“Every Woman Wanted to Be with Him, Every Man Wanted to Be Him.” ― Gary Orleck
About Travels with Maurice: An Outrageous Adventure in Europe in 1986
A simple “thank you” led to the trip of a lifetime, along with an unbreakable friendship of two opposites. See them come of age while rubbing elbows with the rich and famous like the Shah and Queen of Iran, The Who, Paul McCartney, Brigitte Bardot, and even Shirley Temple Black. An unbelievable story, yet it’s true because nobody could make this story up. Find out things the rich and famous do not want you to know.
I grew up in Lincoln, R.I. which is a blue-collar town, went To Babson University School of Business, and graduated with a BSBA in 1966. I worked my way around the USA for six months.
Two years later, I traveled with the son of the richest man in the world – covering 19,988 miles, twelve countries, and ten weeks.
Then, I went to work at Broadway Tire Inc. Twenty years later, I bought the business. I then owned and operated it for thirty more years before retiring in 2016!
In Between, I met and married my wife Ronna and had two beautiful children, and now I have five grandchildren!
The love of travel remained with me, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited 75 countries – each in a unique style – all my own way, using much of which I learned in my travels with Maurice in 1968.
Kai the Dancing Butterfly celebrates Taiwan’s natural scenic wonders, amazing animal species, and incredible Indigenous cultures.
About Kai the Dancing Butterfly
Kai and Ami are dancing butterflies from Taiwan! They have a performance coming up at the Winter Festival dance show in the southern part of the island. They are currently in northern Taiwan, so they need to hurry and start flying south. That’s far for a butterfly! Kai is worried about the long journey, and about the big show too. Can Kai step up to the challenge?
Kai the Dancing Butterfly celebrates Taiwan’s natural scenic wonders, amazing animal species, and incredible Indigenous cultures. This children’s book is a marvelous read for all those who love Taiwan, or for those who’d like to learn more about Taiwanese culture.
This elaborately illustrated picture book makes an ideal gift:
Real locations in Taiwan make for an inspiring geography, history and cultural lesson
Storyline sparks dialogue around empathy, kindness, courage, faith, perseverance, friendship, and the support between siblings
Exquisite illustrations of Taiwan’s majestic animals and endangered species fosters learning around ecological conservation and habitat protection
Crystal Z. Lee is a bilingual writer who grew up in Taiwan and California. She has called many places home, including Taipei, New York, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Crystal is also the author of the children’s book A Unicorn Named Rin, and the novel, Love and Other Moods.
Allie Su was born and raised in Yunlin county, Taiwan. She attended Nanhua University in Chiayi city, majoring in Visual Arts. She is a professional illustrator, specializing in oil painting and ink painting.
Join Bunster as he finds friends in unlikely places as a celebration of Easter!
Our Thoughts
Bunster, An Easter Story is a beautifully illustrated board book geared to young children (ages 0-3). I love to draw and paint, so for me the illustrations were so special as they really helped set the tone of the book. The illustrations were whimsical and reminded me of spring with their colours and airy design. They helped to guide your eyes across the pages and visuals are so important for this age group. While there are many elements that we have come to associate with Easter (images such as lilies, Easter egg, ducks, baskets and so on), I found that the overall feel and tone of the story can make it a perfect story for you to read to your little one all year round.
The story itself was simple to read aloud and appropriate for the ages that this book is geared towards. It was easy to make the story interesting and change your tone to really engage your toddler in the story. The ending gives you an opportunity to have fun with the story and your toddler and encourage them to think about what could come next for Bunster and the squad.
Christine is an artist that dabbles in storytelling and enjoys working in different mediums including marker, ink, watercolors and colored pencil. She enjoys drawing fantasy creatures, anthropomorphic animals, and kids. She lives with her husband, Ian and sweet black kitty, Kida in the Bay Area, California and likes to take walks, go out driving, and play video games and board games with her friends.
Master of WWII-era fiction Sarah Sundin invites you onto the streets of occupied Paris to discover whether love or duty will prevail in Until Leaves Fall in Paris.
About Until Leaves Fall in Paris
When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. The Germans make it difficult for her to keep Green Leaf Books afloat. And she must keep the store open if she is to continue aiding the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.
Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. But in order to carry out his mission, he must appear to support the occupation—which does not win him any sympathy when he meets Lucie in the bookstore.
In a world turned upside down, will love or duty prevail?
My Thoughts
I could not wait to dive into this historical romance and the novel did not disappoint – I could not put Lucie and Paul’s story down!
Lucie is a brave, kind, smart and compassionate young woman whose many gifts come in handy throughout the novel – from her command of the French language, to her passion for ballet and even to her kindness to others. While Lucie is an American at heart, she loves her home in Paris – this is where she called home since she was a young girl. It broke my heart for her when she comes to learn that not others feel the same – something that the war caused out of hunger, mistrust and anger at their situation. Lucie finds a way to help a couple who took care of her from a young age and becomes the owner in name of a lovely bookstore. And while she helps others in small ways, she wants to help more in the fight against the Germans. This comes with a great risk to not only herself but to the bookstore. She also meets Paul – a man who her heart tells her to trust but on the outside he appears to be aiding the Germans, but is this just a front?
I loved the many layers in this story – not only Lucie and Paul’s, but also the lives they touched and helped. Many times they had to put their own feelings and dreams on hold to help others, and many times this came with great risk to themselves. They had to find the strength to keep fighting and to keep going at so many times throughout the novel. So many times they could have given in, ran away, been selfish but still they carried on helping others, stealing small moments together and carrying for Paul’s daughter. As the story carries on, you wonder will they finally be together as they so deserve or will the war win and keep them apart for eternity?
Until Leaves Fall in Paris is an incredible read from start to finish. It has a touch of romance swirled in with the reality of war, compassion, strength and dignity. I loved every moment of this beautiful story.
Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks and several popular WWII series, including Sunrise at Normandy, Waves of Freedom, Wings of the Nightingale, and Wings of Glory. She is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award winner, and her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and have appeared on Booklist‘s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.” Sarah lives in Northern California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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