Lilly Maytree

This story begins with Megan Jennings stepping into the past, figuratively, to follow in the footsteps of one of her heroes, Mary Kingsley. Megan has joined a budget tour to Africa to visit and learn about voodoo practices there. Megan figures she will skip that part of the tour and just visit the landmarks, cities and shops. She is a Christian and wants nothing to do with voodoo. A chance meeting in a café in Paris right before her flight to catch up with the tour in Africa gets the adventure started.
Tom Anderson is a film producer, son to a famous film maker and now professor. Tom receives an urgent call from Megan that his father is unwell. He drops everything to come to his aid only to discover his father missing and Megan with his wallet and passport. Is Megan the same woman he saw at the café in Paris? How can she be involved in his father’s kidnapping? He doesn’t trust her at first, but soon realizes she is an innocent bystander just trying to do the Christian thing by taking care of his father. Tom has only been a Christian for a year, but decides he and Megan have a divine appointment to meet and accomplish something wonderful and significant together.
After Megan and Tom team up, the journey and action never let up. There is always something going on either between Tom and Megan or any of a variety of other characters introduced throughout the story. The characters are a part of the story that I thought added depth. It was interesting to learn a few things about African culture.
I thought this story had an interesting plot, but it was sometimes hard to follow and a bit disjointed to me. I did like that Meg has a dream to travel to Africa, and she had the guts to follow through with her dream. It certainly doesn’t turn out the way she planned it, but it was an interesting journey nonetheless. I thought the main male character, Tom, needed to be defined just a bit better as the “good” guy as I wasn’t sure through most of the book if he was just acting like a Christian or really was one. I loved the character of the professor; what a feisty guy! I will be reviewing another of Lilly Maytree’s books here soon titled, The Pandora’s Box.… (plus d'informations)

Title: The Pandora’s Box
Author: Lilly Maytree
Pages: 327
Year: 2013
Publisher: Harbourlight Books
Wayne Hawkins wants nothing more than to claim his boat in a few weeks after the sale is final. He has put in a lot of hard work and money into restoring the 70-year-old boat named Pandora. He and his best friend Starr can hardly wait to leave the dock to go after a legendary treasure trove of diamonds stolen during the Nazi invasion. Wayne, or Hawk as most people call him, found a ledger hidden on the boat telling about the diamonds. Too bad he doesn’t have the accompanying journal that gives their exact location, but he thinks he can figure out where the treasure is located on his own.
Dee Parker is an investigative reporter and has just blown the whistle on an organ harvesting scheme at the local nursing home. Unfortunately, her source has also become a victim. Before his death, Nels Peterson tells Dee a story about 50 million dollars’ worth of diamonds he stole during WWII and hid off the Russian coast. He tells her he kept a journal with the exact location. After his death, she receives a note that he wrote the very morning of his death, telling her the location of a safety deposit box and that everything inside it is hers. She has always been curious, so she sets off with her best friend, Marion, to find the diamonds. Inside the safety deposit box is a set of papers giving ownership of a boat to Dee. She sets out to claim her boat and runs into Hawk, who also claims ownership of the boat. Sparks are flying, but they soon come to a compromise and set off together with their friends on the adventure of a lifetime.
I really liked all the action and the adventure in this fast-paced story. There were many different avenues explored before coming together to an exciting conclusion. Two things I didn’t like were Dee feeling responsible for or taking the blame for the whole situation and everyone letting her for the most part and the sneakiness of Hawk by not telling the whole truth whenever it suited his purposes. Dee did have such a compassionate and merciful heart that made her entirely too likeable! There is plenty of intrigue to keep any reader’s interest until the final conclusion where all is revealed. This is just a very entertaining story.
My rating is 4 stars.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for an honest review of this book. The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. Other reviews can be read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/ . Also follow me on Twitter @lcjohnson1988, FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.johnson.75457… (plus d'informations)