About the Book: 
THE SECRETS OF LIZZIE BORDEN
BY BRANDY PURDYPublication Date: January 26, 2016
Kensington Books
eBook & Print; 384 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

In her enthralling, richly imagined new novel, Brandy Purdy, author of The Ripper’s Wife, creates a compelling portrait of the real, complex woman behind an unthinkable crime.
Lizzie Borden should be one of the most fortunate young women in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her wealthy father could easily afford to provide his daughters with fashionable clothes, travel, and a rich, cultured life. Instead, haunted by the ghost of childhood poverty, he forces Lizzie and her sister, Emma, to live frugally, denying them the simplest modern conveniences. Suitors and socializing are discouraged, as her father views all gentleman callers as fortune hunters.
Lonely and deeply unhappy, Lizzie stifles her frustration, dreaming of the freedom that will come with her eventual inheritance. But soon, even that chance of future independence seems about to be ripped away. And on a stifling August day in 1892, Lizzie’s long-simmering anger finally explodes…
Vividly written and thought-provoking, The Secrets of Lizzie Borden explores the fascinating events behind a crime that continues to grip the public imagination—a story of how thwarted desires and desperate rage could turn a dutiful daughter into a notorious killer.
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Review:
Everyone knows the story of Lizzie Borden, but no one is exactly sure of what happened that day in 1892 when her step-mother and father were killed.   Brandy Purdy reimagines the story that Lizzie herself might have told it.  In retrospect, Lizzie looks back on her life from a young child to her death and gives us an idea of what is going on in her head.  While fiction, I did learn a lot about Lizzie’s life, especially as a child through a young woman.  Lizzie’s childhood may not have been great, even though her father was a wealthy businessman; he was incredibly stingy and did not allow his girls to have any pleasantries.  Lizzie’s mother died young and her older sister, Emma oversaw Lizzie.  Her father made Lizzie believe that any man would only be after her money.
​
Lizzie character was incredibly surprising in this story.  Due to her strange upbringing and tragedy early on in life, Lizzie never seemed to grow much in mental age.  She seemed stuck in the pre-teen to teenage stage where she felt that she should deserve everything in life just because and not have to work for anything.  I think this part of her personality had much to do with her choices later in life.  The other aspect of Lizzie’s personality that was focused on was her need for love; this also had a large impact on Lizzie’s needs and life and affected her decisions.  Overall, I loved the tone of the book.  There was a great deal of dark foreshadowing which led to an appropriate amount of creepiness.   This was definitely a unique look into a disturbing and tragic historical figure that kept me reading.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About the Author
Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), THE QUEEN’S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR), THE QUEEN’S RIVALS (THE FALLEN QUEEN), THE BOLEYN BRIDE, and THE RIPPER’S WIFE. An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her on Facebook as Brandy Purdy aka Emily Purdy.

About the Book
The Other Side of Life
by Andy KutlerPublication Date: August 11, 2015
Neverland Publishing Company LLC
Formats: Trade Paperback and Kindle
Pages: 360
Genre: Historical Fiction
READ AN EXCERPT.
December 1941, Pearl Harbor. A peaceful Sunday morning turns into a devastating attack on American soil. Naval officer Malcolm “Mac” Kelsey is severely wounded while defending his ship. A flawed man abandoned long ago by his alcoholic wife, Kelsey has been mired in despair and hopelessness following the accidental death of Lucy, the young daughter he considers the only redemptive aspect of his life. Near the point of death, Kelsey is brought to what he believes to be an afterlife where he is offered an opportunity to shed his past memories and embark upon an alternate path in another place and time. Eager to escape his torment and begin a more tranquil existence, Kelsey accepts, only to feel quickly betrayed as he soon finds himself back in the midst of battle, this time as a Union soldier at the dawn of the Civil War.
Through Antietam, Gettysburg and four years of relentless fighting, Kelsey attempts to cast aside his painful past while trying to survive the horrors of combat. He crosses paths with compelling figures on both sides of the conflict determined to persevere and return to those they left behind. Idealistic Ethan Royston, promoted from the enlisted ranks, believes in preserving the Union but is plagued by insecurity and self-doubt. His closest friend, West Point-trained Cal Garrity, remains loyal to his home state of Virginia despite his misgivings about the virtue of the Southern cause. The war will divide these friends, just as it will divide Garrity from his adoring wife, Emily, the charismatic and headstrong daughter of a prominent Norfolk shipbuilder, forced to face the onset of war alone.
Each will endure unimaginable hardship and brutality that will forever reshape their core beliefs and values. Each will find their strength and resolve tested as they search for self-purpose, humanity, and reconciliation. Most of all, Mac Kelsey will discover the very essence of life and death, and whether the new beginning he has long coveted will bring him the inner peace he has so desperately sought.

Buy the Book: 
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Praise
“Employing some new twists on the novelist’s technique of time travel, Andy Kutler sends a naval officer bombed at Pearl Harbor back to the Civil War. Among his comrades in a Union cavalry regiment he absorbs the enduring values of trust, loyalty, love, and selflessness during the chaos and tragedy of a war that took place a half century before he was born. Readers will find themselves immersed in this story and captivated by its principal characters.” — James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winner author of Battle Cry of Freedom and The War That Forged a Nation

“Profound, smart, and entertaining – the path through The Other Side of Life is an amazing journey through history.” — Joe Weisberg, Creator and Executive Producer of FX’s The Americans and author of An Ordinary Spy

“Andy Kutler’s war scenes are gripping, his characters vulnerable and honest, and his story ultimately triumphant — an exciting journey back into two levels of the past.” — David Hardin, author of Emblems of Woe: How the South Reacted to Lincoln’s Murder

“The Other Side of Life imaginatively mingles brutal scenes of Civil War battlefields with thought-provoking moral issues. It describes the conflicted loyalties and sufferings of that tragic era and the spiritual growth of the book’s hero—a naval officer wounded in the Pearl Harbor attack—and those he becomes close to when he is transported to the past. The swiftmoving, compelling narrative grips the reader from first page to last.” — Bernard Weisberger, historian and author of America Afire: Adams, Jefferson, and the Revolutionary Election of 1800

“Andy Kutler has written a thoughtfully imaginative adventure across time, approaching the Civil War from a fresh perspective while creating memorable, compelling characters. The story flows beautifully and is consistently challenging.” — Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, Now and Then Reader (nowandthenreader.com)

Review: 
Officer Malcolm Kelsey is aboard the USS Nevada the morning of December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attack. He makes the difficult decisions to maneuver the ship and save crew members. During the attack, Kelsey receives a head injury and goes into a coma. While unconscious, he is taken to the other side and given a choice. Kelsey can stay in his current timeline with his painful memories of his deceased daughter and wayward wife or be placed into a different timeline with no memories of his current life. The decision is not difficult for Kelsey, he takes the deal and is transported back to the eve of the Civil War. Kelsey feels duped, transported from one war to another with all of his memories from his past life in tact. There must be a purpose to all of this though, and Kelsey might have found it in a name he remembers from his past life, Travers. There are also new people that bring hope to Kelsey's new life, like Garrity. 

I was really intrigued by the time travel aspect of the book as well as the historical fiction. The whole other side was very interesting and I loved the scenes that happened there between Kelsey and his guide, Leavitt. Kelsey was also an amazing and well developed character: brave and determined, he has pain hidden deep inside, is a self-described ass-hole, but would do anything to help another member of his team. This made him perfect to go back to the Civil War. One thing that threw me though was the changing point of view between Kelsey and Garrity, an officer in the Dragoons where Kelsey first awakes in 1861. I wasn't really expecting so much of the book to focus on someone else, especially so soon. For much of the book the perspectives are taken back and forth between Kelsey's experience and Garrity's. This does have a purpose in the end, but at first it was a little disorienting. Anyhow, the context into the Civil War with a view from each side was very detailed and graphic. Much of the battles, prison conditions and medical treatment was done with historical accuracy. The ending was inspiring and surprising, nothing that I saw coming. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

About the Author: 
Andy Kutler is a writer living in Arlington, Virginia. A native of Madison, Wisconsin and a graduate of Michigan State University (B.A.) and Georgetown University (M.A.), he has previously worked on the senior legislative staff of two United States Senators before serving as a senior policy officer with the U.S. Secret Service. He is working today as a consultant to the national security community.
While Andy’s writings have appeared in The Huffington Post and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Other Side of Life is his first novel. Andy’s interests include travel, military history, his Wisconsin sports teams, and most importantly, spending time with his wife and two children.
For more information and news please visit Andy Kutler’s Facebook page.

About the Book: 
On tour with Prism Book Tours.
 

The Ghost Chronicles
by Marlo Berliner
YA/Adult Crossover Paranormal
Paperbook & ebook, 298 Pages
November 2015 by Teddy Blue Books

 
Can Michael get to heaven before the devil gets him first, and if it means leaving Sarah is he sure he still wants to go?
 
Michael Andrews had everything – a loving family, a great girlfriend and a promising basketball career. That was before the accident that took his life. Now, he’s a ghost, wandering among the living, struggling to understand why he’s stuck. All he wants is to move on.
 
That is until he meets Sarah, an attractive young girl who died just as tragically as he did. The only trouble is falling in love and binding oneself to another soul is forbidden, for it may keep one or both of the souls bound to earth for longer than they should be.
 
To make matters worse, there’s also a danger in going too far with Sarah, because the “joining” of two souls in the afterlife is also strictly forbidden and they don’t know what will happen if they do go that far. Each time they touch they can feel the boundaries of their energies slipping perilously into one another.
 
Things get even more complicated as Michael learns he’s being pursued. Demons are after him because he’s a marked soul, a soul the devil wants very badly for some unknown reason.
 
So, maybe falling in love in the afterlife isn’t such a good idea.
 
Amazon

Review: 
Michael Andrews is a Senior in high school, weeks away from graduation, an all-star basketball co-captain and has a great girlfriend.  Unfortunately, he is hit by a reckless driver and dies in the accident.  Michael is left to navigate the ghost world on his own and it is no easier than the living world.   Michael wants to move onward and upward after his death, but doesn’t know how.  Michael finally meets Tom, another ghost who is able to help him figure out his new world.  As Michael learns about being a ghost, he meets many other ghosts, including Sarah, the resident haunt at the Angel of the Sea.  With Sarah, he learns that love can be part of the afterlife.  However, danger is also part of being a ghost.  Michael learns that he is marked by the devil and is being chased by demons that want his soul and will put Sarah in danger in order to get it.

I was pulled right into this story about Michael’s trials and learning about how to be a ghost.  It was really interesting to see his struggles with leaving his family and girlfriend behind, especially in the absence of his father.  I really liked when Michael met Tom and was able to learn about his new world, do cool things and meet other ghosts.  Some of the famous ghosts were awesome to get to know in the afterlife.  Michael and Sarah’s relationship is very sweet but a little strange to me; I’d love to know more about ‘joining’ of souls and why it is a bad thing and maybe more about Sarah’s life.  The suspense builds as Tom sudden disappearances grow and the demons are more intent on chasing down Michael for his mark.  There is a lot to still figure out: Why is Tom special?  Why do some ghosts move on while others are stuck?  Why is Michael marked for the devil?   I will definitely be reading the second book!
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About Marlo Berliner
 
Formerly an accounting manager for a Fortune 500 company, Marlo is currently an intern with a literary agency based in New York City, as well as, an editor at Chimera Editing. Marlo writes young adult, women’s fiction, and short stories. She is currently working on her third novel.
 
When she's not writing or editing, Marlo loves reading, relaxing at the beach, watching movies, and rooting for the Penn State Nittany Lions. After having spent some wonderful time in Pittsburgh and Houston, she’s now back in her home state of New Jersey where she resides with her husband and two sons. This is her first novel.
 
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