This time it’s different. I’ve written other posts, lamenting what could have been great writing were it not watered down with obligatory but unnecessary sex scenes. This book is the exception… the sex scenes are not here to titillate the reader. They are an integral part of the story… unfortunately.
There wouldn’t be a story without the raw honesty in Something I Am Not. Sex plays a huge role of the life of the protagonist, and many of the other characters crossing paths with him. It’s heart breaking and difficult to read in places, but I’ve given it five stars. This is an important and timely story. It will grab the reader’s attention from the very beginning, not letting go until the last page.
It has impacted my life, shining a light on some things I would not have thought to consider. Triggering the surfacing of a long buried memory of my own abuse. I think that was the goal of the author when she birthed the idea. Hoping hurting and abused readers would see themselves in the life of another and, find hope. The author has done a masterful job of presenting a difficult subject with sensitivity.
Something I am Not – Cher Gatto … Billy was three when his mother sent him to live with his manipulative and abusive father. At least that’s the story. He has never seen evidence of his mother and he has no memories of her. At seventeen he is trying desperately to survive long enough to graduate and move on.
The abuse hasn’t only been at the hands of his father. Piles of unbearable shame have been heaped on his head at the hands of his father’s girlfriend. It seems everyday a new source of abuse appears in his life. It is never ending.
The faithful mentoring of his high school football coach is his only safe place. Billy is a football star and he’s hoping a college scholarship will be his ticket out. At least that was his dream until another little brother showed up one day. How can he think about leaving a defenseless little boy alone to suffer what he has at the hands of his father and his friends?
Part of his father’s business is staging professional boxing matches. Billy has been trained to fight but doesn’t and has never manage a win over his father. Now, he has been backed into a corner and is going to have to fight to the death, to save himself and his little brother. The fight will probably mean his own death but he is willing if it means his brother will be spared a life of abuse.
Now, for a change of pace. A few stories in a lighter vein. Well, some of them are lighter than others … but they are all good.
Full Heart Ranch Series – Help Me, Hold Me book 5 – Barbara Gee
The Barn Church Series – Sticks and Stones book 2 – Shellie Arnold
Second Chance Love – Pamela S. Meyers
Façade – Pepper Basham
The Edge of Mercy – Heidi Chiavaroli
This was a great bunch of books, it was difficult to pick just one to feature.
Happy Reading!
Lost in Hardyland – Shannon Heuston
Following Rain – Darrel Nelson
Georgia Patriots Romance series – The Twelfth Hour Patriot – Jennifer Youngblood
Blind Justice – James Scott Bell
Secrets in Savannah – The Caretaker’s Son – Yvonne Lehman
Smitten Historical Romance Collection – The Cowboys – Jennifer Uhlarik, Linda W. Yezak, Sandra Merville Hart, Cindy Ervin Huff
Boy in the Darkness – Anne Schroeder … A young indentured Chinese boy was injured and left behind by his wagon train. He failed to show up when it was time to move on and was considered expendable.
Cape Ann – John Theo Jr. … Danger lurks above and below the water.
Return to Walhalla – Laura Hodges Poole …
Down to Earth – Patricia PacJac Carroll … A sweet feel good romance
Genesis – What Happened to Lori book 1 – JA Konrath … a thriller. Is she dead? Or is it much worse? (Mind-Blowing Twist Thriller Duology)
Fields of the Fatherless – Elaine Marie Cooper … a historical novel based on a true story
Buckeye Promises – A Promise Forged book 1 – Cara Putman
Who is Harrison Sawyer? – Aaron D. Gansky
Gift of the Magpie – Zoe M. McCarthy
Prince Edward Island Dreams – The Red Door Inn book 1 – Liz Johnson
Secrets in Savannah – Seeking Mr Perfect book 3 – Yvonne Lehman
Dangerous Love, Secrets of Rios Azules – Color of Danger, Taste of Danger, Touch of Danger – Alexa Verde
Lightning on a Quiet Night – Donn Taylor …. Beneficent, Mississippi views itself as a perfect town with perfect people. There is no crime and, until now, there has never been a murder. It’s a major shock to everyone. The killer has to be a visitor, someone passing through. It’s unthinkable this could be committed by a local.
Jill Shepherd Suspense – Her Deadly Inheritance book 1 – Beth Ann Ziarnik … Jill fled seven years ago, after the untimely death of her mother. Now after all these years, her aunt Lenore is putting an application in motion to have her declared legally dead. She plans to claim the mansion and all it’s historical attributes for herself.
Roaring Twenties Series – You’re the Cream in My Coffee book 1 – Jennifer Lamont Leo …
Heart of the Mountains – This Daring Journey book 6 – Misty M Beller
A Million Miles From Home – Mike Dellosso
In a Pirate’s Debt – Elva Cobb Martin
Wondrous Love Series – By Grace Draw Near book three – JoAnn Durgin …
All the Way Home – Ann Tatlock
Runaway Heart – Teresa Slack
Impossible Dream – Gemma Jackson
Memphis & Me – Diane Moody
Second Chances Series – Running Home – Barbara Ellen Brink
Ella Dessa’s Story – Within the Candle’s Glow book 2 – Karen Campbell Prough … This is a complicated love story where hearts are broken. Ella Dessa and Samuel are best childhood friends and he’s grown to love her. She loves him as a friend but it’s his older brother Jim she’s in love with. Then there’s Josh. A dirty, unkempt, and injured miner, Josh has recently come to town with a bag of gold and wild tales about how he got it. He fancies himself in love with Ella and will resort to kidnapping to have her. Samuel loves her enough to risk his life to rescue her and return her to his brother.
Ella Dessa’s Story – With This Peace book 3 – Karen Campbell Prough … There is a third brother in the McKnapp clan, the wanderer Duncan. He’s spent many years away from the family farm always returning with grand tales of fame and fortune. This time he returns with arguments to convince his brothers, Jim and Duncan, to join him in a venture that he says can’t lose. He tells them stories of vast fertile farmland in Florida, just for the taking. Ella Dessa was not in favor of the trip to begin with and with confusing inaccurate maps and continually changing plans she faces hardship like she’s never known. Left alone with her children in an unfamiliar part of the world, she would have died without the help of kind souls travelling the same lonely, isolated path.
When Darkness Falls – The Gathering Storm book 1 – Barbara Warren … Stephanie hasn’t seen her undependable and dishonest father in three years. She’s shocked to see him at her door now. He’s here to convince her to visit the grand hotel he shares with his celebrity wife. Suspicious of his motives she refuses to go with him.
The Other Side of The Sun – Madeleine L’Engle … Stella is barely married when her new husband is sent on a diplomatic mission to some unknown place in the world, for an indefinite period of time. He’s left her alone in the deep south, beach front, family cottage. Living with elderly relatives she’s just met, in a culture she knows nothing about.
The Gilded Curse – Marilyn Turk … Her brother Robert died at Pearl Harbor. Shortly after, came the death of her mother in a mental hospital. Lexie is left as the sole heir to a crumbling family empire. A common dilemma for the wealthy of those days. Her empire has been reduced to an abandoned family cottage on a holiday isle of the wealthy. A cottage her mother claims is cursed.
Faded Photograph Series – Broken Things book 1 – Andrea Boeshaar ….. Allie was young and wary of marriage. Jack was devastated when she left him behind to take a job with her father in another city.
Faded Photograph Series – Hidden Things book 2 – Andrea Boeshaar ….. Looking through her mother’s mail, Kylie opens a wedding invitation and out falls an old photo. A group of friends – three girls and a guy. Her mother is one of the girls and they are part of a political demonstration, by the look of the signs they carry. The date on the picture is April 1969 but that can’t be right. Kylie was born in April and her mother does not look like she’s nine months pregnant. Marching in a protest can’t be right either – her mother was the most private, conservative person she knew. If this picture is real, it would appear her mother has been hiding some things all these years.
Focus on Love Romance Box set – Catch of a Lifetime, Dance Over Me, Focus on Love – Candee Fick
First Crush – Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig …… Natalie is shocked to receive a call from a lawyer informing her the grandmother she didn’t know existed is dying and needs her to be there. Newly arrived in town, the pressure is to sell is already being applied.
The Forgotten Life of Evelyn Lewis – Jane Rubietta ….. Evelyn’s company is on the brink of bankruptcy and a desperate need for a solution has her deciding to sell her inheritance – a farm she loved as a child. The property is tied up in an unexpected and complicated trust, making a quick sale impossible. The pressure mounts as her office demands her time and presence, and the farm trust demands the same.
Aspiring Hearts Series – Skirting Tradition book 1 – Kay Moser ….. This is book one in the story about a young woman with aspirations of becoming a teacher, in a time when it was socially unacceptable. The second book Ruffling Society was mentioned in the post before this one. It was actually more about Sarah’s training years. This one is more about the characters she had as mentors at the beginning of her educational journey. They were women who defied tradition and achieved most of their dreams. They paid a dear price for those decisions but if they had it to do over, they wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe some things but not the ones that counted.
Love on the Santa Fe Trail series – Wagon Train Baby book 1 – Linda Ford ….. Donna Grace does not trust men. Unmarried and pregnant, since her husband was already married, she’s trying to return to Santa Fe where she was raised. Her wagoneer father has decided not to go this trip, leaving her without a male escort. The wagon master will not allow an unattended female to travel with him, ever.
Willow Falls Series – The Secret of Willow Inn book 1 – Pat Nichols …. Emily, who has always longed for a sister, is devastated when her parents are killed in a tragic car crash. She’s only just told them she is expecting twin girls.
A Southern Season: Four Stories From a Porch Swing – Lillie Beth in Summer – Eva Mae Everson, Ice Melts in Spring – Linda W Yezak, Through an Autumn Window – Clair Fullerton, A Magnolia Blooms in Winter – Ane Mulligan ….. I found these stories didn’t all appeal equally but were still worth the read. Each romance was unique.
Lord of Her Heart – Sherrinda Ketchersid …. Her father sent her to a convent allowing only sporadic visits to the castle she calls home. She’s worried because he’s not answered her letters in more than a year. She overhears a conversation between two nuns, planning to marry her off soon unless she willingly takes her vows as nun. Disguising herself as a young lad she runs away before this can happen.
Finding Love in the Low Country Series – Somewhere a Rainbow book 1, After the Storm book 2, Southern Gentleman book 3, Catch of a Lifetime book 4 – Yvonne Lehman …. All four were stories worth reading. Painful pasts, secrets, family responsibilities, learning to trust again.
Aspiring Hearts Series – Ruffling Society book 2 – Kay Moser …. Sarah is the daughter of an immigrant farmer and is destined to marry the son of a neighbor so that, jointly, their farms will prosper. Her dream is to become a teacher. Her mother had such a dream, once, and is determined to help Sarah escape.
American Heiresses Series – Flights of Fancy book 1 – Jen Turano …. this is about an heiress needing to flee an arranged marriage to an elderly, disgusting man. She is desperate to find a way to disappear and not be dragged back.
Sight Unseen Series – Will Not See book 2 – Chautona Havig ….. Housekeeping awakens her when they enter a hotel room they think is empty. They begin to back out of the room when they see her but stop at her cry for help. She’s distraught because it’s a strange world. She doesn’t know who she is, where she is, or why she’s here.
A Bradford Sisters Romance – True to You book 1 – Becky Wade …. She is a librarian, genealogist, and business owner – with a painful romantic past. She’s decided marriage is not for her. She’ll immerse herself in her career and business ventures. That will be enough.
Among the Poppies – J’nell Ciesielski …. She has no interest in becoming a lady of privilege. She’s been allowed to learn much as chauffer’s daughter and now…. All she wants is a chance to put her knowledge of engines to work and do her part in helping to win this war.
Silver Lining Ranch Series – For Love of Liberty book 1 – Julie Lessman …… They were arch enemies in school years, always battling for first place honors.
Carolina Cousins Series – A Perilous Proposal book 1 – Michael Phillips …. This is a story of life for blacks after the abolition of slavery. The life of slavery was hard but life after slavery has it’s challenges too. Just in different ways.
The Second Noel – Chautona Havig ….. She learns that a family has been scammed. The Diabetic Alert Dog worth thousands is a fake, he has not been properly trained. The community feels ripped off because they contributed for this one and now many think they shouldn’t be asked to give a second time. She feels bad for the dilemma of this family and is determined to find a way to help them. Their son nearly died because the dog missed the signs.
For the Love of Books 