Book Review - Beyond the next Star by Melody Johnson

 

Beyond the next Star by Melody Johnson

Beyond the next Star is the award-winning SyFy Romance of Melody Johnson. She's taken the decades-old story of alien abductions with their tales of scientific observations, tests, and rats-in-a-cage by beings similar to humans that don't recognize "peoplehood." However, this time, the specimen is kept and taken to the alien homeworld as a pet.

Torek, a warrior with a psychiatric prescription to get a pet to relieve his PTSD symptoms, adopts the exotic animal. He must prove his fitness to be returned to active duty by keeping the fragile being alive. 

Staying alive on a hostile, frozen planet isn't easy for a human, but Delaney has survived and hidden from danger her whole life, so it's no big deal to pretend to be a witless pet, especially since she's hiding from a murderer. Even on alien planets, greed rears its ugly head.

Despite all the obstacles of the situation, mutual affection and love grows as there are attempts on Delaney's life and she reveals her humanness to save Torek.

This was a surprising storyline and well-written. I enjoyed the creativity that made the story come alive.

Beyond the next Star is the first standalone book in the Love Beyond series. It is followed by Sight Beyond the Sun. Melody Johnson also has a vampire series called Night Blood with four books available. You can find Melody Johnson's books on her WEBSITE. 

Friday Five - How You Doin'?

 

1.   I wrote ten chapters this week, two a day, for a total of  12,500 words. 

I have about ten chapters left, so the first draft of 

The Bastard's Battle should be done by next weekend.

I worked out four days this week. 

Monday and Wednesday were cardio days. 

Tuesday and Thursday were weight days with our trainer at the local YMCA.  

Sore shoulders and cramping feet, but yeah, this is good for me. 

Valerian root helped with the muscle soreness, and 

a tennis ball massaged my feet. 

Build that body strong, baby.

2.   This will be a beanie.

I've been making stuff for St. Jude's Hospital Fund Raiser in April. 

Crocheted items. I love to crochet but not knit. 

Check out my Facebook page for pictures of a basket, tote, and heart garland. 

I will raffle off all of the items I make to people who donate to St. Jude's at my link.

3.   I now have these cool labels I can put on my handmade items.

4.   Wednesday, my grandson and I had lunch on 

the Jacksonville River Walk along the St. John's River. 

We saw ships.

5.   I'm rereading Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

I read it when it first came out in 2000. 

That was twenty-three years ago.

Holy Moly.

I'll let you know how it held up.

You can read previous book reviews over at 

Nessa's Reading Room.

Oh, and I'm tired.

Author Attention - L. C. Bennett Stern

 

L. C. (Linda) Bennett Stern brings history to life 

by imagining what might have really happened to her relatives.

Bosses and Blackjacks tells the tale of her unknown 

grandfather and the Bloody 5th in Philadelphia 

at the start of the 20th century.

(Award-Winning Finalist in the "True Crime: Non-Fiction" category

 of the 2017 International Book Awards)

Mae's Revenge and Standing Ovation are books 1 and 2 of 

The Mari Mort Trilogy. Book 3 is in progress. 

These stories feature the older sister 

of her previously unknown grandfather.

Stern Words - website

L.C. Bennett Stern - facebook

Find my review of Bosses and Blackjacks at Nessa's Reading Room.

Author Attention - Michael R. Stern

 

Michael R. Stern is funny and smart and tells a good story. Well, actually, he's got nine stories he's told so far.

Reflections on a Generous Generation, published in 2012, is the story of Michael's father, Murray Stern, and is both memoir and history.

The Quantum Touch series is six books, all with Storm in the title. You can read my review of StormPortal over at Nessa's Book Shelf. Personal drama, world history, and time travel come together in a perfect storm (see what I did there?)

And just to prove his versatility, Sarah and the Dragons, is a fantasy fairy tale about being different.

You can find all of Michael's books on his Amazon Author Page.

This Reading Life

     I plan to do more reading in 2021. Over the last few years, life exhausted me, so I found I stopped doing things that feed my soul, which is not the way to go about things. I tend to shut down and zone out, and I want to change that. Unfortunately, I can’t think when I get like that, so I have to make plans and lists that don’t require input; just do. It is incredible how empty I can make my mind.

Here’s my reading list for January 2021:

Simple. The top half is E-Books that I read anywhere. The bottom four are paper books that I read while couch potatoing. (Believe it or not, spell check recognizes those underlined words.) I bore easily, so this gives me multiple sensory experiences, various ways to read for all possible locations, and the ability to go slower and faster depending on the work.

My minimum quantity of reads each month will be a classic work of fiction, a contemporary piece of fiction, a writer’s book, and nonfiction work.

You can find my book reviews at Nessa’s Reading Room. I finished The Bell Jar last week, and I posted my review.

Oh, and you may have noticed that my book, Revena’s Revenge, is at the bottom of the list. Yes, I am reading my book because I will finish revising the damn thing and publish it this year. I swear.