Sarah EttritchRezensionen

It took a little while for me to get into it but by the end, I was hooked.

Light and fluffy mystery with just the beginnings of a possible romance. This could be developed into a decent series if the author wanted to take it that way, but otherwise stands well on its own.

The Salbine Sisters is an incredible read. I honestly don’t even know where to begin. This is one of the best books I read last year. It is beautifully written, with amazing characters and a fantastic plot. I wish it never had to end. I just couldn’t get enough and when I got to the last page I was so sad that there was no more.

I love this book so much and I recommend it to everyone. You have to pick this one up. Please get it. It is a must read. You will love it. I know I will be re-reading this one in the future. Probably more than once.

Sarah Ettritch's new novel is one of those stories that sneaks up on you, snuggles in close, and seduces you into reading just a few more pages before you put it down. The words flow so easily and so sweetly on the page that you're halfway through it before you realise the house is quiet, the news is muted on TV, and everybody else has long since gone to bed.

This is lesbian romance at its finest, with characters who are so wonderfully alive that you can't help but fall in love with them from the very first page. Rarely do I come across a character who so completely, so instantaneously, and so effortlessly makes such a lasting connection with me as I found myself enjoying with Maddy. She's honest and genuine, both a loving friend and a friendly lover. Even though she's involved in a May-December romance with Lillian, their love never feels cliched or tenuous.

The Salbine Sisters themselves are a psudeo-religious Order of sorceresses. Organized in a convent-like setting, these women are 'called' to the service of Salbine, and come to learn the art of 'drawing' the elements as part of their faith. Many of the women are lesbians, but this is neither remarkable nor a point of controversy - the joining of two women as concubines is just as special, just as much a cause for celebration, and just as common-place as the joining of a man and woman in marriage. As such, Sarah is free to explore the love of Maddy and Lillian without having to deal with feelings of angst or anxiety regarding their sexual orientation.

In terms of storyline, this is a simple novel, but a powerful one - and one where, upon reflection, it's easy to discern the deeper meaning so subtly woven into the plot.

While her sexuality does not make her an outsider, the fact that Maddy is 'malflowed' - attempting to draw the elements causes her crippling pain - does. Lost, confused, and questioning her place, she begs the Abbess for permission to travel to another Order to research the journals of another (long-deceased) malflowed sister. Along the way, a lack of understanding about her condition causes others to misunderstand her, to judge her wrongly, and to imprison her simply for being who she is.

It's at this point that the simple romance becomes a far more complex drama of love and courage. Without giving away the key turning points of the story, Maddy suffers both emotionally and physically for the misunderstandings of others, but she remains true to herself through it all, finding a renewed purpose in the care of a young girl, abandoned by her mother, and cruelly imprisoned as a thief. Again, I don't want to spoil the ending, but it's a safe bet that love (and Lillian) will truly conquer all.

As much as I enjoed this novel, the ending bothered me at first. I felt like there was no resolution to Maddy's quest to understand being malflowed . . . no tidy explanation of how and why she came to be that way. It was then, of course, that the pieces came together and the deeper meaning emerged. Quite cleverly, Sarah uses Maddy to explore what it means to be an outsider, even as she fools us with a world where that quality which should make Maddy an obvious outsider - her sexual orientation - is embraced and accepted.

There's no resolution because, ultimately, it's no more important to understand why Maddy is malflowed than than it is to understand how she came be a lesbian. Instead, the story is about simply accepting that which makes us different, recognizing what is truly important, and in learning how to live happily ever after. It's an interesting way of making the reader ask those very same questions, even as we enjoy the ride of a thoroughly rewarding love story.

Fun read of a new PI whose first case is to find her client's comatose mother who was taken from the hospital. She follows clues and gets in trouble all the while falling in love with the neighborhood barista.

I loved these characters, especially Grandma. She's a riot. The story is far-fetched but the telling is good. I got caught up in it as Casey works on the mystery. It is a quick read. I hope there is more coming with these characters.

This book surprised me. From the blurb I was expecting a speculative/ sci-fi book. It is that and more. Set against the backdrop of a futuristic Orweillian world is a beautiful YA romance.

Lesley and Mo have been best friends since forever. They naturally end up being defacto girlfriends as well in their teenage years. But Rymellan society only allows arranged marriages chosen by a council. Violation is punishable by death. And everything follows a strict timetable.

No one knows if Lesley and Mo will be paired together as life-mates, so everyone around them tries to break them up 'for their own good' before they fall too deeply in love. But has it always been too late?

Very emotional and angsty read. 4.5 stars

P.S. You will not know the outcome till the 2nd book, so you'll *need* to read the next one as well. :)

P.S.S. This is a very safe read for teens. There is no mention of sex. ;)

So it's crunch time now. Lesley and Mo reach the age when they have to be paired off. But, OMG! The council throws a big gigantic monkey wrench into Lesley and Mo's relationship. Well that was unexpected! :0

In the second book, more is revealed about the inner workings of Rymellan society, spotlighting on what they refer to as 'capital violations'.

My initial impression (from Book 1) of the government that rules Rymel is that of an Orwellian big brother with eyes and ears everywhere and hands dipped in everything, even the private lives of its citizens.
With a morbid, cringe-worthy motto like 'Disobedience means Death. Death to those who commit a chosen violation. Death to those who violate the way!' which citizens have to recite by rote almost like a fervent prayer, it is easy to assume that theirs is a pretty bleak world.

But the citizens don't seem to think so. With the exception of a tiny few, Rymellans are apparently a happy, contented bunch. Their belief in 'The Way' is like a religion. Their blind trust in the 'all-knowing' Council is well, creepy. Even the erring ones--once they are 'shown' the error of their ways by the ever present counsellors, they finally 'see the light'. Even our protagonists spend all their time and effort upholding 'The Way' or trying to. I'm not saying they shouldn't. I guess the author chose to run with the love story and its complications, rather than explore other possibly more daring and hence more exciting plot developments such as what would happen if the protagonists chose to defy the council...and elope! I was a little disappointed they never even thought of doing it! Granted, Les and Mo are both military. But still, I expected more spunk--at least from Mo. Lesley was just too hopelessly dyed-in-the-wool establishment to be capable of such thoughts. :)

Despite my rants, Book 2 is just as interesting as the first. Not as angsty, but it does win major points for originality. 4.5 stars

Book 3 is 200 pages of proof on why 'Triads' are a bad idea. I would like to know what formula the Council used to come up with it? Either it is seriously BS or they've figured out how to predict the future.

All their life, Lesley and Mo KNEW that they were meant for each other. And they were right. But the All-Knowing Council insists that it's not enough. They need a third wheel. So the entire book, Lesley and Mo try to figure out how to work the third wheel into their lives and not leave her out or leave each other cold. Now they are all tiptoeing around each other, trying not to offend anyone. All this goes on for a while, and is a bit exasperating and exhausting to read. Which I wouldn't have minded so much if there was some delicious payback. I haven't mentioned it before in my reviews of Books 1 & 2, but there is NO SEX in any of the Rymellan books. Not even FADE TO BLACK. Just a quick peck or a hug here and there. By the end of the first book, I had to ask myself did they ever do 'it'? I honestly wasn't sure. By the 2nd book, I was sure I'd read that they were together. But are they really 'together', as in physically? I suppose they are. And I was kinda hoping, no, expecting that there will be more details in Book 3, but still zilch. If it were not for the Triad concept, this would be totally PG.

A very enjoyable novel. I did sort of expect that there would be a little more to the magical side of the whole time travel thing but it turned out to be more about the relationships between the two girls from 2010 and the couple who came from 1910.

It was well written and I loved the contrast between the characters from the different times in history and how they coped with being completely thrown out of their comfort zones and how the relations between the characters developed.

My only qualm was that the way the time travel rhyme worked it was fairly obvious what was going to happen on the next tries but it didn't' really matter because it did work well with the tone of the story. And it wrapped up with a nice satisfactory ending. A very good read.

Different people will give different answers to the question “Does God keep track of what happens here, and does he intervene?”. Some would say that it’s up to us, humans, to fight evil when we see it, while others would say that God is always on our side and sends his angels to help us. In the first book of “The Deiform Fellowship” Series, Sarah Ettritch introduces readers to an interesting concept: what if God had a secret agency like the FBI or CIA to help him keep the world in balance? And what if one of the agents he wants to recruit for his Fellowship were an atheist?

Jillian Campbell is a Deiform, but she doesn’t know it yet. The fact that she doesn’t believe in God doesn’t help at all, not even when Jim Preston, the local pastor, tells her he is an agent of God and tries to explain how The Fellowship works. However, when the pastor is killed and Jillian is accused of his murder, she realizes that what she dismissed as pure nonsense might be true, and that her only chance of solving the case and clearing her name might be to start believing in the existence of God’s Deiforms.

Sarah Ettritch has managed to create an intriguing plot and a complex character that readers will easily relate to. Jillian is not one of those atheists who say they don’t believe in God but are unable to support their claim with solid arguments. She had a traumatic experience that left her scarred for life, and now she is afraid of letting her guard down. She’d rather avoid people and avoid going out and socializing if that means no one will have the chance to ever hurt her again. Accepting that she is a Deiform doesn’t come easy to her. In order to do her job properly and truly help mankind, she must work with herself and change her own perspective on life, the world, good and evil.

“The Atheist” is a brilliant book that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. It raises some thought-provoking questions about God and how much he intervenes in our lives to keep us out from harm’s way, and it incites the readers’ imagination by suggesting the possibility of God having his own agency that helps him protect the world he created.

Find it on Amazon.

Have you ever wondered how God keeps the world on track and things going the way He wants them to? What if there was a secret agency like the CIA or FBI only it worked for God? Well, that is what THE DEIFORM FELLOWSHIP ONE: THE ATHIEST tells us, while broaching hidden subjects along the way.

In this first story, we are introduced to Jillian, a new candidate for employment with them. The only problem is Jillian is an atheist and she doesn't believe them when they're attempting to recruit her. Like all good flawed characters, Jillian had a traumatic experience which has left her scarred for life and as a result has dramatically influenced the way she lives her adult life. Jillian is a loner who avoids real life and any remote chance of being hurt at all costs. She has just been accused of murdering two people, she was working undercover to convict, and somehow must get her name cleared before she can do anything else. It is the deiform fellowship which helps her clear her name and forces her to take a good look at herself in the process.

To me, this story, although mechanically there, was more generalised outline than delineated story. It gave me brief information, but I would have liked to seen more character development, especially with Roberta, Sam, Jillian and her dad etc and more history between the beguilers and deiforms themselves. More information on specific beguilers? Who were they? After all, they have a history just like the rest of us. How did they first start? When did they come into being? What made someone choose to be a beguiler? On the other hand, it did get me to thinking of the Jews at Megiddo and if the outcome does justify getting the job done without regard to how you do it. I wondered whether or not, God would care at how we accomplish things in our lives.

Casey Cook has finally got her private eye license and she has landed her first case. And boy is it a doozy. She's hired to find a woman who is in a coma and was kidnapped from the hospital.
I just loved this book so much that I read it twice. It's not only a mystery , it's also a love story.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries.