Morris Mansion
Rita Dear has started a new series, this time for young adults, with Morris Mansion as the “pilot”. Because I liked her earlier Eutopian Destiny series that she wrote for adults, I was hoping this new prequel series for young adults would be as good. I was not disappointed. This is as good as her earlier works. As long as she keeps up with the same fine writing with this series as her original Eutopian Destiny series, I am sure everyone will be as captivated by her storytelling abilities as I am and as so many of her fans are.
Morris Mansion goes back to the teen years of Joe Morris and Angelique Baker as they begin to learn about life and demonstrate the kind of people they will become. We also get to know about Asher, Joe’s brother. In spite of the hypocritical upbringing by their parent’s, Joe and his brother show intelligence, compassion and understanding of others.
““Why is Father always so mean?” he asked Asher as they walked out to the street.
Asher shrugged his shoulders and said, “He’s a very important Preacher in Boston. He preaches strong discipline to the congregation. He has to make sure we live that example. If we mess up, we hurt his reputation.””
Joe’s light shines best at school where he champions the underdogs and does good deeds without expecting anything in return.
When a snowstorm hits the town, the church is put in jeopardy by heavy snow accumulation on the roof; Joe is instrumental in saving it. In another incident, he helps several people who are stranded in a snowstorm with him and Angelique’s family, again without expecting anything in return.
In her inimitable style, Rita leaves us with a cliffhanger that gives us a suggestion of much more excitement to come in the sequel(s) to this prequel. Be sure to get Morris Mansion and start another trip with Rita as she, hopefully, leads us through the teen years of Joe and Angelique. I am already waiting impatiently for her next book. Morris Mansion is a great book for teens and I believe that all ages from pre-teen to seniors will like it for a quick and enlightening read.
Rita Dear is a retired accountant and avid fiction reader. She felt she could write books that people would be interested in that were not so graphic and she proved it with her Eutopian Destiny series. She lives in Texas with her greatest fan, Pumpkin, a rescue dog. You can get her books from her website www.eutopiandestiny.com and on amazon.com.
Morris Mansion goes back to the teen years of Joe Morris and Angelique Baker as they begin to learn about life and demonstrate the kind of people they will become. We also get to know about Asher, Joe’s brother. In spite of the hypocritical upbringing by their parent’s, Joe and his brother show intelligence, compassion and understanding of others.
““Why is Father always so mean?” he asked Asher as they walked out to the street.
Asher shrugged his shoulders and said, “He’s a very important Preacher in Boston. He preaches strong discipline to the congregation. He has to make sure we live that example. If we mess up, we hurt his reputation.””
Joe’s light shines best at school where he champions the underdogs and does good deeds without expecting anything in return.
When a snowstorm hits the town, the church is put in jeopardy by heavy snow accumulation on the roof; Joe is instrumental in saving it. In another incident, he helps several people who are stranded in a snowstorm with him and Angelique’s family, again without expecting anything in return.
In her inimitable style, Rita leaves us with a cliffhanger that gives us a suggestion of much more excitement to come in the sequel(s) to this prequel. Be sure to get Morris Mansion and start another trip with Rita as she, hopefully, leads us through the teen years of Joe and Angelique. I am already waiting impatiently for her next book. Morris Mansion is a great book for teens and I believe that all ages from pre-teen to seniors will like it for a quick and enlightening read.
Rita Dear is a retired accountant and avid fiction reader. She felt she could write books that people would be interested in that were not so graphic and she proved it with her Eutopian Destiny series. She lives in Texas with her greatest fan, Pumpkin, a rescue dog. You can get her books from her website www.eutopiandestiny.com and on amazon.com.
Preacher Man
I picked this book when I met the author at the North Texas Book Festival in Denton, Texas. Rita Dear is a retired accountant and avid fiction reader. She felt she could write books that people would be interested in that were not so graphic.
“Joe walked into Jack’s office whistling the wedding march. Jack’s unit had spent a year in El Paso helping the INS Border Patrol combat a significant surge in illegal activity. The traffic had slowed down to a normal level and management was sending the borrowed units back to their home offices.
“Better get your best suit pressed, Jack,” he said. “You’ve got a bride to give away back in Boston.” He froze when he saw the somber look on Jack’s face.
“We’re not going back yet,” Jack said. “You’ve been selected for a special undercover assignment.”
“What assignment?” Joe asked.
“A highly organized group is smuggling young women into the country and selling them as sex slaves,” Jack said.
So starts Rita Dear’s Preacher Man, the first in the series that follows an undercover INS agent and his team as they investigate a sex slave smuggling ring in a small town in New Mexico. Each book leads to another investigative adventure in which the team uses innovative stealth and cunning to bring it to a conclusion.
I recommend this series for some very thrilling reading. The detailed and intricate plot lines have excitement, suspense, romance and more; so much so that it makes you want to have the next book ready to start reading after you have turned the last page. It reminds me of the Saturday serials that kept us in our seats at the local movie theater and waiting with anticipation for the next week’s installment. The little bad language there is, is not gratuitous and sex is held private between husband and wife.
You will want to read this series in order or you will mis some very important elements of the ongoing story.
You can check out Rita’s other titles at http://www.eutopiandestiny.com./.
“Joe walked into Jack’s office whistling the wedding march. Jack’s unit had spent a year in El Paso helping the INS Border Patrol combat a significant surge in illegal activity. The traffic had slowed down to a normal level and management was sending the borrowed units back to their home offices.
“Better get your best suit pressed, Jack,” he said. “You’ve got a bride to give away back in Boston.” He froze when he saw the somber look on Jack’s face.
“We’re not going back yet,” Jack said. “You’ve been selected for a special undercover assignment.”
“What assignment?” Joe asked.
“A highly organized group is smuggling young women into the country and selling them as sex slaves,” Jack said.
So starts Rita Dear’s Preacher Man, the first in the series that follows an undercover INS agent and his team as they investigate a sex slave smuggling ring in a small town in New Mexico. Each book leads to another investigative adventure in which the team uses innovative stealth and cunning to bring it to a conclusion.
I recommend this series for some very thrilling reading. The detailed and intricate plot lines have excitement, suspense, romance and more; so much so that it makes you want to have the next book ready to start reading after you have turned the last page. It reminds me of the Saturday serials that kept us in our seats at the local movie theater and waiting with anticipation for the next week’s installment. The little bad language there is, is not gratuitous and sex is held private between husband and wife.
You will want to read this series in order or you will mis some very important elements of the ongoing story.
You can check out Rita’s other titles at http://www.eutopiandestiny.com./.
Roxann A Lady in a Chair
“Roxann wheeled out of the Principal’s office and looked at the crowded hallway lined with lockers and classroom doors. She hated being the new kid in school. It was bad enough if you were normal and had to stand up and tell the class your name and where you moved from. But when you were in a wheelchair, it was even more humiliating. She knew no one would remember her name – she’d just be that new crippled kid.”
Rita Dear has written a book that is both entertaining and educational. Roxann A Lady in a Chair is the story of a teenager who is confined to a wheelchair and moves to a new town. She knows what it will mean to make the kids and teachers in her new school accept her, since this is not the first move she has made. As she ‘educates’ the teachers and students, she also helps another girl, Janie, who is in a wheelchair.
This is a good book for teens who don’t understand the challenges of someone who has a physical handicap. They will get a fairly good look into the minds of two different girls and how each handles their handicap, both physically and mentally. The change in the lives of the students and teachers is nicely defined.
This being said, I would like to see the characters explored a little more in future books. Expanding this book into a trilogy by covering the college years and maybe the career and marriage of several of the people, handicapped and ‘normal’ is a possibility. By exploring some of the characters from another point of view other than that of Roxann might give more depth to them. Of course these are only suggestions and I believe that Rita’s fertile mind can find several ways of expanding the lives of Roxann and her friends and family.
Roxann A Lady in a Chair is a Finalist in the 2011 North Texas Book Festival awards in the adult fiction category, presented at the North Texas Book Festival on April 16, 2011 at the Center for the Visual Arts.
Rita Dear has written a book that is both entertaining and educational. Roxann A Lady in a Chair is the story of a teenager who is confined to a wheelchair and moves to a new town. She knows what it will mean to make the kids and teachers in her new school accept her, since this is not the first move she has made. As she ‘educates’ the teachers and students, she also helps another girl, Janie, who is in a wheelchair.
This is a good book for teens who don’t understand the challenges of someone who has a physical handicap. They will get a fairly good look into the minds of two different girls and how each handles their handicap, both physically and mentally. The change in the lives of the students and teachers is nicely defined.
This being said, I would like to see the characters explored a little more in future books. Expanding this book into a trilogy by covering the college years and maybe the career and marriage of several of the people, handicapped and ‘normal’ is a possibility. By exploring some of the characters from another point of view other than that of Roxann might give more depth to them. Of course these are only suggestions and I believe that Rita’s fertile mind can find several ways of expanding the lives of Roxann and her friends and family.
Roxann A Lady in a Chair is a Finalist in the 2011 North Texas Book Festival awards in the adult fiction category, presented at the North Texas Book Festival on April 16, 2011 at the Center for the Visual Arts.
A Smart Ass Guide to Breast Cancer One Woman’s Journey
A Smart Ass Guide to Breast Cancer is more of a pamphlet than a book, but the information it contains makes it tantamount to an educational book with wit and wisdom.
When Rita Dear found she had breast cancer, she began a healthy, humorous journey to wellness. She outlines the things she did on her journey and gives good, sound advice about how to use knowledge and humor to conquer fears.
“When I got the results of my biopsy, I called my contact at the cancer center and said, “Tina, I have two hot knockers. What do we do next?””
Rita did not know that Tina had her on a speaker phone and her new Oncologist was listening to their conversation. That started her relationship with him that Rita describes as putting her life (literally) in his hands.
On her journey, she invented some aids to her recovery. For example, she went home with drains that hampered her movements, so she figured out a way to get them out of her way by constructing a makeshift apron to hold them. She designed another aid to protect her sensitive incisions when she was driving.
Rita started selling her inventions when she discovered that both men and women could use the devices while they recover from a variety of surgical procedures.
This little book holds some wonderful advice told with just the right amount of humor that all breast cancer patients can enjoy while they use it as a reference book for their own personal journey.
This book is a must read for anyone whose life has been touched by cancer.
When Rita Dear found she had breast cancer, she began a healthy, humorous journey to wellness. She outlines the things she did on her journey and gives good, sound advice about how to use knowledge and humor to conquer fears.
“When I got the results of my biopsy, I called my contact at the cancer center and said, “Tina, I have two hot knockers. What do we do next?””
Rita did not know that Tina had her on a speaker phone and her new Oncologist was listening to their conversation. That started her relationship with him that Rita describes as putting her life (literally) in his hands.
On her journey, she invented some aids to her recovery. For example, she went home with drains that hampered her movements, so she figured out a way to get them out of her way by constructing a makeshift apron to hold them. She designed another aid to protect her sensitive incisions when she was driving.
Rita started selling her inventions when she discovered that both men and women could use the devices while they recover from a variety of surgical procedures.
This little book holds some wonderful advice told with just the right amount of humor that all breast cancer patients can enjoy while they use it as a reference book for their own personal journey.
This book is a must read for anyone whose life has been touched by cancer.