The Book: Be Still, My Love

The Author: Deborah J. Hughes

The Story:  A personal loss throws medium Tess Schafer’s beliefs into question and severs her communications with “the other side”. Unable to move on with her life, she takes a healing vacation to a haunted resort on the coast of Maine. Her arrival triggers a spike in paranormal activity and the return of her spiritual connection.

As the spirits of two young lovers reach out to her, Tess soon finds herself in the middle of much more than a tragic love story. Why are they afraid and why are they warning her away? Personal doubts, skeptics, a growing sense of menace and a distracting attraction to another guest will not stop her from uncovering the resort’s secrets.

About the Author: Deborah Hughes was a normal kid living a normal life when she moved into a haunted house at the age of seven. Suddenly she was sharing space with dead people and experiencing the bizarre world of the unknown and the uncanny.

An over-active imagination did not, at first, serve her well for she feared what she did not understand. Learning to read opened her to the world of books and she read everything she could find about supernatural and paranormal phenomena.

The more she read, the more she learned and the more she realized how little she knew. This has led to a lifelong search for knowledge, truth and enlightenment.

Constantly inspired to write, from the age of eight she began telling the stories streaming like movies through her mind. Although determined to grow up and become a writer, her sense of adventure led to a career in the United States Air Force.

Despite a busy and demanding life, Deborah continued writing the stories that came to her in flashes of inspiration and her quest for knowledge continued. Her military career now behind her, she is focused on her lifelong dream of being an author and sharing the stories she’s been so compelled to write.

Review: “From the moment I started reading Be Still, My Love I was captivated. The heroine’s character is so well developed that I felt myself connecting with her, understanding her, and eventually caring for her. The plot was strong and rife with mystery and spooky, supernatural occurrences, with just enough romance and suspense to keep you reading to the very end.

“The author has a way with pulling the reader into the story until you feel every emotion the heroine, Tess, is feeling…which at times can be pretty intense considering there were some very spine-chilling scenes. At one point I thought I had the story figured out, but when I got to the ending I was completely and utterly surprised. I NEVER saw that one coming.

“So, if you’re looking for a story that has it all, that can keep you guessing, keep you entertained, then I highly suggest you read this novel. I can’t wait for the sequel!”

The Book: Lust, Money, & Murder

The Author: Mike Wells

The story: This book begins with a young and naive Elaine Brogan as she initially pursues her dream of a career as a photomodel. After becoming entangled with a sleazy modeling agency, she decides to become a Secret Service agent, struggling through the arduous training academy.

After her first disastrous assignment, she is transferred to Bulgaria. There, she meets Nick LaGrange, the love of her life.

Review: Mike Wells has a strong narrative reporter-like style. Even though I generally prefer more emotion in my stories, I had to keep reading to see what would happen next. That’s good writing.

Clearly, it’s a male author writing the female point of view. But that didn’t bother me. His reporter-like style made it work. I feel as if I know Elaine, feel like I understand her, watched her grow up. Wells made what some critics might call backstory work as actual story. That’s hard to do! Wells has thrown in plenty of surprises. Just when I started to think; I know what’s going to happen, he changed things up.

Review: This book was so captivating and amazing I couldn’t put it down. I bought the book at 10 p.m. and opened it up, at 2 a.m. I clicked to the last page with even more enthusiasm than when I started.

This book was amazing suspenseful in all the right places and gives some good information on the way. I can really relate to it, from an emotional perspective of coarse. One of the most amazing points is when I realized, “This was written by a man?” Truly one of the best reads out there.

Review: Do you like stories about deception, mystery, international espionage, and the lengths to which men will go in the name of power and greed? If so, then Lust, Money, and Murder, by Mike Wells may be a book for you.

Lust, Money, and Murder was the first novel by Mike Wells I’ve read, and I’m glad I did for several reasons. Mr. Wells writes in a style that grabs ahold of the reader and doesn’t easily let go. Without a lot of emphasis on unnecessary details, the story hits you like a passenger jet landing on the tarmac. You’re off and running and not going to stop or get bored until it’s finished. And even after the long haul, it’s not quite over yet.

The narrative focuses on a young girl who grows up under very challenging circumstances. Without a mother, she copes as well as can be expected. Her father wants the best for her, but is doing things he shouldn’t be to help her get not only the things she wants, but the best education. Trying to grow up quickly and find herself, she makes a terrible mistake and inadvertently pulls her father into it. One thing after another goes wrong, and we find ourselves watching this girl set out on a lifelong mission of revenge. Sound intriguing yet?

True to its title, Lust, Money, and Murder, at its core, is about characters and motivating behavior. And this is really what keeps you going – seeing who is going to what next, as well as who is hiding what. Again, the story moves fast, and along the way there are many unexpected twists. Just when you think you’ve got things figured out, the story takes a sharp turn and sends you down another path. This makes it a swift page-turner of a novel.