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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

May 10, 2022  
Sneak a peek at the humorous Western historical fiction novel OUTLAW WEST OF THE PECOS by Preston Lewis Author on my blog, and enter the giveaway for your chance to win an autographed copy of the book - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/05/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-outlaw-west.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Accused of cheating at cards on a Southern Pacific passenger train in far West Texas, H.H. Lomax is kicked off the train and finds himself at the mercy of the unpredictable justice of Judge Roy Bean, who calls himself “Law West of the Pecos.” After being fined of all his money, married, and divorced by the judge in a matter of minutes, Lomax discovers an unlikely connection to him.

Against a backdrop of a pending world heavyweight championship bout, Lomax heads to El Paso to interest someone in writing and publishing Bean’s biography. He winds up in an El Paso boarding house across the hall from Texas killer John Wesley Hardin. They despise each other, but Hardin fears Lomax’s straight-arrow Texas Ranger brother and treads lightly around Lomax. Because of Hardin’s crooked connections in El Paso, Lomax gets caught between him and corrupt constable John Selman.

El Paso is becoming the focal point of efforts to host a championship prizefight that everyone from the Presidents of the United States and Mexico to the governors of Texas, New Mexico Territory and Chihuahua have vowed to stop. Calling on his connections to his Ranger brother, El Paso officials and the promoter of the boxing match, Lomax uses his Judge Roy Bean friendship to pull off the oddest prizefight in heavyweight history.

Outlaw West of the Pecos stands as an entertaining mix of historical and hysterical fiction.
     
Fatman (2020)
Fatman (2020)
2020 | Action, Comedy, Thriller
7
7.7 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) is a very spoiled, entitled, and sadistic young boy. He has the advantages of privilege and lives with his wealthy Grandmother but is rude and condescending to the staff. Billy is also very arrogant and petty to the point that a Runner Up finish at his private school Science Fair after a string of wins motivates him to hire a Hitman (Walton Goggins) to intimidate the victor to falsely admit to cheating so he can claim victory.

This is not the first time Billy has hired the Hitman and when he gets a lump of coal for Christmas from Santa (Mel Gibson) he is enraged and hires the Hitman to take out Santa.

Santa has his own issues as a decline in revenue has forced him and his wife Ruth (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) to take on a project with the government to not only restore his fully stipend but to pay additional funds that will ensure financial stability.

The fact that the Hitman has his own reasons for having issues with Santa further motivates him to take the job and rushed north to face Santa on his own turf.

“Fatman” is a dark and entertaining new holiday entry that gives a contemporary take on Santa and his Elves as they must contend with the issues, politics, and changing world that face many companies.

The at times dark nature of the film is an interesting contrast to the usual overly sweet films that are commonplace this time of year and Gibson and Goggins backed by a strong supporting cast turn in memorable performances.

While not one for the kids; “Fatman” is a solid piece of entertainment and Eshom and Ian Nelms keep things moving at a steady pace and provide an interesting and contemporary look at Santa in the modern world and combine it with a story about finding a way through adversity.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Hostage in Books

Jul 1, 2021  
Hostage
Hostage
Clare Mackintosh | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
You'll never want to fly again! ;)
Mina is a flight attendant scheduled for the inaugural non-stop flight from London to Sydney. There is much press and fanfare for the big flight, but Mina is mostly relieved it gets her a few days away from Adam, her estranged husband. The two have been torn apart by his cheating and the difficulties of parenting their young daughter. However, once the plane takes off, Mina receives a note telling her that she must make a terrifying decision, one that forces her to choose between her job and her family.

"Everyone wants a piece of Flight 79. Everyone wants to make history."

Whew, what a tense and stressful thriller! It had a slow start to building up all the drama--it is a lie that it all takes place on a plane, as we get some backstory to Mina and Adam's relationship before Mina steps on said fateful plane. For me, that part dragged a bit. Once she's on the plane, things pick up and it's a fairly twisty and taut journey.

The book flips between Mina and Adam's perspectives, along with some of the plane's passengers. It's a little hard to keep everyone straight, though it's clear from the passenger's narration that something is not right with this flight. Mackintosh, as always, is great at building up the uneasiness. Adam is not the most sympathetic of characters, and I wanted to yell and scream at him during many of his chapters. Their poor child--what parents she has!

It's a unique idea here, and for the most part, it's executed well. Mackintosh gives us a lot to think about, between Mina's situation and some of her other plot points. The story is stressful and intense, leaving you to wonder what on earth will happen next (and perhaps question any desire to take a plane ever again). The ending, too, is excellent. 4 stars.
  
The Push
The Push
Ashley Audrain | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this book is a nameless woman, a daughter, a wife, a mother, and this story is told from her perspective, kind of. The woman is telling us her life story: how she met her husband, about her pregnancy and her troubles with her daughter Violet, and other events that traumatise her for life. The characters in this book are quite disturbed, intense and very complex. For some strange reason, I could really relate to the protagonist. I understood her and her thoughts resonated with mine sometimes.

At the beginning of the book, I was not very impressed, I had no idea what it was about. But the more I got into it, the more absorbed I became. The narrative has several different lines and is telling the story of women from three generations. The protagonist is sharing the deepest and scariest thoughts of her life, and it got very intense for me sometimes. I really enjoyed the suspense, turns and twists. The topics discussed in this book are marriage, pregnancies, lack of motherhood instinct, mother-daughter relationship, children behavioural issues, grief, depression, trauma and many more.

The book is set somewhere American sounding (might be Canada), the atmosphere of this book is pretty dark and shrouded with mystery. I really liked the writing style of this novel, it is very honest, detailed and the mystery was kept perfectly. The chapters are pretty short, so this book was a true page-turner for me. I really loved the ending, because I was pretty confused with some stuff happening in the book, but the ending kind of clarified it for me. I have to throw in a warning, that this book has triggers when it comes to pregnancies, cheating, death of children, grief, psychotic behaviour.

So, to conclude, this book is a very intense life story, filled with very well crafted characters, that are intriguing, absorbing and the plot that is layered, complex and brutally honest.
  
Playing with Fire (Magical Romantic Comedies #1)
Playing with Fire (Magical Romantic Comedies #1)
R.J. Blain | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This review and more can be found at my blog
https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com
A Romance Reader's Reviews

This one starts with Bailey working at the coffee shop where she makes drinks for its regular but unusual breed of customers from humans to pixies to werewolves, adding a pinch of dust to each drink to give them a high. Her nemesis, Chief Quinn, comes in and she makes him a drink before he heads out, taking her boss with him, leaving Bailey to work an 18 hour shift alone. Jealously flares within Bailey as she's had a thing for Quinn since he asked her to find proof of his wife's cheating. When Bailey is asked by Quinn's former brother-in-law to help her find someone, she's reluctant but agrees, and is handed a phone. Only the phone isn't all that it seems setting in motion a series of events that throws her into Quinn's life more than either bargained for.

I enjoyed the first 40% of this more than the latter 60%. The beginning was fun and quirky. I loved the sort of love/hate thing she had going on with Quinn. I enjoyed the banter between her and some of the other cops and it was just up my street. It just seemed their will they/won't they get together thing was concluded too early in the book and I was wondering what the rest of the book would be about. It lost some of its appeal for me after the weird Gorgon vomit scene. And then I just struggled to connect with it again. I soldiered on, determined to finish it.

I also found Quinn's family very complicated. He has almost every type of creature in his family tree from angels to incubus to gorgon but he is very much human and I couldn't keep track of who was who half of the time.

I liked it enough that I'd buy more of this series.