Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
The houses began to get closer together as we approached Sidney, typical of a small town. Bobby pulled up, parked in front of a quaint steel diner shaped like an old RV with a red and yellow neon sign that flashed Eat at Millie’s. Square glass tiles curved around the corners meeting the bright red roof at the top. “Here we are,” Bobby said, getting out of the car. “Millie serves the best eats south of the Mason Dixon. It’s no Varsity, but I promise Atlanta’s got nothin’ better.”
When we walked in, I felt like I was sucked into an old-fashioned movie set. The classic jukebox played Ezio Pinza’s “Some Enchanted Evening” Really? That song was way older than I was. Mother had loved South Pacific and after she died, Daddy had played the old vinyl incessantly on his antique record player. It was a perfect accent to Millie’s retro ambiance, though. Formica topped counters surrounded a soda fountain bar lined with red-leather cushioned stools on steel bases. The entire restaurant oozed with authenticity.
“Say Millie, how’s the special today?” Bobby asked the woman behind the counter.
“Bobby Reynolds, do you need to ask? Now, sit yourself down. Fried chicken just came out fresh and hot, so you and your lady friend relax in your booth, and I’ll bring out a couple of plates.”
“What a gal.” Bobby grabbed a newspaper from the bar. “And what do ya know? Today’s paper, too.” He walked over to one of the booths and sat down. “It’s pretty hard to eat standin’ up, Maddie. Come on over here and take a load off. I promise I won’t bite.”
Carefully sliding across the red cushioned seat, I looked around for a menu but couldn’t see one anywhere. I crossed my hands on the Formica tabletop. “This place must have cost a fortune to reproduce. Everything is so realistic.”
“I’m not sure, but wait till you taste Millie’s fried chicken. It’ll melt in yourmouth, and her mashed potatoes are the cat’s pajamas.”
“The cat’s pajamas, huh?” I smiled, playing along with his slang. “It smells delicious, but honestly, I don’t eat fried foods very often. The cholesterol is over the roof, and mashed potatoes destroy my waistline. Do you think I could see a menu?”
He looked at me with a perplexed stare. “Sorry, Maddie. Today’s menu is fried chicken. But I’m sure Millie would rustle up a hamburger and fries or a hotdog if you prefer.”
Before I could answer, Millie stood at the table holding two large plates filled with fried chicken and okra, mashed potatoes with gravy and hot biscuits smothered in butter. She had two huge slices of cherry pie balanced on her forearm. The aroma was amazing, but I could almost feel my arteries harden and the pounds roll onto my hips.
“You dig in. I’m gonna jazz this place up.” Bobby bounced out of the booth toward the jukebox. “Any tune you’d like to hear?” “How about some Doris Day or Ella Fitzgerald?” I replied, keeping in the retro spirit. “Oh, why not be adventurous and throw in some Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift.” He shrugged, turned, and began sifting through songs on the jukebox.
Biting into Millie’s chicken took me back to my childhood, sitting in Grandma’s kitchen, my feet swinging back and forth beneath the seat, chicken leg grasped in one hand, biscuit slathered with butter in the other. Grandma called it comfort food, when the aroma and flavor brought back wonderful memories. And the fried okra and mashed potatoes only added to the mood. I practically inhaled the first few bites promising myself that when my body healed, I’d work out extra hard to make up for my splurge. I’d just taken a big gulp of Coke when I glanced down at the newspaper Bobby had brought to the table. I read, choked, and spewed soda across the booth. He’d said today’s paper, but the date at the top of the Sidney Gazette read: Sunday, November 6, 1949.
After lunch, Bobby gave me the grand tour of his hometown. I felt like I was wandering through a scene from Back To The Future. At any moment I’d see Michael J. Fox pull up in his DeLorean and warn me about breaking the space-time continuum. But no one could have designed a Hollywood set as perfect as Sidney. The streets were lined with classic storefronts. Metal signs advertised: More Doctors Smoke Camel Cigarettes and The Smoothest Men Use Barbasol. When we pulled into the service station, attendants rushed out to the car to fill the gas tank and clean the windshield. People dressed in clothing like I’d seen on American American Movie Classics. Every detail reeked of an era tucked into the pages of history. Prices appeared in sync as well. Gas for seventeen cents a gallon, milk for thirty-four cents. And a loaf of bread cost only eight cents. Offhand, I couldn’t think of a single item in the twenty-first century that sold for under a dollar.
The local theater featured Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan in I Was A Male War Bride. Tickets for the show cost forty-six cents. It would have been impossible to create such an elaborate hoax. The drive around Sidney felt surreal. Was I drifting through a dream, or lost in time? “Moonlight in Vermont” a scratchy, romantic melody, streamed from the AM radio, deepening the uncanny ambiance. Phone booths dotted every street corner and the local A&W drive-in buzzed with activity as carhops roller-skated back and forth serving root beer and burgers curbside. My senses battled a tug of war with my intellect. Visible reality convinced me I had been swept into the past, while logic screamed impossible. So I focused on what I knew for sure. Bobby had found me after my accident. Instinct was all I had to rely on, and my gut said he was a good man, a little cocky at times, but decent. My mind raced trying to make sense of the vintage town rolling past me.
Nothing resonated, until I noticed a road sign that read: Looper Speedway. Looper. I’d heard that name somewhere before. “Bobby, can we go to Looper Speedway?”
“Sure.”
His tone revealed a tinge of excitement. “You like the races?” I nodded, offering an agreeable smile. “Max Looper and his nephew Edwin are friends of mine. We can take a drive down the Gainesville-Cleveland Highway to see the track if you’d like.” He frowned. “Unless downed trees from the storm have blocked the way.”
Why did Looper Speedway sound so familiar to me? I’d never been to a racetrack racetrack in my life. Had I? No. Why would I want to watch grown men chase each other around in a circle at ridiculously dangerous speeds?”
“Say, if you really want to see the cars race, how about going with me next Saturday? That is, unless you’re sweet on someone else.”
“I was, but not anymore.” My thoughts spun to Cole, drenched, with daffodil petals stuck to his face. The sorry, lying jerk. “The truth is I tore out of the party into that storm, because I walked in on my boyfriend kissing someone else.”.
~~~
This is a really enjoyable, fun book. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend...
Imagine if you would attending a party hosted by your best friend in this decade, seeing your main man getting it on with another woman, fleeing in anger and, then, being followed so that you are forced off the road...and wind up in the past! All that she had been thinking about was that, once again, she had been betrayed by somebody with whom she thought she was in love...
Even then, though, she did remember the emotional jolt upon meeting Rob, a neighbor of her best friend...
The emotion behind my icy comments must have resounded a lot louder than I’d intended as the crowd below hushed. I turned in a huff, glancing over the banister, and realized I wasn’t alone. All eyes gazed up as if some starlet had spilled fine Bordeaux on her snow-white Valentino dress. Dropped jaws and blank stares fell over the entire room and followed me step-by-step down the lavish, never-ending staircase. To make things worse, soft background music amplified through the silence “…when you find your true love…fly to her side…or you’ll dream all alone…”
Perfect: a romantic ballad confirming my loveless life. I had to say something to break the tension. “Lawyers,” I announced, wishing I could just fade into the woodwork and disappear altogether. Halfway down the steps, I felt a rush of emotion explode inside. My head swirled. Dear Lord, please don’t let me collapse right here in front of everyone. I held the handrail tightly to keep from losing my balance.
That’s when a single pair of hands in the middle of the crowd began to clap, slowly at first, inviting others to join. When Rob’s cobalt eyes met mine a flood of tranquility flowed through me like warm honey, calming me as if he had willed my composure.
~~~
I loved it~ And it is certainly fun to relive parts of your past life, experiencing them anew...or, like the main character, Lacey Montgomery, seeing what, to her, from 2012, must be a retro town and people from the far past... and memories of her own family members talking about the past...
Lacey was rescued from the lake by a strong hand who pulled her to him. She learned his name was Bobby and, for some reason, she felt safe with him--more safe than when she had been with Cole - the bum! It took awhile for Lacey to grasp that something was very wrong. For one, they couldn't find her car and therefore she had nothing--no purse, cell phone, clothes...and a potential way out of wherever she was and back home...
Bobby was gorgeous and she found herself responding to him, even when, after he had taken her home with him to meet his sister and, hopefully, borrow some dry clothes for the damsel he had rescued. She immediately was accepted and realized that she felt, for perhaps the first time in her life, at home!
The book goes back and forth between 2012 and 1949-50. In the present, readers read about a stalker, a man who wants to find Lacey Montgomery, no matter what... Readers are teased in the present while enjoying diving into the past where living is easy...
Many readers may not remember the period of time in which Lacey had fallen, but I remember the decade, most from the continued music for the time period, which continued to be popular for many years...Love songs to dance to were the rage during that big band era that followed... Here's two of my favorites by one of the singers mentioned by Lacey...
There was one major problem Lacey encountered... she found what the definition of many words, often used as slang or sayings in her 2012 world, meant something entirely different. That's how, when she talked about Bobby with his sister, that she got the impression that Bobby was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy--again... Still it was apparent to everybody in the small town, that Bobby and Lacey were falling in love, even when Lacey realized what must have happened and hoped that she would find a way to go home...
Because she knew one thing...the town where she was actually living...was, in her time period, completely under the lake into which she had driven and almost drowned... Was it fate, a God incident? For surely, it was clear once Lacey realized the future for this small town, she had a chance to help those people who were to lose their home through eminent domain...
I've already downloaded the next two in the trilogy...and looking forward to seeing how McLean manipulates time into a true adventure for those of us living in the present world...
Maybe I'll be able to go back? Would you want to? I know one thing, people were kinder. They were good people and wonderful neighbors... Given the world of today--it's wonderful to escape back into a wonderland...even if only for the length of time reading a fantastic book! Enjoy this one!
Summertime is coming! Spring jonquils are out, forsythia is second to bloom in my area of Pennsylvania... Looking forward to smelling grass being mowed and new flowers appearing daily through the upcoming months...
Had my pre-op review this past Monday, tests, lab work and questionnaires of issues being considered... Wow, I didn't have this much action with my brain surgery... Strange isn't it, cutting into the brain is less invasive than cutting into my hip and remaining/replacing damaged bone... Don't remember whether I mentioned that I walked out of an earlier potential hip surgeon's office and immediately asked for a second opinion... What a difference in approach, professionally speaking... So, remember, if you are worried about what your doctor is saying or doing...you have a right to seek a second opinion! God Bless...
At the base of the Chestatee River, North Georgia, May 24, 1865
Isabelle O’Neal wiggled her toes in the squishy mud. A cool trickle seeped through, soothing her swollen feet. She loved sitting by the water’s edge, watching the ebb and flow sparkle reflected sunbeams across the river. But today necessity took precedence over pleasure. Her very life hung in the balance. She squeezed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath filled with the scent of spring flowers drifting on the breeze. Holding the air a moment before slowly releasing, she centered her thoughts. In the distance, pounding hooves tromped across firm Georgia clay, breaking through the mid-morning silence. Stiffening at the approaching danger, she pressed splayed fingers against the ground to gauge the threat. She listened, attentive to their pace and direction. The hoof beats were closing in despite her evasive tactics. Shadowing the creek to confuse her pursuers averted capture, but only briefly. She had little time for pampering wounds or resting tired legs. She must forge ahead with haste. Scooping cool water over her feet, Izzy rinsed away soft sludge comforting the blisters that burned and bit at her toes. She blotted the dampness then winced in pain. Thankful she borrowed more suitable apparel from a random clothesline and abandoned her crinolines when she took to the road, she hastily ripped her undergarment into strips and wrapped the tender injuries...
A soft crunch rustled behind her, and a hand slid over her mouth and nose. Izzy had no time to counter. She screamed––but no sound escaped the suffocating grip. No plea for help. No air. Squirming and yanking, she struggled, desperate to free herself, but to no avail. Trapped body to body, she fought for air, unable to see her assailant. The odor of sweat laced with tobacco and spirits heaved her stomach, causing the whirling in her head to spin faster and deeper, until the sunlight narrowed into tiny stars against a midnight sky––then faded into darkness.
****
Lake Lanier GA, May 24, 2018 (Abingdon Manor) Gazing across the lush, green forest edging his property, Attaway York stood on his front porch. Twilight dusted the evening sky, fireflies awakened, twinkling like tiny stars to light their flight through the darkening woodland. He relished the sounds, from crickets chirping and birds warbling to animals rustling through the forest. The unfamiliar whispers of nature he’d missed as a child. Though this solitude suited him, he dreamed of more.
For two years he’d labored on this land, restored the old abandoned estate to the splendor Abingdon Manor once held. But a burning desire to fill his home with children’s laughter and the love of a good woman weren’t likely to occur in such an isolated existence. He glanced downward at Prince’s slightly cocked head, the deep bronze eyes staring back as if the dog understood his mood. “Not totally alone, am I, boy?” York squatted and scratched the chocolate lab’s neck. “I have you…and friends, too.”
Prince woofed, his tail wagging, and he nudged at his master.
“Ready for our walk?” York treaded down the porch steps with an unleashed Prince pacing beside him step by step. He enjoyed his evening walks with his dog. The treks provided a time for reflection and to ponder for new tomorrows. Tonight, he headed toward his favorite jaunt...
Through darkness, his gaze followed a pale blue haze, swishing through the brushwood toward the beach. A soft glow sparkled like an energized cloud. “Rrrrrrrr.” Prince warned again.
“Hush, boy,” York whispered, inching toward the haze, Prince at his side. But the mist dimmed as they approached. Within the cloud, York could see a blurred image of a young woman. “Wait.” He paused and reached his hand toward the shimmer. “I won’t hurt you.”
“You see me?” Her hollow voice stuttered and she jerked as if taken aback. “Yes. Of course. Do you need help?” He stared at her translucent image, edging closer, confused, but not fearful. The young woman was little more than a child. Dressed in a long, tattered white shirt and little else, she wore her hair in a fat golden brown braid that fell over her left shoulder.
“I’ve seen you here before, watched you and your dog.”
“Yes. We enjoy walking along the beach.” He smiled and glanced at his pet. “Say hello, boy. We have a new friend.” He looked toward the woman again. “This is Prince. And I am York. Who are you?”
The young girl shivered. “Izzy,” she muttered. “I mean Isabelle. Isabelle O’Neal.”
~~~
Between the Shadows:
Lake Lanier Mysteries
Lake Laneir
By Casi McLean
It was 1845, and Isabelle was home alone at the family estate where only she and her brother remained. The Civil War was over but there was still danger from soldiers and others who were traveling home or to find a new location to work...maybe even to find some of the riches they felt they were due...
Izzy heard the many travelers heading her way and knew she could only be safe if she ran, but they had heard her as well and started the chase. She had no choice but to run, in the water as much as possible to hide her path. What happened to her that day was now part of history...or was it?
For in the year, 2018, Attaway York was also in those same woods where Izzy was running for her life... And he saw her...
Izzy had been out walking, caught in a place where she could not escape. Each time she walked around, she was soon back in a small hidden place that she was unable to leave. York and his dog Prince watched her, for she seemed to need help, her clothes were old and torn and she seemed somehow, translucent. But York's only thought was to help her and moved closer, introducing himself and Prince. Izzy seemed surprised that he could see her... and though she was afraid, she also moved closer, reaching out her arm to touch him lightly.
A soft glow sizzled around her like a protective sheath, but the moment they touched, the radiance eclipsed and Isabelle stood before him.
Very Cool, right?! I was totally hooked by that time, and still enjoying the beautiful scene, where York, who was looking for someone to share his newly restored home, was suddenly seeing a lovely young lady appear before him! OK, she happened to be dead, but that didn't stop the relationship developing! Loving it, with the feeling of "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir..."
The Tesseract, Tess for short––named in
honor of Drew’s favorite childhood story,
A Wrinkle In Time––was an
artificial intelligence with
the capability of wrinkling
time to connect past to future.
~~~
And just think! The adventure has barely begun! For now readers get to meet Tess... So before you begin to wonder who Tess is, like I did, we soon find that she is the time machine built by the matriarch of the family who is now near death. Kenzi and her father are using the time machine, when required. And this is the time! Their friend York has talked with Izzy and has figured out that the only way to free her from where she has been imprisoned since her death, is to try to free her in her own time! Let it begin! Using all the modern technology of today's world, they are able to figure out exactly where they should travel to. York and Kenzi are soon in 1845...and the soldiers who chased Izzy are still there. Soon one has captured Kenzi and took the horse they had found at the home and rode off with her. In the meantime, Izzy's brother returns home, finds York--and Izzy gone. The hunt begins and readers follow each of the three as they deal with danger from the soldiers, stolen gold, finding the location where Izzy might have been taken--all in time to hopefully save Izzy from what happened to her! With romance as well! This was my first time reading McLean, but she provides the type of paranormal, mystical, spooky tale I enjoy. The series doesn't seem to keep the same characters from book to book, but rather the mystic lake atmosphere. I enjoyed it enough that I went out to pick up the first book as well. So, what we have is paranormal events that move characters in time, and Tess allowed other characters to travel there and hopefully help, without changing history... At the same time, we meet a wonderful set of characters with "first-love" tendencies which magically add to the final climax of the tale, which both didn't and did surprise me...Very cool and a lovely conclusion for everybody. Even the story of Kenzi's grandparents was a love story in itself... I loved the whole tale and happily escaped from reality for hours! If my words sound interesting to you, I highly recommend you check out Casi McLean. Her creative imagination, her detail to fine points of her story as well as continuity and use of seeming coincident was a joy in itself. Well worth finding her as a new author to follow! GABixlerReviews
Award winning author, Casi McLean, pens novels to stir the soul with romance, suspense, and a sprinkle of magic. Her writing crosses genres from ethereal, captivating shorts with eerie twist endings to believable time slips, mystical plots, and sensual romantic suspense.
Known for enchanting stories with magical description, McLean entices readers with fascinating hooks to hold them captive in storylines they can't put down. Her romance entwines strong, believable heroines with delicious, hot heroes to tempt the deepest desires, then fans the flames, sweeping readers into their innermost romantic fantasies.
With suspenseful settings and lovable characters you'll devour, you'll see, hear, and feel the magical eeriness of one fateful night. You'll swear time travel could happen, be mystified by other worldly images, and feel the heat of romantic suspense, but most of all you'll want more.
Casi's latest series enters the realm of political thrillers with Reign Of Fire, exclusively found in the #1 bestselling, romantic suspense boxset, Love Under Fire.
Her three-book, time slip, romantic suspense, Lake Lanier Mysteries, hit the stands running with book #1, Beneath The Lake, winner of the 2016 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for BEST Romantic Suspense. Watch the trailer on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvf0IC4ndBw
Beyond The Mist, book #2 in her romantic time slip treasure chest, is a stunning tribute to the victims and first responders of the 911 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Here is the trailer link: https://youtu.be/Bj6ySTh_7xI
Between The Shadows brings the saga full circle with an amazing time slip to 1865 and a search for the Confederate gold. Uniquely qualified to write self-help and inspiration, Casi tops the scale with her powerful memoir, Wingless Butterfly: Healing The Broken Child Within, sharing an inspirational message of courage, tenacity, and hope, displaying her unique ability to excel in nonfiction and self-help as well as fiction.
Discover the magic, with Casi McLean books: http://CasiMclean.com
