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Review of “County Vices ” – A.M. McKnight
Detective Olivia Winston and IRS Special Agent Maureen Jeffries have “tied the knot” and happily settled into married life. But crime in their home county of Goslyn hasn’t settled down—in fact, it’s at an all-time high. Drugs and corruption have found a foothole in the once small, quiet community, and Olivia and Maureen discover it’s a family affair that reaches from the street corner dealer right up to the County Board of Supervisors.
The love-hate drama between Supervisor Cleo Jacobs and her street-wise nephew, Chris Jacobs, has filled their pockets with plenty of cash but caused a dangerous rift between the two as both try to make their mark in the drug game. Driven by greed and ego, the Jacobs do their best to satisfy the growing demand for pills that “make you happy” and “numb the pain.” But their love of money comes with a callous disregard for others, including those close to Detective Winston and Special Agent Jeffries, who find themselves right in the middle of Goslyn’s biggest crime story.
Love, violence, and betrayal combine to make the perfect, poisonous pill.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
Housed within the pages of County Vices are strong and resourceful female characters.
Maureen and Olivia, a married couple, are on the case of who’s harassing old man Rufus Bennett. As they put their detective skills to work, they discovery Rufus’ drama is only one small piece in a very large puzzle. Drugs, corruption, and greed are running amuck in Goslyn County. Honestly, it’s an epidemic all over the world. Like in real life, it takes a team to combat the distribution of narcotics. It takes many people to stop corruption plaguing the political world and/or cooperations, too.
A.M. McKnight created a dream team to bring justice to most of the guilty parties. However, what about Stuart and Big Smit? Maybe their story will continue on in a future book. It must because there were loose ends that needed cleaned up.
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
OTHER AVAILABLE TITLES
A mostly black community with its roots in farming, Goslyn, Virginia lay just south of the State’s Capital. The once small, close-knit county had grown rapidly in the past two decades and boasted a population of just over fifty thousand. But the county’s crime stats had grown as well, and the latest offenses included several break-ins and rumors of a meth lab. Time had brought many changes, and many of the longtime folks of Goslyn no longer recognized their community and longed for days gone by.
Goslyn PD Detective Olivia “Ollie” Winston loves her family and friends and shows it through her sense of humor. Just like her neighbors, she too worries about the recent events, and it’s her job to find out who’s behind the crime spree.
While investigating three burglaries, Olivia meets IRS Special Agent Maureen Jeffries who is pursuing a tax fraud suspect. Their cases are connected, and both soon discover they have much in common, personally and professionally.
Sweet is the moment when you know you’re in love again. And who better to be in love with than someone who wants you as much as you want them. That’s the feeling shared between Olivia and Maureen, two women who have experienced love’s hardest lessons—pain and disappointment. But so much has changed in just two years—two years in which both women realize that letting go of the past can open one’s heart. For Olivia and Maureen, what they have together, could be their best love ever.
I’m a longtime Virginian and practice law as a first profession. I decided to try my hand at writing after getting hooked on lesbian crime and romance novels. As a lover of fast crime action and black lesbian romance, I combined the two and wrote my first book, Goslyn County–self published. My future works include a short story romance and a second self-published novel–both based on the characters of Goslyn.
Twitter: @wordmc46
Website: ammcknight.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ammcknightbooks
Filed under Uncategorized
Review of “Fistful of Love” – Renee Cronin
At the age of 23, social worker, Jeya Wellington was pretty much on her own. The devastating loss of her parents left her bereft and alone. Her best friend, Roman and his family have been like surrogates, but they could never replace what she lost. She needed a different connection. Shortly after losing her parents, she finds love and comfort in the arms of Rayne Watson, a correctional officer.
Rayne was exactly what she needed at the time, but now, two years later, Jeya wants out. She never expected love to come with bruises. She didn’t anticipate losing friends and living in fear. This was not her idea of true love. With the support of Roman, Jeya finds a way to leave. But Rayne isn’t letting go that easily. They made a commitment to each other, and she has the tattoo to prove it – ‘Til Death Do Us Part.
Torn between the love she has for Rayne and the instinct to protect herself, is Jeya’s will stronger than her vow?
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
No matter your sexual orientation, gender, race, color, you can find yourself in an abusive relationship. Man, woman, anyone can be abused or be the abuser.
In a search, I discovered 1 out of 4 women and 1 out of 7 men will be abused by an intimate partner. That astounded me.
When you seek out and find love, it’s supposed to be a joyous occasion. You shouldn’t fear for your life. You should be happy to wake up, come home, or see your partner’s face. You should lean into their touch and not shy away from it.
Jeya did step away from her (female) abuser, Rayne, and I respected her strength to do so. However, like most victims, she went back thinking things would change. And like others painfully discover, it doesn’t.
Luckily for Jeya, she had people watching her back, sickened by the abuse she suffered, and willing to help her move on. Renee depicted the emotional, physical and psychological abuse men and women face every minute of every day. Like Roman, I was angry and befuddled how anyone could go back to an abuser but this is where mental manipulation comes into play.
For the outcome of the story, Renee projected one plausible and highly possible outcome to such a real life scenario/plot. Her story may not be labeled a biography but I know many individuals will feel as if they are reading and reliving their own horrific tale.
For those who deal with abuse, please don’t suffer. You deserve better in life. You deserve a lifetime full of love not days/hours/minutes shrouded in a layer of fear, pain, and suffering of any kind.
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤1/2
Renee Cronin is a self-professed devourer of knowledge, and a voracious reader. She began writing in earnest in 2005, when the characters in her head became so loud she was forced to tell their stories, or risk getting swept away into the abyss of her imagination. Renee has since used writing as a personal outlet to express her feelings, ideas, views, thoughts, and opinions about the world and the issues that impact her on a deep personal and societal level. (And of course writing also quiets the voices in her head of the many characters that are yearning to have their stories told.) Renee’s inspiration to publish is in large part due to the overwhelming display of encouragement, and support from family and friends, who believe she has a gift with words that need to be shared with world. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, she works in the social work field avidly advocating and supporting the varied needs of the people in her community. Renee is a bibliophile with a transcendent love for words. Her soul yearns for the acoustic stylings from a plethora of musical genres. As she continues on this journey of published author she hopes to keep her readers captivated and pining for more.
Filed under Uncategorized
Review of “Goslyn County”- A. M. McKnight
A mostly black community with its roots in farming, Goslyn, Virginia lay just south of the State’s Capital. The once small, close-knit county had grown rapidly in the past two decades and boasted a population of just over fifty thousand. But the county’s crime stats had grown as well, and the latest offenses included several break-ins and rumors of a meth lab. Time had brought many changes, and many of the longtime folks of Goslyn no longer recognized their community and longed for days gone by.
Goslyn PD Detective Olivia “Ollie” Winston loves her family and friends and shows it through her sense of humor. Just like her neighbors, she too worries about the recent events, and it’s her job to find out who’s behind the crime spree.
While investigating three burglaries, Olivia meets IRS Special Agent Maureen Jeffries who is pursuing a tax fraud suspect. Their cases are connected, and both soon discover they have much in common, personally and professionally.
Excerpt from Goslyn County:
“I think we’ve talked about everything except politics and sex,” Olivia said out of the blue.
Maureen blushed and was speechless.
“Sorry, Maureen. I don’t know where that came from.”
“Don’t worry about it. You just reminded me of Carol, my receptionist. She’s far more graphic though. Let’s make another date so we can talk about politics. Then…perhaps a third date for sex? I mean, to talk about it.”
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
When you first pick up Goslyn County, you’ll note the cover isn’t flashy. There are no sexy women on the cover. Nothing that screams it’s a book focusing around the love that blooms between two lesbians.
What you see is a detective’s badge.
Maybe A.M. McKnight’s intention was to let our imaginations conjure up how we think Olivia and Maureen would look or maybe she wanted the readers to buy the book because it was a crime story (first) with a love story attached.
All I can say is …thank goodness for book summaries because without it I wouldn’t know it had a same sex coupling in it.
Those of us who look towards a cover first, seeking a lesbian story, I think they might pass on it, unbeknownst to its content. That’s why I always read the back cover.
Moving on……
The first thing I loved about McKnight’s story, Goslyn County, was the countless strong women gracing the pages. Brains, beauty, brawn – her characters had it all and were respected members in their field of expertise and/or distinguished members of society. Take Ollie, she was a detective and taught math at the community college. Her mother, a retired teacher, was in Haiti helping to re-open schools devastated by Mother Nature. Lisa, her best friend, was a IT goddess and business owner. Gloria, Maureen’s sister, was also a business owner. I could go on but you get the idea. Smart, strong women — ideal role models for our youth.
In regards to the cases being investigated by Ollie and Maureen, the plot of the tax fraud and subplot of car cloning had its moments were I was totally engrossed into the unfolding action and other times where I felt the story had gone stale.
When the lull moments came about, McKnight would bring me back into the fold with their choice of date topics. And McKnight, if you are reading this, I will never be able to look at the Pillsbury Doughboy the same way again. (See page 147 for explanation)
Since this is a book revolving around two women falling in love, I must discuss my thoughts at the pairing. I liked they didn’t rush into sex. They waited until they were in love. When they finally consummated their relationship, they didn’t rip each other’s clothes off. They weren’t consumed with a fiery passion where they were frantically pawing at each other, starved for physical content. Like their courtship, they took their time — exploring one another. For me, the slow loving was more sensual, more erotic, than most “must have you now” sex scenes most authors seem to write.
Well done, A.M. Knight!!
Heart Rating System – 1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
I’m a longtime Virginian and practice law as a first profession. I decided to try my hand at writing after getting hooked on lesbian crime and romance novels. As a lover of fast crime action and black lesbian romance, I combined the two and wrote my first book, Goslyn County–self published. My future works include a short story romance and a second self-published novel–both based on the characters of Goslyn.
Twitter: @wordmc46
Website: ammcknight.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ammcknightbooks
Filed under Uncategorized