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Pamela Kramer

Biography

Pamela Kramer


Pamela Kramer began her obsession with books by reading the entire Wizard of Oz series when she was in kindergarten and first grade. She was a lawyer for many years and is retired from her job as a dual language gifted teacher in Highland Park, Illinois. Pamela enjoyed combining her love of books and her love of animals with her teaching. She got to read new picture books to younger students and used their reactions in her reviews. Through her website, she is able to recommend middle grade and young adult books to students. All the students and former students (and teachers) know where to go for good book recommendations! She served on the Illinois Bluestem steering committee (Illinois School Library Media Association Award) for several years.

Pam also loves to read adult books, and several authors whose books she has reviewed have become friends. She has rescued a variety of animals, from dogs and cats to rats and rabbits, and she loves nothing more than reading while cuddling with one of her four dogs or two cats. She always has a foster dog in her home as well. She has reviewed books online since 2010 and began writing about books for the now defunct Examiner.com website and later as a contributor to Huffington Post. She continues to review -- mostly on her blog, PamelaKramer.com. She spends school breaks reading as much as possible while also organizing and checking the massive piles of books in her home. Her favorite thing? Seeing a quote from one of her reviews on the back of a book!

Pamela Kramer

Reviews by Pamela Kramer

by Pam Jenoff - Fiction, Historical Fiction

London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe --- and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend, Franny, during the war. Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss, Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. She races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever.

by Jane Yang - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

1800s China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant --- a muizai --- to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery. Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower's escape. But when scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but also her life. If Linjing finds out, will she sabotage Little Flower to reclaim her power, or will she protect her?

by Jess Armstrong - Fiction, Gothic, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

American heiress Ruby Vaughn still hasn't entirely forgiven her octogenarian employer and housemate, Mr. Owen, for bringing the occult into their lives during her recent trip to Cornwall. He claims their journey to Manhurst Castle in the Scottish Borders is simply to appraise and acquire illuminated manuscripts for their rare books shop. But when Ruby discovers there are no manuscripts and receives news of a séance to be held that very night, she begins to grow suspicious about the true reason why they have come. Mr. Owen is desperate to speak to his dead son, but he doesn’t want to face the spirits alone. When the séance --- hosted by a trio of mediums billing themselves as The Three Fates --- goes awry, Mr. Owen’s secrets begin to unravel. When Ruby finds one of the Three Fates murdered the night of the seance, she and Mr. Owen quickly become the prime suspects.

by Megan Collins - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, Rosie Lachlan is working at her parents’ bridal salon. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects that her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect. But Rosie has a secret: Now that she has his wife’s heart, she’s convinced that she and Morgan are meant to be together. As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie is keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death?

by Marianne Cronin - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Eddie Winston is 90 years old. He has lived and he has loved, but he has never been kissed. A true gentleman and an incurable romantic, Eddie spends his days volunteering at a charity shop, where he sorts through the donations of the living and the dead, preserving letters and tokens of love along the way. And it is here that he meets Bella, a troubled young woman who, at 24 years old, has just lost the love of her life. When Bella learns that Eddie is yet to have his first kiss, she resolves to help him finally find love. This sparks an adventure that will take them to unexpected places and, they hope, bring Eddie to the moment he has waited for all his life.

by Lana Ferguson - Comedy, Fiction, Humor, Paranormal Romance, Romance

Following the death of her father, Keyanna “Key” MacKay finds herself thrust into the world he’d always refused to speak of. With just a childhood bedtime story about a monster that saved her father’s life and the name of her estranged grandmother to go off of, Key has no idea what she’ll find in Scotland. Lachlan Greer has his own secrets to keep, especially from the bonnie lass he pulls to safety from the slippery shore. He’s looking for answers as well, and Key’s presence on the grounds they both now occupy presents a real problem. It’s even more troublesome when he gets a front row seat to the lukewarm welcome Key receives from her family and the strange powers she begins to develop. When their secrets collide, it becomes clear that Lachlan could hold the answers Keyanna is after --- and that she also might be the key to uncovering his.

by Alafair Burke - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Growing up, May Hanover was always a good girl. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond --- forged when May was just 12 years old --- has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry. When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder if Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.

by Darby Kane - Domestic Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon and an infamous tragedy survivor. He’s also very dead, thanks to a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted 97 days, and he’d had two suspicious “accidents” during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow. As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, wife number one and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago. Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond’s legacy, she soon becomes a target --- with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall: You will pay.

by Celeste Connally - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery

London may be cheering the news of Napoleon’s surrender at Waterloo, but Lady Petra Forsyth has little to celebrate after discovering that the death of her viscount fiancé three years earlier was murder. The man responsible is her secret paramour, Duncan Shawcross, yet the scoundrel has disappeared, leaving only a confusing riddle about long-forgotten memories in his wake. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte has tasked Petra with attending an event at the Asylum for Female Orphans and making inquiries surrounding the death of the orphanage’s matron. There may be a link between the matron’s death and a group of radicals with ties to the aristocracy. Then Petra overhears a nefarious conversation with two other men about a plot to topple the monarchy, set to take place during three days of celebrations currently gripping London.

by Pip Drysdale - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

When Zoe Ann Weiss moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, her whole future is wide open. But then Zach, the bartender and aspiring actor she’s falling for, ghosts her. Her debut novel, a thriller, fails. And she has writer’s block worse than ever before. Now, three years later, Zoe is facing her 30th birthday, a dead-end job at a flower shop, and a demanding agent. But when she goes to make a flower delivery and Zach is at the address, it’s like no time has passed at all. They start casually dating in secret, and her writer’s block disappears. But then the inevitable happens and photos are leaked, landing Zoe in the press. Her first novel goes viral, and now everyone seems to know her name. Except the problem with everyone knowing your name is that everyone knows your name --- including the mysterious stalker obsessed with Zach.