The Gentleman Lion and Other Stories --by Martin Jones

 Fiction / Literary Short Stories

Cyberwit.net

First Edition: February 25, 2022

ISBN: 978-81-8253-872-6

$15.00

148 pages

5 Stars

 

This collection of eleven short stories by Martin Jones, is a delight to read. The stories are literary, with hints of genre in some of them. Each story is different from the others and cover ground from chance Meeting the Payzaks on a flight to Vegas with a stop off Waiting for the Assassins to the last and title story of facing your mortality and destiny.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed each of these stories. I loved Don’t I know You from Somewhere? What fun; makes me want to try it myself. And the realization at the end of On the Ottawa Express was choice and I chuckled out loud, having almost but not quite figuring it out. 

 

Poor Henry in The Music Solarium. He had lived in his own world, his own reality for so long, he didn’t understand when he was ignored by his wife and her friends, and his music collection began disappearing. Each story in this anthology gives us a perfect ending. 

 

The Gentleman Lion is both the title story and the last story. It is also the longest story with more character and story development. A fitting story on which to close the book.  I enjoyed each one. My only complaint is the book ended too soon. I’d like to have a few more stories. Perhaps another book. Are you listening, Mr. Jones?

Not His Dragon: Romantic Comedy (Not This Series Book 1) —by Annie Nicholas

 Fiction / Paranormal Romance / Comedy

Private Publication

July 25, 2016

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01FP2XSE2

225 pages

$0.00 (as of date of review, Kindle version)

5 Stars

 

Not my normal go to book. I picked it up because the price was right: it was free. I quickly found myself laughing out loud. 

 

The heroine is a shifter but doesn’t realize it. She acknowledges she has some quirks—things keep setting themselves on fire around her, but she’s never been able to shift, and has resigned herself to being human. The hero is a dragon shifter who can smell the dragon of her, and he wants her to be his. He loves her and will do whatever it takes to help her realize her full shifter potential. In the meantime, other dragons show up and they want to claim and mate with her. If you think a pack of alpha werewolves would be a bit much, try a pack of alpha dragons!

 

Probably more of an adult read than not, due to sex f-bombs, but I found it delightful. The story was fun, the ending was well done, no cliff hanger until the next book is read. The characters were fun—and I’m looking forward to some more of the books. I read it in a day. That kind of a book.

The Raven Spell: A Novel (A Conspiracy of Magic Book 1) —by Luanne G. Smith

 Fiction / Victorian England / Witchcraft / Fantasy

47North

February 1, 2022

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B093SHTLLB

8502 KB

Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1542034043

267 pages

$4.99

5 Stars

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s The Vine Witch, and this book was no less enjoyable. No gratuitous sex or violence, or foul language. It is fantasy I think anyone can enjoy. Magical people live somewhat accepted lives with the mundanes. And it is the magical people this story is about. Primarily Mary and Edwina, twins with “gifts.” One collects corpse lights of the dying, the other is able to see valuables in the mud of low tide. And can shape shift to a Raven.

 

I found this an enjoyable story, well told, and liked the characters I was supposed to like, and not so much the others. A pleasant read on a rainy day, or a beach day. I eagerly anticipate The Raven Song—book two in this series due October 2022.

Firefly: A Japanese Historical Fiction Novel (Warrior Woman of the Samurai Book 1) —by India Millar

 Fiction / Historical / Samurai

Red Empress Publishing

September 10, 2019

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07T8R9V56

4152 KB

Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1692154508

308 pages

$0.00 Kindle version as of date of review

5 Stars

 

This is a novel. It is make believe. Prepare to suspend your disbelief. It takes place in Japan, during the Tokugawa Shogunate. That’s about the only time frame we get for the book.

 

Keiko is the third child of her father and is not as beautiful nor as spoiled as her older sister. Her older brother is becoming Samurai and takes her along for the ride. She learns martial arts quickly, and soon is teaching the teacher. It’s a novel. Go with it.

 

Yes, there is sex in the story. Some might consider it gratuitous, but from what I’ve read of Japanese stories, and what I’ve seen of Japanese movies, it happens. 

 

I think what grabbed me the quickest was the introduction to some of the Samurai women of old, in particular, Tomoe Gozen. I hope she shows up in future books.

 

I enjoyed this story. It may not be historically accurate, but the key word is “novel.” A novel is a piece of fiction, it is made up, one reads it to escape one’s current world, if only for a few minutes, and for that, it was wonderful. If you want accurate history, get out of the fiction department.

 

I have already downloaded Book 2.

Our Pitiful Metaphors, Haibun --by Jean LeBlanc

 Nonfiction / Poetry / Haibun

Cyberwit.net

December 18, 2021

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8182538297

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8182538290

74 pages

$15.00

5 Stars

 

 

I have read the now and then haibun (poetic form combining prose poem and haiku) and while I found them interesting, that was it, okay for a onesie-twosie. This is a book of haibun, and it blew my socks off!

 

Ms. LeBlanc knows her language, how to use it, stretch it, reshape it to her will. I love it when a book sends me to the dictionary, especially to double check a word that I thought I knew, but suddenly wasn’t so sure. And a couple I don’t think I’d ever met before.

 

Several of the prose pieces are sentence fragments, many lacking capital letters or even rudimentary punctuation, and they pack a wallop!

 

The first piece, on page 5, is titled ***,  begins, “work it out for yourself…words of unknown origin, words yet to be.” And from there, we do work it out ourselves as we put meaning and punctuation where it fits best at the time of reading. And there are pieces with new words.

 

I read this book straight through the first time. The second time I reread those that grabbed me the first time, and in many cases as I re-read a poem, I read it and caught a different meaning. I moved a comma in my mind to a new place. And some that didn’t grab me the first time through became the stars of the day sky when read again.

 

This is a book to be savored as a forgotten bottle of Port you just found in the back of your wine cellar, as the most elegant chocolate mousse you’ve ever eaten, as that final caress before you and your love slide into sleep.

 

The last page, origami, ends, “up to my thighs / in waterlily— / open, open”  Open this book, read it again and then read it again. Open, open…

 

The Penitent Priest: A Contemporary Small Town Mystery Thriller (The Father Tom Mysteries Book 1) —by J. R. Mathis and Susan Mathis (Revised Edition)

 Fiction / Contemporary Mystery/Cozy

Private publisher

May 23, 2020

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B086RYHYC6’

1305 KB

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8754617841

324 pages

5 Stars

 

Remember the tv show, The Father Dowling Mysteries? Brother Cadfael? This is similar, but more up-to-date, and fun. 

 

Before Father Tom took to wearing a backward collar, he was happily married to the love of his life. She died in his arms. Fifteen years later, he’s a genuine, bona fide Roman Catholic Priest, and gets sent back to the town where it all happened to substitute the local, and much loved, priest who is on a leave of absence. 

 

He finds himself getting reacquainted with his best friend, his mother in law, many people who remember when his wife was killed, and remember him fondly even though he ran off to the monastery.

 

The killer is still out there. His return brings up old memories, and his first college love (to whom he was for a short time, engaged) is now a detective in the local police department, and just as lovely as before. He broke off the engagement, and now he must eat crow and convince her to open the cold case, convince her the killer is still here, and remember he can’t divulge anything heard in the confessional. 

 

He carries a tremendous guilt, which you’ll read about by the end of the book. Actually, he carries more than one guilt. 

 

How well do you really know the person you love and live with? Eh?

 

No gratuitous sex, violence, or f-bombs! A great read. I’ll read more. Oh, did I mention it’s a one sit read? I read it on my birthday ;-)