Title: My Father's House
Author: Rose Chandler Johnson
Genre: Christian fiction, inspirational, Southern fiction, Georgia author, takes place in Georgia, women's fiction


Lily Rose Cates had a mostly idyllic, small-town childhood: an older brother who was a ready playmate and with whom she was extremely close to, a loving and protective father, and a mother who suffered from unrelenting grief and depression. Lily's father unexpectedly passes away leaving Lily to emotionally flounder throughout the rest of high school and into college. Unfortunately Lily's sweet nature and sheltered childhood do not prepare her for the harsh realities of the world. She falls head over heels with the first man (Manny) who showers her with charm, attention and romance. Despite warnings from Annie Ruth, the caregiver for Lily's mother and the adopted family matriarch, Lily marries him and eventually regrets it. After suffering Manny's abuse for 2 1/2 years, Lily (with the help of a friend) escapes from Manny, and returns to Georgia, to the house she inherited from her father. With the help of her friends, neighbors, her writing, her faith, and a handsome veterinarian, Lily rebuilds her life. A nice clean read that was a nice, relaxing change of pace after a busy semester. Non-religious readers will be able to enjoy this book as well since it is not too preachy or too sappy.

Double Feature: Deron Hicks' Shakepeare Mysteries

Titles: Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave and Tower of the Five Orders
Author: Deron R. Hicks
Genre: middle grade fiction, mysteries, Georgia author, Georgia Literary Festival author, takes place in Georgia

Rick Riordan made Greek mythology relevant and relatable to kids and now Deron Hicks has done the same thing with William Shakespeare in his two books, The Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave and Tower of the Five Orders. Although Shakespeare is widely acknowledged as one of the best playwrights in the world, little is known about his personal life, but Deron Hicks turns the mysteries surrounding Shakespeare's life into two intriguing and fast paced middle grade mystery novels.

In Secrets we are introduced to Colophon Letterford and her family's prestigious publishing house. Alas, all is not financially well at Letterford and Sons. A mutiny is happening amongst the family members of the publishing house. Mulls Letterford must sign three new best selling authors to Letterford and Sons by midnight of December 24th or the greedy Treemont Letterford becomes the new head of Letterford and Sons. Colophon and her cousin Julian believe that a mysterious family portrait contains clues that will help save the family's business. The painting's clues take Colophon and Julian on a whirlwind scavenger hunt from Georgia to London.

In Tower, the family nemesis returns and threatens the newfound tranquility and financial stability of Letterford and Sons. This time clues from the life of Chrisopher Marlowe will lead Colophon and Julian on another fast-paced journey to save the Letterford family from ruin. Will they find the business-saving treasure in time?

Girl Meets Class- Karin Gillespie

Title: Girl Meets Class

Author: Karin Gillespie

Genre: Georgia author, Augusta Literary Festival author, southern humor, takes place in Georgia

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been two months since my last blog post! <<<Hangs head in shame>>> Life has been a whirlwind yet again with a new semester of school starting in mid-August and a job change for me last week (I have now entered the world of academic libraries!). Today's review is for Karin Gillespie's shiny, brand-spanking new book, Girl Meets Class. That's Karin in the picture below graciously signing my book!

In Girl Meets Class, Toni Lee Wells is the typical, life-of-luxury Southern gal until one too many trips to the pokey embarrasses her family and the matriarch, Aunt Cornelia, cut off her unlimited source of funds and force her to grow up and earn her inheritance money a little early: find a job, behave yourself and keep it for a year and inherit $5 million dollars!!!

Out of desperation, Toni Lee lands a teaching job at the local "ghetto school" teaching the Special Needs students Life Skills. Toni Lee is out of league on so many fronts and things do not go smoothly  for our beloved protagonist. Her students are wild and disrespectful and her tyrannical principal is involved in a test cheating conspiracy. Good thing Toni Lee has fellow teacher (and lover) Carl Rutherford to help navigate all of this uncharted territory.

Filled with humor and a happy ending, I highly recommend this to anyone looking a humorous read with just a dash of romance!

Title: Bull Mountain

Author: Brian Panowich

Genre: takes place in Georgia, Georgia author, Southern fiction

Bull Mountain is one of the best books I have read this year and has earned a five-star review from me. This gritty family drama was written by a local author named Brian Panowich and this three-generation family saga is his debut novel and will appeal to fans of The Godfather and Sons of Anarchy. I met Brian Panowich earlier this month at a local book signing sponsored by this awesome bookstore and I am thrilled to add his book to my personal collection

The Burroughs family has controlled Bull Mountain during the 20th and early 21st centuries due to their "flexibility" in meeting the market needs  and demands of illegal substances: moonshine, marijuana, meth, etc. Clayton Burroughs is the exception and outcast of the family; he turned his back on the criminal life and became the town sheriff. For this he is respected by the townsfolk and ostracized by his family. When an ATF agent comes to town to make a deal, family tensions come to a head with tragic and disastrous results.

Underwater- Julia McDermott

Title: Underwater
Author: Julia McDermott
Genre: suspense, Georgia author, Augusta Literary Festival author, takes place in Georgia

Candace Morgan has it all: lots of wealth, the perfect boyfriend, beautiful houses and a successful shapewear company. The one thing that keeps her from enjoying life to the fullest? Her moocher, psychologically disturbed brother, Monty. Although Candace is a successful and driven woman, guilt haunts her over an accident that happened when she and Monty were teenagers. An accident that ripped her family apart. Monty uses Candace's guilt to continually extort money from her instead of working a real job and providing for his family. In the novel, Monty and his family are living in a carriage house while Monty is supposed to be renovating a house that was financed by Candace. But instead of using Candace's money wisely, Monty is a selfish jerk that uses the money to support a hidden, second life.

Monty's wife, Helen, is also successful as a graphic designer but marriage to Monty is no paradise for her. Monty is verbally abusive to Helen, and over the years Helen has become isolated and fearful.
Monty acts even more erratic and threatening when Candace threatens to cut him off and she follows through legally. Unfortunately, Helen is caught in the middle between her husband and her sister-in-law. The ever-sneaky Monty hatches a plan to disrupt Candace's company and her bottom line. Will Candace be underwater (financially) forever?

Julia McDermott was one of the author vendors at the 2015 Augusta Literary Festival. You can check out her work here and read more the Augusta Literary Festival here.

Happy reading!

Title: The Stranger You Seek

Author: Amanda Kyle Williams

Genre: mystery, suspense, thriller, Georgia author, Augusta Literary Festival author, Yerby Award winner, takes place in Georgia

Source: Augusta Literary Festival/William Gray

I met Amanda Kyle Williams at the Augusta Literary Festival last month. She won the 2015 Yerby Award for Fiction for her third book Don't Talk to Strangers. I was able to get Ms. Williams' autograph for my personal copy of her first book The Stranger You Seek. Due to school projects I was only able to read a few pages here and there until last night. Last night after finishing my term paper, I went on a 3-hour fun reading binge with The Stranger You Seek and I wasn't disappointed!

Keye Street is a private investigator, process server, bail recovery agent and recovering alcoholic. After alcoholism ruined her career as an FBI profiler, Keye remakes her life in Atlanta. While working odd assignments Keye gets pulled into profiling a serial killer terrorizing the citizens of Atlanta. At first the Wishbone Killer's victims appear to have no relation to each other. Keye must use a mixture of her wits and FBI training to pinpoint the killer's motives and protect herself, her loved ones and the citizens of Atlanta. Throw in a few plot twists and tight, quick (but not too quick) pacing, and no-nonsense writing= one of the best mystery/suspense/thriller novels I have read in a long time.

For more information on Amanda Kyle Williams: http://amandakylewilliams.com/

For more information on the Augusta Literary Festival: http://www.augustaliteraryfestival.org/

Title: The Lacey Confession
Author: Richard Greener
Genre: mystery

The second book in the Locator series brings us back to St. John where Walter has turned his grief over losing Isobel into a constructive way to improve his life. In addition to improving his physical health and appearance, he has retired and enjoys lazy days on his Caribbean island home. Then one day a famous, beautiful movie star visits him and asks him to find her nephew. Her nephew, Harry Levine, through a series of supposedly random events, becomes the temporary owner of a document that contains the confession of JFK's killer. We learn through interconnected story lines that the JFK assassination was not a grand conspiracy, but revenge on a more personal level.

Title: The Knowland Retribution
Author: Richard Greener
Genre: mystery

Basis for the TV show "The Finder"- contains the funniest dedication I have ever seen. With that being said the book and the TV show are nothing alike. On the TV shoe Walter Sherman is an Iraqi war vet with an unusual brain injury that helps him "find" lost things or people. The Walter Sherman in the book uses a combination of intuition, logic, and Sherlock Holmes-type detective skills to find things or people. The TV show is quirky and fun; the book is a hard-to-put down mystery and detective story rolled into one.