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Grady Harp is an Amazon Top 10 Reviewer

Janey Bennett makes a startlingly fine debut as a novelist with The Pale Surface of Things. Not only is Bennett able to conjure a fascinating story of many complexities and intertwining plots, she is able to place her story on the island of Crete in such an assured manner that her gift for research and exploration of a certain place leads us to wonder if Crete is her home!

In florid prose, exacting attention to details of each of the several plots, and in her ability to bring the reader into the realm of Crete with all of its idiosyncrasies and history and charm Bennett creates a propulsive novel that is a most satisfying read on many levels.

Bennett wisely places American characters with Cretan peoples and inserts as a common ground the presence of a priest who was born on Crete and studied in the US: the result is a flawless mix of language and concepts from both the familiar with the unfamiliar.

Douglas is a young man without self direction who goes to Crete at the expense of his adopted family, the Hansons, to study Minoan Archeology and to marry the Hanson’s daughter Denise. In a brilliant opening chapter Douglas is fleeing the wedding day ritual and beginning an Odyssey that will change his life. Continue reading »

James Clarke, columnist of the Independent Online, wrote:

“To be able to utter a good insult - and I mean a really good one - is, like muesli, good for you.

“South African journalist, Dr Sarah Britten, has come out with a fascinating book - The Art of the South African Insult (30° South Publishers) which is a hilarious analysis of our national heritage of great insults going back 350 years.

Some South Africans are quite brilliant at insults. Britten says, “The average bergie in Cape Town comes up with better lines during one morning of sorting through the dustbins in Obs than a star on the bill at the Montreal Comedy Festival does in a month of snorting coke”.

South Africans, she says, are very good at calling each other names for “we are, after all, a bunch of Dutchmen and Souties, Charras and Hotnots, Shangaans and the Xhoza Nostra, Bushies and Afs, Goms, Porras, Lebs, Crunchies, Zots, Mlungus, Japies…” The list goes on.

“It’s what defines us a nation,” she says. Continue reading »

Author Jackie Kessler’s novel of paranormal romance is heating up the bookstores as well as romance reviewer sites and publications.

Hell’s Belles , Kessler’s story of Jezebel–NOT your average exotic dancer–but a 4,000-year-old succubus on the run from Hell (which isn’t easy to do in high heels) is pulling in rave reviews from both the paranormal romance, and mainstream romance communities.

Romance Reader at Heart wrote “Now, I’m no expert on paranormal romances. As of matter of fact, short of the works of Christine Feehan, I can virtually count on one hand the number of paranormals I’ve read in the past. But, after reading Jackie Kessler’s debut work, HELL’S BELLES, I have to say that if this is just a sample of the originality and creativeness that comprises the world of paranormal romance stories now so popular with reading fans, you can count me in as another avid fan.

Romantic Times, who gave Kessler’s debut novel a 4.5 star rating (scorcher!) wrote “Kessler’s debut novel will captivate fans of Sherrilyn Kenyon and Laurell K. Hamilton from the very first page. Adding interesting new characters to the dark fantasy genre, this first novel in the Hell on Earth series is sure to have readers salivating over the release of the next book. The novel is steamy, humorous and fast-paced, with tons of imagery and symbols that take it to a deeper level, similar to that of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series.”

Pick up your copy of Hell’s Belles today and settle in for a fabulous read!