The Book: In This Life

The Author: Terri Herman-Ponce

The Story: Psychologist Lottie Morgan knows something is wrong when she starts reliving memories of a lover she’s never had. At first, she attributes them to fever-induced dreams. But when the fever disappears and the visions don’t, Lottie thinks she may need therapy of her own.

Then she meets Galen. Their first encounter is as intense as it is eye-opening, and Lottie is unprepared for the fire Galen arouses in her. His revelation that they shared a passionate relationship thousands of years ago explains the memories and entices Lottie into wanting to learn more about her past. Her decision, however, comes at a price. Galen may hold the answers but he’s a growing temptation as well. One that could destroy the devoted, lifelong relationship Lottie has with her current lover, David. One that could also cost her life. Someone else knows of Lottie’s past and is determined to stop her from uncovering secrets they want kept hidden.

As parallels between both of her lives emerge and the memories escalate, Lottie becomes caught between two lifetimes, two men and long-buried deceptions that present an opportunity to right previous wrongs. Unless Lottie repeats her past mistakes.

A Review by Becky Lower: Lottie Morgan is a psychologist, dealing with other people’s problems, when she has a boatload of her own. She begins to have `episodes’, in which she recalls past lives and past memories. And she decides to face her confusing memories head-on and to right previous wrongs in the hope of creating a forever future with the man she loves in this lifetime.

Terri Herman-Poncé really is telling three stories in one with In This Life, and does so masterfully. But, just as I was sliding into one of the stories, she’d yank me out of it and put me into another. But I never knew which one was coming. Was it the innocent playfulness of a young boy and girl, or the sensuous swirl of unbridled lust for a strange man? Then, I’d just get going in whatever story she plopped me into and I’d be yanked back to Lottie’s reality again. I have to admit, this book initially confused and frustrated me. Then, it hit me -what I was experiencing was mild in comparison to what Lottie was experiencing. I’ve never been so deep into a character’s point of view before. Nicely done!

If you’re a fan of reincarnation stories, modern-day commando operatives or ancient Egypt, I recommend this book highly.

The Book: You Don’t Want to Know

The Author: Lisa Jackson

The Story: From No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a gripping novel of suspense where a mother’s worst fear is only the beginning of a terrifying nightmare.

In Ava’s dreams, her son, Noah, looks just the way she remembers him: a sweet two-year-old in rolled-up jeans and a red sweatshirt. When Ava wakes, the agonizing truth hits her all over again. Noah went missing two years ago, and has never been found. Almost everyone, including Ava’s semi-estranged husband, assumes the boy drowned after falling off the dock near their Church Island home.

Ava has spent most of the past two years in and out of Seattle mental institutions, shattered by grief and unable to recall the details of Noah’s disappearance. Now she’s back at Neptune’s Gate, the family estate, her strength slowly returning. But as Ava’s mind comes back into focus, she can’t shake the feeling that her family, and her psychologist, know more than they’re saying. Are they worried for her well-being–or anxious about what she might discover?

Ava secretly visits a hypnotist, hoping to restore her memories. But the strange visions and night terrors keep getting worse. She is sure she’s heard Noah crying in the nursery, and glimpsed him walking near the dock. Is she losing her mind, or is Noah still alive? Ava won’t stop until she gets answers, but the truth is more dangerous than she can imagine. And the price may be more than she ever thought to pay.

A Review by K Opsahl: A mother’s worst nightmare has come true for Ava Garrison. Her son Noah disappears in the dead of the night. No traces of him are found and everyone assumes that he fell into the water. Ava, who has always been confident, breaks down and her husband commits her. Ava is eventually brought back to her home, Neptune’s Gate, which sits on an island. Ava is virtually the sole owner except for her paralyzed cousin, Jewel-Anne who is the only one that hasn’t sold out to her. Now that Ava is home, she starts to hear and see Noah everywhere on the grounds.

After thinking she sees Noah on the dock, Ava takes a plunge in the icy waters hoping to rescue him. Now the family is thinking that it is time to commit her again. But Ava knows that something isn’t right and that her son isn’t dead. With the help of a new hired hand, Austin Dern, Ava slowly starts to peel back the memories that she once thought lost to her. Is she really crazy or is someone trying to make her believe she is. Ava has her share of enemies around her from her philandering husband, Wyatt to her cousin, Jewel-Anne, who holds her personally responsible for her being paralyzed. The problems become more complicated when bodies start showing up, all of which are linked to Ava somehow. She becomes the prime suspect and her and Dern must figure out what is going on before it is too late.

Austin Dern has his own secret agenda and he never would have thought that Ava would be part of it. As his search for the elusive asylum escapee, Lester Reece, gets hot, Dern starts to unravel clues that Reece might be linked to Ava’s problems too.

You Don’t Want to Know has many twists and turns, and the reader is compelled to keep turning the pages to discover who is behind the dastardly scheme. There are numerous sinister characters interwoven into the plot, many of which are Ava’s own family. Once the climax hits and all the pieces start to fall into place, the reader and Ava discover the awful truth. But will it be what we anticipated or was the truth behind Noah’s disappearance something that was best laid to rest?