Sullie Saves the Seas Author: Goffinet McLaren http://www.sullietheseagull.com Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This wonderful children\’s book introduces the world to Sullie the Seagull, Author McLaren\’s newly hatched “spokesbird” for clean oceans. This is a parable told by Sullie, an old seagull. Sullie\’s tale begins on Turtle Beach, the morning after Memorial Day, and provides a lesson about the dangers of trash in our oceans. Sullie\’s information is correct: All the experts say the solution to our trash-choked oceans begins at home, since most... Read More

Moon Over Taylor\’s Ridge Kindle Edition Author: Janie Dempsey Watts http://www.janiewatts.com/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This is a wonderful story populated with well-developed characters, and set in a historically rich place – the tiny town of Taylor\’s Crossing, Georgia. The fictional community\’s location is crucial to the story. We quickly learn that Taylor\’s Crossing is in northwest Georgia, near Taylor\’s Ridge, and south of Ringgold. Nestled into an arm of the Appalachians, in Chattooga County, it\’s an area rich in Native American... Read More

Marriage Can Be Murder: Every Wife Has a Story Author: Susan Santangelo Website: http://www.babyboomermysteries.com/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW Carol and Jim Andrews are back again in this third installment of author Santangelo\’s “Every Wife Has a Story” Carol and Jim Andrews Baby Boomer Mystery series. This time we learn that Carol is thrilled when daughter Jenny announces her engagement to Mark. After all, like almost every Boomer mother, she\’s been dreaming of being the MOB (mother of the bride) at Jenny\’s wedding since Jenny was born. And both... Read More

Never Say Perfect Author: Mary Anne Benedetto Website: http://www.awriterspresence.com/Home_Page.html Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW Laina and Dan Strickland, whom you may remember from Mary Anne Benedetto\’s first novel, Eyelash, return in this second book in a series. Or at least, Laina is back. We only see Dan in the first chapter. It seems that things have been going well at Paradise View, the Strickland\’s Cape May bed and breakfast since last we spent time with them, four years ago. Life has been really hectic for both of them, what with running the B&B and some... Read More

Terminal Value: a Novel Author: Thomas Waite Website: http://thomaswaite.com/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW According to Wikipedia, in the business of finance, the phrase terminal value refers to securities and is defined as “the present value at a future point in time of all future cash flows when we expect stable growth rate forever. It is a technical term that is generally used in multi-stage discounted cash flow analysis, where it allows for the limitation of cash flow projections to a several-year period.” But you don\’t have to have an MBA in finance to enjoy this... Read More

After the Wink and other stories Author: Carolyn Steele Agosta Website: http://carolynagosta.com/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW If you\’ve enjoyed Carolyn Steele Agosta\’s novels – Every Little Step She Takes and The Pleasure of Your Company — you\’ll want to be sure to check out this collection of 36 short stories and essays — and two poems.As with her novels, these stories are all about the importance of family and home. This book offers up thirty eight stories whose main congruity is that they deal with personal relationships and their trajectories... Read More

Life Studies Author: Nancy Gotter Gates Website: http://www.nancygottergates.com/home.html Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This book opens with narrator Liz Raynor opening the door to a strange young woman, who asks for Liz\’s recently deceased husband, Peter. Liz is still reeling from his loss, two months earlier. After all, it has only been seven months since they found out he was ill. After turning her away, Liz realizes that she needs something to do with her life since she now has no husband, no children, and no need of a job. After a bit of thought, she decides to take up... Read More

The Day the Parrot Died Author: Nancy Gotter Gates Website: http://www.nancygottergates.com/books.html Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This new novel by Nancy Gotter Gates, author of Life Studies and Sand Castles, quickly introduces the reader to an unlikely team of retired sleuths: Viola Weatherspoon and Tyrone Landowski, fast friends and fellow residents of the Glendon Hills Retirement Community. Vi used to be an executive director for the Girl Scouts. She suspects that Ty\’s former career may have involved espionage, though he only admits to have worked for the State Department.... Read More

Empty Arms Author: Erika Liodice Website: http://www.erikaliodice.com/books/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This is the story of Catharine Chase, an ordinary woman, except for the fact that her entire life is built on a secret: She fell in love at 16, got pregnant, was exiled to a maternity home and wasn\’t allowed to keep her daughter. Prior to delivery, no one had told her the maternity home would separate her from her child. As a result, she\’s never been able to forget her child\’s first cries – or her screams as the baby she named Emily was forcibly removed... Read More

When Assassins and Allies Conspire (Visionary Tales) Author: Ronda Del Boccio Website: http://www.profitablestorytelling.com/tag/when-assassins-and-allies-conspire Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This downloadable Kindle book is a collection of four short stories, written by master storyteller Ronda Del Boccio. Each story is prefaced by a brief author\’s introduction which shares with the reader her inspiration for that tale. I won\’t tell you about all of the stories, but I will say that each is different, and hugely creative. My favorite is the last one, a fantasy titled... Read More