Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Whenever a passage in a novel makes no sense, I know the author is trying to show me something.”
Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Showing is fine for strippers and mimes. However, if you are a storyteller, then perhaps, you should stick to telling and leave the showing to those in the visual arts.” Vince Mooney

“Out of Control” is More Fun than a Barrel of Cavemen – 5 Stars!

Wacky, Zany, Witty, Quirky…Mary Connealy is an Acquired Taste…

“Out of Control”  May Actually Apply More to the Author than the Characters in the Book!

“Out of Control”

Mary Connealy

Print Length: 339 pages

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers;

Original edition (August 1, 2011)

Also sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Mary Connealy creates horrible husbands and then she kills them. Fortunately  it doesn’t take the widows long to find another husband. One heroine even had her own cemetery of dead husbands. (The Husband Tree). One of the husbands in, “Wrangler in Petticoats”, Sydney, I really liked! *

Like I said, Mary Connealy, is an acquired taste. To her adoring fans all her historic western romantic comedies are 5-star pleasure fests! To unsuspecting readers, however, she can be something else. (These account for the less than 5-star stellar reviews.)

This current book, “Out of Control”, is edgy for even Connealy. I’m not sure there is a normal character in the book. The theme is what I would call ‘an inconvenient marriage of convenience’.

This is not a cozy romance where you can see the hero and heroine falling in love, little by little, from start to finish of the book. This is not a romantic book in the traditional sense. Consider the poor heroine’s potential husband, Rafe.

Rafe has a looney, always grinning, brother, a ‘locoweed’ insane brother, and to top it off,  he’s not quite right himself. The hero and heroine have only known each other for a day or two and as far as she can tell, he doesn’t love her.  How romantic can you get?

“Out of Control” is  Christian fiction because it is respectful of God and the reader. It is also a very clean book even if the characters get very dirty for most of the book. The heroine is on a quest to prove God exists by showing that fish fossils are found at the top of a mountain. The whole world had to have flooded for fish fossils to be up this high. Thus God exists. She is in love with fossils and her goal in life seems to be to get published in professorial journals. (I can sympathize with that.)  

The hero likes her because she is a cute little thing but she has a big mouth and is very bossy -- just like him.

Here’s the really good part.

Each page is fun to read. Each page is full of surprises. While the characters are on the wacky side, the physical details and descriptions are so exacting it makes everything seem natural and believable. For example, a lot of the story happens underground in deep caves and caverns. I’ve been in many caves and caverns and the writing is spot on perfect. You feel like you are really in a cave. In a way, the more wacky the story line is, the more authentic the details must be to keep a believable balance. This technique is so hard to pull off that almost no writers attempt it. (I think Janet Evanovich does this well in her Stephanie Plum novels but there are not many examples I can point to.)

There is always the threat of Death at each moment!

The author knows how to keep a reader turning the pages. First, the reader quickly comes to care about these zany characters. Then everyone is always in immediate danger of death. There is also ample motivation for every ounce of quirkiness expressed in the book. The most loco brother spent time in the infamous “Andersonville” Civil War prison camp. As quirky as they are, all the characters feature fully three dimensional personalities. (These are not easy books to write but they are very easy to read and enjoy.) 

Much More Fun to Come!

As quirky as “Out of Control” is, it’s only the start of a three book series. Rafe, the hero in “Out of Control” is the most normal brother. The next two brothers are really locoweed – who in their right mind would marry them – canidates for romance herodom. The second book is now out, “In Too Deep”.  so you don’t have to wait to enjoy it.

Mary Connealy is a prolific writer. If you acquire a taste for her work, you’ll never go hungry!

*Mary did attempt to redeem one horrible husband in “The Bossy Bridegroom” –my favorite Connealy book, (read my review here) but this book is not funny at all. It’s also not a historical western romance. It is serious Christian fiction. But this is just a footnote for those who might want to see the other side of Mary.

“Out of Control” Five Star Wacky Excellence!

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“You should be able to tell what I want from the bubbles.”

"A lot of ‘showing’ is like dealing with a wife who simply will not come right out and tell you what she wants! I’m not a mind-reader and I don’t want to be a mind-reader when I’m reading a novel. I get enough of that already!” Vince Mooney

Julie Lessman’s Saga Continues With The Best Book Yet – “A Heart Revealed” – 5 Stars!

Emma: the most loveable of heroines

With Passion, Love, History, Family, and Church –

“The Winds of Change”  -- Unveils the Most Heartwarming Love Story to Date!

“A Heart Revealed”

Julie Lessman

Revell, September 2011

Kindle version available

“A Heart Revealed” provides the perfect fusion of an abiding faith and romantic passion. The heroine, Emma Malloy, is a most sympathetic and lovable heroine. The reader may even come to think that Emma is 'too good to be true'…but she’s not. She’s real. She’s worthy. She’s someone a man could love without reservations. Yet, she's all too human.

“A Heart Revealed” tells a heartwarming love story which is central focus of this romance novel.  Yet, “A Heart Revealed”, is much more than a love story. It’s a family history. It’s a small slice of American history. And while it may rightly be called Christian Fiction, it could just as well be classified as historical fiction about an Irish Catholic family in Boston at the turn of the century and beyond.

I must say, that this series of books, “The Daughters of Boston” and “The Winds of Change”,  is very personal to me. I come from an Irish Catholic family that lived in the area during the years covered in this O’Connor family saga. A lot of my family still lives in the Boston area. Everything in the book is so real to me. The Catholic Church, the priests, the beliefs, practices and attitudes are all vividly real to me. I knew priests like Father Mack. I looked up to good men like the heroes in this saga. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a family series any more than I have this one by Julie Lessman. There's love and respect for her work found on every page. This whole Lessman series has the imprimatur of a life work.

Over 100 Reviews & Counting

 

As of today, “A Heart Revealed” , has been reviewed 114 times on Amazon alone.  So I won’t say too much about the story itself except that it’s really four stories in one.

There is Luke & Katie’s story. There’s Mitch & Charity’s story. (Charity is more 'Charity' than ever before!)  There’s Sean & Emma’s story. (We get to see the real Emma at last). There’s Patrick & Marcy’s story. (Complete with Gabe's story).  As expected, all these threads are woven together into a narrative that is greater than the sum of its parts. The reading enjoyment begins on the first page and continues right up to the dramatic conclusion.

The story:

The fifth O’Connor to face love and marriage, Sean O'Connor, is the hero in this story. Emma Malloy is the heroine. She is married but estranged from her husband who lives back in Ireland. He abused her often and finally when he scared her face with hot oil, she left him. Emma is a saint to all who know her but she is much more than meets the eye. Even the people who know her best don't really know her.  This is a very complicated story which surprised me again and again. I loved it pure and simple.

I believe that each book read in this "O'Connor Family" series leverages the reading enjoyment gained from reading the next book. I highly recommend reading the books in order; however, "A Heart Revealed"  stands on its own and will provide a wonderful reading experience. I also think it would be enjoyable to read "A Heart Revealed"  first and then go back and read the rest of the books in order. I often do this when I have not read the early books in a series.

To make it easy to learn about and find the other books in the series, I am listing them below. When I have reviewed the book, I have left a link as well.  (Note: I was too upset with Charity to review book Two. When I calm down, I'll review it.)

Book One: "A Passion Most Pure" -- Review

Book Two: "A Passion Redeemed"

Book Three: "A Passion Denied" -- Review

Book Four: "A Heart Undaunted" -- Review

Book Five: "A Heart Revealed" -- Review  

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Showing, like taking your clothes off, should only be done when appropriate.”  Vince Mooney

Famous Writing Quote of the Day

“Whether you tell me about your bad writing contest results or you show me your score sheet, the score is going to remain the same.” Vince Mooney