The Women Jefferson Loved by Virginia Scharff

Title:  The Women Jefferson Loved
Author:  Virginia Scharff
Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers
Release Date:  2010
Pages:  496

About the Book:  “A focused, fresh spin on Jeffersonian biography.” —Kirkus Reviews
In the tradition of Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello and David McCullough’s John Adams, historian Virginia Scharff offers a compelling, highly readable multi-generational biography revealing how the women Thomas Jefferson loved shaped the third president’s ideas and his vision for the nation. Scharff creates a nuanced portrait of the preeminent founding father, examining Jefferson through the eyes of the women who were closest to him, from his mother to his wife and daughters to Sally Hemings and the slave family he began with her.

WC's Review: 
Jefferson did indeed love his wife Martha and his two comely daughters, Patsy and Polly. In return, he demanded their affection and reverence for him. If they did not respond in kind or frequently enough, he admonished them through self-serving letters.
In retribution, his granddaughter Ellen, a precious and precocious 5-year old, wrote him daily during his presidency to express her fond devotion, much to his annoyance.
Author Scharff, at least five times in this well-researched study, cleverly refers to Jefferson's obsession with a wall of separation: alas, his fixation with building a wall of separation between his public and private life.
Oh yes, the lovely slave girl Sally Hemings is featured prominently.

About the Author:  VIRGINIA SCHARFF grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and fell in love with history at an early age. Her picaresque academic career began as a member of the first class of women to spend their undergraduate years at Yale University, before heading west, to grow up with the country. She lived in California, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, where she studied journalism and history and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. She now serves as Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and also as Women of the West Chair at the Autry National Center of the American West, in Los Angeles. 

Virginia’s academic honors include being named Beinecke Research Fellow in the Lamar Center for Frontiers and Borders at Yale University (2008-9), a Fellow of the Society of American Historians, and Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. She was President of the Western History Association for 2008.

A few years ago, Virginia decided to take the plunge into novel writing. Under the name of VIRGINIA SWIFT, she is author of four mystery suspense novels set in the American West, featuring professor and country singer “Mustang Sally” Alder: Brown-Eyed Girl (2000), Bad Company (2002), Bye, Bye, Love (2004), and Hello, Stranger (2006).  

The Returned by Jason Mott

Title:  The Returned
Author:  Jason Mott
Publisher:  Harlequin MIRA
Release Date:  August 27, 2013
Pages:  352

About the Book:  Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

Wanda's Review:  Jacob William Hargrave, son of Harold and Lucille Hargrave, died on August 15, 1966, on his eighth birthday. He died from a drowning accident. Now, about fifty years later, he's standing at his parent's door alive, with Agent Martin Bellamy, a man from the Bureau. Jacob was still a young and vibrant eight year old, but his parents had aged over the years, no longer young. This boy, who appeared to be Jacob, walked, talked, and smiled like Jacob, but how could it possibly be? 

This wasn't just happening in Arcadia, it was happening all over. The Returned - they appeared to be real and true - physical beings, not ghosts. They could be reached out to, spoken to, and they, in turn, could reach back and speak back. But, what next? How long will the Returned be here? Where did they come from? Are they even real? 

Taken from epilogue - "people can be with those they loved once more. A place where a parent can once again hold their children. A place where lovers can find one another after being lost. A place where a boy can, finally, tell his mother goodbye." 

Someone described the Returned as "time out of sync." To me, that is the perfect description of this book.

I was first lured into this book because of the interesting premise, and I'm sure it will arouse many different feelings. But, unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. The two characters that I was drawn to most were Pastor Peters and Lucille Hargrave. I especially enjoyed the Pastor's story, but I never connected to the others. The storyline didn't seem to go anywhere, with too many unanswered questions. There seemed to be a myriad of obstacles that were never solved or really explained. Although the book is well written, it failed to captivate me. My rating - 3 stars. 

A copy of this book was sent to me on behalf of Harlequin from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author:  Jason Mott holds a BA in fiction and an MFA in poetry and is the author of two poetry collections. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, and he was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. Jason lives in North Carolina.

Terminus By Joshua Graham

Title:  Terminus
Author:  Joshua Graham
Publisher:  Redhaven Books
Release Date:  April 1, 2013
Pages:  406

About the Book:  HOW FAR MUST AN ANGEL FALL TO FIND HIS DESTINY? 

Having witnessed one too many senseless deaths, Nikolai, a disillusioned Reaper 3rd Class, resigns his commission with the Angel Forces after a tedious century of gathering souls.

Immediately, another division recruits him with the promise of a more rewarding career, and issues his initial assignments: To bring down a few very dangerous threats to the human race. In the process, Nikolai falls in love with one of his targets Hope Matheson, a woman who will lead thousands astray.

Caught between conflicting agendas, Nikolai chooses to fall from his celestial state and become mortal in order to circumvent angel law and be with her. But for angels and humans alike, things are not always as they appear. Still a target, the threat against Hope s life intensifies.

Now, in order to save her, Nikolai must rally the last remnants of his failing supernatural abilities to prevent her assassination, as well as the destruction of an entire city by a nuclear terrorist strike.

But his time and power are running out...

Terminus is a perspective-altering saga that delves into ageless themes of redemption, destiny, and the eternal power of love.

Wanda's Review:  This is not my normal genre - paranormal-suspense - but Joshua Graham's books just fascinate me. This book devoured me from the beginning - an absolute must read!

Nicolai is an angel with a tender heart. A disillusioned Reaper, 3rd Class, Nick gathers and escorts souls to the Terminus - where souls go to get sorted out before they take the long trip to eternity. He has attended to more human deaths than he cared to and it has become routine and meaningless.  Nick never knew the final destination of any of the souls he harvested, so he'd grown rather immune to their pleas. 

Finally Nick is given a transfer - to harvest the scum of the earth - the souls he could take pleasure in harvesting. With this transfer he'd been granted a break from the meaningless deaths and a chance to use power for something that really mattered. Nick's new supervisor was Lena, who was as lethal as she was alluring. Lena assigns him three tasks, deaths in which he must intervene to make sure they die. They are - Jonathan Hartwell, a well known evangelist, Lito Guzman, a drug lord, and Hope Matheson, a suicidal homeless woman. 

Hope had a miserable life. Anyone she'd ever allowed into her life had either beaten, molested, or betrayed her. She just wanted to escape her miserable life. From the first day Nick saw Hope, he sensed a connection. He was developing genuine feelings for her. But, angels and mortals aren't permitted to share this connection - it is strictly forbidden. 

An angel shall not become emotionally involved with a mortal.
An angel shall not become physically involved with a mortal.
An angel shall not marry or sire offspring with a mortal. 
An angel shall not heal a mortal except by proper authorization. 

Nick had been through this 100 years before. Was he re-opening painful wounds of the past? And the story unfolds ----

This book will arouse many different feelings of inspiration, hope, redemption, and love. The characters are intriguing and the storyline moves along with drama and many surprises, twists, and turns. Superbly done! I highly recommend and my rating is 5 stars.

About the Author:  WINNER OF the INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (Beyond Justice), #1 bestselling author Joshua Graham's award-winning novel DARKROOM hit 3 bestseller lists on Amazon the night of its release. 

CBS NEWS described DARKROOM as a book with "action, political intrigue and well-rounded characters...a novel that thriller fans will devour." 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY described BEYOND JUSTICE as: "A riveting legal thriller...breaking new ground with a vengeance...demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring." 

Suspense Magazine listed BEYOND JUSTICE in its BEST OF 2010, alongside titles by Scott Turrow, Ted Dekker, Steven James and Brad Thor. 

His short story THE DOOR'S OPEN won the HarperCollins Authonomy Competition (Christmas 2010.) 

Many of Graham's readers blame him for sleepless nights, arriving to work late, neglected dishes and family members, and not allowing them to put the book down. 

Josh grew up in Brooklyn, NY where he lived for the better part of 30 years. He holds a Bachelor and Master's Degree and went on to earn his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Maryland, he taught as a professor at Shepherd College (WV), Western Maryland College, and Columbia Union College (MD). 

Today he lives with his beautiful wife and children on the West Coast. Several of Graham's short fiction works have been published under various pen names by Pocket Books and Dawn Treader Press. Writing under the pen name Ian Alexander, Graham debuted with his first Epic Fantasy novel ONCE WE WERE KINGS, an Amazon #1 Bestseller in multiple categories and Award-Winning Finalist in the SciFi/Fantasy category of The USA "Best Books 2011 Awards, as well as an Award-Winning Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category of The USA "Best Books 2011 Awards, and an Award Winner in the 2011 Forward National Literature Awards in the Teen/Young Adult category. ONCE WE WERE KINGS is available in ebook and hardcover editions. 

For Film Rights Josh is represented by UNITED TALENT AGENCY.

The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: A True Story Of World War ll By Denis Avey

Title:  The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: A True Story of World War ll
Author:  Denis Avey
Contributor:  Rob Broomby
Publisher:  DaCapo Press
Release Date:  June 28, 2011
Pages:  288
About the Book:  The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz is the extraordinary true story of a British soldier who marched willingly into the concentration camp, Buna-Monowitz, known as Auschwitz III.

In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a British POW labour camp, E715, near Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could.

He hatched a plan to swap places with a Jewish inmate and smuggled himself into his sector of the camp. He spent the night there on two occasions and experienced at first-hand the cruelty of a place where slave workers, had been sentenced to death through labor.

Astonishingly, he survived to witness the aftermath of the Death March where thousands of prisoners were murdered by the Nazis as the Soviet Army advanced. After his own long trek right across central Europe he was repatriated to Britain.

For decades he couldn't bring himself to revisit the past that haunted his dreams, but now Denis Avey feels able to tell the full story—a tale as gripping as it is moving—which offers us a unique insight into the mind of an ordinary man whose moral and physical courage are almost beyond belief.

WC's Review:  No one in his right mind would want to break into a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, no one, that is, who wanted to survive instead of being slowly starved and worked to death. Mr. Avey, however, was different. Captured by the German army in Italy during the Allied invasion in 1945, Avey was incarcerated in a POW labor camp near Auschwitz III. Overwhelmed with a passionate interest that surpassed impending death in order to witness evil, Avery hatched a scheme to swap places with a Jewish inmate named Hans. He spent two nights there on two separate occasions and experienced first-hand the cruelty and nightmarish horror of the infamous death camp.
Amazingly, he survived, although it took him decades to express his feelings about the terrors that haunted his dreams. This recollection is a first rate retelling of one of the darkest eras in recent history.

The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio

Title: The Last Camellia
Author:  Sarah Jio
Publisher:  Plume
Release Date:  May 28, 2013
Pages:  320

About the Book:  On the eve of the Second World War, the last surviving specimen of a camellia plant known as the Middlebury Pink lies secreted away on an English country estate. Flora, an amateur American botanist, is contracted by an international ring of flower thieves to infiltrate the household and acquire the coveted bloom. Her search is at once brightened by new love and threatened by her discovery of a series of ghastly crimes.

More than half a century later, garden designer Addison takes up residence at the manor, now owned by the family of her husband, Rex. The couple’s shared passion for mysteries is fueled by the enchanting camellia orchard and an old gardener’s notebook. Yet its pages hint at dark acts ingeniously concealed. If the danger that Flora once faced remains very much alive, will Addison share her fate?

Wanda's Review:  This is a story of loyalty, sacrifice, and love with an added element of mystery. It is a tale layered with dark secrets that is intriguing and slightly eerie. 

The story takes place - past and present - at an English country estate, Livingston Manor in Clivebrook. The historic mansion was grand with its ivy covered stone facade and ornate cornices. It was like looking at a page in a history book. 

2000 - New York City - Addison, a garden designer, married to Rex Sinclair, was being threatened by her dark past. She harbors some deep scars of fifteen years ago. Filled with anxiety, Addison convinces Rex to take a trip to England to get away from someone who is threatening her. Addison and Rex arrive at the Livingston Manor, a house laced with secrets, now owned by his wealthy parents. Rex is a writer, whose novel-in-progress was set in a manor in the English countryside, and he thought it might be a perfect place for research. Addison soon becomes involved with the mysteries surrounding the mansion.

1940 - New York City - Flora Lewis, a wonderfully portrayed character, and her parents have a bakery in the city. They are having financial difficulties. Flora is contracted to commit a crime - to identify the rare camellia and report back to a ring of flower thieves. If she succeeds, she will be able to pay off her parents debts. She arrives at the country estate and is hired as a nanny to the Livingston children. She was in for a real challenge. The children had gone through three nannies in a few months. Their mother, Lady Livingston had died a year earlier and Flora soon becomes involved with the mystery involving her death and the disappearances of several local women. The story continues as England is preparing for the atrocities of war and the Germans are advancing. 

Other favorite characters:

Mrs Dilloway captured my interest with her mystique and rather icy personality. She is working at Livingston Manor in the 1940's and is still there a half century later. 
Mr Beardsley - the distinguished butler with a regal looking face, and very likable.
Mr Humphrey - The intriguing chauffeur with a rather cryptic personality.
Lord and Lady Livingston - seemed to have a lot of turbulence in their marriage.

It took me awhile before I became fully engaged in this book. The story just didn't have a good flow and I felt some parts of the storyline were forced. But, the individual stories were beautifully woven together with a crescendo of suspense at the end. Because of the perfect ending, which I absolutely loved, I rated this book 4 stars. 

About the Author:  Sarah Jio is the author of THE VIOLETS OF MARCH, a Library Journal Best Book of 2011, and THE BUNGALOW, both published in 2011 by Penguin (Plume). Her third novel, BLACKBERRY WINTER, will be published on September 25, 2012, and her fourth, THE LAST CAMELLIA, is out in June of 2013. Sarah is hard at work on her fifth novel. Based in Seattle, she's the health and fitness blogger for Glamour.com and has contributed to major magazines, including Real Simple, Redbook, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cooking Light, Glamour, SELF, Health, American Baby and many others. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. To learn more about Sarah, visit www.sarahjio.com. 

The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon by John Ferling

Title:  The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
Author:  John Ferling
Publisher:  Bloomsbury Press
Release Date:  2009
Pages:  438

About the Book:  Bestselling historian John Ferling draws on his unsurpassed knowledge of the Founding Fathers to provide a fresh and provocative new portrait of the greatest of them all, George Washington. 

Even compared to his fellow founders, George Washington stands tall. Our first president has long been considered a stoic hero, holding himself above the rough-and-tumble politics of his day. Now John Ferling peers behind that image, carefully burnished by Washington himself, to show us a leader who was not only not above politics, but a canny infighter—a master of persuasion, manipulation, and deniability.

In the War of Independence, Washington used his skills to steer the Continental Army through crises that would have broken less determined men; he squeezed out rival generals and defused dissent from those below him. Ending the war as a national hero, Washington “allowed” himself to be pressed into the presidency, guiding the nation with the same brilliantly maintained pose of selfless public interest. In short, Washington deftly screened a burning ambition behind his image of republican virtue—but that image, maintained not without cost, made him just the leader the overmatched army, and then the shaky young nation, desperately needed.

Ferling argues that not only was Washington one of America’s most adroit politicians—the proof of his genius is that he is no longer thought of as a politician at all.

WC's Review:  John Ferling does not have much good to say about the father of our country. From his early bungling at Fort Necessity in 1754 during the French and Indians War, through his wavering and inept leadership during our fight for independence during the New York campaign, and three years of military inactivity after 1778, and the largely French inspired victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781, and his misguided monarchial approach to his eight-year reign as President of the newly-formed United States of America, Washington became an icon of American history solely through his physical stature. He was worshipped, even by disparaging Jefferson and Franklin and Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry, simply because he was there.
Washington was not averse to accepting praise. Indeed, he became adept at seeking it. Although not a splendid or even adequate orator, he possessed the innate ability to listen and win adversaries to his opinions through quiet and dispassionate conversation. That, perhaps, was his genius.
It is incongruous that Washington gratefully took full credit for Yorktown, ostensibly the victory that led the British to capitulate, even though most of the acclaim has to be given to Rochambeau and Admiral De Grasse of the French navy. Ironically, traitor Benedict Arnold, a fine soldier who needed to be distinguished for his efforts at Saratoga, got none, the credit going to Washington's nemesis, Horatio Gates, who fiercely sought the command of the Continental army, such as it was.
Much of the book focuses on the clever young lad from St Croix, Alexander Hamilton, who through his intellect became Washington's alter-ego with his Federalist views of a strong central government and national bank.
As in all well-researched and excellent histories, it helps to know something more about Washington other than that he was the father of his country and was married to Martha, who probably did more to inspire the troops during the winter months than her iconic husband.

About the Author:  John E. Ferling is a professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he is the author of several books, including "A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic", "Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence", and his most recent work, "The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon". He has appeared in television documentaries on PBS, the History Channel, C-SPAN Book TV, and the Learning Channel.

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman

Title:  The Lost Wife
Author:  Alyson Richman
Publisher:  Berkley Trade
Release Date:  2011
Pages:  352

About the Author:  

Biography

Alyson Richman is the nationally bestselling author of The Mask Carver's Son, The Rhythm of Memory (previously published as Swedish Tango), The Last Van Gogh and The Lost Wife. Her novels have been published in fifteen languages. Her forthcoming novel, The Garden of Letters, will be published in 2014.

Wanda's Review:  A compelling and emotional novel about a love story and marriage interrupted by the dark days of the Holocaust. This book gives vivid descriptions of Jewish families placed in Terezin, a place of great deprivation, where the gut wrenching stench of dirty latrines and unwashed bodies were unbearable. It gets much worse as families are eventually moved to Aushwitz, where the gas chambers and crematoriums burned seven days a week...where families left their world of suffering in a chimney of smoke. 

This book is achingly sad, but a book everyone should read about the tragedy and survival during this bleak period of historical. A heart wrenching novel!  This is one of my all time favorite reads - my rating 5 stars.