Book Review - Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Murder, by Cutter Wood

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

My departure from Florida after this interview bore some resemblance to a man disappearing into a crevasse. One moment, I was sitting in the parking lot of the prison listening to my messages; the next second, one could just make out the whinny of a loose steering belt in the distance as the station wagon banked a curve and headed north. The reason for this hurry was quite simple. There had been three messages on my phone when I left the prison:  the first, from Forrest, saying that if I was free he’d be happy to show me sandcastle pictures whenever was convenient – he was available all week; the second, from my mother, wondering if they’d found that motel woman yet – she hoped I was having fun; the last, from Erin, saying that she couldn’t stop thinking about me – she wanted to meet. 

I had to teach my first class of the semester in Iowa in about thirty-six hours. I spread the atlas out on the passenger-side seat. It was possible. If we met halfway, we could share four or five hours before I needed to turn west. I called her back, and as our rendezvous point, we selected a motel, the very name of which – the Lynnette – seemed to promise some indefinable intrigue. I was on the highway even before we’d said goodbye.

While the story claimed to be about a murder, the murder felt more like the background for the author’s discoveries about life.

Official synopsis:

When a stolen car is recovered on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it sets off a search for a missing woman, local motel owner Sabine Musil-Buehler. Three men are named persons of interest—her husband, her boyfriend, and the man who stole the car. Then the motel is set on fire; her boyfriend flees the county; and detectives begin digging on the beach of Anna Maria Island.

Author Cutter Wood was a guest at Musil-Buehler’s motel as the search for her gained momentum. Driven by his own need to understand how a relationship could spin to pieces in such a fatal fashion, he began to talk with many of the people living on Anna Maria, and then with the detectives, and finally with the man presumed to be the murderer. But there was only so much that interviews and transcripts could reveal.

In trying to understand how we treat those we love, this book, like Truman Capote’s classic In Cold Blood, tells a story that exists outside documentary evidence. Wood carries the investigation of Sabine’s murder beyond the facts of the case and into his own life, crafting a tale about the dark conflicts at the heart of every relationship.

Cutter Wood writes about the mystery of a missing woman from Anna Maria Island, Florida, while embarking on his own romantic relationship with a woman he knew from grade school, and furthering his education and career as a writer. Although he felt immersed enough in his research to imagine a relationship with the missing (and probably dead) woman, his interactions and review of information from the three suspects don’t bring him any closer to solving the mystery and possible crime than the police.

The writing style was pleasant, and the book earned 3 out of 5 stars. In spite of the description, this may not be a favorite for those who enjoy true-crime, as it read more like a memoir of the author’s life during the investigation of the crime. Those who like lifestyle stories would enjoy this book.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys the sense of accomplishment that comes with waking up early and checking off the tasks that need to be done. See some pictures of what she’s up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Read More

Book Review and GIVEAWAY - Damaged Beauty: Joey Superstar by Margaret Gardiner {ends 2/14}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Joey lied all the time about little, unimportant things, like the time she told the South African back in Hamburg  about her ‘sisters’ when she had none. Well, none that she knew of, but how would her lie change the South African’s life? It hadn’t. Not really. Charlie wanted to go down a path. She took Joey’s lie to make the journey easier. For Joey? Lying was the lubrication of life. Even if you didn’t lie, everyone thought you did, so you might as well. Joey lied by omission, for control, because she could, and also because it was fun. But she never confused truth and lies. The lies she told hurt no one. They added color to life.

Fran was a whole other story. Part of Joey knew that she lived the lie of Giovanni because Fran could not face the truth of Hamburg. The House of Rest, the lithium, the subsequent fracas? It had been a fog to cover the lie that Fran perpetrated. Joey had tried to get Fran to talk about the truth of Hamburg, but Joey didn’t have a good track record with being heard or believed.

Joey has been let down by nearly everyone throughout her life, but she’s learning that she needs to be able to trust and rely on herself, most of all.

Official synopsis:

Welcome to the world of model Joey Superstar - a whirlwind of cocaine, sex, and money.

Josaphina Brinkley seems to have it all: she’s a superstar model in 1980s America, a cover girl plastered naked on fashion billboards above Sunset Blvd. Women want to be her. Men simply want her.

But underneath the glossy veneer she hides a traumatic past. The end of her marriage to Italian Aristocracy led to a stint in rehab. As she returns to parties, premiers and modeling, she’s hoping a life of designer clothes and beautiful people won’t take her back to blow. If only she could be truly seen, heard and understood, perhaps she wouldn't self-destruct again?

Joey sets out to confront the roots of her wildness – but must admit to a youthful act that haunts her. As Joey fights from addiction to redemption, can she change the course of her life, deal with her dark past and become the superstar she was always destined to be? Former Miss Universe Margaret Gardiner gives readers the key to a secret world of supermodels, sex, style and scandal in her deliciously intoxicating debut, Joey Superstar, the first in an exciting Damaged Beauty series.

Most other characters in the book don’t think very highly of Joey, and it seems like this has shaped a lot of her expectations for herself. Luckily, the ending of her marriage lands her in The House of Rest, where a doctor finally convinces her to look at how she really feels about things, and what serves her instead of just her image.

The craziness of a 1980s party lifestyle was fun to read, but even more curious was watching how the different characters existed to enjoy, manage, or even thrive. The relationships between the characters and Joey’s evolving observations about them was engaging.

Overall, the book earned 4 out of 5 stars, and as the first book in a Damaged Beauty series, it’s expected that the author will bring us more good reads with interesting stories of compelling characters.

{click here to purchase from my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys reading and watching 80s movies. See more of what she’s up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Damaged Beauty: Joey Superstar!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Friday, February 14th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified the next day via email, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen. 

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Damaged Beauty: Joey Superstar by Margaret Gardiner

Read More

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Magic Maker, by Mickey Dubrow {ends 2/4}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

2013

For years, only Sadie continued to lift the matzo box and peer at the world below. But the family joined her when she told them about construction crews arriving at their building. They watched them coming and going and listened to banging and sawing below them. Then, moving trucks brought boxes of all sizes.

After the workers left, Jacob was the one who figured out that 97 Orchard Street had become a form of entertainment. He noticed that groups of people gathered at the stoop at regular times throughout the day. A guide then spoke to the group and gestured at the building before leading the group inside.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Sadie said. “But what kind of entertainment?”

Esther knows what she saw—and Meir (a kishef macher, or magic maker) is the only person who seems willing to believe her. 

Official synopsis:

In 1917, on New York City's Lower East Side, Baruch Rosenfeld invites a beggar to join his family for the Passover Seder. However, his good deed backfires. Baruch, his wife Rebekah, and their children Nathan, Jacob, and Sadie are trapped in time. They don't age, they can't leave their three-room apartment, and the outside world believes they disappeared without a trace.

A hundred years later, the apartment building is now the Tenement Museum. Esther Luna, an educator for the museum, sees Sadie at the window. Esther goes to the apartment but finds it has been empty for decades. She hires Rabbi Meir Poppers, a kishef macher (magician), to solve the mystery of the girl at the window.

Meir's efforts to free the Rosenfelds are blocked by rivals, ancient spells, and his own self-doubt. When Meir finally reaches the trapped family, will his Jewish magic be enough to rescue the Rosenfelds from their eternal prison?

This story was so quirky and fun, in a way, with an underlying dark and sad story about the Rosenfeld family being trapped for a century. The characters were all compelling and mostly likable, and the Jewish history and tradition shared was enlightening.

The book was also well told and the side-plots were amusing. While Meir did his calling, and the job he was being paid to do and risking his life for, he also had to keep in mind that he was of marrying age and should be trying to meet a wife. Esther had moved on from her job at the museum. She was ready to move on in her life with her husband, but felt the only right thing to do was figure out the mystery of the girl she saw in the window, and free her. Her husband was drawn way more into the drama than he wanted to be, while he just wanted to be a supportive husband and thought he was indulging Esther’s illusion.

Overall, the story was intricate and earned 5 out of 5 stars. The characters were engaging and the dual timelines in the book made for an interesting reading experience. Those who like cozy books about Jewish and New York characters, both contemporary and early 1900s, would enjoy The Magic Maker.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who also enjoys reading and learning more about people. Check out other reviews and her life on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Magic Maker!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, February 4th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Magic Maker, by Mickey Dubrow

Read More

Book Review: A Grandmother Begins the Story, by Michelle Porter

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Gen brought herself to her feet again and found herself swaying between belief and doubt, but she said, Let me close the doors so we don’t wake them up with our playing.

Velma put her fiddle on her clavicle, lifted her bow, and waited. Velma’s hair was falling over her shoulders. At her armpits the dress had turned a darker red because she’d been playing and she always played with her whole self, every muscle in her body making the music. Gen sat at the bench.

I’ve been waiting to play with you since you left for the spirit world, you bloody no-good bastard, Gen said.

The distinct stories of five generations of Mèti women make some interesting intersections as they embrace or deny the trauma of their lives past and present.

Official synopsis:

Carter is a young mother on a quest to find the true meaning of her heritage, which she only learned of in her teens. Allie is trying to make up for the lost years with her first born and to protect Carter from the hurt she herself suffered from her own mother. Lucie wants the granddaughter she's never met to help her get to her ancestors in the afterlife. And Geneviève is determined to conquer her demons—before the fire inside burns her up—with the help of the sister she lost but has never been without. Meanwhile, Mamé, in the afterlife, knows that all their stories began with her; she must find a way to cut herself from the last threads that keep her tethered to the living, just as they must find their own paths forward. And a young bison wants to understand why he keeps being moved and whether he should make a break for it and run for his life.

The voices in these intertwining stories are definitely varied—from women (living and dead), sacred bison, and even a couple pet dogs (who may not actually be the souls of dogs). They all narrate the stories, gifts, and tragic flaws of five generations of Mèti women. The Mètis are an indigenous people in Canada who were descendants of First Nations women and European men in the 18th century. Their relationships with each other and those around them are compelling and thought-provoking. While the women may seem easier for readers to understand, the animals lend cultural significance that influences them all.

First in chronological time was Mamè, who tells her story from the afterlife and was the mother to Geneviève and Velma. Gen’s daughter is Lucie. Lucie’s daughter is Allie. Allie is the birth mother to Carter, who is recently rediscovering her roots. Carter is also a mother, but her young son does not yet tell his own story.

This book was so endearing and hard to put down. While it did not read as a straight-line novel, all of the characters narrating had their own style that inspired a reader to find out more of their story. The best part of the book was the characters with their unique histories and choices to be made for their futures. The story earned 4 out of 5 stars. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys escaping and learning of other lives through reading. See more of what she’s reading and her life on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

Read More

Book Review and Giveaway: Side Effects are Minimal, by Laura Essay {ends 12/26}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“This is not everything.” Landon Sims slapped the test results onto the high lab table in front of Phil.

“What do you mean it’s not everything? Do you realize who I am?” Phil gazed over the rim of his readers. 

“We all do, Dr. Westcott. That’s why I expected a hell of a lot more.”

“I began this research when you were still in diapers.” Phil jumped from the chair as his cheeks flushed. “I traveled to the poppy farms of Turkey and blistered my hands so that others might know the pain relief of morphine. I made sacrifices of biblical nature.”

Phil held out the palms of his hands in the same manner as seen in depictions of Jesus Christ. Landon threw his sport coat on the chair in response to the absurd display. Phil’s vanity had risen to a new height.

Claire Hewitt is determined to prove that a teen’s opioid overdose death is not because of choices made by the teen or her family. Her passion to prove her point is driven by more than her client’s story.

Official synopsis:

When ambitious attorney Claire Hewitt is asked to represent the Satoris, one of Philadelphia’s most prominent families, in a lawsuit over the death of their daughter, she is thrust into an opioid nightmare with deadly impact—and not for the first time. Claire’s guilt for not saving her sister, Molly, has not subsided in the twenty years since Molly’s almost certainly opioid-related death. Now, with this new assignment, her guilt comes full circle. Who was really at fault in Molly’s death? And who is at fault now?

What begins as a quest for truth becomes infinitely more complicated as Claire struggles to balance her desire for justice with the Satoris’ thirst for revenge. She knows she needs to expose the greed that transforms legal opioid production into illicit fabrications and the neglect that is the breaking point between physicians and their patients. But there are powerful people who will seemingly stop at nothing to prevent these truths from seeing the light of day, and she is sabotaged at every turn. Can she push past the obstacles in her way to build a winning case?

As the newest partner—and a woman—at the law firm, Claire needs to win a major case for a prominent Philadelphia family. What no one else knows is that Claire has essentially been in their shoes. Claire and the attorney assisting her, Alex, need to prove that the death of the Satoris’ daughter is caused by the pharmaceutical company and doctors prescribing opioids to win the case, and maybe help to finally ease some of Claire’s guilt over her sister’s death decades earlier.

The case seems obvious to Claire and the newer attorney assisting her, but soon adjacent crimes begin occurring that warn Claire and Alex that there may be parties with a lot at stake who need their case to lose, or not even make it to court.

The author’s notes at the end of the book about their research regarding the opioid epidemic also contributed to the impact of the story. While the characters were fictional, the drug and court parts of the book could very well be real. The novel earned 5 out of 5 stars and gave an excellent depiction of full-bodied characters and a real crisis. The book could be easily recommended to those who enjoy contemporary fiction and hard-hitting medical stories about realistic situations. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother to two theatre kids. She enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and learning about the experiences of others. See more of what she’s up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Side Effects are Minimal!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, December 26th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Side Effects are Minimal, by Laura Essay

Read More

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Lightborne, by Hesse Phillips

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

It takes the landlord and the chamberlain working in furious tandem to lug the Inn-in-the-Wall’s only strongbox up to Frizer and Marlowe’s room. At the door they drop their load and proceed to shove it across the floor to the window, a piece of metal screeching at the base all the way. At last, the box comes to rest: an iron-clad, age-blackened, toadish thing, armoured in the scraps of perhaps a dozen predecessors.

Panting, the landlord hands Marlowe a heavy-looking key. ‘You lose it, you pay,’ is all he manages to say.

As soon as they are gone, Marlowe begins emptying papers out of his bag and stacking them inside the box, taking his time as always, flipping through pages he has no doubt thumbed a thousand times before. Meanwhile, Frizer sits upon the sagging cot, holding a letter which Marlowe had dropped onto the floor beside his head first thing this morning. The paperbolt with which it is sealed is heartbreakingly amateurish, as if Marlowe had grown bored or frustrated halfway through making it.

‘This Baines fellow,’ Frizer says. ‘Will I have to talk to him?’

‘No!’ Marlowe says, barely glancing up from a bound manuscript. ‘He may try to pull ye aside, but do not let him. Meet with him in a public place, hand him the message and be gone.’

‘I thought you said there was no danger.’

‘To you, no. Perfectly safe.’

Christopher Marlowe and Ingram Frizer were thrown together during what would end up being Marlowe’s last days. 

Official synopsis:

A thrilling reimagining of the last days of one of the most famed Elizabethan playwrights—Christopher Marlowe—and of a love that flourishes within the margins.

Christopher Marlowe: playwright, poet, lover. In the plague-stricken streets of Elizabethan England, Kit flirts with danger, leaving a trail of enemies and old flames in his wake. His plays are a roaring success; he seems destined for greatness.

But in the spring of 1593, the queen's eyes are everywhere and the air is laced with paranoia. Marlowe receives an unwelcome visit from his one-time mentor, Richard Baines, a man who knows all of Marlowe’s secrets and is hell-bent on his destruction.

When Marlowe is arrested on charges of treason, heresy, and sodomy—all of which are punishable by death—he is released on bail with the help of Sir Thomas Walsingham. Kit presumes Walsingham to be his friend; in fact, the spymaster has hired an assassin to take care of Kit, fearing that his own sins may come to light.

Now, with the queen's spies and the vengeful Baines closing in on the playwright, Marlowe's last friend in the world is Ingram Frizer, a total stranger who is obsessed with Kit's plays, and who will, within ten days' time, first become Marlowe's lover—and then his killer. Richly atmospheric, emotionally devastating, and heartrendingly imagined, Lightborne is a masterful reimagining of the last days of one of England's most famous literary figures.

Christopher Marlowe was charged with treason, heresy, and sodomy - any one of which could cost him his life. But many other men were living the same lifestyle with little to no consequences. It seemed to come down to politics, and the law came for many men Marlowe associated with, eventually. The author shows in a sincere way how the gradual convictions of one after another of those he knew took a little more of Marlowe’s heart and soul each time.

While under house arrest, Marlowe trusts an old contact, now the spymaster, to be doing what’s best for him. A man he never spent time with before, Ingram Frizer, is assigned to spend all his time monitoring Marlowe to make sure he doesn’t run. Emotions are high, and no ones’ intentions seem to be as they are stated. How much help are those in Marlowe’s circle lending him or others at risk, or are they all just defending their own interests?

Overall, the book clearly illustrated Marlowe’s increasing panic and paranoia, alongside the comfort and building relationship between him and Frizer. The story earned 3 out of 5 stars and would be a great read for those who enjoy realistic sounding stories of Marlowe, Shakespeare, and their contemporaries.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife, mother, and stereotypical Gen-X-er. Find her posts about life and other books on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a advance reader copy of Lightborne!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday, December 23rd, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Lightborne, by Hesse Phillips

Read More

Book Review: The Woman at the Wheel, by Penny Haw

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“I wondered if it would ever be possible for a woman to work alongside a man and be considered his equal partner.”

“Are you thinking of becoming an engineer and working with Carl?” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“No, of course not,” I replied, accepting how implausible it would seem to anyone to think of me as Carl’s partner in the workshop. Did that prohibit me from revealing how I shared his dream, though? If not, what was it that stopped me from telling Ava how important the motorwagen was to me, not just as Carl’s wife but as Bertha, the woman who was intrigued by ingenuity and the business thereof and who worked alongside Carl in the workshop whenever possible?

Bertha Benz was a wife and mother, and potentially a brilliant inventor who recognized the impossibility of a woman being recognized for her contributions. Sometimes it seemed even she herself didn’t believe how capable she might be.

Official synopsis:

"Unfortunately, only a girl again."

From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love―with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his plans, a dicey move since they alone believe in the machine. When Carl's partners threaten to withdraw their support, he's ready to cut ties. Bertha knows the decision would ruin everything. Ignoring the cynics, she takes matters into her own hands, secretly planning a scheme that will either hasten the family's passage to absolute derision or prove their genius. What Bertha doesn't know is that Carl is on the cusp of making a deal with their nemesis. She's not only risking her marriage and their life's work, but is also up against the patriarchy, Carl's own self-doubt, and the clock.

Like so many other women, Bertha lived largely in her husband's shadow, but her contributions are now celebrated in this inspiring story of perseverance, resilience, and love.

Not a lot of facts are known about Bertha Benz and her daily life with her famous husband, Carl Benz. The author of this historical fiction does a stellar job filling in the blanks of how spunky Bertha must have been, knowing about her substantial contributions to her husband’s invention, her shared passion for his motorwagen project, and their relationship.

The note of a truly enjoyable historical fiction might be the inability to separate the history from the fiction. Several of the side-stories of personal situations or social events lent this quality to the story of the life of Bertha Benz with Carl Benz. A few pieces of correspondence are featured through the story that give support to the facts of their life, and some relationships just fit with who the characters may have been when they weren’t being documented.

Overall, the story was so interesting and earned 4 out of 5 stars. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without cars now, and reading the skepticism they encountered during its development was eye-opening. The book could be recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, especially from the mid-1800s, and learning the stories of a powerful and inspiring woman.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys reading, writing, and taking care of her family. Check out more of what they’re all up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Read More