Book and Product Reviews by Roundtable Reviews

Release Date - December 2013 Courtney Cole Forever Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth Before We Fall begins in the past and then moves forward to present day. As an actor, Dominic Kinkaide excels in focusing in his job and avoiding any personal connections with the people around him. His goal is to get the job done and stay out of the limelight. At one his brother's wild parties, Dominic finds himself in over his head. He saves a woman from being raped, but that leads to him having to drive another drive home rather than saying at the estate and ignoring the world around him. When Dominic gets into a fight with a former best friend, the woman he's driving home intervenes. Police are called and find drugs in Dominic's car. He and the woman are both arrested and that starts a new phase in Dominic's life. One he was not prepared to deal with. Jacey Vincent is disheartened when she's arrested, yet baffled when she learns that the famous actor arranged to have

Release Date - January 2014 Bourbon Street Book Review by Bob Walch Psychotherapist Jessica Mayhew should know better than to get personally involved with her patients, but her personal life hasn’t been going well recently so Jessica crosses the line. Now, hopefully, she will live long enough to untangle the mess she has stumbled into. TV soap star Gwydion Morgan has an odd fear of buttons, of all things, and he’s sought Jessica help in dealing with this phobia. In their talk about the problem Gwydion mentions a strange dream he keeps having. Believing the dream holds the key to her patient’s bizarre button aversion, Jessica agrees to visit Gwydion’s family home and meet his parents. While this encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Morgan is enlightening, Jessica finds that the story Mrs. Morgan shares about the long-ago death of the family’s au pair far more revealing. Sensing a link between the girl’s death and her client’s present problems, Jessica decides to play

Release Date - November 2013 Kimberley Reeves WEbook Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth Mitch was shattered when his brother gave his life to save him. Reading Adam's journal brings both pain and healing, especially as Mitch reads about a woman who Adam would spend time with between missions. As Adam's twin, Mitch heads to the ranch to let this woman know that Adam was dead. Only once he sees her, Mitch can't bear to tell her the truth and instead poses as his brother to give her the love she's always wanted from Adam. Jessie is happily surprised to see Adam after months of not hearing a word from him. Soon, she cannot believe the changes that he's undergone and finds herself falling head over heels with the new and improved Adam. Little does she know that Adam isn't Adam at all. I admit, at first I was a little surprised that Jessie couldn't tell the difference between Adam and his twin. The scars alone should have been a big clue, but Broken dre

Release Date - September 2013 CreateSpace Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth Author Catherine Craven's goal with 222 Questions We Should Ask Ourselves At Least Once came from her desire to have an insightful guide to everyday life.  What is found within the book is a touch inspirational with some definite truth thrown in. There were times, however, when I also found myself disagreeing. The author's main point is to live a better life by being more positive. One of the lines that got to me hit very early in the book. "It is our choice to become or not to become anxious." It is here that I felt the author alienated a certain group of people. I deal with generalized anxiety disorder, and it is not a "choice" I made, it is a true condition that doctors I've seen believe is linked to brain function that triggers the adrenal system to become overactive at times. I am not the only person in the world with anxiety, as I've learned through support gro

Release Date - January 2014 Okey Ndibe Soho Press Book Review by Bob Walch Ikechukwu Uzondu graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and married an American, yet the Nigerian’s life has not gone well. In fact, a decade after he graduated Ike is driving a cab in New York and his marriage is over. Blaming his sorry plight and inability to find a decent job with his thick accent, Ike also struggles with a drinking problem and gambling addiction. The lower he sinks, the more he blames discrimination and his former wife for his rapid decline. Suddenly the distraught African sees a glimmer of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Ike discovers that there are people in New York who will spend big bucks to obtain authentic statues of foreign deities. Thinking back to his home village in Nigeria, Ike knows of an effigy that would undoubtedly interest these wealthy collectors.    As he returns to his homeland, Ike believes he now sees a way to reve

Release Date - October 2013 (Reissue) Ymaa Publication Center Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth Balancing work, family responsibilities, and personal time strains any mom. For work, plagiarism is a major concern, especially when many clients have me revamping their old website content to make it sound new. I do have a tip on  how to avoid plagiarism . I use Grammarly because it does the work for me, and I now longer have to pull hair out while triple checking rewrites. Seriously, you have no idea how easy it is for a simple phrase, even a repetitive one, to be counted as plagiarism by someone. Finding time to myself is harder when I'm balancing shuffling my daughter to school, walking the dog three times a day, cooking meals, and cleaning the house. For that, I've discovered a passion for yoga, tai chi, and my latest interest Qigong (Qi meaning "energy" and Gong meaning "energy and time.) If you need to destress, while also getting exercise, pick up a copy of

Dr. Kristen Race is a nationally recognized expert in child, family, and school psychology and founder of Mindful Life. In her new book,  Mindful Parenting  (St. Martin's Griffin; January 7), Dr. Race uses brain science research to explain how today's technology and over-scheduled kids increases anxiety and impedes proper brain development through the overuse of the amygdala. The book discusses the realities of raising a family in our fast paced and often frenetic world and provides hundreds of easy-to-implement solutions, both for parents and their children, to help them manage stress, create   peace, and live happier lives.

Release Date - January 7, 2014 Carla Cassidy Harlequin Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth It's nine below outside with wind chills reaching 40 below. I'm nestled inside with the pellet stove keeping the living room warm, but earlier I was tucked in bed with my dog and kitten and avoiding the thought of cold by reading Carla Cassidy's latest Men of Wolf Creek romance. Lethal Lawman is clearly the next book in a series, but it works well as a stand-alone romance. In Lethal Lawman , Marlene Marcoli and her sisters are still hoping their aunt will be found alive. It's been two months, however, and there's been nary a trace of the older woman. Marlene is certain that her aunt is dead, but she soon has her own issues. After Marlene's apartment is broken into, and then threatening notes are left, the detectives in Wolf Creek realize someone is after her and that she needs to go into hiding. Detective Frank Delaney isn't going to hide his attraction to Ma

Sharron Kahn Luttrell Gallery Books Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth Weekends With Daisy turned out to be a great way to start a new year! The premise is pretty simple. Missing her German Shepherd, Sharron Kahn Luttrell was uncertain she was really ready to bring a new dog into her home, but she also longed for the companionship a dog provides. I totally understand that. While her children in this memoir are younger than mine, I understand that children do reach an age where "mom" is no longer needed every hour of the day, and the void isn't a lot of fun. In Luttrell's case, she came across a weekend trainer for service dogs. While inmates train and care for the dogs during the week, people are needed to help socialize and introduce the dogs to a range of experiences on the weekends. Figuring this was a great way to have a puppy on a part-time basis, Luttrell signed up and was approved as a weekend trainer. The resulting memoir recounts her experiences from t