The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello

The Clouds Roll Away

by Sibella Giorello

Raleigh Harmon is a forensic geologist with the FBI. She has returned to Richmond Virginia fron an assignment in Washington state, and is hoping that things will be better for her in Virginia but has quickly learned that her suprevisor is apparently hoping to get Raleigh booted out of the FBI. Raleigh is facing pressure at work and at home. Her mother is elderly and not in the best of health mentally. At work Raleigh is dealing with a hate crime involving a well known rap artist. There are a lot of twists and turns with this case, including drugs, the kkk and diamonds.
Although this is the third book in this series, it is the first one that I have read. In the beginning it seemed a bit slow, but after awhile it did pick up and held onto my attention through to the end. Things left dangling will hopefully be addressed in the next book or books that will be written. I did enjoy reading this story and am going to look for the preceding two books and read them also.

I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers to read and review.

The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman

Saphora Warren seems to have it all. Beautiful homes, a successful husband and adult children, but something is missing. After a photo shoot for Southern Living, Saphora plans to escape to their summer home in Oriental North Carolina. She hopes to just have quiet time to do whatever she wants, when she wants. Her escape is cut short when her plastic surgeon husband comes home early, and before she can get on the road he tells her that he is dying. Life can change in an instant and how Saphora copes with it and the many people around her, is the premise of this story.

Dealing with all the sudden changes in the life of Saphora and her husband is a somewhat complicated story. The adult children, some married and with children of their own and even the children's friends add to this story. Saphora's husband Bender and his doctor friends and the ladies that he has had flings with also add to the story and give us a look at what Saphora has put up with during her marriage to Bender. Somehow it feels like too much of this story is left out. I get the feeling that Bender and Saphora have been living separate lives, but living in the same home. It was a bit difficult for me to understand how Saphora seemed to be a bit out of touch with Bender and was more concerned with her own need for time alone when he was on limited time here on Earth. Did she really need to go off alone on a fishing trip alone or go sneaking through the fence to spy on the neighbor guy when her first concern should have been her husband? I know that not everyone will see this story the way that I do, but that's what makes life and reading books interesting. I wasn't happy with the ending of the story either. It seemed nuts. The few encounters these people actually had doesn't seem like a romance that will endure.

Read the book and decide for yourself. I did enjoy reading it, but was annoyed at a few turns in the story, but most of my annoyance was with Saphora. She had a lot in her life, and did welcome others and help quite a few people, but there was also this feeling that she was just selfish toward her husband and toward Sherry who had her own life, but seemed to always have to give up her own life to run when Saphora called.

This book was provided to me by WaterBrook Press to read and review.

Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor by Chuck Black

Sir Quinlan known as Twitch because of a nervous muscle spasm in his cheek, leaves his friend Tav and the family that has taken care of him since the tragic death of his parents. He plans to set off with Sir Baylor and join the Swords of Valor. During a horrible battle with the evil Shadow Warriors, Sir Baylor is killed. Because of a mistake made by Sir Quinlan, the other Knights blame him for this tragedy and the Swords of Valor are disbanded. Sir Quinlan wanders the kingdom until he meets Taras a Silent Warriorand former trainer of Valor Knights. After a grueling time of training, The Prince speaks to Sir Quinlan and he decides to get the Valor Knights to come together and fight the Dark Knight and his evil cohorts who plan to take over the Kingdom of Arretthtrae.

This is a really good story of knights and the traditional good and evil battle that everyone faces every day. This book is part of a series of stories for young teens and pre-teens. I definitely enjoyed reading this book and know that young people who like adventure and knights will love this book and enjoy the story that does teach about what strenght we find when we band together and inspire others to overcome apathy. There is always strength in numbers especially when the numbers are people of valor and truth.

This book was provided to me to read and review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.