What a way to end a vacation

This is a picture of Isaiah, the tow truck driver who ended up bringing us home. I took it from inside his truck. (Yes I asked him if it was ok)What a way to end a vacation. We were all packed up and hit the road early enough that I expected to be home in time for lunch. Unfortunately that means we skipped breakfast. We were about an hour from home when the car just totally lost power. The day before it had lost the AC and the light just kept blinking, but that did not seem like a big deal at the time, until we got stuck inside a boiling hot car and the poor cat was with us in her carrier. My husband called Triple A and was assured  they would get to us in less than an hour. We found some shade to wait in, but it was a very scary street and a person came up to us and either tried to sell us drugs or asked us to sell him drugs I am not even sure because he was clearly already on something.

When an hour passed and no truck came, my husband called Triple A again and it was as if they totally forgot about us and had not sent anyone for us. This time they said it would be less than 20 minutes. I had to lie and say the cat threw up from the heat. Honestly I was more worried about her in that cramped carrier than about myself but at least she had gotten breakfast. Finally Isaiah arrived to rescue us. By the time we got home it was 3 pm and we had not a bite to eat all day and not a speck of food except cat food in the house. We were able to borrow a car and go grocery shopping and when we sat down to our first meal of the day it was about 6pm.

I was very happy to see multiple packages of books waiting for me, but honestly after this ordeal and needing to unpack and do laundry I have only begun to open my mail this morning.
If I have accepted a review request from you please understand that I may be a bit late. I will get to it as soon as possible.

On Vacation, See You Soon!

I didn't want you to think I've abandoned you. I will be away from the computer for 2 weeks with my husband at the lake house. I'll still be reading, especially considering we are expecting on and off thunderstorms, but I won't be able to post reviews until we return on July 27. This is our gorgeous view and my cozy reading spot. I'm looking forward to relaxing here but there is no internet and I am just not going to try to post reviews from my phone.
My current read is "The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36406228-the-whispered-tales-of-graves-grove  
It will be my first review when I return.
 I'm also bringing an advance copy of "Violet" by Scott Thomas.
Be good! I'll miss you!

We Live Inside Your Eyes by Kealan Patrick Burke

In the ruins of an old parking garage, there is an effigy lashed to a pillar. To anyone else, the remains of the woman with the goat skull head is a warning. To a lonely young boy looking for escape, it is a god of salvation. At its feet lay tattered old notebooks, scattered stories, tales of strange encounters, of broken people and monstrous things, and of corrupt hearts and evil minds. In order to complete his transfiguration, the boy must read these stories, but he has no idea the fate that awaits him.

WE LIVE INSIDE YOUR EYES is the much anticipated new collection from Bram Stoker Award-winning horror author Kealan Patrick Burke, featuring previously uncollected stories and two brand new tales written especially for this collection, the short story "You Have Nothing to Fear From Me", and the novelette "The House on Abigail Lane." With an introduction and story notes by the author.

A creepy collection of tales from one of my favorite horror authors. I had previously read The Mannequin Challenge when it appeared in  Halloween Carnival 4. It was one of the best stories in that anthology and it was enjoyable to revisit it here, My favorites in this collection were You Have Nothing To Fear From Me in which a lonely middle aged woman finally finds the perfect date, and Wicked Thirst, which  is a disturbing tale about an alcoholic who has given up on sobriety and is instead accepting himself the way he is. The longer story The House on Abigail Lane was also quite eerie and is of course about a particularly creepy house where people seem to disappear into thin air.
A solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.


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About the author
Born and raised in a small harbor town in the south of Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke knew from a very early age that he was going to be a horror writer. The combination of an ancient locale, a horror-loving mother, and a family full of storytellers, made it inevitable that he would end up telling stories for a living. Since those formative years, he has written five novels, over a hundred short stories, six collections, and edited four acclaimed anthologies. In 2004, he was honored with the Bram Stoker Award for his novella The Turtle Boy.

Kealan has worked as a waiter, a drama teacher, a mapmaker, a security guard, an assembly-line worker at Apple Computers, a salesman (for a day), a bartender, landscape gardener, vocalist in a grunge band, curriculum content editor, fiction editor at Gothic.net, and, most recently, a fraud investigator.

When not writing, Kealan designs book covers through his company Elderlemon Design.

A movie based on his short story "Peekers" is currently in development as a major motion picture.

Represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House Agency.

The Sisters of Summit Avenue by Lynn Cullen

From Lynn Cullen, the bestselling author of Mrs. Poe and Twain’s End, comes a powerful novel set in the Midwest during the Great Depression, about two sisters bound together by love, duty, and pain.

Ruth has been single-handedly raising four young daughters and running her family’s Indiana farm for eight long years, ever since her husband, John, fell into a comatose state, infected by the infamous “sleeping sickness” devastating families across the country. If only she could trade places with her older sister, June, who is the envy of everyone she meets: blonde and beautiful, married to a wealthy doctor, living in a mansion in St. Paul. And June has a coveted job, too, as one of “the Bettys,” the perky recipe developers who populate General Mills’ famous Betty Crocker test kitchens. But these gilded trappings hide sorrows: she has borne no children. And the man she used to love more than anything belongs to Ruth.

When the two sisters reluctantly reunite after a long estrangement, June’s bitterness about her sister’s betrayal sets into motion a confrontation that’s been years in the making. And their mother, Dorothy, who’s brought the two of them together, has her own dark secrets, which might blow up the fragile peace she hopes to restore between her daughters.

An emotional journey of redemption, inner strength, and the ties that bind families together, for better or worse, The Sisters of Summit Avenue is a heartfelt love letter to mothers, daughters, and sisters everywhere.


I'm not going to go into the plot too much since everything you need to know is in the description. This was a stunning work of historical fiction and not just because it was set during my favorite time period. The writing is so evocative without being overly emotional or turning into a sob story. What you do need to know in case you aren't already aware is that the "sleeping sickness" was a real epidemic in those days and it truly did sicken people all over the world. No cause has ever been found. Encephalitis Lethargic was the medical term for this illness that remains a mystery to this day. I believe that at least half of the people who contracted it died. I don't want to give the impression that this story is only about illness. Marriage, and playing the hand you've been dealt in life are huge elements of this book. The bigger picture is about the two sisters, and their love for each other above all petty resentments, and their relationship with their mother "Odd Dorothy" as she had been known in the town where they grew up. Dorothy and her husband Bud "Rowdy Dowdy" are significant characters as well even if they mostly shine from the background.
I loved this book!
5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review

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