Zondervan; 374 pages; $15.99; Amazon

As I promised yesterday, I will catch up on all my needs-to-be-reviewed books this month. Today, I'm reviewing To Wager Her Heart: A Belle Meade Plantation Novel by USA Today Bestselling Author Tamera Alexander. Technically, I haven't had the book very long, but I'm still including it as a "Review Catch Up Marathon!" post.

As you can probably tell by the cover art, To Wager Her Heart is a historical romance. It's set in Nashville, Tennessee during the year 1871, and centers mostly on two characters - Sylas Rutledge and Alexandra Jamison.

Sylas, a enx-gambler from Colorado Territory, is the new owner of the Northwest Line Railroad. While it's not exactly his dream job, he's mostly there to clear his father's name, who's blamed for a deadly train accident. To fit in with Nashville's high society, he enlists Alexandra Jamison to tutor him to become a gentleman.

Despite the fact her family is well respected around Nashville, many people turns the other cheek towards Alexandra, mostly due to the fact that she's a teacher at Fisk University, the first freedmen's university in the United States.

Everything goes fine between Sylas and Alexandra, well, until he learns that her fiance was killed in the exact same train accident that his father was involved in. I guess you can things get a little awkward from there.

Being released this month from WordFire Press is the monster mash-up novel Monsterland by Michael Okon. The book can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Welcome to Monsterland—the scariest place on Earth.

The last couple years of high school have not been fun for Wyatt Baldwin. His parents divorce, then his dad mysteriously dies. He’s not exactly comfortable with his new stepfather, Carter White, either. An on-going debate with his best friends Howard Drucker and Melvin over which monster is superior has gotten stale. He’d much rather spend his days with beautiful and popular Jade. However, she’s dating the brash high-school quarterback Nolan, and Wyatt thinks he doesn’t stand a chance.

But everything changes when Wyatt and his friends are invited to attend the grand opening of Monsterland, a groundbreaking theme park where guests can rock out with vampires at Vampire Village, be chased by actual werewolves on the Werewolf River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville.

With real werewolves, vampires and zombies as the main attractions, what could possibly go wrong?

The author has taken a few minutes out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Monsterland.


When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve been writing since I’m 15 years old, albeit poorly. I really fell in love with the craft of screenwriting in high school and college. I started self-publishing novels under my pen name Michael Phillip Cash and finally got a publishing deal this year.

What was your first book/story published?

In 2017, WordFire Press picked up my books Monsterland 1 & 2, in a two book publishing deal. So it took me about 20 years a 15 minutes to get published.

What inspired you to write Monsterland?

I always wanted to write a monster book, but I couldn’t come up with something original. I was binge watching an 80s/90s movie marathon with my son and it just popped into my head, why isn’t there a theme park with zombies. I called my brother immediately and he said it has to be werewolves, vampires, AND zombies. I started beating out the storyline that night.

What character in Monsterland is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

The character least like me is Dr. Vincent Konrad – the mad evil genius of the Monsterland universe. Vincent is using the theme park for nefarious purposes. I could never deliberately try to overthrow anyone or anything. I don’t even like killing ants, let alone trying to take over the world.

I had a revelation yesterday - I have a bit of a procrastinating issue, especially when it comes to reviewing books on this blog. I have no problem posting reviews for titles that are part of a blog tour, but I have a bad habit of reading other books and not reviewing them. Yes, I've told myself in the past I was going to get caught up with the needs-to-be-reviewed piles, but I get distracted by other things and I never get around to to it. All of that will changed as of today, as I'm determined to get all of those books reviewed this month, even if that means writing multiple reviews per day.

Bethany House; 321 pages; $15.99; Amazon

First in my Review Catch Up Marathon! posts is the historical romance drama In The Shadow Of Denali, book one in The Heart of Alaska series, by Tracie Peterson and Kimberly Woodhouse. I'm a big fan of Tracie's writings, especially the Heir of Montana series, which is the main reason why I wanted to read the book in the first place. I know I had read a few novels by Kimberly Woodhouse, but for the life me I cannot recall the titles. This isn't the first team up for the authors, as they also co-authored Beyond the Silence and All Things Hidden.

Anyhow, it's frowned upon for a reviewer to include a synopsis, but I believe a short "about the book" paragraph or paragraphs can help someone decide whether or not they are interested in reading the tile.

With that said, here is the synopsis:

Set in the 1920s, the novel centers mostly on two characters, Cassidy Ivanoff and Allan Brennan. Cassidy and her father, John, work at the Curry Hotel, which is the near the foot of Mount McKinley in Alaska. The local natives call the mountain Denali. While her father is busy guiding wealthy tourists, Cassidy is in the kitchen working as the Cook's assistant. The entire staff at the hotel are all excited about the upcoming visit by the President, who's traveling to Alaska to drive a golden spike to officially complete the Alaska Railroad.

Everyone believes Allan Brennan arrived at the Curry Hotel so he could train to be a mountain guide, but he's there for a completely different reason. His father had died on the mountain several years ago and he travled to Alaska to discover the truth. He ends up turning to Cassidy to help him unravel the mystery. Of course this is a romance, so you can probably guess that sparks fly between the two.

Mill Creek Ent., R / Not Rated; 10 hours 34 mins.

Now available from Mill Creek Entertainment is Kung Fu Zombies: 7 Killer Movies, featuring some of the greatest martial artists including Gordon Liu (Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2), Siu-Wong Fan (Ip Man), Billy Chong (A Fistful of Talons), Eddy Ko (TV's Fist of Fury), and Panna Rittikrai (Ong Bak). There are no special features or bonus extras on the 2-disc set.

The 7 movies are:

Shaolin Vs. Evil Dead (2004; 94 minutes) - Directed by Douglas Kung, the film stars Gordon Liu as a Shaolin monk, who's trying to teach two young apprentice how to fight against evil zombies.

Shaolin Vs. Evil Dead 2 (2007; 100 minutes) - Once again directed by Douglas Kung, Gordon Lui returns in this sequel that pits the monks against DR. Magma, who plans on raising the dead.

Kung Fu Zombie (1981; 78 minutes) - Directed by Hwa I Hung, the film stars Billy Chong as as martial artist who must battle a deadly vampire.

We're Going To Eat You (1980; 90 minutes) - Directed by Tsui Hark, the film centers on a secret agent named Agent 999, who accidentally runs into a village full of cannibals while attempting to track a criminal.

Spirited Killer 2 (92 minutes) - A really weird movie about a dead grandfather, a criminal gang, and zombies!

Spirited Killer 3 (90 minutes) - The film's plot involves a mystical black egg, an evil sorcerer, and a bunch of minions from hell.

Kung Fu From Beyond The Grave (1982; 89 minutes) - Another movie starring Billy Chong. This time he plays Chun Sing, who must stop an evil priest and his army of the dead.

Mill Creek Ent., Not Rated; 96 minutes; $14.98

Being released on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment on October 17th is the Night of the Living Dead: 50th Anniversary. There are no special features or extras on the Blu-ray, but it does come with a Digital code that can be redeemed at: www.millcreekent.com/redeem.

Directed by the late George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead is the granddaddy of zombie flicks. Filmed on a budget of $117,000, the movie begins with siblings Johnny (played by Russell Streiner) and Barbra Blair (played by Judith O'Dea) driving to a rural Pennsylvania cemetery to put flowers on their father's grave. Out of nowhere, a strange man (played by Bill Hinzman) attacks them. Johnny is killed when his head bounces off a tombstone.

Barely surviving the attack, Barbra stumbles upon a farmhouse, which is where she encounters Ben (played by  Duane Jones). They are quickly surrounded by zombie-like humans, forcing them to take shelter inside the farmhouse. With Barbra distraught over everything that has happened Ben takes charge and quickly boards up the windows and doors.

Hiding in the cellar, is a married couple Harry Cooper (played by Karl Hardman), his wife Helen (played by Marilyn Eastman), and their daughter Karen (played by Kyra Schon), who was bitten by one of the zombies. Also taking shelter in the farmhouse is a teenage couple, Tom (played by Keith Wayne) and Judy (played by Judith Ridley).

If they can't find their away to escape the chaos, the survivors plan on waiting it out inside the farmhouse until help arrives, that's if they don't kill each other first.

Waterbrook; 342 pages; $14.99; Buy Link; Blog Tour

Now available from Waterbrook is the mystery-thriller Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer. 

If you follow this blog regularly, then it shouldn't be a surprise to see me reviewing a Kim Vogel Sawyer novel. I have been a big fan of her writings for years, and I was more than excited when I received an advanced copy of her newest novel.

Bringing Maggie Home centers on eighty-year-old Hazel DeFord, who's haunted by an event that occurred during her childhood. When she was only ten years old, her three-year-old sister, Maggie, disappeared while picking blackberries. Hazel has kept her painful past from her loved ones, which has put a damper on her relationship with her daughter, Diane. However, she's close with her granddaughter, Meghan, who's a cold case agent.

Situations occur that brings all three women to live under the same roof, where Meghan is stuck as the mediator between her mother and grandmother. After learning about what happened to Maggie in 1943, Meghan use her investigative techniques to try to solve what happened to her great-aunt.

Nickelodeon; 89 minutes; Amazon

The current Nickelodeon TMNT series is coming to the end this year. The fifth season, which is retitled as Tales of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, has been a rocky one for fans, as Nickelodeon has been airing only two or three episodes at a time before going on hiatus for several weeks. The most recent episodes have been airing on NickToons.

Now available on DVD is Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, featuring the upcoming special "Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady," the flashback episode "Lone Rat and Cubs," and an exclusive Ice Cream Kitty music video.

"Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady" is technically three episodes (Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, The Foot Walks Again!, and The Big Blowout), but it's featured as 67 minute movie/special on the DVD.  The plot involves the 1987 Krang and Shredder bringing the technodrome to the Nickelodeon TMNT's dimension, where they enlist the new Bebop & Rocksteady, along with the 1987 robot foot soldiers, to help them conquer New York City by opening a portal to Dimension X. To stop the Shredder and Krang, the turtles must join forces with the 1987 teenage mutant ninja turtles.

"Lone Rat and Cubs" is a flashback episode that takes place fifteen years prior, where Master Splinter is telling the young turtles the story of how he found them as babies (back when they were first mutated) and how he survived a fight against the Kraang.