Month: January 2023

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Famous for a Living, by Melissa Ferguson, 2023, Thomas Nelson

Famous for a Living by [Melissa Ferguson]
Famous for a Living

Fame and Fortune

Cat Cranwell is famous for a living. That is, until disaster strikes. She and her business partner Bobby Braswell are launching Club, a new social media app. Bobby promises it will soon outdo Instagram and Facebook.

The extravagant celebration party is held on Cat’s 30th birthday, in her newly acquired posh Manhattan apartment. As it’s about to begin, her woodsy park ranger Uncle Terry and his assistant ranger Zaiah turn up at the door. Just as her best friend Selena sets off a calamity with the caterer. In the middle of Bobby urgently trying to convince her to sign an international contract written in several different languages.

Fast Paced

Yes, Melissa Ferguson really knows how to move a story along at a breakneck pace. The whole story is written in first person. At first, I felt uncomfortable in Cat’s skin, as she’s not much like me. But when she was compelled to leave the city and take refuge in the mountains of Montana with her uncle, I began to feel there might be hope for her.

Will Cat be able to remain famous for a living? Or will she even want to? I won’t spoil the story by telling you. There are a few twists and turns. I had to go back and re-read the beginning before writing this review. The first time I skimmed and missed the details that launched Cat into dire straits. You have to read slowly enough to take in everything going on in those first few paragraphs because it’s all important in the story.

This is the second book by Melissa Ferguson that I’ve read. I recommend it to readers who like a fast pace with humor and some underlying serious thought. Thanks to Net Galley for providing me the ARC to review. This is my honest opinion.

Famous for a Living is due to be published May 16, 2023, but is available now to pre-order at https://amzn.to/3JDF3Zp. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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the ROSE and the THISTLE, by Laura Frantz, 2023, Revell (Baker Publishing Group)

The Rose and the Thistle
The Rose and the Thistle

The Rose and the Thistle is an intriguing romantic fiction of Scotch and English history in 1715.

Times were changing. The Jacobite Catholic Stuart clan had been ousted in favor of a Hanoverian Protestant King–a foreigner who spoke German rather than English. The Stuarts fled to France, but Catholic Jacobites in Scotland and northern England rose up to fight.

Blythe’s life is in danger, as the devout Catholic daughter of an activist Jacobite Duke of Northumbria. Her father sends her to the safest place he can–Protestant supporters of the king who are family friends in a castle in Scotland.

Friendship trumps politics and religion, at least in this case. The fathers scheme for their heirs to marry, but Everard wants nothing of it. “Tis a Scots lass I seek, Faither. Not a sassenach. Not an Englishwoman.” Haha! What will happen between these two opposites–a refined English rose forced to take refuge with this wild Scotch thistle?

This is the second novel I’ve read by Laura Frantz. She’s a lover of words, especially ancient colloquialisms, and she uses them well. I referred often to the glossary of eighteenth-century Scottish terms at the beginning of the book. She also paints fascinating word-pictures describing settings and characters.

I enjoyed learning this meticulously researched history that ultimately helped shape the British Empire. Thanks to Revell for sending me the Rose and the Thistle, with its gorgeous cover, for the purpose of an honest review. I loved it and would choose another Laura Frantz novel any day.

Visit the author’s website at www.laurafrantz.net.

Order the ROSE and the THISTLE in Canada by clicking the below link to Amazon.ca. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

https://amzn.to/3ZLMMtZ

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Red Carpet Summer, by Melissa Ferguson, 2018, indie Ebook

Red Carpet Summer
Red Carpet Summer

Red Carpet Summer waited in my TBR pile till I finally read it as my last book of 2022. I read the first two chapters a couple of years ago, then got distracted by other books and set it aside.

The plot takes several twists and turns. In chapter one, the main character, Addie, is working at an orphanage in Africa. In chapter two, she’s suddenly back in her hometown U.S.A., with her ordinary but not spectacular friends and family.

This has already been a major switch, but the next thing you know, she’s hired by a pop-star American musician as an assistant, travelling around the country in a bus. Why settle for the mediocre? That’s Addie’s motto, though she doesn’t realize it at first.

She can’t understand herself. With the great friends and family she already has, why can’t she settle down? One reason is that she’s determined to make a difference in the world. To do her best for the children in the orphanage, and others in need of help–even her new famous musician friend.

For me, the story got more interesting once I got further into it. As a woman in my late sixties, this isn’t normally a book I would have chosen, but I got it free from the author and wanted to read one of her books. I would recommend it more as a Young Adult novel. But I liked the writing and wanted to find out what Addie’s choices would lead to in the end. Given the opportunity I would read more books by Melissa Ferguson.

To find out more about Melissa Ferguson and her books, visit www.mlferguson.com.