The Feminist and The Cowboy by Alisa Valdes

The Feminist and the Cowboy. Alisa Valdes. Gotham Publishing. January 2013. 336 pp. pbk. ISBN#: 9781592407903.

The Feminist in this novel is a hyper-liberal woman who reflects the epitome of the feminist from the 20^th Century who ultimately made the opposite sex the enemy.  It’s an extremist attitude that unfortunately evolved as a reaction to years of woman experiencing poor to shoddy treatment at the hands of men. This is confirmed in the story of the feminist’s own mother who abandoned her child and launched into a new life that would be free. 

When the protagonist meets the Cowboy, an antagonist in the true sense of the word, he’s something she’s never met, a man who is ultra-macho (actually he’s downright nasty and rude at times, something that the Feminist seems to miss in her bedazzled state) and yet very traditional in the way he courts a lady. At times the Feminist assumes a great deal and those assumptions make her the target of his wrath and also expose her unruly tirades of rage as well, to the point where she knows she is in serious need of anger management counseling and/or help.

While the author attempts to make the Cowboy come out as a totally balanced male, it just doesn’t work.  He tries to be neutral and yet is as domineering in his own “tough love” fashion.  This reader is unimpressed by him and definitely not “wowed” by his tactics that are missing the sense of compassion and caring that is okay for men to demonstrate to women. To generalize that the feminist movement made women out of all men is a large stretch for sure, albeit it may be true for some.

The Feminist and the Cowboy is an okay read, very fine in the way the main female character grows and changes, but one hopes she can evolve even more to see that the Cowboy she has grown to care for needs some evolution himself.

After the Rain by Karen White

After the Rain. Karen White. Penguin Group (USA). December 2012. 384 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780451239686.

Suzanne Paris, as she is now calling herself, is a freelance photographer who is running away.  We don’t know for a long time where she’s from but we do know that she is a woman who for years has had no “hometown” and immediately goes on the run whenever anyone tries to get too close or begins to start connecting dots to the mystery of her past.  It’s a lonely life; and despite Suzanne’s tough exterior appearance, underneath she’s like a tightly-wired machine that is super-exhausted underneath. 

Suzanne’s luck is holding so far when she decides to get off a cross-country bus in Walton, Georgia, a typical Southern town with extraordinary hospitality and just as extraordinary nosiness.  Everyone knows everyone and makes sure everyone else knows the whole story about each resident, guest and visitor!  One has to laugh if it didn’t freak out Suzanne more, yet one does as the caring nature of these “strangers” is warming to the heart, a counter to the irritating qualities of town busybodies.

The first person Suzanne meets is the town mayor, Joe Warner, a man totally blasted from taking care of his six kids and grieving today for his wife who died years ago. In fact, he grieves as intensely as he did the day she died.  He seems to always be showing up in situations where Suzanne is desperate for help and at first her irritation at his questioning is downright annoying.  That takes quite a while to overcome and their relationship begins to improve when Suzanne shares her gift for photography with Joe’s daughter, Maddie, and gradually becomes a major influence in her life.  So the story goes on and on and on….

All the characters have something to learn about their strengths and weaknesses.  Suzanne may look “tough as nails” but has a heart of gold and is a very, very talented, skilled, sensitive photographer.  Slowly but surely the picture gets better and better until the past returns with a vengeance and seems to make everything go wrong.  Will it all be sorted and resolved – no spoilers here, LOL!

After the Rain is another hit novel for Karen White who knows how to balance the ups and downs of emotional women and crisis situations with just the right amount of revelation to make each scene more than credible. She is one very knowledgeable and talented writer, proven again in this wonderful work of romance and/or contemporary fiction!

Come In and Cover Me by Gin Phillips

Come In and Cover Me. Gin Phillips. Penguin Group (USA) Inc. December 2012. 352 pp. ISBN #: 9781594486487.

"I have to believe the pieces can fit together...We owe them that, to tell the truth about them," said archaeologist Ren Taylor.  She and Silas Cooper have met at Crow Creek, an archaeological dig outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico because he's found another piece of an Indian ceramic bowl that he knows she'll want to see.  She is an expert on these artifacts and believes they were all made by one particular Indian girl. It takes time for the reader to understand how Ren knows this is so.  It all has to do with the death of her brother, Scott, when she was just twelve years old.

Ren has a unique gift or curse, depending on your point of view.  She senses the spirits of ghosts, including her brother and gradually as the story unfolds that of two Indian women, one younger and the other older.  As these visions are increasing, Ren and Silas are falling in love. At first it seems so perfect.  But Silas's inability to believe in Ren's gift and her ability to listen and hear the story of these very talented but haunting women, Lynay and Non, unnerves him, slightly souring their relationship.  Sparks of love and arguments begin to fly as each displays weakness to the other.

The dig provides more and more clues to the lives of a "lost" people, their lives paralleling the losses in Ren's life.  There are many ways of dying and this tale is about ability to live perpetually in denial or to embrace the loss and move beyond it to creativity and beauty.  Yes, it even means being able to mourn in order to free the Spirit to fully live.  One has to be vibrantly alive to tell the story of the "lost" ones, and that telling makes even the objects left behind in the passing even more enchanting and gorgeous! Then true love blossoms!

Come In and Cover Me is a unique story of love, death, loss and recovery; indeed it is a story of resurrection evolving out of the healing of love, memories, dreams, visions, and open and honest dialogue.  The story is well-crafted, thoughtful, imaginative, and unforgettable in its gracious unfolding!  Poignant, simply lovely contemporary fiction!

The Spirit of the Place by Samuel Shem

The Spirit of the Place. Samuel Shem. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. December 2012. 416 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780425258781.

As a very young boy, Orville Rose senses that he is "a part of something else," a joyous cry that his mother quickly quashes with the stern response, "This is all there is."  Orville runs to his room in tears and basically spends the rest of his life running away.

Now after he has served overseas as a Doctor Without Borders and seen all there is to see of suffering, disease, murder and more, he has fallen in love with an Italian woman, Celestina.  His tranquility is shattered upon receiving a telegram that his mother died and it is two weeks after her death that he arrives at Columbia, a small town bordering the Hudson River in upstate New York.  His mother has stymied her son Orville in two ways: First she leaves him over a million dollars which he gets only after he has lived in Columbia for a year and thirteen days.  Second, she has written letters to Orville which an unknown person is mailing, per her direction, to him, letters which are notes condemning Orville for his failure to care for her adequately which he initially takes as truth and proceeds to fulfill in reality.

Orville falls in love again after Celestina dumps him for a rich man.  As Orville is getting more and more disgusted with his hometown, he meets Miranda and her son Cray, who calls Orville "Orvy."  Miranda is handicapped and after awhile Orville realizes how emotionally handicapped he is as well.  No, this isn't a morbid book but one in which tragedy, irony, and comedy are always flowing, weaving together and insisting on their own separate, special scenes. 

In reality, the tendency for all material objects in Columbia to break parallels the brokenness of its citizens. They are blind to progress and what is best for one's own well-being and therefore tend to veto and despise everything new or modern.  But it takes a whole novel for the diamond in the rough to emerge in both characters and the town in which they live.

You will meet a selfless doctor, a childhood bully turned politician, a woman excelling in her physical beauty and teasing sexuality, a widow terrified to trust in love again, a boy in desperate need of a father, and more characters who immediately grip the reader's interest and don't let go.

The Spirit of the Place is fine, literate contemporary fiction about love between a mother and son, son and lover, mentors and more!  Wonderful, well-written story!

A Song for Julia by Charles Sheehan-Miles

A Song for Julia. Charles Sheehan-Miles. Cincinnatus Press. December 2012.  320 pages hbk, pbk and ebook. ISBN#: 9780988273658.

Julia is a Harvard student who lives with a memory that almost destroyed her family and probably ended her father’s career as a foreign service diplomat.  The memories are always there but she tries to live a better life free of tangled relationships because the last one resulted in a broken heart and an aborted baby.  But now Julia meets a punk rock singer, Crank Wilson is a heart-breaker with the ladies but on meeting Julia that slowly changes, more so because Julia is constantly stating she will not see him again.

So what will happen when he meets her family.  For Crank and his father, a Boston cop, and his brother, who has Asperger’s Syndrome – a form of autism, are always at odds.  They try to keep out of fights because these upset his brother who gets out of control when upset.  Crank demonstrates tremendous anger when his mother is even mentioned.  Not a happy family, to say the least!

Julia’s mother is constantly harassing her to behave “properly,” always dropping comments on how much she owes the family because of her past shame. She is a nag, in plain English, and was never present for Julia when she needed her mother the most.  Yes, she made a terrible mistake that affected everyone, but surely there must come a time when the past does not haunt the present and everyone accepts responsibility for what could have been avoided, perhaps.

A Song for Julia is a fine story about the past can distort the present and future so that the main characters are so busy protecting their emotionally wracked persons that they almost lose the joy that could move them forward into a caring, whole relationship.  Secrets are meant to be exposed and the pain of revelation with its multiple causes and effects is worth the cost of speaking truth.  Charles Sheehan-Miles brooks no hypocrisy, excuses, etc. as reasons not to be true to one’s higher nature.  In A Song for Julia, this author crafts a fictional song that is as radical as punk and as an incisive as a healing scalpel to the worst and best in human nature.

The Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab

The Girl in the Wall. Daphne Benedis-Grab. Merit Press. YA Fiction. December 2012. 272 pp. pbk.  ISBN # 9781440552700.

Sera made a difficult choice to save a life by telling the truth. Now she’s paying for it day after day after day.  Her peers at school are treating her like “pariah of the year.”  Now her family is insisting she attend the birthday party of her ex-friend, Ariel.  It’s all very uncomfortable until rock star Hudson Winters (real name Hunter Winters) begins to croon a song Sera loves.  The mesmerizing effect of his singing is cut short by the burst of gunfire and then the hell begins!

Two people are died and a group of killers is holding the rest of the party attendees temporarily until they realize the person they really wanted to kill, Ariel, is missing. So begins an awful night of threats, murders, fire, and more while Ariel is hidden in the walls of her home. It’s a place where Sera and she hung out and played when they were much younger.  But now Sera has to make a choice to betray Ariel again or prove her loyalty. The cost of either is huge!

As the night progresses, the remaining youths know there will be no help until well into the next day.  They, therefore, begin to plan on how to attack the killers and at the same time gradually discover who is behind this insane, cold-blooded attack and why. It’s NOT a pretty picture, no matter how one sees the choices and possible outcomes.

During this night Sera discovers that Hudson (Hunter) is a regular guy with his own sad story.  It’s his strength and ideas that help Sera tolerate the intense pressure and plan for a different alternative to the end they all expect.  At the same time, Ariel has the time while in hiding to think about who are her true friends and make a decision that might just save her own life.

The Girl in the Wall punches the reader with its very real brutality and poignancy.  The author knows well how to increase the tension but also make it something compassionate and moving, not just another made for TV drama.  Superbly done, Daphne Benedis-Grab!  YA readers will love this novel, for sure!

Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Tempestuous: A Twisted Lit Novel. Kim Askew and Amy Helmes. Merit Press. YA Fiction. December 2012. 256 pp. pbk.  ISBN # 9781440552649.

Miranda Prospero, a once upon a time very popular teen, is working in a corn dog fast food stand to pay off her punishment fine.  What’s the deal?  It turns out Miranda was the dupe of a shyster teen who put together a group of geeks who would write essays for other students and in another incident arrange to have others take the SAT.  Fake IDs, etc. were eventually discovered and the scam turned into a criminal event, with Miranda taking the heat for all of it. 

So here she is in a greasy dump which turns into an all-nighter because she and her teen friends (and enemies) are snowed in and then locked in.  However, as Miranda is known as the “Teflon teen,” she’s initially annoyed but then decides to make the best of it. She’s planning a 17th birthday party for her fellow worker, Ariel.  There aren’t too many customers around and teens being teens, Miranda and her friends decide to hearty-party all night long.

The first problem arises when it turns out that one of the mall kiosks has been robbed; and since the mall is locked down, that means the robber is also still hidden among them.  Add to that the scene in which Miranda gets handcuffed to a guy, Craig, whom she’s not too crazy about.  No, they can’t find a key, so imagine being cuffed all night.  How will she figure out a visit to the lady’s room?

The night gets even crazier with plots and counter-plots, misunderstandings and confessions that might be real and might be plotted for worse scenarios.  Will the criminal be found? Miranda refuses to give in to fear and it is her wacky plans that save the day – or at least hope to!

Tempestuous, a novel again having Shakespearean allusions toward The Tempest, is a funny read that again highlights a Twisted Lit series worth the attention of all teens and young adults!  Nicely done!