Reviewed by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

The Composer's Legacy by Michael DeStefano is a beautiful work of fiction, based on a historical personage, that combines the arts with the great skill of storytelling to offer readers an amazing treat. David Whealy is a renowned California music professor who tumbles on an unexpected inheritance. It all starts with a simple, short letter that reads: “You have been named sole beneficiary to the estate of Mr. James Burton West. Further instructions will be forthcoming in accordance with the wishes of the benefactor.”

David’s life changes suddenly as he finds himself catapulted to the other side of the country, digging into the significance of his inheritance from one of the world’s best music composers. He finds more than unpublished music, and it seems to David that his benefactor didn’t even know the extent of his own wealth, guarded in the family from one generation to another since 1724. Now, he’ll find out about his colonial ancestor and an iron key that opens to a secret that could even change the destiny of the entire nation.

The Composer's Legacy is a great work, brilliantly plotted and intelligently written. The reader will enjoy the appreciation of fine music, the excellent writing, and the gripping plot. Michael DeStefano is a great storyteller and his writing features some of the finest literary styles, including a masterful use of the epistolary, great dialogues, and an engaging narrative style that will have the reader gripped from the beginning to the end. The cast of compelling characters, the well-handled themes, and the strong storyline are elements that set this novel apart as a work of great entertainment.

Reviewed by Tracy Young for Readers' Favorite

Eden and Aiden are copper-haired siblings that have travelled from the shores of Scotland to the west of the US. Eden accompanied her husband, Hugh, to Wyoming with dreams of breeding polo ponies to sell on the lucrative market for such animals. Their well laid plans took a turn for the worse and ten years on we find Eden alone and Aiden on a mission to provide food for his sister in the harsh winter to come. R.F. Gainey has created an epic tale of the west in Light of the Northern Dancers and has taken the reader back to the times of the early settlers and the struggles they faced to make a new life.

Light of the Northern Dancers has an impressive cast of characters that lead you on a path of adventure, peril, tragedy, and joy. This is a tale that will keep you gripped until the very last page. R.F. Gainey has embodied the struggles that women in particular face in this land of hardship. Renegade Indians and wounded grizzly bears would seem to be the greatest threats but for me, the most impressive character in the whole book is the landscape and the magnificent force of Mother Nature. The Bighorn, the Crazy Lady creek, Ten Sleep Canyon and the Powder all evoke a vista that is both unforgiving and deadly, yet compellingly beautiful in parts. You cannot help but be aware of the strength of feeling this part of Wyoming creates in the central characters of the book. Beautifully written and a joy to read!

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

It’s fun to read a book where the author has obviously enjoyed the entire writing process, along with the plot and characters she’s created. That’s what one senses about Alice Rene, an award-winning author, as she brings us The Other Side of Him, a novel written memoir-style and set in the late fifties, early sixties centered around recently graduated Clara Wagner. The opening pages are humorous, immediately captivating readers with the character of Clara’s mother, a feisty German woman, who spends her time sewing and cooking up great German food, and believes Clara needs to find herself a good husband so she can ultimately do the same. However, Clara has other plans. Having recently won a 4-year scholarship to university, she eventually moves away to pursue her decision to become a social worker. Clara’s new independence is exciting, as she becomes BFF’s with Barb, and is wooed by the older, but handsome thoracic surgeon, Greg. Greg treats her to fancy dinners, buys her lavish gifts and sends her roses. Clara enjoys his attention, but senses something isn’t quite right with Greg. As readers find out, Clara is wise to trust that inner voice and her gut instinct, but along the way her life takes some unexpected and nasty turns, and Alice Rene keeps us turning the pages as we learn about The Other Side of Him.

It’s interesting how Rene runs a sub-plot centered on Clara’s friend, Barb, alongside Clara’s story. Barb falls in love, but as plans move toward marriage, she too begins to see a side of her fiance and his father that gives her good reason not to proceed. So as much as anything, The Other Side of Him is about young women maturing, finding themselves, and asserting their independence from their mothers and from men. The novel also provides a good deal of insight into what someone pursuing a career as a social worker goes through, including their early fieldwork with hospital patients. One of the cases Clara encounters, a woman whose husband’s disposition brings on life-threatening asthma attacks, very much parallels her relationship with Greg.

As a social worker, Alice Rene knows of what she speaks. Slowing the plot down from time to time is the detailed information on the various patients with whom Clara works. But that said, one of the strengths of Rene’s writing is her ability to keep her story moving by using lots of dialogue. Hence the story never stays still for very long. This will appeal to less patient readers and is, of course, one of the best ways for characters to reveal themselves. Overall, with some ominous foreshadowing, but plenty of family love and burgeoning romance, The Other Side of Him is a novel that will appeal to women. An easy, enjoyable read.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

The Christmas Redemption: A Courtroom Adventure by Landis Wade acquaints the reader with an unusual attorney, one with intimate connections with Santa Claus and Christmas — and there is no joking about this! For how could Thad Raker even defend people working for Santa Claus? And how on earth could he win a case for people working for a myth? It has been eleven years since he was the Christmas hero. Now, he is defending a toy company that has offered the world the best Christmas toys for five decades. But this case poses the greatest threat to Christmas and the protagonist finds himself not only fighting to protect Santa’s village in the North Pole, but also a huge challenge from the skeptical FBI, the unbelieving judge, and a host of plaintiffs. Where can he find the help he needs to protect what is dear to his heart and that of many others? You’ll be surprised at how things turn out in this mesmerizing read.

Tantalizing, gripping, and permeated by a rare sense of humor, The Christmas Redemption: A Courtroom Adventure is a great story that will warm the hearts of readers as they follow Landis Wade’s compelling characters. This kind of work could only come from a hugely imaginative mind. And the birth of characters like the attorney, the strange Hank Snow, Judge Augustus, Henry Edmunds, and others could only be the work of genius. The writing is excellent with pacing that is fast and measured to a heartbeat. It won’t take any reader long to find a character to care for in this spellbinding meld of Christmas thriller and humor. The style is suspenseful and the plot pulls readers deeper and deeper into the mystery until the satisfying denouement.

Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

The Daughter Claus by D. Thrush is the first book in the Santina series. Tina has never been her father's favorite. Her brother is the one always fawned over, meant to follow her father's big plans for him to take over the family business. Only one catch: Nick doesn't want anything to do with it, instead being consumed by his dreams of becoming a rock star. At least her life is looking up. She makes a new friend and develops a crush on her brother's band mate, but her life is quickly put on hold when her dad suffers a heart attack and she has to go up to the North Pole to run things after her brother refuses to go. Now she's swept up into making changes her father won't approve of, navigating her best friend's elf crushes, dealing with her fun loving ex pulling her back into the life she left behind, and the upcoming delivery she has no one around to make.

A unique spin on Santa Claus that follows the life of his daughter, The Daughter Claus is a delightful read with charming characters and full of heart. Most Santa stories center on the delivering of toys to the good children of the world, but D. Thrush takes a unique approach by exploring the idea of what it's like to be the child of Santa by playing with two perspectives. Tina is the one who always gives up her time and puts everything on hold to go run things when her parents need her to, yet she's the one her father often ignored because she wasn't the one who was meant to take over one day. She has a lot of issues with him, resenting his attention to her brother and often resenting how her brother always seems to get what he wants while she's the one expected to give up her dreams to do what he's supposed to be doing. Her brother, on the other hand, is rebelling against everything expected of him and against Christmas itself, yet the fact he can't quite let go of any of it is shown through most of his songs, which are winter and Christmas themed. He's rather selfish in a lot of ways, not caring about anything other than his dreams, and often leaves everything up to his sister to fix. Tina has a touch of romance in her life as she navigates her feelings for George, while also dealing with her friend's various crushes which provide the story with some romantic comedy-like humor. Romance is kept largely in the background as the larger story focuses on the family unit.

The Santa myth has a modern tinge to it as Santa has to deal with health issues and a constant fight to meet demand with outdated machinery. He refuses to update the way the North Pole is run and is very traditional in his views. His personality is cutely balanced by his wife, who's gotten into a healthier lifestyle and has subtly been trying to get him to do the same. The North Pole has a modern take on it with a union, and business meetings with it being treated like a real life company, but with a fun twists including talking reindeer who are always complaining, and a local pub that gives the North Pole a real community feel to it. The Daughter Claus is a delightful read that is captivating and stunning, a fun coming of age story about the Claus family and the fight to follow your dreams.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

The Muse: A Novel of Unrelenting Terror by Arjay Lewis is the story a very famous and enigmatic writer named Jack Court. He is wealthy, young and handsome on top of being successful. But all of this comes at a price. Jack has a sinister secret. Sure, he is very talented; however, that does not mean he did not get any help. He has a small yet menacing creature living inside him that demands Jack shed blood for his talent and his fame. This is a price that Jack gladly pays by becoming a serial killer, but things are about to change in his life.

When he is in an accident because of a reckless driver, the creature leaves Jack and finds refuge in an unsuspecting writer named Harold Godwine. Harold has no idea why all of a sudden he is writing better and neither does he know why he is having intense dreams of blood and bloodshed. He is perplexed, yet he has no idea how to stop them. Now Jack is on Harold’s trail to get his creature back, but it is not that easy anymore. He is losing his humanity and an FBI agent is after him. What can Jack do now? Will he ever get his creature back?

Oh boy, this is one intense and wildly entertaining novel. Just saying that I enjoyed this novel would not be enough. I loved, loved, loved the way Arjay Lewis took hold of the story and took it to great heights. The novel is fast paced, engaging and simply too amazing to put into words. I loved and hated Jack, his development was on point. The suspense was killing me, but it was exciting and I didn’t want the story to end. The Muse is truly an amazing novel. I wish I could forget it and read it again for the very first time! Intense, demanding and really good!

Reviewed by K.J. Simmill for Readers' Favorite

Phase one, infect a local population and turn them into engineered zombies. Phase two, relocate the patients who had the mutated strain for further experimentation. That appeared to have been the plan for Baseborn Identity Research, or at least the immediate one, but they hadn't taken into account Dave Pulaski and his insatiable desire to avenge his wife's death. They were playing the long game, but Dave's plan was simple - find Walt Freeman, the man responsible for his wife's death and the carnage in his home town, and kill him. The zombies, however, have upped their game; they've evolved once from draggers to cutters, and now they flay their victims alive. Whilst Dave will stop at nothing to deliver his judgement, fate puts someone in his path who gives him a whole new purpose. This person is Sasha, and she is the key to everything. But those in charge won't simply stand aside while he claims what could be their greatest triumph. Now he has a purpose, something other than revenge to die for, and nothing will stand in his way.

If you're looking for a suspense-filled, creative, well-executed, zombie apocalypse style read, then you really want to give the Tell Me When I'm Dead series a try. I came in at book three, Even the Dead will Bleed, but Steven Ramirez does an impeccable job at filling in the need to know details in order to make stand alone reading possible. I really appreciated the insertion of Spanish phrases as appropriate, and as a fairly competent speaker I was able to translate. However, the sentences are structured in such a way that the meaning is clear even with no knowledge of the language. This action-packed zombie gore-fest is not for the faint of heart as carnage and rising body counts are described in stomach churning, gruesome detail, but at no point is character development sacrificed. There is a perfect balance of character growth and development, action, intrigue and suspense that will keep the reader hooked from the first page to the ultimate conclusion. I've read my fair share of zombie style books, and this one certainly stands up there with the best. It's not your run of the mill, mass produced, zombie book; rather it is intricately designed, well-executed, imaginative and plausible. There's a lot to the plot, and I enjoyed every revelation.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Mystery, the occult, adventure, and the supernatural are all melded into one fantastic story in The Last Odinian by Alec Arbogast. It’s a novel with a strong appeal to fans of urban fantasy. Guided by a telepathic message from his daughter, Edward Koenig comes to Pinemist Bay to find his family. In a town where nothing is what it seems, he knows his wife and daughter are in danger. Pinemist Bay has a shady past intrinsically linked to a pagan Scandinavian rite that has long been forgotten. Follow this character as he acquaints himself with a dangerous cult and navigates the less trodden paths of this mysterious town, risking the darkness that could swallow him. Can he confront the dark past of this town and still be same again? Will he be able to reconnect with his family and save them, with many evil eyes around him and strange happenings?

There is a lot to enjoy in this novel and what caught my attention is the meticulousness with which Alec Arbogast handles the setting. One gets the feeling that this is a story as much of a place as it is of the protagonist. The descriptions plunge the reader into the details of the woodlands, the strange topography, and the peculiarities of the city. The sense of mystery is so strong that it arouses the reader’s curiosity and builds the tension. I got hints of Norse mythology in the writing and it is skillfully woven into the language. The pacing is measured, neither too fast nor too slow, but it is the author’s ability to sustain the reader’s attention that makes the story stand out. The Last Odinian will grab hold of your attention if you love beautiful and descriptive prose.

Reviewed by Lisa McCombs for Readers' Favorite

How do you feel about unexpected visitors? At one time, random company would not have bothered Claire. After the death of her husband, though, Claire faces a life alone with no surprise visitors and the impending departure of her college age twins. Alone except for the midnight visits from Clint, her adopted raccoon, who is intent upon bringing his uninvited raccoon posse outside her bedroom window every night. Maybe alone is better after all. She knew she had to ready herself for the empty nest syndrome that would settle soon upon her home. But she isn’t ready for the wave of unexpected guests in the form of Napoleon Bonaparte, Count Dracula, and Janis Joplin.

Occupying every inch of her home, eating Fruit Loops in her kitchen, these visitors are related to the job she left many months before. Unwanted and uninvited, Bonaparte, Joplin, and the Prince of Darkness were somehow detoured on their way from In Between to After. Fortunately for them, Claire is a retired Afterlife coach. Unfortunately for Claire, she said farewell to that job some time ago. All those years she managed to hide her profession from her friends, family and her beloved Daniel. She wasn’t ready to start explaining herself now.

Enjoy the antics of Claire and her deceased buddies in The Afterlife Coach by Susan E. Paul. Outrageously funny and remarkably witty, Susan E. Paul has created the novel of the decade. I am so glad that I selected this book to review. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Hope to read about Cleopatra soon! There is never a dull moment, never a wasted page in this literary romp on the wild side.

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

If you decide to tackle The Lay of LaLa Land by A.Y. Miles, expect the unexpected. Expect to find yourself laughing out loud at Lenny Dushoff’s wild mental meanderings, social and personal insecurities, and multitude of physical…or is it psychosomatic…ailments. Expect to be repulsed by his successful, overweight father whom Lenny hates with a passion. Depending on your sensibilities, expect to be possibly offended by the language and preoccupation of his hormone-overloaded college buddies with sex. Expect to be as puzzled, curious and confused, as Lenny is, by his first sexual experience with his ultimate true love, Jane. And finally, expect to be shocked by the ending of The Lay of LaLa Land which, unless you’re very intuitive, you most likely will never see coming till it does.

A.Y. Miles is a very clever writer. Skilled at coming up with fresh metaphors that fire your imagination, his way with words is enviable. He captures Lenny’s rather nerdy persona beautifully: he is a 135-lb naive, insecure young adult who tries hard to never offend anyone. Unlike his successful father, a psychologist and acclaimed author, Lenny doesn’t see himself as succeeding at anything: his career or his love life. Lenny’s buddies want to help him out and cheer him on, but it is Jane who ultimately helps him find himself and his strength. Miles uses Lenny’s reflections and dialogue between the characters so well, readers can easily feel their emotions and understand their motivations. As crazy as this story, its characters and the plot line sometimes seem to be, one gradually senses this is not really a funny, coming of age story after all. It is, as a Seattle Book Review reviewer stated, “a brutally honest portrait of life and reality”, and that reality is neither funny nor pretty.

Pick up a copy of The Lay of LaLa Land by A.Y. Miles if you dare to be shocked on several levels. This book is not for those offended by colourful language full of sexual innuendo and even borderline pornographic description. But it is an absorbing read for anyone with an open mind who reads a book to get at its real message. That message, in The Lay of LaLa Land by A.Y. Miles, is an important one.