A good solid read. 

Two lonely, needy people don’t always mesh well. In this case, the result is a disaster. I wondered about the title and understood it when I finished the book. Fate had it in for these characters. The dark history of apartheid in South Africa forms the basis for much of the trouble, but Lydia is clueless.

She has her reasons for ignoring the bad patch she and her husband of almost a decade are going through. His lack of support for her problems doesn’t help. What she doesn’t know about the man she married hampers her efforts to find her children when he packs them up and escapes in the dead of night. The plot has quite a few twists, and it kept me reading. There may have been one too many coincidences, a notion which didn’t strike me until the end.

Still, it was a good read, well written and entertaining. If you’re looking for a romance, this book is not for you. There is a hint at the end of the book of something to come in Lydia’s future.  

 

 

 Review of CEO by Patricia E. Gitt

 

I pay a lot of attention when I pick up a book in NetGalley. My time needs to be used wisely, I don’t have a lot to spare. 

Still, I love to read and since I’ll read before I sleep anyway, it might as well do someone good. Hence, NetGalley and BookBub. 

I found myself pleasantly surprised by this one, it has an interesting plot and is easy to read. The publisher called it a “page turner”, I agree. Well written, one tiny little thing in perhaps two places threw me off, a bit of confusion over proper use of two words. Minor little blips. Neither bothered me for long and the plot took over again. I’m mentioning it only in case a reader asks why I gave it 5 stars. I easily dismissed the errors as I got caught up in the story again.  Anyone who has read many of my reviews and the books I reviewed knows I can ignore a few piddly errors in favor of a good plot. This book had the tiniest of errors, as mentioned above. 

Don’t go looking for a romance read here. This is a tale of two women finding their way in a man’s world. Not an easy feat as those of us who have had to work in any office well know. 

Not a real literary work, it speaks to the trials endured by any woman seeking to be a mover and shaker in the business world. The worst adversaries a woman can encounter on her upward climb will be other women in the office. The question here is, can these two help one another? What will be the way forward for the women who can make or break the other’s career? An interesting plot idea brought to fruition and laid out well by the author. Give it a whirl. 

 

Book Review

As an unabashed Alaskan, I review book set in Alaska with a critical eye. 

I can't help it. This tale of gold, manipulation, love and loss did the best job yet of portraying the real Alaska (other than my books since I live here and I'm not afraid to shovel snow). If you read Ms. Pace's Amazon page, you'll get the shoveling reference.
She did a great job with the setting, the plot was a good one as was the writing. A good book and one I recommend if you like romantic suspense.

I love cooking on a stove that's pumping out wood heat into the room. You can say what you want, nothing I know beats wood heat. Somehow, it warms a room the way nothing else can. An electric heater, even with a fan, doesn't quite do the job. Heating with electricity can find you with a bill that will nearly cause heart palpitations.

Gas heat is great if you can afford piping it in. In my case thousands of dollars is out of the question. So I stick with a fuel oil furnace and supplement with wood when the temperature drops below -10. A good compromise.
I'm not equipped to cut my own wood these days. Most of the time I get a cord (4X4X8) before winter sets in. My son-in-law helped me get my wood. I got a good deal because I picked it up. We loaded it and unloaded it at the house. Stacked it and after covering it with a tarp, I was set.
It's February now and the pile has decreased considerably. There's still a bit and I'm not worried, it is February which means things should warm up a little. And I have a backup plan. A pile of old junk 2x4s which I'll cut up with the electric chain saw should the need arise. Which I doubt.
I've used my little stove, and it is a small one by Alaska standards, to cook on this winter. It makes a mean pot of beans or a stew. I get double duty from it, lunch, dinner and heat. Works for me.