Category: Litfuse

In Mars….With Venus Rising, a meddling horse, paper bag floors and a flying saucer on the town square. The little town of Mars has it all including a brand new resident who might spell heartache for one of its own.

About Mars….With Venus Rising

Twenty-something Penn Davenport yearns for an exciting life in the big city and wants to shed the label of orphan that she’s worn for years. To achieve that dream, she must pass the CPA exam then move away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash.

When John Townsend, full of life and the joy of living, moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams. Which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him and discovers he’s a pilot.

My Thoughts

Sweet, funny and romantic all rolled into one in Mars…With Venus Rising. We have a young, orphaned woman who has been so greatly affected by her past that she lets it take over her future. She is torn between staying with her Aunts and the comforts she has known and breaking free from the orphan stigma that she feels she carries.

John is like a breath of fresh air. He is fun, adventurous and everything that a person like Penn needs. He slowly brings her out of her shell with his personality but all of this comes to an abrupt stop when she discovers that he is a pilot. Then he becomes the man who brings back every pain she felt in her past.

Penn goes through many changes throughout this novel, sometimes it is one step forward, two steps back. But throughout the novel, you keep rooting for her. You can feel her pain and uncertainty but you still want her to experience the joys of life, instead of only partially living because of her pain. The end makes you smile, cry, laugh and proud all at the same time!

Mars…With Venus Rising is a sweet and perfect romance for the summer months. A treasure that you will enjoy reading over and over again.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University as well as York Technical College. A member of ACFW, RWA and SinC, she writes for Almost an Author. Before writing novels, she published non-fiction articles on topics ranging from gardening with children to writing apprehension. She cheers for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ACC basketball, and Army West Point Football. Hope and her husband, Kevin, live in North Carolina and chat with their two daughters and twin sons through ooVoo.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In Sister Dear, all Allie Marshall wants is a fresh start. But when dark secrets refuse to stay buried, will her chance at a new life be shattered forever?

About Sister Dear

Convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, Allie watched a decade of her life vanish — time that can never be recovered. Now, out on parole, Allie is determined to clear her name, rebuild her life, and reconnect with the daughter she barely knows.

But Allie’s return home shatters the quaint, coastal community of Brunswick, Georgia. Even her own daughter Caroline, now a teenager, bristles at Allie’s claims of innocence. Refusing defeat, a stronger, smarter Allie launches a battle for the truth, digging deeply into the past even if it threatens her parole status, personal safety, and the already-fragile bond with family.

As her commitment to finding the truth intensifies, what Allie ultimately uncovers is far worse than she imagined. Her own sister has been hiding a dark secret–one that holds the key to Allie’s freedom.

My Thoughts

Family is always the most important thing, right? In this story that unfolds sometimes it is family that hurts us the most. This is a thrilling tale of lies, pain and what I would think is some undiagnosed mental health conditions.

Allie was convicted of a crime that she has pleaded her innocence to. The only evidence convicting her was being at the wrong place at the wrong time and trying to help a man who was on his last breath. This decision to help him altered her life permanently. She went to jail and missed out on a decade of her daughter’s life. Her sister stepped in to help raise her daughter and when she is released she realizes her daughter and sister share the mother-daughter bond that should be hers. Her daughter wants nothing to do with her, her community has turned against her and her parents have felt the judgement of the community as well. Allie is determined to prove her innocence and takes us on a journey of deceit, assault and murder.

As the story unfolds, my heart broke for Allie and her sister. Their bonds are so strong or so Allie thought! I feel like this novel also portrays how an undiagnosed mental health condition can change the way an individual sees the world and interprets this in turn. Her sister on the outside is a kind, loving person but on the inside she struggles with pain and loss that has consumed her life.

Sister Dear is an excellent novel from start to finish, where you never really expect the ending but find it mind-blowing none the less.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Laura McNeill is a writer, web geek, travel enthusiast, and coffee drinker. In her former life, she was a television news anchor for CBS News affiliates in New York and Alabama. Laura holds a master’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and is completing a graduate program in interactive technology at the University of Alabama. When she’s not writing and doing homework, she enjoys running, yoga, and spending time at the beach. She lives in Mobile, AL with her family.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.