Injustice

 How politics and fear vanquished America’s justice department.

 About Injustice: written by Carol Leonig and Aaron C. Davis, Pulitzer Prize winning reporters for the Washington Post, this is a step by step record of how Donald Trump and his devotees, driven by greed, narcissism and misogyny strived to bring down an entire federal department. Featured in the meticulously plotted ‘record’ are personal and professional profiles of those who, by bravery, valor and dedication and to do what is right, fought those efforts—and in the end became martyrs for the cause of freedom.

 Our Review: This sprawling achievement can only be read—or listened to—in short snaps. To do it too quickly runs the risk of missing crucial details. In fact, we plan to revisit Injustice as often as our spirit, mood and anger levels will allow at the time. It describes in intricate and painful detail the hubris displayed by those who are devoted to following the dictator’s playbook. Shades of Operation Condor, part of Argentina’s Dirty Wars [1976-1983] blared, reminding the reader in clear, convincing detail that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

     This book is thought provoking, anger building, rage inducing. And yet—because of those few martyrs—there remains hope. For without that, what else do we have?

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Injustice merits a 9.

  Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

 

Eight Reasons: Laney's Last Day

 On his last day as a cop, Gordon “Laney” Lane, is on his way to right a wrong.

About Laney’s Last Day: It is Senior Sergeant Gordon “Laney” Lane's last day at work before retirement. Readily admitting he has enjoyed a full life, watching as changes occurred, not only in the police department but also on the personal side—not all good. As he walked his old beat just like he used to, back when cops would walk their beat, he remembers his life, to that point.

Laney has an appointment, one which, to his way of thinking, will right a serious wrong. He will avenge a life lost too young; and it must be done on this, his last day as a cop.

Our Review: In this brilliantly colored and well drawn picture of a man nearing the end of his career, serving the needs of others, we watch a vigilante who has decided on the path he must take. If he doesn’t, he won’t be able to live with himself.

In short, Laney’s Last Day is remarkable. Heart-breaking to be sure but also validating that heroes still exist.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Laney’s Last Day merits an 8.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

One Winter in Blue Sky by Margot Johnson

               He can’t face another loss . . . and she won’t stay.

About One Winter in Blue Sky: Krista, once part of the brutally competitive world of figure skating, now performs on cruise ships, a world away from Blue Sky, one of Canada’s many small prairie towns. There, as maid of honor at her best friend’s wedding, she meets best man, Tate—a small-town guy, former hockey player, and widowed single father.

When she’s offered a temporary position as skating coach for the local club, she decides to trade the glamorous life of ‘cruising’ for a short-term gig in the middle of nowhere. After all she’s been through with a manipulative ex-partner and demanding mother, she needs a fresh start. But soon the demands of the club’s ice show and it’s equally demanding club president, a newly adopted and pregnant dog, and this pesky attraction to Tate, send Krista spinning off balance into a massive flip jump.

No one knows what will happen by spring…if she lasts that long.

Our Review: For those of us entranced with ice skating in all its forms, pairs, singles and dancing, the beauty and grace are what we see on the small and big screens of TV shows and movies. Not shown is the excruciating hard work, endless hours of practice, and the ugly underbelly of less than professional judges and coaches. Author Margot Johnson shows the reader both sides of the sport—and the toll it takes on skaters and those who care about them. The descriptions jump off the pages as we watch Krista slowly recover from past abuse and neglect, a women trying to forge a new, healthier life for herself. And then she meets hunky Tate and his twin daughters—a sure recipe for happy ever after. Watching both lead characters change and grow due to the influence of the other is remarkable—and not to be missed.

Based on a scale of 1-5, One Winter in Blue Sky merits a 6.

 

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Eight Reasons: Glimpse, The Dinner Guest

 They will not lock me up again

About Glimpse, The Dinner Guest.

Detective Sargent and clinical psychologist, Patricia Holmes, has been invited to a murder mystery dinner party at a small luxury hotel located in Western Australia. The dinner is a reunion party for the psychologists and psychiatrists who work at Perth’s largest mental hospital, treating the criminally insane.

But there is an uninvited guest--a former patient hungry for revenge, a man who will stop at nothing until he murders the doctor who gave him painful, electroconvulsive therapy.

Holmes must stop a frenzied killer on a vicious spree and also save the other guests and staff—or be the last to survive.

Our Review: there are many strong points to this fast-paced story of suspense, but also of personal and professional tragedy. There is always that one patient we failed to cure or, in the event of no available cure, perhaps one whose case we might have handled differently. The lead character, Detective Patricia Holmes who also holds a pHd in psychiatry, is smart and responsible—but also realistic about her own skills as well as flaws.

The other, perhaps more important to the reader who might also be a writer, is author King’s ability to build suspense. It is non-stop action, ending in the inevitable—but the ride is one you don’t want to miss.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Glimpse, The Dinner Guest merits a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Eight Reasons: The Village of Last Hope

In The Village of Last Hope Michael Abel, dazed and confused, wanders the rain-filled streets, depressed to the point of suicide. Earlier, after arriving home, he found his wife in his brother's arms. Distressed beyond the point of no return, Michael flees his home and runs.

     As he wanders, cold, wet and freezing, a stranger appears, offering Michael a safe place to spend the night. Gabriel leads Michael to a door in a concrete wall under the Interstate, and they enter a hidden village. There, Peter, the gatekeeper, demands to know what Michael did—and gives him three days to remember.

Too late, Michael discovers he is a prisoner, but is it of his own making? Has he gone completely insane, or has he done something so evil, he is damned forever in The Village of Last Hope?

 Our Review: In a short story which devotees of The Twilight Zone will recognize immediately the reader can’t help but wonder what has really happened—and what exactly is going on. Is the “Village” an analogy for Purgatory? Is Michael stuck in limbo, unable to move ‘up’ or ‘down’, until he admits to what he’s done?

Or have the mysterious entities which Michael has long termed “they/them” finally achieved their goals to destroy him? One can’t help but keep reading to find out. And the truth will blow your mind.

 On a scale of 1-5, The Village of Last Hope merits a 7.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews 

Eight Reasons: The Boy in the Bubble

 Timothy’s mental powers are limitless in this story that will keep you awake long past midnight.

 About The Boy in the Bubble:

Timothy Bergendorf suffers from so many potentially fatal allergies that he’s forced to live in a self-contained bubble. Greatly loved by his parents he must be protected from everything that might end his fragile life at the drop of a hat. Throughout his lonely childhood, nature compensates by giving him telekinetic and psychic powers.

     As he reaches puberty, his secret talents increase in power so he can travel the world in his mind. Using his power while juggling numerous cars in the air, Timothy suffers a ruptured hernia and is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.

     But the operation goes wrong, Tim awakens in agony, and the arrogant, incompetent surgeon can't help. Enraged, Timothy unleashes the full power of his ability—and no one in his path is safe.

 Our Review: Devotees of Stephen B King’s ability to keep his readers enthralled will adore this short contemporary morality tale as they read what happens when an infant is exposed to the vagaries of fate and medical mysteries, then how his frantic parents cope with his enforced disabilities. Having done all they can, sacrificed everything to give him a chance at ‘normal’, after his true character is revealed, they are horrified—as anyone would be. While some might see Timothy as a monster—fear not, there is a happy ending to this morality tale.

 Based on a scale of 1-5, Boy in the Bubble merits a 7.

  Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Gaming Hell Christmas, Vol 4

 She was sold to settle a debt. Now she’s ready to reclaim her life—on her own terms.

In The Courtesan’s Christmas Redemption, written by Kathy L. Wheeler, Faustina Clara, once one of the eight jewels of Miss Greensley’s School, has spent the last four years as the enigmatic mistress of the mysterious London hell known as La Sous Rose.

     Through wit and will, she’s carved out a life of independence and power. But when a ghost from her past resurfaces to threaten all she’s built—as well as the seven other women she calls sisters—Faustina must confront secrets she believed long buried in the icy depths of the Thames.

     Henry Ashcombe, her fiercest protector and most persistent suitor, has vowed to uncover the truth and keep Faustina safe—even if it means risking his heart and his own secrets. But the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous their world becomes.

Sometimes the heart leads where the crown cannot follow.

     In The Princess’s Christmas Romp, by Amanda McCabe, a blizzard strands the Queen’s daughter, in London just days before the annual Christmastide fête at la Sous Rose. Seizing the opportunity to escape royal duty, Princess Augusta dons a maid’s apron if only for a bit of fun and relief from the tedium associated with being a royal. She doesn't know her royal parents have sent someone to guard her over the holidays.

     What starts as a lark becomes a lesson in freedom—and attraction—when the unflappable Sir Brent Spencer mistakes her for a clever new hire, not the princess he's meant to protect. But as their mutual secrets pile up faster than snow on the eaves, their growing feelings could melt more than their covers. Brent knows what he wants but with Augusta’s heart hanging in the balance, she must choose between the life she was born into—or the one she’s only just begun to imagine...

Our Review: Volume 4 of Gaming Hell Christmas offers a most fitting end to the adventures of the Greensley Girls—bringing closure to the most mysterious of the eight women who as young teenagers forged long standing bonds that withstood the passage of time—and whatever life chose to throw at each.

     Faustina has more guts and grit than any ten women of that time and age while Augusta, who dreams of a “normal” life, understands and accepts what is expected of her—until life, as it always will, tosses a monkey into the works. Do Not Miss this entire series. It’s a winner. 

 On a scale of 1-5. Gaming Hell Christmas, Vol 4 merits a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

Highlander's Holly and Ivy

           Bound by prophecy, yet torn by loyalty, love becomes a spark that could protect Scotland’s destiny or reduce it to ruins.

In Margaret Izard’s Highlander’s Holly and Ivy, the latest in the Stones of Iona series, a forbidden love between a Highlander and an English lady becomes intertwined with magic, betrayal, and the fate of a nation while both fight to unite their worlds and reclaim Scotland’s legacy.

About the Book: In a land torn by politics and heritage, Alex MacDougall—Scotland’s Lord Justice Clerk—balances loyalty to the British crown and his secret role in preserving outlawed Scottish traditions. When tasked with retrieving a mystical stone tied to Scotland’s destiny, he crosses paths with Lady Iris Erskine, an Englishwoman captivated by Scottish culture. Disguised as Ivy, Iris masquerades as a highland lassie to be close to the dashing highlander.

Love blossoms between Alex and Ivy as tensions simmer between the English and Scots. While Iris vexes over revealing the truth to her handsome Scot, Alex grapples with his family’s secret duty to protect magic Fae stones. With his beloved targeted and hidden truths emerging, the world he once knew dissolves before his eyes.

 Two hearts, bound by fate, must stave off an evil Fae intent on destroying the MacDougall Clan before both lose all they love.

Our Review: Readers have been entertained for years by the entire Stones of Iona series, yet Highlander’s Holly and Ivy takes things one step further. The author’s talents are many. This story shines in three important areas: her mastery of dialogue, paying close attention to dialects for each specific character’s place in society; detailed descriptions of the centuries long turbulence between England and Scotland and the long-term effects on both cultures; and creating bad guys—Fae and human—terribly vile and thoroughly delicious.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Highlander’s Holly and Ivy merits a 7.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews