A Fathomless Affair: Harbor Pointe Series Book 6 by Staci Troilo

What Amazon says

The Harbor Pointe Inn has loomed on California’s cliffs for generations of Hawthornes. For some, it’s been a blessing. For others, a curse. Travel through two centuries of stories to discover the old inn’s secrets.

A narcissistic patriarch. A mystical legend. A fathomless affair.

Most people wouldn’t dread a weekend at the historic Harbor Pointe Inn. Lorelei Audley isn’t most people. The fresh sea air, breathtaking vistas, and gourmet meals can’t buoy her spirits. She’s there to coordinate her father’s latest wedding. The bride is a nightmare, yet somehow, the groom is worse. Lorelei steels herself to suffer through a few days of psychological abuse and abject misery.

She’s unprepared for a paranormal encounter, missing persons case, and police investigation.

My review

Despite this being a novella, the author has managed to create a complex and emotional story of love found and lost.

Loralee Audley has an unhappy relationship with her father. First, he left Loralee’s mother for another woman who conned him out of all his assets, and then he hooked up with a mail order bride from Thailand. Despite his poor treatment of her mother, brother, and herself, Loralee wants a relationship with her father. To this end, she ends up organising his wedding at Harbor Pointe Inn. She also ends up footing the bill for the wedding which is a financial strain for her.

Desperate for the day to turn out well and to earn her father’s approval, Loralee arrives early at the inn. An unfortunate accident on her arrival at the inn combined with the unexpected early arrivals of her father and his fiancé, facilitate Loralee meeting an interesting man who is studying to be an astrologer. The astrologist’s interests, and her father’s spectacularly bad behaviour on arrival at the inn, set in motion an interesting mythical adventure.

Exciting and fast paced, this is an entertaining novella.

Purchase A Fathomless Affair: Harbor Pointe Series Book 6 from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CCQLDX47

The Storm

There’s a clash of thunder and the brilliance of lightning. Huge waves gain momentum, slopping over the side of the boat, threatening to pull Carrie down into the murky depths. Will the storm win or will she make it to shore safely?A computer hacker finds himself in trouble. Is it too late to change his ways?It’s the long summer holidays and for one girl, it’s going to be a summer she’ll never forget.A teenager is trapped. Can he free himself from his dark prison?The Storm and Other Short Stories is Esther Chilton’s third collection of prize-winning stories, following on from the success of The Siege and A Walk in the Woods.Some stories will surprise, others will melt your heart and bring a tear, and they’ll also be tales to leave you with a smile.So grab yourself a cuppa, sit back and relax, and delve into this enchanting mixture of stories.

My review

The Storm is an excellent collection of short stories about love and life. The characters are beautifully drawn and compelling, making this collection most immersive. Stories about people and how they experience adversity are my favourites and this collection did not disappoint.

My three favourite stories in the collection are as follows:

Daffodils – A mother must endure days of anxiety as her young daughter battles chronic illness. Her thoughts about daffodils, flowers that were coming into bloom the day her daughter was born and which her daughter loved, bring her great sadness, but also calm and comfort her. My son has battled chronic illness for 18 years and I have spent many days sitting in a hospital watching him recovering from some or other operation or bout of illness. This story was so real to me, I got goosebumps while reading it.

A Special Helper – A young boy, Oliver, must adjust to both a new sibling and a mother who is suffering post-natal depression. Told through the eyes of Oliver, this story is poignant and heart wrenching. I have witnessed family members struggling with post-natal depression and my heart really went out to the whole family.

The Holiday – This story revolves around a family where the father and main breadwinner has suffered a debilitating injury and is unable to work. The mother is doing her best to earn enough money to keep her family going, but financial sacrifices are required. Emma must adjust to both her father’s chronic illness and to the change in financial circumstances in her family. During her journey, Emma learns the value of family.

During my long days sitting in a hospital with my son, I came to realise that when in such a situation, there is always someone whose circumstances are much worse. I grew from my experiences and learned to be thankful and content with my own lot in life. This book serves the same learning purpose, but in a more pleasurable and entertaining way. I recommend The Storm highly.

Purchase The Storm and other short stories from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CKLXCHZ9

Two weekends ago, Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge was iconic places. You can view her post here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2024/02/18/sunday-stills-how-iconic-are-your-favorite-places-and-spaces/

A few iconic places I’ve visited in South Africa:

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #320

We have a word prompt for this week.

Choose any one word from the following to use in your piece.

• abridged
• compressed
• diminished
• underplayed

You can join in here: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2024/02/29/reenas-xploration-challenge-320/

Life moves on (shadorma)

Disheveled

Diminished by age

Their purpose

Completed

Baby birds independent

Old homes abandoned

Thank you to Professor Charles French for sharing my post for The Underground Library Society. My featured book is The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson. My thanks to Dave Astor on Literature and https://rivella49.com/ blogs for recommending this book.

Another Addition To The U.L.S., The Underground Library Society by Robbie Cheadle

I am over at Writing to be Read with a post about male lions. Called King of the Beasts, male lions are actually very vulnerable. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.

In Touch With Nature – The vulnerable life of male lions #wildlife #lions

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/02/22/parkville-history/

W3 #95, Personification

II. Heather’s prompt guidelines

Humans often have opinions on most any topic. Let’s put a twist on this. Employ personification to write a poem from the point of view of an object. Maybe your teapot has an opinion on how you make tea or your door with all the comings and goings? Maybe snow has something to say?

Be creative and have fun!

Personification

Personification is a type of metaphor that gives human characteristics to inanimate objects and animals, such as emotions and behaviors.

You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2024/02/21/w3-prompt-95-weave-written-weekly/

My poems are personification but I’m not sure my objects are quite what Heather intended. Oh well!

Mischief Makers (shadorma)

Mielie elves

With long hollow bones (note 1)

Look about

Pondering

Numerous mischievous plans

Pink toed feet ready

Note 1 – Elves are believed to have hollow bones, like birds, to aid their flight.

Old Man (choka – 5/7/5/7/5/7/5/7/7)

Greying hair streaming

Sun journeys across the sky

Ample girth straining

At the buttons of his shirt

Burning bright and hot

Despite his advancing age

Slow later mornings

Nurture his remaining strength

Afternoons fiercely blazing

What Amazon says

Stories have allowed people to transmit ideas, beliefs, and behaviors throughout history. The underlying premise of this book is that humans can grow by understanding the perspective of someone else. Perspective-taking can help humans develop compassion and concern for others.. One way to attain a deeper understanding of people is by learning about different viewpoints and this book offers material for perspective taking,

Sherri let us feel some California and English culture fusion, with reminders about how close, and connected, we all are in this big ol’ world. Let’s remember this when we feel a spirit of division. Can we put aside what divides and remember that we have more in common than we might not initially see?

Miriam Hurdle shared about going from having no grandkids, to getting the joyful news, to then having the pandemic limit travel to see this growing family. Her chapter left us with uplifting familial warmth.

Yvette Prior shared about the challenges and silver linings that came with a recent move while noting that lessons learned are a gift because it can lead to humility and strength.

Ana Linden shared about perspective changes through the story about her aunt, who had the middle name of Dragonfly. Ana showed the components of perspective and empathy are intertwined and complex, just like Ana’s Aunt Dragonfly was.

Marsha Ingrao shared about her blogging experience that led to soft skill development, friendship, life fuel, and a way to offer customized outreach. She reminded us that when storms come, we do the best we can to respond, cope, stay stable, and grow.

Lauren Scott explored body image while reminding us that empathy consists of both affective and cognitive components. Lauren also reminded us that we cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

Mabel Kwong gained a deeper perspective by stopping writing, which made a huge difference in her affect and outlook. Life is not always easy and the obstacles with her writing journey remind us to stay the course and find what we need.

Robbie Cheadle shared her growth over six years as she dealt with illnesses with both of her children. The vulnerable health challenges also came with joy and growth. The beauty is there if we put forth the effort to see it.

Jeffrey D. Simmons used poetry to describe the cadence of his life as he has adapted to different living arrangements. Jeff chooses to adapt and find joy whether he has to anchor or move around.

Trent McDonald used fiction to show us that we humans not only tend to have wrong assumptions, but assumptions are often negative. Maybe we can start assuming the best and clarify sooner to minimize distorted thinking.

Mahesh Nair talked about words and accents with an example of how he once perceived a behavior as snobby to later see that it was not. He also explored how the current digital world is something many of us take for granted but it had to grow, evolve, and mature over many years. Humans are similar in how we advance and grow.

Mike’s chapter offered tips and advice for thriving while in caregiver mode. The physical exhaustion and mental drain can be mitigated and he also let us into his personal life as he shared about how it took time to understand relationship dynamics and then live out what he advised about in a clinical setting.

Cade reminded us that our mental filters will change as the way we view right and wrong will change too. As we learn more about individual bias and faulty thinking, we need to pay attention to other people’s viewpoints.

There is a gap between what is and what we know or think something is. We hope the stories and poems in this book help readers learn about how others see the world and gain a deeper understanding to open the heart and enahnce empathy.

My review

This is How we Grow is a fascinating collection of insightful stories, mainly non-fiction, into specific experiences by each contributor which have resulted in a change to their mindset and approach and/or attitude to life.

The two contributions that made the biggest impact on me as a reader were Dragonfly by Ana Linden and Right and Wrong by Cade Prior.

Dragonfly by Ana Linden revolves around the intermittent support offered by the author’s aunt towards her during her childhood. The aunt was a destroyed person. Someone who had ruined her life, in the eyes of her parents and other people, by making decisions that they perceived as wrong. An aunt who had been joyous and creative as a girl and teen, but who had married the wrong person and brought judgement down on her head when she suffered abuse at the hands of a vicious husband. This aunt, although dependent on alcohol and never having achieved what she could have, or should have, tried to support her niece who demonstrated similar characteristics as a child. This story resonated with me because the aunt was such a victim of her narrow minded and judgmental parents and society. Abuse of women is still alive and well and there are millions of women who still suffer terribly as a result. This story is difficult to read as the flow is awkward and you must wind your way through the slightly incoherent writing style, but the message is impactful.

Cade Prior’s essay on right and wrong interested me a great deal. I found his thought process fascinating, and it does reflect some of my own thinking. While I don’t agree with everything he wrote, it did give me pause to reconsider my own believes and viewpoints and adjust them for fresh ideas. I think that thought process was beneficial for me and I would recommend it to others.

All the stories were interesting, and all taught me something about life and how other people experience and perceive life. The book offers a lot of variety as the stories deal with a wide variety of topical issues such as the dissatisfaction of young people with their appearance and weight, the result of media messaging relating to ideal looks and bodies, new age grandparenting, cat therapy for mental health issues, adjusting our perspectives about blogging, writing, and publishing and dealing with social media.

This book is a worthwhile read that will give the reader new information and fresh insights to consider about a wide spectrum of life experiences.

You can purchase This Is How We Grow from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CCCNBNWV

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #318

Reena’s Challenge is What I am not … The muse brought What I am with the inverse implied. You can join in Reena’s challenge here: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2024/02/15/reenas-xploration-challenge-318/

What I am?

What am I?

I belong

To a species

That destroys

Pollutes

And over consumes

The root cause

Of the critical endangerment

Of over 3,000 creatures

Worldwide

Displacing them

From their natural habitat

For personal gain

Over 2,000 additional beasts

Are endangered

As a direct result

Of my species actions

Some of my breed are creators

But not of art, music, or literature

There are those

But they hold no sway

Most are involved in work

That directly contributes to

The decimation of the planet

Some save lives

Using products that damage

The natural world

And have resulted

In uncontrolled population growth

My kind

Pollutes the ocean

Kills the fish, whales, and turtles

Invents weapons of mass destruction

To further blight

The distressed environment

I am one of my species

A contributor to all

And that makes me

A PEST!

This poem was inspired by Reena’s challenge which brought to mind the caterpillar in James and the Giant Peach who proudly calls himself a pest.

A pest as described by Wikipedia: A pest is any organism harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment for their own purposes and are intolerant of other creatures occupying the same space when their activities impact adversely on human objectives. Thus, an elephant is unobjectionable in its natural habitat but a pest when it tramples crops.

Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is red and pink. You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2024/02/11/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-red-and-pink-the-colors-of-life/

The fondant cats are for Resa, fantastic artist and sustainable dress designer (you can view Resa’s sustainable evening gowns here: https://artgowns.com/). Resa posted a delightful post about a cat mural which you can read here: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/2024/02/13/kittens-under-a-bridge/. The fondant kittens are my return gift to Resa.

W3 a San san poem

II. Kerfe’s prompt guidelines

• Thematic (required): Write a poem inspired by-
  1. A song about dancing, or-
  2. A song you like to dance to;
• Form (required): “San san”.

San san?

The “san san” poetic form has three requirements:

1. Eight lines;
2. Rhyming: a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d;
3. Repetition: Three terms or images in the verse must be repeated 3x each.

I’m late with this post. What can I say, I had a life sized guitar to make this weekend for Michael’s birthday and it didn’t leave much time for other things. I also made Gregory a hummingbird cake for his birthday and I cooked chicken korma for 20 people and made salads and vegetables to go with it.

And now for the poem:

Rain Dance

We must dance to summon the rain

The land is parched; thirsty cattle low

We must dance to appease the gods

It’s not easy to please the gods; they’re vain

We must dance for rain so the rivers flow

The gods always admire our feathers and beads

We twirl and stamp, hitting the ground with rods

When rain comes, we’ll plant life sustaining seeds

Thank you to David for the inspiration: https://skepticskaddish.com/2024/02/07/w3-prompt-93-weave-written-weekly/

Teagan’s Writing Challenge

The challenge: The challenge, or exercise if you prefer:  Look at a favorite photo, painting, mural, or other image.  Drink in the feelings that it brings to mind.  Then write something related to the image.  Short or long, fiction or memoir.  It doesn’t have to be a complete story.  A vignette is fine.

You can join in here: https://teagansbooks.com/2024/02/07/wednesday-writing-thursdaydoors-favorite-photo-exercise/

This is an Etheree poem comprising of 10 lines starting with one syllable and ending with 10 syllables.

Magic Mirror

Pond

Reflects

Winter Sky

Gloomy and Grey

Duck sets in motion

A series of ripples

Decorated with silver

Water magically transformed

Into a mysterious mirror

Provocatively hinting at summer

Cee’s CWWC: Dirt roads or dirt paths

You can join in here: https://ceenphotography.com/2024/02/08/cwwc-dirt-roads-or-dirt-pathways-or-trails/

No Passage (shadorma)

Wall of thorns

What lurks behind your

Natural

Barricade?

You completely block the road

Impenetrable

What Amazon says

Holly Schlivnik dreams of being a writer, but fate has other plans. A family crisis throws her into an improbable situation and her life will never be the same. Determined to make her own luck when things don’t happen the way she plans, the irrepressible young woman takes a sledgehammer to the glass ceiling and shatters it to smithereens. The wise-cracking, irreverent transplanted Californian goes on a raucous, rollicking rollercoaster ride of hysterical adventures as a ladies’ apparel sales rep traveling in the deep South and finds herself along the way.

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

This is a most entertaining read about a young woman’s entrance into the rag trade. Holly Schlivnik has just finished collage and is feeling directionless following a disastrous job interview when her father, a travelling rep for ladies apparel, calls on her to fill in for him at a show. Holly suddenly discovers that she has a talent for selling clothing. She decides to accept her father’s offer of a job as his assistant and soon sets out on her own, her car filled with clothing racks and samples, to drum up sales in the deep South of America.

This is a story of personal growth and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Holly blossom from an awkward and inexperienced girl into a confident and determined sales woman. She has to learn to deal with all sorts of different people, from Jodie the transwoman, to selfish and inconsiderate buyers and business owners, to Jewish business men who want to make a political statement.

Holly manages to take it all in her ‘short stride’ and learns to deal with all sorts of inconveniences and difficulties that her father, as a man, didn’t have to face. Behind the scenes, she has her supportive and non conventional grandmother to give her excellent advice and keep her facing forward. Holly’s family is Jewish and I enjoyed learning more about her family’s traditions and attitude to life.

There is a lot of humour in the book, which makes it very entertaining. Holly learns a lot during the period of her life covered by this book, and has to cope with losses of a love interest and a family member, recognise what she wants from her career and her life and understand how much she’s prepared to sacrifice to achieve it, and also face anti-Semitism and gender intolerance. Holly also has to weigh up options and make life changing decisions.

This is a book that readers who enjoy coming of age stories with a good dollop of humour and a fast pace will enjoy.

Purchase Rag Lady by Susie Black from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Holly-Swimsuit-Susie-Black/dp/1509249974