which was probably necessary when you’d chosen to spend your life watching grapes grow, then waiting years before the wine you’d made from those grapes was ready to drink. Without Gideon Byrne to run this place, Jack probably would have sold it off to one of the neighboring vineyards years ago, with the caveat that his mother would be free to keep the guesthouse, along with the larger, showier one that carried her name. Had he done that he would have ended up regretting not having a thriving legacy to pass on to his daughters.
“The total time works out to less than ten minutes a daughter. Which doesn’t exactly come close to a Ken Burns series,” Gideon pointed out.
“I liked Burns’s baseball one,” Jack admitted reluctantly. “And the one on country music. But hell, it should’ve been good, given that he took eight years to make it.”
Jack’s first Pulitzer had admittedly been a stroke of luck, being in the right place at the right time. More care had gone into achieving the perfect photos for other awards, but while he admired Burns’s work, he’d never have the patience to spend that much time on a project. His French mother had claimed he’d been born a pierre roulante—rolling stone—al-ways needing to be on the move. Which wasn’t conducive to family life, which is why both his first and second marriages had failed. Because he could never be the husband either of his very different wives had expected.
“Do you believe in life after death?” he asked.
Gideon took his time to answer, looking out over the vine-yards. “I like to think so. Having lost Becky too soon, it’d be nice to believe we’ll connect again, somewhere, somehow.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, there are days that I think this might be our only shot.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I am an Ethnobotanist and Clinical Herbalist and I have long been inspired by the healing roles plants play for both humans and also our planet—and so I have built a career around this! I am incredibly lucky to have found my passion early in life and I have always just followed it, even though much of the times the path ahead seemed so unclear! I got into writing because when I was doing my Master’s Thesis I had to do a lot of writing to prove my research was valid and in the process I had an awesome advisor (the late Dr. Thomas Ruehr from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA) who really helped edit my work and gently lead me into realizing this was something I could do! Strangely, although I always hating writing classes in my school days, I ended up with one of my first jobs out of college being a Staff Writer for an alternative medicine publishing company! From there, even though I never thought I would aspire to become a writer (in the least!) the projects kept coming and I have realized that it is SUCH an important medium in order to get my message about plants across!
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What inspired you to write your book?
This series of books has been something long-simmering in my mind over the years. I have done a lot of research and writing that is heavy on the scientific side of things, but I really wanted to reach the common person who either had a garden or had some inclination that they were interested in plants. I feel it is so important for people to begin developing this relationship and to realize the potential healing role they can plan in our lives—even common garden plants that are right under our noses!
What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I would like them to start wondering and looking at the plants that already exist in their lives, to develop a curiosity for what that plant is about. It’s kind of like getting to know a person, we often develop some curiosity about them before we become friends…Plants are the same. Once someone learns one thing—maybe it is a plant that is useful in some aspect—they will never look at that plant the same again. They will always remember its name.
I would like people to stop looking at the amorphous “green carpet” that surrounds them and start realizing there are individuals that make up that green carpet. Once people turn that corner in their minds, the world becomes a much richer place!! People will also become more effective and interested in saving our precious biodiversity.
What drew you into this particular genre?
It was really my career and work with plants and herbs. I have a few other published books (from mainstream medical or educational publishers), but these books are pretty nerdy scientific type of books that aren’t focused at the general public. I wanted to write a beautiful book with colorful photos that people would enjoy looking at and could use to begin their interest in alternative garden uses.
What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I suppose Facebook has been the most helpful in getting the word out, but I really could do more work to develop communities of people who are interested in my “Botanicals With Benefits” topic. In fact, I have just created a Facebook Group for Botanicals With Benefits which I hope can do this, and I would love people to come and check it out, become members of the group to swap their experiences with plants and their multiple uses.. if you have a unique or really useful way to use a plant in your garden, please join and share with us…Or just come to learn!
What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
I think it is just to do it –if you have an interest in writing, then create an outline, and start in small steps by tackling the topics in chunks—before you know it, you will be well underway in your writing!
What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
The Botanicals With Benefits volumes will be coming out over time.. there are about 6-7 of them planned, so I have my work cut out for me with those! Also, I am currently writing/Editor of a book in a new field called Decoloniality which will be published by the educational publisher Springer Nature. It will be called: Understanding Socio-Ecological Systems Through Decoloniality: Case Studies on Convergence of Indigenous and Western Knowledge. It is a mouthful and another nerdy scientific book. However, I feel this field is very important and relevant to plants because much of our plant knowledge comes from indigenous wisdom! That should be published in 2022.
I am also currently joining a friend of mine who is a Doctor in San Luis Obispo, and will have a limited herbal & Flower Essence practice alongside her integrative primary care practice, Dr. Lindsey Faucette at the SLO Health center. We will be planning a lot of activities to merge our experience and bring natural healing to people. Come join us!
Ethnobotanist, Herbalist and Author, Kerry Hughes – with a 20-year record-of- success in natural product development – is driven by a tenacious fascination with the potential health enhancing role plants and nutrients can play, and her purpose is Ethno-Botanical Discovery and strategically innovating and expanding the boundaries of new natural product development. Through this, Kerry has catalyzed significant phyto-product breakthroughs that have been applied to bring to market new, efficacious and profitable products that not only heal people but also protect our threatened global biodiversity.
Kerry’s love of natural products has compelled her to write and speak frequently on a variety of subjects. Her writing includes the recently published Botanicals With Benefits: Establish a New Relationship with your garden (2020), as well as these in-depth text books: Understanding Socio-Ecological Systems through Decoloniality: Convergence of Indigenous and Western Knowledge (in press); The Incense Bible, Taylor & Francis (2007), one of the first scientific reviews & examinations of incense, The Health Professionals Guide to Dietary Supplements, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins (2006), a peer-reviewed guide to herbs and nutritional supplements, and Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements, Haworth Press (2002) an in-depth text- book on the medical aspects of many of our top supplements. Additionally, she has authored over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals on various natural product topics.
Kerry is the Founder of EthnoPharm; a consulting business focused on Natural Product Discovery and Development. She is also on the Scientific & Medical Advisory Boards for Amare Global, Good Pharma and Hilma, and is on the Advisory Board for Global Food Forums. Kerry has acted as a consultant to the United Nations through the International Trade Centre (ITC) for international development projects involving botanicals and authored essential oil and organic reports for the Market News Service (MNS). As the Director of the US office of The Institute for Market Ecology (IMO), an eco-product certifier, she helped to co- develop and establish the Fair for Life Social & Fair Trade Certification in the US market, the highest-bar global Fair Trade certification standard. Today, she continues her work with standard development on the Certified Regenerative standard by A Greener World, currently in its pilot phase.
Kerry has a background in Ethnobotany and Biochemistry, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, and a Master of Science degree in Agriculture with an emphasis in Ethnobotany and Soil Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California. She is also a certified Clinical Herbalist by the Berkeley Herbal Center, an Advanced Australian Bush Flower Essence Advanced Practitioner, and teaches at the Berkeley Herbal Center & The Herbal Academy of New England. Kerry also maintains a Clinical Herbal practice at the SLO Health Center in San Luis Obispo, CA.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A college student and diagnosed psychopath taking part in a psychological study of other psychopathic students is caught in a game of cat and mouse when one of the other students is murdered, and she must uncover the murderer’s identify before she is next in author Vera Kurian’s “Never Saw Me Coming”.
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The Synopsis
Meet Chloe Sevre. She’s a freshman honor student, a leggings-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.
Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements.
When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she’ll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.
Never Saw Me Coming is a compulsive, voice-driven thriller by an exciting new voice in fiction, that will keep you pinned to the page and rooting for a would-be killer.
The Review
This was such a fantastically written and gripping thriller. The author takes the classic balance of whodunnit mystery storytelling and haunting thriller vibes and flips the script by having the targeted victims in this case diagnosed psychopaths. This is so unique, as it explores psychopathy as a diagnosis and mental health condition rather than a term just for unhinged criminal minds, while also exploring that facet of the general public’s thinking with morally corrupt characters that fit this description. The layered and complex nature of the character development is what really invites readers into this narrative, delivering shocks and twists not seen since the revelations of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
The atmosphere and tone were what really captured my attention as a reader. The author perfectly found the right blend of chilling personality traits from not just the mystery “killer”, but the protagonists of this narrative as well, and the dark humor that readers can’t help but shakily chuckle at. Readers won’t be able to help to get chills as the author delves into the mindset of these characters, and you won’t be able to help to imagine how many people you know or walk by every day, harboring these thoughts and mindsets. That’s always a good indication of a successful thriller.
The Verdict
A masterful, haunting, and engaging mystery and thriller read, author Vera Kurian’s “Never Saw Me Coming” is a must-read thriller of 2021. The unique character perspectives and chilling atmosphere are incredible driving forces to keep readers invested, and the shocking twist revelation of the killer and their motivation will leave readers falling off their seats. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist based in Washington DC. Her debut novel, NEVER SAW ME COMING, is forthcoming from Park Row Books (US) and Harvill Secker, Vintage (UK) in Fall 2021. (more on that here). Her short fiction has been published in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Day One, and The Pinch. She was born and raised in the mid-Atlantic region, before stints in NYC and LA returned her to her rightful home of DC where she’s lived for most of her adult life. She has a PhD in Social Psychology, where she studied intergroup relations, ideology, and quantitative methods. She blogs irregularly about writing, horror movies and pop culture/terrible TV. She enjoys existentialism and puppies.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
An innocent hiking trip takes a strange and dramatic turn when strangely adorable aliens aboard a teapot ship abduct Lem, leading to a bizarre race to discover why they were taken and must face alien worlds, space stations and more in author Si Clarke’s “The Left Hand of Dog”.
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The Synopsis
Escaping intergalactic kidnappers has never been quite so ridiculous.
When Lem and her faithful dog, Spock, retreat from the city for a few days of hiking in Algonquin Park, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by aliens. No, scratch that. The last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by a bunch of strangely adorable intergalactic bounty hunters aboard a ship called the Teapot.
After Lem falls in with an unlikely group of allies – including a talking horse, a sarcastic robot, an overly anxious giant parrot, and a cloud of sentient glitter gas – the gang must devise a cunning plan to escape their captors and make it back home safely.
But things won’t be as easy as they first seem. Lost in deep space and running out of fuel, this chaotic crew are faced with the daunting task of navigating an alien planet, breaking into a space station, and discovering the real reason they’re all there…
Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, The Left Hand of Dog tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders’ Victories Greater than Death – especially ones who enjoy endless references to Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. This book will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed.
The Review
The author has crafted a truly brilliant and expertly crafted sci-fi story for the ages. The novel takes the humor and wit of sci-fi sagas like Doctor Who and The Orville, and the mind-bending galactic storytelling of Star Wars and Star Trek. The author found the right balance of homages to classic sci-fi storytelling while still incorporating modern-day storytelling that highlights LGBTQ themes and character developments.
Lem was a brilliant protagonist, showing the complexities of their personality and inner struggles with their identity while also stepping up to the plate to become a new sci-fi hero who readers could root for. The author’s ability to craft such an incredible juxtaposition of identity struggles and the hardships of the outsider with the more silly or obscure sci-fi tones the genre is known for is just amazing and really drew me in as a reader.
The Verdict
A gripping, fun, and reflective sci-fi and LGBTQ-driven narrative, author Si Clarke’s “The Left Hand of Dog” is a must-read novel of 2021. The engaging way the author connects the reader with the themes of the narrative without sacrificing any of the humor or character growth really helped this story to shine brightly and should be read by any and all fans of classic and modern sci-fi storytelling. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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SI Clarke has a new quirky queer sci-fi book out (ace/aro/agender): The Left Hand of Dog. And there’s a giveaway!
Escaping intergalactic kidnappers has never been quite so ridiculous.
When Lem and her faithful dog, Spock, retreat from the city for a few days of hiking in Algonquin Park, the last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by aliens. No, scratch that. The last thing they expect is to be kidnapped by a bunch of strangely adorable intergalactic bounty hunters aboard a ship called the Teapot.
Falling in with an unlikely group of allies – including a talking horse, a sarcastic robot, an overly anxious giant parrot, and a cloud of sentient glitter gas – Lem and the gang must devise a cunning plan to escape their captors and make it back home safely.
But things won’t be as easy as they first seem. Lost in deep space and running out of fuel, this chaotic crew are faced with the daunting task of navigating an alien planet, breaking into a space station, and discovering the real reason they’re all there…
Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, The Left Hand of Dog tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders’ Victories Greater than Death – especially ones who enjoy endless references to Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. This book will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed.
Warnings: anaphylactic shock, minor injury to a dog, this book is not for TERFs.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Startled by the sound of movement behind me, I whirled around to face three … they had to be children in bunny costumes. ‘What?’ That’s what they had to be, right? I mean, they weren’t actually rabbits. Definitely not. For one thing, they stood upright. Real bunnies don’t normally do that, do they? For another, they were about the size of Spock.
But the costumes looked real in that no skin showed through – not even on their faces – and I couldn’t see any zips. Also, I was pretty sure rabbits didn’t come in pastel rainbow colours. Actually, they reminded me of a toy I’d had as a child. Bunnyboo, I’d called it. Four-year-old me was terribly inventive.
‘Check out your floopy-floppy ears! How adorable are you?’ Nervous sarcasm still intact then.
I was nauseated enough that shaking my head seemed like a bad idea. ‘It was beer I had last night, right? Not, like, psychedelic mushrooms? Maybe some natural tree spore that makes a person have trippy visions?’ No one answered me. Or even looked at me.
Spock sat neatly and dropped her brain in my lap. She lifted a paw towards the nearest of the bunnyboos – for want of a better word. The creature’s mint green fur matched the emerald hue of its humongous Disney princess eyes. ‘Yip,’ said Spock in her smallest, most polite voice.
This is not happening. I must be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Something.
Pulling a device from a holster like a carpenter’s apron, the bunnyboo pointed it at Spock. Or maybe it was merely reading what was on the screen – if it even had a screen. Who was I kidding? I had no idea what they were doing.
Another, slightly taller bunnyboo – this one periwinkle blue with eyes like Wedgewood plates – stepped forwards and ‘spoke’ to Spock as well. That is, its mouth moved and Spock’s full attention was on it. But no sound emerged. Spock yipped again in response to whatever it was I couldn’t hear.
Spock pointed at me with her long, sable nose then looked back at the bunnyboos and emitted a low noise, not quite a growl.
‘Would someone please tell me what the bollocking pufferfish is going on here?’ I demanded. Okay, not demanded. Requested. Well, pleaded. Whined, maybe. Whatever verb it was I verbed, no one paid me any heed.
The bunnyboos of my strange hallucination were too deeply engrossed in their silent conversation with my very real dog to spare me any of their attention. It was like watching a TV on mute – except I could hear movements and breathing and the sound of my heart beating a drum on the inside of my chest.
After a few further moments of this bizarre fever dream, Spock leapt down out of the coffin and turned to face me. She sat on her haunches and looked me in the eye. Then she lifted one paw at me in a clear imitation of the ‘stay’ command I used with her.
A bunnyboo with heather purple fur lowered a rope lead over Spock’s head. Spock stood and followed them from the room.
‘Where are you taking my dog, you fluffy bastards?’ I clambered out of the coffin-bed and scrabbled after them as fast as my besocked feet would carry me. But the thick metal door slid shut seconds before I got to it.
I pounded impotently on the door, screaming, ‘Spock! Come back. Don’t let those fuzzy arseholes hurt you.’ Unable to find a door knob or control panel or anything, I leant against the wall next to the door and slid down until I landed on my arse. I shivered and hugged my knees to my chest.
Why can’t I wake up? Letting my head fall forwards, I cried for a bit, whimpering Spock’s name periodically.
Author Bio
SI CLARKE is a Canadian misanthrope who lives in Deptford, sarf ees London. She shares her home with her partner and an assortment of waifs and strays. When not writing convoluted, inefficient stories, she spends her time telling financial services firms to behave more efficiently. When not doing either of those things, she can be found in the pub or shouting at people online – occasionally practising efficiency by doing both at once. As someone who’s neurodivergent, an immigrant, and the proud owner of an invisible disability, she strives to present a diverse array of characters in her stories.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
The latest novel in acclaimed author Liz Braswell’s TWISTED TALE series hones in on the infamous story of Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled, but flips the script when Rapunzel’s mother is given the wrong flower to heal her during birth, and Rapunzel is born with silver hair as white as the moon and given destructive power instead in the latest book in the series, “What Once Was Mine”.
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The Synopsis
The 12th installment in the New York Times best-selling series asks: What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?
Desperate to save the life of their queen and her unborn child, the good people of Corona search for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure her—but mistakenly acquire the shimmering Moondrop flower instead. Nonetheless it heals the queen, and she delivers a healthy baby girl with hair as silver and gray as the moon. With it comes dangerous magical powers: the power to hurt, not heal. For her safety and the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is locked in a tower and put under the care of powerful goodwife, Mother Gothel.
For eighteen years Rapunzel stays locked away, knowing she must protect others from her magical hair. But when she leaves the only home she’s ever known, wanting only to see the floating lights that appear on her birthday, she gets caught up in an adventure across the kingdom with two thieves—a young woman named Gina, and Flynn Rider, a rogue on the run. Before she can reach her happy ending, Rapunzel learns that there may be more to her story, and her magical tresses, than she ever knew.
The Review
What a fun and truly entertaining take on the classic story of Rapunzel and the Disney version in the film Tangled! Truly, the story does a great job of laying the groundwork for this retelling by introducing a brother whose sister is in the hospital being treated for cancer and decides to retell her the story of her favorite movie while adding his own twists on it to help keep her mind occupied. This really added a personal and human element to this fantasy retelling, especially when readers learn of this story point’s origin in the author’s afterward.
The haunting, atmospheric tone that the author lays down in the tale of Rapunzel is great to see unfold. The inclusion of magic and witchcraft into the narrative to explore this twist on her origins was great to see unfold. Yet it was the characters that really sold this story, from the inclusion of characters like Countess Bathory, a new villain based on the historical figure to be included alongside Mother Gothel, to Gina, whose strength and partnership with Flynn give them both a stronger voice in the narrative overall.
Yet it was Rapunzel and Gothel who stole the show. The protagonist’s knowledge of her origins (up to a point), and her desire to keep others safe was a unique twist on her character, as was her complex and emotional relationship with her “mother”. Gothel’s manipulations and selfishness took up all-new levels in this retelling, and the action-packed final confrontation these two had in the midst of a shockingly larger confrontation was powerful for the story Tangled began all those years ago.
The Verdict
A haunting, magical, and engaging dark fantasy take on this Disney classic, author Liz Braswell’s “What Once Was Mine” is a brilliant story and one of the year’s top contenders for the fantasy novel of 2021. A gripping tale of magic gone wrong, betrayal, and the bonds between mothers and their daughters, the addition of a more grounded narrator and a rich tapestry of mythology from beyond Disney’s typical storytelling background made this story shine brightly. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy of this incredible book today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
After the sort of introverted childhood you would expect from a writer, Liz earned a degree in Egyptology at Brown University and then promptly spent the next ten years producing video games. Finally she caved into fate and wrote Snow and Rx under the name Tracy Lynn, followed by The Nine Lives of Chloe King series under her real name, because by then the assassins hunting her were all dead. She also has short stories in Geektastic and Who Done It and a new series of reimagined fairy tales coming out, starting with A Whole New World—a retelling of Aladdin.
She lives in Brooklyn with a husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish and five coffee trees she insists will start producing beans any day. You can email her at me@lizbraswell.com.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A young Hmong girl with the ability to see the dead discovers she is a powerful shaman warrior must travel through the spirit worlds in order to find her brother’s stolen soul in author Lori M. Lee’s “Pahua and the Soul Stealer”, part of the Rick Riordan Presents series.
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The Synopsis
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Lori M. Lee’s middle grade debut about a lonely Hmong girl who discovers she’s a powerful shaman warrior in this fantasy inspired by Southeast Asian mythology.
“I love the adventures Pahua has in this book. I also love the sense of humor, the clever plotting, and the fantastic cast of characters. But most of all I love Pahua: her courage, her kindness, and her love for family.”–NYT best-selling author Rick Riordan
Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely eleven-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see.
One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood–whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can’t be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul. She returns to the scene of the crime with her aunt’s old shaman tools, hoping to confront the spirit and demand her brother’s return. Instead, she summons a demon.
Thankfully, a warrior shaman with a bit of an attitude problem shows up at the last minute and saves her butt. With the help of this guide, Pahua will have to find her way through the spirit worlds and rescue her brother’s soul before it’s too late. Little does she know she’ll have her own discoveries to make along the way. . . .
With its unforgettable characters, unique nature-based magic system, breathtaking twists and reveals, and climactic boss battle, this story based on Hmong oral tradition offers everything a fantasy lover could want.
The Review
Such a spectacular and awe-inspiring new middle-grade and YA novel that brings the fantasy genre to all new heights. While I am a big fan of mythology, I must admit that I was not very well versed in the mythology of the Hmong people. After this book, I am ready to take a deep dive into this rich culture and mythos that I never knew waited for me. The author did a fabulous job of finding the right balance of rich culture and mythology with the more personal character development of protagonist Pahua, who must balance her own unique gifts, her destiny, and her struggle as an outcast amongst her schoolmates with her mission to save her brother’s soul.
The themes that the author employed in the narrative really did grab the reader’s attention. The classic story of a young kid gifted with a perilous and heroic destiny, who must take control of her life and face untold dangers to save the life of a loved one is a story as old as time itself, and yet the unique mythos gave the theme new life, as did the theme of a young person considered an outcast not only finding their footing in the world but becoming the hero no one knew they needed. The connection to family and ancestors also struck a unique chord with me, as we all like to think that our loved ones and ancestors are watching over us, and this novel really incorporated that well.
The Verdict
A heartfelt, magical, and entertaining middle-grade and YA Fantasy read, author Lori M. Lee’s “Pahua and the Soul Stealer” is a must-read novel of 2021, and a contender for the best middle-grade read of the year. This fantasy novel does a fantastic job of introducing readers to a mythology that may not be as familiar to some as say Greek or Egyptian mythology but holds so much fascinating history and culture that could rival either of those cultures as well. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating: 10/10
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About the Author
Lori is an avid writer, reader, artist, and lover of unicorns. She should probably spend less time on the internet (but she won’t). She considers herself a unicorn aficionado, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family.
and another nerdy scientific book. However, I feel this field is very important and relevant to plants because much of our plant knowledge comes from indigenous wisdom! That should be published in 2022.
