Vocal Expressions

This is the first time I’m reading anything by Cheryl Bradshaw and Janet Fix and it won’t be the last. These two authors have teamed up to write a story that is chock full of mystery, drugs, survival, and lifelong friendships.   So, let’s meet Sloane, a private investigator and Maddie, a retired medical examiner. Two best friends who are on vacation during the festival season (Mardi Gras) in New Orleans. A place of fun, food, and seedy places. While waiting on Sloane to return with a Canal Street Daisy, a bourbon-based drink infused with orange and lemon, Maddie takes off to see what a couple was doing down a dark alleyway. Within a few minutes of checking on the young woman she found lying on the filthy ground, someone from behind a dumpster pierces her neck with a needle and she is shoved into the back of an old sedan.   Panic ensues when Sloane returns, and Maddie is nowhere to be found. Sloane asks around and is pointed in the direction of the alleyway where ...

Author’s Bio: Diane Papalia Zappa grew up in Fort Lee, NJ. She graduated from Vassar College in 1968. She earned an MS in Child Development and Family Relations and a PhD in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University in 1970 and 1971, respectively. She then joined the faculty of the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, attaining the rank of full professor at age 30. While there she and co-author Sally Olds wrote A Child’s World (in its thirteenth edition) and Human Development (in its fifteenth edition).  While at Wisconsin she met Frank Zappa’s younger brother Bob, who was the marketing manager for one of her textbooks. They married in 2015.   Her first memoir, The Married Widow: My Journey with Bob Zappa , describes their relationship since meeting in 1986. Dear Bobby describes how she handled her grief after he died in 2018.   Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Dia...

Author’s Bio: David Swinson is a retired police detective from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, having been assigned to Major Crimes. Swinson is the author of the critically acclaimed Frank Marr Trilogy – The Second Girl , Crime Song and Trigger , and the standalone City on the Edge . He lives in Upstate New York.   Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? David Swinson: The song, “Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison. It’s both beautiful and sad.   Here's the Synopsis: In a red brick house on a tree-lined street, DC homicide detective Alex Blum stares at the bullet-pocked body of Chris Doyle. As he roots around for evidence, he finds an old polaroid: the decedent, arm in arm with Arthur Holland, Blum's informant from years ago when he worked at the Narcotics branch. But Arthur has been missing for days. Blum’s only source: Arthur’s girl, Celeste—beautiful, seductive, and tragic—whom he can’t get out of his head. Blum is drawn to her a...

This is the third contemporary romance novel I’ve read by Lauren Blakely. She knows how to turn up the heat between the sheets and wherever her characters can find a place to sneak a kiss or two. So, let’s meet Julia, a sexy bar owner (Cubic Z) and a bartender who knows how to churn out her signature drink – the Purple Snow Globe. She has a sharp wit and knows how to deal with customers who try to hit on her.   She’s also looking for a no strings relationship until McKenna, her sister plays matchmaker, and she meets Clay, a sexy entertainment lawyer. The chemistry between these two is hot and heavy. However, Julia is trying her best to shield her heart. She’s also in deep as a poker player in an underground poker ring run by Charlie, a man she owes a lot of money all because of an ex-boyfriend. Because of this, she is also shielding those she loves for fear of Charlie hurting them.   Overall, this was a quick read. The sex scenes were well done. I enjoyed the characte...