Sandy's Spotlight
Book Reviews
10 Short Stories
by Various Authors
Book: If Love Was Enough
Author: Regina Puckett
Genre: Inspirational
Length: 19 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
This story ripped at my heart.
IF LOVE WAS ENOUGH by REGINA PUCKETT is the story of April and the loss of her husband just days before he is scheduled to come home to her and their unborn child. This loss is so overwhelming that April questions whether God is listening to her prayers since she will never see her loving husband again. Enter the quirky angel, Ms. Gabriel, to help provide some of the answers April is looking for.
This is a heartwarming tale that had me crying and wanting more! A very enjoyable read.
If love was enough, April’s husband wouldn’t have been killed just days before his tour of duty was completed.
All April has ever asked of God was for Adam’s safe return. Every day she sent up the same request, but now it is the day of Adam’s funeral and she wonders if God ever heard any of those prayers.
In an answer to April’s question of faith, God sends a very special angel. Is love enough? Yes, if it’s God’s love.
*****
Book: Balloon Wishes
Author: Regina Puckett
Genre: Inspirational
Length: 26 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
I love crying happy tears!
REGINA PUCKETT has delivered another really beautiful story with BALLOON WISHES, a sequel to IF LOVE WAS ENOUGH. I highly recommend that you read both of these short stories in order. This short story introduces us to Jacob, who is with April's husband as he lay dying and promises him that he will find April and tell her how much she and their unborn child are loved. After recovering from serious injury himself, Jacob finds April to fulfill his promise. The pain he sees in her holds him back. He just can't do it and the guilt of not fulfilling a dying man's request eats at his soul. Several years later, Jacob and April meet at a school fund raiser. Enter the beloved Ms. Gabriel to get things rolling in the right direction.
These two short stories by Regina Puckett are a must read!
Balloon Wishes is the sequel to If Love was Enough.
A dying solider's last wish is for someone to tell his wife how much he loved her, and how much he wanted to be there for the birth of their baby.
Jacob loses his leg, his faith and faces the dilemna of how to keep the dead Marine's last request without hurting the grieving widow all over again.
God's plan brings them together by using the faith of a child's innocent wish for his mother.
*****
Book: Mine
Author: Regina Puckett
Genre: Paranormal, Thriller, Horror
Length: 25 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
Terror filled read!
I will now look at amateur ghost hunting in a totally new light because of MINE by REGINA PUCKETT. This is a wickedly scary read.
Alle is excited to go on a first date with the cute co-worker, James, until she finds out that they are going to be with a group of amateur ghost hunters in an old, dirty, abandoned mental hospital. Getting over the fact that no dinner came before the hunt started and that she was not dressed appropriately, she allows herself to go along with James on the hunch that it is a dark building and some kissing may be involved in the near future. Little does she know ...
If you enjoy paranormal hunts, you've got to pick this book up! I LOVED it!
Alle had no idea a date with her hot coworker, James, was going to go so terribly wrong. She should have refused to go as soon as he told her they were going ghost-hunting in an old abandoned mental hospital. It didn't take long to discover that they are the ones who are being hunted.
*****
Book: The Wedding Dress
Series: The Survivors Club, Book 1
Author: Ellie Keaton
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 34 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
Very touching read.
Meg is a woman with a career goal in investment banking. She meets the love of her life, Tyler, at a work conference. While both Meg and Tyler are career oriented, Tyler wants to settle down. With her eye still on the career prize she's been seeking, Meg finally decides her relationship with Tyler is worth taking to the next level, marriage. After all, there is no one that makes her feel the way Tyler does. He is her soul mate and they are meant to be together. Then the calendar hits 9/11 and Meg's life is turned upside down.
ELLIE KEATON has written a beautiful short story of love, loss and living on. This is a tear jerker that I thoroughly enjoyed. Keep the tissue box close by.
15% of the profit made from selling this series of short stories is being donated to Tuesdays Children.org. @ approx 9000 words this story is perfect reading for those busy days when you need an escape :-)
Meg knew exactly what she wanted: to be the Investment Director of Solomon Bank by the time she turned 30. And nothing would stop her. Not the fact that she’d be the youngest one in the history of the company. Or the fact that she’d be the first female Director. And especially not a man.
Then she met Tyler, and everything changed. It was like they were destined to be together. The attraction was immediate, and the follow-through was more passionate and amazing than she could have ever hoped for.
But Tyler was gone now. She could barely bring herself to think about their brief time together. As she stared at her wedding dress, she reflected on the fact that almost everything would be in place: a perfect gown, a perfect venue, a perfect ceremony. But not her perfect groom.
*****
Book: Betsy's Breadbox
Author: Sabrina Sumsion
Genre: Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Crime Thriller
Length: Flash Fiction, 1,239 words
Currently Available: Amazon
This is a wonderfully twisted flash fiction story!
BETSY'S BREADBOX by SABRINA SUMSION is a well written, thought provoking story all masterfully rolled up in a flash fiction piece. I felt Betsy's pain and fear, so much so that I wanted to go out and buy a loaf of bread for her myself! This is a fun, twisted read.
Betsy just wants to find her loaf of bread. The Potters are coming over for dinner. Where did it go and where did the bloody knife come from?
*****
Book: Ghost Of A Chance
Series: 1 Night Stand
Author: Deena Remiel
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Ghost Story, Adult Sexual Content
Length: 33 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
HOT! HOT! HOT!
Remy has been voodoo cursed by his ex-wife because of his negligence. He is now just a ghost of a man. After Susannah lost the love of her life years ago due to tragic illness, she has devoted her life to her career. There is only one thing that will break Remy's curse and bring Susannah back from the obsessive workaholic she's become. Will these two broken souls find each other and heal each other? You are just going to have to read the story to find out. You won't regret it.
This is a short story for anyone looking for a well written paranormal romance with great adult sexual content.
Susannah's married to her career. And she's about ready for a divorce. Drowning in grief over the loss of her husband years ago, she initially immersed herself in a high-powered position at her marketing firm. But recently, she's lost that loving feeling. Is she finally able to accept that her need for a man, for love in her life is stronger than her desire to bury it?
Remy, once a high-profile building magnate, is a ghost of a man, literally. Cursed by a vengeful ex-wife he neglected, he's relegated to shadows of his former world. She meant for him to spend the rest of his life without the chance of normalcy ever again, and he believed she succeeded. But could there be a way out?
Susannah and Remy, two people ghosting through life, until they are brought together by a fateful One Night Stand. Both are seeking re-entry to the land of the living and loving. Can they fulfill each other's deepest desires and learn what it means to live again?
*****
Book: Absorbed
Author: Penelope Crowe
Genre: Psychological Suspense, Psychological Horror, Thriller
Length: 16 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords (all e-reader formats)
Great read for horror fans!
Violet gets a mysterious gift in a beautiful box left on her doorstep. Her on again, off again boyfriend, Mick, is not happy about this. Then again, I couldn't see that anything would really make Mick happy unless it was berating and abusing the one person that loved him, Violet.
This gift, though really creepy, possess a magic so strong that it gives Violet the means to deal with the very objectionable Mick. This is a really fun horror read, great for all us that enjoy a little vengeance.
When Violet finds a beautiful but mysterious gift on her front doorstep, her abusive boyfriend Mick is not pleased. How will this gift change both of their lives forever?
*****
Book: Double-Take Tales
Author: Donna Brown
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Anthologies
Length: 21 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords (all e-reader formats)
Well written collection of three fun short stories.
DOUBLE-TAKE TALES by DONNA BROWN is a collection of three short stories, Poison, Round Trip and Ç'est La Vie. I really enjoyed all of these stories, each is a great tale with a unique twist all its own at the end. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd have to say it was Poison. I enjoyed the character of the abused wife and her secrets as well as her surprise at the end very much.
This is a great collection to have loaded on your e-reader and ready to go when you find yourself with a few free moments.
Three dark, sardonic short stories that will have you expecting the unexpected:
In "Poison," a psychologically abused wife discovers that her husband's nut allergy may be the solution to all her problems.
In "Round Trip," a five pound note passes through desperate hands, greedy hands and tired hands before coming full circle…accompanied by a big surprise.
In "Ç'est La Vie," the police bungle a murder investigation under the watchful eye of someone uncomfortably close to the killing.
*****
Book: Dark Reality - A Horror Tale
Author: Billie Sue Mosiman
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Suspense
Length: 27 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon
What is real?
I have to say that I LOVED DARK REALITY - A HORROR TALE by BILLIE SUE MOSIMAN. Wow. It really gets the reader thinking.
One day, Lane finds that small things are missing, things such as his beer to his late brother's coat rack. The next morning he wakes up to find that places he has been familiar with his whole life are now different. He also finds that his late brother is no longer dead. The world and Lane's reality is shifting, but in doing so, he is given the opportunity to save his brother's life. Will he be able to do it?
This book will leave you reeling. LOVED IT!
Have you ever walked into a room and felt you had left something in one place, but now it is in another? Have you driven down a street or road you know well where houses and buildings and stores seem a little different from your memory of them? Have you ever felt reality slipping...just a little bit?
In DARK REALITY Lane believes his brother died in Iraq as a Marine, but one day he's back again and several things about the world are different. Buildings in town are changed. The woman his brother was married to is now Lane's girlfriend. And there's a gun in a cabinet that before never existed--neither the cabinet nor the gun. Lane needs to stop his world from shifting reality around him. And he needs, desperately, to keep his brother alive now that reality has given him a second chance...
*****
Book: Mooner
Author: Selah Janel
Genre: Horror
Length: 20 Pages
Currently Available: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
There are things that live in the woods that will hurt you.
This story takes place in the late 1800s and focuses on the evil ways of loggers enjoying themselves at that time. Big John is seen as the camp golden boy. He's been logging and throwing his money to drink for many years. There are a few men that take the logging job to save for their future. Bill is one of the good ones. Big John sees an easy way to steal the naive Bill's money and belongings in Red's Saloon. Fortunately for Bill, the saloon keeper and his wife are watching out for him and will call on a Mooner to save his life and small fortune. This was a really good, creepy read.
Like many young men at the end of the 1800s Bill has signed on to work in a logging camp to earn a fast paycheck to start his life. Unfortunately his role model is Big John, the camp’s golden boy known for blowing his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and the lives of so many. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows, something that badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door or does someone have their own plans for his future?
Word Count: 8,143