The Alias by Mandi Tucker Slack – Blog Tour

 Posted by  Blog Tours, Book Reviews, Shanda's Reviews, Special Features
Oct 132011
 

The Alias

Author: Mandi Tucker Slack

Publisher: Bonneville (Cedar Fort)

Published Date: May 2011

Softcover; 204 pages

Genre: Mystery-Suspense

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: free review copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary (from Goodreads):

After a long and difficult divorce, Jacey thinks the worst is over. Little does she know she’ll soon be forced to go undercover to protect her family, and in the process, she’ll risk losing her identity, her future, and her heart. With a lightning pace, a good dose of humor, and a plot that’s full of suspense, this thrilling novel is an edge-of-your-seat read.

I really like they way the cityscape and landscape from the two main locations are blended together on the front cover. It caught my eye. The story caught my attention as well, and I had no problem turning pages because I wanted to see what would happen. I believe this is the author’s debut novel, and if so, she did a great job on her first published novel.

I liked the main characters and the relationship between Jacey and her son, Blaze. I despised John, her ex-husband, though at times his character felt a tad bit cliche. The writing is good with a nice flow and the suspense was effective. The climax near the end in the woods was very well done. I found it gripping and was swept up in the emotion between mother and son. I also enjoyed the relationship between Grant and Blaze.

Those who like a little romance with their suspense won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t sure how to take Kale at first, but soon caught on as to why he was acting the way he was toward Jacey.

At about 200 pages, The Alias is a fairly quick read and held my attention until the end.

There were only a few things that came up that I might have changed. Using the name Blaze for the boy was distracting to me. It is different enough from the other characters’ names that it stuck out to me and pulled me from the story a bit. The next thing could be considered a ***SPOILER*** so if you have read the book or don’t care about spoilers, click and drag to highlight the text below to read it. If you hate spoilers, then don’t. :)

There was good romantic tension throughout the first part of Jacey and Kale’s developing relationship, but I was disappointed in the lack of kisses. There was one small kiss at the field office, but that was all. When they said those three wonderful words and became engaged at the end, there wasn’t even a hug. I know this is a mainly a suspense novel but considering the amount of focus on Kale and Jacey’s budding romance in the last half of the novel, it would have been nice to have a bit more lip-locking (clean, of course). That’s just my preference, though.

I found The Alias to be an enjoyable read and give it 3.5 stars out of 5. I look forward to reading more of Mandi’s novels in the future.

The Alias can be purchased at Amazon. The Kindle edition is nicely priced at $3.99.

 

I’ll Know You By Heart by Kimberly Job

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Mar 312010
 


Hello dear friends- Hillary here-

Today my post may have more serious overtures as I read a more seriously overtured book this week:) If you haven’t read “I’ll know you by Heart”, you really should take some time out and read it.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Valor Publishing debut a few weeks ago, and was able to meet and chat a bit with Kimberly Job, the author (you can soon, if not already, listen to our podcast interviews with the authors there). At any rate, I spoke with Kimberly and I opted to buy her book because a) I like romances and b) I hadn’t read anything from her and was curious about the book.

If you have ever read anything by Tristi Pinkston, you will recognize her hand in editing this book because it begins with an INTENSE and dramatic gut-wrenching first chapter and doesn’t really slow down. Kimberly took a very tender, terrible subject- one that I think instills anger, frustration and maybe even a bit of fear in every woman- that being the subject of abuse. Though I’ve never being the victim of any type of abuse, physical or verbal,I was so drawn in to Stephanie, the main character, that I felt like I was her, experiencing that type of violence first hand and whenever I put the book down (which wasn’t often) I had to basically put myself back in reality and remember that my husband isn’t an abuser.

The story tells of Stephanie, a 40 something semi-overweight housewife, married to Mark, a physically abusive (when it suits him, which is frequent) husband. After she endures a particularly violent beating that her oldest son, Tyson unfortunatley becomes a part of, Stephanie decides late into the night to pack up her 3 children and leave him. What follows is a tale of pain, anger, growth and love. The love in this book tales of the loss of love, almost a mourning, and the newness of a new love and what it is supposed to feel like.

The love story I liked because it felt very realistic. She wasn’t this perfect woman. She was insecure, scared and dependant upon others to help her. With the help of her extended family, the church and Heavenly Father, she was able to slowly get over her husband, and make room for love worthy of her. The only part that didn’t feel totally authentic to me was how she felt her heart had known Jared (the new interest) all along. I guess that seemed a bit fairy tale to me, but then again, a little fairy tale never hurt anyone either, and it wasn’t constantly mentioned or over done, so overall, not a bad thing.

I would have to say that I made a good purchase. The story is unique and authentic. It has a way of drawing you in and making you forget that it is a story. Though it is her freshman novel, I would say that Kimberly does a fabulous job!

FTC-FYI- purchased