Her Good Name by Josi S. Kilpack

Her Good Name
by Josi Kilpack

LDS Romantic Suspense
342 pages, softcover
Target Reader: LDS Adult

Deseret Book
978-1590389652
Release Date: August, 2008



From the publisher:

Chrissy is having an identity crisis. As a single woman and convert to the Church, she has always managed to find her place in life-- at least until someone else begins using her credit cards, her bank account, and, most important, her name. Now the real Chrissy must prove her innocence against a growing pile of collection notices and unpaid bills. But with no job, no money, a warrant for her arrest, and a closet full of high- heeled shoes, a girl can only get so far.

When Chrissy meets Micah Heet, the other half of a blind date gone bad, the two discover they are facing the same battle and join forces to find the perpetrators. Little do they know that the small semblance of life they have left will be put on the line in the process.

Read sample chapters here.

I got this book a couple of weeks ago but I had to wait to read it because other less important stuff like cooking and cleaning and working my day job kept getting in the way. I started it a few days ago and then stayed up until 2:00 a.m. this morning to finish it. That right there should tell ya sumthin'.

I really liked this book for so many reasons. First, I liked Chrissy. She's Latino and I think it's about time we got a little color in our LDS fiction. She's also pretty feisty. She doesn't let white-boy Micah control the relationship, even though she has a strong attraction to him. She also doesn't let her lecherous boss get away with anything. There's some romance, but not too much. It didn't make me want to poke my eyes out with a fork.

The suspense of the identity theft was amazing. Even though the chapters are very short, I just couldn't stop reading last night. This poor woman's credit and reputation was put through the wringer. Chrissy quits her job thinking she has $5000 in the bank to tide her over to the next job and she has an excellent credit rating. By the time the woman who has stolen her identity is done with her, Chrissy is over $90,000 in debt, her bank account has been wiped out, and she's been arrested and forced to spend the night in jail. But Chrissy doesn't give up or give in. She fights back and turns the tables, going after the woman who stole her identity and ruined her life! Not the wisest decision in real life, but it made for great reading.

As I read this, I kept thinking, "This could be me! Someone could do this to me!" It was frightening. Especially since we have our mortgage with Countrywide, whose employee sold our info to multiple sources. So far we're okay and Countrywide is paying for a two year monitoring service on my husband's credit. But not mine—even though both our names are on the mortgage. I'm thinking of using one of the services recommended at the back of Josi's book for me, even if I have to pay for it.

But back to the book—one caution. The bad guy, or rather, the bad woman, really is bad. Josi lets us see into her motivation and her thoughts enough that we understand why she does what she does, but this woman? She is just bad to the core. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that she is not above killing innocent people in really horrendous ways to get what she wants.

There's a side story with Chrissy's sister that doesn't get fully resolved. She makes the right choice in the end but we don't know if there will be any fall out. Also, we're left hanging at the beginning of Chrissy and Micah's relationship. We're led to assume that everything will end up happily ever after, but there are some issues they'll need to work out. I'm okay with that because that's the mushy stuff I don't like to read about.

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© 2010 It's a Book Affair

I Hate Seagull Book!

I have this problem. When I'm feeling stressed, I need to treat myself. In my town, there is a Seagull Book and a Wal-Mart right across the street from each other. As I head for a treat, I have to make a choice. I can turn right to Wal-Mart and get some chocolate. Or I can turn left to Seagull and get myself a book. Wal-Mart and the chocolate usually wins because 1) they're cheaper, and 2) chocolate gets into my blood stream and changes my mood faster than a book does.

But today, I was feeling guilty because my Wii Fit says I'm up 2.2 lbs this week and I know it's because I've been eating way too much chocolate. So I turned left.

Never mind that I can't afford a new book and I should spend that $15 on paying down business debt.

Never mind that I already have 40 books on my dresser waiting their turn to be read.

Never mind that I don't have time to read right now.

I was going to get myself a new book, gosh darn it!

But I would be responsible in my irresponsibility—I would limit myself to just one.

Then I walked into Seagull and the stress level just exploded because now I had to make a choice. There were all these books that I wanted to read and they were just sitting on the Seagull shelves, mocking me with their bright yellow percent off labels.

Which one do I get?


Do I go for David Woolley's new book, Day of Remembrance? (He won't let Sandra loan it to me, the brat.) I already own volumes 1 & 2. They're sitting on my dresser waiting to be read. And volume 3 is on sale too, but it's in paperback and all my other volumes would be hardback. Hmmmn. . .





Or do I get The Nephite Who Loved Me (currently mistitled as Servant to a King) by Sariah Wilson? I liked her first two books, Secrets in Zarahemla and Desires of Our Hearts, even if they do have a larger dollop of romance than I'll admit to liking. I forgive her because her heroines are feisty and don't put up with anything, even if they are married to prophets.



Do I get Farworld by J. Scott Savage, which I've already read? (Thanks for the ARC, J. Scott.) I really want the hardback copy with the map and illustrations in it because I want it to be available to my grandchildren (now ages 2, 1 & 10 mos.). But if I get a book I've already read today, that won't really satisfy my need to treat myself.






Or do I get Don't Cry Wolf by Clair M. Poulsen? I don't know anything about it but it has a really cool cover and the back liner notes sound interesting. I've read a few of his other books and liked them. Maybe if this one was about werewolves, instead of regular wolves. . .



Or do I get . . . Arrggg!!! Enough, already!


So I gave the saleslady at Seagull a full-on crusty and told her that I hated her store with its crowded bookshelves and mocking yellow discount stickers. She laughed, then rang me up and I walked out with . . .


Her Good Name by Josi Kilpack. Because Josi never disappoints. And we have our home mortgage with Countrywide. (Miss the news report? Click here.) But most especially, I picked this one because I wish I had a pair of gold shoes like the ones on the cover. Not that I could actually wear them, what with me being very old and having a bad back. But still. They would look lovely on my feet now that I wear sandals again.



Then, to help deal with the stress of leaving so many other wonderful titles on the shelf, I went over to Wal-Mart and got some chocolate.

© 2010 It's a Book Affair

The Santa Letters by Stacy Gooch-Anderson

The Santa Letters
by Stacy Gooch-Anderson

General/Christmas
190 pages, hardcover
Target Reader: Adult

Sweetwater Books
978-1599551456
Release Date: July 8, 2008



From the publisher:

One year ago on Christmas Eve, William died.

For Emma, the hit-and-run driver killed more than her husband—he killed her joy in life itself.

Now, as Christmas again approaches, Emma Jensen finds herself sinking into a depression that nothing can breach; not her job, not her love for her children, and certainly not the season!

Money is tight, emotions taut, and those realities are magnified tenfold by knowing that this year Christmas will be a meager, empty, and painful experience. Only six-year-old McKenna believes in miracles and the magic of Christmas. The rest of the family knows that Christmas can never be the same.

But when a mysterious package and an ornate letter arrive on the doorstep, things begin to change.

Each day, a package and a letter signed “Santa” arrive for the family, and together they come to understand that the joy of Christmas does not have to be lost forever and that God’s love can heal any wound, . . . no matter how deep.

The Santa Letters will take the Jensens on a journey through a Christmas experience that will have the power to heal them all.

Read a sample from The Santa Letters here or here.

I haven't had this same experience, but I did find myself in dire need one Christmas season. Secret Santas left several gifts of love and support and kindness—and toys for my children!—on our doorstep that year. I can tell you that the feelings and emotions described in this book are right on with my own.

I have a secret. I love Christmas stories—the kind that make you cry. I get at least one new Christmas book every year. Usually it's a picture book because—well, just because. But I also like Christmas novellas, like The Christmas Box and The Christmas Wish. So I was thrilled to be asked to review The Santa Letters.

I loved this book. It's a quick read—only 200 pages. I cried as I read it and I could feel my heart growing with that special Christmas spirit. This is definitely the Christmas book for 2008 at my house. I know a few people who will be getting it for Christmas this year.

If you're feeling the Christmas spirit (and if you're not, that's okay—you've got a few months to get in the mood), and you want to help spread the joy and cheer with a struggling family—or your own—Stacy has downloadable Santa letters and gift ideas that are free for you to use here.

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© 2010 It's a Book Affair

Surprise Packages by Anderson, Littke & Morris

Surprise Packages (The Company of Good Women, book 3)
by Nancy Anderson, Lael Littke and Carroll Hofeling Morris

General Women
400 pages, softcover
Target Reader: Adult LDS Women

Deseret Book
978-1590389089
May 14, 2008



From the publisher:

Fifteen years after meeting at Education Week at Brigham Young University, Juneau, Deenie, and Erin face new challenges. Deenie, now living in Gainesville, Florida, begins to question everything she has believed about herself as she sees her actions through others' eyes. Juneau's feelings of guilt come to a head when a secret from her childhood and the mystery of her great-grandmother, Letitia, combine to force her to confront her past. And Erin, whose painful divorce has made her cynical about love and marriage, must decide if she can take a risk when she has a second chance for love.

Staying in touch through phone calls, e-mails, and periodic vacations together, the friends offer one another support, sometimes in the form of blunt feedback. But as they anticipate reaching their goal to become Crusty Old Broads, life takes a turn that puts their twenty-five-year pact in doubt.

Series Books: Almost Sisters and Three Tickets to Peoria

Before I get into the review of this book, I need to make a confession. I've been a little grumpy about doing my book reviews lately. I started my summer reading season full of excitement with a two foot stack of titles I couldn't wait to get through. Most of them were fantasy or sci-fi, my genre of choice. But I've been able to read very few of those because of an issue I've been having with my eyesight which made me very ill every time I tried to read. So with my limited reading time, instead of reading the books I wanted to read, I was having to read books I'd agreed to review for blog tours. Not that the blog tour books haven't been good—they have been. It's just that they were preventing me from reading my books. So it was with a bit of an attitude that I picked up Surprise Packages —one more book that was from my "obligatory" stack, rather than my "fun" stack.

I was also at a disadvantage with Surprise Packages. I hadn't read the first two books, Almost Sisters and Three Tickets to Peoria. With this series, I think it's important to read the books in order because there are so many characters and so much backstory that is referenced but not fully explained that I very quickly became lost. It was frustrating at first, but even with the confusion of not remembering whose child was whose and who the heck this new character was supposed to be, this book very quickly won me over. I forgot my grumpy attitude and began to care about these three women and their lives. I found myself eager to learn what was going to happen next.

When asked to describe the series, "The Company of Good Women," the authors say it "is the story of three women in three different parts of the country and their quest to become Crusty Old Broads—written by three women from three different parts of the country who are self-professed Crusty Old Broads!" They got the idea in 1998 when they were on vacation together in Moab, UT.

Nancy Anderson writes from the perspective of Deenie, who has recently been uprooted from Wellsville, UT to Gainesville FL, where she must learn to fit in with a new group of people who don't immediately accept her; Lael Littke writes from the perspective of Juneau, who is feeling a bit distanced from her husband and who is raising her grandson; and Carroll Hofeling Morris writes from the perspective of Erin, a divorced woman wondering if she should take a chance on love again.

And that is only the beginning. Each of these women have a host of characters and trials dancing through their lives, making this book very rich with detail and emotion, very realistic, very much like my own life, in fact. Seeing how they faced or avoided their issues, how they acted or reacted to the events in their lives, was not only a great read, but also surprisingly inspiring to me. Here is just one example of the many insightful nuggets scattered through this book. Erin, speaking to her young daughter about divorce, says:

"Getting married in the temple isn't like gluing two pieces of wood together. It's more like setting two plants in the ground close enough to each other that they can grow together as the years pass. If they grow together so much that you can't tell where one begins and the other ends, then the Holy Spirit blesses them to be. . ."

"Forever Plants!" Hannah chortled.

"But if those plants—that husband and wife—let something or someone get between them, or if one starts growing in a different direction, they don't intertwine." (p 207)

As someone who had to explain divorce to her own young children, I wish I'd had this analogy then.

This book is not at all preachy. The women are LDS, and LDS theology is occasionally explained (as shown above), but not in a way that's trying to convert the reader. Neighbors and friends are converted and baptized in this book, but that's just part of the facts of the main characters' lives. It's not the focus of the book, in fact, it's very low key. I thought it was handled very well.

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5. I really, really liked it and I whole-heartedly recommend it to other readers with one caveat—start with book one!

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*Received a review copy from the publisher.


© 2010 It's a Book Affair

Caught in the Headlights by Barry K. Phillips

Caught in the Headlights: 10 Lessons Learned the Hard Way
by Barry K. Phillips

Non-fiction
116 pages, softcover
Target Reader: Adult

Cedar Fort
978-1599551678
Release Date: June 2, 2008



From the pubisher:

Why do you do the things you do? Looking for things like happiness, self-esteem, success, or getting control of your life? You're not alone. There's just one catch… you're after the wrong things.

But they sound so good, they've got to be worthy pursuits, right? Sorry. They just won't bring the results you think you're after. Caught in the Headlights, 10 Lessons Learned the Hard Way examines ten things that most of us think we want only to realize that our eyes are on the wrong prize. Barry's frank, insightful and often humorous look at these common goals not only entertains, but enlightens us to the goals we should seek, and what to do differently now that we know better.

Read a chapter HERE.

How many of you groaned when you read that title? I did. But...

Wait. Don't give up on this review yet.

First a bit about Barry Phillips. Barry loves to write and has been editor-in-chief of a national magazine and he's written for Glenn Beck's Fusion magazine. He has also written for a political website. But this book is not at all political. Barry is a religious man, a proudly proclaimed Christian. Those ideas inform the topics in his book, but it is not at all preachy. Barry is has been married to the same woman for nearly 25 years and has 5 children—that in itself gives him the street cred to write a book like this. Barry is also well-rounded. He loves to cook (and eat), hot air ballooning, woodworking, drawing, camping and playing drums. With all those hobbies, I'm not sure how he found time to write this book, but he did. And I'm glad.

Barry Phillips is a fun and entertaining writer and even though he's dealing with life-improvement topics, this is a great read. His humorous, sometimes self-deprecating style alone is worth the effort to read this book. This is a short book and a very quick and easy read. I read through it very fast to do this review, but I plan to go back and read it again slowly because I thought it was that good.

As I read through this, I found myself at times laughing, at times stabbed to the heart with realization, but always nodding my head in agreement.

Many of you know that since my publishing company tanked at the end of 2006, I've sort of been at loose ends, adrift on a sea of indecision and self-doubt, spinning my wheels a lot as I try to decide what I'm going to do next. This book did not have the answers but it did point out to me some of the things I'm doing wrong. There were several areas that rang so true for me that I know I need to go back and do some self-examination, make some changes. This book came to me at just the right time, when I'm ready to do that.

I highly recommend this book. It would also make a great gift book for college graduates (not high school grads—they don't have enough life experience yet), those in a mid-life crisis, or anyone who is "doing all the right things" yet still finds that they're dissatisfied with their life.

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*Received a review copy from the author.

© 2010 It's a Book Affair