The Holiday Gig, by Erin Brady, tells the tale of an aspiring young attorney, Taylor Barnes, who is a workaholic trying to make her way to partnership at a prestigious New York firm.  The trouble begins when Taylor, to impress her boss, Mr. Charles Wigs, and to show him that she is not “all work and no play,” tells Mr. Wigs that she does indeed have a beau.  Caught in the moment, Taylor makes up a story and a name—a name straight out of movie:  Tom Maguire.  But, of course, Taylor must then make good on the tale and deliver Mr. Maguire to a couple of holiday firm functions.  The most important event will be the New Years’ Eve celebration where Mr. Wigs will announce the firm’s newest partner.  Taylor publishes an ad to fill the temporary position.  Enter, Hunter Ryan.  Little could Taylor have expected that Hunter would turn out to be the one person able to make Taylor appreciate her family and find value in taking time from work.  As Taylor and Ryan wind their way through difficult family gatherings and firm events, the romance plays out. 

Erin Brady has delivered, in The Holiday Gig, a fun and light story for the holidays, complete with laugh out loud scenes and amusing predicaments.  Knowing more than a little something about law firms and the sacrifices that Taylor was making, I was able to readily identify with Taylor’s checking her emails on a continuous basis, bringing her files along when she went to visit her family, and struggling with how to find a balance between her work and her personal life.  But the bow on the package for readers of this story will be in finding that Taylor Barnes has the wherewithal to make things right where she is able, both with her family and ultimately, with Hunter.  In the process, she learns a great deal about herself and about giving to others.  Those who enjoy romantic comedies, feel-good stories and happy endings are sure to find some holiday cheer in The Holiday Gig.

Learn more about Erin Brady and The Holiday Gig at GoodReads and on Erin's website at http://erinbradyauthor.com.  Find Erin on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fansoferinbrady (and be sure to like her there!).  The Holiday Gig is available on Amazon.

Reviewed for Readers’ Favorite at www.ReadersFavorite.com.

In Guess What is at the Zoo?, Nancy O’Neill delivers to children several short poems, each about a different zoo animal and each accompanied by an illustration from one of the “Kids Around the World.” From the furry black and white bamboo eater, to the pouch used for a baby to ride inside for “six months or so,” to the animal not to be mistaken for a horse, each poem uses simple words to key in on a specific animal’s main features. In this way, pre-schoolers will learn the distinguishing characteristics of a variety of zoo animals. 

The poems in Guess What is at the Zoo? are easy to read. It is likely they will quickly be memorized by children who will demand to hear them again and again, as they are just right to hold the interest of a little one, coming in the little snippets that they do. But, it was the pictures that most moved me. 

It is stunning to see the talent of young people, aged 11 to 14, who illustrated Guess What is at the Zoo? The almost Asian feel of the panda illustration, the natural look of the skunk, the charm of the playing hippopotamuses, just by way of example, were all charmingly done. The young people whose illustrations were selected for Nancy O’Neill’s Guess What is at the Zoo?should be most proud and what a wonderful way for O’Neill to help artistically bent youngsters to explore their own possibilities and opportunities! Children, fascinated by animals, are sure to delight in the prose and accompanying illustrations of Guess What is at the Zoo?, and the young illustrators whose works are featured in the pages, are sure to learn a great deal through the publication of their own works!

Also posted on GoodReads and at www.Oathtaker.com. Posting tweeted and added at Google+. Cover pinned.

Reviewed for Readers' Favorite

In How Mannerland Got Its Manners Back, Kevin D. Janison tells of how “America’s most polite city” changed in the blink of an eye. When a rushing wind blew apart the “Welcome to Mannerland” sign, leaving only the portion reading “Land,” Deputy Dorkface knew that trouble was brewing. From that moment on, the children changed. No longer were they obedient, polite, and thoughtful. They became little terrors. They would not clean their rooms, talked with their mouths full, and demanded rather than requested things. They forgot all about sharing, kindness, and the feelings of others. 

When the behavior of the children grew unbearable and nothing the parents did to get the children to behave worked, Deputy Dorkface enlisted the assistance of the townspeople to build a town within the town just for the children. There the children could decide their own proper behavior without adult supervision — though the adults secretly watched all that transpired. Over the next days, the children did as they pleased, chewed with their mouths full, slammed doors, gossiped, and failed to attend to their personal hygiene. They even picked their noses! Only when things became unbearable did the children want to go home but then they had to earn their way back.

There are many lessons for children in How Mannerland Got Its Manners Back that Janison artfully weaves into the story. With the assistance of Eldon Doty’s vivid and colorful illustrations, children will see the sad state that a community would be in if no one cared to do the right and proper thing. How Mannerland Got Its Manners Back is a wonderful story for parents and teachers to share with young people — if they can get them to be polite enough, long enough, to sit down and listen.

Reviewed for Readers' Favorite

In How Sugaropolis Got Dessert Back, Kevin D. Janison brings young readers to Sugaropolis, a town in Sweetzerland, a dessert lover’s paradise. In Sugaropolis, there is sugar everywhere! Sugar cane grows in fields around the town. Bakeries and donut and ice cream shops overwhelm children with the tantalizing aroma of sweet treats. From Candy Cane Lane to Rocky Road, the children continually indulge in sweet treats. But, suddenly, strange things start to happen. A Little League player drops in his tracks, too tired to continue to the next base. Children's teeth mysteriously fall out. Imagine a 100-yard dash turning into a 30-minute stroll! It is not until parents report that their children don’t even have enough energy to play video games that people really worry. 

Enter Deputy Dorkface who knows something must be done. Specifically, there must be a ban placed on all things sweet. Upset about the changes, children try to steal sweet things, then get together in their secret clubhouse to put together a plan on how to seize back their desserts. No one could have anticipated the food fight that results. When Deputy Dorkface responds by carrying the children off to jail, negotiations begin. Will the children and the townspeople be able to come up with a plan that will provide for the children to eat well and still enjoy their sugary desserts? 

Kevin D. Janison’s How Sugaropolis Got Dessert Back has wonderful, fun and detailed illustrations by Eldon Doty. Parents will appreciate having this story to share with their children. Teachers can use the story in connection with class discussions about healthy eating. But best of all, children will enjoy the journey through Sugaropolis, all the while learning some important things about the harm of a diet of nothing but sweets.

Also posted at www.Oathtaker.com and on GoodReads.

Reviewed for Readers’ Favorite at www.ReadersFavorite.com.

Lemony Snicket is back with part two of his latest series.  This time Snicket asks the wrong question: “When Did You See Her Last?”  Lemony Snicket, almost thirteen and “wrong,” apprentice to S. Theodora Markson, seeks to find the missing person, Cleo Knight.  Still in the town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea with S. Theodora (could the “S” stand for “silly”?) who believes Cleo has simply run away to join the circus, Snicket knows better.  With the assistance of the only remaining journalist in town, Moxie Mallahan, and an odd assortment of friends, Snicket follows the clues to the now abandoned hospital where Dr. Flammarion, under the direction of the real culprit, Hangfire, may be holding Cleo hostage. 

One can always depend on Lemony Snicket to deliver the laughs in his stories and When Did You See Her Last? is no exception.  Consider Snicket’s description of places such as the near ghost town that Stain’d-by-the-Sea has become since few octopi from which the ink sold by Ink, Inc., remain.  Then there are Snicket’s character descriptions like the girl with the curved eyebrows that look like question marks.  Snicket also delivers laughs through his characters’ foolish antics, such as Theodora who rings all doorbells six times (for no apparent reason) and the law enforcement couple’s son, Stew, who is responsible for making the sounds of the siren for the town patrol car as it rides through town. 

But the surest sign that you are reading a Snicket tale, and the one thing certain to make any reader laugh, is when Snicket provides a unique definition for a word.  Yes, When Did You See Her Last?, Snicket’s latest adventure, is sure to elicit laughs and to be enjoyed by readers young and old alike!

Also posted at ReadersFavorite.com, at www.Oathtaker.com and on Goodreads.