Read in 2019 - 23, 24

After my last few reviews were usually a three-in-one post, I am now down to a two-in-one - who knows, I might even get back to the time when it was one book, one review, one post.

# 23: Leaving the Comfort Café
Dawn DeAnna Wilson

Another freebie from Amazon's kindle shop, and one I really enjoyed, because it had a lot to offer: A cast of quirky characters with the kind of quirks you find in real people, a well portrayed setting (Conyers, North Carolina - not Conyers, Georgia, where I have a blogging friend!), a series of developments in the small town and for some of the people there, secrets from the past revealed, and of course a love story that is not quite your average boy-meets-girl bit - it completely lacks the improbable gorgeousness of men and women so often described in "chick lit"; people look and feel real in this book (at least they did to me).

The story? Austin Parker, aspiring graphic novel artist who dreams big but achieves small, starts work as town manager in Conyers after his girlfriend leaves for an arts career in New York without ever asking him to come with her.

New in town, he sees the residents like comic book characters. Settling in is not easy, as he really wants to be elsewhere and do something else. When he befriends one of the waitresses at the local café, things begin to change - for both of them, and eventually, for the whole town.

And just when he starts to feel comfortable in his new life, his former girlfriend announces a visit...

There is much more to the story than this quick summary can tell. As I said, I enjoyed it, and found the writing style and editing good. The author's homepage is here.


# 24: Die andere Laura
Anthea Fraser

The German translation of the original "Laura Possessed", I found this a rather gripping read - strangely enough, more so at the beginning than towards the end, when most of the mysteries were already revealed.

What happens? After a car accident and long hospital stay, Laura comes to stay with her brother and his family at their beautiful old country house. Even before stepping through the front door for the first time, Laura feels terrible, and while resting in her room after the journey, has a strange dream. Coming from a rational-minded family, she dismisses both as remnants of the accident and signs that she needs more rest.

But then she encounters the man she saw in her dream, and a chain of events is set in motion that ends up costing the lives of two people, and changing the lives of those involved forever.

It is a ghost story, yes, but not the bloody-scary-demon-curse-type, more on a psychological level. Written in 1974, it is unwillingly but charmingly old fashioned, and I could easily picture everyone and the places where the story was unfolding.

Editing could have been better in this free ebook, but it was just below the threshold of detracting too much from the story.

Anthea Fraser has her own wikipedia entry here.