#BookReview 'Eternal Dawn' by Kathi Haacke Morehead

Eternal Dawn Blurb:

This is the follow up book to White Night.

Kris and Jake Collins have the world by the tail: successful, happy lives, loving family, and a deep love that sustains them both. All of their dreams are coming true and there is nothing but blue skies on the horizon. When circumstances conspire to strip all that they’ve known from them, will they be strong enough to recognize the true meaning of love?


**My thoughts**

I just ugly cried. Again. I remember being devastated by White Night when I read the first chapter. Jo is on her deathbed, watching her children's reactions. It brought back up the pain of watching my father slip away and gave me insight into what was probably going through his mind at the time. This book hurt me even more. I don't think it is much of a spoiler to tell you that Kris is suffering from a brain injury. So much of this is told from her perspective as a prisoner within her own body. Again, I lost my father to a brain injury, so this really hit close to home for me. The emotions that must have been going through his head. The lessons he was trying to learn as he teetered on the brink between this world and the next. Then there is the other side of the pain and torture mixed with unconditional love that is felt by the rest of the family during this ordeal. If you have ever been through a similar situation with a loved one, I think you will feel and understand this book better than anyone else will. If you haven't, you will still need a box of Kleenex, because you would have to be completely heartless to not feel anything from this.

Just like in the first book, there are so many life lessons within these pages. As Kris reflects on her spiritual existence, you can't help but contemplate your own life situation. Have I loved too much? Have I sacrificed too much? Have I been too selfish? Unlike Kris, we don't have the wise Soul guiding us along our reflections. But isn't it more important to figure it out for ourselves before it is too late? Isn't that a gift that so many of us often forget to take advantage of?

This book and its predecessor tell the story of an epic love that transcends time and space. Yes, it will make a lot more sense if you read White Night first, but you may get something out of it if you read it as a standalone. It is the kind of love story that we all wish we could have on some level. It shows you that finding your soulmate in life does not guarantee perfection in life, without a lot of bumps and twists. It reminds you that true love really is one of the greatest purposes in life.

I think each person who reads this book is going to have their own experience with it. You are going to have your own life experiences to draw from, to make this book personal to you. I think you need to read it, to help put your life into perspective and to learn your own lessons. Despite feeling absolutely shattered at the moment, having just finished it, I am glad I read it. I liked it even more than the first one.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Put Eternal Dawn on your Goodreads TBR list

Read my review of White Night here.

 
About the author:

Kathi Haacke Morehead makes her fiction debut with WHITE NIGHT. She is the author of HEART BLEED: Letting go and stanching the flow, and THE BEST FROM THE CHEAP SEATS. She has also written numerous articles for Mind Body Green, and Boomeon. She also blogs daily at A View From the Cheap Seats Today. Kathi lives in Brunswick with her husband Dave and their four finicky felines. Her motto is "love and laugh!"

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Review of 'White NIght' by Kathi Haacke Morehead

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Joanna Anderson Campbell lived the perfect life ... loving daughter and sister, loyal friend, faithful wife, and devoted mother. She was happy and content. What more could she have asked for? Life could not have been better. At least ... that's what she believed. Until she died. Can death teach the most valuable lessons about life? Jo Campbell is about to find out.

**My thoughts**

I'll be honest. The first chapter devastated me and I had to put the book down for a day or two. It wasn't because it was bad. It was because it was so familiar and rang so true. This isn't a spoiler: Jo dies. The first chapter is about her final moments in the Hospice room, as she and her family say goodbye to each other. The descriptions of their interactions were just like those I had with my father when he was dying. Jo's descriptions of what she saw and how she felt were precisely the way I imagined my father felt in those final moments. I was a sobbing mess and did take a peek into Chapter 2. 

After a day or two, when I had time where I knew I could read completely in the privacy in my own home (as I also often read out in public), I tackled the book again. A full box of Kleenex wasn't as necessary, but my brain got a ton of exercise. Jo is now reflecting on her life, guided by her subconscious soul. As she undergoes this journey, she finds that she made some good decisions and some bad decisions. She misinterpreted many situations, yet was spot-on for others. Now, in the afterlife, hindsight and memories from a different point-of-view help her to finally sort through everything, realize what was important, and to find the value in her life.

It's a book that makes you think. I was reminded of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, where you take a situation and have to analyze it from different perspectives, to change and to challenge your immediate reactions and interpretations. It makes you take a look at your own life. How did you react in similar circumstances? Which of your memories of life are totally distorted? What was really important? What wasn't worth losing sleep over? You could be inspired to do a true inner search of your own soul. It takes a special book to connect with the reader in this way.

Autographed Copy: http://www.kathimorehead.com/

Buy on Amazon (Paperback) | Kindle

 

About the author:
Kathi Haacke Morehead makes her fiction debut with WHITE NIGHT. She is the author of HEART BLEED: Letting go and stanching the flow, and THE BEST FROM THE CHEAP SEATS. She has also written numerous articles for Mind Body Green, and Boomeon. She also blogs daily at A View From the Cheap Seats Today. Kathi lives in Brunswick with her husband Dave and their four finicky felines. Her motto is "love and laugh!"  

     

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Review of 'The Milestone Tapes' by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro

The Milestone Tapes

by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:
The only thing Jenna Chamberland ever wanted in her life was to be a good wife and a good mom. In death, she’ll find that she still wants the same things.

With stage-four breast cancer, a terminal diagnosis and six months to live, Jenna fears what awaits her family after she is gone: Her husband, Gabe, will be left to raise their daughter alone, and Mia, only seven years old, will be forced to face a world without her mother.

Ten blank tapes to teach her daughter everything she’ll ever need to know. Dead before Mia ever really got to know her, Jenna exists now only in pictures and watercolored memories, and Mia finds herself struggling to remember her mother in a way that feels real. But on the ninth anniversary of Jenna’s death, she will return to her daughter through a series of audiocassettes. One tape each of the milestones of Mia’s life, and with them, a letter explaining that Mia should only listen to the tapes when the time is right.

With the help of her mother’s long-gone voice, Mia may just learn how to embrace the challenges and triumphs of her ever-changing life with humor, grace and a lot of hope.

Rereleased for its second anniversary, the novel that book bloggers have called “beautiful” and “unforgettable” returns with new content and tapes never before read.

Read an excerpt:

Picking up her finely bound leather journal, Jenna pulled a pen from the recesses of her desk. It had be a long time since she had sat in here, behind her desk, with any real purpose. She flipped open the journal and began to think.

She wrote quickly, crossing off and underlining, as thoughts flashed in her mind, some overruling others, as she highlighted the pivotal moments of her daughter’s coming life.

Her...

Becoming A Mother

Father Getting Remarried

College Graduation

First Love

Wedding Day

High School Graduation

First Broken Heart

Leaving Home First Time

Cancer

Ten tapes, ten corresponding milestones her daughter would pass in her absence. You raise your children to fly, Elizabeth had said, but a mother’s work, even in death, is never really done, Susanna whispered from behind.

**My thoughts**

This book absolutely devastated me. I loved it. 

It's bad enough being the child witnessing the death of your parent. I can't even begin to imagine how a parent must feel having to prepare to leave behind her child. Especially when the child is so young and already half of her life has been essentially without her mother. The raw emotion is captured so well in this book. Here I am, 24 hours after finishing it, and I am still feeling it. 

I think if you have ever been on either side of the parental death coin, you will understand this book better than someone who hasn't. I think I was even more touched by it because I am approaching the anniversary of the death of my father, who also died from illness. I have also lost my mother to that other plane known as Alzheimer's. It doesn't matter if you are 7 or 37, the pain is still real and intense. I cried through the first 60% of this book, at some points sobbing so hard I couldn't even see.

I love the idea of Milestone Tapes. What a brilliant idea and a tremendous gift to give to a child. What I wouldn't give to have the advice of one of my parents again, or even to hear their voices again. Jenna has been forced into making a difficult decision and is trying the best that she can, considering her circumstances. None of us truly know what we would do, unless we were in that situation. I know of many who have made similar decisions. This book seemed so very real.

I do wish we could have gotten more of Mia in her later years. I feel like we missed out on so much of her growing and healing. Even as she starts to hit those milestones for which her mother recorded tapes, I still wanted to know more. I really thought that the book was going to end with me needing to quickly look for a sequel to finish the story. I wanted it to continue.

This was the author's debut novel. She has set the bar high for herself. I look forward to checking out future titles.

Book links

Goodreads \ Amazon \ Barnes & Noble

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ashley Mackler Paternostro is the author of The Milestone Tapes and the Amazon Best Selling novel In The After. Her shorter works can be found in Holiday Wishes - An Anthology for a Children’s Charity and on the blog ww.onepagelovestory.com Ashley lives in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and their three dogs.

Links

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AshleyMacklerPaternostro
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AshMP
Website: http://www.ashleymacklerpaternostro.com
Tumblr: http://www.ashleymacklerpaternostro.tumblr.com

Ashley will be awarding The Book Bag, a Glass Fishing Float, a Keychain, Cassette Tape Note Cards, Mug, Paperback & a digital copy of The Milestone Tapes (US only) to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a signed copy of The Milestone Tapes to a randomly drawn host.(US ONLY) Follow the tour for more chances to win!

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Meet the multi-talented Barbara Hall, author of 'Charisma'

Blurb:

In the aftermath of a violent incident and near death experience, Sarah Lange is plagued by heavenly voices and dogged by a desire to return ""home"". Frightened by her desire to terminate her existence on earth, she checks into a trauma center in Malibu, California and meets Dr. David Sutton, an intellectual, a scientist, a reductionist and someone who believes in nothing beyond his immediate experience. David’s world is as divorced from mystery and magic as Sarah’s is alive and animated by it. Their sessions open up a dialogue about the separation of worlds—one easily defined and explained and one unknowable and waiting on the other side of human experience. Even as his faith in his profession fades, David struggles to bring his disturbed patient back to the real world. In a desperate effort to define herself, Sarah ""escapes"" and David must decide how far he is willing to go to save a patient and ultimately himself.

Available on Amazon

With 15 5* reviews!

Other books by Barbara Hall on Amazon:

(Click on a cover for more information and to purchase.)

 

A Summons to New Orleans

 

 A Better Place

 

Close to Home

Barbara Hall is a musician based in Los Angeles who also works as a TV Producer and Published author of 11 novels. She's currently working with Morgan Freeman on a pilot of "Madame Secretary".

She may be better known as a 4-time Emmy-nominated writer & producer (Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy, Homeland), but to avid readers she’s a novelist with 11 published works whose imagination has been honored by numerous institutions, including the American Library Association in both their Best Books and Notable Books categories.

Additionally, Barbara still manages to find time to independently write, record and release her original music. Her newest album "Bad Man" is available on CD Baby \ iTunes

Official Website for Barbara Hall: www.thehallmonitor.com

Review of 'This Morning I Woke Up Dead' by Mindy Larson

Date Published: 11/12/2013 - Re-Launch
Paranormal Romance

What would you do? What rules would you break to be with your soul mate? This morning Hadley Christensen and Dominic Morris woke up living their dream lives. They are engaged and each has promising careers in the medical field. They are happier and more fulfilled than they have ever been, and they are ready to begin their happily ever after.

Sadly, on her way to work, Hadley is in an accident. Before taking her last breath, she realizes she is already dead - and everyone on Earth is too. Now Hadley and Dominic must each find a way to live without one another. How do they continue when they are two parts of one flame?

Hadley is given permission by the Masters to contact Dominic in the hopes he will also realize he is already dead. If Dominic can open his mind to hear Hadley they can be together forever. Is Dominic ready to give up life the way he knows it?

**My thoughts**

I loved the idea of this story. I traditionally enjoy stories about the Afterlife, because no on can really know what happens up there. Mindy's description is of a beautiful place, where those who have passed on are given tasks that they must complete. They are allowed to interact, somewhat, with those of us still on Earth, who are called the Unknowns. Usually, it is something like encouraging them to tell the truth, protecting them from themselves, and the like. Another is to sometimes convince someone that they are already dead, to prepare them for moving on.

The part about us on Earth having to realize that we are already dead is honestly extremely depressing. I personally choose to not look at life that way. For this story, though, it is essential to the plot.

I also love the idea of soulmates. We are all on some kind of quest to find our perfect match, our other half. Hadley and Dominic have that in each other. To be tragically ripped apart is heartbreaking, on both sides of their relationship. All Hadley wants to do from the other side is to let Dominic know that she is still with him. She wants to be with him, no matter what. Dominic is devastated without Hadley and just wants to know that she is still there. He wants to figure out how they can be together again. Unfortunately, that probably only means one thing. He would have to die, as well. 

There are also certain rules that must always be followed. The characters are willing to bend them to be with the ones they love, regardless of the consequences.

Conflicting emotions run rampant in this book. I feel elated to think about life after death, and that loved ones are still with us on some level. I also feel very sad with all of the death. Even those moments of potential happiness are clouded by sadness.I was often reminded of 'The Lovely Bones,' with the descriptions of the afterlife, all of the rules, and those conflicting emotions.

Something else I noticed in this book is the passage of time. Hadley, who is on The Other Side, has no set rules with the passage of time. Nothing is keeping her tethered to it, in the way that clocks keep us tethered to it here on Earth. What feels like a blink of an eye to her may actually be several months on Earth. This was especially evident at times throughout the story, when she and Dominic would take turns telling their own versions of the same memory. I understand the time confusion from Hadley's point-of-view. Sometimes, though, the passage of time was strange when Dominic was telling the story. I had the most difficulty in trying to sort out the truth about his sister's relationship with the two men in her life, as well as her daughter's real age. Somehow the timelines don't quite match up in my mind, or the descriptions of what Ruby is doing seem developmentally different than the other implications of her age. I would come across one of these descriptions, take a few perplexed moments to ponder it, and then made myself keep on reading. I really did enjoy this story, and that carried me through my confusion.

I felt like the story could have ended where it did. But there is an epilogue that reads to me more like the first chapters of the sequel. It's pretty long. Yet I am curious to see where Mindy Larson's imagination takes this story next.



Buy links

Also available on iTunes

About the author:

Mindy Larsen has always had a vivid imagination that has only improved with her love of reading and writing. She spent much of her childhood entertaining her three younger brothers with her stories and today she is bringing her imagination to life in books.

When not writing, Mindy enjoys spending time with the love of her life and four children while playing disc golf, cooking, baking, traveling and exploring.

Website: www.MindyLarson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisMorningIWokeUpDead
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LarsonMindy
Blog: http://thismorningiwokeupdead.blogspot.com/

Reading A to Z: M is for Mountains

As I mentioned a few posts back, I started to enjoy reading books about mountains after reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. The trials and tribulations endured by the group on Mt. Everest made for a fascinating and tragic story. I wanted to read even more.


Jon Krakauer has another book about mountains called Eiger Dreams. It is a collection of stories of some of mountain climbing's more eccentric characters. I haven't yet read it; but it is in my reading queue on my shelf.


Miracle in the Andes is the true story about the South American rugby team whose plane crashed in the mountains. It took 72 days for them to be saved. Not everyone was able to survive, and the players had to turn to cannibalism out of desperation. The story was immortalized in the film Alive. It is a fascinating read, though the bits about eating their fellow team members was a little hard to swallow.


Another book I enjoyed reading about mountain climbing was Die Trying: One Man's Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits. Bo Parfet was overweight and out of shape when he made his adventurous plan to scale the highest summits on all seven continents. This book tells of his quest to become healthier, as well as to join a very elite group of people who have managed the same feat. I previously reviewed that book in more detail here.


So many more books are out there on this topic. Many of them I own and are sitting on that illustrious bookshelf of books waiting to be read. Others are still out of my reach and will probably be procured at some point with a gift card.

A Collection of Dark Short Stories

I have "known" author Amy Browne for several years now, via Facebook and other online venues for writers. I knew she wrote a lot of fiction in her free time, but I had never read any of it before. So, when she offered A Collection of Dark Short Stories for free for Kindle, I decided to download them and check them out.




They are very short stories, so the collection of 5 was easy to get through in well under an hour for a fast reader. They definitely all have a dark spin to them all. I think one of my favorites was

"What Is Murder Between Friends?" is the first story in the collection. The narrator is hoping to purge herself of her sins before she dies. The opening of it reminded me a bit of Edgar Allen Poe. The secret between the friends is definitely macabre, but I felt like it could have been fleshed out a little more. I want more details!

"Shiner's Diner" shares the truth about the local diner and the town's workers. As I read it, all I could think of was the line from Fried Green Tomatoes: "The secret's in the sauce!"

"Burn Witch Burn" examines a nasty relationship between two young sisters.

"Do Not Eat the Brownies" tells of a schoolteacher's revenge on her nasty students. Though I could somewhat see it coming, I still enjoyed it.

"Through the Eyes of an Angel" is the final story and probably my favorite. Emma is dealing with the death of her husband and running her farm all by herself. When some men come to help her out, trouble quickly brews.

The substance of the stories were generally enjoyable. Like I said earlier, I do wish the first story had a bit more detail in it. It seemed to glaze over what could be some really good material. I think it could easily turn into a short novel!

The only thing that needs to be done here is a quick run-through by an editor. In a couple of the stories, the perspective changes from first to third within the same page, causing minor confusion. There are also some grammatical mistakes that need to be cleaned up a bit. Otherwise, it was a fun read. I enjoyed going into this other side of Amy's mind and look forward to checking out some of her other fiction.

The Blue Fairy and other tales of transcendence by Ernest Dempsey

Ernest Dempsey opens his short story collections with a moving dedication to his Aunt Farahana, who passed away in November 1992. Her passing had a profound effect on Dempsey, as familiar to him today as it was 17 years ago. His description of her influence on his life literally moved me to tears.

Dempsey has collected several short stories he has penned over the years, to put into the collection entitled The Blue Fairy and other tales of transcendence. He takes a look at death from many points of view.

Some are told in the first person, almost seemingly like he is literally telling about someone he knew in real life. Others are third-person looks inside the troubled mind of one who is dealing with death. Stories are about the loss of a child, impending death from illness, and mysterious people floating in and out of one's life.

On occasion, a story would leave me wanting for more. Either I didn't understand the point, or felt that the point was lacking. I frequently find this to be the case when reading a short story collection by an author, as well as when rereading some of my own short stories. Sometimes, a story would seem like it was trying too hard to be deep. Again, I think it is a common issue in short story collections.

Luckily, the more that I read, the more I was drawn into the stories, the more I was able to understand them, and the more I was able to emotionally feel connected to some of them. I am particularly drawn to stories of the loss of a child or a sibling, as I feel like I can relate to those best after losing a baby cousin some years ago.

"Recreating Stone" was particularly painful to read, as it is a story of unrequited love that is lost forever. Here, I can see the parallels drawn between Dempsey and his 19th century counterparts, referenced by other reviewers.

I also found ones like "Just a Kilometer" to be reminiscent of a Stephen King short story. A man is shot far away from civilization, and is striving to find his way back to the love of his life, despite the bleeding and the pain. Stephen King has been one of my favorite authors for the last 20-plus years, and I enjoy finding well-written stories within the same genre.

Short story collections should never be read in one sitting, as each piece is designed to stand on its own. The same holds true of The Blue Fairy. It also should only be read when the reader is in a mood that can accommodate darker stories without being thrust into an emotional depression. Stories such as Dempsey's have the potential of striking a chord deep within, especially if one has experienced a similar situation.

Buy The Blue Fairy and other tales of transcendence

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Andrea Coventry is a book reviewer for Bookpleasures.com