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VENITA LOUISE
Reviews for Mixed Nuts
I found Mixed Nuts to be a unique reading experience. The characters are colorful and quirky, and full of life. The story is a pleasure to read, sometimes a bit off the wall, sometimes melancholy, and always a bit humorous. I had read nothing about this book prior to picking it to review, and as often turns out to be the case, feel like I managed to unearth a hidden gem. Set in the 60's this one has a flavor of the unrest of the times. I found this especially true of the wife in this story. Joan longs for more than the happy housewife's existence expected of her and throws herself wholeheartedly into exploring her sexuality when given the opportunity. Far and above, the star of this one is the husband, Frank. He longs for something in his ordinary life and seems to not even know what it is himself. Watching him and his goofy brother stumble their way through voodoo spells and deal with the consequences had me in tears of laughter. If you are looking for something different, a bit offbeat filled with a lot of zany situations... pick this one up.
Reviewed by: Johnna
Fallen Angels
She boldly goes where no human has gone. Her humor is fabulous. I started the book and finished it the same day. I could not put it down. I just kept wondering what was gonna happen next. For us middle aged folks, the jingles she used throughout the book were a hoot. Such a charming and funny mixture in her plot. I think she could make this families life into a sit-com. Everyone can relate to the hilarious episodes of seemingly disaster in life. AND Frankly, hasn't everyone had one of those neighbors they could not get along with. Snooty Tooty pains in the buttocks. Grab a copy and enjoy a nice trip into someone else's troubles....
By Jeanne Pistillo
Venita Louise has created a hysterical funny comedy in Mixed Nuts. I don't know how she does it. Each character is so entriguing, so unique, like Frank Beal's little daughter who wears a hard hat or his savvy son. His son so reminded me of my own son at that age. And that's the other thing. With as quirky and unusual as the characters are, solving their neighbor problem using voodoo, hitting snails over the fence for revenge, wearing a kilt and no teeth, somehow, I could find myself in that plot very easily. Maybe this means that we all have weird kids and quirky relatives and neighbors we are jealous of? I don't know, I just know that I haven't had this satisfying a laugh in a LONG time. Thanks Ms. Louise, you are a pearl. Please write more! I can't wait for the next book!
By Carol Wood
Having met Venita and her husband during a writers affair, I was interested in seeing her work. I picked up a copy of her "Mixed Nuts" fully intending to read it on the plane to Pittsburgh from LA. Not only did I read the book, but I laughed out-loud several times totally immersing myself in the mirth and frivolity of the family surrounding this story. It is very easy to assimilate the goings on with the Beal family into your own.. We have all had craziness around us and the Beals seem to draw it like mosquitoes to a light bulb. A thoroughly entertaining book and highly recommended for just a wonderful afternoon, rainy day, or airline flight read. Thumbs up, Venita, a truly marvelous home run!
By James L. Christina
Venita Louise has written a comedy using all the elements of farce without the pratfalls.
Jingle writer, and head of the household, Frank Beal has distractions flying around his piano workplace like boomerangs. Son Matt has a slew of knock knock jokes; daughter Melinda is the moppet version of Inspector Cleseau with a hardhat while wife Joan angles for a new car in order to keep up with the Jones's. And that's just inside the house. The next door neighbor's gardener Tito is sure Frank Beal controls the outdoor snail population and accuses Frank of sending his snails next door, "to Meester Robert's yard." You've got to empathize with Frank though and wonder how he is able to turn off the madness and produce jingles.
But you soon find out he's had prior experience with madness when his brother Gene shows up in a skirt. Well, it's not really a skirt, the clannish Uncle Gene shows up wearing a Kilt.
Venita's world also includes a special mix of goofballs, voodoo spells, hex's and a wandering peacock.
Tom Barnes author of `The Goring Collection,' `Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone,'
`The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.'
By Tom Barnes
For this month's audible book I listened to Mixed Nuts by Venita because I just had to find out about the Voodoo Brazilian Gardener. And Boy... this amazing collection of nutty characters, tangled up in unusual situations had me laughing. Thank you so much for taking me away and putting me into a house with a bunch of quirky people that I most definitely will never forget. Great read (listen) and very well done!
By Joan Dellibovi
Venita Louise has created a hysterically funny comedy in Mixed Nuts. I don't know how she does it. Each character is so intriguing, so unique, like Frank Beal's little daughter who wears a hard hat or his savvy son. His son so reminded me of my own son at that age. And that's the other thing. With as quirky and unusual as the characters are, solving their neighbor problem using voodoo, hitting snails over the fence for revenge, wearing a kilt and no teeth, somehow, I could find myself in that plot very easily. Maybe this means that we all have weird kids and quirky relatives and neighbors we are jealous of? I don't know, I just know that I haven't had this satisfying a laugh in a LONG time. Thanks Ms. Louise, you are a pearl. Please write more! I can't wait for the next book!
Hazelstreet Productions
The Romance Studios
I loved picking out the jingles and slogans from past and present ad campaigns. Lots of them took me back several years and I found myself humming “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us…” along with several other TV jingles. After suffering through Susan’s safety compulsion, I’m glad it turns out for the best since it’ll get the family into the neighbor’s pool! Tito and Tilly are funny as well as Frank’s attempts to hurl the voodoo back at his neighbor. The peacock scenes are a scream.
~Jayne
Dear Authors
Reviews for In the Rough
Eve Ryan should actually be a happy woman. She has a successful job as an Art Director for a top advertising firm, her beloved vintage Mustang and if not Mr. Wonderful so at least a boyfriend that (sometimes) is acceptable. What she doesn’t know is that the FBI has her soon to be ex Michael Beckard under surveillance for fraud and she, due to her involvement with him, is a suspect too. Truth to be told, Eve feels miserable. Her much beloved sister, the only person who ever cared for her well-being moved far away, her boss capitalizes on her creative ideas, taking sole credit for them and Michael turns out to be a veritable Mr. Hyde. Agent Steve Malloy seems to be Eve’s guardian angel. Actually he was assigned to her by the agency to find out how deeply she is involved with Beckard’s machinations but he soon discovers that Eve is innocent and in deep need of his loving care…
In the Rough is an absolutely fantastic read that left me glued to my PDA from the hurtful beginning to the bittersweet but very fulfilling end. The romantic suspense plot is well thought through and full of eventful surprises and nail-biting twist and turns. The characters are supremely drawn and come to life like real and three-dimensional persons. Beckard is a villain to fear, bad through and thorough and without any mercy. Eve is a very strong woman, despite or even because of her very cruel past and beautifully gets stronger and more self-confident with her growing love for Steve. Well, and Steve is a hero to die for. He isn’t Mr. Perfect and overly alpha, but he has this certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes him simply irresistible. Bravo to Ms. Louise for a truly unique and thrilling read!!
Euro Reviews
Reviewer: Katie
I was caught up in this hot suspense thriller from the first sentence to the last. Eve is a world class heroine, stumbling through terrifying situation after situation…with sexy Steven right there to help her. Through twists and turns and subplots, these two manage to forge something not just scintillating, but solid. A great read about a woman struggling with childhood ghosts, a man who’s ready to move on from his past, and the way their lives become inevitably entangled.
Flesa Black
“Refuge Book 2: Sanctuary”
WOW! This sure has it all – bad guys with good looking butts, a sensitive hunky hero and a tormented girl, classic cars, trucks, rumbling motorbikes. It’s enough to bring the house down! Venita Louise has packed it all in this Romantic Suspense!
Anne Douglas, author
The McCabes 1: Persuading Jo at Loose Id
Anne Douglas
http://annedouglas.blogspot.com/
At Loose Id
In The Rough is a suspenseful romp through the desert with lots of heat and emotion filled scenes.
Mechele Armstrong
Dinah’s Dark Desire coming soon
"In the Rough" by Venita Louise is a rollercoaster ride of suspense! Just when you think things can't get more intense, they do! Murder, smuggling, trust and mistrust - the hero and heroine go through it all. The personal tragedies in Steve and Eve's lives present a barrier they must overcome if they are going to escape with their lives and their love intact.
Jeanne Barrack
"No One Else on Earth"
Venita Louise writes a fast-paced story full of dramatic and sexual tension. A must-read for any fan of romantic suspense.
Elisa Adams
Divine Intervention
A great romantic suspense with lots of heart--and heat. IN THE ROUGH's story kept me guessing till nearly the end, and Steven and Eve have chemistry in spades. Not your everyday romantic suspense!
Barrie Abalard
Hot for Teacher
Reviews for Dead on the Money
In the novel Dead on the Money, author Venita Louise brings us a new take on the hardboiled detective novel, where the heroine is every bit as smart, tough and courageous as the gumshoe out to save her. In 1936, on his deathbed in Sing Sing Prison, convicted bank robber and murderer George Sloan passes on to his son one final secret – a map top his hidden stolen loot. Ten years later, a man claiming to be George Sloan arrives uninvited at the engagement party of Olivia Tully and Tom Trask. It seems Tom, an LAPD detective, is the nephew of the man that sent Sloan senior up the river. While this Sloan seems harmless enough at first, Uncle Charlie warns Tom to be very careful. His suspicions are confirmed when Sloan kidnaps Olivia, and Tom desperately searches for his love before it's too late. How far is Sloan willing to go to find his father's stash, and what other shocks lay in store for Tom and Olivia? The author takes us back in time to the glamorous Los Angeles of the 1940's, to the era of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlow. She spins a tale of intrigue and suspense, ripe with romance, action and adventure. It is a fast paced story, with characters you can relate to and feel for. For a great romantic mystery, Venita Louise is Dead on the Money. I enjoyed Dead on the Money very much and would give it 4 pearls. Ms. Louise kept the pacing and intriguie at a high level while perfectly adding a noir element to the story. It had something for everyone.
Ron Adams author of Key Lime Squeeze
TAL Pearl Review
A good read for a vintage work that perfectly captures the tone of the 40s. Venita has a great ear for the slang and just the whole smoky atmosphere and feel of a bygone area. Love the music she has playing in the background. And she writes like a dream.
Mar Preston
Author, Venita Louise takes the reader on a journey back in time in her crime suspense novel..."Dead On The Money". A time of innocence, a time before television, Bill Haley and his Comets and Elvis Presley. A time when the big bands of Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller were the musical heroes of a war torn generation. The setting and research are so beautifully penned that the innocence or lack of it of the females that differentiated between Dames and Ladies are drawn with a masterful touch. The hairstyles of the men and women that people this novel, their clothing, and their dialogue are so perfect that there is no jarring sense of any other decade impeding.
It takes a clever hand to allow a reader impeded by the current technology to suspend disbelief so completely. Author Venita Louise has not merely created a world of memories for folks that may remember those days, she has cleverly reconstructed a time and place that makes even the most tech savvy of us hunger for a time long gone. A time when the word Damn was uttered in a movie and caused shock waves throughout the viewing public.
By Soooz Burke
Thomas Trask is a detective for the Los Angeles police department. His last case gave him the opportunity to meet one very hot little librarian. He prides himself on determining a person’s true nature just by knowing their initials, and hers are H.O.T. With his initials being T.N.T., he is sure they will have one very exciting relationship.
Hortense Olivia Tully is a librarian in the children’s section at the Los Angeles Public Library. She lives with her aunt, and leads a very quiet life. Reading gives her the excitement and adventure that she has never had in her real life. That is until she meets Detective Trask.
This 1940’s era mystery is kitschy and entertaining. The colloquialisms are fun to read, and really bring out the personalities of the characters. Olivia is a sweet and gentle soul, but with a lively personality. Tom is the consummate bachelor, fun loving and hard working. But Olivia gives him a whole new perspective. They are perfectly suited as the hero and the damsel in distress. Although they may be a bit too cookie-cutter, they are cute together. The mystery and intrigue are well developed, and the romance sweet and tender. This is a fun read for any age.
Lototy
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books
Reviews for In Mysterious Ways
I had a good time reading this story. But of course I'll never understand the mysterious ways. Thank you, Venita.
By David A Schomaker
Simply splendid! I thoroughly enjoyed this story down to every detail. I'm off to explore her other projects! Bravo Ms. Venita!
By Bmode
I received the ebook from the author for a honest review. My review can be found at thejeepdiva.com. Venita brings you real life people in her characters. Lang and Amanda could be your neighbors, from there light bickering to their quirky humor and especially the love you can feel they have for each other. Their down to earth best friends, Bob and Ellen and the locals Andy and Fred add chemistry to the story.
By thecrazygranny
This is one of the oddest books I've read in a long time, but I found it compulsively readable. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. I really liked the fact that a good portion of the story was set in Arizona and every scene mentioned a place that I'd been to including Metro Center, so that was cool. I won the book on the internet and because of the cover I thought it was an inspirational title (plus the publisher is Vinspire and that publisher does carry inspirational titles) but found out it was not Christian fairly early on. At the same time I told myself it was fiction, and hey, it was interesting, so I kept reading.
By Michelle Sutton
Cativating writing! I could not put this book down so I read the entire book in one evening. Even with my eyes crossing because I was getting so tired, I still could not stop because I had to find out how it all ended! I have not read a book like this in a really long time, so it was very refreshing to have found this Wonderful book that kept me cativated from the first moment until the last word. I highly recommend this book!
By Joan Darlene O'brien
"In Mysterious Ways" is a wonderful, compelling story that instantly pulled me in with its warm, colorful, and authentic characters and intriguing storyline. I bought the book for a quick summer read and was delighted to find it to be a genuine treasure. I thoroughly enjoyed snuggling up with the characters in this story and traveling with them on their mysterious journey. I'm sure you will too!
By Lori Lynn
In Mysterious Ways had me enthralled from start to finish. Ms. Louise's characters were so effortlessly real and accessible; I was more than happy to share their adventures into the not so predictable and thoroughly enjoyable risks and rewards their lives had to offer. A great read. . .
By Selective
"In Mysterious Ways" is a fast paced book that made me sit back and think. It is well written and extremely interesting. I was hooked from the beginning and loved every minute of the read.
By Donald
Reviews for Initials for Murder
Initials for Murder is a picture perfect snapshot of a “Dick Tracy” kind of story, complete with glamor, a puzzling mystery and a pretty lady who’s stumbled onto something dangerous. It is a tried and true formula for a great story. Venita Louise is dead on the money with her descriptive scenes, mannerisms, and even her fashion sense, giving readers a peek in to the past. Initials for Murder is a well-crafted story with a twist on the ending. Great job, Venita Louise!
Reviewed by: Michelle
Fallen Angels
"Initials For Murder is a thrilling and romantic novella set in post war Los Angeles. Vintage fashion, big band music and humor rivet together the mystery, intrigue and emotion of the era. A talented story teller. Anyone can write. But only a chosen few can tell a story."
Cher Mason - Editor/Author
The Romance Studio