Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade

Who Rescued Who. Victoria Schade. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 352 pp.; ISBN #: 9780593098837.

Elizabeth, aka Bess, gets fired from her high tech Silicon Valley job at Dutchess Games.  It also seems that she knows something about the top woman of her former social media company that said much about the bad nature of the product they were selling. For now, Elizabeth is overwhelmed and is taking a short trip to England to visit her father’s relatives.  These are not people she even knew were alive before now; however, it turns out she has inherited a piece of property.  It seems vague and complicated but she will find out the answers to the dozen questions she has.

Imagine her head in a whirlwind when she meets her Uncle, her father’s brother, who lives on lovely land and has amazing neighbors in Fargrove, UK.  Her father and Uncle parted over loving the same woman.  Uncle Rowan is an extremely talented artist as well as a sheep owner.  His wife Trudy is a warm, dynamic woman who is both understanding about the past and enthusiastic about the future.

Little by little Elizabeth becomes friendly with a beekeeper, a coffee shop owner, a brewery owner, and several gallery owners.  All are very dedicated to their business but unlike Elizabeth’s former colleagues are warm and inviting people who don’t put business over people. 

So who needs rescuing? It’s obviously Elizabeth or Bess and this is her story or her journey to discover what part of her past has meaning and what is just a way to push away what she can’t face from that past. Along the way she rescues a black and white puppy and loves her Uncle’s collie, dogs who are yearning for the same escape from loneliness and yearning for permanent, loving connection.  Pages and pages of beautiful descriptions demonstrate the delightful antics of these dogs who teach Elizabeth about the nature of true love. Could Fargrove be a similar end or the new beginning of a life for the rescuer of these charming canine friends?

The author uses this story to emphasize the depths of true love, friendship, trust, loyalty, and community.  This is contemporary fiction par excellence which is highly recommended warm, engaging and transformative fiction that promises to make readers cry and laugh out loud!  You won’t want it to end!

Act of Murder: A Doc Brady Mystery: A Medical Thriller by John Bishop, M.D.

Act of Murder: A Doc Brady Mystery. A Medical Thriller.  John Bishop M.D. Mantid Press. March 2020. pb, 281 pp.; ISBN #: 97817342511040.

In the spring of one year, a neighbor of Dr. Brady dies.  He’s hit by a car and that person doesn’t stop and acknowledge what’s been done.  The police detective says to the doctor that if he remembers anything, he should contact her.  He remembers a red car a few days later. 

This is the story of how the murderer is uncovered. It’s all tied in, the death of another twin.   A shared health problem.  The death of a doctor who could have been alive today had he been treated earlier.  The skills of his son, J. J. and his friend, who are computer whiz kids and are able to track bank accounts and people who just might be part of a connection. 

All in the middle of a busy orthopedic surgeon’s life. His practice is just as successful and he’s got a great relationship with his peers. He’s got a great wife and a talented son who helps him out in this case.  He’s unable to forget this case and it’s this linkage that keeps him going. 

What could a murderer do with what’s really a secret?  Not going to spoil this one but it’s upsetting to say the least!   

This is a great mystery and it’s done in a very realistic way that makes you keep reading! 

A medical thriller for sure!  Highly recommended reading!

Darling Rose Gold: A Novel by Stephanie Wrobel

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. Simon & Schuster. March 2020. pb, 320 pp.; ISBN #: 9780593100066.

Rose Gold spent her first eighteen years of life as an ill child.  She had every disease one could think of, had to drop out of school because of the taunting of other children, and had the support and assistance of everyone in the neighborhood.  But it turned out that her mother Patty was just a really good liar and was responsible for her daughter’s ill health, now known as Munchausen disease.  It’s an illness that binds mothers to their children in a very sick way, literally. Patty was even quite good at spouting medical knowledge and suggesting solutions to doctors and nurses in offices and the local hospital.

Patty eventually serves five years in prison for her lies and has a plan for her daughter who is the one who turned her in to the police.  Meanwhile, Rose finally meets the father she thought was dead, the father with another wife and other children.  He says he wants her in his life but the reality turns out quite different.  Rose refuses to accept this. 

While all this is going on, even Rose’s good friends turn out to not be that loyal.  Rose deserves a break and the reader will definitely be rooting for something better to happen to her, not realizing how surprised they are about to be. At one point, there are some flashbacks in Patty’s life that make the reader feel a bit more compassionate about why she’s like she is.   This is definitely a very dark, stark and twisted tale.

Patty develops a complete plan by which she thinks she will have the last laugh over Rose and the snooty neighbors.  Patty, however, is not as sharp as she thinks because it’s really Rose who has a remarkable plan to get vengeance for her lost years of normal living.

All the appearances of “darling” are just that, appearances.  For those who love thrillers, this is your book.  Quite a contemporary fiction creation!  Enjoy!

Above the Bay of Angels by Rhy Bowen

Above the Bay of Angels. Rhys Bowen. Amazon Publishing. February 11, 2020. pb, 348 pp.; ISBN #: 9781542008259.

Queen Victoria is older and Albert has died.  Isabelle Waverly’s father life is slowly dulling because he drinks too much.  His two daughters will be all right; one will marry and the other one has unbelievable luck.  For she sees a woman die from being hit by a truck and she assumes the identity of this woman who has been invited to Buckingham Palace.  She has the background and becomes Helen Barton.

The position is hers and she works so very hard at becoming a junior cook.  Luck seems to follow her.  Despite the mockery of Roland Barton, she gets him a job as a follower of the Queen’s son.  Others try to push her but she holds off many, telling each she will not bed them as she is committed to honesty and integrity that go with marriage.  This makes for many tight moments!

Then one year the Queen decides to go to Nice in France!  There she pleases the Queen with her scones and her honesty.  The beauty and food of this locale please Helen and she learns to cook them via the French chef who becomes a friend.  She is challenged by the death of a German prince and is judged guilty of murdering him with a mushroom.  She manages to find the guilty party who did commit this horrendous crime and in so doing earns the care of her peers. 

Thus she agrees to marry the French chef, Jean-Paul Lepin and open their own French restaurant.  Alive and moving beyond its borders, this novel will satisfy you and also satisfy the mystery.  It’s a tale told in simplicity and honesty. 

It’s good, solid historical fiction that this reviewer highly recommends!

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Stephanie Marie Thornton. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 480 pp.; ISBN #: 9780451490926.

Welcome to the world of Jack and Jackie – a romance beyond romance!  It’s a world where we see Jackie’s sense of humor and mostly grit.  She knew what she was marrying into but she married Jack Kennedy anyway. She knew he was a womanizer but he swore she was his only woman and proved it. It reads like an intimate memoir.  It brings the reader to share in her tears and deepest fears.

She met his family and got along with everyone of them.  She had miscarriages and trials but kept her chin up until she had her children, Caroline and John.   When she drives through Texas with Jack, we know how mind-numbing his assassination is and what it does to her.  It takes her to levels of grief and yet it is her family and his that offer the support that keeps her going.  Yes, it is Bobby who is there for her and gives her strength that she takes time to turn into her own.  From then on, her stoicism guides her through the tragedy of Bobby’s assassination. 

From then on, she gets to raise her children and decides to travel to Greece.  There she eventually marries Aristotle much to the chagrin of the Kennedy clan and Aristotle’s children.  She does this for her children’s safety and it works.  But marriage to Ari isn’t what she had hoped and she is hopelessly entangled in a stay at home, European style marriage and it isn’t until his death that she feels free. 

She then has the money and the dreams to become an editor, a successful one at that.  Jackie has been married three times and spends the rest of her life doing what she loves.  Throughout the book she shares her love of poetry and prose in small ways with each of her families, but only after life has taught her through joys,  pain and trials does she celebrate her literary life with the world.

Many readers do not know Jackie’s life but now they can get to know her intimately in a way that gives her reality a way to remember the days of Camelot – and beyond.  Wonderful historical fiction!

A Murderous Relation: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5 by Deanna Raybourne

A Murderous Relation: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5. Deanna Raybourn. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 320 pp.; ISBN #: 9780451490766.

Veronica Speedwell is asked to recover a beautiful piece of jewelry that has been given to a rich courtesan in a high-class bordello for the aristocracy.  The jewelry is to be used to unite a Prince of the British Kingdom to a woman he admires.  However, the Royal Family has other plans for his future marriage.  Left alone the passing of this jewelry will cause a scandal that would destroy the monarchy.  Veronica, as the unrecognized daughter of the ruling Prince, agrees to carry out this task.  She protects the Kingdom even if her shameful status remains unacknowledged.

The pages that follow will put the life of Stoker, a natural history colleague, and Veronica at risk since they are kidnapped as part of a plot to remove the remaining Germanic people from the Royal Family and begin a new reign supposedly ruled by Veronica but in reality dictated by a failing police officer and an anarchist. 

In the process readers will meet some of Stoker’s dead animals ready to be mounted, will see how Stoker and Veronica will survive being wounded several times, and will meet Eddy, a Prince, who is spoiled but wants to leave a good mark on the people of his Kingdom but is clearly unprepared to do any ruling. 

Meanwhile Veronica has finally realized how much she loves Stoker and is resolved to be united with him but is stymied by circumstances which leave the two closer to dead than alive and passionately connected.  However, determination may eventually pay off which would definitely change the nature of their future sleuthing activities.

You will also meet a journalist and the head of police who care about the poor and homeless individuals who wind up in lives of prostitutes and thieves.  The social connection is touching although these characters seem powerless to change the lives of those they most pity.  This situation makes the Jack the Ripper murders to which their plight is connected all the more devastating!

A Murderous Relation… is a fun read, full of adventure, danger, mystery and passion! Enjoy the great read!

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow. Rashi Rohatgi. Galaxy Galloper Press, LLC. March 2020. pb, 270 pp.; ISBN #: 9781733233293.

In 1905 Nash returns home to India after having spent time studying engineering in Japan, which has just won a war against Russia.  India is now feeling they will unite and so have Great Britain leave their country.  So it’s a time for protests and petitions to local and national politicians to win battles against segregation. Nash asks his fiancé Leela to get signatures for the petition ending segregation in Chadrapur’s local schools, Leela needs to take time to process such an action.  She is definitely for the old ways and somewhat up for change into new ways.  For now she is obsessed with her love for Nash and how his occasional kisses spark her love and desire for more.  She wonders how such changes will affect families.

Things, however, are complicated.  Nash and Leela are expected to marry and live in Nash’s small village.  Nash however now wants to become a lawyer and not an engineer.  Leela’s sister, Maya, has fallen in love with a Muslim, a union that would be forbidden and ostracized by their present neighbors.  Maya believes that such a change must happen along with all of the other changes that are hopefully looming in the near future.  Love to Maya is stronger than prejudice and segregation of religions.

There are multiple scenes where Leela, Maya and their father meet with Nash’s family.  During these visits, much is mentioned that gives Leela and Maya food for thought and discussion.  However, discussions never seem to resolve in a shared agreement about the future.  Leela and Maya read many books as they prepare to teach in a local school.  However, no one fully expects them to teach once they are married for social norms put marriage and becoming a parent over and above being a working woman. 

This is a novel about the journey to change.  Leela will commit an act at the end that totally changes her world and mandates she must embrace change even if she acts like it is all accidental and not part of a revolutionary plot.  Reference is made to Buddhism and the beginning teachings of Gandhi. 

Interesting historical read that contemplates how change demands different thought, feelings and actions in the midst of a traditional society.  Fascinating reading!