Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge is a fun read set in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago where bartenders are not just friendly servers or mere mortals, but supernatural hunters tasked with protecting the city.

After Bailey Chen graduates from college, she moves home broke and unsure of her future. When her friend Zane hooks her up with a job at his family’s bar, she thinks it will be a fun and easy way to make some money while she tries to find a “real” job. Little does she know that the bartenders of Chicago are really unsung heroes who use perfectly mixed cocktails that give them super powers (super-strength, telekinesis, and more) to fight invisible beasts called tremems. But fighting demons is rarely as easy as it seems and Bailey and Zane soon learn that tremens are not the only thing out to get them. It will take brains, courage, and the mythical powers of the Long Island Iced Tea to save themselves and their city.

Fresh, witty, and entirely original, Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge is a fresh addition to the urban fantasy genre. A great read for fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series.

-       Portia

Written in Love

Receiving a letter sent to the wrong address, Phoebe sends it to the return address with a letter of her own attached. From there Phoebe and Jalon become, more or less, pen pals. It doesn't take long before they become more than that. They talk about meeting in person, but something always comes up. Jalon becomes impatient, and decides to go visit Phoebe.

Phoebe and her son, Malachi, live with her old maiden aunt, who is very bossy and tries to run everyone's life for them. When Jalon arrives at Aunt Bertha's house unannounced, everything gets way out of control. Especially since Aunt Bertha has no idea that Phoebe was writing to Jalon. Aunt Bertha throws Phoebe and Malachi out of the house, saying how sinful Phoebe is.

With no place else to go, Phoebe and Malachi go home with Jalon. In order to reach beyond the errors of their pasts, both Phoebe and Jalon must put their faith in something or Someone, bigger than either of them could ever pen.

The Confusion of Languages

This is the story of a friendship gone awry, a culture clash, and the heartbreaking reality of unintended consequences. Cassandra and her husband Dan are living in Amman, Jordan, where he is a military officer stationed at the U.S. Embassy. They are childless but have been trying unsuccessfully for years to change that situation, and this has put a strain on their relationship and their interactions with others. Cassie feels unmoored and unloved and without friends. Into the lives of this couple in crisis appear Crick, Margaret, and their infant son Mather. Crick has been newly assigned to the Embassy, and Cassie and Dan are their welcome committee, tasked with helping them acclimate to life in Jordan. Cassie is a strict rule-follower, a no-nonsense person who strives to pass on her knowledge and fears to Margaret. And she is desperate for a friend, someone with whom she can share confidences. Margaret will have none of it. She likes Cassie but is a free spirit, and refuses to adhere to Cassie's (and the Embassy's) warnings about wearing moderate dress, going nowhere on your own, and refraining from talking to men other than her husband. While Dan and Crick are gone on assignment to Italy for several weeks, Margaret chafes at her "cage," and begins exploring Jordan and making Jordanian friends. Cassie's jealousy and her genuine fear for Margaret lead her to take action that ultimately backfires, bringing heartbreak and loss to all of them. Siobhan Fallon is a master at revealing the subtleties and frailties of human behavior. Highly recommended for readers interested in literary fiction, the Middle East, and life in the military.

Kelly Currie

Eternal Life by Dara Horn

    I have often wondered what it would be like to live an immortal life. After reading The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer and now Dara Horn's, Eternal Life, I am certainly glad that I do not. Throughout the book, Dana examines the very essence of life. Dana illustrates the extremes of parental love, and the downfalls of eternal life.

     Rachel Azaria cannot die. She made a vow to forgo physical death to save her son. Rachel will go through hundreds of marriages, and generations of children. She will see them live, and she will see them die. When people start getting suspicious, she throws herself into a fire only to find herself, eighteen years old, in an unknown place just to start all over again.  

     However, she is not alone in this eternal journey, the father of her first son, Elazar, took the same spiritual bargain. Although their relationship is not what I consider healthy, they do love each other profoundly.

As the years progress, so does science, and hiding is not so easy for Rachel and Elazar.  To make matters even more complicated, her granddaughter, Hannah, is a scientist who studies and manipulates DNA. She is on the verge of discovering how to slow down the aging process. Hannah notices that her grandmother is aging phenomenally well, and asks if she could have a sample of her blood. Rachel grows furious at the request, and turns down the offer.  Surreptitiously, Hannah took a strand of Rachel's hair and discovers that Rachel's DNA reveals her at the age of eighteen! Rachel has no choice but to tell Hannah the truth.

All I can say is, after 2,000 years of living, I sympathize with Rachel's desire to finally die. This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride. It is an exceptional read, and a real page-turner. It had me biting my nails in anticipation.

“the absolute loneliness, the bottomless homesick loneliness of years upon years of lies, the deep cold void of a loneliness no mortal can imagine.”

~Dana Horn, Eternal Life

~Dani