In Norah Lofts novel about Sir Walter Raleigh, it’s not easy being friends with Queen Elizabeth I **** Four stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Here Was a Man by Norah Lofts
Being a favorite of the queen has its pitfalls. She likes to keep you close. You need her permission to go anywhere and especially to marry. Raleigh falls in love with one of Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting who he secretly marries. That’s going to be trouble.
Here was a Man is one of Norah Lofts’ early novels. Lofts story is romantic, yet you can feel Raleigh’s frustration with Elizabeth I. Raleigh is a member of Elizabeth’s court who dreams of exploring the New World. Raleigh is called back in the middle of his mission and doesn’t know why. Has something happened to his wife Bess?
Sir Walter Raleigh lived from 1552 to 1618. Not just an explorer and soldier, he was a politician and considered a top Elizabethan poet. He was a contemporary of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sydney, who are part of Raleigh’s story as told by Lofts. Rising rapidly in Queen Elizabeth’s favor, Raleigh was knighted in 1585. His 1584 plan to colonize Roanoke Island would end in disaster, as Elizabeth held all English ships to fight the Spanish Armada, preventing the colony’s relief. When a ship finally came four years later, there was Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Novel set in 1936 England, Rhys Bowen mystery an enjoyable romp **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Rhys Bowen mystery, haggis and a monster in the loch
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2009/06/28 - “I thought what fun it would be if Georgie doesn’t understand the connotation behind the words Escort Service and High Class Girls,” says Royal Flush author Rhys Bowen. “I thought it would be time she went home to the castle in Scotland complete with ghosts, haggis and a monster in the loch. I’ve always been intrigued with the mystery surrounded the Duke of Clarence.”
Royal Flush is the third book in Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness Mystery series. Set in 1932, Lady Georgiana is a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and 34th in line to the English throne. Georgie is sent home to Scotland in disgrace after putting an advertisement in the paper to be a female escort. Georgie meant dinner and dancing, the gentlemen have something else in mind. At Rannoch Castle, Georgie finds accidents happening to members of the royal family and her brother. Georgie searches for answers. Can she solve this before a relative gets killed?
“I was writing it last summer when I was in England with my two little granddaughters so we had lots of fun exploring old castles,” says Bowen. “Just listening to family members speak as my characters speak is a great source of amusement. They don’t realize Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Rachel Johnson sequel to novel Notting Hell follows timid Mimi and philandering Ralph to Dorset *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
In a Good Place by Rachel Johnson
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/17/2009 - Author Rachel Johnson temporarily lost the ability to speak in a freak accident when she tried horseback riding researching her latest book. “I bought some new riding boots, just for the day,” says In a Good Place author Rachel Johnson. “I thought I better get up on a horse and just see what all the fuss was about.”
“As we walked slowly to the moor, the horse saw a gate and started cantering,” says Johnson. “I lost the stirrups. Then I lost the reins. Very slowly, I fell off into a soft cushion of heather. Although nothing hurt at the time, it was really bizarre. I lost the power of speech. After that, I decided to stick to writing.”
In her sequel to Notting Hell Rachel Johnson follows Mimi and her husband, Ralph, to Dorset, to escape the mess Ralph made by fathering a child with Mimi’s former friend Clare. But, Dorset has its own pitfalls to avoid. Their rural haven has the UK’s version of Martha Stewart, Rose, who Mimi at first dislikes. In the hamlet of Honeyborne, it’s do you ride and what kind of organic items you buy or grow. It isn’t too far away for Clare to pursue Ralph. Clare wants another Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Henning Mankell’s best-selling crime drama series started as a Swedish favorite **** 4 stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Mankell wrote bestseller Sidetracked novel to combat racism
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/16/2009 - Inspector Kurt Wallander, brought to life in the PBS-TV series starring Kenneth Branagh, is the hero of a series of detective novels by bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. Wallander was created when Mankell became concerned by what he saw when he returned to Sweden in 1989.
“I’d been away from Sweden for some time,” says Wallander author Henning Mankell. “When I returned I became aware that racism was exploding. To me racism is a crime, so I thought I’d use a crime story. It was after that I realised I needed a police officer. That’s how Kurt Wallander was born.” It took six months for Mankell to write the first Wallander novel, Mördare utan ansikte, Faceless Killers.
Sidetracked, Mankell’s third Kurt Wallander mystery, is told from the perspectives of both the cop Wallander and the criminal. A teenage girl commits a violent suicide, a former justice minister is killed by a hatchet blow, with the peculiar twist that he’s scalped. Three more murders hachet murders with scalpings occur. Unable to find a link between the three murder victims, Wallander tries the American Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
In Santa Montefiore’s novel, a city woman moved to the country restores her family and the gardens help restore her and her family. **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/16/2009 - “I particularly love Prince Charles’ gardens at Highgrove,” says The French Gardener author Santa Montefiore. “I used two of them as bases for the gardens in my novel. I’ve always loved gardens. My parents live on a beautiful estate in Hampshire, west of London. I grew up in the countryside.”
In The French Gardener, Miranda and David moved to the country to give their troubled son Gus a better life. David works in the city and is only home on weekends. Their daughter Storm adjusts better than her brother to country life. They’re both bored. Miranda feels the dilapidated gardens are like her marriage, falling apart. Jean-Paul, the French gardener, returns. As they rebuild the gardens together, Miranda faces the challenges in her marriage.
“My father spent a lot of time on the farm or playing tennis, golf, rackets,” says Montefiore. “I noticed them go their separate ways. A man came to rent one of the cottages. It turned out he was a gardener. My parents began to develop the garden with him, together. They brought the vegetable garden back to life and all the things my mother had dreamed of doing but never had the manpower to do. I noticed the Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Jill Mansell novel traces hairdresser’s big dating mistakes **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Miranda
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/28/2009 - “Miranda is a hairdresser,” says Miranda’s Big Mistake author Jill Mansell. “I think hairdressing salons are fascinating places. You can hear so much gossip and so much goes on there.”
“I saw a documentary on TV where a journalist went undercover, pretending to be a down-and-out and was secretly filming the public’s reaction to him in the street,” says Mansell. “That was my starting point. It also meant I’ve been giving money to down-and-outs ever since, just in case they happen to have a camera hidden under their coat.”
Miranda’s Big Mistake is about Miranda’s mistakes with men. Will she ever get it right? Miranda thinks everyone is good and nice. She’s been sharing her sandwiches for weeks with Danny, a homeless man. However, he’s not really homeless. Greg isn’t as he seems, either. He hasn’t told Miranda that he left his pregnant wife Chloe, that he doesn’t want the baby they made. A twist of fate puts Miranda and Chloe together.
Anne Elliott novel of Trystan and Isolde explores legends of King Arthur *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/28/2009 - “I had a very vivid dream that I was telling my mom that I was going to write a novel about the daughter of Modred,” says Twilight of Avalon author Anne Elliott. “Modred was the great villain of the cycle of King Arthur tales. When I woke up, the idea just wouldn’t let me go. Over the next nine months or so, with a brief break for my daughter’s birth, that idea turned into the manuscript for Twilight of Avalon.”
Queen Isolde, granddaughter of Morgan LeFay, tries to ignore the powers she’s inherited from her grandmother. Her father Mordred caused strife when he was king. After her father’s death, Isolde married Constantine who becomes king. Constantine is murdered, and with no child after seven years of marriage the throne is up for grabs. Isolde is forced to wed the ruthless warrior Lord Marche, but Isolde manages to escape, and she manages to helps a Saxon escape not knowing that their paths will cross again as it’s Trystan. One of Trystan’s men captures Isolde because she’s a healer.
Singles everywhere breathe relief as Stanger reveals all in her new book By Darrah Le Montre
Matchmaker mke me a match
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/17/09 - Patti Stanger, best known for her quirky Bravo reality show “Millionaire Matchmaker” is now an author. Stanger’s “8 Easy Steps for Attracting Your Perfect Mate” promises to move sad singles from a Ben & Jerry’s carton to sipping a hunk-mixed “mojito with a big, glittering diamond ring on your left hand.”
“I sucked at dating,” Stanger told Hollywood Today at her recent book launch at Fred Segal in Beverly Hills. That is, she says, before she began applying some of the steps in her book.
A third-generation matchmaker and president of the elite dating service, the Millionaire’s Club, the bubbly brunette pulls no punches in her book, or her approach to matchmaking.
“Listening” is #1, Patti reveals. “See what they say on a date.”
When asked how she feels about that other dating book, cultural phenomenon and bestseller, “The Rules,” Stanger asserts, “The Rules are great except the part about not calling men back. Men are busy these days and they don’t want to chase you. Call them back within 24-48 hours unless it’s a weekend or holiday - then wait 72 hours.”
Further noting, “Men marry boundary girls, not bitches.”
“Women,” Patti announces, “you’re the deal! We don’t need men. It’s about wanting them.” Stanger says her book tells you the things “that even your best friend doesn’t have Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Daisy Dalrymple series author launches new mystery book series set in 1960s Cornwall, England *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Manna from Hades by Carola Dunn
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/11/2009 - “When I finished Manna from Hades my daughter-in-law arranged a tea-party to celebrate the completion of my 50th book,” says Manna from Hades author Carola Dunn. “We went to a fancy resort hotel. The staff somehow got the idea that it was a birthday party and they all gathered around to sing happy birthday.”
Manna from Hades is set in Cornwall during the 1960s is a new series by Carola Dunn. Dunn writes the Daisy Dalrymple series. Eleanor Trewynn, a well traveled widow gathers donations for the local charity shop, Lon Star, in Port Mabyn where she retired after her late husband died. One morning she finds a dead body in the shops storeroom and becomes embroiled in the investigation. Det. Sgt. Megan Pencarrow, Eleanor’s niece and Detective Inspector Scumble arrive to find out more about the possible murder. Scumble’s not a fan of women on the police force, and gets exasperated with Eleanor’s idiosyncrasy. Eleanor’s pron to forgetting to lock doors and doesn’t remembering little facts until later. Megan is under pressure to prove herself to her boss.
Book offers mind over matter approach to weight loss *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
You Can Think Yourself Thin by Ursula James
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/30/2009 - “The funniest thing is I started to lose weight myself,” says You Can Think Yourself Thin author Ursula James. “This wasn’t intentional at all, but once I started to write the book, I became aware that there were times when I didn’t practice what I preached in relation to looking after myself properly, and taking care of my needs first.”
“I’m now much more relaxed about my eating habits,” says James. “I allow myself a blow-out occasionally, and am now able to reset to a default of healthy eating and exercise, rather than saying ‘Oh well, I have ruined my diet now,’ and giving myself permission to continue overeating.”
This book is a rational, realistic way to help you loose the weight you want to lose without making you feel guilty if you do eat too much. Ursula James shows how to use hypnotherapy to help you stay on track. The CD to walk you thought the process of hypnotherapy is very helpful. The technique can be used for other things as well.
“I’m a full-time hypnotherapist and have been for the past fifteen years,” says James. “In that time I saw many people for weight loss. It was the only problem where nearly everyone I saw knew the answer to change, but were not Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Gripping tale of father who loses sanity in obsession to protect teenage daughter *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
The Possession of Mr. Cave by Matt Hiag
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/17/2008 - “I wanted to write a horror story, in the vein of Dr Jeckyll but it ended up being more about destructive family relationships for some reason,” says The Possession of Mr. Cave
author Matt Haig. “It’s still a horror story, just a different kind.”
In The Possession of Mr. Cave, Terence Cave is a father pushed over the edge. Was it the brutal murder of his wife years ago or the equally unexpected violent death of his son? Racked with guilt for ignoring his son when he was alive, Cave vows to protect his daughter Byrony from anything bad happening to her.
Byrony’s not only loses her twin brother, but her father as he sinks further into his mind. Cave’s obsession to protect his daughter goes too far. He loses all reason. Byrony is horrified by Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
In this Lifetime network movie, a girl restoring an old farmhouse finds her white knight in graphic novel artist next door *** 3 stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Iconic Tippi Hedren in The Birds
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/11/2009 - “The Birds was my first film,” says Tribute star Tippi Hedren. “Hitchcock was not only my director, he was my drama coach. I couldn’t have had better. He taught me so much about being prepared for when you go on the set, and also to be prepared to be putty in that director’s hand.” (Universal’s remake of The Birds, slated for 2011, may star George Clooney and Naomi Watts.)
Based on Nora Roberts book Tribute, the Lifetime television movie Tribute features Brittany Murphy as Cilla McGowan, a former child star who enjoys restoring old houses more then acting. When she buys her grandmother’s farmhouse to restore it to its former glory, dreams of her grandmother, a famous actress, start invading her sleep. Her neighbor Ford Sawyer, played by Jason Lewis, forges a bond with Cilla. He comforts and protects her.
“I think Ford is sort of a simple guy in his tastes and likes and dislikes, but he’s also fairly complex in his interests he’s not just a country bumpkin,” says Tribute star Jason Lewis. “I think she’s kind of inverse. She’s someone who’s had a Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
