Almost Perfect

This is one of the most heartfelt, feel good books I have read in a long time. Right from the start I was hooked. We have two main character and the first is Benny. Benny is a young teenage boy who suffers from a mild form of autism. Benny has only two goals in life. One is to make his mom proud and the second is to have his very own dog. Benny’s home life is very dysfunctional. He lives with his father and step mother. His mom is into drugs and even on her visitation weekends she very seldom shows up to pick Benny up. His father wants Benny to grow up and work with him someday. He does not accept Benny for the person he is.

The other main character is Bess. She is seventy years old and a dog breeder and trainer. She has shown her Umpawaug Poodles for years. She is well respected and known throughout the world of show dogs as one of the best. Bess has decided it is time to end her business. She is too old to care for her many dogs. She only keeps two of her dogs. One is Mc Creery and the other is his son Breaker. Even though her dog McCreery has won every show he was ever in, Bess never took him to Westminster dog show. It is not because she thinks he could not win, but much deeper reasons of her own.

While walking home alone because his mom did not show up as planned, Bennie hears a dog moaning. He follows the sounds and that is when this books grabs your heart. I have cried off and on while reading this book. The ending of this book totally surprised me. I could visualize what was going on and the tears really started falling.

In my opinion this book is an easy five star rating.
Rated G

I do not get paid to read and review books. In this case though I have to say this book is worth a lot of money to me. I only give books a four or five star rating so that people will get a book that is good or better.

Sandra Heptinstall
Reviewer

Mr. Miracle

I first have to say this book has a great cover. I did not notice it at first, but when I picked the book up it showed what could be snow falling or ice crystals. You can turn it in all directions and see it. It is truly a lovely cover.

The book is what you would expect from a Christmas story. We find Harry Mills who is an angel sent to earth. This is his first time on earth. When he was in heaven he would look down and observe people and thought he had a pretty good idea on what they were like. So when he was finally given an assignment he thought he was ready. One thing he did not count on was having human feelings while he was here.

His assignment was to help a young woman named Addie Folsom. In helping her he made some mistakes but the ending is what I expected. That did not diminish the story for me. I got this book for those reasons. It is a light read with interesting characters. The book made me feel happy and it was funny in places.

Rated G

CHRISTMAS AT HILL FARM

“My father died when he was only 54. At his funeral there were roses everywhere and all the colors of the rainbow. To look at my dad you would never guess that he was a man who loved roses with a passion. It is because of his love that I wanted to read this book.”

Billy Lapp was a young Amish man who lived with his father and older brothers. Life was hard for him as they treated him horribly. One day he woke up and said to himself “No more.” He left his home and never looked back.

Billy got a job at Penn State University’s greenhouse. He took care of all the plants and flowers there. He became known as a Rose Rustler. It was his job to go out when someone called and thought they may have an unidentified rose.

One day his boss came to where he was working at. She handed him a note, and said she had a call and wanted him to check out a rose. He just sat the note down and did not pay attention to it for awhile.

When he did he felt his world begin to spin. He tried to think of a way to get out of going, but could not. The address on the paper was Rose Hill Farm. Back to the town he ran away from. Back to where a young woman who was still in love with him.
You will meet a character named George. George has a way of showing up at just the right time when he is needed. I hope all who read this book enjoys it as much as I have.

Rated G

Blossum the Possum Learns to Swim.

This is a small book but younger children will enjoy it. It is not easy to keep a child’s attention span, yet Master Wharton book did just that. He is one talented young man. If he keeps writing there is not a doubt in my mind he will be writing best sellers.

Blossom the Possum and Turt the turtle are adorable characters. The whole book is well thought out and delightful. At the end of the book William, gives an interview that I found quite interesting for such a young author.


I was surprised to find out why my ma would always say to me “Quit playing possum and get out of bed now.” You will also know what really happens to possums.
Way to go young Will, job well done.

The Luthier's Apprentice

I loved the cover of this book. One look and I knew I wanted to read it. I grew up playing the violin and the cover showed a woman doing just that. Her hair was blowing and so was her dress. To me she must be a great violinist as it seemed like there was magic in the air. The cover already had my imagination working.


When I began to read this book I found it to be a brilliantly imagined story. Right from the first page I was hook on this book. I don’t think this book should be just limited to young adult but to anyone who loves this genre.

PG for mild violence

Stolen Dreams: A Cassie Scot Novel

A paranormal Suspense by Christine Amsden


I really did enjoy this book. In fact I did the whole series. I remember the commercial a long time ago about a potato chip. It started out “I bet you can’t eat just one?” Then of course it showed where one, was not enough!

That is like this series. You start on one book, and when you are done, you want to go to the next book. So I would suggest that you have them all before you begin. I think the author did a good ending for this series. To me it was sad as some of the characters were going away and never again to be read about.

I hope maybe someday Cassie and Evan may show up again in a book. Can’t you just imagine them with a lot of kids all of whom have different types of magic?

Rated PG

Hamster Island by Joan Heartwell

I have often said, “How in the world do you rate a book on someone’s life story?” Was the spelling and grammar correct? Yes as far as I can tell. Was it a fun and entertaining book? No it was not. Then why did I read the book? My answer is simple. It was real.
The author grew up in a family with a grandma who was a kleptomaniac, a mother who was a religious nut case, a dad who was never home and an older brother and younger sister who were special needs kids. I would say mentally challenge, but others would say they were retarded. In other words… a very dysfunctional family.
I admire the author’s honesty throughout this book. She did not make herself out to be the perfect kid. She told it like it was. She did drugs, drank beer and tried to be away from home as much as she could growing up. Which often meant sneaking out of her home, or making up lies about where she was going.
Towards the end of the book I found it to be a little disjointed. I wrote the author about it. She said some things she was not willing to share. I can’t blame her as we all have parts of our lives we do not want to share. Unless you are a perfect person. I don’t know of one person who is.
After her grandma, mother and father died, she became the caretaker of her siblings. The author fought every agency she could to find a home or hospital to place them in. While we now have more ways to help we still do not have enough.

Eternity's Shadow by Mark Whiteway

“I have had the privilege of reading all six books of the Lodestone series. They are all good books, but to me the way the author wrapped up the series is brilliant. I found tears running down my face as I was reading the last chapter of this book.

As I have come to expect from Mr. Whiteway, there are many twist and turns. It is like riding a roller coaster at times. So many new planets we are taken too. So many new battles to fight.
We have some new characters in this book that I really like. I also like it that some of my favorite characters are brought back into this final book. Even though this book is written five hundred years in advance from now, I have found some of the same things that will never die.

There will always be good people fighting for others, and people who have a taste of power and then want to have more power and greed. They will stop at nothing that may get in their way.

I have found the author to be a bit of a poet and philosopher also. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me.” “Trees cast their crowns of orange, crimson and gold together in a continuous canopy. Broad leaves bowed beneath the weight of an early morning dew.”

“It is not what happens, but the fear of what might happen that drives people to madness.”

“Each of us walks in eternity’s shadow.”

REGINE'S BOOK

Regine, was a seventeen year old girl whose life was filled with all the normal things you would expect of a girl her age. She had a great family and friends, all of whom she loved with all of her heart. She could hardly wait until she was eighteen and graduated from high school. Regine and her friends had already planned to go to the same college.

Regine had not felt good for a few months and her mom took her to the doctor and they took some test. Then Friday the 22nd of August 2008 the doctor called and told Regine’s, mom Julianne, that Regine may have a rare form of Leukemia. They wanted her in the hospital where they could do testing right away.

When Regine got home that day she walked in and could see that her mom had been crying and asked her what was wrong? Her mom told her, and her world fell apart. She knew nothing would ever be the same. The girl that walked in the door, was nothing like the girl who would walk out.

Regine began writing in a blog about her life. She posted almost every day. She always received hundreds and even thousands of replies. She also had some good days and got to go to concerts with her best friend Eli Ann. Almost everyone in Norway knew of her and she got back stage passes, hotel accommodations, and even free food.

But as her deadly disease took a spiral she could not answer all of the people who posted on her blog. Regine wanted people to know what it was like living with cancer. She wanted to give people hope, and to teach them to appreciate each day they were alive. You will also read about medical terms and the research that is being done to try and help people. Her parents found a poem she had wrote before she died and I will leave you with it.

“My path has only one direction, there are no signs, it’s impossible to go to the left or right. It’s impossible to turn, I can only go straight ahead, but the road is crooked, it’s neither light nor dark in front of me. There’s a fog. And no one knows what ….will be found on the other side.”

Secrets and Lies

I really enjoyed this book. The book has everything from magic, sorcerers, mystery and romance. Cassie's family has just disowned her and she is hurt and confused. She thinks it is because she has no magical powers like her siblings and parents.

She is confused and lost in a world she has no part of. Then Evan who is a young and powerful sorcerer saved Cassie life. In this mythical world that means she belongs to Evan and only him.

I can't wait until the next book of this series comes out. I have really enjoyed it.

Rated PG

Lodestone Book 4

I was amazed that the author was able to take us to a new dimension in the fourth installment of the series. One filled with so many twist that anyone who has read the first three books of this series will be surprised.

The book can also stand alone, but I recommend that people go back and read the other books first. In the weak economy we are facing here in the USA, buying books can be a luxury. I would say if you like science fiction, you have come to the right place.

I have been surprised by what happens in this book, but never disappointed. A tremendously likable book. The way this book ended I can see where there needs to be at least another book in the series.

I would buy this book, as well as the other three. In fact this would make a great movie or television series.

Reviewed by Sandra Heptinstall

Rated G

The How-To Handbook

As I was just flipping through this book I thought this book would not be for every age. Much to my surprise it is. Now are you ready to read something everyone has asked at one time or the other? Are you ready? Here we go…how to get rid of hiccups! One time I had to give a speech and guess who started to hiccup. I tried everything I had ever heard about and nothing worked.

I finally had to walk on stage and as I was looking at all the people, the first thing I did was hiccup. So I did the only thing that made sense to me. I asked if anyone knew how to stop hiccups. After people stopped laughing at me someone said try drinking upside down. I told the group I could not stand on my head and do it. So they told me to fill my mouth with water from the glass I had, and then bend over and swallow. That did not work either. I must say that people came up to me after my speech and said “they would always remember me.” You can find the cure on page 12.

The authors share many different things that you may not know. To this day I can’t fold a bottom sheet so it looks nice. But I will try doing it like the authors say. I did try to tie a tye but just can’t seem to do that. I did get a pretty good handle on how to fix a bike tire though.

Rated G

Wages of Sin

I never review a book unless the author sends me the first two chapters of a book. Then I decide if I will review it. I am so glad that I chose to accept this book. It is a mystery that had my mind racing. The “who did it” kept me reading. I thought I had it figured out, and in only a few pages I found out I was wrong. Dang, I hate it when that happens. But that goes to show how much talent the author has.

To my surprise the author does not feel like she has to use foul words to make a point in the story. Even though most of this book is about a serial killer, the language is clean.

Another surprise is that I did not know what three words met. I have never heard “my bad, guys.” I asked my husband and he told me what it meant. Then I asked my grandson who is 16 and he said to me “Seriously, I can’t believe you don’t know that grandma?”

What I do know is in my opinion a good book when I read one. I really did enjoy this book, and think you will also.

Rated: PG 13 for violence

The Burn List by Stan Stamper

One thing I like about this author is that within two pages you go from 0 to 60. This book is action packed and never a dull moment. I enjoyed the way each character is thought out and intelligent.

The way this book is written there is no room for error in this story line. It hits you fast and keeps you reading. Annie is a reporter who is trying to take down the mob in Miami. AS her husband and son got into the car she was locking the house. Then all of a sudden she hears an explosion and as she turns to look she sees both her husband and son on fire.

After two years in a mental hospital her brother an ex-Navy Seal, checks her out of the hospital, and begins to wean her off of the medications she was on. He is successful and all I can say is the mob is going down fast.

Good read but I have to say PG 16

Mystery at the Lake House The Mermaid's Tale Book 2

Once again we find Jock, Lynna and Chip who always seem to find an adventure. Only this time it is really different as Chip who is the youngest of the three swears he saw a mermaid. No one believes him until one by one they see her also.

In book number two we learn about Mermaids and the importance of keeping all of our waterways clean and safe. I loved reading the interview with William Wharton. I think he is a good example for all young writers. Then the interview with the Mermaid Linden was educational.
This little gem also has some recipes that sound really good. I can’t wait to try them.

Rated G

I Can Do It..by Dana Lehman

Once again the illustrator draws your eyes to this book. Ms. Judy Lehman Illustrations are full of color and fun. Once you pick up the book the author’s story keeps you reading. I love everything about this book and the lessons a child can learn. To keep kids focused on each page, the author has different animals hidden so children can find them.

This book teaches kids about believing in themselves. It is reinforced by questions the author asks. This book is number three in a series. All of the books I gave a five star rating. I highly recommend this book. Your kids will love it.

Rated G

How To Leave Texas by Alana Cash

I have reviewed another book by this author (Tom’s Wife) so I had a sense of style to begin with. This book did not disappointment me. The book has four different stories in one book. Each story has a woman who leaves TX for different reasons. Most leave to try and capture their elusive dream.

I really wish two stories were made into books. They left you wondering what was next for the character. To me that is good story telling. The story holds you and you never want it to end. It does not get any better for a book.

Rated pg

I don’t charge anyone for a review. That way I can honestly give my opinion on books