Reviewed By Charles Remington for Readers' Favorite

Quinn is the present-day incarnation of an ancient soul, cursed with the memory of his numberless past lives. He is the envoy of an ancient civilization in search of the love and soulmate he lost thousands of years ago. The Emissary by Tamara Veitch and Rene DeFazio chronicles his early life in an idyllic city prior to the Great Year turmoil, a cataclysmic planetary event which occurs every 26,000 years. In this original life he is called Marcus - he has two close friends, Helghul, a boisterous, ambitious young man and Theron, the daughter of the city’s spiritual leader. The love that develops between Marcus and Theron breaks up the friendship, and a jealous Helghul is enticed by dark forces to embrace their nefarious plans for the future of mankind. After the turn of the Great Year and the destruction of the trio’s society, we follow Marcus through a number of incarnations where, as an emissary, he is tasked with promoting knowledge, peace and harmony, while searching for his lost love. His efforts are hampered by his former friend, but now sworn enemy, Helghul, who pursues a very different agenda. Which line will the new civilization of planet Earth follow? Can Marcus /Quinn prevail over the dark forces that have seized control over his former friend? Will he ever be reunited with his lost love Theron?

The basic tenet of The Emissary is the concept that our sun is part of a binary system with the two suns reaching a nexus every 26,000 years. At this time a great change will take place on our planet and some believe a new Dark Age will commence. Tamara Veitch and Rene DeFazio have produced a compelling narrative, full of intriguing concepts and insights, which moves at a brisk pace through a lucidly-imagined history. The ambitious theme is peopled with rounded, believable characters and pulls no punches in its descriptions of turbulent times. I enjoyed the story and was prompted by the list of references at the end to look further into the concept of the Great Year. I hope the authors will accept this as a compliment to their narrative skill. Well-written and researched - a sound, thought-provoking start to what I predict will be a successful series.

Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Fresh off the Starship is a work of contemporary chick lit with a science fiction style twist, written for adults by author Ann Crawford. The heroine of our tale is Missy, a being from a race far across the galaxy, who is sent to Earth with a single mission: help humanity by whatever means she can. But something goes wrong in Missy’s travel plans, and instead of arriving in Washington, D.C. where she can help the world on a higher political scale, she ends up in Kansas. This strange environment presents challenges that Missy wasn’t prepared for, but she is determined to fulfill her mission no matter where she is. What follows is a light and enjoyable adventure that comments on human nature and the beauty of our world.

Sometimes you need to see the world through someone else’s eyes to appreciate what is still good about it and in the current state of the world, that’s more true than ever. The story author Ann Crawford presents is light but executed beautifully, lifting readers out of their contemporary misery to rediscover what it is about being alive that is so fantastic. Missy’s plot line is much as you’d expect from this hi-jinks kind of tale, with an amusing romance plot and a lot of misplacement and confusion on her part that’s very funny, but it was the wider ethos of the tale that really grabbed me. Overall, Fresh off the Starship is a brighter look at life today that is sure to keep you smiling from page to page.

Reviewed By Kristy Vee for Readers' Favorite

Gillyflower by Diane Wald is a tender and magical story about two sensitive souls who cross a unique kind of path. When Nora Forrest, a talented artist, learns that her longtime crush, Irish actor Hugh Sheenan, will be in Manhattan for the production of The Lion’s Share, she cannot believe her luck. At the theatre, something peculiar occurs and touches them both in a way they can’t begin to explain. Nora decides to mail Hugh the hauntingly beautiful scene she captured in her mind, attached with a letter. Her only hope was that he’d frame the drawing and it would be a lovely reminder of his days in New York so Nora is taken by surprise when Graves, Sheenan’s personal secretary, reaches out to invite her to lunch with Hugh. She’s both nervous and excited, having no idea what to expect, but what she didn’t see coming was his blatant rudeness, and things take a turn in a way neither could've imagined.

Gillyflower is an intriguing, romantic, mysterious tale told from Hugh, Nora, and Leon’s perspectives. The perfect combination of suspense, romance, mysticism, and fantasy make this unique plot that much better. Gillyflower starts off strong and stays that way the entire way through, making it the kind of easy-to-read, well-paced story you won’t soon forget. Diane Wald does an excellent job of giving each character their own personality and viewpoint with just the right amount of back story to understand them well. I really enjoyed this book and am quite certain that any reader will feel like they’ve walked right into a dream with this one. Great job. Five stars!

Reviewed By Charles Remington for Readers' Favorite

Quinn is an emissary. Born in ancient Atitala, sometimes known as Atlantis, more than thirteen thousand years ago, he carries the memory of the countless lives he has lived through the darkest period in Earth’s history. That knowledge, along with the loss of the love of his life, weighs heavily on him. To remember all one’s past lives is not a gift - it is a burden. But today, in Seattle of all places, to his surprise and great joy, his soulmate is delivered to his apartment by his best friend. There are some snags, however. Nate, the best friend, has declared he is in love with her, and Eden, which is her name in this incarnation, has no past life memory, so Quinn is a stranger to her. Thus commences The Emerald Tablet, the second book in The One Great Year series by Tamara Veitch and Rene DeFazio, a far-reaching narrative which will take you on an incredible journey through our planet’s history.

The sweeping storyline will take you to the last days of Atitala, the pinnacle of the previous twenty-six-thousand-year cycle and its destruction as the new age begins. Three characters, interlaced like ‘the cords of a whip’, carry the narrative through ancient Greece and Egypt and the Mongolian Steppes, right through to the Second World War and on to the present day. Carefully researched historical detail brings fantastic clarity to the past lives of the characters and the times in which they live, bringing the carefully structured plot to a truly breath-taking finale.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Emerald Tablet, particularly the handling of historical characters like Plato and Aristotle, and the careful construction of the places and times, with lucid depictions of life on the Mongolian plains and the streets of Paris during the Second World War. The well-written narrative moves along at a brisk pace, introducing many original, thought-provoking concepts and ideas along the way. As with book one in the series, which I also enjoyed, I was again prompted to look up several historical events and was happy to find them accurately reported. A good few New Age ideas and concepts are also woven into the storyline. Crystal Children, also known as Indigo Children, was another subject I was prompted to look up. Tamara Veitch and Rene DeFazio have produced an exciting adventure story which also manages to incorporate many historical facts along with some astounding New Age ideas. An excellent second installment to what I believe will be a very successful series. I do not hesitate to recommend this book.

Reviewed By Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Fat Dreams by Idris Ostrovsky is a novel about an aging man’s journey towards self-discovery and self-love. I thought the theme and the atmosphere of the story would be very grim and dark, but it was actually very positive. Although the pace of the novel is slow, it doesn’t deter the reader. The pace is almost soothing in a way that lulled me into reading on. Instead of feeling bored or sleepy, I actually became more invested in the protagonist’s journey, his growth and the way he was simply evolving. The narrative takes you on a journey that you wish would never end, especially when the protagonist has reached a point where he is accepting and digesting and just moving forward. The imagery is so descriptive, the sentences are very crisp and the story itself is very entertaining.

This is the story of Professor Leopold Traum, a brilliant professor who goes on a journey of a lifetime to discover himself. He started the journey to Ythvk, the most mysterious of the desert tribes, in the name of scientific exploration and knowledge. However, he soon realizes that this is more than just gaining more knowledge. He has to fight for his survival, look for ways to secure himself, feed himself, and find out what he is really made of. He has to fight his own darkness and has to face a side of life that he never anticipated. He left the comfort of his home to find some mysterious tribes, but in the end, he actually found himself.

Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Whispers from Prophecy is the second book in the fascinating and conceptual The Chikondra Trilogy, penned by author Sandra Valencia. Subtitled Love Bear the Challenge, this adult-content book continues the meaningful relationship of Sandra Warner, now taking on her husband’s last name, Sirinoya. As she and the Field Minister navigate their own new relationship, Warnach’s position and mission are in jeopardy as tensions and rebellion loom on the fringes of the galactic union. As Warnach wavers, Sandra grows and thrives in her new role, discovering innovations and new connections that inspire her husband to rethink his doubts about his vocation. It is Sandra’s inquisitive mind that might just get them through it all.

Pairing politics, fantasy elements, family ties, and personal relationships is not an easy feat, but author Sandra Valencia brings the same art of balance to this second Chikondra Trilogy novel as she did to the first. Sandra and Warnach’s bond is more powerful than ever, interspersed with inspiring phrases that elevate their romance beyond the physical into a true spiritual and intellectual connection, which is always refreshing to see. As this intimacy plot weaves in and out of the storyline, the political ideas and new mysteries of the current plot come to the fore, where the excitement really hots up as Sandra makes new connections and reveals some secrets that bring about new characters, alliances, and dangers. Overall, Whispers from Prophecy: Love Bear the Challenge continues an already excellent series with new and innovative plot ideas, as well as solid character development.

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Portals in Time: The Quest for Un-Old-Age by John Joseph Teressi combines adventure, fantasy, and time travel to offer readers a great reading experience, a story with powerful psychological implications. From the start, the reader is introduced to the Eye of Time Exploration Team composed of ten volunteers from Grippland — four women and six men —who are entrusted with a delicate yet important mission: they are to travel through time and rediscover the secret of un-old-age in order to save their dying civilization. Follow this group on an adventure that takes them to a place beyond time, a place of beauty and perpetual youthfulness called Acronos. They will encounter beings with rare wisdom, be offered choices that could affect their destiny and the life of their world, and discover new life forms. Will they be able to remember why they set out on this mission in the first place or will their mission blur as they immerse themselves in a new consciousness. That’s for the reader to find out.

This is a fantastic novel about the notion of time, a story with a cast of compelling characters, explorers from a people known as the Gripps. The quirkiness in their names will immediately grab the reader’s attention. I enjoyed characters like Stare, the engineer, Twist the Politician, and the tall businessman, Scheme. The writing is beautiful and it has a metaphysical and metaphorical feel to it. For instance, describing a moment of Scheme’s experience, the narrator says: “He was immersed in silence, suspended in a pause within the very framework of Time.” Writing a novel about something abstract like time isn’t easy because the author must pull readers into unfamiliar places and make them feel as though they have been there before, and John Joseph Teressi has got that gift. The setting is nothing like I have ever read before, but curiously, it does remind me of something I have known and forgotten, of the sense of being connected to something bigger than myself. Portals in Time: The Quest for Un-Old-Age wakes readers up and provokes in them a reflection on the possibilities of life. It’s inspiring, entertaining, and downright exhilarating.

Reviewed By Kim Anisi for Readers' Favorite

The brain is a very complex part of the human body, and in Tuning In by Richard H Roberts, the brain of Jon Gunnarson plays a very important role. Jon is an empath with a twist; in his therapy sessions, he not only feels what his clients are feeling, but he can take on their emotions and make them feel better, e.g. by taking on all their anger or sadness. When a client makes him take on something quite different, Jon decides he needs to find a way to disconnect from his special talent. He knows that his friend Neema in Bhutan would be able to help him, but visa restrictions for that country and his lack of funds mean that he can't afford to just go there. As luck would have it, he finds an ad in which a company asks for psychics willing to travel to Bhutan to work on a telepathy app. He gets the job, travels to Bhutan and meets the team. A special connection ignites between him and Ella; a connection that will lead to the development of an app that can really let people read other people's minds. Venn, the man behind the app project, is in a rush to put it on the market, to make as much money as possible before the FBI, which wants him for another issue, gets to him. And then he learns that Jon also has a way to plant thoughts into other people's heads. He wants that secret, and he will not stop until he gets his way.

Tuning In by Richard H Roberts is a book that draws you in very quickly. The characters all make sense, apart from Lex, whom I found very weird and not at all like Lara Croft (whom she tries to emulate), but I guess that's the point. I found it interesting to see how little respect people had for others' privacy once they learned how to tune into others' minds. Jon eventually even ended up having to see his own thoughts being shared by a Twitter account that had been created just to let the whole world know what went through his head! In a way, the book is about how precious privacy and your own mind truly are. It does make you think. After all, on one hand, we have all sometimes wished we could read other people's minds. But would we in turn want to give up our own privacy and have our minds invaded by total strangers?

Richard H Roberts managed to find the perfect balance for his book when it comes to the pacing of the plot; it's neither too slow nor too fast. So you don't get overwhelmed by too many things happening at once, but you also don't end up being bored by endless descriptions or endless events that go on and on and on. The author knows when to leave things up to the reader's imagination, and when to add a few more details. For me, it was a very enjoyable, thought-provoking read with a sprinkle of action, a little helping of romance, and a good chunk of suspense. The book has an ending that does not leave you hanging, but also promises that there is more to come.

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

In The One Apart: A Novel, Justine Avery introduces readers to Tres, an ageless adult who is reborn as a baby to a teenage mother. Here begins the mystery because, young as he is, he has the intelligence and wisdom of an old man. Yet, he has to deal with two serious problems — figure out who he really is and his mission, and bear the pain of not living an ordinary life. And as if his predicament weren’t enough cause for pain, he is a hunted man, hunted by an evil that is about to destroy the world. No one seems to know about it, but he does, and only he can stop it. Can a young mother help him get the protection he needs and the strength required to fight such an evil? It’s for the reader to find out.

First off, I must say that I was taken by the originality of the concept of the story and the plot is like nothing I have read anywhere. I enjoyed the bond between the young mother and her ageless little baby and from the moment I met the characters, I became very keen on discovering what their fate would be. Justine Avery breaks the laws of nature and lifts a veil, revealing a world that readers will become immediately curious to discover, a world of strange possibilities. From the deft treatment of the conflict to the sophisticated plot, to the masterful thematic development, The One Apart: A Novel reveals the work of a conscientious and gifted writer. Great plot, wonderful pacing, and memorable characters! You’ll feel a strange familiarity with the characters and will want to be part of their world.

Reviewed By Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Cloud Whispers by Sedona Hutton is the powerful story of one woman's fate and the design of second chances. The book starts with Katie Callahan learning of the death of a distant relative named Gwen, with a call from an attorney to notify her that Katie had been charged with the care of a twelve-year-old girl named Savannah. In a swirl of confusion, Katie recalls a period of her teenage life where she herself had a baby and put it up for adoption. Her father quickly confirms the child is, in fact, her own biological daughter. Shocked, Katie's life is tossed into turmoil as the weight of the situation settles in. Liam, her husband, doesn't know about this part of her past. As she readies herself to unveil the truth, an accident pulls what little control she had away and destiny takes over. “Whether it’s your time to transition or whether you return to Earth, we’ll be here to guide you.”

Cloud Whispers by Sedona Hutton is one of those books that come along and very nearly take your breath away. Beautifully written and emotionally stirring, Hutton creates a world that is neither here nor there - not on earth, and not quite the afterlife - and elegantly weaves a story that is both picturesque and enlightening. The supernatural comes to life as Katie waltzes delicately around, and just out of reach, of those around her. As the story peels away in splendid layers, the heart of it is revealed in a spectacular and unexpected way. I'd recommend this book to lovers of literary fiction and anyone else with the desire to escape for a brief moment into the great unknown.