Allegory for Meaningful Leadership

This is an allegorical book that means to teach about leadership success through story. (I believe brain science supports that we do learn best through story.) Ruby and Byron are two managers who have different concepts of what leadership success looks like. At a fair, they visit a magical manor where they are each given a different box of leadership tools. They are told that mentors will follow up with them to help them better use the tools. Byron is the type of boss who thinks he should decree everything his employees do while Ruby is a leader who prefers to empower the people she works with. The tools in each of their boxes correlate with their managerial style.

Which one will come to appreciate what it means to be a leader and how to act on it? Will they both end up feeling that their personal style is still the right way?

While this book won’t be seen as great literature, the principles of success in leadership that it espouses ring true. A boss is not a leader necessarily; unfortunately, not all bosses understand that. It takes a certain level of trust to truly lead, which is something that many would-be leaders have a hard time both engendering and allowing.

At the end, the book summarizes the key concepts and has suggestions about how to incorporate this allegorical tale into the workplace. The lessons in this book would make the workplace a better place for both employees and managers as they work together to meet the company’s needs.

Presley Finds Mystery in San Diego

Presley’s taking off time from her work at the boutique and going to visit on-again-off-again boyfriend Cooper in San Diego. She figures it will also be a good time to work on her writing. Before she even meets Cooper, she finds herself embroiled in a mystery. While at a coffee shop soon after landing, gunshots ring out at a jewelry store nearby. Presley can’t help getting involved!

What’s going on at the jewelry store? Is it just about their valuable inventory, or is it something else? What does Cooper think of her involvement?

Now that we’re getting well into the series in this installment, the author is taking perhaps a little too much time explaining Presley’s past involvement with the earlier mysteries. Sometimes, too, the narrative prose and even paragraphs can go on for too long. There was one paragraph that literally went on for three Kindle screens–and I don’t use large type. Several places could have become the starting points of new paragraphs! I did find a few errors in grammar, punctuation, and usage.

I’ve read several of this author’s books in quick succession, and I believe that I am seeing her improve in her writing skills with each book (long paragraphs notwithstanding!). Presley’s characterization is stronger. If you’ve enjoyed Presley’s previous exploits, you will most likely enjoy this one as well.

Bring a Pirate Home to Dinner…

Belle is working as a barmaid in Tortuga when she makes a bet with a pirate, Aaron. She loses, but after a series of events, she is able to convince him to take her with him when he leaves. She just wants to be dropped off at his next port-of-call to start again. The life she lives is not one that she had imagined as a very young girl, but that changed when she was assaulted by her betrothed as a young teen. She ran away at that time and has never looked back. The pirate believes she could be of use in his next big scheme, posing as his wife while his crew steals a wealthy tradesman’s wealth. Belle has qualms about stealing in general, but this request puts her in even more of a quandary: Her father is Aaron’s mark.

Will Belle go along with Aaron’s plans so that she can continue living on the ship? If she does, what will it like to come home again? Will the past come back to haunt her? What of the family she hasn’t seen in so many years? Will she and Aaron develop feelings for each other? Is Aaron in danger because of his past deeds… and will he pull Belle into it?

I like the strong characterization of both Belle and Aaron. Belle is a strong-willed woman who’s been through a lot in her relatively young life. Aaron is the Robin Hood of the waves. While he does keep some of his booty for himself and his crew, much of it goes to help others who are less fortunate. Much of the story is humorous (which I love), but other parts are heartfelt as well—a lovely combination to read in any book. I love the cover of this book. Not only is it beautiful, but it is definitely reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

If you enjoy romantic tales about pirates, you might find this an enjoyable read.

Future World Where Procreation is Tightly Controlled

One hundred years in the future, the world is divided into the orderly districts and the seemingly outcast clans. The social structure of the book is complex. Reproduction is tightly controlled in the districts. People are given special water from a young age to tamp down desire and fertility. Procreation only takes place between pre-screened applicants and by artificial insemination only. We meet Ayanna just as she’s finding out that she has been turned down to become a mother through no fault of her own but because actions of her mother may imply genetic inferiority. Thinking that she can get a sperm sample that some clansmen send to the districts and impregnate herself—a highly illegal act—she volunteers to take a teaching job with one of the clans.

What surprises lie in store for Ayanna. She has grown up with stories and rumors about the wild clansman. While she finds their hygiene and rough looks to be what she expected, they are certainly not all that they appear.

Will Ayanna succeed in artificially inseminating herself? What will she learn about this group that she’s only heard about? What other secrets will she find out? When confronted by a society so different from her own, what will she learn about herself and her world?

The book had a few problems with grammar, punctuation, and spelling (like anybodies instead of anybody’s and the mention of a car’s break, not brake).

The author has built a rich and complex world in this novel, and I get the feeling that we’re only being given just a small fraction of the backstory about what’s going on between the districts and the clans as well as the social worldview of each. I found Ayana’s impressions when she first came to the clan fascinating. The people in the districts have not been told the truth about the clans, and seeing her prejudice and assumptions makes you think about how we do that about things we’ve only heard about but not seen or experienced ourselves. The men of the clan are, for the most part, extremely protective of the women who come there, and Ariana finds this surprising. In the district, man and women are free to interact since there will be no desire between them in any case, so the precautions needed in the clan society seemed restrictive to her.

River is an interesting hero. He has his own ghosts and fears. When he is appointed Ayanna’s guardian, he doesn’t want the position. He has no clue how to interact with a female since they are so protected in the clan and only interact with their husbands, and he certainly isn’t comfortable having one live in his house.

The book is told in altering perspectives between River and Ayanna. While I am not a fan of profanity in general, I appreciate that the author used it in this book in the context of differentiating between River’s and Ayanna’s viewpoints. The author succeeded in making their viewpoints are very distinct. River is rough and uncultured while Ayanna is cultured, a trifle pompous at first, and aloof.

The author left questions open about some of the other characters in the book at the end, so I am looking forward to reading about further adventures in this complex and fascinating world.

Success Roundup

In this book, the author purports to give you the keys that will help you transform your life into a success. He does talk about a variety of subjects that relate to taking charge of your life and trying to make a success of yourself. Topics include identity, goal setting, taking responsibility, handling peer pressure, and inner will, as well as short little memory jogs that are supposed to help you remember what he calls the three Ds and five Ps of success.

To me, the book did not seem like success basics learned by the author from his own experience. It seemed more like a gathering of information from a variety of sources and organized by the author. Nothing seems unique, and nothing is given in enough detail to help you transform your life into a success. To be valuable, the sections needed more context as well as more actual and actionable information. At the end of each section, the author gives action steps, but they weren’t really those in the way we that we typically think about them. There was little action, some thought, but not much about to how concretely put the principles in the book into action.

The author is clearly not a native English speaker, although his English is very good. He should have had this book copyedited by someone who is a native English speaker, as some phrasing was difficult to follow and more grammatical errors existed than are common in today’s independently published books.

The book is also strongly religious. Because of the issues with language and the lack of substance, I cannot recommend this book.

Coming Home to Friendship and Love

As the book opens, Stacy is given divorce papers by her husband out of the blue. She retreats within herself for a while, and even some friends whom she thought were close fall way. Feeling a bit rejected, she decides to go home to Florida and reconnect with her parents and old friends.

What will it be like for Stacy to go home again? What will her relationship with her parents be like? Will she still feel close to her old girlfriends? How about the boy next door she used to find so annoying?

While I thought the scenes between Stacy and her girlfriends were good as well as the ones with Gavin (the boy next door), much of the book rings emotionally false to me regarding the divorce. Stacy is giving the divorce papers at the outset of the book, and we see her friend’s poor reaction to it and her, but the concept of the divorce didn’t really seem to be fully integrated into the rest of the book. Yes, it’s mentioned here or there, but not with any emotional depth. It almost feels like it is a plot device to get her to go to Florida and reconnect with her girlfriends and place her with Gavin. If it had been integrated more, it could have been a good backdrop and impetus for growth and change. But when it feels like it’s just tacked on at the beginning, it feels irrelevant to the greater story. I think this book would have been better if the author had skipped the divorce part if she wasn’t planning to fully integrate it in a way that was emotionally honest. I’ve been divorced, so I can appreciate that a woman’s true reaction to this pivotal event in her life has echoes that ripple in her life for a very long time.

That said, I did enjoy the girlfriends-get-back-together and the second chance with the boy next door aspects.

Perilous Pie a la (Murder) Mode

Izzy has escaped San Francisco and her shattered marriage to rebuild a new life as a pie shop owner in wine country where her grandmother lives. She has the great idea of opening a shop featuring pies with alcohol cooked in and paired with wines or coffee. On her first day in business, a customer is killed right in front of her store. Although it appears at first to be an accident, Izzy and the woman’s other friends become suspects.

Was the woman killed, and if so by whom? Are Izzy’s business and freedom at stake?

As we expect from cozy mysteries, this book is full of twists, turns, and madcap adventures as Izzy tries to figure out what precisely happened in front of her little pie shop that fateful day. The story is full of quirky characters who add much to the delight of reading the story. I felt there was perhaps a little too much emphasis on the zany plot machinations and not the characterization, but hopefully the author will work that out as she continues the series. Even in a mystery, character should not take the backseat to the plot.

I have one tiny quibble with the book. I grew up and spent most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the book, the author has Izzy state that the residents of the small  fictional town of Sunshine Springs refer to that city as the “big city.” Actually, the residents of the greater Bay Area don’t refer to San Francisco as that; we simply call it “the city.”

If you enjoy cozy Mysteries with a culinary bent, you might enjoy this book.

Second Sister is Best for Earl

Coriander Featherbottom(!) has always lived in her sister’s shadow. Considered the plainest of her sisters, she never had a season as her parents refuse to do so until her elder sister marries. The family expects that this older sister Rosemary will wed the neighboring earl, heir to a marquessate. Rosemary and the earl have a complicated history as she chose to marry a duke instead of him. Unfortunately, that man died before the two could marry, and Rosemary’s interest returned to Adam.

Cori has been in love with Adam from afar since she was a young girl, and she is unsure how she would be able to think of him as only a brother once he married her sister. However, that is not how it is going to turn out. The earl had his eyes opened to Rosemary’s true nature when she left him for a man higher in the aristocracy. Adam comes home from Italy, where he spent time to get over Rosemary’s betrayal. He finds her younger sister attractive in her guilelessness, intelligence, and kindness. On an impulse, he asked her to marry him. She agrees, and they are soon wed.

At the wedding breakfast, Cori overhears some gossips discussing the situation, stating that it must be difficult for Cori knowing that she’s married to a husband who loves her sister. Cori takes their words to heart, plunging her into despair.

Will the gossips’ words derail the new marriage? What precisely are Adam’s feelings for Cori? Why did he propose? Will the love that Cori has always had for Adam survive if she believes her husband still loves her sister? Will Rosemary attempt to ruin her sister’s marriage out of spite?

I loved Cori’s character at the start of a book. The author did a good job showing how she was treated as the second-rate daughter and what that did to her way of thinking about herself and the world. Cori is kind and just a little bit of a tomboy, climbing trees to get the best berries for a pie and aggressively riding her horse. I loved her relationship with the dowager marchioness, Adam’s grandmother. Adam is a good hero. He got Rosemary’s number rather quickly, thank goodness for both him and Cori. He comes to love his new wife rather quickly in a natural and sweet way.

I thought that Cori’s reaction to overhearing the gossip was a bit overblown. Her happiness in her marriage hinged upon the words of strangers? Sometimes I feel frustrated in stories like these when what are simple misunderstandings get out of proportion just because people don’t talk to each other. The other “evidence” of his supposed feelings for her sister is flimsy as well. The reason she mistakenly believes that he married her seems wrongheaded, too, even if she believes the gossips. Cori was such a lovely and independent character before her marriage, so it was sad to see her become so despondent (over and over at different times) based what she believed her husband felt for her sister.

Still, I enjoyed this clean Regency read. I just wish the heroine kept her backbone.

Ailing Fae Finds Mate

The latest installment of the Matheson Brothers series is about Cairstine and Liam. Cairstine has come from ancient times to the present. She’s a shape-shifting fae who relies on the blood of others to stay alive. To keep others safe, she drinks the blood of her immortal sisters to stay alive, afraid of becoming bloodthirsty and causing harm to mortals. Despite her immortality, something is not quite right with her soul. Liam, who is the doctor of the modern-day clan, can sense that she is not well. They turn out to be mates.

Why is immortal Cairstine suffering so? Will they be able to figure out what’s causing it and help her soul heal? What of the continuing problems with the leader of the McKenzies? Will the Matheson clan leader’s vision of Cairstine being imprisoned by Colin McKenzie come true?

If you’ve enjoyed the other books about the Matheson brothers, you will find Liam’s and Cairstine’s story a lovely addition. Cairstine is at time so troubled by what she has to do to survive, and she is fearful of causing harm to others. At times, it appears she cares more about others than herself, even to her detriment. Even though she is immortal, you can sense her vulnerability. It is easy to understand her fears and motivations as the author does a good job describing some events in Cairstine’s past. Liam is a strong hero who will look out for her when she refuses to. I love this couple and their story.

Mysterious Death of the Viscount

We meet the lady of the titular role as she is marrying the viscount. He is not the man she would have chosen, but her cruel father has matched her with a man much like himself. During the wedding breakfast, she breaks down in the library, not realizing that there is someone else in the room. Newton is a friend of neither the bride or groom, yet he has been invited because he has some notoriety. After seeing her great distress, Newton can’t shake the bad feeling he has about her, so he and a friend go to visit the newlyweds. After some blistering to get past the butler, Newton finds the new Lady Chaucer holding a bloody knife near the dead form of her husband.

Did Henrietta kill her husband, or is someone trying to frame her? How will she get out of this? After all that has happened, will she be able to find a man who treats her well?

This book should definitely have a trigger warning about psychological and physical abuse. Right at the start, the viscount assaults his new wife and threatens her with much more. Soon we learn that life with her father was much the same. The author does an excellent job of portraying the effects of abuse on Henrietta. She cowers and shrinks away from others, fearing saying or doing the wrong thing will result in punishment, as that is all she knows. It appears to be all that she will know with her new husband as well, which causes her to despair. She has no hope, but she tells Newton that she must and will endure. Both her father and her husband were so vile and cruel with no redeeming qualities that they were unrealistic characters. In particular, it is hard to imagine a father treating a child so cruelly over fear of what she might become; his reason for his treatment of her was unconvincing as he seemed to be going to an unneeded extreme.

While I appreciated Newton’s nobleness in wanting to help out a terrified and likely framed woman, it seemed strange to me that both he and his friends would help out a stranger to such an extent. The author didn’t succeed in making that premise, upon which the entire book rests, believable to me. I liked Newton’s character; he is a good man and a good hero. I just wish that the setup was more believable.

The book review site where I downloaded this book listed one of its categories as being Sweet Romance. While nothing of a sexual nature happens, the book is violent, so I wouldn’t consider it a sweet romance.