Charles Sheehan – Miles

Blog Tour & Review: Girl of Lies by Charles Sheehan Miles

Title: Girl of Lies
Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles
Add to Goodreads
Hosted by: ACS Tours

Andrea Thompson is smart, assertive and beautiful. She’s also desperately lonely. Raised in Europe by her grandmother, she struggles knowing neither of her parents wanted her, and she has no idea why.

When Andrea receives an urgent call from her older sister Carrie, she agrees to fly to the United States to help. Carrie’s newborn daughter Rachel needs a bone marrow transplant.

What Andrea doesn’t know is that her return to the United States will launch a chain of events that will uncover secrets hidden for decades. Secrets which will rock the Thompson family and ignite a political firestorm.

Secrets that some will kill to protect.

Girl of Lies is Book 1 of the Rachel’s Peril political suspense trilogy, a spinoff series of the Thompson Sisters (A Song for Julia, Falling Stars, Just Remember to Breathe and The Last Hour).   It is not necessary to have read the Thompson Sisters books before reading Rachel’s Peril.
I have to start by saying this book was not what I expected.  I was first introduced to Charles with The Thompson’s Sisters Trilogy.  I fell in love with this series and A Song for Julia is on the top of my favorites list.  Going into Girl of Lies I was unsure of what to expect.  Unquestionably, Girl of Lies is a total 180 from The Thompson Sisters.  The difference, political thriller takes front and center over romance. 

Andrea was the one sister I was dying to know more about.  She was a mystery from the start.  To say that the Thompson family is 100% wacked is an understatement.  Like fitting a round peg in a square hole, the Thompson’s give new meaning to dysfunction.  No joke.  I read these books and thank God my family is only semi crazy.      
  
As always Charles presents a well written story with amazing character development.  Although I am not a fan of political thrillers I was able to appreciate the story.  Learning what caused the Thompson family to downward spiral kept me interested.  Be warned that you will be left with a huge cliffhanger.  Leave it to the Thompsons to keep us guessing.
   

Charles Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive, and is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America’s Future.

BLOG TOUR: Part #2 Nocturne by Andrea Randall and Charles Sheehan – Miles

Nocturne
Savannah Marshall is a gifted flutist and daughter of musical royalty when she enrolls in the elite New England Conservatory of Music. Brilliant, eclectic and passionate, she lives music, but struggles with her plans for the future.

Gregory Fitzgerald is one of the most renowned cellists of his generation. A member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and professor at the Conservatory, he is laser focused on his career to the exclusion of friends, family and especially romance.

When Gregory and Savannah’s paths cross in the classroom, it threatens to challenge more than their wildly differing beliefs on music. Friendships, ethics, and careers are put on the line as Gregory and Savannah play a symphony of passion and heartbreak.

In the final movement, Gregory and Savannah are handed their greatest challenge, as the loss of absolutely everything they’ve held as truths hangs in the balance.

 
 
 
 
NOCTURNE DEFINITION:
A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations.
What happens when two of your favorite authors combine their writing skills…a symphony of words that are a treat for the eye.  As sole authors both have proven that they have the chops to create stories full of beauty, angst, and joy.  Together they are pushing the limits while taking angst to a whole new level. 
“The music demanded a devotion that required every bit of attention I could muster, no matter how painful it might be, no matter how much time it took. I’d devoted my life to music, letting it take priority…over everything.”
Nocturne is more than just a love story.  From personal self-discovery to the moral struggle of what is right and what your heart wants to do.  Savannah and Gregory are both complicated and beautifully flawed.  Savannah is fighting to overcome the shadow of musical greatness while Gregory is fighting for control.  As a teacher, Gregory believes that music is a set of structured lines and notes on a staff that can be mastered with practice.  With practice comes the ability to create greatness.  Gregory approaches life with a similar mindset believing that music and life are both works in progress that scream for militant hard work with no room for creativity.  Savannah is a rule breaker.  For Savannah music is creation.  Can Savannah school the teachers that life can be taken from flat to sharp while still keeping your musical morals in tack?
“You’re always so…structured. But broody.  Dark. Sometimes I think there’s something inside of you just ready to explode.”
The push and pull that unfolds between Savannah and Gregory is anything but structured as they both test moral boundaries.  They are both challenging the limits.  
“Gregory stripped himself bare to me on that stage, going against his musical boundaries, pushing his personal limits, and he was asking me, again…”
This story spans ten years and will rock you to your musical core.  We see Savannah and Gregory’s growth.  Savannah’s transition into adulthood and Gregory stepping up to be the man she needs.  Will they both find their coda together?     
“She was my perfect accompaniment, and I feared that I’d ruined that chance forever.”
This duet between Andrea and Charles is full on harmony.  After picking up Andrea’s Ten Days of Perfect I was hooked and through her I found Charles.  Knowing and loving both authors work I thought I would be able to pick out each of their personal writing styles.  I was so wrong.  This story flowed with beauty and drew me in with musical highs and lows.  Nocturne is a treat for the eye and the soul.  This book will test your moral compass and turn everything you thought you believed in upside down.  Black and white becomes gray and as in music everything is not as it seems.   I am in debt to the writing Gods for bring these writing soul mates together.
“Music always sounded better with him. With us.”
 

 
 
 
 
Andrea Randall
 

I started writing poetry long before writing fiction. I firmly believe Poetry is a solid foundation for all other forms of writing. It taught me that a single word can make or break the world.

I write fiction because my characters have a story and they want me to tell it.

I hope you enjoy the pieces of my soul that I share with you.

 
Twitter: @ARandallAuthor
 
 
Charles Sheehan-Miles
 

Charles Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive, and is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the Thompson Sisters series and Republic: A Novel of America’s Future.

Twitter: @CSheehanMiles
 
 
Amazon:
 
B&N:
 

REVIEW: The Last Hour by Charles Sheehan – Miles

                        The Last Hour
 
“Twenty-seven year old Carrie Thompson-Sherman has the life she always wanted: her PhD, a prestigious fellowship, and an amazing husband.

Her life begins to unravel as a jealous colleague puts her fellowship in jeopardy and a haunting secret Ray Sherman carried home from Afghanistan comes to light.

Hounded by a federal investigation and the ensuing media feeding frenzy, Carrie and Ray desperately lean on each other, until a disastrous accident puts both Ray and her sister’s lives at risk.

In the last hour, Carrie and Ray will each find themselves faced with a choice.

A choice that will change everything “



Book three in The Thompson Sisters Series pulls on your heart strings while playing a symphony of words that will touch the depths of your soul. This is truly a story like no other that I have read. It is original and different (in a good way). Charles Sheehan – Miles did and amazing job of writing a love story that gives you heart but also gives you gritty reality. Life is not peaches and cream 100% of the time and love is no different. 

 This is a different kind of love story.  Both Carrie and Ray touch each other’s life at the right moment and they both learn a little about themselves in the process.  The word soulmate was created for these two!  A devastating accident finds both characters evaluating the past to deal with the present.  I have to be honest I demanded a fellow blogger to tell me the end.  I don’t normally this but when I was well into chapter 3 I had to know because it was killing me because I was reading with a heavy heart.  Knowing allowed me to appreciate the book and keep an open mind while reading the rest of the story. 

Carrie was a wonderfully written character.  If I learned anything from the first two books I learned that the Thompson sisters are the epitome of strength.  The taste of Carrie in the first two books is nowhere near the remarkable woman presented in The Last Hour.  I look forward to seeing her grow throughout the rest of the series.  Ray’s character also spoke to me on a level like no other.  Know first hand the pain and pride that a military life creates I was able to relate to his struggle.  The courageousness that Ray encompassed was unlike anything I have read and make me want to call my father and thank him for being the solider in my life.   I found peace when I read the last words of The Last Hour.  Life is never easy but sometime you can find beauty in the pain.  This is a must read along with the first two books of the series.  Charles’ male perspective of female emotions allows a refreshing take on a modern day love story.  This story deserves a medal of honor but will have to make due with 5 stars.

About the author:




Charles has been a soldier, nonprofit executive, short order cook, IT manager and run a restaurant. He doesn’t believe in specialization. He currently works as a communications and outreach specialist for a law firm representing disabled veterans.

Charles lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife Veronica and their two children.


 
Where to find Charles:
 
 
 
 
 
Pick up the book:
 
Amazon
 
B&N