Colleen’s Kindle: October 2022 KU Reads, @MarciaMeara, @FreyaPickard, @JanSikes3

I’ve been exploring the Kindle Unlimited offers on Amazon, and I’ve been happy with everything I’ve found. This has become an affordable way for me to feed my voracious book-reading habit. For book reviewers like me, this is also an excellent way to read books. It’s also a great way for authors to up their readership and still get compensated for the reading. If you have your book available through Kindle Unlimited… thank you! Now, let me introduce you to some novels I absolutely loved reading this month! ❤

Authors if you’re not taking advantage of KDP on Amazon read this: KU vs. Wide: Should You Be Exclusive to Amazon or Not?

I read so many books this month… I hope you can all follow along. Remember to visit the book on Amazon, click the image. 🎃

My Recommendation:

When Sarah Gray quits her job as a researcher in Florida, she buys a home in rural North Carolina to become a writer. Once there, she befriends a sweet cat and meets her neighbor from across the way. She’s not too sure about the neighbor, but she falls hard for his Irish wolfhound.

Sarah’s new house has a mysterious history whose story unravels from the past into the present.

As Sarah’s relationship with Mac (the neighbor) intensifies, the story of the cabin’s original owner comes to light through a terrifying paranormal experience. I liked how Meara blended the women’s stories together—true love stories that touch your heart.

The writing is intense, and the story kept me on the edge of my seat. I could not put this book down. As soon as I finished this book, I was on to the next in the series.

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My Recommendation:

I thought the first book, Wake Robin Ridge was excellent… but this second book captured my heart. Wait until you meet, Rabbit!

Ten-year-old Rabbit grew up with his grandparents in the middle of the North Carolina wilderness. The boy has inherited his grandmother’s gift of clairvoyance and he also possesses the ability to communicate with passed souls.

When tragedy strikes his grandparents, Rabbit finds himself all alone in the wilderness. He strikes out on his own, steered by the dreams his grandmother sends him from beyond the veil.

Ultimately, Rabbit ends up at a house high on a hill that he calls Angel House. Guess who lives there? Mac and Sarah, the characters from the first book!

Sarah and Rabbit connect from the start. The boy has no family and this tears at her heart. Winning Mac over will take time. But Rabbit is so extraordinary, no one could resist the goodness that emanates from him for long. Just when things look up for Rabbit and his newfound family, someone from his past surfaces that could shatter the family connections they’re building.

I laughed, and I cried! This book is one I won’t soon forget. The characters find their way into your heart. If you’re looking for a series that you can’t put down, this is the series!

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My Recommendation:

By the time we’ve made it to Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3, the characters feel like family to me, now. I know these people, inside, and out. Of course, all the credit goes to the author for making these characters seem so real.

Sheriff Wardell has asked Rabbit and Mac to become involved in a twenty-year-old cold case. Rabbit’s gifts are both a blessing and a curse, but the little boy is determined to learn how to deal with the sounds and images that sometimes overwhelm him.

As the story unwinds, we learn the villain is a man haunted by visions of a black dog, the Harbinger of death—Old Shuck. The reader takes a front seat as the man slowly goes insane before our eyes. By the end of the book, Rabbit has solved the murder. The paranormal aspects of this encounter tell me that Rabbit will be involved in solving other cases like this one.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series…

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My Recommendation:

In this fourth and final book of the series, we’re given another mystery. I thought I knew where the story was going, but surprise, surprise, I really didn’t—thanks to Marcia Meara.

Rabbit is part of a wonderful family. He has the support of his mom, dad, and baby sister. Even better, his parents recognize his gift as something unique and well worth exploring further.

So, when Halloween rolls around, and Rabbit wants to see the Brown Mountain Lights, the entire family sets off on another adventure.

The lights put on a strange show and Rabbit meets a photographer, a young man named Austin who is as intrigued by the mysterious lights as Rabbit is.

By the end of the evening, Rabbit discovers one light differs from all the rest. Leave it to Rabbit to find out why this light is so special. And I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to fall in love with this series!

I’ve loved this series from beginning to end. These are warm-hearted family stories filled with love, mystery, and just enough of the paranormal to keep you a believer in the things we don’t truly understand.

Five STARS for each book ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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My Recommendation:

Otta and Erl are exiled from their village because Otta handles the fire stones that only men should handle, and Erl refuses to hunt the white deer.

Amid the turmoil, Erl is injured by a blow to his head. Otta sets off to find her twin. Once she’s found him, the two set off on their own to escape the anger of the villagers.

The only problem is, Erl doesn’t know who he is. He even makes some unwelcome sexual advances toward his sister. I’m not sure how those aspects of the story moved the plot forward.

To make matters worse, Otta receives strange messages from a god unknown to her. She is told to follow the Unicorn Trail.

At the end of this book, I have more questions than answers to the mystery surrounding the twins.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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My Recommendation:

The Bubble Reputation is a chilling read about social media’s darker side.

Emmie Hobson is a likeable and sweet children’s author who is also part of a children’s television show.

Other than her disturbed sister, Emmie’s life is full of love and success. She has the support of her boyfriend and her parents.

When a trashy newspaper boosts their sales by smearing Emmie’s reputation, they release the Kracken of the social media machine on the unsuspecting girl.

What follows is a present day horror story. Many of us have seen these attacks playing out in the social media arena for ourselves. It’s all vile and against the law!

Friends and family soon turn their back on Emmie, believing the lies concocted about her. The newspaper even photo shops photographs to deceive their readers.

All of this harassment leaves Emmie’s personal and professional life in shambles. Her publisher pulls her contract, and the television show makes it clear her services are no longer needed.

The best part of the book is when the young woman finds the inner strength to take back her reputation and life. This is a quick read that shows us how perilous success can be in our social media addicted world. Bravo to this author for showing the horrors as they truly are.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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Brazos Wind by Jan Sikes is a wonderful short story with the promise to make an engaging book. I loved the characters!

Jack McClean happens upon a homestead in flames near the Brazo’s River in Texas. There he finds a half-crazy, half-starved woman close to death named Savannah Logan.

Savannah only wants to die, as her husband and children have already succumbed to the fever. In her mind, there is nothing left of live for. But Jack refuses to let her die.

The next day, he takes her to town, intending to find a new lease on life for Savannah and for himself. Let the healing begin!

If you love feel-good western romance, this story will leave you wanting more. I hope the author decides to pursue Jack and Savannah’s story. I know it’s one that I would love to read.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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ON A PERSONAL NOTE… If things go the way I think they will, I will leave Twitter. This is just a heads up. I’ll give it a little bit of time to decide for sure. 🎃

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