Lisa A. Wroble's Blog: With a Writer's Eye

Secret Sisters by Jane Ann Krentz is a blend of mystery/suspense and relationship romance. I don't normally read this type of book but I received a copy of this book from ALA and the author is now on my "read all her books" list. This title goes on sale in December (according to the cover of my ARC copy).

A family secret, a death, then a murder launches Maddie into a past she'd rather forget. After her grandmother's death Maddie inherits the Sanctuary Creek B & B Chain and is settling into running it alone when she is called by Tom, the caretaker of the Aurora Point Hotel on Cooper Island. It was her grandmother's first hotel and which has been shut down for 18 years. Heading there to meet with Tom kindles an 18-year-old memory she's kept pushed to the back of her mind. The mystery behind the night her grandmother decided to shut down the hotel and leave resurfaces. When she discovers the caretaker mortally wounded while trying to stop vandals on the property, Jack, the head of the security company for the Sanctuary Creek Inns, arrives to help her and local police with the crime. Jack soon realizes that this may be linked to the past and not only is Maddie in danger but everyone who was involved on that night so many years ago.

With Jack's help, Maddie connects with her childhood best friend (until they were 12) Daphne. They had been secret sisters though the circumstances of that night led them onto different paths that were never supposed to cross again. Now, it seems that a powerful family on the island may have been involved 18 years ago. But why have they waiting so long to seek revenge--and which one of them is involved? The parents? The troubled son? Or the son running for office? The two people--her grandmother and the caretaker--who might have answers are dead. As Jack and his brother work with Daphne and Maddie, the mystery becomes more complicated and points to events that happened even longer ago than the girls' 18-year-old traumatic memory.

I loved the mystery of the past coming back to haunt them but also rekindle the friendship between the girls who are now successful women in their own ways. The strong pacing and plot twists that kept me guessing created a book I couldn't put down. I kept reading "one more chapter." I loved the villains with the one family--multiple culprits--and the story line kept me guessing WHICH was the true villain behind the past event. It also had just enough romance--not too much for my taste. (I was surprised to find myself rooting for these relationships to happen.) The ending was a surprise (but all the clues where in place and the pieces line up) and very satisfying. I especially liked the weaving of complex relationships between the various characters.

This is definitely a novel I recommend, and I look forward to reading more by this author. I gave it a 4 of 5 but it's really a 4.5 (wish we could could give partial stars) only because I didn't stay up all night reading it.

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen was recommended by a friend and I'm glad; I might not have picked up this book otherwise. (It is the novel that follows WAKING KATE, a prequel ebook. I gave both 4 of 5 stars.)

This story fed my nostalgia for the days of resort "lake camps" nestled near small, friendly towns. I'd love to find this sort of place today. The novel is about relationships--among family, sweethearts, neighbors, and the people we might only see year after year at our favorite "lake camp." It's also about releasing the pain of the past in order to heal the present and create a promising future.

Kate Pheris comes from a long line of women who love too deeply in a co-dependent sort of way. But she is about to break that chain, in the same way her aunt broke it years ago. She doesn't yet realize this is the case, though her young daughter Devin does, nor does she realize her great-aunt Eby has succeeded in breaking that chain; Kate doesn't have a sense of family with her father dying when she was young and her mother never really recovering. For as long as she can remember it was the three of them, then just she and her mother, then she and her husband.

But he died exactly a year ago and Kate has been living in a fog, barely taking care of her very creative 8-year-old daughter with the help of Cricket, Kate's mother-in-law. She's allowed Cricket to talk Kate into moving in with her and helping in her successful real estate business. She's pliant, barely hearing the memory of how her husband had disliked his mother's "emotional tugs" used to close real estate deals. Devin has been holding onto her creativity as her grandmother tries to snap her out of it with the structure of a private school and the expectations of the life she raised her son in. So, when Devin finds an old postcard from Kate's long-lost great-aunt during the packing and moving, they decide to make a quick visit. Kate isn't even sure the Lost Lake resort is still around.

But they find it, almost by accident. Her Aunt Eby is in the process of retiring and seeking a buyer. Though she's canceled the summer's reservations, the old regulars show up for a final "goodbye" summer. In the midst of this, Kate reconnects with a boy, Wes, she had met on the one visit her family had made to Lost Lake, the summer before her father died. For both of them, the past needs to be healed and that healing is somehow tied with the present and Eby's plans to sell Lost Lake to a developer, Wes's uncle. But Devin's imaginary friend--a lake alligator--and the stories he occupies her with, point to events that happened the summer Wes and Kate became friends and the sad events that marred Wes's life afterward.

Everyone is working through the past--even the guests who arrive for their "goodbye" summer, who try to convince Eby to keep the place open. This summer at Lost Lake is becoming a last chance to heal broken hearts and relationships and move on to to better futures. Devin and her imaginary friend seem to hold the key not only for Wes and Kate, but for Eby, her partner in the camp, Lisette, and several of the guests.

This novel is beautifully written and incredibly engaging in a very different sort of way. The weaving of Eby and Lisette's past into the present tumultuous summer combine with the risks Kate is willing to make to set herself free, despite the painful realization of her relationships with both her mother and her husband and the desire to finally live her life for herself and with Devin's best interests at heart. Definitely read WAKING KATE first, then prepare to get caught up in a final situ met at LOST LAKE.

Kiva & the Stone Nation: The Forbidden Canyon by S E Doyle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love the voice of the main character, Kiva, in this middle grade novel. Kiva's grandmother believes Kiva will someday be a great shape-shifter and shaman but Kiva agrees with her parents: her grandmother is nuts. As her 12th birthday approaches, she begins seeing things, things that relate to those stories her grandmother has always told her. Not only does it freak Kiva out, it freaks out her parents too, who are already stressed about events with her father's boss. Then she finds out her best friend is dumping her just to join the popular group of girls at school, the Honey Bees, she insists on returning home. When her parents refuse, Kiva runs off on her grandparents' ranch. Before she realizes it, she's lost in the canyon they've always told her was off limits. She has to figure out how to get home but the coyote she's seen at school--one of the "things" she's been seeing that make her think she's going crazy just like her grandmother-- and a girl-shaped stone, another of the "things" Kiva's been hoping were only her imagination insist she is there to fulfill her destiny. The girl-shaped stone is named Scout and is part of the Stone Nation.

Both convince Kiva that she must begin her training to become a YaYa Hike, a great shape-shifting shaman, just as her grandmother has predicted. The Stone Nation is relying on Kiva to save them from destruction by a heartless and greedy man. As she wanders around the canyon, learning the 12 lessons of a YaYa Hike, she realizes that the danger faced by the Elders of the Stone Nation is linked to the difficulties her parents have been facing. The greedy man is her father's boss. If she saves them she will likely destroy her father's future (and her family's livelihood) but if she doesn't do something the earth is in danger from her father's greedy boss.

The events are exciting and Kiva as well as the reader realize how very much we are capable of when we are forced to take action. I especially like the 12 lessons which are concepts--such as being observant, having awareness and gratitude--anyone can apply for a healthy and balanced life. This is an enjoyable read for all ages.



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The Magic Touch by Patricia Keyson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Got my Downtown fix with this book, though it's set a bit earlier than the popular PBS series. This is a cleanly written (and formatted, thank God) ebook with excellent historical details and a hint at the lower status of women in the past. I really enjoyed seeing all the details of Victorian England, from the dresses and houses to the social "constraints". I especially liked how being raised in America, where her mother had a more relaxed attitude, creates conflict for the main character, Hope.

Hope, an unmarried twenty-something (nearly a "spinster" in those days!) is staying with her aunt (who is in mourning) in a country where society is more formally structured than she is used to. I like her spunk; she finds a way to explore the streets by dressing in men's clothing, visit a magic lantern (slide) show without her guardian, become infatuated with an "untitled" gentleman, and befriend her maid--all of which add to the conflict and heighten her inner conflict (because she knows she is doing much of this behind her aunt's back and that it can look bad for the family if she is caught). In the midst of it all, she is trying to figure out what to do with her life and how she fits into the more formal English society (due to her father's station) while her parents are traveling the world. She discovers that she may be more trusting than is good for her. But I like that her actions come from a good heart, even if she may not do what she is "supposed to" according to society's rules. In all, I really enjoyed this novel by an author unfamiliar to me. I look forward to investigating some of Keyson's other books.



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What do you do when you’re not into the holidays? I know I have a good reason, but my lack of enthusiasm was bugging me. I’d also had many writing friends bug me to host another of my “teas” — a social gathering so we could talk writing and get creative. I’d done these the summer before last and called them CreativiTEAs. They were a hit. And I enjoyed getting creative in making the plans.

So, to help motivate myself to decorate for the holidays, I planned a holiday tea. I created deadline pres...

This has been an overwhelming year. The month of November was especially challenging, but I got through it with the help of friends and family . I’m grateful to them. But I’m also thankful that I learned something years ago that has helped me navigate the rough waters of life. While working for a company that held yearly “Make It Happen” goal-setting days, we also received Franklin-Covey planners and learned about creating action steps and prioritizing every item on our To-Do lists.

Out of thi...

As a writer, incorporating sensory description is important to me. I’m partial to those frequently overlooked senses: hearing, smell, and taste. I seem to zero-in on sounds and scents. I wake every morning joyful to hear birds singing outside. Now that it’s cooler, I love opening the windows to deeply inhale fresh, clean, jasmine- and hibiscus-scented air.

I like to listen and note the sounds I hear so I can later incorporate them into my writing. Lately, however, settling down enough to write...

I’m plagued by thoughts of aging lately. Not so much in myself, though I’ll admit to moments of decrepit muscles and wormy memory. No, I’ve been shocked by changes in people around me. Perhaps it’s from having watched my father decline during the past year, but as neighbors return for “Season” I’m surprised that they seem much older and less spry. Because they are dressing younger and trying to act younger, my guess is they have aging on their minds too. It’s unsettling. I’ve always believed...

I’m a reader. Since before I learned to decipher the symbols that created letters and words,I’vebeen fascinated with books and stories. I had the influence of older siblings and parents I saw reading all the time. Since my father was in graduate school when I was in preschool, I even have a book I scribbled in with yellow crayon because “Daddy writes in his books!” And, because I have siblings who are much older (11 years), I learned in second grade that Ididn’thave to read a book that did no...

It’s here! The autumn equinox today heralds the next season. While we won’t see the transition clearly here in Florida (just more rain and humidity with the added adventure of flash flooding), I’m glad for the “change” in season.

It’s perfect timing for a “fresh” start, something I feel a bigger need for this year after losing my father. Also, I like my routines. I’m a creature of habit—to a point. I do like shifting things around and creating new routines. New seasons are a natural time to do...