The Charmstone
****
by C.C. Harrison
Contemporary Southwestern Romantic Suspense
Five-star publishing - Release date: April 2007

 

Mix a smart and stubborn archaeologist in Indian Antiquities, a dark silent Navajo cultural director, mysterious deaths in the desert, stolen artifacts, a jilted lover, and a ruthless land developer, all in the lavish scenery of Monument Valley, and you have the perfect recipe for an exciting and conflicted romance full of unexpected twists, with never a dull moment until the climactic and satisfying end.

After her father's accidental death, Amanda wants to fulfill his wish to catalogue artifacts for the tribe's cultural center on the reservation in Monument Valley. Reservation life, however, constitutes a culture shock for Amanda, who feels less than welcomed. Unprepared for the dark and handsome tribal cultural director, Durango Yazzie, little does she know that he struggles with complicated personal problems, and his aloofness toward the white woman stems from more than just ethnic differences...

Through work, insight, and discoveries, Amanda stumbles upon clues pointing to inconsistencies in the reports of her father's death. Unearthing unsavory truths, she makes friends and enemies. As she takes chances and escapes some dangers, she falls into worse situations. In the process, her indomitable spirit captures the reluctant heart and the cryptic mind of Durango Yazzie, now eager to help.

The kiss of the desert wind and the crimson sunset on a magnificent setting lend a flair of authenticity to this endearing as well as suspenseful tale. The rich testimony to the Navajo culture constitutes a refreshing break from the usual clichés. With great respect and sensitivity, CC Harrison explores the psyche of the modern Navajo mind and captures the mix of ancestral tradition, passive frustration, broad-minded wisdom, as well as a desire for self preservation without rejecting unobtrusive progress.

I thoroughly enjoyed Amanda's determined nature and Durango's strong but gentle ways, as well as their struggle through life-threatening moments toward understanding and happiness. I also gleaned a rare insight into the Navajo culture, for which I gladly thank C.C. Harrison. I'm looking forward to more southwestern romantic suspense novels from this very talented author.

Reviewed by Vijaya Schartz
 

A poignant testimony on the condition of women in Saudi Arabia!

This story should have never been published as a novel.  It has all the markings of a first hand account. First-person present-tense narrative, even in flashbacks, also contributes to that impression.  This is no literary tale from a skilled author but the honest testimony of a woman who desperately needed to share her distress.  Fairooz, the heroine of A Runaway Wife, is the victim of a culture that favors men and abuses women, and her story starts in Saudi Arabia.

Do not let the life of apparent luxury with designer clothes and servants, however, coax you to believe that life is easy for a Saudi wife.  The abuse is insidious and surrounds every aspect of a woman's life.  Fairooz did not choose her husband and was forced to marry a blood relative.  She has no part in the decision making of the household, not even about the furniture that surrounds her recluse life.  When her husband decides to add a younger wife to his household, she has no choice in the matter.

Her servants are slaves, bought and sold against their will.   Even a rich woman is not allowed in a restaurant without a man.  A woman is forbidden to drive and cannot enter a record shop, a tailor shop or any government office.

Educated abroad, having traveled with her husband, Fairooz knows that life is different outside her country.  She sends a strong message by rebelling against her condition and has to pay the price.  While other women commit suicide or are condemned to death and burned for the crime of protesting the rules, Fairooz chooses life and escapes.  But she must leave her children behind...

Not a native English speaker, the author uses simple language, but her candid attitude touches the reader on a deeply emotional level.  At times, the poetic images evoke the charm of another culture, giving us a taste of a rich middle eastern world.  I would have preferred to read the story of Fairooz from beginning to end, instead of the incessant switch backs from present to past.  I would have loved to know Fairooz the young girl and catch a better glimpse of her upbringing.  Some redundancy and long descriptions could have been avoided and other aspects developed.  The author hasn't yet mastered the art of storytelling. 

This peek under the veil of secrecy, however, made me reflect upon the freedom we take for granted.  If western society has evolved and treats women more fairly than in the past, other male-dominated societies have yet to evolve.  This novel is a call for help and, although I'm not sure how to respond, awareness is a step forward in the fight against the oppression of women worldwide. 

Review by Vijaya Schartz
Award-winning novelist 
book reviewer for Today's Arizona Woman Magazine
Editor in Chief of the Arizona Literary Magazine

A JEWEL OF LAUGHTER FOR ANY WOMAN ON YOUR LIST!

Move over Bridget Jones. From the first pages I knew Lauren Baratz-Logsted had written a jewel of chick lit. This hilarious fake pregnancy romp will make you hold your ribs with glee, even if you never considered having a baby. 

The thin pink line is that of the home pregnancy test pictured on the cover. Jane, a cunning British editor, refuses to give up her pregnant status right away when she discovers she is not having a baby after all. But whenever she tries to end the charade, peer pressure, financial considerations, unexpected circumstances and clever plot twists trap her deeper into the lie. Dreading discovery, Jane leads a complicated double life and even falls in love, all the while brazenly fooling attentive co-workers, friends, and close family.

You want to laugh and you want to cry. You want to talk some sense into the misguided little darling. The story manipulates the reader into accepting the unbelievable. From fake sonograms to maternity clothes, padded tummy and baby showers, Jane makes her share of mistakes as well.  On each page you expect the ticking bomb to explode, and you keep reading, to find out how Crazy Jane could possibly pull off this implausible stunt for yet another chapter. Is Jane mad? Certainly. Clever? Without a doubt. Human? Endearingly so.

Are pregnancy symptoms a thing of the mind?  Very possibly, as Jane feels them all. Eventually she succeeds in bringing her fake pregnancy all the way to the ninth month. But in the process, Jane also learned about babies and mothers, she re-evaluated her life, her career, her relationships. She now recognizes the value of true love and is finally willing to sacrifice to its altar. Although somewhat contrived, the surprise ending still tastes of serendipity.

The perfect gift of laughter for any woman on your list. 

November 2003
Reviewed by Vijaya Schartz, award winning novelist
Book reviewer for Today Arizona Woman Magazine
Talk show host of Authors' Secrets Radio

Nothing like an absent-minded professor, a hot assistant in sexy shorts and a boat off the coast of Maui to solve the mystery of the Whale song.  Why do they sing?  No, really.  But Scientist Nate doubts his sanity when a humpback flips its tail with "bite me" scrawled on the flukes.  The charming story soon veers toward the severely improbable when Nate is swallowed by the object of his research and discovers a secret underwater world that challenges Darwin's theory. 

One cannot resist the humorous voice that never quits and hilarious secondary characters like Kona, the white native surfer with a Jamaican accent and dreadlocks "enveloping his face like a furry octopus attacking a crab."  Thank heavens (or should I say the goo?) because at the beginning, the roaming point of view, long paragraphs and many flashbacks confuse the reader who loses sense of place and time.  The imaginary world under the pacific ocean seems sketchy, unfinished, like its inhabitants.  The villains remain too vague and impersonal to constitute a believable threat, including the military conspiracy (or is there a conspiracy?), as if the author lacked the time to fully develop and polish his ideas.  The romantic thread also suffers from terminal vagueness

Although Christopher Moore did some serious research (as attested by the politically correct author's notes at the end), the story will make the scientific community cringe, unless they have an acidic sense of humor (let's hope they do).  Still, this tale, reminiscent of Jonas or Jules Verne, presents an intriguing concept of the creation. 

Not as funny as other novels from Christopher Moore, like Lamb or Practical Demonkeeping, Fluke still delivers a whale of a time. Pun intended.

Reviewed by Vijaya Schartz, award winning novelist
Book reviewer for Today Arizona Woman Magazine
Talk show host of Authors' Secrets Radio

      Get over the flippant voice that rambles in first person, overcome the urge to edit the awkward style, and fasten your seatbelt.  Federal Marshal Anita Blake is no lady.  Her swearing makes cops blush, and she can in cold blood slay serial killers of preternatural caliber who stucco walls with gore.  Here, vampires, werewolves, wereleopards and werehyenas have recently become rightful citizens, at least on paper. 

      But Blake's fans are waiting for lavish sexy scenes that insidiously take you to places you may not want to go but are glad you went.  Hamilton provides a unique brand of vampire seduction, Cerulean blue silk sheets, and a slow descent into forbidden pleasures as Anita Blake, not quite human anymore, succumbs to supernatural "ardeur."

      Action and suspense abound when bad vampires and werewolves misbehave and threaten Anita's friends.  Sometimes, you wonder why the villains wait while she savors emotional moments in the midst of an action scene, and reading the previous books would help track the multitude of characters and their subtle levels of relationships.  People appear towards the end who seem important, but you don't quite know why.  Still well worth the read, for a sinful good time.

          Lastest book of the new DUNE trilogy, HOUSE CORRINO deals more with the vicious intrigues of a corrupt aristocracy than with Arrakis, the original Dune planet. In this splendid but decadent world of twisted Mentats (bred intellectuals), deformed Guild Navigators floating in clear tanks of orange spice clouds, fanatic Sardaukar warriors, obsessed sisters of the Bene Gesserit sect, vile Tleilaxu from the darkest depths of the gene pool, vengeful cyborg princes, greedy barons, bloodthirsty desert Fremen, and one honorable duke, we soon learn that "politics is thicker than blood."  I stopped counting the casualties on page five.  With such degenerate characters, I dared not root for any, expecting the best of them to commit genocide on a whim.  Shaddam Corrino IV, a manic emperor of childish unbalance, enjoys absolute power and controls the most expensive commodity in the known universe: spice, the key to foldspace travel. On the elusive promise of synthetic spice, however, he would jeopardize the Lion Throne and destroy the only natural spice source, Dune.  Despite this somewhat unbelievable premise, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have given us an unforgettable tale, fascinating in a sadistic way, a suitable prequel to Frank Herbert's original DUNE series.