Lottie's Adventure: Facing The Monster, is an action-packed children's book written especially for ages 8 through 14. Children will enjoy this exciting read while also improving their reading skills. Twenty-nine chapters filled with twists and turns keep kids reading to discover the outcome.
Lottie, a lively ten-year old Hispanic girl, longs for something new and different in her life. Her summers up to this point have all been, more or less, the same. Then the arrival of a magical letter and a TV newscast transforms her vacation time in a high adventure.​

Her great adventure includes trying to relate to a cold, estranged, and rich grandmother, freeing a kidnapped ten-year-old African American boy from a locked room, hiding him in a safe place, and then fleeing with him from a kidnapper who is always just a step or two behind.

Lottie's Adventure is a vibrant chapter book mystery for preteens that emphasizes the importance of intergenerational communication and love as well as the immense value of thinking beyond cultural stereotypes. To develop a new moral code or vision, both these elements are crucial. Perhaps the most striking quality of "Lottie's Adventure: Facing The Monster" is its powerful positive energy. Featuring a spunky 10-year-old Hispanic heroine, "Lottie's Adventure" keeps interest high and pages turning with exciting plot twists and turns and believable cliffhangers that just keep evolving. The author allows her characters to develop very naturally, with total authenticity. There are many excellent ideas embedded in the story, not the least of which is that people, even wise adults, can learn to admit they are wrong. "Lottie's Adventure" goes a long way towards building a viable alternative to prejudice, and for that and many other reasons, it is highly recommended juvenile reading for kids age 10 and up.
(Review from The Midwest Book Review)

​While reading Barbara Frances’ chapter book Lottie’s Adventure: Facing the Monster, I was swept back to the books of my childhood. A place where tweens helped each other and became heroes without the use of make-believe or magic brooms. Just plain old smarts, ingenuity, and integrity.
I was engrossed in the story of Lottie, a Hispanic girl, as she helped Charles Ray a black boy, who had been kidnapped escape and confront the bad guy, outsmarting him, while facing their own fears. The friendship that grew between the two was a lesson in how people all want the same things out of life regardless of their upbringing, race, or nationality.
It is a compelling and wonderful tale that I’d recommend to both adults and the tween alike.

Prepare to be spellbound. Barbara Frances' long-awaited third novel, “Shadow's Way,” takes you to the coastal, deep South, where the past and the present mingle in a gothic tale of insanity, murder, and sexual intrigue.
You'll meet the beautiful Elaine Chauvier, former actress and proprietor of Shadow's Way, her family's antebellum home; the esteemed Archbishop Andre Figurant and his fallen identical twin, Bastien; newly arrived Ophelia and Rudy, here to explore their Chauvier roots and their ties to Shadow's Way; and the mysterious Madame Claudine. Under a veneer of piety and graciousness, i.e., the questions: What is good? What is evil? What is reality? ​

kitcat
 
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different, keeps you reading
 
This was a different type of read for me, and I wasn’t sure when I started reading if I would enjoy it, but very quickly I found myself getting pulled into the story. The cast of characters is very colorful, not just the ex-actress Elaine Chauvier. The author does such a good job with descriptions, you can see the characters in your mind, hear the southern drawl, and even smell and taste the coffee as you read. It doesn’t take long to find yourself wondering what’s really going on in each character’s mind the author isn’t giving you yet, and the suspense just builds through the book. If you love southern culture, this book is full of it, so that will be another thing to draw you in.

Ms. Francis’ novel Shadow’s Way, had me enthralled from page one, it kept me reading until so late into the night that I used a flashlight in order not to wake my husband.
I’ve always enjoyed reading gothic tales, but this one went beyond most that I had read. The synopsis was correct, past and present mingled and left me on the edge of my seat. Was G – G – Daddy a real paranormal experience or a figment of Elaine Chauvier’s imagination, which got worse as she sunk deeper into insanity?
I loved the various characters that Ms. Francis brought into play as needed to heighten the story. They were well rounded and interconnected in ways that one has to keep reading to get the full picture.

Five Stars by Handyman
Get started in the right direction. I researched a lot of books on this subject before I chose this one, and I'm glad I did.
A family member bought me some books on starting a business and they didn't really cover any of the information I was looking for. This business is a business however you sell yourself and your abilities, not a product made somewhere else by someone else in a rented space.​

This book was informative and gave practical knowledge and experience that was easy to understand. I would recommend this book to those who are thinking about going out on your own, and those who already have...

DAW
 
5.0 out of 5 stars A love letter
Reviewed in the United States
Verified Purchase
The author and his wife are among my, and my wife’s, closest friends. Whatever else this book is it is a love letter from Bill to Barbara -- and it’s beautiful. It’s also I think a marvelous acknowledgement of how we learn from our significant other how to love them. Our job is to be ready, willing and able. Bill’s stess on the importance of mindfulness, communication and feeling-management reflect the current teachings of neuroscience and psychology today, and millenia of social wisdom. But the reason this works affects me strongly, and will others I imagine, is precisely because it is far less the result of his academic mastery of all this than an expression of his own personal, inward journey. I feel him as my brother here, not as a student feels a teacher.

​M. M. Bishop Award-winning author and poet
 
5.0 out of 5 stars IT MADE ME THINK AND TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT MY OWN ACTIONS
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2020
Mr. Benitez’s book RELATIONSHIP helped me take a long hard look at what I could do better in all my relationships and in particular those with my husband.
What part do I play in the issues that arise in our marriage on a daily basis?
I found this book extremely helpful and insightful too.

A children's story about a puppy that is larger than most and therefore not wanted as a friend by the other puppies or as a playmate by the adult dogs or the smaller puppies. He seeks a home and someone to love and want him.

Algernon is an anteater, but he is a very ingenious one...He not only loves ants but especially chocolate covered ones. So, to find a supply of his new favorite food, he not only learns to read and to stand up tall, and to consequently join the circus!
This children's book is delightful, with a refreshing commentary describing Algernon's thoughts and his precocious stream-of-consciousness asides...
Meet Algernon the Anteater...you'll love him!

​I just finished reading the most heartwarming, compassionate memoir by Jill Zapata ‘A Walk With Virginia.’ In it, Ms. Zapata recounts her time spent as a caretaker for her future mother-in-law Virginia.
Having spent time as a caretaker for my mother, I can attest that there are both the funny, as well as those that were heartbreaking, confusing, and yet as Ms. Zapata puts it a ‘fellow feeling’ happens that can only be, between those who you have spent the time as their caretaker.
For as they lose their mobility, ability to do things they once could, and sometimes even their ability to communicate, or hold onto a thought, or activity for long, they become not only your friend, but your child, and no relationship can you ever be quite as close to another, as you do when you become a caretaker.
Yes, it is at times challenging, emotional, frustrating, and difficult, but the joys, and laughter lives on in us so much longer than those harder memories.
I loved this book and shall be one I reread over the years.
Thank you, Ms. Zapata.

A Message From Beyond

New York Detective Sidney Langston is rushed to the hospital with excruciating chest pains the same night a woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to her is murdered in San Diego. Tests reveal that Sidney is perfectly healthy, yet the crippling pain persists until the dead woman reaches out from beyond the grave for Sidney’s help to vindicate her wrongfully imprisoned husband and to find her murderer.
​˃˃˃ Ghostly Intrigue That Keeps You On The Edge Of Your Seat
Desperate to remain pain-free, Sidney embarks on a mission to exonerate an innocent man. With a ruthless killer at large, she soon discovers the crime is more than a simple whodunit when dangerous scenarios unfold. The dead woman’s spirit relentlessly pushes Detective Langston to solve the crime and correct an injustice ”" or forever be tormented by an invisible bullet wound.

​I’m a big fan of anything Inge-Lise Goss writes, but her book COMPELLED kept me on the edge of my seat. It is a fabulously written murder mystery, with just enough paranormal, and romance to satisfy even those who are avid readers of those genres’, and not so much that a man who is into murder/thriller/suspense can’t thoroughly enjoy too.
I both read it on kindle and listened to it again on audible, where the narrator did such a fabulous job of producing it, that it kept you listening way too far into the night, and barely able to keep your eyes open, but still not wanting to stop.
I highly recommend this terrific read.

​Daphne Robin is ecstatic. She has just married Richard, the most wonderful man she's ever met, and they will honeymoon in Scotland. But on the eve of their departure, Daphne has a terrifying nightmare about Richard that leaves her shaken. The dream turns into reality when Richard begins abusing her in Scotland. Several months later, following his brutal attack, when Daphne announces she has become pregnant, he brutally attacks her--and then she suffers a miscarriage. The only place Daphne can find refuge from her wrecked life is within her dream world. She often dreams of a warm-hearted, tender man who comforts her and provides for her every need. Daphne retreats from reality more and more, and soon, as the years pass by, she becomes a shell of the woman she once was. Eventually, however, she reaches her breaking point; Daphne gathers the strength to escape her husband's clutches. She heads to her sister's place in Washington and meets Major Ursa-Barrios, a retired army officer who has pledged to help her. The two fall deeply in love, and Daphne wonders if this kind, generous man can possibly be her salvation. Although the Major is retired, Daphne's sister is still in service. When the sisters seek to explore their dreams through past life regression techniques, they discover secrets about their pasts that could reveal the purpose of their current lives..

EE Wilder
5.0 out of 5 stars Deja Vu

Verified Purchase
Was it a dream? Did it really happen? What did it mean? Daphne's dreams trouble her while at the same time lift her spirits. Was there truly a man waiting for her that will pull her out of her troubled marriage? A love that flies with her through beautiful vistas and brings a sense of a happy future. But there are others with vivid repeating dreams. Her sister Deandra, an army office and her friend Major, now retired. Author Franki deMerle pulls these fragments of memories together - some happy, some tragic and ties them in a bundle that allows the dreams to be broken and the past revealed. As the author writes - "There are places we can only reach in our dreams while our bodies sleep."

M. M. Bishop Award-winning author and poet
5.0 out of 5 stars POSSIBILITIES

Verified Purchase
As a woman who is curious about nearly everything, I picked up Dragonfly Dreams looking for a sense of possibilities. I found that and more. Franki deMerle is a masterful story teller, combining the dream state with possible reality.

What is reality and what is truth. Have we lived before? Do we dream our way into a better future? Are all these possibilities just a magnificent story?

I loved this book. Ms. deMerle wrote characters that were captivating and three dimensional, whether they were reliving a past life or living in the present. Definitely a book to be read and enjoyed, and it left me with more than a good read. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reincarnation or just a great story.

​To walk with another person can be as mundane as putting on one's socks and shoes, or it can be a twisting, turning, life-changing journey into unknown territory. It can also be everything in between. My walk with Virginia was life changing. It was unexpected. It was challenging. It was frustrating and confusing. We had highs, and we had lows. Thankfully, it was also awe-inspiring and extraordinary.

Have you ever been a caregiver for a family member or a friend? Is it, perhaps, on the horizon of your life? Or maybe you cannot yet see the horizon. Make no mistake, it is not a question of love, whether to provide much needed and potentially long-term care. It is a question of necessity. Love, and devotion born out of love, are the firmly rooted footings on which you stand when providing this necessary care. Humor is the grab bar you grip tightly when the ground below you begins to shake or shift. Patience is paramount. I survived it, and you can, too. I believe I am a better person having had the experience.

My story is a true account of my caregiving experience with my mother-in-law. It lasted only a few short years and, in that time, carved such deep and permanent remembrances too good not to share. Some would ask, "why share something so personal?", and my reply would be, "why not?". Life is so much sweeter when shared with others. I hope you find comfort, a little guidance perhaps, enjoy a few laughs, and chew on some 'food for thought' as you journey with Virginia and I through the blessings and blunders of Caregiving!

​Robert W Collins

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! A great read!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2021Verified Purchase
If you are a caregiver or just want a little inside look into how one person handled that difficult position with love and created great memories A Walk With Virginia is the book for you!

​M. M. Bishop Award-winning author and poet

5.0 out of 5 stars A HEARTWARMING, COMPASIONATE LOOK AT LIFE AS A CARETAKER
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2021
I just finished reading the most heartwarming, compassionate memoir by Jill Zapata ‘A Walk With Virginia.’ In it, Ms. Zapata recounts her time spent as a caretaker for her future mother-in-law Virginia.
Having spent time as a caretaker for my mother, I can attest that there are both the funny, as well as those that were heartbreaking, confusing, and yet as Ms. Zapata puts it a ‘fellow feeling’ happens that can only be, between those who you have spent the time as their caretaker.
For as they lose their mobility, ability to do things they once could, and sometimes even their ability to communicate, or hold onto a thought, or activity for long, they become not only your friend, but your child, and no relationship can you ever be quite as close to another, as you do when you become a caretaker.
Yes, it is at times challenging, emotional, frustrating, and difficult, but the joys, and laughter lives on in us so much longer than those harder memories.
I loved this book and shall be one I reread over the years.