Velvet Sky Review

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(More customer reviews)"Velvet Sky" by Rusty Van Reeves is a powerful and complex book that leads from one emotional crisis to another. I found the characters intriguing and really rounded but, I had a little trouble with the plot lines. It seems to be a bit confused at time, but all in all.... a very nice read.
Reeves' use of language is exceptional and his imagery is very well done. Lots of talent in this new writer - perhaps more editorial help could have woven the plot a little more clearly.
I would be interested in more from this author in the future - especially as he continues to work on his craft. A powerful debut!

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This novel is a coming of age story that follows a boy and a girl as they struggle to find their way emotionally and physically in a small southern town in the middle 1970s.

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Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered Review

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(More customer reviews)Rising from Katrina is a beautiful tribute to the very wonderful people of Mississippi and the horrendous ordeal they have been dealt. It is a story of hope and love, and a story of strength and faith. It is very well done and beautifully written. If you care about what has happened along the Gulf Coast and fear forgetting, buy this book. Kathleen Koch is a superb writer and she brings us into the world of the characters who are Mississippi, and I mean that in a very positive way. Thank you Ms Koch for giving your time and energy to help your hometown and for sharing this incredibly personal and powerful book with us.
A fan of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and all of her residents,
Kate

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Hurricane Katrina left Eddie Favre, the affable mayor of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, with nothing but the shirt and shorts he was wearing. State and local officials offered to send him pants, but Favre declined. ''Wearing long pants sends a signal that everything is okay,'' he insisted. ''And until such time as everything is okay here, I'll wear my shorts.''Even George W. Bush took notice. ''I arrive here at this important school and he's got short pants on,'' the president remarked during a visit nearly five months after the storm. ''Eddie, I like a man who sticks to his guns.''Those who read this moving story of the small town of Bay St. Louis and the Mississippi Gulf Coast will discover an entire region that did just that.The 2005 hurricane season was the most devastating in history. People from the Bahamas to Mexico to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida suffered a record 15 hurricanes, four of which reached Category 5 strength.Katrina was the costliest. Images from the Superdome and the rooftops of New Orleans are seared into the American consciousness.But few realize the Mississippi Gulf Coast was where Katrina hit full force and where the destruction was worst. Entire towns were reduced to shoulder-high rubble by the winds and the unprecedented 30-foot storm surge.Bay St. Louis was the former home of CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch. From her initial Katrina assignment in Alabama, Koch headed west in the storm's aftermath. The closer she got to her community, the more personal the story became. Old friends asked her to search for loved ones whose bodies would soon be found. She reported from the sites of once-beautiful homes--including her own--stripped to their concrete pads. Time and again, she heard residents pleas to spread the word about the dire needs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.Rising from Katrina is a story of the kindness of strangers, of minor miracles--and, above all, of how despite bureaucratic snarls and insurance battles a region rolled up its sleeves and rebuilt. It is also the story of a veteran reporter who, struggling to maintain her objectivity amid loss, traveled her own personal path from devastation to recovery.

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Flamingo Fatale (A Trailer Park Mystery #1) Review

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(More customer reviews)I stumbled across this mystery, and I'm so glad I did! Read Harriet Klausner's review for a summary. I'll just add that I enjoyed the language, the characters' problems were real, and just like good Southerners, they enjoyed their Cokes. If you enjoy humorous Southern mysteries, you'll love Jimmie Ruth Evans' new series...at least I hope this is the beginning of a series!

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Leftover Dead (Trailer Park Mysteries (Berkley)) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have so enjoyed this cozy series. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I always look forward to the next coming out. That being said, this one just wasn't up to par. Although more specifics will follow, this installment felt a little thrown together--not as polished as the previous stories in the series.
In book five of the Trailer Park mystery series, Wanda Nell and her new husband, Jack, look into a murder that occurred 31 years ago in Tullahoma. The victim, Jenna Rae Howell, was a very pretty young woman who lived and grew up in a city about 4 hours north of there. Her murder was never solved. As a matter of fact, there was obviously a cover up. Jack smells the makings of a book. The sleuthing begins...
Up until now, Wanda Nell Culpepper has been the perfect cozy protagonist--smart, stable, sassy, mouthy, independent, and a joy to be with. Now she is married to Jack Pemberton and, if this installment is any indication, the union isn't doing her any favors. She comes across as less independent--more in need of the man in her life to make things OK. Although I previously considered Wanda Nell Culpepper to be a terrific everyone's mom, Wanda Nell Pemberton comes across as more grandmotherly--weaker, less sure of herself.
In the previous books, the primary focus was always Wanda Nell, her kids, the Kountry Kitchen, and Mayrene. In LEFTOVER DEAD, it is Jack....and his wife. I missed the familiar backdrop of the Culpepper family unit, and unity, providing that (cozy, if you will) stabilizing force. It was that force that made me want to join in and be a part of. In this one, instead of giving us a chance to get used to Jack being one part of the larger picture, we are handed a totally different Kodak moment.
Will I read the next? Definitely. I prefer to think of this as just a bump along the road of rural cozydom. But next time, "Ms. Evans", please allow us some of our familiar turf.


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Waitress Wanda Nell Culpepper is barely hitched to her new husband, Jack, before the couple starts digging into an unsolved murder from thirty-one years ago. But a new death puts this cold case on the front burner.

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