Love Binding Creative Souls

I enjoy an author that can use description to carry me away and place me in locations that I can enjoy within my mind's eye. Christa Polkinhorn does just that in Love of a Stonemason. From Switzerland to Italy to Peru, I enjoyed vistas I will never see; felt breezes across lakes and through valleys I will never personally feel; was surrounded by local scents from exotic dishes and fields of flowers that I will never smell.

The title of her book first intrigued me as my grandfather was a stonemason and her Andreas brought back many memories of watching the way 'Grampa' could press his will upon a piece of granite.

Her Karla is an artist and I understood her challenges when approaching a blank canvas. Once upon a time I painted and Christa tweaked my mind with the scent of turpentine and the feel of paint on the brush as it made magic on the easel.

But more than a romance between creative minds, this story digs deep into the early trauma of each and follows their struggle in resolving their individual demons.

This would be the perfect book to tuck in your suitcase or add to your kindle for that "myself" time this summer. Pick your own special spot - perhaps in the shade of a maple tree beside a secluded cove at the lake. Ah, sounds of waves lapping gently on the shore, glass of wine and Love of a Stonemason.

Elizabeth Egerton Wilder
Author of The Spruce Gum Box

5 Stars for "All for One" by Ryne Douglas Pearson

The cruel school bully gets killed. Six children discover his body, one of them may have murdered him. Detective Dooley Ashe, the Kiddie Catcher, tries to uncover the truth. Mary, the children’s teacher, would do anything to protect them. With different goals in mind, Dooley and Mary form an uneasy alliance. As the story progresses to its tragic end, both Dooley and Mary are confronted with demons from their past.

As one of the reviewers pointed out, All for One is in part a story about choices, choices we have to make, sometimes under pressure, and how these choices have results that determine the rest of our lives. It deals with psychologically complex and terribly flawed human beings. It is also a story about childhood abuse, injustice, and about good people who try their best and sometimes succeed and sometimes fail.

All for One is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in quite a while. The characters are convincing and portrayed with great sensibility. A fast-paced and well-crafted mystery, it leads the reader through a maze of events and flashbacks and unexpected twists to an amazing surprise ending. However, is not one of those contrived surprise endings of less successful thrillers. This ending, as unexpected as it is, is foreshadowed and makes total sense in retrospect.

Highly recommended. I look forward to more of the same author.

Launch of "Four Hundred Days" - Part Two of the fabulous Lor Mandela Series by Lisa Carroll

I read the first part of the Lor Mandela series: Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins and I LOVED it. I look forward to the second part, which will be released July 15!

Here is a brief synopsis:
When Audril, the heiress to the Lor Mandelan throne, sneaks away to Earth to save one of her dearest friends, she finds that a power hungry tyrant from her own world has begun systematically obliterating towns and cities to get her to turn herself over to him.
On Earth, she meets a wildly eccentric old lady named Teedee Venilworth whose imaginary butler/fiancé supposedly holds the key to her success. But how can someone help if he doesn't exist? Could it be that creatures who dwell in shadow are not exclusive to Lor Mandela?

Book number two in the Lor Mandela Series, Lor Mandela – Four Hundred Days, is an action-packed whirlwind of intrigue and fantasy. Join the extraordinary characters from the first book, (both the good and the evil), as they traverse the haunted corridors of Alcatraz Penitentiary, travel via portal to an ancient castle on the cliff shores of Ireland, and meet a foreboding race of mystic warriors known as the Solom.

Soar on the back of a large horse-like creature to the Northern High Forests and discover that on the picturesque world of Lor Mandela, your friends can become foes, your enemies your allies, and just because someone dies, it doesn’t always mean that they’re dead.


Click on the image on the left to find out more about Part One of the series.
 
Links to books and author:

http://www.lormandela.com/

http://www.lormandela.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Lor-Mandela-Series/169357859780493

http://twitter.com/#!/lormandeladft