Donna BarkerReseñas

A rather unfortunate choice of title, which may be considered deeply offensive to Catholics who will argue that Mother Teresa was more concerned with the broken, starving people she encountered on a daily basis rather than on narcissistic people who were suffering from broken hearts. Perversely, underneath the crass title is an entertaining little story which may not be fully realised or appreciated due to the choice of title

Thelma and Louise discover The Secret.

Having read Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted
Lovers, I can hardly wait for its sequel, Karma for Killers. If you're tired of reading same old same old, this is the book for you. Fast-paced, funny, moving, inspirational, following Tara, Betsy and Glen thru the twists and turns of this cosmic whodunnit will not only keep you on the edge of your seat, turning pages long past your bedtime, as I did, but will also make you think and leave you feeling freshly washed and rinsed inside and out.

Donna Barker has something I’m terribly envious of…VOICE! in spades. Wow. Barker's murder mystery, women's fiction, self help treatise is a genre mash-up like no other. Fun, fast paced, witty, wry, clever, beguilingly mysterious and metaphysically challenging, even while being tongue in cheek and laugh out loud funny.

Someone just break your heart? Boyfriend behaving like a jerk? Thinking of swearing off men forever? This is the book for you. Buy a tub of Ben n Jerrys and a bottle if wine and settle in for a helluva ride.

Tara has bad luck with men. They keep dying on her. Or maybe it isn't luck, maybe she has wished them dead and her wish had power. Whatever it is, Tara's friend Betsy thinks they can make money from it and off we go into the oddball world of the agony aunt with a PayPal account. Money starts to roll in, the work hours pile up and suddenly Tara (aka Mother Teresa) is up to her ears in trouble.

Not the greatest book in the world but far from the worst. Interesting idea. Reasonably good writing. Overall rather fun.

I received a review copy of "Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers" by Donna Barker (Amazon Books) through LibraryThing.com.

I received this from Library Thing for an honest review. This is a real quirky book, with an interesting, somewhat creative plot. Tara Holland has a tough time with men. Every time she thinks she is close to commitment, the man in her life ends up dead. Thus, she thinks she is jinxed. However, her best friend Betsy convinces her she has an unusual psychic gift that allows her to cause a man’s untimely demise. Both women team up to start a psychic business to help women everywhere solve their problems with “bad” guys. The result is a fast but funny romp through their lives and their psychic business of helping “damaged” women get rid of the “damager”, i.e. their guy. I think the author settled on the name Mother Teresa mostly because it would draw in potential readers, since I really found no reason for using this particular name in the book. In addition, I am not sure the fantastic rate of speed for their business to grow was all that realistic or the death and dying of various men everywhere without much investigation, but, in a book such as this one (or possibly many other fictional books), when did the question of whether the book is realistic become an issue of importance? I enjoyed reading this sassy romp through the ups and downs of the psychic helping business the two women started successfully, as well about Tara’s positive growth as the book proceeded. I did not like her teammate Betsy all that much from the get-go, but then, she was the villain in the book. I also found the plot evolution a bit choppy, as it didn’t flow all that smoothly for me. However, this book does belong right up there with the best of them. The name and business concept in the book were fairly creative on the part of the author. I think anyone who enjoys a quick read that is funny yet filled with a good modicum of seriousness (e.g. Tara’s growth as that of her friendship with Betsy) will enjoy reading this book. The storyline moves quickly, is interesting and creative and does not get into any real sex and provides a solid look at friendship and the quirks of opening a business such as this one.

Eigentlich ziemlich gut. Was mich persönlich gestört hat war die zeitweilig doch sehr anstrengende Hauptperson. Wer würde von solch einer unsicheren Person Ratschläge wollen. Allzu oft wirkt sie viel zu naiv, beinahe schon kindlich in ihren Ansichten. Und viele Heile-Welt-Szenen beeintraechtigen den Eindruck, dass das ganze in unserer Zeit spielen soll. ...aber das Thema an sich hat schon was. Das mehr oder minder offene Ende kündet von einer Fortsetzung. Sehen wir mal, ob Tara sich weiterentwickelt.

What woman doesn’t live for the day she’ll walk down the aisle wearing a gorgeous white wedding gown to begin her happy ever after? And the only nightmare she dreads coming true is being left at the altar alone with her man disappearing to parts unknown; and after which she begins to wonder whether or not she’s been the cause of her situation.

Imagine if you will if the reason for your true love’s no show had been his sudden demise? Wouldn’t you feel as if fate didn’t want you to marry this guy? But suppose each time you’ve fallen in love with some guy he had died as well, wouldn’t you begin to believe you’ve been cursed when it came to the game of love? I know I would and I would feel the same sort of helplessness Tara Hudson felt.

Now, if you can feel this same sort of helplessness, then you’ll be able to step into Tara Hudson’s shoes, because this is precisely how she feels when it comes to her happiness and relationships regarding men. And if you were in Tara’s shoes wouldn’t the last you’ll want or need is to have your best friend, the one who you could always depend on tell you that “You’re the reason behind your own situation and the men in your life are dying.” The reason I’m saying this is because this is precisely what Tara’s best friend, Betsy, is telling her.

Perhaps what Tara needs is to find some sort of spiritual path and self-discovery to find what’s wrong in the life she’s living. And if you’ve ever tried doing this, then you’ll know it’s not as easy as it seems as there will be countless hurdles you’ll have to leap, and obstacles you must get around.

Will Tara be able to reach the land of bliss she’s so desperately trying to find; and if she does, will she get the happy ever after which has passed her by for so long. The answers are in the book.

The book is wrought with dark humor and other of the author’s characters can best be described as being somewhat pathetic, Tara is delight when compared with them; which is why I’ve giving Ms. Barker 5 STAR for her endeavor here.

I received a e-book copy of this book from a giveaway the author had on LibraryThing, and the above has been my honest opinion.

I loved this book! It starts out fairly light. Two women friends decide to help other women who are in bad relationships. Then it turns a bit scary. This is a really good read and I loved that my hometown is mentioned. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review - and I'm glad I did!

I can't really review this book since I wrote it so I'll share how I decided to write this story:

My brother and I were brainstorming blended genre books and titles you would never — and should never — find in a bookstore. Things like:

Astrology + Business = Float with the Angels without Being Eaten Alive
Humour + History = Not That Kind of Nazi
Business + Science fiction = The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Extraterrestrials
Hobby + Psychology = Deco Designs for the Serial Killer Mind
Travel Guide + Murder mystery = Best Places to Murder on the Orient Express

And finally,

Religious + Self-help = Mother Teresa’s Advice for Jilted Lovers

It seemed like a crazy cross-genre blend, but when I thought about it, I realized that I’d actually read a religious self-help book — The Secret.

I wondered what MY life would be like if I had the power to control the Universe (as The Secret asserts we can) and believed, like Mother Teresa did, that suffering was a gift from God. The answer was obvious: I’d become a psychic serial killer.

This novel is a cautionary tale to myself to not try to develop my universe-controlling abilities!