We received this book from the publisher with a request for review.

I grabbed Valentina Goldman Ships Out as a vacation read. It is the second in a series by Marisol Murano. I hadn’t read the first book, but I liked the look of the cover and it seemed appropriate for summer reading.

Valentina is barely treading water after her husband’s sudden death when her Venezuelan mother shows up at her house with one mission in mind: to get Valentina out of her funk. How does she propose to do this? A Mediterranean cruise, of course. The dynamic between mother and daughter brings equal amounts of laughs and cringes. Serena is the quintessential controlling Latino mother who wields guilt like a sword to get those around her to do exactly as she wants. And what she wants is to go on a cruise with Valentina.

Valentina Goldman Ships Out

By Marisol Murano

Murano’s cynical and witty take on ‘cruisers’ is spot on. From the impeccably dressed haughty gay men to the elderly widows all fussing over the one eligible, wealthy octogenarian, Valentina manages to makes friends with someone in each of the stereotyped cruise groups. She even devilishly participates in the art auction of the ‘faux classics,’ without being a registered bidder, much to the other bidders’ chagrin but the reader’s delight.

Amid the antics of the cruise, Valentina does some intense self-reflection on the effects of love and loss in her life, and Murano’s phrasing is often eloquent. “Life doesn’t let you distill the bad days from the good. In the end, love guarantees nothing. And yet, despite the trickery, despite the land mines, despite the seismic shifts, people still fall in love.” These gems among the quipping cruise stories give the book an unexpected depth.

Valentina and Murano both had more heart and soul than I was expecting when I picked up Valentina Goldman Ships Out. It was a good summer read, yes, but a good anytime read too. I’m hopeful there is a third book in the offing so I can find out how Valentina readjusts to life back on solid ground.

Published: 2015
Publisher: Hipso Media

Elizabeth's rating: 3.5 stars

The outer edge of the Pacific Northwest is as slow paced and calm as you can get, but author Rainer Rey adds a whole lot of excitement to its peaceful existence. He successfully combines government covert operations, an Indian shaman, psychic powers, terrorism and adventure into his novel, The Find. Frankly, in reading the book description, I had my doubts. But Rey came through with each page.

There are several converging stories, of which the most significant are high-powered business woman Lorna Novack and ex-FBI agent Kellen Rand. Lorna is fed up with the pressure of her work, but dives into it head first to prove herself in a man’s world. She gets a call regarding her long lost step-sister who has been seriously injured and whose daughter has gone missing. Lorna travels to Orcas Island from Chicago to be by her side and find out what has happened to her niece. Kellen is through with big cities and after an ugly dismissal from the FBI, has started a new life and launched a salmon hatchery. One evening, he and his friend Paddy venture via boat to witness a shaman connect with nature; or rather, seemingly control nature. It’s an undeniable spectacle, that is described in enough detail, we can quite clearly imagine the scene.