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Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

W… W… W… Wednesdays

Image for weekly meme W... W... W...This weekly meme, hosted by MizB, over at ‘Should Be Reading’, is a snapshot of where I am at in my reading schedule.

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

.

As I probably won’t be able to contribute every week, I have taken the liberty of adding in a couple more W…’s, which came to mind.

   …

What are you currently reading?

‘An Uncertain Refuge’ by Carolyn J. Rose

‘A child orphaned by violence. A woman sworn to protect and raise him. A killer come to claim him. A few deadly minutes in An Uncertain Refuge.

Kate Dalton lives by the rules of honesty and fair play until she steps between a battered woman and the man intent on killing her. Amanda Blake barely survives; her ex-husband dies by Kate’s hand. The repercussions force Kate from her job at a domestic violence shelter. Fleeing unwanted publicity and yearning to break with her past, she heads to the Oregon coast, burdened by a coerced promise to Amanda—to care for the nine-year-old son of the man she killed and shield him from the truth.

For several weeks Kate holds a tattered web of lies together. Then Way-Ray’s vengeful uncle murders Amanda, an ambush journalist tells the story, and the boy bolts in horror. Aided by a dangerous man she only half-trusts, Kate searches for the boy she’s come to love. But a sadistic killer intent on claiming his kin is watching every move.

What did you recently finish reading?

‘Kiss Of The Butterfly’ by James Lyon

Meticulously researched, “Kiss of the Butterfly” weaves together intricate threads from the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries to create a rich phantasmagorical tapestry of allegory and reality. It is about divided loyalties, friendship and betrayal, virtue and innocence lost, obsession and devotion, desire and denial, the thirst for life and hunger for death, rebirth and salvation. “Kiss” blends history and the terrors of the Balkans as it explores dark corners of the soul, from medieval Bosnia to enlightenment-era Vienna, from the bright beaches of modern-day Southern California to the exotically dark cityscapes of Budapest and Belgrade, and horrors of Bosnia.

“Kiss of the Butterfly” is based on true historical events. In the year of his death, 1476, the Prince of Wallachia — Vlad III (Dracula) — committed atrocities under the cloak of medieval Bosnia’s forested mountains, culminating in a bloody massacre in the mining town of Srebrenica. A little over 500 years later, in July 1995, history repeated itself when troops commanded by General Ratko Mladic entered Srebrenica and slaughtered nearly 8,000 people, making it the worst massacre Europe had seen since the Second World War. For most people, the two events seemed unconnected…

Vampires have formed an integral part of Balkan folklore for over a thousand years. “Kiss” represents a radical departure from popular vampire legend, based as it is on genuine Balkan folklore from as far back as the 14th century. “Kiss of the Butterfly” offers up the vampires that existed long before Dracula and places them within a modern spectrum.

…. so James combines Dan Brown, Indiana Jones, Bram Stoker, and Umberto Eco, with the vampires serving both as the villains and as a metaphor for the broader issues. The fact that vampires come from Balkan folklore (not Romanian), means he was able to abuse his academic training for a good cause!

What do you think you’ll read next?

‘Double Trouble’ by Betty Sullivan La Pierre

When Nancy Gilbert’s sister, Tanya Stowell is murdered, the person she turns to for help is former Company agent Tom Casey. Afraid for herself and her family, Nancy hires Tom to protect her from her ex-husband who’s just gotten out of prison. Believing Drew Harland, the ex, killed her sister, she panics when he suddenly turns up in town.

What Nancy, Tom, and his associates don’t realize is that someone else is in the background with murder on the mind. When some of the main players, including the main suspect, start turning up dead themselves, Tom realizes that they could all be victims if this silent killer isn’t caught, and soon!

What was the last book you reviewed?

‘The Dragondain’ by Richard Due

It’s the middle of the night, you need to send your brother to the Moon Realm, and he won’t wake up. So you improvise. . . .

When a confused Jasper awakes, he’s convinced he’s dreaming. But by the time he meets Greydor, Jasper understands that this is no dream. In fact, persuading the King of the Rinn to work with the men of Dain to defeat their common enemy is a nightmare. Then there’s the other side of the coin: convincing Tavin and Dubb that saddling a Rinn isn’t certain death. (“It’ll be fun!”) And perhaps even a greater worry: can he make friends with Dubb’s daughter Darce before she punches his lights out?

Lily has problems, too. There’s a little mousie scratching in her closet. Or at least, it sounds like a little mousie. Oh, and her second confrontation with Curse, and trying to form her first peerin. (Don’t you have to be from Dain to do that?) And where’s Ebb?

Only one thing is certain. Now that Lily and Jasper have entered the Moon Realm, nothing can ever be the same again.

You can read my review here

What book review are you working on now?

‘The House On Willow Street’ by Cathy Kelly

Welcome to Avalon: a quaint, sleepy town on the Irish coast. Nothing has changed here for generations – least of all  the huge mansion on Willow Street; the house in which sisters Tess and Suki Power grewup.

Now, years later, Tess is trying to save her marriage and protect her glamorous sister Suki who has come back home, dreams shattered. Similarly, Mara Wilson is seeking refuge from a broken heart at her Aunt Danae’s house. And Danae, the inscrutable postmistress, is hiding dark memories of her own.

Now that the big house is up for sale, change is blowing on the cold sea wind. But before they can look to the future, these four women must face up to the past …

Stop by and leave a link to your own reading schedule, I can’t wait to visit and check them all out!
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Written by
Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

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Written by Yvonne