Book and Product Reviews by Roundtable Reviews

I'm finding the more I work, the harder it is to fit in any reading. Last week's vacation didn't pan out with plenty of reading time on the beach, mainly because it rained most of the time we were there. A friend from WAHM is joining Roundtable Reviews to help out. She'll be offering both kids and adult book reviews. Welcome Alex to the team. Her bio is below. Alex is stay at home mom who enjoys reading and some writing. She's a member of various women's clubs in her community, where they at times discuss books, poetry and magazines.    Alex is also a member of a teen empowerment organization, that specialize in helping at risk young girls maintain a drug free life and help them make wise choices regarding everyday issues. 

Released April 2011 www.eharlequin.com www.amandastevens.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth Amelia Gray sees ghosts, as does her father. She's spent her entire life following her father's rules. Acknowledging the ghost binds them to you and you'll never be free. Despite this, Amelia's career finds her in cemeteries on a regular basis as she cleans and restores old, forgotten graveyards. Her latest project has her treading dangerous ground. A body's been found in a graveyard she's working on. The murdered woman doesn't belong there and Detective John Devlin feels Amelia's photographs may have the clues he needs to solve the case. When someone breaks into her car, she begins to worry that maybe she saw the murderer without realizing it. On a more personal front, Amelia's trying hard to hide her attraction to Devlin. He's dark and mysterious and probably the last man she needs. Two spirits are bound to him, and Amelia's uncertain who

Released April 2011 www.kathleeneagle.com www.eharlequin.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth After her husband died, Skylar Quinn's spent her time dealing with debt, a step-son who doesn't seem motivated, and a wild horse sanctuary that means the world to her. Her hobby involving photography is equally important, and she'd like it to become more than a hobby. Even, motherhood is in the back of her mind. It's those photographs that lead her to Trace Wolf Track. During a calf-roping competition, Skylar photographs Trace. She's spent the past year managing the ranch her husband willed to his son. The problem is Skylar's step-son doesn't seem to care. Trace's offer to help her train her mustang in exchange for spending time with him seems like the perfect solution. Trace is a cowboy and the one person who might help Skylar both on the ranch and with moving on with her life. Before she knows what's happening, Skylar's falling for Trace. Coul

Released May 2011 www.eharlequin.com www.dianechamberlain.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth Noelle, Tara, and Emerson are best of friends and have been since college. Tara's still reeling by the tragic death of her husband. Her daughter, Grace, is distant and seems to want nothing to do with her. Emerson knows her friend is hurting and all she can do is be supportive and have her daughter be there for Grace. Noelle, a recently retired midwife, stuns all of them by committing suicide. Tara and Emerson wonder how they missed the signs. They decide to unravel why Noelle would kill herself and that leads to a number of surprising revelations, all starting with a single letter to a woman named Anna. The Midwife's Confession is an emotional story. It's told from a number of viewpoints, including Noelle's, Tara's, Emerson's, Grace's, and Anna's. I didn't find the outcome to be overly shocking, yet I was still glued to the pages. I started readi

Released May 2011 www.MIRABooks.com www.debbiemacomber.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth Six years ago, Bethanne's husband walked away from her, their children, and their 20-year marriage for a younger woman. Bethanne pushed aside the shock realizing she needed to pay the bills. As a result, her party-planning business took off. Now, that their son is about to marry, Grant's back. His wife's left him and he realizes he still loves Bethanne. Their 22-year-old daughter Annie is delighted and wants to see them make a go of it. Bethanne's son is not as thrilled to have dad waltzing back into their lives. Faced with a painful decision, Bethanne decides to drive across country with her former mother-in-law. Annie soon decides to join them. When they break down, they're forced to rely on a group of bikers. Bethanne feels an instant connection with one, yet she also feels she owes Grant a chance to make things work. All three women have decisions to make and this

Win an Amish Quilt Hanging from Bestselling Author Wanda E. Brunstetter! To celebrate the launch of her new website, Wanda E. Brunstetter is having a “Lose Your Heart in the Amish Life” contest. The grand prize winner will receive a beautiful, Amish-made, quilted wall-hanging. To participate, simply visit www.wandabrunstetter.com and click on the Lose Your Heart in the Amish Life Contest banner on the right-hand side of the page. Hurry! The contest ends on April 22 nd !

Released April 2011 http://www.hachettebookgroup.com Nic Sheff follows up his memoir Tweak with We All Fall Down . I never read Tweak. Not that I really needed to. We All Fall Down captures his battle against drug addiction with brutal honesty. The memoir covers Nic's dependency on women, drugs, and even alcohol.  I won't say I always agree with him. I never used drugs and would never abuse alcohol. I watched my alcoholic aunt pass away. I've never understood how someone can spiral so hard. Nic does delve into things and eventually a fact comes to light that clarifies a lot for me. Quite honestly, I became enraged reading certain parts of this second memoir. He's in a counseling session and has a panic attack. If his account of the event is accurate, it sounds very much like she blamed him for having the attack saying that it was basically an avoidance technique. I've had panic attacks. I have absolutely no respect for the way she handled it. Panic atta

Released May 2011 www.emmaforrest.com www.otherpress.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth I dove into Your Voice in My Head knowing very little about the author. Emma Forrest is a British journalist and screenwriter who moved from England to New York City in her early 20s. In the city, she delved into cutting, depression, and eventually a suicide attempt. Her saving grace was a kindly psychiatrist who wanted to see Emma find happiness and overcome her negative perceptions of herself. Along the way, Emma falls for a man she refers to as GH (Gypsy Husband). She never reveals him by name, but the reader is made aware that he is an actor, a popular actor that most everyone will know. Quite simply, not knowing who she had the affair with drove me crazy. I had to go online to see if I could find his name, and I did. Now that I know who he is, I plan to re-read the memoir because it puts a different spin on things. Personally, I'm not big into Hollywood tabloid - break up infor

Released May 2011 www.rachelgibson.com Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth Autumn Haven went to Vegas to burn off some steam after her mother's death. Autumn cared for her mother in the final stages of her life and really needs to unwind. She doesn't expect to have a whirlwind romance, get married, and get dumped in that short time frame. Sam Leclaire cares about his hockey career. While he found Autumn more than sexy, he has no room in his life for a woman. It isn't until months later that he learns that one night resulted in pregnancy. Six years later, Autumn is an established wedding planner. She has a son to support. While the child support she gets from Sam is more than enough, she doesn't want anything to do with the man who broke her heart. She's makes sure that if anything happened, she could easily support her son on her own income. Sam comes and goes from Conner's life. Autumn's sick of seeing her son's heart broken and figures keeping him